If you are into doll collecting, here are some things to keep in mind;

Stick to your budget - This goes for anything, not just doll collecting. If you have a budget then make sure you stick to it. It is there for a reason and your financial safety is much more important than picking up a doll for your collection no matter how rare or desireable. Some dolls can fetch 4 or 5 figures especially if you are looking for reborn baby dolls or others that are hand crafted.

What type of doll are you after? - As you probably already know, there are loads of different types of dolls around. Wether you are after a Barbie doll, baby doll, life like baby dolls, Cindy and so on.

Know your sources - If you are an avid collector, then you probably already attend many local craft fayres (if you don't then you are probably missing out on some real gems!). Bear in mind however that many people sell items online now, it is well worth looking at what is around as not only are you likely to find some real bargains but you will also find it easier to hunt down that rare doll you have been after.

These will help anyone that is starting out but it is important to be able to recognize a bargain when you see one. Impulse buys, more often than not, will see you spending more than you ought to so try to remain thoughful before completing your purchase. If you are face to face with the seller, don't be afraid to ask questions and inspect the doll to ensure it is in tip top condition. Otherwise, try and contact them through email if you have any reservations at all.

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Not sure what a reborn doll kit is? You can find more about them here

With that said, it is obviously a steep learning curve. There are some things you can do when you start out to make the process as easy as possible. As an example, one of them is to use a reborn doll kit. These kits are a set of basic doll limbs and head that are ready to be reborned. You dont have to spend time to prepare them, but at the same time, you will not get to choose the base doll you plan on reborning (which are usually berenguer dolls)..

Here is a list of the pros and cons of using a kit;

Pros:

• Makes the process easier
• The doll is usually dismantled already
• More often than not, they will come with a new cloth body
• You dont have to spend a long time removing factory colors and hair from the doll

Cons:

• They can be more expensive than buying the base doll you want to reborn
• Not always the same parts are provided
• You dont get to choose the underlying look of the doll
• You dont get to practice taking a doll apart

As you can see from the above, neither side outweights the other. If you are looking to improve your creative skills, such as painting, layering and microrooting then you will find that a reborn doll kit will let you get around to doing this quicker than if you had to dismantle it yourself.

Of course, in order to become a better artist you will have to get to grips with the fiddly parts of reborning as well and removing the factory markings when you dismantle a doll is one of the toughest parts. If you are serious about becoming a reborn doll artist then you will want to make sure you are able to reborn a doll from start to finish.

In conclusion, you shouldn't be put off from using a reborn doll kit. They can be a quick and easy way to dive right in. Preparing the doll does take quite a while and its not everyones cup of tea. You can look at perfecting this part when you are ready and without a doubt the more creative processes are the more fun.

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To help you avoid some common pitfalls, here are the leading 3 tips to remember.

Remove the original of all factory markings

It is vitally important to make sure that you remove all of the factory markings from the doll you are reborning. Generally speaking, this will be the dolls hair, eyelashes and any paint.

If you leave any of this on the doll, it will ruin the end result. This can be one of the hardest parts to do but it is well worth making sure you do this properly.

You dont need to use a purple wash

When reborning was quite new, many people added a purple wash inside the dismantled doll pieces. This was to give the skin a slight blue tint which helped to increase the visual outcome and make it look more real.

This didnt last for long though, as many people found that the paint penetrate the outside of the limbs and ruin the external colors that were applied on top. This effect can ruin the entire doll.

For this reason, it is best to not use a purple wash and instead you should focus on building up the paint in a series of layers on top of each other.

Dont use sand either

One of the last things to do is to add some weight to the dolls body and limbs before you put it back together. However, you should try to avoid using sand as the weight where possible.

If the containing bags leak it will no doubt come out of the doll and end up making a mess. Sand, being rather fine, is liable to find its way out of most bags quite easily.

Also, it has proven to be a problem to some people who have tried to ship their reborn doll overseas and have had it rejected by customs.

