"Doll Love" BJDs

[Evelien]

I'm completely new to the BJD world and I never thought I'd go for one, and frankly I can't afford one yet at all, but I'm slowly venturing into the world of ball jointed dolls and I love it. Now I have a question about a particular doll I just found online, 44cm Anona by Doll Love. I LOVE her cheeky face and I especially love how this particular new owner has styled her:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitofajung ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitofajung ... ostream/#/

BUT. I don't know anything about BJDs, but I don't like how that elbow joint looks... is this normal..?

[richila]

To me, it looks like the owner has pulled the joint way out to achieve a pose. I do that sometimes, but only when my dolls are wearing long sleeves.

[anthrogirl14]

I agree with richila, It looks like a double jointed elbow pulled out, the single jointed elbows look even weirder in that pose.

good luck saving up for your BJD!

[Evelien]

Thanks for the replies. And thanks for the good luck wish haha, I'll need it, I'm very poor right now!! Oh well, it's fun to have a nice goal .
I really like Anona and she's not too expensive for a BJD, but I guess that says something about the quality of the body too..?

[Dark Angel]

I really like Anona and she's not too expensive for a BJD, but I guess that says something about the quality of the body too..?

Not always! I wish I could help more, but I've never heard of these dolls before I'll have to go have a look at them. But to me, she looks like she could be a dollzone doll.

Edit: upon further inspection... there are a lot of dolls that look like other companies. Don't let this discourage you! That's not my intention at all, but I am making a thread about this... cause it's suspicious.

[Greyhaunt]

I think you've picked a nice doll for your first choice. She's got a very distinctive face with a lot of personality And please, never equate quality with cost in BJDs. I have lots of so-called "cheap" bjds and I love them more than some of my more expensive ones! To be honest, I have one more costly 60cm resin girl and I would LOVE to get rid of her body and buy a nicer, better posing one that is cheaper!

It's not how much the doll costs you that counts - it's how much you love it!

[Evelien]

I think you're absolutely right. I've browsed SO many different BJDs the past few days online, and Anona just jumped right at me from the screen, haha. I have to have her. Her face is so different. What bugs me a bit is that so many BJDs are SO beautiful, but they often look very sad. I love Anona's cheeky smile, she looks like she's up to something

[Greyhaunt]

hahaha, yes, that is definitely a cheeky smile!

[Evelien]

It is isn't it

Now, I really shouldn't be going this far since I don't have the money yet, but...

I can either buy her here in the Netherlands for €199 and I wouldn't have to worry about customs, BUT she'd come with no faceup and I'm too inexperienced to want that:
http://shop.fashiondoll.nl/product_info ... ts_id=8759

I can also buy her from China on eBay, for $240 with shipping, and she'd also get a faceup and a random fur wig for that money! I'd have to deal with customs, but $240 is only about €165.. I'm getting more for my money, so I think I should just go ahead and risk the customs bill... right? Heehee
eBay link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 97.c0.m619

[Greyhaunt]

Just be careful about the seller on Ebay - there have been sellers out there known to sell bootlegs and while it would still be a perfectly lovely doll you wouldn't want your money to be supporting a bootlegger instead of the real artist. In the case of that ebay seller, wa20091122 I checked on DoA and there is some question about them. It seems that they are not considered an authorized dealer of those dolls and no one is quite sure how legitimate they are. You could also buy direct from the manufacturer - they list an email on their website for english language: gususky2000@yahoo.com.cn unfortunately they don't have a list of authorized dealers, so I'm not sure who carries them.

ThinkPink, the Netherlands dealer - has a faceup artist on staff according to that page. You might be able to get a custom faceup at a reasonable price that way - and you'd be much safer than going through a questionalbe ebay dealer.