Answering Questions From The Dolly Insider, Part 1

I've hit a bit of a blogging production roadblock at this point in time right now, where I have multiple posts planned and started, but none completed or able to be finished due to waits for parts or waits for holiday money to order additional stuff I want to write about within a post. So I figured this'd be a good time to drop the first chunk of this post idea, just so I have something going up. I feel antsy being so busy for the blog but yet being forced to go silent here, even though I keep my Instagram active for those who've found it. This is my solution. I've been building this document behind the scenes for a good while until it was substantial enough to post in some form. 

It's time for Friday Dolly Questions!

The image accompanying each question post, taken from The Dolly Insider's website.

This idea is something I've taken directly from the blog Veni Vidi Dolli, which I check in on from time to time. Over there, blogger Lori started doing a feature answering questions from Japanese doll collecting site The Dolly Insider. The Dolly Insider posts a question each Friday pertaining to the doll-owner's experience, and they're good Q&A prompts that I thought would be fun to give my own answers to.

This could extend to be a recurring feature here, as long as The Dolly Insider keeps posting them. Without Veni Vidi Dolli, I'd never have heard of this site because I don't collect Asian collector dolls or BJDs. With that, some of the Dolly Insider questions will be hard to answer per my own non-BJD-sphere interactions with dolls, so I've tried to broaden my interpretations when I can. Not every question is being transcribed verbatim from the site, either, since the grammar is sometimes awkward due to the language crossover, and I've rephrased where I thought it could be tightened up or clearer. I have not deviated from the intent of any of the questions in these cases.

Because I've now decided this feature is a "just get something up there quick" fallback for blog lull, no further images or links or handy cross-referencing! This is rush time!

Let's begin!

#1: Which doll do you wish you ordered when it was released?

I'm going to interpret this two ways for the non-OOAK, non--BJD sphere I'm collecting in. As far as exclusives you had to order, I'd probably say the Monster High Skullector Grady Twins. There was a period early in 2023 where a few were going on eBay for sub- $300 prices, but now there's nothing below $1K being offered. I was out of the hobby when they were new and didn't have much to spend then, but it would have been much less if I had been invested at the time they were new! I gave up the notion of getting those dolls after I saw how much they'd inflated on the aftermarket.

As far as anything I wish I had bought when it was new, I don't know. I think it's only fair to answer with dolls that were released while I was in the hobby, because otherwise it could be most dolls that were released when I wasn't currently into them and there'd be no choosing one. But I pretty much got all of the available dolls I really wanted during the period they were sold. Maybe G2 Alivia Stein of all things, since I thought her design details were cool despite her being a cheaper less articulated doll. For an incarnation of the brand I thought we had all collectively agreed was a disappointment, even the small unarticulated G2 dolls don't go for cheap at all and it's galling.

2. Were any of your dolls given to you as a gift? 

Yes, in my original collection, since I had a family friend who supported my hobby at the time and she generously bought a few things for me. No for my current collection, which is all self-funded since I can do that now. However, last year, my mom and I agreed she could take ownership of the Skullector Frankenstein dolls as gift-giver after I purchased it shortly before Christmas. I felt it would be wrong to open the dolls before the holiday, and she had struggled to choose a gift for me, so she volunteered to wrap it and present it to me when the day came.

3. Have you ever won a lottery doll? 

No, because, if I'm understanding this question correctly, I'm not collecting in any sphere that offers limited editions through a lottery. 

However, given that Mattel Creations drops on items that aren't made-to-order are pretty much a damn lottery regarding whether you get to make a purchase, then, emphatically, NO. No, I have not won that lottery. Freakin' bots.

4. Have you ever traveled with dolls? 

I'd kind of like to for some more on-location outdoor photoshoots, but I don't go anywhere with enough privacy to avoid being the weird man taking pictures of fashion dolls in places! I also don't have clear locations in mind that I'd want to take certain dolls to. Maybe someday, but so far, my dolls are content at home. I could probably see myself bringing a doll on vacation just as a little buddy and a piece of home, but that's something I feel no strong urge to do.

5. Straight or wavy? Which hair do you prefer on a doll?

Well-executed. Every hair type is beautiful and interesting, and all can be badly or wonderfully done in a doll. It's the fiber and rooting/styling quality, or their workable potential, that mean anything to me. 

