BJD Categories? (in the US)

This is an interesting set of questions! I'm relatively new to the hobby, so I doubt I'll be much help, but I look forward to seeing everyone's answers.

 

1. Have you noticed this sort of divide in the BJD culture?
Individuals have different preferences but I don't see hard lines here. I think the difference of the audience of the convention is just by nature of how the event is organized, people who are interested in the programming will attend and there is probably some crossover.

2. Do you think people generally gravitate towards one category?
Well although I don't see the same line as you, in terms of adult looking dolls vs childlike looking dolls, and full set vs custom dolls, human vs non human dolls, yes I notice many collectors prefer one or the other for their own collections, while some have a mix of both.

3. What do you think makes someone prefer one more than the other?
There's probably any number of reasons from what kind of outfits or looks they like to coordinate, what kind of pictures they like to take, or what the specific doll represents to them.

4. Where do you fall? Are there any categories you would add?
I would say I fit both sides of your line, my dolls are consider adults to me and I have some anime dolls, but it's more whimsy than true fantasy in my mind and I feel that all my toys are treat to my inner child, and a work of art.
I don't see the benefit of creating categories when people's collections are so diverse, why anyone should feel boxed in as a type of collector, instead of just collecting according to their own rules.

5. Is there anything in common you have noticed between collectors of the same category type?
Hard to answer, I guess people who shell characters are seem likely to do custom make up than someone like me who sees them like interactive eye candies and likes company make, but I don't think it's a hard rule either. I also notice those who shell characters are often concerned with doll heights next to one another too, but you could say the same of some eye candy collectors who like their collection to look more cohesive or who like to take photos with their dolls together.

 

To think in the 2020s that it would make sense to start using ABJD again. I always thought the term was quite silly.

1. Have you noticed this sort of divide in the BJD culture?
There's a huge divide and the divide is large enough I can completely ignore the other side of BJD.

2. Do you think people generally gravitate towards one category?
Absolutely. I see very few people with overlap in these categories.

3. What do you think makes someone prefer one more than the other?
The collectors of Connie Lowe dolls and similar seem to be Western doll collectors before BJD collectors. The dolls they want just happen to be resin and ball jointed. Customization isn't the goal with most Western dolls and Western BJD follows that. If they want custom, they seek out one done by an artist, not do it themselves. Of course there's the OOAK community, but I don't think these multi thousand dollar artist fullsets appeal to them.

Many ABJD owners want to customize their dolls into their own characters or even make their own version of the character if it already is a licensed character. Just a few are into fullset collection. Some of us came from Western dolls and others do not care for dolls outside of ABJD, but I think most of us want to do some level of customization. This could just mean changing eyes, wigs, or clothes.

4. Where do you fall? Are there any categories you would add?
100% ABJD. It's very rare that I am interested in owning a doll outside of the ABJD category and it would likely be Japanese.

There are Western designed BJD that I still think are very ABJD inspired that deserve their own category or be right next to ABJD.

5. Is there anything in common you have noticed between collectors of the same category type?
We all like articulated humanoid figures.

 

I came to BJDs by way of collecting fashion dolls and in particular 1/4 sized ones so my taste in dolls naturally gravitates towards dolls that have a more mature model-like aesthetic. If BJD dolls like that hadn't have become popular by the time I started seeing BJDs then likely I'd have never started collecting them at all.

I do have a few dolls that run on the cute side but most of my dolls are more mature than that, more realistic than childish or anime. I can't relate to those aesthetics much at all really.

I think it's where a lot of people come from in terms of collecting other dolls. Whether or not they're into anime maybe? Some of us prefer more realistic dolls, some want fantasy.

Neither is better than the other for me. I'm just glad that by the time I started collecting the BJD scene had expanded beyond cute anime or fantasy critter dolls into fashion type BJDs and that they became more acceptable in the fandom as a whole. Time was I couldn't come to DOA and even see something like a mini model type BJD. Or any mature faced BJD.

Now they're a part of the fandom and they're hugely popular. They're even allowed on DOA no problem.

There's a place for it all I think. There is no reason to choose if you don't want to anymore.

 

I agree with this sentiment. There are lots of ways people can discover BJD these days. I think it's reasonable to give Volks credit for the invention of a modern BJD that is accessible to an ordinary consumer, and born out of the garage kit hobby. But this history probably isn't even relevant to many people going to American BJD conventions.

