Dollieh Sanctuary

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who warmly greeted me in my intro post, as well as a warm hello to the rest of you whom I've yet to meet. Like I mentioned in the post, I'm mostly a 1/6 scale collector, sticking with brands like Monster High and Ever After High, the former being that which really interested me in dolls again. Well, not entirely, I've always looked at BJDS with a bit of a jealous eye, but that's neither here nor there till I get the money for one. More on that ... later.

In my intro post, I mentioned that a friend had made me an Obitsu doll last year, customised to look like Wednesday Addams, who happens to be one of my all time favourite fictional characters. There was a request to see pictures, and since she's really my only custom doll that have, I thought 'd share the two pictures I just took here on the Sanctuary because ... well, you people are lovely peoples.



(First of all, sorry if the picture is too large. I'm using tinypic for photo hosting and it doesn't offer a sizing down option. If anyone has recommendations for a better photo host, please tell me!)

Yes, here is Wednesday, in all her black and white glory. She, like her name-sake, is a rather sullen, quiet and sarcastic girl, with a deep passion for the dark and morbid. In the few stories she features in on my blog, Life in the Room, she's surprised me by actually making friends. And having an admirer, though admittedly that last part doesn't surprise me so much, she is a looker. But yes. As per ... this current moment of writing, she is my only Obitsu girl.

Which leads me to my possible idea. I want to make a character of my own, and I think I'd prefer to stick to the 1/6 scale because I'm a little wary - though incredibly tempted - by the bigger BJD sizes. I do have a rough idea of what I'd want this character - male - to look like, and I've done some pricing on Parabox to work out roughly how much I'd need. The character is actually fairly fixed in my head, being partially inspired by a book I've been reading for his name and general look, and personality just sort of slotting itself into place.

My big thing is, well apart from getting the money for him, is where would I find shoes for an Obtisu (slim) 27cm male? Also, possibly, though this isn't for the doll that I want to create, how would one go about selling off dolls? I think I'm getting to a point with some of my dolls where I'm not even sitting them out on rotation that much to admire, which upsets me as I think I still care for them, I just ... I can't even explain it. I just have to place them in storage and be done with it. I don't think this is fair to the dolls, to be honest, and I'd rather they go to people who would appreciate and care for them. So, yes, any advice would be readily accepted. And sorry to have waffled on for so long, I promise I don't ramble this much all the time.

werepuppy, hello there!!! I'm MeltedCaramel, but everyone around here seems to have shortened my name to "MC", so feel free to call me that.

First let me just say your Wednesday Adams custom is just incredible! Your friend is a talented customizer, and what an amazing gift to get!!!

Your male character....is there any way you could share a little more about him? You can always PM me if you feel it's a "private project", but I would be able to help much better if I knew a little more specifically about what I would need to point you to, and what the character is based off of, etc. You can always share that directly in the board too!! It all depends on your comfort level, but I wanted to put myself out there as offering whatever sources I can to help if you'd prefer a private discussion.

I tend to stick to the 1/6 size scale too, and as you can see, it's a swell place to be! Personally I find it offers the best of both worlds in terms of customization versus cost.

As for selling dolls...you would want to talk to Greyhaunt about that, and probably wait until you're a little more familiar with the forum until you start offering wares here. Since you're still a new member, you might not get as many bites as say, in a month or two after you've participated in discussions and joined the community here. Trust me, the time really flies here! But if you're looking for resources OFF of Dollieh Sanctuary to sell dolls...it really depends on what you're selling. Ebay would be a good choice, or it could be horrible, depending on what you want for them, what they are, etcetera.

I hope to see you become an active, loud and proud participant of the community, and I always welcome another 1/6 collector into the fold! (It's a nice place to be! )

Hey, MC. It's nice to meet you!

I really was very touched when she sent me Wednesday as a gift, and she'll probably stay one of my favourite dolls of all time, just because of the amount of thought that went into the gift. And I will pass on the compliments of her talents at customisations! That is, unless I manage to get her to come join the forum. She might, she's a doll collector as well.

Well, his name is going to be Morpheus, with a look like the similarly named character in the Splintered series, by A.G. Howard. Well, sort of. The look is something like this, but I'd likely put my own touches on it. Personality wise... I want to say he's vain, but that doesn't quite fit it. He's well aware that he's attractive, but doesn't really consider that his defining feature. It's odd, his personality is very clear in my head, though I can't quite seem to find the words to write it all down.

