Forum - View topicChicks On Anime - Ball-Jointed Dolls
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idrisfynn
 Posts: 17 Location: San Francisco |
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I was wondering when BJDs would show up here. I've been a collector for years and I'm a mod at Den of Angels. I don't go to anime conventions so I don't know what that end of the scene is like but I know quite a bit about the BJD hobby.
When this hobby was new Volks was the first and only company making resin ball jointed dolls, there are at least a hundred companies making this type of doll now. The current trend in large dolls is for very mature looking sculpts and dolls with fantasy elements like wings, horns and hooves. Boy and girl dolls are equally popular. There is also a trend for better articulation and poseability. Other than the vinyl Dollfie Dreams (they are not technically ball jointed dolls as they are made of vinyl instead of resin and have an internal skeleton instead of being strung with elastic) mentioned by Cosplaybunny there are resin anime specific tie-ins as well. Volks has put out licensed Rozen Maiden dolls that sell on the second hand market for some of the highest prices you can pay for a BJD, especially Shinku and Suigintou. They also made an SD13 doll for Tsuyoshi Maki from the series Top Secret~ The Revelation. While the dolls are somewhat anatomically correct it's not the focus of the sculpt. They have all the parts a person would have but it is kept quite modest. Dolls stay clothed 99% of the time so if the idea bothers you, keep their pants on. 
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posterior_praiser
 Posts: 296 |
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Am I the only one who finds those things incredibly creepy? There's just something about them...
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sashaisme
 Posts: 75 |
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I think they're really nice looking...
I especially love the eyes, though. They're so beautiful! |
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Sailor S
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Wow, I must say that the faceup work on that Dinks Dolls site is just utterly amazing. I've been in love with BJDs probably since the time I saw the Rozen Maiden line, although I'm not willing to pay the $3000+ that the lovely Suigintou goes for. The closest I've come to a BJD is a what I'd say is a faux BJD with my Akari character doll. She's fully articulated, but doesn't have the replaceable eyes, nor is she resin. Instead she's a vinyl, but she was as expensive as one! Anyways, some day I plan on buying a proper Volks BJD. Thank you for a great article!
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vedicardi
 Posts: 30 Location: Wisconsin |
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I really gotta say that these things creep the hell out of me
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dizzywulf
Posts: 102 Location: Wakayama, Japan |
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While I think these dolls are strangely beautiful and I admire the time and craftsmanship that goes into making them.....I'm sure if I actually bought one I'd have to keep it in a box or something so that it wouldn't watch me as I went about my day.
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Steel Angel
 Posts: 274 Location: Texas |
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Interesting article. Could never really get into the BJD's personally as their cost is generally high and often sell out on most pre-order phases for most of the carriers. Aside from that, they are often a bit on the large side, especially the Dolffie type.
I do recommend checking out their store (Volks) in Akiba for those who plan to visit Japan though. You can watch them work on the dolls in the back of the store, was pretty amazing to see them made from start to finish. Personally I'll stick with Azone as they have a lot of Anime characters that are also very well done. I stick with the 23-27cm versions, although they do make the 60cm as well. Here's a few pics for those who want to see the details. 1,2,3,4 *Note* Some of them are jointed, some are not depending on the "body" used for the individual doll. Last edited by Steel Angel on Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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CURSE YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, those are awesome. Sent you a PM for assistance. My wife is going to kill me when she starts seeing these coming in the door. 
