A recast is an unlicensed copy of a BJD, a knockoff, a fake. Usually the dolls are bought from a legit company (sometimes not even from the recast company itself, but from supporters), a mold is made (either making a physical mold or a 3D scan) and then the dolls can be mass produced. Usually made in China, but there are exceptions to this.
I'm not going into detail here on why they are a big problem, there are tons of posts about this on the internet. They are bad, they destroy the dollmakers and artists that I love, if you're fine with that, this blog isn't for you.
This blog is for those, that want to buy legit BJDs and don't want to accidentally buy a recast, which is getting harder and harder.
I'll put this under a cut, because this is gonna get a bit lengthy.
What not to do: Google "buy BJD", you'll literally get a ton of Ali Express listings of knockoff BJDs.
You will have to do some research up front, you need to know what company you want to buy. For that, you can go to the BJD hashtag, here, on instagram, sometimes even Twitter, and see if there is something you like. Usually people also tag the company and sculpt, and if not, asking usually gets the reply.
You can also go to one of the many official dealer pages and just click through their dolls to see if you find something that you like.
Stay away from Ali Express and Amazon. Both of these pages are riddled with knockoffs. Idk if there are actually any legit sellers on Ali, if there are, they are few. I think Dollzone sells on Amazon, but seriously, most of the dolls there are fakes.
Ebay and Etsy are also full of recasts, but you can find some legit dolls there.
So, how do you spot a recast store? Let me show you some hints, that are usually a dead giveaway.
A lot of different styles.
This is the header of an etsy shop. While the two on the left might be from the same maker, the other two are very different. (The one on the right is a doll from Fairyland, one of the, if not the most recasted company out there).
Different styles only make sense, if the seller is a distributor/dealer. If it's not a dealer, back out.
Which brings us to the next point:
Generic names.
If a shop were a dealer, they would give you the names of the companies and sculpts.
Example from an official dealer:
See how you can choose the company, size, and then the sculpts? Recast shops don't give you that (there's one exception, that I'll mention later).
They give you "1/4 BJD Doll MSD", "Girl BJD 1/6" or if they wanna go all out "1/3 BJD Doll 60.5CM Full Set BJD Doll With Clothes Resin Toys Best Gift for Girls Hand Made Doll Custom Dolls OOAK Art Doll diy Dolls".
They want to stay as generic as possible, so the newbies that google for "buy bjd" will be redirected to their pages.
If you find generic names, back the hell out of there. I don't know a single company or dealer, that do not tell you what doll exactly you're buying!
Short production time
BJDs take time to make. They are not mass produced dolls, they are casted, sanded, strung and packed by small companies. Even the big names in this hobby usually are just a hand full of people. So it takes time.
Usually between 2-6 months. I don't know any company that actually gives you an estimate below 60 days. Sometimes they ship faster (maybe it's a popular sculpt and they have actually made some for stock, maybe they didn't have a lot of orders during that time, etc), but they don't usually give you a shorter timeline.
If your listing claims the doll will be shipped in 1-2 weeks? Bad news for you, that's usually a recast store.
Price
I hate to say it, but this is an expensive hobby. Dolls usually cost at least $200, oftentimes more. There are some companies that have cheaper prices, but if it goes below $150, I would definitely have a closer look.
Now, the price is usually the last thing that I mention, because before the price tag, you should check for all the things mentioned above. Only if you have a consistent style, specific names, and a timeline that makes sense, then you should check for the price.
I say that, because I know of one Recast store, that tries so hard to look legit, they actually put effort in it.
And that is the BJD Shop.
Look at that. You have company names, you have sculpt names, it looks like a legit dealer (if you ignore that their production time is 1-4 weeks).
But now look at the prices.
Not taking into account that this specific sculpt isn't even available from Fairyland anymore, the price? Is not even $100 (for blank doll).
Now let's look at the actual price by FL:
Rule of thumb: If a price is too good to be true, it very likely is.
So I recommend actually looking for the doll company, if you find a dealer you're not sure is legit, and compare the prices.