6. Do you own any custom dolls?

I make them now! They're kind of the niche I found to broadly set my toy blog apart! Find those posts on here somewhere if you like; I'm making you do the work this time because this is lazy hours! 

I don't have much interest in purchasing custom dolls by other creators, though, since they tend to favor a blushed and realistic style I'm not interested in myself. I do buy custom clothes and accessories when they help, though.

7. Which doll has been in your collection the longest?

The Fearfully Feisty/Fangtastic Love Inner Monster, the doll that made me notice Monster High and become a doll collector and more developed visual artist. She's far from my first doll, but as the first of just two dolls I kept from my first collection, she has the longest tenure in my possession. And unless I cease to have her someday for some unlikely reason, she's always going to have the longest tenure. I still haven't reviewed her, though, because she's in rough shape. Some of her parts are damaged by such severe yellowing that I'm seriously thinking of getting a replacement nude Feisty/Love that's nicer so I can swap some pieces out. And when you take the Ship of Theseus paradox into account, would she really be my oldest doll anymore? 

8. Do you make dioramas for your dolls?

Only really for photoshoots, which means they're temporary and often more suggestive or minimalist setpieces that are just enough to get the job done. I don't have lots of small furniture and certainly don't have the skill or reason to craft any myself. I don't keep the dolls on display in simulated environments because who has the space?

9. What's the longest you've waited for a pre-order?

Um...by technicality, approximately six years and counting! I bought in on the Zomby Gaga collector doll on Amazon and never saw anything for it. 

10. Have you ever had to repair a doll? 

Oh, yes! You'll see how if you stick around, coming soon from monstrous lagoon! Before this post I have coming up, I've had dolls break and had to touch up some factory paint, but never had a physical break or damage I successfully repaired.

11.  How do you display your dolls? 

I have bookshelves I keep dolls on, and keep them to the side of my desk and on my dresser as well. I also have a small cabinet for certain ultraspecial dolls. Other dolls get put in a rotation in storage. I do not have the real estate to display them all, and I think budgeting space helps me see which dolls I like the most and which I might consider letting go if I decide they're not missed, or that I had my fun and don't need to hold onto them.

12. Have you bought a character doll without being familiar with the series?

Maybe. I bought Mystixx Azra with no real knowledge of the brand's lore or fiction...but I couldn't find evidence that there really was a series or defined narrative in webisodes or anything, and the fiction might have stopped with the written character bios. But even if I'm not super knowledgeable about a doll's media origin, I try to do a little research to appreciate and understand their context because I'm here to inform and opine in equal measure.

13. Bangs or no bangs?

Some dolls call for them, some don't, and execution is what matters most. Dolls with bangs have to keep them, of course (unless I wanted to chop them bald and give them a new head of hair), but I often find myself creating bangs with recombing and boiling for dolls with parted hair that I think need some bangs.

14. Have you ever sold a doll you regret selling?

I donate, but lord yes. Probably the one doll I regret getting rid of the most was signature Amanita Nightshade, the first doll I bought and opened and one I never fell out of love with. What was I thinking???

16. What are some of your favorite doll themes? 

I'm a sucker for dark vintage fashion and for cheerful or poppy retro fifties/sixties clothes, including with a retro sci-fi edge. Avant-garde modernist/camp fashion is also likely to be something I love, and I love both stark minimalist color palettes and rich multicolored ones. I cast a wide net of likes, and that's why I have this huge collection.

17. Which doll are you currently saving up for? 

Monster High x Off-White Symphanee Midnight. She'll be out soon next year, and I hope to review here here! That's a real can't-miss collector doll for me, even at such a premium price.

18. What's something you wish you knew before starting to collect dolls? 

These things are the cheapest they will ever be, and one day you will be much more comfortable with yourself and your hobby. Hold onto them.

19. Which character would you most like to see transformed into a doll? 

I'd love to see more Monster High parent characters turned into dolls, and of the doll-less G3 cast, I need Iris Clops yesterday. I'd also probably sell my soul for a Skullector Coraline doll.