It feels odd to lump people who buy dolls as status symbols (made by "artists that are almost like celebs (ex. Connie Lowe)") with people who buy dolls to customize themselves and make characters. At that point it's a different hobby entirely! And it's a shame that sometimes ABJD companies aren't also treated as artists and small studios just because they go about the business a little different.

I think a lot of doll enjoyers have an interest in various dolls and not just BJD. Hard lines don't necessarily need to be drawn, but as someone who prefers ABJD, I have to admit it can be a little frustrating trying to find a "BJD" community that isn't also including either anime-style mechanical joint dolls or the more collectible fullsets of Modern Doll under the same umbrella. I don't mind that people like different things and I can appreciate the artistry of these other two groups as well. But I think it's ok that different things are, well, different. I don't think there's a need to put everything under the same umbrella when overlap is minimal. Of course there are also times when it's more appropriate to be broad. Conventions would be one such time, it wouldn't make sense to have a ton of tiny conventions for rather niche interests and tastes instead of one large one. I would personally prefer the former but that just isn't feasible

 

Well I'm not from USA and I don't attend conventions , I'm from Greece and I just know only one more bjd collector personally and she is a friend who is living in Hungary so bjd's is not something I see very often in the real world , the only real toy community with conventions and such in the place I live is the vintage/retro toys collectors mainly focucing to Greek company made toys original or licenced by others by original I mean the toys designed and made by local companies while licenced are bigger trademarks which local comanies had got licnce to make for the Greek market this was happening before late 90s-2000 (like p.e. the era when playmobil in Greece were licenced to be made by LYRA in Greece and not in Germany same little pony licenced from Hasbro to be made by El Greco) the vintage toy community is driven mainly by nostalgia and is completelly different motivations behind it from bjd.
I realy haven't noticed something as a divide online I see people who mod/personalise "cute" dolls and people buying fantasy fullsets of beefcakes all the time so it's not a clear cut people buy cute fullsets and express artistry with idealians or whatever. So I can't see that divide online I can't speak about conventions because I know nothing about those.
To me dolls are cute decorative things on my shelf , I never got fullsets in bjd because I can't afford the whole deal, but even in other types of dolls I am not picky to have the original bag or the original stunt earrings etc ... from the other side I don't like to go overboard with changing the doll face I want the doll simple and similar or the same as the pics that made me like it . I treat my bjd and other dolls the same I want not a famous perfect fullset neither an artistic expression , I just want beautifull/heartwarming dolls ornate my shelves in their pretty dresses/clothes that it most are cute , some are a bit more mature handsome (though not hot/mostly historical or dolls of the world style) some are elderly looking and not handsome elderly but well dressed old elderly mainly plushies, and some are just funny. My whole approach though has one rule dolls should make me get in the room and feel nice , If I feel anxiety out they go , and I consider both completionist fever and full length expression and have-to-craft-perfect-to-be-expressed super anxiety inducing things for me so none of those is for me but again I am not from USA or convention going person so I might not even be the target audience for this debate.

 

I feel like if you attend more cons and more meetups in different areas, you'd begin to see LOTS very different "categories" in the BJD world.

For example if you went to Dolpa where only Volks brand is allowed, you wouldn't be able to pin it to category 1 or 2 cause they have both of those categories evenly.

Likewise if you went to a doll show where the main draw are antiques, porcelain, or fashion dolls, you'd probably see few BJDs and thats IF any BJD sponsors attend. None of the categories would fit in that scenario.

If you attend overseas like Dollism+, IDoll, ProjectDoll, Dollscar, etc. you'd find they have different aesthetics that dont fit either category you described.


Its way too many aesthetics to pin down to just 2 categories; just like the many branches of the doll hobby there are a bunch of branches on the BJD hobby that are spreading as time passes

 

I have never been to either of those conventions, though by the way you describe it, I'd definitely put myself in the Resin Rose side. I have been to St. Louis BJD Con a few years ago, and it was a huge mix of doll styles and collectors.