These 3 things will help you to get the most out of your reborning. Of course, you should mainly focus on having fun and enjoying what you are doing.

Here are the 3 most essential supplies you will need

Replacement Glass Eyes

In most cases you will need to replace the dolls eyes with some more realistic looking glass ones. In most cases it is better to stick with brown eyes but you can go blue or another color if you wish too. You will need to know what size eyes you need.

Reborn doll Mohair (or a wig)

While wigging is a lot easier to do you simply cannot beat the realistic look that mohair gives. You will need to microroot the mohair by hand which can take quite a while if you are starting out but it is well worth the extra effort. You can get Angora mohair in a variety of colors but make sure you have enough to complete the head you will be working on - buy extra if in doubt.

Reborn Doll Paints

This is what brings the doll together and makes it look so real. If you invest in some quality paints, such as the Genesis Heat Set paints, you can buy a huge selection of ready mixed skin tones so you dont need to worry about remixing and getting it wrong. As the name suggests, once painted you then bake the limbs you have painted in order to get the paint to set. You usually need to do several layers of this so once again, it can be quite time consuming.

These are the 3 most important reborn doll supplies you are going to need. Although there are many other things you should get, they are often one-time purchases only. If you can afford it, it is usually worth buying extra supplies from the above so that you never get caught short half way through a project.

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Reborn doll kits do not usually come with a body - when you make a reborn doll, the arms, legs and head are the only parts that you need to focus on as you will have to build up skin tones and blemishes in layers. The body is covered up with clothes and in most cases it a cloth doll body that has been filled with polyfil or pellets in order to make it squishy so it feels like a babies body.

There is one downside to using one of these doll kits however; there is usually a limited selection of kits to choose from which means getting the ideal face for your project can sometimes be hard. When you consider that there are open or closed eyes are mouths in a variety of styles there is usually the right doll for most situations. However, the reborn doll kits are often from certain dolls only. The size of the doll kit isnt usually too much of an issue as there is usually plenty of variety available.

That shouldnt put you off though, if you really need to get the exact look of the baby correct you are probably a lot more advanced that you realise so you may be beyond using one of the kits.

In the vast majority of cases however, you will not get anything else you need to reborn the doll fully. As mentioned above, you will get the limbs which means you will still need to get;

• Replacement eyes
• Mohair or a wig
• Paintbrushes
• Paints
• Clothes
• Cloth doll body

Kits for reborn dolls are not overly expensive so if you are looking to make your own reborn then you might wasnt to consider getting one of these instead. Of course, many artists enjoy the entire reborning process from start to finish to if you are looking for a bit more of a challenge then reborning a doll from scratch should keep you entertained for a few days at least.

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Firstly, they are seen by many as being cute, adorable and have an innocence about them like that of a real baby. This makes them stand out from other collectors items and can often warm someone's heart to great lengths. This of course can lead to impulse buys especially from people who have only just come across them. More importantly however is the fact that this can also lead to the reborn doll artist getting a loyal fan following.

secondaly, A lot of people appreciate the talent and hard work that it takes to create a beautiful reborn doll. Its not just a case of taking it apart and putting it together again. Fine layers of paint are built up to create realistic flesh tones and blemishes while the hair can be fiddly an awkward at first. Depending on the medium used, such as Genesis Heat Set paints, individual pieces may need baking or they will need to dry which will make the entire process quite slow too, so it can take many many hours to create a reborn baby from start to finish.

Thirdly, is the fact that as these dolls are hand crafted by these artists they will never be the same. Some people will accept custom reborn doll orders where you can specify your requirements or even make a doll from a photograph. You will often pay more for this, but you can request almost anything you like, such as pacifiers, heart beat and breathing simulators.

Finally, Dolls have been one of the biggest collector items of all time and it is no difference here; Reborn dolls will continue the trend and are likely to become one of the most sought after types ever.