Third out of the box: Karel (Volks SD13 Heath)

Ah, here he is - my introduction to BJDs, the oldest of my dolls (released 2005) and the first member of my doll posse.  I found him on ebay with his complete fullset (which he never wears, because regency finery is not my thing), and the rest was history.


His original faceup was notoriously unpopular, but I actually like it - something about the way it works with the sculpt makes his expression seem to shift depending on how light hits the face, and that's always a plus to me.

As is standard for Volks, his resin is heavy, and while the colour has shifted over the years, it's mellowed more than discoloured.  He also has the unsanded seams, which I often hear complaints about, but I find that it just adds character (there's a particularly high one on one of his hands that's almost ridiculously sharp).

I always say that I'm glad that this doll was my introduction to the hobby, because I'm not sure anything else would have convinced me that these absurdly large playthings were actually worth the cost (in terms of buying them and in terms of storage space!