• Doing the BJD Hobby Your Way •

When I first looked into the hobby about 7 years ago, I wanted to get involved because of my interest in anime and my aspiration to be an artist. I still have both of those interests, but my reason for finally ordering my first two dolls has changed. I find BJD's to be very therapeutic. Finding props or things to make props with, looking at different sculpts, names for the characters, coming up with the stories....it's all so creative and it's all so VARIED, I never get bored here. With drawing, my passion, I admit I get burnt out and frustrated a lot. I feel as though my growth has become stagnant and that I've possibly even gotten worse as time's went on and that's beyond depressing. But, if I get frustrated with a drawing, I can take some quick photos of my dolls! If that gets tiring, I can sit on my bed, watch YT or Netflix, and work on props or clothes/accessories! Bored of that? Give one a new faceup or just go on FB or here or IG and see how everyone else is doing to get some energy and inspiration! It's multi-faceted and I'm desperate for that as a creative man, so this hobby is perfect!

 

I have no children so my dolls are like my kids, i dress them, play with them, photograph them!

 

I've had a rather large set of characters that I've been creating over the years (nearly 10! ) and discovering BJD's around the same time I have always had this sort of dream of bringing my characters to life. This idea was also inspired by Rozen Maiden the anime so once I was old enough to handle the responsibility and cost of my dolls it was a no-brainer that photo-stories were going to be the way I wanted to tell their story

 

It's extreme dress up for me. I love clothes- I have a bunch of dress up games on my phone, lots of fashion dolls, and I love shopping for myself, too. It felt only natural to dive right into the clothing part of the BJD hobby. I'm excited to both make clothes myself and buy stuff. I also really like all of the possibilities with wigs, eyes, and face ups. Basically, I'm all about the aesthetics.

One big thing for me is all of the sewing possibilities. I lost interest in making human sized clothing years ago, but as frustrating as sewing tiny doll dresses can be, it's so fun too.

 

I like small things and I love customizing toys so this is my 2 favorite things in one hobby! Its so easy to customize them to be different because they can start off blank. And I have an excuse to collect more tiny things. Like my itty bitty book collection has a dual purpose now! And there are so many different dolls out there I can always find one to suit whatever look I'm going for.

As for how I play in the hobby, its mostly for myself. Elaborate displays and settings and the occasion photo. I'm not very social in the last few years as I had less time, but I got through phases and I'm getting excited that later this year I will hopefully finally get the chance to realize my doll dreams and have a full on display for them.

 

@Piyoko I love tiny books, too! Some silverware trays make great bjd bookcases!

 

I found a desk topper that looks a lot like the IKEA box bookshelves but in much smaller scale. I really do need to build some other bookshelf though as I have expanded way beyond that now. I will have to keep those in mind when I'm looking!

 

BJDs are a major factor in improving my sewing skills. It's gotten to the point where I don't hesitate to hand stitch a corset.

 

same as OP, plus I love collecting and owning things ^ u ^
at first I thought I wanted to give my 2D characters (just drawn) some 3D shell so I could actually kind of "interact" with them, but knowing me, I love to create stuffs too and this is the route i'm going for
though my plan to make a doll of my already existing character is still a great consideration

 

I've always enjoyed toys and creative play. That there were dolls--huge figures I could customize however I wanted--was what drew me to the hobby, and is the entire source of my enjoyment. It's relaxing to fiddle with them and satisfying to look at a finished doll and say "Ah-ha, I had a hand in this nonsense. This doll is mine. No other doll looks quite like this one, how it's styled came from my head and not out of Mattel's shareholder meetings." That you can essentially make a very high quality art object/toy based on whatever you want is great.

It's also a fine gateway to learning a number of skills if you want to put in the time. Sewing, painting, sculpting, photography... I've had a little bit of experience in all of them thanks to BJDs and it's been a rad time.

