Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Other BJDs...does it matter?

I have Volks and Iplehouse dolls. I also have a Mirodoll and Ringdoll and Doll-Chateau...

Anyone who makes disparaging remarks about any dolls, expensive or not, from one country or another-- they are TROLLS. Do not pay attention!!!!

They can have their opinions, but who cares??? Yes, buy what you like, for goodness sakes!!! Don't buy because someone else tells you something!

It may matter to YOU what country the dolls are made in, and that's fine. But it's all personal opinion. and there are many different companies from all these countries and some you may like more than others. It's unfair to glob them all together and say, "this country makes good dolls and that country doesn't."

If I were a total snob about some of my dolls (and I'm NOT), PLEASE DO NOT TAKE MY WORD AS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR OWN!

I love my dolls because I love them. Many reasons. Some are better quality than others, some pose better, some have nicer resin, but I still liked them and bought them and am happy. I could, personally, care less where they were made! (Well, maybe some countries I have some political problems with, but I still buy dolls, and it has nothing to do with dolls, anyway.)

I wish for all owners to feel secure in the choice of the dolls they buy! There are always haters out there, they are everywhere, even bjd owners may be rude. (I have never encountered this rudeness, and I've been here for over 10 years and go to tons of meets and doll cons, but then I would totally ignore it, so maybe I am just not sensitive to these things???) If you are sensitive, remember that not everyone will agree with you, but your opinions are more important than theirs when it comes to your own dolls! It's your money and your choice and you have the right to get what you want!

 

I think there are as many doll types as there are preferences so while one doll may not look perfect for one, it might be someone else's grail doll.

So, while there are expensive ones and less expensive ones, it all boils down to whether the company satisfies the items on your list. Country really has nothing to do with it as there may be some that have more affordable operating/labor costs than others but that doesn't mean their artistry is lesser in any way.

I think that's why there are many people who go for hybrids for their characters. It's hard to find one company that's perfect in everything. Let alone one country that produces all the best dolls.

 

I have dolls from China, Korea, United States and Russia. I love all of them for different reasons and where they came from made absolutely zero impact on my decision to buy them. They all have little quirks, some more annoying than others *rolls eyes* but I bought the doll because it appealed to me and suited the need I had for it to be. I'm pretty easy going about posing but I absolutely demand that a doll be able to stand unaided (and without you requiring an advanced degree in engineering to figure out how to get him to stand).

I have a doll with gorgeous body sculpting (Leeke muscle body) but getting him to stand is tricky and annoying because he's so heavy and doesn't have any locking mechanisms in his knees/hips that he really should have. One of my other dolls (Doll-Love) has almost zero definition to his body, but he was utterly perfect to be the character he is because of that. He also stands like a freaking rock and has since day one. My Leek boy was expensive and I'm less than impressed with the engineering of his body although the sculpting is gorgeous. My DL boy was inexpensive and can hold all kinds of poses and I'd trust him to remain standing if I left the room for several hours, but his lack of definition would be a downside for any other character but the one he is.

I think, as with anything, you need to consider the pros and cons of whatever you plan to drop a bundle of cash on and decide if it's going to suite your needs or if you should keep looking. Some things are totally fixable with sueding/wiring/sanding/epoxy etc. Some things are what they are and you'll just have to live with it if you have your heart set on it.

 

I have Korean and Chinese dolls, and both are nice in their own way. My preferred aesthetic is was drives my purchases, not the company or price. I like big-eyed, stylized dolls. So that's what I go for, and I have old Delfs and the DollGa sculpts that Leeke continued selling. I also have newer style dolls with smaller eyes that I purchased not just for the pretty face but for the more poseable bodies (and one was absolutely a fail in posing). I have an Impldoll body for one of my Leeke heads and it's beautiful, and now that it's starting to loosen up a bit, poses very nicely! I have plans for more of the style I like, and Angell-Studio really caters to my aesthetic with the super pretty and feminine sculpts with large, expressive eyes. I also want more Luts and Fairyland dolls, because they do, too. And I also like Volks, especially the very innocent sculpts. It's aesthetic that I want, I don't care about how much the doll is "worth" because of where it is from or how much it cost.

