Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Types of baby dolls


Destany has a home!

Although I did not get my newest reborn listed on eBay on Sunday, I DID get her listed last night and she sold in the night to a dear customer and friend of mine in Washington State. I am thrilled as I will get to visit this chubby little darling several times a year!

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Types of baby dolls:

One of a Kind~clay
Reborn dolls
Vinyl
Resin
Solid Silicone
Hollowcast Silicone
Porcelain
Nylon
Cloth


All manufactured dolls, kits, silicone, porcelain and resin artist dolls start out as a One of a Kind (OOAK) CLAY babies. Below is Kenji. He was never sent to be manufactured into a mold to be used for reproduction of the original sculpt. He is the original ONE OF A KIND sculpt made of clay. Sculpting artists sculpt these dolls by hand and decide to keep them as a OOAK doll or send them to be manufactured into molds for reproduction of the sculpt, which in many cases causes damage to the orginal sculpt. OOAK babies are more fragile than vinyl, silicone and resin dolls so care must be exercised when handling them but they are beautiful dolls to add to a collection. OOAK babies must be kept away from more moist medians such as silicone as they can absorb the moisture and cause damage to the clay.

When speaking of reborn dolls, many reborn artists clasify their works of art as OOAK (one of a kind) works. It is true that the reborn dolls ARE unique pieces of work however, in my opinion, they should not be called OOAK babies. A true OOAK doll is a ONE OF A KIND sculpt that comes directly from the artist's hands and is made of clay.


Reborn dolls:


In the above picture you will see an up close picture of Destany, the reborn I spoke of listing. A reborn doll is a vinyl or silicone/vinyl doll that was created from something that already was, either a manufactured doll or a doll kit.

In the picture below, you will see Destany in her ORIGINAL, manufactured doll state. She was a manufactured Collector Berernguer all vinyl doll called Beautiful Embrace. Through the process of reborning, she became an amazing, cuddly, life-like baby doll. Reborn dolls are created from vinyl or a combination of vinyl and silicone parts. They are hollow parts that are weighted during the reborn process to give life-like feel.


Not all manufactured vinyl dolls become reborn dolls. The below doll is sweet Bethany from my personal collection. She is an all vinyl baby doll from the Ashton Drake Company. Her details are wonderful just as she is from the manufacturer. All vinyl dolls are fun to have as they can wear any type of clothing, including adorable swim suits.


Another manufactured doll that is in my collection is Sarah from the Masterpiece Galleries. She has vinyl parts on a cloth body. There is no reason to reborn this gorgeous doll.


 Resin dolls are LIKE clay and porcelain but are much more durable. Resin is a manufactured substance and the original sculpting artist usually does the artwork on the resin dolls.  Resin is a popular median to use for BJD dolls (Ball Jointed Dolls).

This is my Ball Jointed Doll, LMNO who is a resin doll:



Below are two solid silicone dolls in my collection. You saw them yesterday. Solid silicone is a wonderful median that is durable (except for when bunnies get ahold of fingers!) and heavy. Giovanni weighs 8 pounds while Carrie Lynn weighs 7 pounds. More expensive to manufacture, solid silicone dolls are the ultimate material for the serious collector. Silicone is stickier than vinyl so hairs stick to it. Keep silicone dolls powdered with regular or cornstarch baby powder. Silicone can also be washed in water if they become dusty or have too much hair build up.


Another type of silicone doll is the Hollow Cast Silicone doll. These dolls are created with silicone but have been cast hollow in the center. This type of casting is wonderful for the creation of toddler dolls as a solid silicone toddler doll would be very heavy.

Of course there are many other medians in which dolls are made of. I do not have a lot of experience with some of those such as nylon dolls, cloth dolls and porcelain dolls. I even have a doll made from wooden spools! Dolls have been in our lives through generations of time. Dolls are important to our history and our lives and dolls will be around for generations to come. Artists are always looking for some new median to create dolls from. What will the future hold?

7 comments:

  1. Debbie, Are you going to be at the IDEX 2010 doll convention in Florida? I would love to see one of your solid silicone babies. How long are the two silicone babies above? Do you think the silicone looks more real than the soft vinyl? Does the silicone/vinyl look more real than the soft vinyl?

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  2. Yes, I am going to be at the 2010 IDEX convention with a booth of reborn dolls. Now are you wanting to see ANY silicone doll or mine in particular? Because there will be a lot of solid silicones there to drool over! In fact, Laura Tuzio Ross will be there with silicone babies. If you are wanting to see one of mine specifically, I will see what I can do to bring one. Giovanni and Carrie Lynn are 21" in length. Hmmm...I don't know if silicone looks more real but I love how it feels. I have dolls in all medians and love them all for the beauty that each holds.

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  3. Forgive me, but I think you mean "mediums" not "medians". "Median" is a mathematical term, wheras "medium" refers to the type of materials.

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  4. "Media" is also correct but not "Median".

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  5. Thank you Anonymous...I do always get those terms mixed up!

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  6. hello, how much are the full body silicone preemie babies?

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  7. Hello Anonymous,
    I am not a silicone doll artist so I really cannot answer that question for you. I suspect they range in price like all dolls do. I suggest you contact a silicone doll artist. Thank you for stopping by!
    Debbie

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