Now, where to put them... |
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Nekusagi
 Posts: 49 |
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DO WANT. How do you order these? The price seems right- $126 USD-ish- and if Jun Planning never gets out of the red I may set my sights on getting one of these instead of a Pullip (I love BJDs, especially those I can dress in matching Lolita outfits, but could never afford a custom one, much less trust myself with one). I'd read about Ex-Cutes on 4chan, but didn't know they were so affordable, and if my dreams of owning a Pullip are killed by Jun Planning's financial troubles, this is honestly a great alternative. |
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Cassandra
 Posts: 1356 Location: Birdsboro, PA |
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It looks like that particular doll doesn't come out until August but Hobby Link Japan sells the Azone dolls: http://www.hlj.com/hljlist2/?SeriesID=All&MacroType=ActDol&Maker1=AZN&Dis=-2&GenreCode=Dol&searchpage=Doltop Just scroll down to the Secret Wonderland dolls for the line that doll comes from. She's just not listed yet. Only the July doll is listed. I'm sure you could ask them about the August doll though 
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poonk
 Posts: 1490 Location: In the Library with Philip |
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I first heard of BJDs a few years ago in a thread in the aarinfantasy forums. I love looking at the pictures that some people stage of their dolls in elaborate costumes/settings. It's really amazing how much time & money people are willing to spend on them. The time part I understand-- if I had one I'd probably fuss with it entirely too much myself-- but the money is what stops me from pursuing the hobby. I remember some enthusiasts noting that they make & sell clothing/accessories to other collectors solely to help fund their own habit (a vicious cycle, but one they obviously love
). But as for me, I gotta pay rent and all that so personally I really can't justify the price (I'm kind of surprised that that many highschool/college-aged people can afford them, frankly, though I suppose HS kids generally don't have to worry about rent, etc.). As for me, I'll just have to content myself with looking at pretty pictures I guess.
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idrisfynn
Posts: 17 Location: San Francisco |
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I afford my BJD habit by having a second job which happens to be BJD related business. I'd say only 1/2 or less of BJD collectors are still in high school, I'm sure people get a slanted view of the hobby through the demographic you see at anime cons.
If you are already good at sewing via cosplay, customizing resin via cosplay prop building or figure making or good at painting via model kits you could feasibly start a new business for your self. It's a very competitive market but it's doable. |
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blackwingsblackheart
Posts: 2 |
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Hey, Idris! Good to see you over here. It's unfortunate that the interviewee has been out of the ABJD community for so long. I've only been involved for two years, myself, and in that time the trend has been toward extremely large and extremely small. There's a growing interest in biseinen dolls on top of the continuing popularity of bishonens. These dolls tend to have realistic face sculpts, run from about 62 to 80 cm in height, and are becoming more muscular and masculine (check out Iplehouse, Dollshe and the Soom Monthly Dolls from last year for excellent examples). Tinies weren't addressed in the column at all. The most recently popular were Fairyland's Pukipukis, only about 11 cm tall. Anthropomorphic sculpts (anthros for short) are a subset of tinies, and include a startling range of species, from the expected cats and puppies to otters, squirrels, even an elephant. I was also surprised that modding wasn't addressed, since it's a major part of the creativity unleashed by these dolls. Mods range from changing the shape of an eyewell or nose, to creating the scars worn by an original character being "shelled" into a resin doll, to such radical changes as adding dragon scales or a second set of arms. I thought I hated dolls until I was introduced to ABJDs. Now I have 7, and adore them all.
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Haipaa_Koneko
 Posts: 28 Location: somewhere in the midwest |
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Wow those Azone dolls are really pretty and well done. Accually Volks has a few lines that are kind of like that, they've even released a set of Gurren Lagan dolls of the two main girls and I think they did a few Rozen maiden dolls as well.
there's also another doll company that's simular to ABJD's but not entirely so from the papermoon company. The most famous being Chii from chobits( http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2694563064_f4b9423242_o.jpg) that has been spotted at Cons every now and then being wheeled around in a wheel chair by a girl cosplaying Freya. As for myself I really only own 2 ABJD's, a Senior Delf from the korean doll studio Luts and a Tiny Puki Puki from the studio Fairy Land( which are oddly alot like the characters from Bottle Fairies). I find these two are probably some of the more Anime like less creepy dolls I've seen, the prices for their dolls have recently dropped do to the american dollar being worth less over there so the prices comparativly aren't bad and the quality is superb, my boy has hardly yellowed at all since I got him. The interview was pretty good it's a nice begining to those who know nothing of the hobby yet and I'm glad they pointed out the forum DoA any questions anyone has from here on out is sure to be answered over there! http://www.eluts.com <-- Where I got my boy http://http://dollfairyland.com/ <--- where I got my little fairy http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg86/Haipaa_Koneko/Doll/04-08-08/CijusKimono8.jpg <--- aaand shameless picture of my boy doll 
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poonk
Posts: 1490 Location: In the Library with Philip |
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