For the Love of Old-School

Thank you!

Yeah, my white skin JID girl has mellowed to a really nice colour. I love it.

And yes! I think out of all the dolls I've owned my CP doll is particularly solid. She just feels really nice. Hard to explain but they definitely don't make them like that anymore.

Well, I'm in the process of buying all the Migidoll boys I used to have. I already got Miho which was my first doll. And I have a Jina on the way. And I'm saving up for a Ryu. I have a particular fondness for the older Migidoll sculpts because they were the dolls that got me into the hobby.

I'd never had a Delf before so my Delf Soony is new to me even though she's technically my oldest doll (2007). But I wanted a Soony so badly for so long (grail doll!!!), so there's a lot of sentimental value in her as well. Also, maybe it's silly, but I feel like I own a little piece of BJD history with that girl because she is a limited full set.

But yeah, my wishlist is now entirely made up of dolls that I've previously owned. It's a little bit tragic xD

 

Same! I actually count myself lucky enough to own a beauty green El and even he's gloriously character filled! Also, welcome back, I think some of my crew are still wearing things you made, I seem to remember you had a shop a long time back now.

 

I'm with @Hyzenthlay and @Rabbit-moon, I love yellowed dolls! I also think they have a creamy/mellow colour that to me looks like a "real" skin tone. I just love it.

When I got back into this hobby after my hiatus I thought I was going to all about every new doll I came across. I found that was not the case and I keep going back to what I know and that's definitely more stylized looking dolls rather than realistic looking. I certainly admire those sculpts out there that have just amazing detailed work down to lip lines but, for me, I want something that looks like it's manga-ish or video game character real looking, you know?

I really love my old Hound. He's so perfect to me and I'm half tempted to start snatching up any old Hound I see on the second hand market. I want an army of vintage Hounds. xD

 

I've found some success with tinting the torso to match the head and letting it age in with the head, might be worth a go? I tend to fade it out over the shoulders, so it's less obvious.

 

I'll admit that the reason I sold off most of my BW CP/Delfs a few years ago was because I really, really didn't like the color their resin was turning as it aged. Volks white goes ivory. I don't mind that. But my white CP dolls were turning either the color of butter or pistachio ice-cream. o_O

I kept a few favorites like Al and Ptolemaeus, who are in "pry from my cold, dead hands"-territory no matter what color they end up. and my pair of absolutely awful "beauty green" Els that I thought no one else would possibly want, and sent the rest on to other homes. I have no regrets.

I don't have the same issues with the way my NS dolls have aged. Even as yellowed as some of them are (and as yellow-toned as some of them started out, in fairness-), they don't look bad at all to me. I guess I'm just not a huge fan of the pinker end of the spectrum, so yellower or peachier shades appeal to me more rather that color is where they start or where they end up after they've aged.

 

I wish there were some way we could resuscitate the Old Dolls Watering Hole picture thread. I'm not sure if they allow chat in Photo Reference. ???

 

I don't think it's forbidden, but AFAIK it's not encouraged either -- which is making me think that maybe a regular Gallery thread would work best??

 

I suspect you're right. Like I said earlier, I don't think there's any rule that says only one person can add photos to a Gallery thread, either, so it shouldn't run into problems for having multiple contributors.

 

Okay, friends and neighbors, here we go: /threads/the...community-gallery-for-old-school-bjds.773836/ All sizes, ages, and states of yellowing or greening are welcome!

 

Woohoo! Going off to watch the thread now. Thanks for getting the ball rolling!

 

Yay! Thank you Cynthia in FlintHills!

 

Hope you don't mind Cynthia in FlintHills, but I swiped this post from the photo thread just because it's so awesome!

OMG! A Customhouse Jun!!! You lucky girl!

I wanted him so badly when I first got into this hobby. But the internet wasn't quite as friendly 12 years ago as it is today, and I just couldn't navigate the Customhouse website. I have to admit I wasn't very computer savvy back in the day. Anyway, I never got my Jun, but it's so great to see yours!

