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(A)BJD
((Asian) Ball-Jointed Dolls
A type of doll with round ball-joints, often with an "anime-ish" design and made of polyurethane resin.
Because the English-speaking world also uses the term "ball-jointed doll" for antique dolls with ball-joints, the difference was often indicated by adding "Asian". With the rise of non-Asian doll-makers this seems to have fallen out of use again, and the abbreviation "BJD" is used for the modern dolls.
COA (Certificate of Authenticity)
A document that's given with the purchase of a new doll to prove that it is a genuine product and not a recast. These can be as small as a single card or as large as a letter. COAs generally contain information such as the doll model and the order number.
Customising
The BJD hobby has a heavy focus on adjusting the doll to the wishes of the owner. From the makers themself this can be done by changing eyes, wigs and clothes. When the owner goes beyond this they are "customising" and the doll will become a "custom" doll.
Examples of customising are changing or fully redoing the face-up, painting other parts of the doll, or even making adjustments by removing or adding material.
Doll Meet
An organised gathering of doll owners and their dolls. In contrast to a faire or convention these are often informal and non-commercial affairs, where the emphasis is on socialising. Size, activities, and location are different per meet; from a small number of people in someone's living room to a large group at an event or even an organised photoshoot.
Doll Meets are great opportunities to meet other hobbyists, see different dolls, and of course take lots of photos!
Face-up
The painting that is on the face of a doll.
Most makers offer one or more "standard" or "factory" options when buying a doll, but often dolls are bought "blank" to then be painted by a specialised "face-up artist" or the owner themselves.
Fullset
A doll that comes with everything. Usually these are Limited Editions. Aside from the doll you get a preselected set of eyes, wig, clothes, shoes and possibly accessories and extra parts. depending on the maker and contents of the set the price can get very high.
Grail doll
The not-directly-attainable-doll that you have to own.
It doesn't happen for everyone, but it's not unusual for someone to fall head over heels for a doll that isn't easily attainable. Maybe it's a limited edition, the company quit, packages aren't shipped abroad, or that specific model has simply been taken out of the line-up. Generally it's still possible to get a hold of the doll, but the amount of time and effort that's sometimes involved is so big that it's been jokingly compared to the quest for the holy Grail.
Hybrid
A term that is used for dolls whose parts come from different makers, for example a Volks head on a Souldoll body.
Reasons for doing this vary, for example to save money by placing a head on the body of a cheaper brand, or simply because one likes a different body better. Heads are also sold separately, and it isn't always possible to get the original body. Smaller parts such as hands, feet and fantasy-parts are also often usable outside of the original brand.
Legit
Term that is used to indicate that the doll is an official product and not a recast.
Limited Edition/OOAK (One Of A Kind)
Rare dolls.
IIn both cases standard-model dolls can be used as a basis, in which case it concerns a limited production with, for example, a non-standard face-up and matching clothes and/or accessories.
OOAK dolls are completely unique and are generally made by individual BJD artists.
Make
Shortened version of "Make-up"
The term that’s often used in Japan for Face-up.
MJD
Mechanically Jointed Doll
Dolls that are assembled by placing separate parts onto an internal frame. These are generally made of vinyl, and are commonly referred to as "Vinyl Dolls". Among these are, for example, dolls from the brands Dollfie Dream, Smartdoll, Tinyfox and Imomodoll.
Popovy style
A description for a BJD that looks similar to those made by popovy-sisters
PVC+ABS
Two types of plastic that are used to produce dolls. Maker UFDoll uses these materials to make dolls that consist of separate parts that are held together by elastic. These dolls have the appearance of resin dolls but weigh a lot less.
Recasters
Aside from copyright violations this practice also takes business away from the actual doll makers, whose companies generally consist of less than 10 people. Finally these dolls are made out of cheaper materials and there have been multiple stories of them breaking, or even being delivered with dust on the doll.
