Useful Taobao search terms - for dolls and you

This post is under construction!

Decided to make just one post for Taobao search terms, rather than splitting dolls/ human stuff :)
Of course, you can just use Google Translate for simple things such as colours, so I'm focussing on terms that either Google Translate mistranslates or where the English and Chinese don't literally match up. Hope it helps!

General terms

轉 - Second hand
现货 - In stock

原创-  original/genuine

Fashion styles

萌 - Meng. Literally meaning 'budding' it's used as the Japanese word 'moe', ie 'cute in a Japanese way' which on Taobao seems to equate to 'teddy bear ears'.
森女 - Forest girl. Japanese Mori style.
文艺复古女 - Cultured vintage girl. Artistic vintage styles. Some crossover with Mori girl.
甜美女装  - Sweet girl. Super cutesy!

学院风 - College Scene. Google translates 风 automatically as 'wind' but in the case of fashion it generally means something like 'style' or 'scene'.

淑女 - Classy girl. Close to Princess style, more everyday.
苛苛 - ulzzang look
软妹甜 - soft and sweet, kawaii style.

Elements

糖果色 - Candy coloured. 冰淇淋色 - Ice cream coloured. 马卡龙色 -Macaron coloured. These are the terms to use if you want to find pastels!

Doll terms

小布 - Neo Blythe

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The $20 'ball jointed doll' Ye Luo Li

Ok, so she's not really a BJD, but cute anyway?

Her proportions are similar to a chunky YoSD doll, with a 6-7 head.

So her journey from China must have been a little rough, she had pulled herself free of her constraints!

Bit dubious about the CE mark, but ok.

Her face is funny but quite cute I think. Her nose was quite dirty. She comes with eye decals buuuut I ruined mine. She also comes with a bad wig that's too big, so I threw it away.

Her extra hands.

 So here's something odd. I tried changing her hand and it just wouldn't go on, and noticed the hand I'd taken off has a trimmed stem, but they hadn't bothered trimming the spares. It cuts easily with scissors anyway.

Overall her body isn't bad, but her shins and ankles are... Mad.

She has a cute wing design on her back. Her parts are different plastics and as you can see vary in colour. For some reason she has a soft waist but hard chest.

Wearing YoSD sized wig, dress and shoes.

Her posing is pretty fun, she got plenty of joints to play with.

Overall verdict? She's definitely a 'toy' rather than an adult collectors item. and I kinda like that. Her quality is fairly low, she has some open seams, varying colours and staining, all of which would put off an adult collector.

But for a child, she's a fun size, nice and light, and unlikely to break.

If you'd like to check out Ye Luo Li dolls, you can find them by searching 夜萝莉 on Taobao. And as always, if you need a Taobao agent you can see my Affiliate link for Yoybuy on the right side of this page.

Opening Middie Blythe

Here's a little pic sequence of how I open Middie Blythe. She's very different from Neo, but don't let that frighten you!


First, she has just two screws holding the front of her head tot he back which need to be removed. Middie has a lot of screws, so I sometimes like to use masking tape to stick them to the bit they came from.

After removing the screws, I apply pressure to the side of the backplate using the heel of my hand. The clips are directly behind her ears, so this is where the pressure needs to be. Newer Middies won't need much, older ones you practically have to stand on them :p

I keep spare pieces of uncoloured plastic for wedging between the two plates. This doesn't cause any dents or scratched on her. It takes a lot of wiggling and prising to get the pieces apart.

Next is when I cut off the scalp, because I find it easier to cut it smoothly when the pieces are unclipped. No photo of this I'm afraid.

Once the two plates are apart you need only unscrew the two screws at the top of the eye mech and it will pull out.

To take the eye mech apart, only unscrew the screws on the far right and left on the underside of the mech. It will then pull apart.

Removing the eye chips is also a bit of a pain. The chips are fitted from the inside of the eyeball, not the front like Neo. The glue isn't water soluble, so you have to painstakingly use a knife to scrape the glue on the inside, then push the eyechip in from the front.

