How did your doll arrive? (A packaging discussion!)

Well, I didn't open aidan myelf, first. It was a urprise for me, and my mom wanted to make ure everything was there before she put him back in the box for me to open.

When I opened aidan, he was on his side in the fetal position, andwiched between two cushions. He arrived in a coffin shaped box!If I ever get a vampire / gothy doll, you know where the bed is.

I can't quite remember three years ago, but His head may have been wrapped in bubble-wrap. He did have a broken pinky finger, because it was jutting out from a bubble-flaw in the resin. Happydoll quickly sent me a new set of hands. (Of different resin. I think I bought Aidan right when everyone was switching to pureskin, and they had no oldskin hands left. Doesn't matter, though. You can't only see the match close-up.) Not only did I get an extra hand and keep the broken hand, someone (Liria? I don't know) Slipped in two korean keychains. They were made out of a soft rubbery substance and each one was a lady in the traditional Korean kimono-thing.

Back on topic, I think most companies have stepped up their packaging procedures since the old two-cushion fashion. Still, aside from the finger, which happens often, Aidan came with no major or minor damage from shipping. Natural resin flaws, yeah. But he's fiiiiine.

 

My Lishe came wrapped from head to foot in bubble wrap (took me about half an hour to get that off!) and was also sandwiched between too cushions. She came in her original box which had also had the bubble wrap treatment (inside and out!) which was then surrounded by oodles of thick corrugated paper, then placed in a bigger box and wrapped in brown paper.

Honestly, when I tried getting through that, I was beginning to think it was some kind of never opening magic box. I was quite close to hacking at it with some scissors ^^;

 

I got my Heath directly from Volks by mail. The Heath box was packed in a regular cardboard box that fit it exactly, no padding. There was no bubble wrap anywhere inside, not even on his hands. ops: Just the two white cushions, a face cover, and a strip of soft foam tucked inside the face cover. But he was shipped by domestic mail within the country. Maybe it's taken for granted that a simple "Fragile/this side up" sticker is enough for Japanese mail service. And perhaps here it is... At any rate, my doll arrived in perfect condition.

 

I have yet to order a full doll. But Clovers head arived in a little plastic bag completely ingulfed in bubble wrap. It was so thick you couldn't even see what was inside. The shipping box was a little dinged up. But not scarily so, just the edges were a bit pushed in and the slip on top was wrinkley. The box is at least three times his size and was FILLED with bubble wrap. XD

 

My CP Chiwoo, who I ordered from luts, was also sandwiched between two cushions, and only his head, hands and extra head was bubblewrapped, he came here perfect though ^^

 

Himeno, my SD13 Cyndy I, was shipped from Japan by whoever bought her at Dolpa. She was safely shipped in a sturdy outer cardbord box, and arrived in pristine condition. Oddly enough I don't remember if her hands and feet were bubble wrapped and her face had a face guard or not... Well, I was busy with unpacking my very first SD, I suppose...! :grin:

Yume, my SD Megu, arrived in The Frankenstein Box, befitting her quite adventerous journey to me I suppose... For those of you who haven't heard the story: I bought Yume from YJ, and due to the seller mixing up the auction with another auction my shopping service mistakenly shipped her to another customer, and that person tried to keep her by denying having recieved her...!
The Frankenstein Box looked like this: the outer shell was two medium cardbord boxes, fixed together with copious amount of tape to accomodate a decrepid old golden Volks' LE box and loads of crumpled newspaper as padding between the outer and inner box. Inside the gold box there was one (!) futon under Yume, on top of her was liberal amounts of folded bubble wrap.
She was neatly wrapped around head and hands with bubble wrap - her feet were protected by the pantyhose and shoes she was wearing. Despite the unorthodox box and her ardorous journey, she was in perfect condition!

 

When I got Fumiki (CP Ani Boy) he has sandwiched in between two pillows (all I could see were his little blue eyes peeping out--it was so cute :grin: He had bubble wrap around his head (not across his face, though), bubble wrap around his hands and his legs were rubberbanded together with more bubble wrap around the knees.

I don't remembter if Hikaru (AR Jade) was mummified or not--he came with pillows...I don't think he was completely wrapped up either.