Some known recasters are Oueneifs, Shuga Fairy and Fallen Angels.
Top Hate Cafe has an extensive article about Recast Identification.
See also: Scam-prevention
Resin/Resin-dust
Short for "Polyurethane resin", the material that most BJDs are made of. Dolls of this type consist of separate parts that are held together with elastic.
When sanding the hardened resin a dust is created that is very harmful to the body when inhaled.
Scalpers
Technically this isn't an illegal practice, but it's often seen as a form of scamming. This process is the same as ticket-reselling; Scalpers will buy as many of a Limited Edition doll as they can, as fast as they can, and then resell them for a heavily increased price.
See also: Scam-prevention
Scammers
These are people who put a doll or accessories up for sale but never send them and then disappear with the money. Online communities often place warnings when they notice such people.
See also: Scam-prevention
Single/Double/Peanut joints
DThe first BJDs had "single" joints, where the ball shape gives the limbs a max bend of 45 degrees. Later these were joined by "double" joints, which combined two single joints to allow the limbs to bend further. Because these joints somewhat resemble a peanut they are sometimes referred to as "peanut joints".
Staining
The terms that's used for all kinds of staining that a doll can get. Polyurethane and Vinyl are porous, which means that the colours of wigs or clothes can transfer to the material and thus cause a stain. There are various ways to prevent this (light-coloured underwear, bodysuits, tape), and in some cases stains can be removed/lightened by chemical means.
(re)Stringing
The process of pulling (new) elastic through the parts of a doll to reassemble them. This is done to tighten or replace the elastic, or for example after a thorough cleaning of the doll or the customisation of one or more parts. The elastic is pulled through the parts using, for example, ribbons or a special tool. Depending on the amount of wanted tension this can take a lot of force, and one should always be careful.
Sueding
The process where (traditionally) thin suede circles are placed within the hollow part of a doll's joint to create a rougher service so that the doll can pose better.
Another way to achieve the same effect is to apply a thin layer of hot-glue instead of suede (hot-glue sueding).
Nowadays you can also buy thin silicone rings to place within the joints.
Tension/stringing
Traditional BJDs are held together with elastic, which is under tension. As time passes the elastic will lose its tension and the doll will have to be restrung. The exact amount of tension depends on the maker and the owner; a doll with high tension stringing will generally hold poses better, but getting them into a pose can be more difficult. A doll with low tension can (over)bend their limbs easier, but they may become "floppy" and be dependent on their surroundings to hold a pose.
Vinyl
A type of plastic that is used in the production of dolls, such as Dollfie Dream and Smartdoll. Dolls of this type consist of hollow parts that are placed over a solid frame.
Volks-specific abbreviations
Because Volks is the company that started the modern ABJD hobby a few of their naming conventions are used throughout the hobby.
or example; The Volks Super Dollfie, abbreviated to SD, is a 1/3 scale doll, at roughly 55-60 cms.
A Soom Gem is also a 1/3 or 60cms doll, and in conversation they may be referred to as "SD-sized" or even "an SD" because "SD" has become shorthand for that size-range also outside of the Super Dollfie brand.
Doll makers use their own naming conventions for set sizes, but companies that make clothes and accessories often still use these abbreviations, possibly in combination with a scale-indication.
The most commonly used abbreviations are;
SD for 1/3 dolls of about 60 cms in height
MSD for 1/4 scale dolls of about 45 cms in height
YoSD for 1/6 scale dolls of about 25 cms in height
Wiring
The process of placing a piece of tough metal wire into a doll's limbs to help with posing.
Yellowing
A natural process that occurs when Polyurethane and Vinyl are exposed to UV light. This happens faster and more noticeable with Polyurethane than Vinyl, but eventually both materials will change colour to some degree.
The amount of change is dependent on the composition of the material, protection, and the amount of exposure to light. UV Protection sprays can noticeably delay the process, but the best method is to keep the doll out of sunlight as much as possible.