Yes, the 1/6 scale world does seem like a great place to be!

Ah, yes, thank you for that information. I'm not looking to do anything right away, but rather consider options for when it's 'time'. I have a feeling it may be sooner than I originally thought when I first got the dolls. (Again; mostly MH. Thinking Ebay might be my best bet for dealings).

I hope to become as active as I can possibly be! And thank you for the kind welcome!

I like your doll. I only do 1/6 as it's much easier to deal with size and money wise for me.

Nice to meet you too werepuppy!!

Thank you for sending on the compliments to the customizer! :> Although she's always welcome to come here and take the compliments herself!! Just a warning: This place gets addicting. Since joining I've added about six new "spontaneous" customs to my list, which are all going at a snail's pace because of my various health issues. Sometimes it feels like I'll never finish one to show the darn board! XDD

I've never read the Splintered series by A.G. Howard (though now I might X3), but correct me if I'm wrong...he seems to have a bit of a "Mad Hatter" vibe going on in the picture you showed me? If you have more character/clothes information I can point you in better directions (if it's extremely specific like in the photo your best bet is to go with a seamstress, I can PM you a few I'm friends with and that I trust to do a good job...I don't publicly post their links not because of DS members, any of whom I'd gladly direct them to if asked, but because DS is a public board that non-members can surf with ease and I don't want to be the cause for my friends' relatively small and manageable businesses to suddenly explode with orders for such-and-such). And also, we've established he's going to be an Obitsu 27 slim male correct? For a pretty boy I'd use Parabox's Ares head to modify. It can be done with paint or you can buy the eyeless version and get acrylic eye chips and send him (or attempt it yourself) somewhere for a faceup. I personally recommend painting, but that's just my own preference.

His personality...maybe you're trying to say he's extremely self confident? That he knows others find him attractive but he himself isn't vain about it? Try and explain his personality the best you can werepuppy!! Don't be afraid, I don't bite! It would just help me visualize this guy a lot better. Just start with a few basic question-and-answer type things that you'd ask someone:

Is he...

Heterosexual/bisexual/homosexual, and do any of these play a role in how he dresses/acts? (I ask this first only because I notice dollieh sexuality is much more lax (THANK GOD) than society norm, and sometimes a guy dressed up like a dandy is straight as an arrow and I like to be direct with my questions to avoid a faux paus later by assuming something based on appearances.)

His name: Purely coincidence, or does his backstory/storyline interweave with the popular myth of Morpheus, and if so, how?

How does he act towards a stranger when first meeting them? Is he direct and confident, shy, does he always act as if he's hiding a secret purely for the pleasure of knowing something someone else doesn't?

What does he do for a job? Anything? If not, why not?

Does he have a backstory or personal motivation he's aspiring to? If so, what is it?

Etc....Just ask yourself about him and write down what you think best fits Morpheus.

We'll get him figured out yet, no problem!!

You're welcome for the kind welcome werepuppy!! I'll always be here to help within the best of my ability!!! <33

@maywong Thank you very much. I like her dearly.

@MC Lol, I promise that the next time she is online - work keeps her busy - I will be shoving the link of the Sanctuary at her, and raving about how nice an atmosphere it is, and how lovely the people are. It's so easy to get caught up in the idea of different customs, I think. You can plan out so many more than you can actually make, for whatever reason. I am determined to save up the money to make Morpheus, however.

Speaking of my boy... In the books, he's actually more like the Caterpillar, except that doesn't really fit entirely. It does make a lot more sense if you read the books, which... Actually, are kind of what I thought a Burton Wonderland would be like. Very dark, and full of twists and turns. I do recommend the series, it's really quite enjoyable.

Regarding the clothes, while I think I'd like something exactly like the cover, I'm quite happy with giving it my own spin until I can afford a seamstress. He might just make do with a plain suit, that I can possibly customize myself. I'm not awful with a needle and thread, not brilliant, but not awful.