 

my tiffees inner box was wrapped in bubble wrap, on the inside there was two cushions and she was inbetween them with bubblewrap only around her hand. She had no rptection of her face/head. I ordered her without a faceup so I guess they felt like she didn't need any protection there. She was perfectly alright and nothing was damaged..

 

Lets see, Cutie delf head was wrapped in bubble wrap and then tissue in the original box, that was wrapped in brown paper (bought off e-bay). Ttroy head and hands where bubble wrapped and packed with foam peanuts in the original box that was put snuggly inside another box. My MSD body was wrapped in bubble wrap, padded, and in the original box that was inside another box wth more padding (also off e-bay)

The only danage was a *tiny* chip on the back of the neck, but that had nothign to do with the shipping its self, since the body had no head, the S hook bit the resin, but it niether show with the head on nor is it the sort of chip that would make her neck weaker.

 

Odette was in the traditional 'mummy' form, or which-end-is-up form sandwhiched between the two gold DOD Pillows... DOD is pretty picky with their packaging, so she arrived safe and sound in her carry bag. I had seen this many times before in arrival stories, so I wasn't suprised...

Adelais, meanwhile, was! I hadn't seen a KidDelf Opening story before, so I just kept getting suprised! The box was cardboard,and tucked VERY tightly in the mailing box... I opened it up, white pillow... I was kinda suprised- no papers at all. Hmm. anyway, I lifted up the pillow, he was curled up from the crazy-legs... His hands and face were wrapped, and that's it.... I was shocked, considering Odette took me like... 10 minutes to get the bubble wrap off... All I had to do for Adee was pretty much pull one end and it slid off. O.o

 

Let's see...Lucien, direct from Volks FCS, came with his hands and feet wrapped in bubble-wrap, and his face covered with that face mask; he was sandwiched between two pillows. Stefan was a kit, so all his bits were packed together in a bag that was with all his other separates (wig, eyes) in between two pillows. His head was separate from his body bits.

I got Shouko's Custom House body from another member locally, and she brought the body to me in person, she was just in the box in between two pillows. Her Volks pureskin body was shipped to me second-hand, I don't think A.J. ever took off the bubble wrap from the hands and feet as it was from Volks, and she was "mummified" and packed very safely in a large (not-Volks) box.

When we shipped off the Custom House body I'm pretty sure we wrapped the hands and feet and then mummified the body before popping it between the two pillows. (Not sure, though; I'd have to ask Kuwamiko, who does all the package-preparing.)

We received Rowan with no bubble wrap whatsoever - but his (HUGE) DollShe Bermann box was packed very safely inside a larger cardboard box, and he himself was in between two pillows in his cedar box. There was damage to the cedar box but none to him.

We received Elrick from another member and he was mummified and buried in peanuts.

None of our dolls were ever damaged in transit, thankfully. I think they were all shipped with care. I hear things can happen even when the seller or company is very careful.

 

I can't remember...I knew I should've taken photos of him when he arrived ^^; I know that he wasn't wrapped up. He was nekkid. He came in a regular cardboard box and when I opened that, there was bubblewrap around the black AngelRegion box. When I opened it up, Nuriko had stuff surrounding him--clothes and wig in packages and he had his purple pillows. The only damage he got from not being wrapped up was that his eyelashes were a bit loose.

 

Nai's original head(Elf Ani): Wrapped in bubblewrap, tucked into a small box with the space filled up with bubblewrap, in an outer box. Direct from Luts.

Nai's original body(Kid Delf Boy): Hands and feet wrapped in bubblewrap, tucked between two pillows, I don't remember the box. Direct from Luts.

Lutz: Hands, heads and feet wrapped in bubblewrap, a sheet of bubblewrap wrapped around his thighs. Two pillows, outer box just plain cardboard with no padding but very secure as the flaps on the inside folded specially to keep it firmly in place. Direct from Luts.

Ephram: Wrapped in tissue paper and that weird thin foam stuff Volks uses, tucked into a plastic box thingie like optional heads used to come in, then padded with newspaper in a cardboard box. From Y!J via Rinkya.

Elly: Bubblewrapped head and hands, bubblewrap around legs, dressed, between cushions, in an outer box. From a DoA member in Korea.

