A more interesting name than BJDs?

What does either word have to do with dolls? In that vein, society should rename men (the gender) broccoli, women turnips, trans gender tomato and children stamps. Furthermore; Nefer now shouldn't mean good and beautiful, it should mean a smell which originates from over-ripening fruit. Seraphim are not angels anymore, they're now the new word for Persian cats.

If that doesn't make ANY sense to you, now you know how I feel every time someone tries to dictate what the English language should be.

 

There's quite a long discussion about this same kind of thing here: If there was another word for BJDs....

 

Gotta agree with this; the term "ball jointed doll" has existed far longer than this particular branch of the hobby. It perfectly describes what they are, why they're different from Barbies, Monster High, Taeyang, babydolls/reborns, etc. I usually just refer to them as "my dolls". The vague reference makes people curious ("Ooh, what kind of dolls do you collect??") and offers an easy segway into talking about them ("Ball-jointed doll? What's that?") rather than putting them off by spouting out terms they don't know ("A what?") and may not be interested in.

 

The only issue I have with the term BJD being used in this hobby is that ABJD rarely have true Ball Joints but have jointing systems based on traditional ball jointed dolls. ABJD are in many ways their own separate subdivision of BJDs and have little if anything to do with traditional BJDs. I don't have any issue with the use of the abbreviation itself though. However, BJD can also stand for Bone & Joint Disease :P

 

Yep, I'm firmly in the camp of calling them just plain dolls; To someone who isn't a hobbyist, the';re just dolls, no more or less special than basically any other. If I say to someone "...And I collect dolls" they will get a roughly accurate mental picture - That I collect small, synthetic, jointed, humanoid figures. If they're interested, they might ask what kind, then I can start the explanations about joints and material and aesthetics and customising and all that.

If I say "...And I collect Nefer", they'll have no idea what I'm talking about, and they might feel they should ask out of politeness, thus stalling the conversation on dolls regardless of how interested they really are in them. Which is a bit rude, really, since I could have just said up-front "I collect dolls".

Also, there's already been a bit of a sea-change in this hobby with regards to naming - At first, even when there were other companies, people tended to refer to all dolls colloquially as Dollfies, even though that's specifically Volks' term (Like calling all vacuum cleaners "Hoovers", and so on), whereas nowadays most people will say "Ball jointed dolls" for all dolls, and only use "Dollfie" for Volks. There seems to be a slow drift towards naming sizes differently now as well - More people seem to say "60cm" or "1/3 size" than "SD" (Which may be because the 60cm size range now covers mature and semi-realistically-proportioned sculpts which tend to be a bit thinner with smaller heads than the classic SDs), and "Mini" rather than "MSD (likewise).

 

This comes up now and then... I remember ancient threads about it, anyway. I DO agree that BJD and dollfie and SD and ball-jointed dolls are all very awkward. But so far, no other terms have caught on, and for the purposes of using and searching so others will know... they are weak terms, but the only ones that work so far. But I really did wish that something better had been put into use... However, I've just let it not worry my after so many years!!!

"Dolls" is fine, now that bjds are so pervasive (years ago people's views might have been just going straight to baby-dolls and Barbies). "Resin dolls" maybe. Or saying the whole thing: Resin Ball-jointed Dolls, when explaining it to people... But yeah... that's a mouthful... but also very descriptive...

I haven't really heard any better suggestions (been aware of bjds before "bjd" was used as a term... like, when it was ONLY Volks, so...). It's been ten years or so and nothing else has come up as a better term. But if anyone wants to start using a better one, I'd be fine with it!

 

Really. I'd feel MUCH stupider saying I collect Nefers or Seraphim, and even stupider saying that I collect Children-- people would respond with that perplexed-yet-pitying look they wear on their faces when they visit the dementia ward. Even if you stop to explain what it means, like if you tell people that you collect "angels" or "good and beautifuls", that's even worse-- then they'd respond with that contemptuous eyeroll they use on World-Music Goddess Ladies who refer to their Sacred Yoni by its own secret name. They'd probably also step back several feet. And I do not even collect child dolls or angel dolls, so the name wouldn't even be accurate.

"Dolls" is, at least, a recognizable word that means the object it's assigned to! People understand it. It gets the job done.

 

see... i feel weird calling them dolls or toys since toys are what you play with as a kid. so more often than not i just call them BJDs. and i dont like referring to them as Dollfies since Dollfie is no where near the only brand. in fact Dollfies arent even BJDs technically. the BJDs are called Super Dollfies and Dream Dollfies

 

Actually, I think this is more because SD, MSD, and Yo-SD are Volks-only terms. If you're referring to an SD, you're technically only referring to a Volks doll of the Super Dollfie variety. If you label them 1/3, then that encompasses all dolls from all companies that fall into the (roughly) 58-80cm size bracket. Likewise 'mini' or '1/4' rather than MSD, and 'tiny' or '1/6' rather than Yo-SD. The hobby has seen a big shift away from using the Volks terms colloquially to describe similar doll-related things.

Good point -- I don't collect child dolls or angel dolls either. I collect dolls that happen to be resin and ball-jointed. So that would be an inaccurate term for me, too. Then again, this may be partially due to the fact that I attach no mystical sentimental significance to my dolls. They're just...dolls. So I call them what they are.