 

This is also a good point... Price is a relative thing of course, but *none* of these dolls of ours are even remotely cheap in an objective sense.

We get to choose between "pricey" or "VERY pricey" or "Dude, that's just ludicrous".

"Cheap" doesn't even come into it when you're talking about a non-essential, decorative object that's going to cost in the neighborhood of hundred dollars at the absolute minimum.

 

People choose different companies for different reasons, perhaps due to price, aesthetic, poseability, availability of clothing, and resin color choices just to name a few. I don't think most of us choose their dolls based on what country they come from; in fact that is the last thing that crosses my mind. There is no "end all" BJD company or country of origin, that is why we have so many options available from different places. I personally choose dolls based on the aesthetic I like, and thus ended up with mainly Korean BJDs. This is simply my personal preference. I think it's great that we have as much diversity as we do when it comes to choosing a BJD.

 

If you want to find the Volks apologists just make a criticism of the company LOL But those people aren't necessarily elitists. I did meet one (to her sorrow) at DragonCon one year, dissing on some young newbie collector. As I said, she regretted meeting ME. But on DoA not so much.
I have dolls from at least 15 companies, including Volks, ranging from really pricey to the lower end of not so cheap. Love them all

 

I have Volks and Iplehouse dolls with Dollshe incoming. I didn't select these dolls because they were the most of expensive. I've thought about buying cheaper dolls but for me I'm fascinated by these particular sculpts and find them soothing. If I don't feel that connection, no amount of dolls, regardless of how expensive or cheap they are is going to make me feel they are worth it. To me it doesn't matter if I'm the only person who buys a doll and if it's $$ or $$$$. As long as I have worked hard for it, earned it and I know that I'll treasure it, then it's ok.

 

well, I think the difference in beauty matters to the buyer.. But i feel the same about if its something "unpopular" and you love it, then who really cares about others opinions.. I really can't say anything because i tend to lean more towards popular brands like Soom Doll.. but I've seen some less popular dolls that i love like Ringdoll (at least i haven't really seen many of them floating around on the interweb...). Plus I usually tend to like dolls that aren't in production anymore like Elfdoll (i currently own one and am waiting on another).

its just user preference i would say, company doesn't matter. I wouldn't buy something i didn't like just because it came from a popular company.

 

For me personally, I never really go by what companies I like. I do have company preferences for things like wigs and eyes, but for the dolls, I never think about "this company is cheap" or "this company is expensive," and I feel no need to ONLY have dolls from one company. If I love the doll, I love it -- regardless if it would be a ResinSoul or DollChateau. I have actually heard people bad mouth cheaper dolls, but who cares? If you love it and its existence brings no harm to yourself or others, I see nothing wrong with it.

 

"If you love her/him, your doll is priceless"
I love this sentence
I really don't look at the brand but at the doll : I need to fall in love with her
sometimes the expensive one are note the better freestanding one

 

The best doll is the one you want.

 

Exactly. They aren't inexpensive, and even if you get a steal on a doll, there are other things like wigs, eyes, clothing if you can't sew (or fabric and time if you can) etc. that can add up. The current price range is interesting to me though on some level. It seems like ten years ago when I first started looking at BJD, there wasn't much to be had under $300; though it could be that I didn't know where to look. But the fact that those $100ish dolls exist now could have opened the door for a lot of people who might not have had the means to be a part of the hobby in the past. I've never seen anyone harshing on the cost of someone else's doll one way or the other, though I think the topic does come up here and there.

 

I have dolls from all over the world - China, Korea, Japan, France, Russia - and in all price ranges and I'm happy with all of them. I also love how small and friendly the real world becomes when in the doll world since the politics between countries doesn't exist. The more dolls I have from differing countries the more I love my collection. When I pick them up I find myself thinking, here's my Russian doll or my little French girl and I again marvel at how small the world can be. It makes me feel good inside!