Alisa(AR Elly UFK): In plastic baggies with some bubblewrap around them in an outer box that came mostly squished(Parts unharmed, though). Direct from Angel Region.

Lukas: Bubblewrapped hands and feet, head in the face protector+foam dealie, wrapped entirely in another big 'ol sheet of the foam stuff, between two pillows in a really sturdy box in an exactly fitting outer box. From Volks via Domuya.

Red: Bubblewrapped hands and feet, the usual face protector dealie, between cushions in a box in another, larger box with lots of little styrofoam flowers in it. From a DoA member in Sweden.

Nai: Bubblewrapped hands and feet. Face protector/foam dealie, wrapped in the sheet of foam thingie, between pillows, outer box. From a DoA member in the US.

 

Oi. Looks like I'm the only one with a bad experience so far. :\

Be careful ordering Serendipity dolls new. Charlotte arrived in her box with no protection whatsoever. There were ribbons keeping her securely strapped to the bottom of the box, but no face plate, pillows, or bubble wrap. Her headcap and wig popped off in transit, and her ears were rattling around in the bottom of the box. It was scary as hell when I opened the box, because the headcap was off and her head was turned around backwards, so all I saw was a cute body and SCARY ALIEN HEAD INTERIOR! :cry: The only damage she got, though, was a bit of blush rubbed off of her cheek. So it ended well. Still, it's disappointing.

If they don't change that packing method, however, my next Serendipity girl is going to be bought secondhand from a DoA member. I bought Aegis' CH body from a member via eBay, and it arrived beautifully packed. It was wrapped in layers and layers of bubble wrap and packed in the CH box with pillows. Just fabulous.

 

I've bought second hand dolls and new dolls.

All the second hand dolls I've purchased have come in the "mummy" wrap. Head to toe. They've been comfortably cushioned inside their box and that box had been bubble wrapped and placed into a BIGGER shipping box. Usually, the shipping box gets pretty banged up in transit (at least this has been my case twice), but the doll has always arrived intact and without a blemish. =)

As for new dolls, my Luts dolls always arrived with bubble wrap on their feet, hands and heads. Volks put a plastic cover over my Megu's face, and wrapped her feet and hands in bubble wrap. Luts also put bubble wrap over the doll's box and then put that box into another shipping box.

Serendipity doesn't go through as many precautions. Their dolls are packed in VERY thick boxes and then put inside a shipping box (which is sooo tight it doesn't allow for extra packaging materials). The inside of both my girls boxes had penuts (but maybe that's cuz they were both LE? I dunno), and the dolls themselves were tied securely into the doll box.

I know that Gothiclibrarian had her LE Black Dream Sharmin chipped in transit (on the head in near the neck), but Serendipity replaced the head.

Those are my experiences. I've never had a problem with dolls getting to me in one piece. Also, when I send dolls, I bubble wrap the CRAP outta them, and then have their boxes professionally packaged for safe shipping.

 

Erik came like a lot of heads: wrapped up in tons of bubble wrap, in an old optional head box, then securely packed in the shipping box. I bought him from another DoA member.

PherretLord's stuff directly from Luts arrived in the usual fashion: the heads and hands bubble wrapped and secure in their little red boxes, and then when we got a body, it was between its pillows, with the feet and hands wrapped. The box was a bit roughed up, but not too badly.

Rei: This was a bit nerve-wracking. He'd been delayed in customs, and so when he got here, the box looked considerably worse for wear. I opened it up, and there was plenty of paper in there, and just the soft-sided Dollshe bag. I was very worried until I got the bag opened and the pillows removed. His hands, feet, and head were thoroughly covered in bubble-wrap, and he was fine. But it was a bit scary, seeing that squashed box, and knowing that unlimited Hounds come in soft bags.

 

When I got my Lune from Souldoll, he was about five days late. He'd been routed through New York when most of mine go through St. Louis (I think!). When I got the box, it was pretty banged up. I heard a rattle. Not good. The headcap's magnets pulled loose in shipment (or as I hold, customs drop kicked him) and the heavy headcap was wobbling around in the plastic cup protecting his face. He got a chunk out of his forehead, off his eyelid, makeup scratched off his eyelids, and makeup off his lips. Not something you could just sand out either. He'd been wrapped the same as my other dolls otherwise.

