Can you help me understanding how to order a proper doll?

ah, hi.

I,ve been seeing many cute dolls around here, as well through the japanese community on twitter and global community in flicker. The more i look at them, the more i wish i had one.

I've considered a DD or a Evoke.

For a DD i decided on little Karin https://dollfie.ec.volks.co.jp/item/4518992422138.html i look at her i feel like shes family.

But it is not final, i am also still wondering about a Evoke doll. and there area a few things i need to know, specially since i can barely make sense of anything at their official site when it comes to order. The doll in question would be this one, well if that is a full doll. http://evokedoll.com/en/pd.jsp?id=81#pfc={"groupIds":[15],"mul":true,"nvMid":563,"lid":1,"sc":{"key":"name","desc":false}}&_pp=0_563_15 

 

could anyone help me with this matter? i wouldn't be getting the Evoke right now because of pet fur all over. but i sure want her.

 

thank you and sorry if i infringed any rules... 

Only own DDs so I can't give you a proper argument, but I would definitely opt for Karin over the Evoke doll. I don't know if you own any other dolls, but anything made of silicone is going to require much more maintenance and will attract dust and hair like a magnet. Dressing a silicone doll will be a challenge as well because unlike vinyl, clothes will grip and cling to the silicone. Dressing Karin would be far more easier. I'd worry about Evoke's longevity with the internal skeleton. If you are interested, Adyka is coming out with a full silicone body that is compatible with DD, and that might be something to consider down the road. If something breaks on your DD, you can easily get replacement parts from Volks as opposed to being screwed if something breaks in your Evoke doll. My two cents on it, so take it with a grain of salt.

Another thing to consider is their relative sizes: the DD Karin is a 1/3-sized doll, or somewhere around 55cm to 60cm tall, which is probably about as long as your arm from shoulder to wrist. The Evoke Doll is 1/6-sized, or 26cm tall, the same general size as a Barbie or female action figure. They will have a completely different feel to them, and completely different requirements for clothing.

You would be able to change the wig and eyes on the DD Karin, as well. The head shown on the Evoke Doll has rooted hair and painted eyes.

(Also, I can't say for certain but I think the Evoke Doll listing is only for the silicone body. The head looks like a customized Obitsu head. If you do a general web search for 'obitsu 1/6 head' you can find lots of customized doll heads to look at and consider, and they can go on many different kinds of 1/6 doll body, not just the Evoke.)

um, im still struggling, about the parts of a doll, i might end up with karin. I dont have a doll so getting a Evoke body alone would be a great turndown. thank you for the answers, money here is a problem so i really need to be certain of what i am doing, or consequences can be grave.

13 minutes ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

um, im still struggling, about the parts of a doll, i might end up with karin. I dont have a doll so getting a Evoke body alone would be a great turndown. thank you for the answers, money here is a problem so i really need to be certain of what i am doing, or consequences can be grave.

Nothing is that grave; you can always sell a doll that you don't bond with. You might lose a little money, but it is better to gain back some money than none. If you don't have any dolls, then I think Karin would be a better doll to start with. You have all you need there and don't need to purchase any spare parts unless you want a bigger bust for her ♥

2 hours ago, Mandie said:

I don't know if you own any other dolls, but anything made of silicone is going to require much more maintenance and will attract dust and hair like a magnet. Dressing a silicone doll will be a challenge as well because unlike vinyl, clothes will grip and cling to the silicone. Dressing Karin would be far more easier. I'd worry about Evoke's longevity with the internal skeleton.

@SFSakana was talking about the silicone bodies the other day, and it sounds like they don’t stand well either. Best use is for poses lying down, and admittedly that’s what I see a lot of on Twitter with users who have a DD head on a silicone body, the silicone body is used mostly for boudoir type photos where the seamless body with its nice curves is much more aesthetically pleasing. Usually the dolls are lying on a rug or a bed in those photos.  
 

2 hours ago, Mandie said:

If you are interested, Adyka is coming out with a full silicone body that is compatible with DD, and that might be something to consider down the road.

I’d be interested in seeing that. I’ve though about silicone bodies because from some angles it would make for nicer photos. 

40 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

I’d be interested in seeing that. I’ve though about silicone bodies because from some angles it would make for nicer photos. 

https://www.adykadoll.com/collections/doll-apparel/products/flex-body

It's really gorgeous! I think she said she is working on silicone arms as well so the entire body but the feet, head, and hands would be silicone.

41 minutes ago, Mandie said:

https://www.adykadoll.com/collections/doll-apparel/products/flex-body

It's really gorgeous! I think she said she is working on silicone arms as well so the entire body but the feet, head, and hands would be silicone.

Alternate bust sizes? Most of my girls are S or M, and not L.