 

I love looking at older dolls/sculpts and love how SOLID they were made! Going off to look at the gallery now

 

@Rabbit-moon, I am lucky to have Flynn -- he has some pedigree, at least by old-school standards! He first belonged to pacific_rin, and starred in the article about Customhouse that she wrote for an early issue of FDQ; then he went to Karin Bussman, and then to me toward the end of 2006. After all these years, I still can't believe I have THE Flynn! (He's been Flynn ever since he left Korea -- I got Lynn's and Karin's OK to keep the name.)

It seems like forever ago that we had the luxury of worrying about things like duplicating or changing names, instead of rampant recasting. Mind you, I'm not sentimental -- there was plenty of backbiting and unnecessary drama back in the day, too (and how!).

 

There is something absolutely charming about the old school sculpts, I agree.

I enjoy realistic sculpts, but there was something about those earlier dolls that's hard to describe.

When you look at them, it's that feeling of it being a product of its time - that it couldn't have been made at any other point in time.
A 2003 Volks sculpt looks and feels like 2003, and so on - especially with their faceups! The CP Delf faceups take me back to a time when Visual Kei was extremely popular, in music and fashion cultures (and of course, BJD culture).

Part of it now is definitely nostalgia, and the fact that I find their datedness very charming; but I have always loved those older sculpts, even at the time they were new or relatively new. Even if the styles were unrealistic, they were unlike any other. They didn't look like traditional porcelain dolls, or any other kind of doll out there, but you could see the cultural influence in the sculpts. It's just so cool!

 

Hey! Check this out! Over in the Box-opening thread, someone has just brought home an old yellowed CP/Luts El. He's gorgeous!

It makes my heart happy to see a new collector appreciating such an iconic old skool sculpt!

/threads/my-first-sd-a-very-familiar-face-img-heavy.773862/unread

 

I loved El ever since I saw him back in 2008 or so, when I first got into BJD. Since I've only been collecting since 2016 I thought I'd never get the chance to own him, so I'm very excited! And I initially never expected to be okay with single joints or yellowing but I think he is perfect.

Also, there used to be this amazing thread in a deleted Gallery sub forum that has since been removed. It was called the Old Dolls Watering Hole, but it's gone now. It was this amazing thread full of owner photos of dolls, I think all 10 years old and above or almost 10 years old.

There's a similar thread that was moved to the Photo Reference subforum but it doesn't look like the Old Dolls Watering Hole was merged with it during the site reorganization. Was it just deleted? That was my favourite thread!

EDIT: Woops, I totally missed earlier mention of this in the thread! I'm glad there are others who miss it, since I hadn't heard anything about it since it's disappearance! The similar thread that was moved to the Photo Reference subforum has a lot of broken links to similar deleted threads in it, so I'm grateful for the new Old School thread. Bless this community

 

Thanks for making the gallery thread @Cynthia in FlintHills ! I hope a lot of members will feel encouraged to post their lovelies.
The sun doesn't get so intense where I live, so most of my dolls haven't yellowed thaaaat much. I do love the shade that the pink NS of some companies has become, but the YNS looks like some mature cheese …

 

I'm pretty sure the reason my SDC Kurenai is so yellow is because I lived near Charleston, South Carolina for a few years (2008-2010). There is no hiding from the sun down there, at least not if you don't want to keep your doll hidden in a dark closet. I took her out for photo shoots in the beautiful flowery parks a LOT. The rest of my (newer) SDCs are several shades lighter (un-yellow-er??) and I honestly think it's because they've spent their lives in good ol' cloudy northeast Ohio and have never met the Southern sun. I kick myself sometimes for letting her get SO yellow, but in a way I think it's just a physical manifestation of the fact that she's always been my favorite.

 

@Silk You're shattering my beliefs … hehe, I also have a Domuya body and it's yellowed more than any of the other dolls.

Last dollmeet we came to the conclusion we'd just let our dolls yellow with dignity.

 

Oh god, the same thing happened to my Migidoll Jina girl! I was living in Savannah, GA at the time in houses that barely had air conditioning. She's waaay more yellow than the dolls I got after moving to Atlanta. That heat!

 

Domuya used special easy-yellowing resin. My tan Fin is still tan, but not the same tan.

 

And then there's the old Souldoll "limpid resin," a.k.a. super-Frenchy-French with a side of frites. Yellows while you watch!