Souldoll has since started packaging the heads separately in attempt to save them from any kind of similar damage.

My message on this: make sure that dolls with magnetic headcaps are secured properly.

 

chi ( soulkid tiffee ) came in a big box, in two pieces - body and head seperate. his head came bubble-wrapped in a little container, and his body had bubblewrap only on his hands, but was in two big flooshy cushions. the box itself was wrapped up in bubblewrap, which amused me slightly...

 

Cadence: She was a UFK from Angelregion. The box was a little beaten up, but the contents were intact. Cady arrived in pieces (obviously) with various parts grouped in little plastic bags and surrounded by lots of bubble wrap. Her head came in a hard clear plastic container.

Tambre: She was bought from a DoA member at the Marketplace. She arrived in a humongous sturdy box. Inside that box was a gorgeous black Angelregion box that was NOT the standard Basic Kit box. (It was tons better!) Tam was sandwiched between two doll pillows and her whole body was mummy-wrapped in bubble paper.

Aislinn: She was bought through DollsAndFriends.com. She arrived in a large packing box. Inside was a pretty floral-printed Souldoll box with a gold foil butterfly on the lid. When I opened the box, there was a layer of bubble wrap before the pillows. Linna was sandwiched between two polka-dot print doll pillows, with bubble wrap on her hands.

 

The dolls I get through Masamichi at Crescent Shop are mummied up and have face protectors on.

Dolls directly from Volks were wrapped on their hands and feet, and had face protectors.

The MSD Ken I bought from Doll and Hobby a couple of years ago came with just his pillows. xP

My LJ from Custom House came wrapped in bubble wrap.. I can't remember if there was a face cover or not.

 

my little nari-pon which i ordered through luts came in a box with ANOTHER cardboard box inside of it that was wrapped in bubblewrap that held the metal case that she sleeps in. she wasn't wrapped up; but she was inside a small plastic baggy like the other things in her metal box. the metal box has foam cushioning and she wasn't damaged in the least. i think she had a really safe little trip.

 

My Hewitt arrived with bubble wrapped hands and a face protector. But then, his box was bubble wrapped, and inside another larger box, and packed with newspapers.

My Chamomile's box came the same way, and inside it, he was completely mummified, with extra bubblewrap around his hands.

And my Suzuna, who I bought second-hand, her box came the same way, and inside she was totally mummified, and inside the bubble-wrap mummy, she had the extra face protector. *laughs*

Mine are ridiculously well protected, it seems.

 

Mine is an AR doll ordered from Dollmore. He came in the AR basic kit box, with bubble wrap surrounding it outside in a bigger box. My doll was held down by plastic ringlets, some of which had torn itself out from the bottom of the box where they were pinned down. He was facing FACE-DOWN in the box and I was so afraid that he had damaged his face or something (the ring holding his neck had come out so the head had done a weird turning thing). The wig was bouncing around the box above his head.

So I guess I can conclude that AR basic kit box packaging might induce heart-attacks. ops:

 

I got an AR Ren from dollsandfriends.com

The mailman DROPPED him, and I about had a heartattack.
But everything was just fine, after cutting open the mailing box and opening the doll box, it was PACKED full of bubblewrap, so Ko was just fine n _n
It tooka few minutes to actually get him out, due to all of it @ 3@

 

My Jerome was given I think the mummy treatment and wrapped head to foot in bubblewrap. He didn't have any head protection tho. I think Doya opened him up to check that everything was okay before sending him to me, because the top half of his bubblewrap wasn't taped together. Then sandwiched between two pillows and packed in his Blue Fairy box. Despite the lack of head protection, his face up his fine and he didn't have any eyelashes to get smashed.

 

http://www.livejournal.com/users/tsuminaki/20116.html

That's how my DES came. ^^ Outer box a little dinged, no full body wrap but it was all right...but she had a teensy cracky line in her wrist.