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Alternate bust sizes? Most of my girls are S or M, and not L.

Not sure on that one, unfortunately. I don't have any girls with a bust that big either. I had a couple trimmed down to fit my DDdy. Hopefully she makes different bust sizes, too.

I have friends who own evoke body, their M size bust is between DD bust L and M size.
You are advice to choose DD-L bust clothing if you getting evoke M bust.
Some DD-M bust clothing will be if the cloth material is stretchy.

For evoke L bust body is actually larger than DDdy, you some of the DDdy clothes might not fit if they are perfect fit cuttings.
Again, stretchy material will be better to fit them. 

 

Posing wise

------------

For posing wise, I'd say they aren't easy to post at all due to the weight and they don't have any 'joints' so their pose will not be able to 'lock on'.
I tried to pose with my friend's evoke body I think I need double the time compare when I pose with my DD body.

Also they hardly stand by themselves without any doll stand support, so most of the time having them sitting, lying down pose is much easier.
 

They are seamless nice to look at when you let them wear revealing clothes showing off the curve lines, abs and joint.

 

9 hours ago, Gallye said:

The Evoke Doll is 1/6-sized, or 26cm tall, the same general size as a Barbie or female action figure. They will have a completely different feel to them, and completely different requirements for clothing.

To my knowledge, Evoke Doll does offer bodies in the 60 cm range as well. But usually a silicon body alone costs about as much as a full vinyl doll of the same size.

 

11 hours ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

For a DD i decided on little Karin https://dollfie.ec.volks.co.jp/item/4518992422138.html i look at her i feel like shes family. But it is not final, i am also still wondering about a Evoke doll.

The price and high maintenance requirements for silicone bodies have until now deterred me from getting one. Vinyl has it's quirks as well, but in general I'd say it's fairly robust if not abused. Unless you are horrified by the seam lines around the joints, or plan to use your doll primarily for naughty posing, you'll likely have plenty of fun with a standard vinyl body.

If you're just starting out, Karin is definitely a great choice. As a standard model, she's easily available and one of the least expensive full dolls in the DD/DDS range. And she's basically ready to play with out of the box. (I'd still recommend to get at least a small comb/tangle teezer and a simple stand as well.) EDIT: Oh! I just remembered: As Karin is a DDS, she will come with fist-pose hands by default. Maybe some more generic pose hands like these https://dollfie.ec.volks.co.jp/item/4518992351537.html are not a bad idea for more variety.

I also think Karin specifically is a really cute sculpt with lots of potential. She looks great with many different eye and wig combinations, so there are lot's of options in case you decide to customize her later. Great example is @sdrcow's pax.

You can also always get her a silicone body later down the line, if you still want one by then.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Tierparkzone

13 hours ago, Tierparkzone said:

Unless you are horrified by the seam lines around the joints, or plan to use your doll primarily for naughty posing, you'll likely have plenty of fun with a standard vinyl body.

In a lot of ways it sounds like you really need both bodies if you want to do both regular types of things with the doll, and more risqué types of things at times. 

When i’m trying out new poses the doll usually isn’t wearing clothes so I can see exactly how I’m positioning things. One thing I can say is most poses look pretty good from the front, but from behind is a different story. The joints at the hip just look unnatural from the back.  

 

On 1/20/2022 at 9:48 AM, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

i am also still wondering about a Evoke doll.

It sounds like you really need both types of body depending on what you want to do, so getting the base DDS body with a Karin isn’t a bad thing. If you decide you want a silicone body later, nothing is stopping you from adding that to your kit. As @Tierparkzone suggested a stand, comb, and option hands are good ideas first.

Some outfits would be suggested as well. You bring them alive by styling them, or as @SFSakana’s signature suggests: To make them pretty you have to give them love. 

i am overjoyed by the help i got here, i thank you from the bottom of my heart. Karin is really a sweet heart and from the knowledge you all showed me i understand a lot more about it all, Once im ready, Karin is coming home. yay!!!

i started to think that i'll focus on her and later once i'm more used and have experimented i'll pick a silicon body, and use with her depending on the type of photos. its was a good thing @Tierparkzone telling me about the hands and combs. theres the clothing to get. ah this is nice, i dont even have my doll yet but just the thoughts of taking care of her... i might end up a little bit more crazy, but at my level a little bit means nothing.

I WANNA GO FULL CRAZY. thank you all.

 

ah yes, now some other things came up, im sorry but for the moment please bear with me:

Do i have to buy specific putty from volks to place the eyes?

how do you guys buy new clothing?

there are these body stockings and head stockings, how often they are necessary?

how often do you guys deal with staining and how you deal with it when it happens?

do DDs have to take baths?

11 hours ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

Do i have to buy specific putty from volks to place the eyes?

