Complete Newbie, Help!

I never dreamed of owning a custom doll like DD, but I think I have a chance at getting one, and wish to customize it to create my favorite character!

 

So, I may be able to win a Rise Kujikawa DD, and I want to create a set that will look like Naoto Shirogane with it, since the clothes and body will be the same.

 

What should I know about DD? I've only owned figures and action figures, the closet thing to a DD that I have are RAHs.

 

I'm able to order directly from the Japanese DD website, so I think I'm able to get ahold of blue eyes and eye putty (I had no idea that existed!), do I match the size that the original comes with (20mm)? What does eye size change, the actual eyeball or the size of the iris? Also, I need blue hair! But I don't know where to find that : (

 

I really hope to learn a lot! I've always admired these, but I never thought about making my own custom dolls, nor did I think I'd be able to get one!

 

Please bear with me, as I really know nothing at this point : (

Welcome to the forum. You've come to a good place if you want to find info on customizing, and it's a great hobby. The very first thing I would say is that creating a specific character as a custom can be quite expensive. I would suggest fully researching the costs before starting if you haven't already done so. If you can find the stuff you need like wigs and eyes through existing products then it's not too bad, but if you need stuff made to order the costs can run into the thousands when you add in custom outfits & wigs.

 

Finding an exact match for a hairstyle in an existing product can be difficult.

 

There are a lot of eye and wig makers out there. For-My-Doll has a number of wigs in blue as do Lullaby Poem, Crobidoll, and a number of other makers. If memory serves for-my-doll has a lot of short hair wigs in their selection. Dollfie dreams will take wigs in the 8-9 inch size, but there are some fit exceptions. Kos-Mos tiny head works better with 8 inch wigs for example.

 

I don't know about Rise in particular, but one of the Rise owners around here could answer that.

 

As far as eye size / style it can really boil down to the aesthetic of the character, the size / shape of the eye, and the size / shape of the eye holes on the head. A particular pair of eyes in 22mm will look one way in Sheryl Nome with her itty-bitty oval eye holes, and a different way in Mio Honda with her great big round eye holes. The amount of white that shows is a part of it, but the style of the eye and size of the iris plays a role too.

 

I don't know Volks after market eyes, but I don't think that you can count on eyes in the same size looking the same way as the custom eyes Volks made specifically for Rise, just with a different color. The best thing would be if someone here with a Rise can post photo's with some different eyes in her.

 

The sizes don't seem to mean the same thing from maker to maker either.

 

You can also get their Dream Fitter in place of eye putty. It's a bit complex, so might not be the best thing if you have never messed with eyes before. It's also meant specifically for Volks brand eyes. I think it's better than putty though.

 

Unless your Rise has had her eyes swapped be prepared for them to come hot glued in. Since she is an older doll they probably won't be too hard to pop out, and there are youtube videos showing how to do this. With glue that has cured for a long time I find I can just pop off the head cap, and gently pry at the glue with my finger and it pops right off. You can press on the eye from the outside too, but that can risk damage to the face up.

 

A number of people here on the forum do custom face-ups, custom eyes, and clothing.

 

Jadepixels blog has some great info on customizing: http://www.jadepixeldoll.com/category/guide-2/

 

There is a very nice list of clothing makers on the Den of Angels forum, but you may need an account there to view this: https://denofangels.com/doawiki/index.php?title=Clothing_shops

 

DD stain too. You either have be accept that colors will bleed into the doll from dark colored clothing and wigs, or you put protective clothing on them to prevent that from happening. I like mine stain free, so I go the clothing route. If your character is the one from Persona 4 then you probably will want a full protective body suit for those dark outfits. You can get them from Volks and from Coolcats. Coolcats has a much larger selection of styles and some of them are made from very thick material which is good for the protection part.

Someone did make a Rise into Naoto, you can see her on this page!

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=3425&start=10

 

My only concern is that you say ‘I may be able to win a Rise’ but I’m not sure what you mean (eBay/yahoo bidding?) Rise is one of the rarest and most expensive DDs out there due to how unique her head mold is and the scarcity with which she was produced. I’ve seen her head alone sell for over a thousand on auction. If it’s a sure thing you’re getting her, or if you don’t mind shelling out a lot of money, then that’s fine, but if not this could be a more ambitious project than you realize.

 

Volks have been running polls for which dolls to rerelease as part of the Dollfie 20th anniversary. The DD voting has already passed but I did vote for Rise every day. If she wins, she could get a rerelease, or it might spur them to make other Persona girls (likely Persona5), who would also have a similar head mold I imagine. So if your plan doesn’t pan out I’d wait for the results of the poll and see what happens (most likely the winner will be released in December, which is apparently what happened the last time they did a poll). Obviously it’s not a guarantee though.

The DD voting has already passed but I did vote for Rise every day.

 

I also voted for her everyday. She was the one everyone here seemed to want re-released.

I had no idea she was that rare! But yeah, it went up to 3K and I just couldn't afford that ;-;

I kinda lost hope after seeing how high she went, is making your own a little less? I went onto the dollfie website and went shopping, and found everything I would need but the clothes and hair...

I think I was waaaaay too ambitious trying to win Rise!

Can you commission people to make DD as well?

Oh my, I never said thank you for all your guys help!!! Thank you so much, I'm re-reading everything, and I hope I won't make any mistakes!

How much should one expect to put aside for either making your own or commissioning a DD? I've honestlt spent more than I wish to say on commissioning stuff like plush and figures, so I can might be able to save up again?