But one thing I've discovered that I don't like is a neck that doesn't have a natural forward bend. If it's too vertical it gives the doll an overly done perfect posture that makes the doll look unnatural. I've learned to look closely at sale pictures to try to catch this design feature before I buy since I know I won't like the doll. I've found that it occurs on dolls in all price ranges so it's a matter of aesthetics not quality.

 

Less expensive dolls aren't any less a BJD than a pricier doll. I'd never buy a doll just because it came from this or that company, because they're just too expensive for me to throw money at one that I didn't absolutely love- one that was bought only for status. My own personal tastes are for simply jointed stylized sculpts, so older Volks dolls fit the bill. I also really like dolls that pose well and come in unusual resin colors, so my Doll Leaves grey skin Lilith fits that bill. It really just depends on personal taste and what you want from your doll. If you want to do elaborate poses for photos you'll need to find a doll (or at least a body) that's well engineered and balanced. If you want a doll to sit around and look pretty, the body won't matter so much as the face. Just buy what you love, what will make you happiest, and what fits in to your budget. Anyone who rants on about elitists, reverse elitists, or doll snobs in general needs to go back to their bridge and chase their billy goats. Trolls

 

This is my experience the world over. I bought my first doll this past winter. He's an Angel of Dream, and by himself he would've cost two hundred bucks even. I didn't want him to be naked, so I also ordered some clothes from the same company, and that drove the cost up to...I forget exactly how much, but it was between $350 and $400. THEN I ordered some more accessories from Luts, some stuff from Etsy, and bought a couple of items at Hobby Lobby. So all told I think I've spent seven hundred bucks in this hobby...NOT counting the materials that I needed for hand-knitted clothes! Johnny himself was relatively cheap, but keeping him clothed and wigged has been pricey!

Regarding the question presented, Johnny is an extremely nice doll. I'd heard good things about Angel of Dream (Chinese company), but I'd also heard horror stories about elitism and about the low quality of some of these "cheaper" dolls. So I wasn't really sure what to expect. As it turned out I needn't have worried, because Johnny is everything I wanted in a ball-jointed doll. If you can get what you want out of a so-called "cheaper" company, than I say go for it. If one of the more expensive companies has what you want then...well, go for it! Sod the naysayers.

 

I'm fascinated, I confess. Until I came here, I never knew that so many different sorts of ball jointed dolls existed. Nor did I even dream that the aesthetic could vary so wildly between one company and another. Chateau dolls, with their stylized, even eggagerated look remind me of a Beardsley drawing. Delicate, complex, eggagerated..but managing to tread the line between fairylike beauty and grotesquery without effort. Then there're the Implehouse dolls that I've seen. Not all of them by any means, but they seem more naturalistic. I used to spend a lot of time staring at paintings, trying to see if I could clarify the way a character looked and moved in my mind. Then there are sculpts like the Drake one that was just unboxed, the King of the Laplands. Just so different. I love that they're so different but all of these different dolls, in somebody's hands embody an ideal of perfection.

I think if you have to sort your ideals into 'expensive' and not-expensive..you've kind of lost the plot. I want to ask each one I meet here "Show me your ideal."

Of course, that's why I love Photostory so much! Plot plus pictures.

 

The only bad bjds are the re-casts/counterfeits/fakes... and not because they are mostly made in China. Or because they are cheap. But because they are stealing the hard work of the doll artists. (And it is illegal.)

 

I have mainly chinese dolls, but also a korean head, two japanese faceplates and two little and adorable artist cast heads made in France. I like my artist cast heads better because they have so much more life, but love the others equally (I might have a slight preference for my Cerisedoll which is I believe casted in China while I'm not that found of the texture of my korean head that makes it harder to paint, in my opinion. I think all my dolls have chinese bodies and none of them have seamlines nor ANY sanding marks.)
I don't give a damn about the country it's from when I buy a doll (specially since it does not influence the price that much), I just buy the ones I like the features off.

 

You mean there's something other than Fairyland and Luts? LOL