 

LOL I'm gonna start saying "watching dolls yellow" instead of "watching grass grow" or "watching paint dry."

Back on topic though, I'm always amazed to see an older doll that *isn't* yellowed. A friend of mine recently got a Kurenai, and she must have stayed in her box these past 13 years because she looks practically new next to mine! I just can't hide my dolls away like that. I have to play with them, even if it's just changing their position once a week.

 

One of my absolute favorite things is seeing older sculpts with modern faceups. They often look so amazing! While I love alot of older sculpts (love a lot of new ones too ) I don't feel the same way about classic faceups. I just feel like the craft has improved so much, that it's easy to write off the classics when not newly painted.

 

Totally agree with you @Sillypeach , those older sculpts have so much potential that the original face-ups really didn't enhance. I love seeing older dolls beautifully painted. Some gorgeous dolls in this thread, I am so glad it is here.

My Syo came back from being painted, and I think she can hang out here as she is one of the really old elastic band head cap types.

Marni by Flowergirl Fashions, on Flickr

 

@flowergirl she is darling. I agree, a new-style faceup can really bring out the best in an old sculpt. I'm enjoying all the eye candy in this thread.

 

Hi all!

I've been into bjds since 2004 and still have ALL of the dolls I've bought! -- 15 or so are 2009 or before.

I love the old styles, but also love pretty much all the new styles too (which is why I'm in doll-hoarding territory now). I do agree that styles have changed a lot and it's easy to spot the older sculpts... but I think there are a fair amount of similar styles still being made. I'm not sure if the old styles will come back in style, exactly, but they may never quite go away... (Fairyland is still making and re-releasing sculpts similar or based on the old ones.)

CP Elf El, bw, was purchased from CP through Liria in 2004, and he's my first bjd. Luts Juri '05 bw head was purchased here second-hand just after it was made (gift head), with original faceup. They are still my favorites, although I really love a lot of my new dolls in different styles, too.
11-04-Fantasy_7973a by aprilllee, on Flickr

Yellowing... Not too bad. It's mostly because they are bw. And it's mostly in the old MSC. but I don't want to mess with the faceups so I'll deal. Otherwise, I don't have much of a yellowing issue with my old dolls. I've had problems with my two french resin Bambicrony colored elves--but that was a known issue and happened within months. Mostly the Misty Blue color, which turned green-ish. Too bad, because the original color was lovely and the greenish isn't, but mine isn't as bad as some similar dolls I've seen--which turned a pea soup green!

Link here:
11-03-group_7497

 

@Alewife Aww thanks! She is vying for top spot in my affections with my F10 at the moment, something I never thought would happen because I didn't much care for her blank.

@april lovely couple! Juri 05 is my favourite of the old delf sculpts, those smiling eyes are just so characterful. Love the colours your pair have going on ^^

 

@april Beautiful color scheme for your lovely couple! 2004 … the BJD community has seen a big variety of different styles since then. I'm glad the older styles are still being loved and didn't just get out of fashion when the more realistic sculpts entered the scene.

It's true, the older sculpts were already very well done and detailed back then. The face-ups … not so much. I also love to see the magic new face-ups do to older sculpts. Finally one can see how sophisticated the sculpts really are and they suddenly seem less like a pretty thing for the shelfr and more like a real character.

Um yeah, and I've parted with my Amakusa's old face-up, too, and made him my own doll. (After all, I'm not a doll museum, but an artist …) I like him so much better now!
Beowulf by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

 

I do love seeing new faceups on older sculpts, but I think there's something charming about the original faceups. I don't know if it's nostalgia or what, but I always get a little giddy when I see one.

 

Agreed... Like I said about my Yori up-thread, There are a few of those older faceups that I just have serious reservations about replacing. Yes, they're simple and not at all up to modern standards, but as time goes on there are fewer and fewer examples of that style around, and the collector in me does value them for that reason. They're a historical curiosity.

 

I'm with @Brightfires on this one --- at least where some of my old faceups are concerned. This one, for instance (on my Customhouse Unique Sully from 2003, still going strong):



I just can't imagine her looking any other way -- I think she's fabulously retro, and I love those wild CH eyebrows.

