Part Identification Assistance (and a rant)

Baby Talk
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My rant leads up to needing help with ID’ing a torso, I promise.

I came to the conclusion in 2019 that I was never going to be able to paint reborns. I’m a crafty, creative person by nature, that’s why I joined this forum, but I can only fit so many creative activities into a predetermined amount of time. So I swore I would stop trying to learn new crafts (and stop spending money on supplies for new crafts :sweat_smile: ), and work on honing the crafts I was already good at.

But I did decide that I still really wanted a reborn that I could make clothing for. And a few years seeing so many different dolls helped me hone my tastes a bit, and I knew I wanted a high-quality doll, if not a prototype. (Yes, I know what they cost.) So I joined some FB groups that focus on the selling and sharing of high quality and prototype reborns. A lot of what is shared is exactly that. But the “show me what you got” post are flooded with poor quality dolls. Heck, even I posted yesterday because my partner has said that my Christmas gift might be his assistance buying my first doll, and of the… counts…14 people who replied, four shared babies I would consider high end, one shared a doll that might be nice in person, but the 10 pictures they shared are low quality so it’s hard to tell, and one said they have the kit that I’m interested in ready to be customized. The customizer does beautiful work, but not really my style. Makes me want to message the group admin and be like WTH, I thought this group was for NICE dolls, I came here to buy a nice doll, what is all this cr*p. (Please know that I would NEVER tell an artist their work is bad, I know everyone has to start somewhere, but if you’re on your third doll and they don’t look like real babies yet, don’t be posting in the group for dolls that look like babies and are priced accordingly!)

I don’t really know where this is going anymore. I never thought that actually buying a doll would be this difficult, I guess. In the meantime, I’ve been scrolling reborns(.)com and eBay. eBay is rough too, hard to separate out all the fakes from the real ones. And sellers often don’t take the best pictures. In fact, eBay is where I saw this very interesting full torso on a Zoey Brace. Was wondering if anyone knew anything about it?

Editing to add, if there’s anyone here who wouldn’t mind holding my hand, or being someone for me to bounce ideas, thoughts off of, while I shop for my first doll, that would be amazing. My partner thinks they are creepy so I can’t share with him, and my family and friends don’t know about this particular interest of mine. I’d love someone I could talk to about this, who knows the ins and outs of buying and selling, and maybe wants to live vicariously. :joy:

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That’s Esme’s limbs and torso by Laura Lee Eagles. :0)

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Oh my gosh, it totally is! I wonder why someone would put Zoey’s head on the body and limbs of a SOLE LLE kit? Aren’t LLE kits worth a small fortune? Here’s the listing if you’d like to confirm.

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They are. Maybe they melted her head or something.

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You should just make a post on here in search of a doll. Lots of us have adorable dolls available. :blush:

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I mix limbs and add torsos all the time for my drink and wet dolls. It is explained in the text of the listing. I don’t see a problem. I think the doll you have shown is adorable.

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Yep that is Esme. It may be the angle of the photo but that head looks a bit too small for the rest of the body. I ended up removing my torso on my Esme. Great for photos but horrible for holding/cuddling the doll. I don’t hold my dolls a lot but when I pick them up for a quick hug I want them to be soft and not stiff.

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There is a selling/buying site that is dedicated to ONLY reborns and reborn related items (limited context) that has been around for a while, that I joined about ten months ago. If I were new to the art I would be totally confused with the fake reborn dolls, stolen/copied kits, where to buy, who to trust, all of it. And then Reborns.com came into my life. No bidding, you want, you buy, via paypal and the paypal options. There are different tiers of artists/artistry, which includes a variety of price points. There are pictures (site limited to 20) and descriptions. You can also learn a bit about the individual artists, like how long they have been painting, etc. There are very seldom times when an unscrupulous seller might sneak in, but as soon as they are detected, they are gone. From beginners to well known artists, Reborns.com is being discovered and is flourishing. Oh, I know exactly what you mean about facebook and asking for pics of what you asked for; some of it is very scary and is not indicative of the true art and/or talent. Check out reborns.com, and FYI, I found it a bit challenging to learn my way around at first, like most new things. For those considering option to ebay and etsy, et al., there are NO selling fees, only a $20 a month membership (which one can pause) and list one doll per day. The waiting period is to give fair opportunity to everyone in the Just Listed section.

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I think a lot of people who start painting do it thinking they are going to get rich quick. They underestimate how much work, money, and time go into creating a baby with a high price tag, or they think they have figured out a shortcut and no one will know the difference, or they have scamming on the brain straight out of the gate.

First dolls are notoriously not anyones best work but for some people they are amazed with themselves. I think that is awesome but if you are going to set up shop you also need to be honest with yourself and with others or its a short game.

If I was going to start collecting I would go to selling platforms (Reborns.com and Etsy) and start making note of what dolls caught my eye and why (don’t pay attention to price). A pattern will emerge. When the same five artists start showing up on your list research them, find their website, IG, FB. Ask around about them on forums, look at reviews (Etsy has as a star feed back system with photos).

Finding a quality custom artist isn’t easy. I would stay away from promises, people who use other artists prototype photos to market their work, artists who don’t have a body of work to show, and long waiting lists.

Some emerging artists have great babies at good prices. We have a couple here.