GENERAL INFORMATION ON ASIAN BALL JOINTED DOLLS :
Aimee's site has the most comprehensive and useful English FAQ on Volks Super Dollfie and Korean BJDs. She also has lots of fantastic photographs.
Atziulth
Atziluth is a searchable database of private owners' dolls. You can search by company, sculpt, wig or eye type, makeup artist, clothing company, and more to get a sense of what people are doing with sculpts that interest you. Once you've got a few dolls in mind, this is a great resource for finding out how they really look. A PM system also allows you to get in touch with individual owners and ask questions. This is a phenomenal resource for the community.
This is a list--with pictures!--of most Asian BJDs currently being made. Once you've decided you like BJD, this is a great place to go to see what's out there!
This is a picture index of unpainted heads, designed by the site owner so that prospective doll owners can download pictures and photoshop potential faceups onto them. A great resource to see what the sculpts actually look like, as well.
This site is a database of other owners' sites by headmold type; it's most useful if you're interested in purchasing a Volks brand doll.
FORUMS:
The Den of Angels forum is currently the most active BJD forum on the net. There's lots of great information here, and the members are willing to help you with anything from buying your first doll to taking a knife and reshaping the face of your fiftieth doll!
Den of Demons
Den of Demons is a very active, very chatty, and very snarky BJD forum. People on DoD don't take any nonsense and can be very blunt, but if you're looking for some great laughs, some good chat, and some honest opinions about BJD, this is an excellent place to be.
Controversial Doll
This is an 18+ forum for controversial doll images including those of a sexual, political, or violent nature. For obvious reasons, registration and proof of age is required.
Lilliputians
This is a forum dedicated to tiny BJDs, those with a size significantly smaller than MSDs.
There are also numerous forums for areas of the country, certain doll companies or sculpts, and special interest groups within the fandom. Your best bet is to do some poking around on DoA to find smaller forums that match your particular interests.
SHOPPING:
The following are all companies from which I have purchased. There are, however, also lots of DoA members always selling things in the Marketplace, and there is a listing of members with internet companies here at the Bazaar.
This is the company that made Caelumen. They do have an English site, and you can order from them directly. I highly recommend them, as their products are reasonably priced and their customer service is outstanding! Please be aware that there is a significant wait time to receieve your doll from this company, as each is made when it is ordered.
The company that made Myffanwy. They also have an English site, and you can order directly with cc, paypal, or wire transfer. Amazing customer service--I ordered Ffan on a Sunday and received her by Friday. The site admin is also very helpful, and usually responds to posts on the Q&A board within 24 hours. Excellent products, as well.
The English site for the company that made Danu. They also make full SD-sized dolls, and are quite well known for their acrylic eyes, which photograph brilliantly. Although I received Danu as a Christmas present, my husband says that the customer service at Soom was brilliant and that they answered his befuddled questiosn thoroughly and quickly.
The English site for the company that made Tinker. They also make SD and MSD-sized dolls and are of particular interest because of their Tae, an adult-proportioned MSD with a mature facial structure. The tiny eyes from OD that came with Tinker are beautiful as well. The customer service is also great; I got Tinker in less than two weeks!
A very basic, but very useful CAD program for doll clothes. This program gives you most of the basic pieces you'll need to make your doll's outfits, and you can resize them to fit MSD-sized dolls. (Do note, though, that these patterns are optimized for American sized and shaped dolls. You will have to extend the arms and legs of many of the outfits to accommodate the more sleek shape of most BJDs.)
Navigate down to "furniture" on the left, and you'll find a host of excellent stuff for your doll! I've found that the 9"-10" chairs fit my Mir perfectly.
FRIENDS' SITES:
Here are the sites of some of my favorite people in the hobby. (Don't take it as a slight if yours isn't here---I may not know where it is, or I'll probably remember that I meant to include you at four in the morning!)
The wonderful Luna and her beautiful Viola write the Baldy Love stories with me.
Not only is Sher's Juniper Snowpea one of my all-time favorite comic heroines, Sher's Barbies made a selfless sacrifice of a cartload of clothes to Danu...for which she's very appreciative!
Mercy's always got some new idea for a pigfie story, and has even contributed her own images to some of my stories.
And I can't, of course, go without shout-outs to the Demons crew who contribute greatly to my understanding of the hobbies and its...irregularities: Brightfires, Harlowe, Radiotrash, Uncanny, and Z3n, among many others. Is it time for tea?
SOME OTHER OUTSTANDING SITES:
There are literally hundreds of personal BJD sites out there, and I certainly haven't seen all of them, nor can I read all of those that are in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. You can find a more complete list on Aimee's site or at the Den of Angels, but these are just a few of my favorites:
TO LINK HERE:
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