This year, BJDcollectasy is featuring the Junkyspot‘s Nano Freya cats as our 4th annual New Year Babies. The little 12cm tall kitties are cast in ABS plastic and are fully jointed. They were designed by Emory of the Junkyspot and sculpted by artist Sunghyun Yoon of Hujoo. The cats come in a choice of grey or white, both of which are shown here. They are sold blank. Our kittens are lightly blushed with pastels and dressed in outfits made of felt. The banner is also made of felt which is stitched to ribbon. The eyes shown in the dolls are 10mm reflective acrylic eyes by Ersa Flora – Doll Eyes. Happy New Year 2014!
Review:
My new Nano Freya dolls are the first BJDs I have ever owned that are made of ABS plastic. The tiny anthro cats are simply adorable, even blank without any clothes or eyes. ABS plastic dolls are significantly lighter than resin dolls. One of advantages of the material is that it lacks the fragility of resin. but can still be blushed and customized as desired. The joints are not as tight and clean a fit as in a resin doll, but this does not affect their posing. The details of the sculpting, while softer, shouldn’t be a deterrent from purchasing, as the price is excellent. They cost much less than resin dolls of the same size.
I found that while my Freyas could stand upright out of the box, it took more fiddling to position them so they didn’t soon fall over. The legs have a lock at the back of the knee with two points holding them steady which helps. The knee and elbow joints are single joints, but the little dolls hold many poses and can touch their faces. The hip joint is designed to move both forward and to the side due to slits in the upper thigh ball, so while they can be shaky when standing, the cats hold a sitting position very well. The torso joint has a joint lock on the back. When the upper torso is moved backward, it slides to the lock line. When the upper torso is moved forward, it slides and locks on the rim of the lower torso. Each mini Freya comes with a separate tail. The cat tail may be optionally attached with magnets that also come with each doll.
The BJD’s head is attached to the body by cords threaded through the neck hole. The knotted cords are then hooked onto one of two pegs. Each peg has a hole in the center that match up with smaller pegs on the head cap. The cap is attached by plugging the head cap pegs into the holes. The fit is tight, and the head cap does not fall out once replaced. To install eyes, the head needs to be removed, but it is not hard to re-attach.
To color the faces of my Freyas, I used the same materials I use on resin BJDs. I sprayed the dolls twice with Mr. Super Clear and dusted their features with artist pastels. I then sealed my work with a final coat of MSC. I will probably color them some more later on. While I obtained my Nana Freyas to be the BJDcollectasy New Year babies, I could include them in projects for tiny dolls and as accessories for larger dolls. They are versatile little BJDs, and I recommend them to both collectors and for cat lovers.
Photos above: Hujoo mark on back of doll head on head-cap, tail and magnets for attaching.
Can you use acrylic paint on them? And, if yes, do you need to apply a coat of the varnish beforehand?
Thank you!
I sprayed MSC to allow the pastels to stick. I have used acrylics on resin, and I assume that they would work just fine on vinyl. My 1 concern for using acrylics directly on the head is the possibility of permanently staining the surface. That would likely show only if the face-up is removed. I do not know for sure if acrylics stick well on their own on vinyl, but my guess is yes if the surface isn’t slick.
Thank you!