 

When refering to my collection to people unfamiliar with the dolls, I'll say call them "customized artisan dolls" or something similar. I try to make it sound as posh as possible, so they don't get lumped in with fashion dolls and mass-produced collectables.


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I've replaced "Ball-Joint Doll" with "Human Skull" as an extreme example of why a non- doll-related name could cause confusions in strangers:
"Yeah, I collect human skulls; I have about 20 at present. I paint them, put wigs on them and display them in cute little settings around my house. A lot of my friends have actually gotten into collecting human skulls after seeing my collection and playing with them. There's a big group of us who get together once or twice a month to take pictures of our human skull collections in public--we put them all on a bench and make a big pile of human skulls! I have a few adult human skulls, but I prefer child human skulls because they're small and adorable. Aw, man, but the shipping on human skulls from overseas is crazy expensive--I'm so glad we don't have customs fees on human skulls."

 

I call them ball jointed dolls because that's what they are, dolls with ball joints.

When I talk to my collector friends about my collection, we talk about our dolls. When I tell my boyfriend about what I want to order, I tell him about a doll. When I have to explain to a new friend what the hell is sitting on my shelf, I tell them about my dolls.

Doesn't have to be complicated.

While BJD can technically encompass a wide range of dolls, any modern doll collector should know that in most situations when someone is talking about a BJD, they're talking about a giant weird Asian doll that costs a lot and does nothing but look nice.

 

LOL! This just made my day! I really do want to try this now...

 

The problem with that is that they are toys. Are you saying that adults are boring, lifeless waterbottles that only live to work? Grownups have toys, just like children do. (And I also find it strange you say that when you have an avatar of someone cosplaying Mario.... Which is a game, which in your world clearly must mean a toy for children. You can't pick and choose what you deem acceptable as a toy while simultaneously slating off all toys as stuff for kids)

 

Would calling them Mini People be too extreme?

 

The primary goal of a language is to communicate information as quickly as possible, without causing misunderstandings. You could come up with the most fancyful names in the world, but if no-one gets what you're talking about, then what's the point?

"Doll" is a word people understand. And from a marketing point of view: as long as search terms like "BJD" and "doll" are used more often than "articulated resin sculptures"... guess what words I'm going to use in my ads?

 

People assume toys for adults to be... of a different variety though. :p
On a different note, I wouldn't call my own dolls my 'toys' either though. As a grown man who also cosplays, it's just another strike against me as 'lol ur weird plz grow up already'. Just like how I wouldn't call cosplay 'dress up games', I'm not going to call my dolls 'toys' if that makes sense? I mean, from someone outside the hobby they're both viewed as expensive, glorified children's things/activities...
The term 'BJD'/'ball-joint doll' suits me just fine IMO.

 

im only 16 D: and i drew that. its not a cosplay, its his usual clothes

 

That's a whole different kettle of fish xboxes are toys. Radio controlled cars are toys. Ipads and tablets are toys. All the games a grown up plays is just that, a toy. Really, there are always going to be people who belittle you for having fun playing with games, toys and dolls, and pretending to call them something else insinuates that you're letting them get to you and they win.

Forgive me, I saw the clothing and thought it was Mario. Even the background looks like a game, which is a children's toy. (Ps why should I care about your age? I'm 22, and clearly I must be childish for totally accepting I play with childish toys, and playing games intended for children.)

I think the key thought here is that if you don't want to be seen doing 'childish things', don't do them! And if you think hey, that's not fair, I want to enjoy myself, then stop lying to yourself and accept that some people consider it childish, and be the better person by saying "I don't care, I'm having fun"

 

adhara-- You're right in that these are fancy expensive grown up toys, even though they're sometimes labelled as other things ("gaming console" makes it sound fancier and more grown up, and people argue that they use tablets and iPads for non-pleasure related purposes, too!) There's always gonna be people who are comfortable calling these things like they are-- fancy expensive toys for grown ups-- and people who aren't.
I was born and bred in Asia, and though I spent some time overseas in Western countries where the mindset is decidedly more liberal, it's not a Good Thing to stand out too much back home. ^^; I'd rather be safe and say I collect ABJD (and then clarify them as resin figures with articulated ball joints or something if needed) than to paint a target on my back by saying I collect toy dolls? I already get picked on by my family, no need to risk having people think I'm weird or creepy or gay for collecting little resin men, and then beat me up or something haha.
I'm not saying nobody can ever call them toys ever, it's just that I (and others) may just feel more comfortable not calling them that. (:

 

The original post of this thread begs to differ. I get that tact is often needed when it comes to families (my boyfriend is just a 'friend' to my Malaysian grandparents!), but are you not calling them dolls or toys for their sake, or because YOU are embarrassed to be collecting them?

I've seen quite a few liberal westerners (whose families are happy with their hobby) cringe at the notion of collecting dolls because it's childish, or silly for a grown person..... and yet, they collect dolls anyway. Why? Why do they need to put themselves through the fear of being found out, of the embarrassment of being seen to collect dolls? Wouldn't it just be easier to not collect at all?

I mean, yeah, it does seem as if I got a bit too harsh in my posts D: I'm sorry for that. But it does seem that people may sleep better at night if they accepted themselves and all their hobbies.