Do you feel that ABJD's compensate for something you don't have IRL?

Fortunately I do not lack any important aspects of life. I am good-looking enough, I have great bf and friends. The reason for having BJD is that I wanted highly articulated human-looking doll from the very childhood. I didn't understand why someone can't make such dolls. When I saw BJDs first I just understood they are finally available.

Also I like to make different costumes and accessories very much. I am a fantasy roleplayer so I made a lot for myself and my bf: clothes, boots, bags, belts, daggers etc. But BJD size is more suitable for different experiments: less fabric & material is needed, less time to make things.

So BJD is a field where I use my skills

 

i can only speak for myself, but for me, i just like the idea of having something so nice that i can pose and take pictures of and have fun with...and the little clothes are adorable...
another thing that *really* drew me to BJDs was that i could make clothes for the doll. i love to sew and i think it would be really fun and really fulfilling to make a little outfit i could be proud of.

omg does that mean it's the baby i haven't had yet? lol

 

I do agree with you.
My imagination contains ideas about other possibilities and realms.
I may be more inclined to represent that in my dollies.
For example my boy Rael has a modded third eye.
Just a sweet melancholy longing for the supernatural may be represented .
And I so Enjoy my bebes!
Peace

 

I'd have to say that BJDs don't compensate for anything for me. The sole reason I'm even saving money to buy this ridiculously tall doll is because he is gorgeous, but not only that, but I can create accesories for him and other dolls. It gives me a chance to be creative for that matter. He would also make it a hobby, which is not something bad to have.

I take photos of my sister's doll whenever I get off my lazy tuckus to do it, but when I do I get a chance to show case not only my view/photography, but to share with others my hobby. He's a great model for my jewelry too. :]

 

I feel that for me, dolls are something that I'm drawn to both because of a creative aspect (and I am drawn to anything that involves creation; writing, drawing, knitting... although I'm bad at the more physical things like jewelrymaking or sculpting) and because of the need for control in my life.

Dolls are at once something you can and can't control. But I think that I want them because they're a physical representation of something implicitly mine. They don't have drama unless you want them to. They (for the most part) love you (or at least if you look at it that way). They're more constant than other people because they're a part of you. At the same time, interacting with a very characterized doll can be almost like interacting with a person (I'm still often terrified that my roommate's doll Elijah is going to kill me in my sleep).

 

Obviously, I don't have any elfish/vampire male friend with perfect body and figure to let me try different outfits on him. So dolls compensate for that, and bring the part of fantasy/dream that can't be found so easily irl. Plus, I have so many stories running wild in my brain all day long, sometimes totally obliterating reality, so I really had to found a vessel for them, as writing takes too long and alterates their whole meaning (as a teenager, I used to spend whole nights writing to free my mind from all these visions, and they were still haunting me during the day). To think of it as my dolls's stories makes things easier.

 

Do you feel that ABJD's compensate for something you don't have IRL?

This has to be one of the most crippling things you could say to someone (I mean when said person to person not forum to person). I think its just a way for someone to be hurtful and kills some of the joy people feel about their dolls. Doesn't compensate for anything. Personally, I've always loved porcelain dolls, BJD's were just the next logical step. And they are awesome cause they provide you with a model you can take pictures of!
There are way tooo many kill joys out there ready to rob you of something you find fun and enjoyable. Ready to cut you down cause you have an imagination you like to indulge in. Pffft! I hope no one listens to them!
This is something I ran into with fellow Transformer collectors. My fellow chickies were buying Transformers cause they love 'em and not showing anyone cause they were afraid of being thought of as weird or that they were lacking something and this was a way to compensate. What nonsense. So I went out on Deviant Art and started doing photocomics with my Transformer dolls...er...I mean, action figures. XD I was surprised when I got notes from people saying stuff like "You don't think it'd be...weird if I did something like this, do you?" or "This is a good idea, I wrote a story about my Transformers, I think I'll turn it into a photo story!". Long story short, lots of people now post all kinds of fun pictures of their TFs (a lot mixing them up with other things they love, one chickie I know had her dolls having a tea party with her Transformers....it was down right adorable!).
Anyway, my BJD is in no way compensating for anything. I can't wait to get her and start featuring her in my comics. I hope it inspires more people on DA (or else where) to do the same. Take pictures of your dolls, share your passion. Don't let anyone belittle or make you feel bad for a hobby you love.

