Well, I took Lilith to the Burlington doll club meeting yesterday, where she felt out of place among 1:4 fashion dolls and a slew of BJDs. However, I felt right at home, admiring and joking about everyone’s dolls and ogling the first Haund I’ve ever seen. You can see him below [his name is Grimm], owned by Steph on DOA. Lishe, who is owned by Ivy [Ivy4Mdvanii on DOA], parked herself in his lap, incidentally showing off where Sardonix’ boots went to. [Lishe’s T-shirt, hilariously enough, says I’M NOT A F***ING BARBIE!] The chair is from Doll Market, where I am going to get me some cheap doll furniture one of these days.

See MW geek out below the cut.

Things I learned from the Burlington doll club meeting:

1. It’s such a relief to say to someone, “Nice faceup — is that the default? It’s so beautiful, but he’s kind of kicky…you think he needs restringing?” and not have her look at me as if I’m speaking Sanskrit.

2. I’ve been spending too much time on DOA. I correctly identified Narindoll Narae, Souldoll Harang, CP Lishe, CP El, CP Ani, Elfdoll’s tinies and a Volks F28 after seeing them for only a few seconds in person.

3. BJD owners talk about their dolls differently than fashion doll owners. A) If you ask, “Who is she?” a fashion doll owner will answer with the manufacturer, product name and doll type: viz., “She’s an Evening Diva Gene by Ashton-Drake.” If you ask the same question of a BJD owner, she will answer with the name that she has given the doll: viz., “Oh, that’s Megan Mudpie.” You have to specifically ask who made the BJD in order to find out manufacturer, product name and doll type: viz., “Oh yeah, and Megan’s a 43 cm Narae in pinky-white from Narindoll.” B) Fashion doll owners comment on their dolls’ clothes, but that’s about it. BJD owners talk about their dolls’ ages, boyfriends, girlfriends, expressions, moods, etc., and they observe similar expressions and affections in other BJDs. To fashion doll owners, the dolls do not seem alive, but, to BJD owners, they do.

4. Haund’s a microcephalic little dude with extremely long limbs and small, narrow fingers. His chin is as pointy as a freshly sharpened pencil. I’m glad Armeleia’s messing with mine. Then he’ll be pointy in all the right ways.

5. I miss my BJDs. I don’t miss Zephque and Sardonix particularly, but I do miss the heft of a 1:3 resin doll, plus all the detail and posability than vinyl just can’t capture. Their larger size makes them easier to see as alive.