First of the month, time for another Doll Owner's Corner. When I, the doll owner, talk about whatever I want.
This month's topic:
Doll Boxes
Typically when you order a ball jointed doll it is shipped to you in a shipping box and packed in the company box, a.k.a. the doll box. Some companies use doll carrier bags instead, but it seems to be primarily the box.
Many of them have soft pillowy cushions inside to further protect your doll, which is usually already wrapped up in bubble wrap and foam anyway. Some companies skip the cushion and use plastic "pillows" or foam, that's what happened with Makoto.
Some companies and dealers like to tuck a few gifts and random stuff inside too, or at least the other things you ordered at the same time as your doll. The Junkyspot was always unique about their little gifts.
Of course, after unboxing the dolls and accessories, what do you do with the boxes.
The majority of bjd collectors saved them, as seen on this thread and poll on Den of Angels. They frequently pack them away to use if and when the time comes to sell the doll.
Having the original box or even the original shipping box makes it easier to ship the sold doll to its new owner and to prove authenticity, especially if your doll didn't have a certificate of authenticity. Yes, bjd knockoffs are a thing, but that's a topic for another day.
But if you are like me and can't bear the thought of selling your precious doll family, your choices are either to toss/recycled them or use them for storage.
I used to use them to store the dolls after "playing". I also occasionally used them as a seat for the dolls while playing, as seen in this group photo from when Yuki got his body. That's Usagi's doll box, it can be spotted in a lot of other photos too.
After a while though, the number of boxes increased and I had to devote more and more of my limited space to store them. It didn't help that several of them were getting worn out.
First, I started weeding them out and storing multiple dolls in the same box. Finally, I got rid of them all and replaced them with these storage bins from Ikea. They are stackable, come in several sizes to fit my needs (perfect for other hobbies too), and can fit several dolls even when wrapped in their cushions.
I have one larger bin for Hikaru and the other Msd sized dolls. A smaller, bin for all the Yosds and the animals. Plus, another bin to store clothes and accessories. These are sorted into little bags labeled with the name of the doll.
This system works better for me, but I still kind of miss the doll boxes. There is something fun about opening a box with the name of the doll company and seeing all that lies within. But, I guess that's why we have unboxing posts.
That's all for today. Coming up this month is more unboxings, tutorials, and possibly a fashion show?
Look forward to it.