I've been in the hobby since 2006 and owned a bjd since 2008, and I've seen a wide variety of collectors/hobbyists and ways to enjoy the dolls. I don't think it neatly splits into just two categories, there are lots of ways to split it! And I think that just really depends on why someone is in the hobby in the first place. For me, it's an escape from reality that lets me have fun and explore my creativity. It combines my interests in art, writing, sewing, crafting, character design and acting. I roleplay my characters, so I do mostly prefer the teen/adult dolls because it lets me explore many aspects of my own mind. I really can't do much with child and baby dolls/characters, or fullset dolls with a character that isn't my own. I have met people who just want a poseable art model or sewing model, some who just want pretty art pieces, some who treat their dolls like children or friends, some who enjoy dolls because it's nostalgic, and plenty other reasons.

 

Not so much in the culture but very much between individual collections, although there are always some who encompas both.

Absolutely.

I'm firmly in one of those categorie, and can admire friends dolls whihc fall in thee other category as "beautiful but not my sort of doll".

Personal taste.

What makes people prefer one fiction genre over another (Fantasy V Science Fiction, Cosy Mysteries V Thrillers... etc).

I fall very much in the whimsy more than fantasy category (and I LOVE that description of it BTW)

They can often pick out stuff that others in the category will be as gaga over as they are, or spot variations that will appeal to specific others in that category even though they're not-quite-right for their own variation within the category. Like a little network of "I saw these and thought you needed to know about them!" connections.

Teddy

 

1. Have you noticed this sort of divide in the BJD culture?

I mostly notice this when browsing local-ish second hand doll listings, and I agree it's there - I do feel like there is still a bit of an overlap with "abjd", especially the childlike sculpts like Volks Msd, and I also feel like it's generational and that it's aging out bit by bit. What I notice more these days is a more subtle divide between collectors of small-operation western artist dolls (a la Rap1993, Yummysweets etc) and collectors Asian ball jointed dolls as it seems like there are people who mainly collect one or the other.

2. Do you think people generally gravitate towards one category?

I do, as any collector gravitates towards certain aesthetics.

3. What do you think makes someone prefer one more than the other?

Their interests and preferences, as a wide answer. But to narrow it down, I think in bjds specifically also what offers what kind of nostalgia to whom (e.g. I am nostalgic about early dollzone but a person who encountered bjds later might be nostalgic about minifee chloe era dolls, and someone else might think of porcelain doll or american girl influences), access (the rise of 3D sculpted/printed dolls have brough on a lot of new sculptors of a certain size/aesthetic), media influences (vkei used to be a huge influence on dolls' style, or old school lolita, now I see a lot of tiktok fashion (meant in the best way possible sorry ))

4. Where do you fall? Are there any categories you would add?

I guess I already added a category above, and maybe newer chinese independent head sculptor dolls would be another emerging category I see coming up a lot? And the very expensive fashion dolls like Popovy of course is still a thing.

Personally, I prefer older sculpts, more of a classic slim abjd look.

5. Is there anything in common you have noticed between collectors of the same category type?

Age, a bit, I think? Connie Lowe/Kaye Wiggs etc seem to attract a certain age group older than me, and fans of newer small artist western dolls seem to be a bit younger than I am. I am in my 30s so I think that also says a lot about my choices.

 

Ngl these categories really confuse me mostly bc I feel like especially the Resin Rose one is like three different categories of collector rolled into one in a disjointed way. I don't feel very represented by either as I exhibit bits and pieces of each but neither is enough for me to fall into.

 

Interesting thoughts there. Personally I’ve never been to a BJD convention or any convention for that matter although I’m hoping to attend one next year here in the UK….health permitting.

There’s something else I think you may want to add into the mix……age. Although it’s not a given you will tend to find certain age groups are more likely to gravitate toward certain ‘types’ of dolls.

Other than to say that I don’t really have anything else to add as although I’ve been ain’t the BJD world for a long time I tend to inhabit the outskirts so to speak, I don’t live in the main Dolly hub so don’t have the knowledge or experience with different companies and styles that others do.

 

I was also shocked the first time I saw one of Allison's MDCC video tours! Not a single Super Dollfie at a BJD convention? All of the dolls were Western styled and just a few Smartdolls. I couldn't have been more disinterested in any of them. Maybe thinking about MDCC as a BJD convention is the wrong way to go about it.

I think MDCC is more of the US doll collector norm, while us ABJD collectors are the strange ones. I don't mind. I like it here dreaming up beautiful boys with my friends.