 

Oh Cynthia! Your CH Sully is gorgeous!

Yes, the Custom House eyes brows were very distinctive. I love them!

 

I love the "old-school" dolls, they were more original, in my opinion. Now that every doll has the same faceup style, the same sculpt and the same great amounts of photoshop... they all mingle into one in my head. Hardly any is outstanding. I prefer "classic" dolls myself. Also because of financial reasons, to be honest lol xD My favouire are the loved&cared after, super old dolls in modern clothes and modern-style make-up (no sharp lines, just lots of blush and light brown, Korean-style eyebrows - it looks boring on the modern dolls, but brings out the best of the classic, original sculpts

 

@Cynthia in FlintHills she's awesome. The kind of faceup you hope never fades.

 

Photo from last year's L.A Volks Dolpa... My Volks Cyndy 2 in her fullset outfit, 2005 release. Definitely Old School! She's held up very well. I got her strings tightened and some replaced at the Dolpa by the Dolly Doctor, but she's otherwise all original, no mods or even other restringing at all.

 

Wow! Look at her!

She's exquisite, April. A classic Volks beauty.

 

@april it's been great to see some of the dolls in your legendary collection.

 

I fall into the old school fandom. A couple of my dolls are looking closer to butter-tone so it had me rethinking colors and such. Maybe a color analysis is needed. It would be nice if something like that is done for the old school dolls at like a convention or something.

 

Most of my collection consists of dolls from the years 2000 to 2014, including Old Dollshe, Domuya, CustomHouse, and Volks. Well, maybe not old-school in the strictest sense, but they are definitely not as modern-looking as many newer dolls. I love my stylized folks.

 

I just recently got a Kid Delf from 2013, definitely on the cusp of old school I feel but I adore him nonetheless. I appreciate how stylized older sculpts are, and I would love to someday own a Volks Kohaku!!

 

Old-school aesthetic fan here!! While I can admire more "modern" / "realistic" dolls out there, I like my dolls looking like dolls

 

I envy those who are strictly into one type of doll. I really enjoy both old school dolls and new dolls, really! Though my favorite dolls will always be classic CP Delfs.

 

I'm 100% a fan of the older dolls (specifically Volks) and my entire collection is all older dolls. For me it reminds me of when I first started collecting (prior to my hiatus) and the nostalgia for me is top tier.

Now if a newer version came out would I trade for the newer one? Probably not. But thats just me.

 

I love going back and searching for "vintage" BJDs from various companies that existed "back then" in the secondhand market, mainly to see if I could find any Grail dolls I am still hunting for. My husband and I have a decent collection of dolls from 2006/2007 to now so it is interesting seeing the evolution of our doll collection especially how the older versions of certain dolls compare to their more recent versions. Some I prefer the newer version, but others I definitely prefer the older version.

My best friend and her husband started in the hobby around the same time as us but they took a break due to life and a kid. So when we talk about dolly stuff she would mention dolls or companies that she was thinking of trying to buy from now and I'm like, "Oh dear...I think that doll/company no longer exists now..." It's surreal as there were certain dolls and companies that we thought would always be there, especially when it felt like there were years that those companies/dolls dominated the scene here. But it also tickles my elder BJD owner heart when a newbie on here asks for certain vintage dolls of yore and other sage elder BJD owners informed them kindly that such dolls have been Grail dolls for many years now (10-20 years).

I miss seeing Volks YoSDs in the wild as they seem to be around less and less when my husband and I go to in-person events, but I'm love seeing the "new" Volks DearSDs, ICONs, and the newer DDs. It actually warms my heart when I see familiar BJD owners and their favorite old school dolls still around along with their newer ones.

I take frequent breaks from the forums, especially after getting a new doll. So whenever I come back, I'm like, "Wait...that company is banned now?! Wait...those dolls are no longer sold?! Wait...who is still around now?" Hahaha. I just discovered that Luts Baby Delf line is no longer available as of December of last year and it makes me regret not getting one (or more) sooner as I just always assumed it would be available when I was ready for it as it didn't seem that long ago when they first came out. There are so many amazing new Luts dolls, but I do have a nostalgia for the older ones that my friend used to have or wanted. I love that Iplehouse still has links to their Themed doll collections as it brings me back to certain dolly eras, but it also makes me regret not buying certain dolls back then even though they have amazing dolls available now. I regret not saving a very specific ad for Nobility Doll LIE in an all black outfit as it was one of the first ads for BJDs I ever saw and I only saw that doll once in the wild in that specific outfit and I envy that owner to this day. I think CP Delf Shine was the closest to the aesthetic of Nobility Doll LIE but again...too little too late.