 

My Toppi from doll and hobby came with no protective bubble at all I was a bit shocked when I opened her box. Like another Toppi owner I had seen that posted in the gallery she arrived in exactly the same position, fetus style on her side with her legs up and one arm positioned over her head. Her face cover had shifted to off her face and protecting her ear

It was a moment of shock and then as I took her out with great care and moved her face protector off with bated breath I found she was in perfect unchiped condition. It could have been much worst. I think all ball jointed doll should have the hands and feet bubble wrapped at a minimun. The face protectors are pretty scary as they have sharp edges perfect for scatching the doll they are great if they don't shift but if they do!

My Isao who also came from Doll and Hobby arrived with a broken finger I can't remember if he had wrapping on his hands or not.

My kaede I got directly from volks had bubble on her hands and feet. Not sure why Toppi didn't.

 

I bought my El-Special second hand from the Marketplace here on DoA. He came to me in the original packaging (the blue doll box inside the outer brown Luts shipping box). The doll itself was wrapped head to toe in a sheet of bubble wrap and the sleeping head was wrapped seperatly in its own bubble wrap. Both were placed between two pillows. The only thing that bothered me was that Customs had opened the outer shipping box from the bottom and then put the blue doll box back in upsidedown. I'm glad the pillows were in there because they fit tight enough that the doll and head did not shift around.

 

Aiden was in a red box. He had a bigger outer box and the red one was wrapped in bubble wrap. His head hands and feet were wrapped in bubble wrap. The red box was pushed to one side and there was brown paper or newspaper in two of the corners, and inbetween and wrapped was his wig and shoes. The extra sleeping head was wrapped as well.

Mike...I can find the link for his box opening if you want, or just link to the pictures themselves.

 

Theron (Isao) - from Haute Doll, not a damn piece of bubblewrap anywhere, only his futons and face protector I guess that explains the broken finger Also, nothing between the box and the shipping container, so I made a small slice in the sticker attached to the box.

Simi (DES) - 2nd hand from Janne, best wrapping job ever: mummified with futons. (pictures on my site). Box in excellent condition, in peanuts IIRC.

Inara (Nara) - from Luts, head, knees and hands securely bubblewrapped, with futons. Would have preferred a face protector though ops: (pictures on my site) Box in excellent condition, either in peanuts or newspaper, I forget.

Soah - from Shop4DollsandBears, perfect! Molded deep foam, with two extra layers on top. Peanuts between doll box and shipping container. (Her body has since made it's way to Australia)

Kun - from Volks, face protector, futons bubblewrapped around the body, body bubblewrapped around the torso and hands. Box was in great condition, in plastic wrap and newspaper. I was very pleased, since my other Volks delivery had left me a little apprehensive.

 

Looking like a candy, just like any other DOD XDDD - both were very well warped

 

i bought my SD Megu from volks. she came in the usual pinkish cardboard box. i think her hands a feet were bubble wrapped, she had a face protector too (she came while i was sleeping )

 

Yeah, my DoD pair came with bubble wrap gloves & boots, then completely wrapped in bubble wrap, then wrapped in their cushions & tied with ribbons like candy, then placed in their carry bag & that in a double-thick corrugated cardboard box.

The only doll that arrived damaged was my version 1 Hound--he'd been put face down at some point, so his headcap had come off--the rabbet joint version headcap comes off very easily, and the headcap attacked him inside four layers of bubble wrap and chipped him so the headcap doesn't stay on.
My Dollshe Salubia also had her headcap come off, but it did not damage her.

Ann in CT

 

In a box, and in the box was a bag,and in the bag was two cushions, and inbetween those cushions was a bubble wrapped mummy, and in the bubble wrapped mummy was my boy.


He was in perfect condition. No battle scars.

 

I got all of mine straight from a company as new.

I've only sold one BJD to someone, and I made sure to wrap her exactly as she had arrived to me, in her original box.

 

My CP Ani (QiXa) came like this:
(just 'cause I didn't feel like typing it all out. ops:




The box looked a bit worn, but hey- it came to Texas from Korea, so it was in better shape than I thought it would be- and QiXa was perfect and unharmed in any way.

I still remember that warm feeling I got seeing her looking at me for the first time- so warm and happy inside...I had no idea a doll could ever make me feel that way.
I had a dolly high and I can't wait to get my next doll.

 

Soye's head and hands were wrapped in bubblewrap. She was put in a big CH Ai box with cushions in the front and back.

