Ball Jointed Dolls Found at Tuesday Morning

Tuesday Morning happens to be one of my favorite places to search for dollie treasures because you just never know what you are going to find there.  My oldest daughter stopped by Tuesday Morning a couple days ago, and she was so excited to call to tell me that she had found some Ball Jointed Dolls.  They were Ai Ball Jointed Dolls from Jun Planning, which is the same company that makes Pullip dolls.  She brought home one of each of the two Ball Jointed Dolls that they had in stock.

If you've ever been interested in Ball Jointed Dolls, but were put off by the price, you may want to check out your Tuesday Morning for these little cuties.  Ball Jointed Dolls can be very expensive, easily ten times what these little dolls cost or more.  Tuesday Morning's price is just $29.99, so it's a very affordable alternative to ordering an expensive Asian Ball Jointed Doll if you'd like to give BJD's a try.

The dolls come packaged in a lovely white storybook style box with an embossed vine border around the edge  and gold foil writing in the center that says Ai Ball Jointed Doll.  Underneath, is the doll's name, "Thyme", in blue.

When you open the cover of the book, inside is little Thyme and her accessories.  

 

There is a clear protective cover that lifts up to access the satin covered cushion.  

Simply untie the satin ribbons to easily free Thyme from her box.  No plastic ties to cut and no cardboard or rubber bands.  I wish all dolls were packaged like this.

Thyme can stand well on her own, straight out of the box.  She stands about 14cm. tall or about 5 1/2".  She has blue eyes and platinum hair with ringlets styled in two ponytails. 

Her accessories include a blue and white gingham dress with black lace trim, a white lacy petticoat, white tights, black mary jane shoes, a furry cowprint collar, a cowprint hand muff, and a cowprint hat with gingham lining.

The back of her dress has a little furry cow tail.

Below are some pictures of her undressed to show her ball joints, her posability, and how she is put together for anyone new to BJD's. 

She is jointed at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles.

Like other BJD's, she is strung, which means there is elastic which runs through her body holding her together.  BJD's are strung, which is one thing that makes them different from other dolls like Barbie, Monster High, American Girls, etc.  BJD's are more posable than other dolls. 

Here, I'm pulling on her foot to show the elastic that runs through her leg so you can see how she is strung.

 

Here you can see how her arms are strung the same way.

If I pull up on her head, you can see the elastic that runs through her body and into her head.

Her wig is attached to her head cap with Velcro.  It can easily be changed to a different wig, since BJD's are designed to be customized.

This shows the Velcro on the top of the head cap and the inside of the wig.

The headcap comes off easily, and is attached by a magnet.  Inside the head, you can see that the elastic is attached to a ring.

By pulling the ring out of the way and lifting out the part underneath, you can see the back of the eyes.  BJD are designed so that the eyes can be changed for customizing.  This doll is no exception.   You can easily change her eyes.  Her eyes are held in place by the little part you see in the picture below.  She also comes with a block of eye putty, which can be used instead to hold the eyes in place. 

I hope seeing inside the head and the stringing doesn't creep you out too much, but those are the mechanics of a Ball Jointed Doll.  I just wanted to show this for anyone who is new to BJD's.  Now back to cute little Thyme.  She has the most adorable little hands.

My camera just can't capture the amazing sculpting of her little feet.

She can touch her face, and she can hold whatever position that you put her in pretty well.

Here she is dressed back in her complete outfit that she came with.

Here is Thyme with Rosalee, my Fairyland Littlefee.  Rosalee is about 10 1/2" tall compared to Thyme's 5 1/2".

 Thyme could be Rosalee's little sister.

The other Ai Ball Jointed Doll that my daughter found at Tuesday Morning was Leucocoryne.

Here she is in her storybook box.

She reminds me of a little elf.

The details of her outfit are amazing.  She wears a green and yellow striped top with a scalloped hem that is decorated with tiny red beads.  She has a separate ruffled collar with bead details.  She has forest green knee length pants and gold stockings.  Her green shoes are decorated with ruffles and a gold trim.  She has a tall green elf hat.  She has red hair, green eyes, and a sprinkling of tiny freckles across her nose.

How do these dolls differ from other expensive Asian Ball Jointed Dolls?

1.  One of the differences between these BJD's and a lot of high end BJD's is that they are made of plastic, possibly ABS like the Hujoo Ball Jointed Dolls, instead of resin like other very expensive BJD's.  I can't tell the difference actually, but I found this information out from researching these little dolls online.

2.  The only other difference that I've been able to find is that these little dolls come with clothes, wig, eyes, and a face up (their face paint).   BJD's usually do not come with clothes, wig or faceup, because they are designed to be customized.  When you order a BJD though, you do have the option of paying extra for a factory faceup, and you can even order dolls as a "full set", so that they come with clothes and a wig which costs more too.  These little dolls do come complete so that you can enjoy them just as they are, but they are still made to be completely customizable just like any other BJD.

I would recommend these adorable little BJD's, especially if you are looking for an affordable way to add a BJD to your doll collection.  Check your local Tuesday Morning to see these sweet little dolls in person.  If your Tuesday Morning doesn't have any in stock, search for Ai Ball Jointed Dolls on Amazon.  Amazon has many of them at the same price as Tuesday Morning, $29.99, although some are much higher.

Since this post is already so long, I'll tell you about the other adorable dolls that my daughter brought home from Tuesday Morning in the next post.

Update 

Thanks to Barb for posting a comment below to ask about their eyes.  Their eyes can be adjusted or completely changed out for different eyes.  The manufacturer also provides eye putty with each doll.

I had not tried to adjust their eyes or use the eye putty in any of the previous pictures, and they looked a little cross-eyed.  So today I decided to adjust their eyes.  When you remove the head cap (held on with a magnet), there is a plastic cover that holds the eyes in place.  I removed that plastic piece, and used the eye putty to hold the eyes in place.  Their heads are small, but it was still pretty easy to do.  I used the rounded end of a paint brush to push the eye putty in to hold the eyes in place.  Here is what it looked like on the inside of the head after I got the eyes adjusted.

Here are Thyme's before and after pictures.

Before adjusting eyes

After adjusting eyes

Here are Leucocoryne's before and after pictures.

Before adjusting eyes

After adjusting eyes

I'm happy that I took the time to adjust their eyes.  They still might not be adjusted just right, but I think they look better.  What do y'all think?