Once apart, the chip will pop off the inside eyeball piece with just a prod of the end of a paintbrush through the little hole.

She's then ready to be customised!

Here's Nellie with carving, new make up, new chips, new lashes, and borrowing Francoise's scalp :)

Forest Girl Fans review (Mori style Taobao shop)

Forest Girl Fans is a Taobao shop dedicated to Mori Girl fashion. I shop there a lot, so here's a review!

Click here to see the shop! 

Firstly, I find the shop delivers really quickly, usually my orders reach my agent between just one or two days, and I've always received the item I ordered. They are a power seller, and always seem to be well reviewed.

Now, all their lovely clothes are modelled by a lovely petite Chinese girl, and I am not such a thing. I'm a size UK12 Westerner with some chunky proportions. But still, I'm able to wear most of these clothes since they are loose fitting! The pants are a no, but tops, dresses and skirts fit ok.

Here are just a few of my items from them.

Simple layering skirt. The waist size would be better on a smaller person, but the fit isn't bad.

Pattern dress. I really love this, it's flattering and comfy

Lace cardigan. A sweet relaxed fit

 This one doesn't work on me. The sleeves are supposed to be loose and hang down, but they catch on my big elbows and look awkward.

Layered blouse.

I love some polka dots

Just a couple of me wearing the clothes, because it's crazy hot out and I'm sick.

Only the petticoat is Forest Girl Fans in this pic, I cheated :p

Update: More buys! Shop pics only I'm afraid.

Wool skirt The fabric is nice, but it's too small to get over my hips (I am semi-fat, my hip measurement is approx 100cm) so Ibelieve this would only fit up to a UK 6 or 8 (US 2 or 4)

Loose cord dress: Very nice but a little long for me so I'm going to shorten it just a little.

Lace collar blouse: Useful for layering! I bought an M which was plenty big enough, estimate it's around a UK 12 to 14 (US 8 to 10)

As always, if you want to shop on Taobao you can use my Yoybuy affiliate link in the right sidebar :)

Taobao finds for dolls - with pictures! Part 1

Here are some various things I've found for dolls on Taobao, with pictures and links!

I'm hoping to make this a series, so let me know if you like it ^^

For information on my 'models' click the pics!

I'll put prices in Yuan and it's roughly 10yuan = £1 or 6Yuan = $1 or 9Yuan= 1 Euro right now.

Little hat for 1/6th BJD, Middie Blythe or Makies 6Yuan

Can't complain about the price, and it's super cute! Edges are unhemmed

Paparazzi shorts 35 Yuan
Paparazzi sweater 65 Yuan

Brown bear hat for Middie Blythe, 16th BJD or Makies 28 Yuan

Kuloft eye chips 40Yuan
Hat from Xuer - OOS
Promise of the World scarf - 18Yuan

Helleborus kigurumi for 1/4 BJD 98 Yuan



Qis Blythe dress 58 Yuan

These Qi 's Blythe dresses both fit Makies really nicely!

1/8th Kigurumi  80Yuan

For 1/8th but, look how cutely it fits Middie!

Clear Lan for Lati, Blythe, Momoko whole shop

I'm not going to list individual pieces because I have soooo much stuff from here. Just, check it out :)

That's all for part 1! Remember to comment if you want more of this :)

Remember, my affiliate link for Yoybuy Taobao agent is here if you'd like to support my blog whilst shopping!

Shopping for Blythe Part 1 - Dolls and parts.

Here I will be compiling a list of shops for Blythe and related goods. I'll try to keep it updated as much as possible!

Shops selling Blythe Dolls

Junie Moon - Japan - Junie Moon is the official Blythe shop based in Japan, and they ship internationally, so if you're looking for current releases and are nervous about accidentally buying a fake, Junie Moon is the place to go!

Rakuten Blythe category - Japan - Ship internationally and have a points program, usually only have new releases.