I had already done my pricing using the Ares head that had the painted eyes, because I don't know if I'm confident enough yet to do eye insertion, but I can look up and see if it would work out cheaper that way. The Ares head has the right type of look for my boy, and it was my first choice, so I'm glad someone else agrees ^^

Oh yes, he is extremely self-confident, and vaguely mysterious. Annoyingly when I try to 'ask' him about his personality, he just smirks at me. As to his sexuality ... he's fascinated by another character in my head (the daughter of a star and a Prince of Faerie) but further than that, he's not disclosing. Sorry, I realize how unhelpful this must all sound. I'm getting a bit irritated with his non-answers, myself. I think he does have some ability of dream manipulation, but I haven't decided to what extent yet. Well, more to the point, he hasn't told me to what extent yet. He does seem to have a thing about helping with more vicious nightmares, though. He has a general magic about himself, but keeps the full scope of his powers to himself. I hope this is helpful in some way.

I really hope to have the money saved up by summer at least to get him. I need between ... let's say £70 - £80. I know that's probably really ... inexpensive compared to how much some people can pay out for their dolls, and if they can afford to do that, then that's genuinely fantastic for them. I just ... can't afford that much at the moment. Until I can, I'll keep planning.

werepuppy XDD, it's starting to sound like a mandatory requirement to read these books to help you out, but I'll do my best without!! My current "specialty" (aka my Works In Progress) are all anime characters that have never gotten the dolly treatment for one reason or another. I have many original characters, but they're so fantastical that it would be nearly impossible to create them in the 1/6 scale!! I know as you go up in size the customizing options increase but I honestly feel most comfortable with myself, my skill level, and my dolls when they're 1/6!

As for a seamstress versus a regular suit, I know a seamstress team that would make you a custom suit in a fantastical colour like that (You'd just need better/more references for them) for around $30-50, which would be the average cost of a full suit for a 1/6 doll anyway. If you're interested, just PM me and I'll link you to them. Just remember they would need some kind of full body reference or guide. Then, since you're not bad with a needle and thread, you can add embellishments if you want! I could see a guy like this wearing a suit with bits of lace accented at the wrists and sparkling beds sewn in at various spots!

The Ares painted-on-eyes is cheaper, especially if you're okay with the pre-made colour. Speaking of: His hair and eye colour, what are they? And is he going to have a facial decoration like the cover of the book? (I apologize, I can't quite tell if that is supposed to be "fantastical tattoo" or "half mask decoration"). You may want to order the Ares head and a proper wig ASAP as Parabox is constantly going out of stock on wigs when you need them. (Of course they eventually re-stock, but there are a few wigs that seem to be permanently out of stock.) If so, you may have to factor in a faceup if you're uncomfortable doing it yourself. (I'd recommend SetsunaKou here on the board, her faceups are mainly anime though she does realistic as well and they're as flawless as factory faceups!! Plus she works for extremely low prices! Too low! Setsuna sells her talent short!)

Hmnnn, I think we're going to add "arrogant" to his personality profile here. As to his sexuality, if he's "fascinated" by both the daughter of a star and a fae prince, I'd say he's at least bisexual if not pansexual. :> Depends on how 'fantastical' fae would be considered (I assume we're speaking of fae like the Tuatha de Danann, not the disney "pixie in a bottle" look correct? ). So can I infer from your statements that while he may have a bit of a bad-boy swagger and enjoy being mysterious and contradictory that he's basically one of the good guys? You mentioned that he likes to help those who are having vicious nightmares. And I'm no stranger to characters who keep the full extent of their powers to themselves!! Beside the fact that it's practically fantasy cliche by now (hey, a cliche means it's worked an awful lot! XD) I have some characters for whom hiding what/who they are is a means of life and death.

...I'm terrible at conversion, be right back. Okay, so around a hundred dollars total to buy him? I think you could pull it off!!! I'll help with whatever I can!! Like I said, I can point you to a pair of seamstresses (the one I trust with my customs runs a bit more expensive but she's also my friend so I tend to give her first shot any time I need a custom outfit done, but I'm having an outfit done by this cheaper-priced shop personally so I'll be able to, within a week or two, vouch for their quality-for-price ratio directly to you.), and by the time you get everything together I might be doing faceups myself!! I've already promised a friend a faceup on the Ares face for a different character, so I'd have some knowledge of the face at least!

Anything more you can squeeze out of Morpheus would be greatly appreciated in the personality department, but for now I think working on his exact looks is the best idea! So, do you draw? Even if you don't, what do you see him wearing, does he carry any props/weapons/etc, what is his hair/eye colour, tattoos, markings, jewelry, etc!