A good page for information is Den Of Angels. It's a forum, but a lot of things are easily available without account through Google. For example their dealer list. Is it complete? I don't know, maybe not, but it's a good start.
I hope this is helpful for anyone who isn't sure about a shop they want to buy from.
Disclaimer: dyeing can damage your doll, either through the color or the heat. Please continue with caution.
What you need:
Dye for synthetic fabrics. I use Rit Dyemore because it's liquid and you won't have a problem with non dissolved powder. It also smells a lot less than for example iDye poly
Rubbing alcohol and magic eraser sponges to clean up excess dye
A pot to dye in. I use an enamel pot because that's what Mismantis on Instagram advises and I know everything from her tutorials. I assume the dye might react with metal. Either way, do not use that pot for food ever again!!
Thread or wire and wooden sticks to hang your doll parts
Your doll.
Make sure your doll is clean!
If it's a new doll, clean with water and soap to get rid of residue like mold release.
If the doll had been painted and sealed before, make extra sure to thoroughly remove it!
I cannot stress this enough, if there is sealant residue, the resin will not take the dye!
Bring your water to a boil, mix your colours and a teaspoon of dish detergent and you're ready to start.
Keep your water simmering but not boiling. The bubbles will get dye all over the place.
Now take a small, straight piece, like an arm, and dip it. The piece should float under water, and not touch any sides of the pot. It will leave marks.
A piece like that would be easy to clean if the dyeing isn't successful. Some resins don't take dye well, they get blotchy and uneven. So if that's the case, get some nail polish remover and dip the piece in it for some seconds and scrub it off, tadaa, dyeing undone.
Keep your phone or anything to stop time close and dip your piece in 10 second sections until you reach the colour intensity you want.
Don't dip too long, the heat can deform the resin, making joints not fit into each other again, or the wire/thread can leave actual dents.
I usually do dips of 30 - 60 seconds max. If I need darker colours I'll add more dye or do another dip after the resin has cooled down.
After you're happy with the tone, throw the pieces into the bowl with water (it should be kinda warm, so the temperature difference isn't too big.)
Now repeat that with all parts.
Rule of thumb, bigger/ thicker parts may take longer than the smaller parts, so check after the time is up, and if necessary do 5 sec dips until it's the same color as the rest.
Take a magic eraser and rubbing alcohol and clean the parts. This will take off the excess dye that will be on the resin.
It will smoothen a lot of uneven spots and streaks. If too much dye comes off, you might have to dip again. But don't skip this step. Otherwise excess dye might stain clothes.
After that, you're pretty much done. Let your doll dry thoroughly so you won't get a moldy elastic later.
Things that can go wrong:
If the resin is uneven, there's literally nothing you can do. It might show in uneven coloring, streaks, spots, that don't go away with the rubbing alcohol.
This is my Unoa that I dyed. The legs got these uneven streaks, and the head has spots that didn't take the dye. The hand was unevenly sanded from company.
Even if it might get out of the pot and look normal, as soon as you clean excess dye with the alcohol, it will reveal the areas that didn't take the dye.
You can kinda see on the left picture already that it's a bit uneven, but after cleaning, some parts were just the original colour again.
You cannot prevent this, sadly.
So if you want to dye a doll, keep in mind that it might happen.
All the Youpla dolls colours currently in my possession
Long post under cut
Let's start with some "normal" skin comparisons
It's very hard to capture these naturally. Iplehouse is less pink irl, it's closer to how the myou one looks on the photo.
I also realised I forgot to 'tag' the upper legs, they are Ringdoll 🙈
How about some Fairyland-matches?
All of these were about the same age (completely new or maybe 2-3 months apart)
Xaga normal is a rather light, pinkish colour. V normal is a bit darker and a lot more yellow. It's a great match to some lightly yellowed FL dolls like my Mir from 2016.
(I think the L.D colour was perfect peach or something like that)
I've reached the limit of what I can add on mobile, so, part 2 will follow in a reblog
