Need help finding resources

[Bezyr]

Hello from somewhere in Canada!

If this post is better suited to another forum, I apologize in advance.
I am trying to find some information about dolls, but I can either not find what I'm looking for, or everything is poorly organized. My main interest now is learning about the different kind of dolls out there.

I am interested in vinyl dolls (or anything not resin I guess), but I am not interested in playline dolls (ex: Monster High).
From what I know, there are only a few dolls I can list: Obitsu/Azone, Dollfie Dream... And I'm stuck.

I'm assuming that these are the most popular vinyl dolls out there, but what others are there?

Is there some organized database that links to information about doll brands/manufacturers and doll releases?
I've been looking for an Azone site (like a fansite or forum) for instance, but all I can find is stores that sell Azone dolls. And to be honest, looking through sites like 1999 Hobby Search or even MyFigureCollection is just painful. I'm also having difficulty finding Flickr groups, but it seems like few people use the discussions feature on Flickr anyway.

Thanks in advance!

[Jobee]

Welcome to the Sanctuary! Vinyl dolls that look like the resin dolls are actually few and far between. When it comes to big dolls, resin is the majority. I personally love my Obitsu gal! Obitsus are great for posing and the vinyl is nice to touch. I recommend soft busts if you can choose. I highly recommend junkyspot.com, but Ebay's another good place to shop.

[Bezyr]

Welcome to the Sanctuary! Vinyl dolls that look like the resin dolls are actually few and far between. When it comes to big dolls, resin is the majority. I personally love my Obitsu gal! Obitsus are great for posing and the vinyl is nice to touch. I recommend soft busts if you can choose. I highly recommend junkyspot.com, but Ebay's another good place to shop.

Thanks for your post.
So I'm assuming there is no organized site linking to info about all the dolls out there? I'm looking for information, not sites to purchase dolls from, but it seems like the only place to get information for some dolls is from purchase sites.

[Jobee]

A database of aaaaaall the dolls? Your best bet would be Den of Angels then. It's a forum for ball-jointed dolls only, but a huge wealth of information about them. You might be able to learn what you seek without making an account. If you do make an account there, be patient. It takes a while for them to approve them.

[Wispalian]

Welcome! I'm not sure what style of dolls you are interested in, other than you would like vinyl to be the material. Since you listed Monster High as a vinyl doll, I'm guessing you are also open to plastic? I'm thinking you are looking for collector's dolls, as opposed to play line dolls, but that are made of resin. I'm not sure about the aesthetics you like(mainly Asian as opposed to more western fashion doll), so I'll just list all of the plastic/vinyl collector dolls I can think of. Uhh, let's see now. ^^;

There are Tonner Dolls, which are generally 1/4 scale (around 16 inches tall) and are made out of vinyl and/or plastic. They're much more along the fashion doll end, with painted eyes and rooted hair. I think most of them cost around $150-$200 USD now? There is also Wilde Imagination, which is by the same doll maker but carries more unique dolls, in aesthetic. One of them is a plastic BJD, with inset eyes and sometimes wigged, sometimes rooted hair, but she has a very particular aesthetic and theme. The websites for both of these are:
http://www.tonnerdoll.com/
and
http://www.wildeimagination.com/

Again on the fashion doll end, there are Integrity dolls. They have quite a few different lines at different price points, but I think the lowest they start is currently around $60-ish? Most of their lines are 1/6, which is around 12 inches tall. They sell out really fast, so to find them you'll probably need to look at a bunch of different retailer websites. Here's their main website:
http://www.integritytoys.com/page/landing

There are Goodreau dolls, but they have been discontinued for years so they can be difficult to find. They were a line of mostly vinyl BJDs from a small US company. You'd need to do some searching on them; I'm afraid I can't be much more help. The websites are down now, as the company had to close due to family issues.

On the topic of discontinued dolls, there is also Delilah Noir. She was a vinyl BJD, but their were some problems with the company that made her (not the most reputable company ever, unfortunately). I think this is also a doll you can still find on sites like evilBay.