But yes...those old school sculpts and aesthetics will always have a special place in my heart even with the option of buying something new and of the latest trends.

 

Count me in as a big fan of BJD's with old school aesthetics. I was fortunate to have entered the BJD hobby back in 2007 when companies such as Luts, Volks and Dream of Doll were the most popular brands. Hahaha, I remember the joy of finally owning Luts Delf El (both open and dreaming) as well as having the opportunity to buy DoC Petsha second-hand.

While realistic body-to-head proportions are more popular in recent times, I still am charmed by the larger head sculpts of Luts (ie. Chiwoo, Shiwoo, etc).

 

I am definitely on the old school bandwagon, the few purchases I’ve made recently are for “vintage” heads or dolls back when I started in the hobby in 2007. Volks mostly.

I do love the big heads! But some of the newer switch heads appeal to me- like Dojin and Soseo.

The one drawback I noticed is trying to find clothes for my SD10 & SD13. I wish more companies still catered to them….

 

Old school Volks bobbleheads with big old alien eyes are my jam. Old SD-F-07 is my fav (like, I want one in every color kind of fav) but I also have recently finally welcomed home SD-F-32 from her short FCS window! I admired her for over a decade. Other old sculpts I love and hope to own someday are MSD F-12/Miisha, Rose/Bianca/Momoko, Ran, and Ushiwakamaru. I also fixed up a super crusty YoTenshi Yuki a while back, and have a Volks D head that needs some TLC!

 

I double-checked release dates, and I must be an old-school fan, because my most recent doll (purchase) is also my most recent (release), and he came out in 2013 (Claude the Prince). My first doll, a Shiro Tachibana first release, is old enough to drink hahah (released 2003). Almost every one of my dolls is pre-2009. I started around 2004 and had a hobby hiatus, but I've gotten two dolls since then, and they're 12 and 14 years old. I do see some new (and just newer) dolls that I think are beautiful and I appreciate newer styles, but I haven't seen any I've really strongly "clicked" with; and I have wondered about how they'd fit in with my old school Volks crew, too. I guess I'm hung up on an older aesthetic! I am hoping to update faceups to be a little more "modern," since I still love their sculpts, but makeup styles have changed some. Most don't have their company faceups, so I can update them without any pang of guilt over messing with the classics.

I also love seeing older molds I never owned, like Luts Chiwoo, Shiwoo and El, it feels like seeing old friends!

 

Yeah. Compared to the earlier years, most of the good male clothes nowadays cater to the uncle sizes.

 

@Feli-chen I really love some of the older Volks sculpts, namely SD-F-16 and SD-F-33.

 

They're probably not dolls I would want in my own collection at this point just because my personal preference has changed so much over the years, but I looooove seeing old school dolls. There's something so special about seeing the dolls that got you to fall in love with this hobby in the first place, perhaps way before you could even think about affording the hobby like in my case! I've been lucky enough to see some of those dolls in person (Chiwoo, a couple of Chi Dollfies, and quite a few Dream of Doll sculpts!), and I really appreciate everyone who brings these dolls to conventions and meetups.

 

I love old school sculpts! While I've gathered them only over the last few years I've been actually active in the hobby, the larger half of my collection is early-00s dolls I still remember from my teenage years - I think my SDC Kaede is the oldest resin I have, with 2004 engraved in the headplate, the oldest mold I have is probably MSD Myu (2002, cast in 06). I love the huge eyes/sharp nose/big noggin combo a lot, there's something so charming about it - I think it's mostly fueled by nostalgia but they don't make them like they used to, don't they?

Here's a group pic of my oldies:


I love seeing old DoD and CP/Luts dolls as well, it's so nice to see how loved they still are.

 

Classic CP love forever! Wish they’d sell them again.