20. Have you ever bought a doll using a proxy shopping service?

Not exactly...but I have bought collector dolls secondhand in lieu of being able to buy direct. Which is super unfairly difficult to do even if you're ponying up with your wallet right at launch, Mattel. No, I'm not letting this go!

21. Have you ever been to a doll event?

No, and I doubt I would ever seek to. I'm a doll collector and reviewer, but I don't consider myself to be deep in a larger doll community, nor do I feel like a doll event would have much to offer me personally.

22. What doll did you recently add to your collection that you've always wanted?

Not super recent anymore, but Monster High C.A. Cupid had been my ultimate grail doll and she's probably going to remain, considering the proportions of want and rarity, the utmost grail acquisition I've made.

23. What dolls do you collect the most?

I collect well-produced play dolls, almost exclusively of fantastical characters, and mostly with a spooky edge. As far as characters go, I've wound up with many Frankies Stein (G1 and G3) and several Twylas. I won't collect 11-inch or larger dolls that don't live up to the standard 11-inch Monster High articulation scheme.

24. Do you buy preowned dolls?

You have to if you want some of MH's finest in 2023! Never before my second collection, however, as I was a kid who didn't have the money or the know-how to buy aftermarket dolls...and that was probably for the best. 

25. Does your collection have more girl dolls or boy dolls?

This is one of those questions that was obviously written for the BJD sphere when you think about how impossible it is to really make that choice in playline collecting. With mass-market play dolls, it's a given that boys are going to be the minority, and there are too many great female doll designs to go out of the way to deliberately collect a boy-dominant collection there. Even the theoretical concept of doing that raises my brows! I mean, what kind of Kendom-

Even if playline dolls were more evenly gendered, there's a good chance I'd end up with more girls anyway, since female characters more often push into the flair and intrigue I like most in character design while male characters are often constrained by weak imaginations and the role of being dudes. Traditional masculinity can be striking and appealing, but it's not offered the grace of a ton of exciting variety!

I also feel like mentioning G3 Frankie Stein, who falls outside of this dichotomy and is realistically going to remain in the smallest minority as a nonbinary character.  All the same, they've been a welcome presence and changed things so my collection is not just boy and girl dolls...and I'm seeing a lot of them on my shelf because they're releasing in so many great dolls!

26. Are most of your dolls wearing their original stock outfit?

Yes, since the outfit is usually a reason for buying a doll or specific edition. I'll often tweak and sometimes fully swap or restyle, but stock stays on base for most. Exceptions are dolls I fully customize into original characters, or restyle-focused projects where the base nude doll is what I select for foremost, and then reclothe and restyle to my liking. 

27. If a doll comes in multiple versions, do you buy them all?

Good lord, no. (Again, this question probably makes more sense for BJD fans because for playline, what a daunting prospect.) 

I've long since learned to buy only what I truly like on its own merits rather than for a sense of obligation or completion. Even some of my favorite characters have releases I just don't need or have creative use for, and I wouldn't feel objectively compelled to buy every release even of a character with just two dolls. 

28. Do you rename your dolls? If so, how do you choose a name?

I only name dolls when I turn them into original characters through customization, or when they never had a name to begin with, since the dolls I collect are parts of narrative fictions that I'm either fond of or just willing to honor. My naming logic is to match the tone of the appearance and universe I'm placing the doll in, so a Monster High original character has to have a name consistent with Monster High's real ones, and a doll doing its own thing entirely can have whatever suits its design best. 

29. Have you customized a doll? 

Oh, yes. It's kind of what I do here! There are now very few dolls I haven't altered with a personal touch, and I like making them my own in some way. 

30. What do you like most about collecting dolls?

For me, they're almost like a ritual or mini-project that feeds into my artistic interests. They let me explore a mix of character design, painting, photography, and mixed media while being fairly smallish projects to plan out and check off easily. The catch is that they've started directing my art agenda and purchases instead of merely being an outlet!

Alright, that was the first batch of 30! I think that's a pretty good number for a post to contain. I'll keep waiting and working to get another post finished soon with actual doll content, but I'm glad this feature exists to let me have something to post when the going is slow. Thanks for reading!

(And if any readers would like to put their own Q&A-style questions for me in the comments, I will write those down for a future post!)