 

Eiji (CP Yder) arrived with his hands, feet, head, knees and torso wrapped up with bubble wrap. in a standard CP blue box, 2 pillows... inside another Luts cardboard box that said Corea on the side. XD Sorry, i find the romanji typo of 'corea' in place of Korea amusing. ^_^

I got him directly from Luts, so no second hand yder here. ^_^ The outer/inner boxes were both in great condition when he arrived, as was Eiji. No bad experiences here. :3 *crosses finger* here's hopeing i never HAVE a bad experience too. o.o

Come to think of it... Eiji looked rather like a bubble wrap poodle when i first saw him. o_o

 

THAT is exactly how my former Shiwoo came! Same pose and all!!

Juyoku came like any other DoD except I was a little frightened by the way one end of his shipping box looked like an accordian (sp!? ^^'') and one side had a large hole in it (enough to see the carrier through it and tell that it was indeed some kind of hand bag if you didnt know it WAS a carrier) That would all be shippings fault though >> All that bubble wrap and pillows came in handy^^ Juyoku was perfect (still is &#9829

 

Most of my dolls have come very well packaged - bubble wrap like crazy, around hands, feet, limbs, entire body, box.

Well, sometimes a box. Justyn's body, for whatever the reason, came without the Volks box. Now, I know he had a Volks box originally (should've been a gold Tohya box), but I never for a moment considered that the body would arrive without that box. Instead he was wrapped in some bubble wrap, cushioned with newspaper, and sent in a regular cardboard shipping box. I've dubbed it his "ghetto box", since he doesn't have a "real" box like my other four. (Anyone feel like giving up a gold box for him? XD)

Then there was Vincynt... He had his Kohya box all right, and he was very carefully wrapped, but there was no external cardboard shipping box. Instead, his Volks box was just bundled up in a white Volks shopping bag and mailed that way. I was sure he was going to be smashed to bits without the second box, but he was in perfect condition. Had quite a scare when I got the package from the post office, though.

 

Guessing he came from Nagao?
My SD Sara, Sorcha came that exact way....I almost p*ssed myself when I picked her up at the Post Office. I thought she'd be shattered head to toe for sure. She was ok, too.

Most of mine have arrived bubble wrapped.
The funniest was the Kohya I got direct from the Volks after event.....he showed up with silver "O" rings where his hands should be. They had removed his hands and bubble wrapped them separately. I was so panicked I didn't see the split in the "O" ring where I was supposed to take it off and attach the hands to the elastic.


Michelle

 

yume_jp on eBay? Yes. Seeing the Volks bag was cute; seeing it as the only thing between his box and the outside world was not so cute. =~_~=

 

Kaien & Yashin both came from Domuya - which means they were basically directly from Volks. ^^
They had their FCS boxes fit very snugly inside larger cardboard boxes and they both had the facial masks and the pillows and everything, but I think only Kaien had the bubblewrap around his hands and feet, and he came first. o_o I (very fortunately) recieved no broken fingers or anything. I know some people about a year before me had those problems with fcs dolls.

Nova came second hand - Unoa box inside cardboard box with tons of bubble wrap in the package, and paper and such stuffed in there to keep her secure and safe. ^^ (thank you Lyn. X3 )

 

!! My Kurenai from yume_jp was wrapped to a fair-thee-well. fwiw.


Ann in CT

 

That makes me feel much more relaxed..my cousin is having a hard time finding a box to ship my boy in, nice to know Volks boys are so tough :grin:

 

My first Volks girl arrived between her cusions, in her box inside a slightly larger box added by the shopping service. When she got here, she was all scrunched up down the bottom corner, with her torso 180 degrees out from the rest of her. I didn't take a picture - it wasn't particularly nice to look at.

Successive Volks girls have either been kitform, or packed better. I guess Volks does put in extra packing for international sales, like that plastic head dome that they usually SELL for around $10. Their site says the same valuse that goes to local taxes is used for international packaging. I guess they really mean it.

Soony had extra bits of bubble wrap in her box that were meant to be around her hands, but weren't.

As for second hand, I've had them arrive mummified in huge boxes, down to snuck into a box that somehow, despite the tiny box side, the doll/head actually fit.

Ken