The eyes will come hot glued in. There are guides on you tube on how to remove them, but highly recommended to wear soft cotton gloves. I scratched a dolls eye makeup with a fingernail once. 
 

 

11 hours ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

how do you guys buy new clothing?

There are a lot of dedicated shops.

Volks

TTYA

Nine9Style

DollHeart

CotinDoll

DollDelights

Dollgerie

Just to name a few.

You can also search Etsy for BJD clothing, food, furniture, jewelry, etc.

Think about how you want to style her, but think about what her look fits too I.e. cute, sexy, classy, sporty, etc.

Clothing can look a bit baggy on DDS, because it’s smaller than DD, and a lot of clothes made by other vendors are made for SD13 / SDGr, which has a wider waistline. The upside is her m-bust is a very standard bust size for clothing.

 

11 hours ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

there are these body stockings and head stockings, how often they are necessary?

Wigs with a black or dark brown cap should always have a head stocking. Body stockings aren’t needed for white clothes, and I’ve never had issues with pastels. Highly saturated dark colors are risky.

 

11 hours ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

how often do you guys deal with staining and how you deal with it when it happens?

It’s inevitable, but can be dealt with using cleaning agents like Dream Rescue, or RemoveZit.

 

11 hours ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

do DDs have to take baths?

No, and if she gets wet you need to take her apart and dry her. Vinyl + water = food for mold. Mold will ruin her. People do get them wet for photos, but they need to be dried afterwards. Cleaning them can be done with a damp cloth, or magic eraser. Ideally you don’t want to get her face dirty because the face-up will rub off with enough friction.  Generally never touch the part of the head with make-up. The chin, scalp, ears are safe places.

 

11 hours ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

telling me about the hands and combs.

There is one item I do recommend: https://dollfie.ec.volks.co.jp/category/D_MAKEUP/4518992368603.html

The one end is just a toothbrush, but the pointed handle is designed for styling the hair. It’s really useful for arranging their wigs and fixing flyaway bits. The wig isn’t hair so much hair as it a plastic fiber model of hair, so more complex wigs get sculpted rather than combed.

 

 

 

One other option if you really like the face on that Evoke doll is to look at Iplehouse and CP fairyland dolls. Those are strung resins, so they are very different from a vinyl doll. They aren’t as common as Volks, so you won’t have as many clothing options.

In terms of beauty they are spectacular, but don’t pose as dynamically as a DD because they use elastic cord for tension. 

https://iplehouse.com/home/shop/item.php?it_id=1548560256&nhn1=en

A DD is a really good entry doll, but there are some really stunning dolls on the market. 

Just fair warning, DD are like a gateway drug. I bought a Kos-Mos thinking she’d be the only one I got. Now I have 54 dolls and have three more on the way. ><; 

DD are pretty durable too. If a resin falls hard it can crack.  

i saw your collection. it was as pretty as it was scary, im well aware of it, but being aware doesnt means i will be able to resist.

im sticking to karin now, really i cant stop thinking of how cute she is... ok, i might want her a little busty but that comes later. Plan it to get her a black himecut too.

 

oh well and i must confess, please dont judge! i saw a simple, not very beautiful piece but it seemed nice, thing is, i saw it at daiso.

 

anyone has any experience with daiso clothing? i dont have much information about it but once i see it again i can see if i can find pictures of it.

1 hour ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

i might want her a little busty but that comes later.

For large busts you have options like Volks large and the silicone Peach Pai. 

https://rajikaru.com/rajikaruShop_for_Overseas/html/Dollparts.html

I don’t think there are many options for clothes for Peach Pai except for stuff from DollDelights. I don’t think clothes are the point of Peach Pai though… 😅

There is also a thread here on adding more defined nipples to a DD bust and blushing them. Not hard to do, but you do need some supplies. 

 

 

@BeyondTime has already answered these questions, but I wanted to give you my take on them as well.

7 hours ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

1) Do i have to buy specific putty from volks to place the eyes?

2) how do you guys buy new clothing?

3) there are these body stockings and head stockings, how often they are necessary?

4) how often do you guys deal with staining and how you deal with it when it happens?

5) do DDs have to take baths?

1) Eyes on standard model DDs will come glued in with hot-glue. So to start out, you don't have to worry about this.

If you want to change the eyes later on or want to reposition them, there are several options. Many people use poster putty ore Blu Tack to hold in the eyes.

Volks also offers the Dream Fitter: It holds the eyes less secure, but makes changing and adjusting them super easy. As a drawback, it only works with Volks eyes unless you use some additional trickery.

 

2) As I live in Tokyo, I have the unique luxury of just waltzing into one of the many doll related stores in Akihabara. Doll conventions are also a good place to find lots of clothing options.

