There isn’t a whole lot you can do to customise Petworks’ Nikki, but changing the colour of her eyes is something the designers have given us the means to do.

As ever, the first step is to choose your victim. This was an easy one for me this time as my gorgeous black Nikki, Rocky, had stock eyes that I thought were much too dark for her:

I’d also bought a ‘Monster’ Odeco because I loved her pink hair and bone-white skin, but was a bit spooked by her pinky eyes.  Here’s her stock picture from Petworks:

The first step was to whip off Odeco’s wig.  Easy done!

The next step is to gently squeeze and twist the ‘hatch’ on the back of the head to remove it:

Odeco’s ‘hatch’ is much bigger than Nikki’s:

You’ll now be able to see the sleep-eye capsules resting in their little plastic sockets inside the head:

Use your finger to push the eye capsule from the front into the head.  You’ll need to push firmly:

Each eye capsule is an eye, sleep-eye mechanism and set of lashes all in one (Odeco on the right, Nikki on the left):

Repeat with the other eye and you should end up with a very spooky-looking eyeless dolly:

Now you’ll need to put in some new eyes.  You can either put in eyes you’ve swapped from another Odeco or Nikki, or use acrylic eyes.  Nikki takes 22-24mm eyes and Odeco takes 20-22mm.

I chose blue for Odeco and yellow for my Nikki:

It’s always weird to get boxes of eyeballs in the post.

The next bit is the tricky bit.  You will need to try to hold open the plastic eye socket flaps as well as you can with one hand whilst slipping the new eye in with the other.  It’s pretty awkward, but perseverance pays off:

Put band-aids on your bleeding cuticles (you might not need this step of the process, but I did) and repeat with the second eye.

You may also want to give your dolly some new eyelashes.  I gave Odeco very light lashes (cut down from human lashes bought at the pharmacy) after her eyes were in.  I simply used a pin to push the pre-glued lash band just slightly between the eye and socket above her eyes.  Pop her wig back on, and she’s as good as new:

I think Odeco’s little-girl face is suited to light lashes, but you can choose any thickness or colour you can find.

You’ll also now be able to adjust your doll’s gaze and expression:

Now go customise your dolls and send me pictures!

I decided not to do too many posts here about new BJD releases. There are so many dolls and companies that I can’t cover everything fairly. Instead, I’ll post when something particularly noteworthy presents itself. Case in point: the recent announcement of new “chibi” Unoas from Gentaro Araki’s Alchemic Lab.

Manga artist Araki first became a favorite with BJD collectors when he collaborated with Volks to create the Unoss doll. Later, rather than continuing to produce dolls in conjunction with Volks, Araki began his own BJD company, Alchemic Lab. Alchemic Lab makes the hugely popular Unoa dolls. Unoas bring the customization aspect of BJDs to a new level, with multiple interchangeable face-plates, allowing one doll to have several expressions without changing the whole head. Unoas also sport the ability to switch the angle of their eyes with the push of a button.

Details are limited about the new pint-size offerings from AL, but here is what we know thus far: The new dolls are called Roron and Ririn. They are 35cm tall. The first batch to be released will be special, fullset, prototypes, hand-painted by Araki himself. These test dolls will be available for purchase by lottery, only to those who have bought dolls from Alchemic Lab in the past. The price will be 63000 yen. This special pre-sale will most likely take place toward the end of summer, after the next Lusis and Sist pre-order period. Roron and Ririn will later be offered for general sale as kits (like regular Unoa dolls) for 39990 yen.

A teaser photo of Roron and Ririn can be seen on Alchemic Lab’s site. They’re the pair with their backs to the camera (d’oh! f’course!). I have seen more extensive photos of the girls, but unfortunately those images are not mine to repost. I will say that in addition to the new smaller girls, AL is releasing at least eighteen new face-plates. These smaller dolls and the original Unoa will have the same size head, so face-plates can be shared!

I talked to a friend at a local BJD meet a few weeks ago. We’d both placed orders with DollSoom for the February limited Monthly Doll, Teenie Gem Glot. In her lap, my friend cradled a Bambicrony blue elf she purchased last year.

As we bubbled with excitement over our incoming Teenies, and admired the luminous French resin of the blue elf, my friend said: “I don’t know. I’m just getting so tired of everything cool being limited! All the interesting dolls are limited editions. You have to scrape together money on short notice, if you don’t want to pay twice as much on the secondary market.”

Her observation got me thinking about current BJD offerings. I can’t say she’s far off. What’s more, I can’t imagine we’ll see any changes forthcoming in the near future. In this case, what can be maddening to collectors, makes excellent business sense for a doll maker.

Before going on, let me say that there are gorgeous standard dolls out there, from a selection of manufacturers. What my friend noticed however, is that with rare exception, dolls with innovative or unusual molds, fantasy sculpts, or unique face-ups, are almost always limited. What’s more, the ordering windows are not as long as they often used to be. At least, that’s been my observation. In the spring of 2007, I purchased a NotDoll Miriam First. She was a limited edition fullset. I bought her just about a month after she went up for sale. Though NotDoll did eventually stop producing Miriam, it was a good year at least before she was no longer available. I also think of DomaDoll’s Kkotomu and Jado centaurs. They weren’t “forever”, in the sense of a standard doll, but DomaDoll carried them for quite some time. Long enough anyway, that if you wanted to have one, you didn’t have to choose between next month’s car payment, and a new doll.

More often now, one sees dolls with ordering windows of about one month. Either that, or very small editions which sell out in short order. I’ve joked to my husband that buying BJDs often feels like being a contestant on a 1970s game show: You like what’s behind door number one. You can either spend your extra money on door number one, or wait to see what’s behind door number 2. It might be something even better, in which case you’ll be glad you saved your cash. Or, it could be something you’re not interested in at all. By then, door number one is no longer available. I’m going through this at the moment, myself. I love DollZone’s decidedly macabre new minis, Aaron and Lola. They will only be available for the month of May. If I spend money on a Lola, I won’t be able to splurge on whatever tiny Soom puts out for July. Do I put my eggs in DollZone’s basket, or let Lola go in favor of an unknown?

One could argue that it’s only wise for BJD companies to produce limited numbers of “unusual” dolls. After all, the more unusual a doll is, the more of a chance a company takes that doll fans might not appreciate it. That’s a valid view. On the other hand, judging from the mad scramble whenever DollSoom unveils a new monthly, or Volks holds an online after-event for Dolpa limiteds, companies can be more or less assured that certain things sell. Hooved dolls are big. Horns, wings, and techni-color resin have also proven to be crowd pleasers. Still, if more companies offered these fantastical choices as non-limited standards, would sales be the same? As much as I’d like to think otherwise, I’d have to say no. To again refer to an explanation I gave my doll-tolerant husband: People will see a limited doll, and not be sure whether they like it or not. If they have a credit card, or extra money, they’ll order it anyway. That way, they can take their time and decide. If they don’t want the doll after a month, they’ll have no problem reselling it to a hobbyist who missed the ordering deadline. If the doll hadn’t been limited, there’d be no rush, and no frantic scramble to procure funds. Limited BJDs often don’t leave us with much time to think. By the time you realize that you probably don’t need another winged baby satyr, she’s already on her way to your house. Bad for our wallets, but good strategy for small companies trying to survive in this economy. The march of the limiteds will continue, and I’ll keep scouring my house for odds and ends sell on Ebay.