AmiAmi - Japan - Good for preorders, not so good for having any dolls in stock.

HLJ - Japan - This used to be my favourite shop for Blythe, but recently they don't seem to stock very well.

Mandarake International - Japan- A place to find rare older editions and they ship internationally! There's some high prices but you never know what you'll find :)

Dollfie World - Hong Kong - I love DW! Don't forget to change currency from HKD to USD before it gives you a heart attack.

Mimiwoo - Hong Kong - Just watch the prices here, they do include shipping but can run rather high.

XL-shop - Malaysia - I haven't used them yet but looks like a nice little shop! As I type they have Sunshine Holiday in stock @_@

Shops selling bodies for Blythe - Pure Neemo

1999 - Japan - Don't always have full stock but the prices are pretty good!

And mentioned above: Amiami, HLJ, DollfieWorld, Mimiwoo (although from her they are rather expensive)

Other parts and eye chips for Blythe

Kuloft on Etsy - Thailand -   Kuloft dealer on Taobao - China - Lovely eyechips and accessories!

Coolcat -  Taiwan - I use Coolcat a lot! The place to go for scalps, etc, but a little expensive for chips.

Etsy - I haven't used any Etsy seller for chips, so here's the whole category.

Middoll on Taobao - China - Cute chips!

Hair, fibres, wefts for Blythe

Coolcat - Taiwan - Coolcat have lots of weft options.

Dollyhair - USA- For my friends across the pond! Lots of fibres available.

Retrodolls - UK - Artificial and natural fibres as well as a rerooting service.


Hope that's useful!

Remember, if you want to buy from Taobao using Yoybuy my affiliate link is Here.

Beginners Guide to Taobao

Hello dears~

I've been asked several times for a Taobao guide, so here's some basic tips.

1: Understand that Taobao is not like Ebay or Amazon.

And, in order to understand that...

2: Understand what Taobao listings are and aren't.

Taobao listings may not be selling what the title or price suggests. Many listings are for several items, or are simply adverts for the seller's store.

Here's an example of a 'display' listing. Easy to spot for two reasons, first the crazy high price, and secondly this one usefully has the word 'display' in the title. You'll also see these with impossibly low or 'lucky number' prices too.

3: Use Google Chrome to browse.

Firstly, Chrome has a built in translator. Never rely on this, but you can use it for guidance. And secondly and more importantly, Chrome will warn you of pages containing malware. Sometimes the malware warnings will just be related to where the image is hosted, but best to be safe.

4: Be suspicious.

If it's too good to be true, it probably is. For example, if you see a super limited doll or dress for a nice price? Either it's a fake, or they are selling you a shopping service and it's just a deposit for them to possibly go and buy it. I'd recommend people new to Taobao only to buy from power sellers, until you get a feel for it. Power sellers have jewels or crowns next to their names.

5: Check reviews because images lie.

A lot of listings will use photos of what the seller wants their item to look like, rather than the real thing. This is sometimes easy to spot, sometimes not. I generally presume most Taobao images have been yanked from somewhere else. Fortunately, Taobao gives users the ability to add images to reviews, so clicking on the review tab may give you a chance to see real photos.

6: Understand why you need an agent.

You need an agent because Taobao doesn't work on a straightforward shopping cart system, it works on chat between seller and buyer. Your agent will do this for you, and will let you know if anything differs from the listing, such as colours, stock levels, and so on. My agent often comes back to me with photos of the actual item that the listing didn't include, and so on. Also, even if you could communicate with the seller, if you are not in China they will not want to ship directly to you.

7: Find a good agent and use a credit card.

I've only ever used Yoybuy, so I can't comment on other agents. My experience with them has been really good, no hidden charges or unwanted substitutions. If you have a credit card, I would highly recommend using it over Paypal, as you'll get more protection if things go pear shaped.

Here is my affiliate link for Yoybuy, if you want to support me while you shop :)
Yoybuy taobao agent


I hope this short guide helps, I'll be posting more Taobao stuff soon!