But in general, there's lots to find on the internet as well. Apart from the stores that @BeyondTime mentioned above, there's also Mandarake which sells second hand doll stuff and offers overseas shipping. Can be a bit tricky to find stuff at first, but it might be worth a look https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/listPage/list?categoryCode=02011431&keyword=dds&lang=en. Just make sure to check the descriptions and images to find out if stuff fits a DDS.

There's also plenty of doll clothes on Pixiv's "Booth" platform. They seem to offer overseas shipping via Buyee, but I don't know how well that works.

 

3) Head stocking: Only necessary if the cloth part of the wig ("wig cap") that sits on the doll head is a dark color. With the default wig that comes with Karin you won't need one.

As you want to get a black hair wig later down the line: If you get one from Volks, it will likely have a black wig cap and using a head stocking is recommended. But if you get a black hair wig from Dollce or CotinDoll, they do not use coloured wig caps, so no head stocking necessary.

Body stocking: useful for hiding the joints and/or protecting the doll from staining clothes. Recommended, if your doll wants to wear denim or dark coloured clothes for prolonged time.  Usually doesn't look particularly nice if your doll wants to show off some cleavage.

For light (white, pastel, cream) clothes or for the night dress that comes with Karin, you won't need a body stocking.

 

4) Each of my girls usually undergoes stain treatment once or twice a year. And most of the time they are very localized small stains.

 

5) Avoid baths if possible. As @BeyondTime said earlier you don't want mold to take hold of the vinyl. And taking a doll apart to fully dry them off is tedious.

If you wash your hands before playing with your doll, she won't get dirty so quickly, that you have to worry about baths. If you wish, you can clean your dolls every once in a while (I do it about every six months). I give them a wipedown (only on the outside) with a wet cotton swab and/or a magic eraser and wipe off the moisture immediately afterwards with a soft paper tissue. But never try to do that on the face or any other blushed area as you could ruin the paint.

 

5 hours ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

anyone has any experience with daiso clothing?

I don't know what Daiso is offering in your neck of the woods, but afaik here in Japan they only have doll clothes for their Ellie-chan line (which is a cheap clone of the Licca-chan dolls that are somewhat popular toy dolls in Japan).

So everything there will only fit roughly barbie size dolls like Licca-chan, PureNeemo, etc... Definitely too small for a DD.

2 hours ago, Tierparkzone said:

And taking a doll apart to fully dry them off is tedious.

Not to mention all the metal screws & nuts in the new frame that would need to be taken out and dried off to prevent rust.  

I’m quite curious what you could have seen at Daiso as well. Hopefully it hasn’t slipped your notice that the Karin you are looking at is a 1/3 scale doll, as are most models of Dollfie Dream. She’s almost two feet tall :v I don’t think doll clothes available at Daiso will fit her…unless you have a Daiso that sells 1/3 clothes, in which case I think we all want to hear about it!

btw @BeyondTime I’m like 95% sure Adyka will eventually be doing different bust sizes for the flex body (not yet been shown or confirmed tho), because in her writeup on the reasons she developed the body I know she mentioned that a big drawback of existing silicone bodies for her was not being able to swap bust sizes at will!

Edited January 22, 2022 by ebil

1 hour ago, ebil said:

I’m quite curious what you could have seen at Daiso as well. Hopefully it hasn’t slipped your notice that the Karin you are looking at is a 1/3 scale doll, as are most models of Dollfie Dream. She’s almost two feet tall :v I don’t think doll clothes available at Daiso will fit her…unless you have a Daiso that sells 1/3 clothes, in which case I think we all want to hear about it!

Yeah, that threw me for a loop too. I wonder if OP is aware that the Evoke doll he linked is a 1/6 scale 26cm doll and Karin is like twice her size?

If you look through the photos here you will see pictures of people with their dolls, that should give a sense of scale. 

https://volksusa.com/event/2019dolpala/after_rep02.php

You want to look for clothing that lists Dollfie Dream, SDGr, or SD13 as a size fit. 
 

5 hours ago, ebil said:

I know she mentioned that a big drawback of existing silicone bodies for her was not being able to swap bust sizes at will!

I do recall seeing that, but didn’t see alternate busts anywhere.

Here’s a box opening vid for some scale too. 

 

On 1/22/2022 at 1:29 PM, BeyondTime said:

Here’s a box opening vid for some scale too. 

 

hm, shes the size of a Karin. heavens above the day i see one in person im going to gag. i followed and saw some other unboxings. 

i long for the day i unbox my own. I sort of feel like a pregnant lady... im thinking NAMES. 

1 hour ago, OhirumenoMuchinoKami said:

shes the size of a Karin

Yes, same body / bust as Karin.