@ MC Lol, it really isn't. My Morpheus isn't taking much from the book character apart from name and looks if I'm being honest here. I just like ... promoting books that I enjoy. Books are such good friends, after all. I do want to make a few anime character dolls myself, I feel like I need a Yankumi and Shin, and maybe a Sunako and Kyohei. Oh, and Makino and Domyoji, though I'd probably go for the JDrama look there.

Oh, thank you for that information. I've been looking around and I've found a pre-made suit that I'll likely get him for a 'mean-time' thing, but I will keep in mind the idea of a seamstress. I did go ahead and order the head and wig for him, and I need to go to a local art crafts store for an incoming head anyway, so I may try a face up design myself. I don't want it to look identical to the book, so just some swirly lines and dotted on jewel pieces would do me fine. Awesome to hear about the face-ups though, I'm so nervous about this incoming head (for the star girl character).

Yes, I suppose you're right, he's basically one of the good guys, but don't even say that to him he's probably find it a bit offensive . Thank you for offering all this help, and being so lovely as to sit and talk through the character with me. I will try to draw a face design for him, if I can. I know he does actually have some lace on his suit, so I'll be working on getting that sorted ><

Again: thank you!

Haha, nothing wrong with promoting a book you enjoy!! <3 I've got it on my 'to read' list. And Morpheus is a SUPER common name amongst the fantasy community so I highly doubt anyone is going to point at your doll and be like "YOU PLAGIARIST!" XDD As for his look, I would alter the facial tattoo slightly, perhaps moving it to the other side of his face or looking up tribal face tattoos as a design idea. The book cover looks like it's something either magically applied or is a decoration of some kind though so I think you're pretty safe there. When I first saw it I took it to be one of those things you could take on and off. So making Morpheus' a permanent tattoo would be good.

Oh, a quick tip, make sure the suit you found fits a 27 Obitsu slim male!! They're very hard to find clothes for. I know Parabox has a few suits up, but I remember one being really dark and the other being really light. As to the seamstresses, my offer is always open. I know a few of them and their different price points as well as the quality of their work. I have one who I would recommend to absolutely ANYONE looking for an amazing custom, and if you give her a picture she can mimic it, but her doing a full body 27cm suit would probably run you into the $60 range. But you do need to remember she would be doing a fully customized suit and she works with fabric paint as well. Have you thought about continuing the facial swirl design down into his suit? The look could be easily replicated with some fabric paint. I think a snappy dressed like that wouldn't be content with having a "normal" suit for too long X3 I could see it outlined in glitter and splashed with swirls!

And ahhh, what you just said gives me even more insight. He's naturally inclined to do good, but just don't tell him that! XDD He fancies himself mysterious and powerful and maybe even a bit scary, but he always ends up doing the right thing in the end....am I hitting on anything?

Oh, and I've had a wonderful time talking with you about the character!!! <333 I'd love to see a drawing of him when you have time werepuppy!! <3

Hope to hear from you!!

I know the facial tattoo is going to be on the other side of his face, and possibly over his eye a bit. It's a marking of his 'rank', or something like that. Not quite worked out the details in fine ... detail yet. Well,that felt a bit redundant. Also not sure whether to make it one colour, or several, but that'll need to wait until I get the paints and sealer and ... I have no idea what type of paints and sealer work on dolls. First time doing anything like this; I'm hoping my local craft stores might be able to help out.

I got the suit from a seller that was recommended for Obitsu on another forum. I suspect they'll be a little big baggy on, but Morpheus seems fine with that. Mostly he's very enchanted with the coat - which is plain at the moment - but has a 'fur' collar and is very long. He thinks it'll look dashing. I may continue the design down on to the coat with fabric paints, I was thinking of maybe jut doing the tattoo design on the sleeve of the coat; he may be quite fashionable, but Morpheus also wants to be seen as mysterious, and sometimes brightly designed and fantastic stuff like that can hinder that attempt. Or so he's telling me.

You're hitting on it quite well. The one other bit of info I've got out of him is that's he's a member of Selene's (star-girl, I think) family's court. In that he occasionally gets hired by her parents to do stuff they don't really want people knowing about. He gets to hang around and be himself most of the time, though he's probably not meant to be so fascinated by the Princess as he is.

I've had a wonderful time talking to you too. I don't think my drawing skills are up to much, but I hope to be able to do something.

I should mentioned that I did check my finances and I actually had more than I thought, so I've been able to buy the body and outfit for Morpheus as well, so I should have an in-progress version of him ... as soon as that stuff comes in.