 

This hobby - and my other hobbies, as well - are a total wellspring of creative fodder. I love to come up with characters, imagine their world, write stories as time permits, and make and create things for them. I'm not sure what I would do without them at this point.

 

The hobby affected my life in a simple but interesting way. I'm constantly looking for places to photograph them, particularly unique places like climbing spikes, holes in trees, ledges on big rocks, stuff like that. It's made me act a little more eccentric than usual, LOL.

 

^^This sounds like me too, exactly. I'm always trying to find ways to help cope with my own issues, so that I am better prepared to take care of my family. I've also always loved dolls so it just made sense to give it a try!

 

I'm a collector, and just happened to be drawn to BJDs. I do occasionally write bits and pieces of stories for them and do quick sketches, but I found that I greatly enjoy the photography aspect, and that developed into my main source of enjoyment from this hobby.

 

My dolls are beautiful. I look at them. That's pretty much it.....

 

What first drew me to the bjd hobby is that I'm a collector of toys, dolls being my favorite. I don't know why collections of things make me so happy, but they do, so I'm more than willing to throw all my money at it.
During my time growing up, my sisters were both very talented artists (still are) and drew amazing pictures every day. While I know you can practice to become a better artist, I could tell I lacked that spark of talent to ever be as good at drawing as they are. It was really disheartening for me for a long time because I had such a great interest in it, but when I got into doll customizing I discovered I could use my creativity in a slightly different way that made me very happy!
I love to write, but most of my work has been fanfiction because for some reason I've always had a very hard time creating my own characters that I liked. But when I started collecting bjds, I found it was very natural for characters to flow out of me and onto these dolls. This has led to a renewed spark for my original writing and I actually enjoy creating my own characters now.
Finally, the bjd hobby has helped me kindle the love of weirdness in my heart. I collect odd, dark, or scary type dolls that are just a delight and so out of the ordinary.

 

I gotta say, I love this topic! I loved reading the replies, and it's really inspiring to read!

As of present I used dolls as a way to cope. I am by nature, a extremely reserved individual outside online spaces. I am disabled physically and also suffer from extremely debilitating mental illness. I find day-to-day life difficult sometimes.

When I had found the BJD hobby, I was going through maybe the hardest time in my life. It was when I was injured and dealing with some major trauma related to my service in the U.S. military. I was going through separation and it was really tough for me because I had wanted to make a career out of it. While serving, because of the stressful environment, I became a toy collector. I started out with My Little Pony, moved to Monster High--- and through monster high customizing--- found ball jointed dolls.

I have always been a 2D artist since childhood, and this was another creative outlet. While dealing with major depression I have lost all interest in my other hobbies. BJD rekindled my artistic and creative output. I still use dolls as a coping mechanism responsibly. My favorite part of dolls, is simply putting work into the dolls I collect or feeling proud of myself for saving up.

I actually do not start with a character. I find a doll I find appealing, and just let the character create itself. I found an outlet I felt safe expressing myself through my ball jointed dolls. Through them, I am slowly gathering back my confidence to express myself outwardly.

As of now, there are a few characters I am debating shelling into dolls. I wonder how that will go and look forward to the process.

 

I love the model-liked body proportions indeed and I love dress up for anyone do interested.
So these hobby influence me treating my doll.
I want to let her wear dress or hair that isn't suited on me but looked very perfect on her.

And after I know more BJD-lover friends, I want to try write down some stories about her.
Maybe there will come more BJD to my home.
I want to write down stories for dolls to welcome them.
(BTW if I can't write out story I may not love them so I can pass them.
It's a way to make sure I really like her/him.)

 

This is a great question and still very timely.

I use this hobby as an extension of my love of playing with dolls. I have always had dolls in my life. I have always talked with them and interacted with them. Being in this hobby feels natural to me. The new part is having and learning about BJDs.

 

It gives me something to do with my hands! It's one of my only physical hobbies. I write, and I have discord servers where I talk about my other media interests, but bjd are the only hobby I have where I get to improve skills like modifications and faceups.