Scam or Legit? Reborn Dolls, What you need to know

There are articles telling you what to look for before purchasing a Reborn doll. I've writen my own and read others, yet I still read posts from buyers and how they lost their money. Then it ocurred to me, instead of telling you what to look for, it might help you to know exactly what real Reborn doll artists invest into each doll then red flags will go off when you see advertisements for dolls at incredible prices.

First, you need to know that there are two types of Reborn dolls; Vinyl with cloth bodies, and Silicone. We will start with the least expensive and work our way up.

Blank Vinyl Reborn Doll

Vinyl Reborn dolls have vinyl heads, feet, and arms. Their bodies are cloth filled with a mixture of soft fiber and fine glass beads (for weight). These dolls will be the least expensive, but you need to know what goes into each one to understand what that really means. To keep it simple, there are artists that sculpt clay into life-like babies. The sculpture is then made into a mold, then the mold is filled with vinyl or silicone. This produces what is called a "blank doll", and the doll will either be a vinyl doll or silicone doll. These blank dolls are sold to artists that will paint them into the realistic looking dolls you see for sale. That's the short and sweet version of a very long process.

What you need to know is that an authentic Reborn blank vinyl doll (head, arms, legs), and cloth body is sold on average for $100. That doesn't include the fiber fill, glass beads, Mohair, rooting needles, special paints, brushes, sponges, and other tools. All the supplies could end up costing around $200 and that doesn't include your special oven either. Artists will spends days, maybe weeks, painting the many layers and putting your doll together. Depending on the artistic quality of the final doll you will be paying from $300 to $800 for the doll. So, anything less than $300 the artist is more than likely taking a loss, the doll is an illegal reproduction, produced and painted in a factory, a totally different cheaper doll, or the worst case scenario no doll at all. You get what you pay for is true.

Blank Full Body Silicone Doll

Then, we have Silicone Reborn dolls. These dolls are made of silicone that has a squishy realistic feel. These blank dolls come in either partial kits (head, arms, legs, cloth body), or full body silicone. The process of painting is different than vinyl, but still requires paints, tools, etc. The cheaper of these two is the partial silicone. This blank kit starts around $400. (keep in mind the prices can be a little lower or even higher). So for an authentic partial silicone doll you will be paying from $500 to $1,000.

Finally, we have the full body silicone doll. Just like it states, the entire body is made of squishy life-like silicone. The artist will buy the blank (unpainted) silicone doll starting at $1,000 to $1,500. There will also be the additional costs of paints and supplies. I have seen these authentic silicone finished dolls sell from $1,500 and even up to $8,000, with the average price being somewhere in the middle. Bottom line, an authentic full body silicone is not going to be sold for $500, let alone $100.

So, the next time you see that Vinyl Reborn doll for $100 or that full body silicone doll for $500, red flags should be going off and making you at least look a little deeper in the deal. Who knows, maybe you will get lucky and buy that $4000. full body silicone doll for $500 because the person selling it needs the money or is feeling generous. But, more than likely, not!