A company you might be really interested in is Hujoo. They are a really innovative, fairly new company that mainly makes dolls out of ABS(a form of plastic). They are highly poseable and have all the customization elements of BJDs, with changeable eyes, wigs and the option of doing your own faceups. You can buy them from JunkySpot(a very good dealer in the US) or the main website(in Korea) which tends to have a few more options available.
http://www.hujoo.kr/index.php

This is a rather different material so I'm not sure what you will think of it, but it is definitely durable. Have you ever heard of Makies? They are 3D-printed dolls which are highly poseable and made in the UK. You actually design your own doll on the website, including changing the face shape and colouring. The company is pretty cool, and a lot of members of this forum have Makies. It's a fun website to play with and is free to use.
https://mymakie.com/?LITE=1

Aaand now I need to put some bread in the oven. I've missed oodles, but maybe that will give you a bit of a start? ...If I didn't completely misunderstand what you wanted and just prattled on for no reason, that is. :S

EDIT: Just thought of some more. There are also Pullip dolls, and a lot of ongoing and discontinued doll lines by the same maker. It can get pretty confusing since there are so many different lines and body styles, but this is a good resource to get you started:
http://pullipstyle.com/pullipstyle/

There are also Momoko dolls, which I know nearly nothing about. Here, have a webpage on them!
http://www.momokodoll.com/

This is way different, (and also 3D printed) but you may like to check out Silverbeam dolls if you are into tiny dolls. https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/Silverbeam ... _leftnav_3

[K2!]

There are two more major vinyl manufacturers. Both make 1/3 scale dolls with vinyl exterior parts over a hard plastic internal skeleton, the Volks' Dollfie Dream line and doll bodies made by the Obitsu Plastic Manufacturing Company. Obitsu manufactures their own line of dolls as well as dolls for Azone, Angel Philia, Visuadoll, and Parabox.
http://volksusastore.com/dollfie/index. ... ory_id=258
http://www.obitsushop.com/
http://www.angel-philia.com/
http://v-doll.jp/pc.php
http://www.azone-int.jp/azonet/
http://parabox.jp/eng_new/

[Bezyr]

I've been looking through DoA's wiki, but the lack of categories (I finally found the category page!) for pages makes me a sad panda. This is going to take a while.

....

Thanks for the post and links! Now I know the right word (playline) for what I'm NOT looking for since you mentioned it. Any form of plastic is fine by me, I just thought vinyl would be a common one.

There are two more major vinyl manufacturers. Both make 1/3 scale dolls with vinyl exterior parts over a hard plastic internal skeleton, the Volks' Dollfie Dream line and doll bodies made by the Obitsu Plastic Manufacturing Company. Obitsu manufactures their own line of dolls as well as dolls for Azone, Angel Philia, Visuadoll, and Parabox.
http://volksusastore.com/dollfie/index. ... ory_id=258
http://www.obitsushop.com/
http://www.angel-philia.com/
http://v-doll.jp/pc.php
http://www.azone-int.jp/azonet/
http://parabox.jp/eng_new/

Thanks for the links!

[victoriavictrix]

And don't forget junkyspot!

www.junkyspot.com

Junky Spot carries the Hujoo and Obitsu 1/4 and 1/3 dolls, ships to Canada, and never shows anything on the site that is not in stock.

[Greyhaunt]

outside of the manufacturer sites, like those that K2 listed for you, forums are really your best bets for information. I recommend surfing through the different sections, looking for posts regarding the dolls you have interest in and asking questions

We have several (putting it mildly) obitsu aficionados here so you are bound to find LOTS of information, its just going to be scattered about.

[Wispalian]

Thanks for the post and links! Now I know the right word (playline) for what I'm NOT looking for since you mentioned it. Any form of plastic is fine by me, I just thought vinyl would be a common one.

Happy that my tendency to info-dump could be of service. Anything else you're wondering about that we missed? Because, you know, answering questions is probably one of the greatest joys of my life.