My apologies, this got kinda long and slightly off topic!

 

friends. :smiles

 

I don't even have a doll yet, but one of the reasons I want one is to help me cope with how lonely I am. I have a close circle friends friends, and I hang out with them whenever I get the chance to, but for some reason as soon as I'm alone I feel crushingly lonely. I cry myself to sleep every night. I wish someone would love me. I know dolls aren't real and they can't actually love me, but I want to pretend.

 

I realised after a while that my characters sort of were personified versions or my different emotions and personalities. This was after I bought my first doll and created him to be one of those characters. ^^ So maybe not entirely lacking, but and extension of myself in different forms?

 

That's an interesting point.
I for one don't think of my doll like that either, but I'm pretty sure that most people model a doll after what they wanted their lives to be like or what they wish they were like. Personally, I just think of my doll as a doll, nothing more and nothing less. Don't get me wrong, I still have a personality for him and cherish him, but I don't go to the point of mirroring myself in it. No offense to anyone who does do that though, because everyone has a reason for doing something.
Hobbies and talents can always make a person feel better about themselves though. That's what makes them so enjoyable.

 

I actually model one of my soon-to-be-home dolls after the "perfect friend".

There's no way any friend you ever have could be perfect, even though some of my friends are pretty great, and sometimes you just need something to hold and to love.
But other than that, not really. none of my dolls are what I would like to be. They're just what I would like to have.

 

Honestly, BJD is just another hobby to me. I don't think too much into it really...but I mean, all the dolls I have planned are characters that I want to bring to "life", but not to compensate for anything. I am fine with my life where it is (in some points), but yeah. Lame post

 

my dolls certainly compensate for things that I can't have or be in my own life. I am forced into a position where I have to "dull down" to function in the corporate world, and have the personal appeal necessary to make a living in my field, a great deal of my initial contact is based on the image I present, attractive, confident and congenial, while my natural instinct is to be far more glamorous, outrageous, challenging and generally say who cares to the majority of social norms . However I have bills to pay, and of course dolls to purchase and provide for, so Corporate Effigy lives breathes and walks, and Freak Effigy exists online, after hours, and through my dolls who are full time freaks. One of my dolls does reflect me a great deal, Brenda, a freak by nature and a doctor by profession carries on that same double life I do, but the rest are full time bad boys, the beings of beauty and glamour that I wish I could be.

 

i honestly originally bought my dolls just cause they could pose and were awesome cute, but if i think about it, this is the conclusion i come to: family stuff and my own personality made me grow up/mature really fast. i spent most of my youth being older and more mature than everyone my age. now that i am a "grown up" it seems i spend most of my time playing with toys! i think i am just one of those work hard play hard people...and my play just doesn't happen to involve extreme quantities of drugs, alcohol, and smexy boys/girls - its all dolls, video games, and harry potter So for me, dolls are the balance - they are the perfect match to my brainy, serious, committed alter-ego

 

Do you feel that you 'and/or' others around you are using ABJD's to compensate for something you don't have IRL?

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for me? No.

I was introduced to the ball jointed doll a few years ago. I was picking up some extra cash by working at a bookstore during the holidays along with my other job.

When I was at the bookstore, some girls walked in, both with Asain ball jointed dolls in toe.

they were gorgeous dolls. Their life like eyes, the fun clothes and hair, they had more personality in their plastic faces than my exboyfriend had in his whole body...

they reminded me of the art of manga and animes I love so much. Thats what the one I saw reminded me of with her curly pink hair and sparkly blue eyes... an anime character.

Loving the art of anime and manga... I asked where they got the dolls and they gave me a website that was like a webring for BJDs and I got to see all sorts of beautiful, creepy and down right weird dolls, and I fell in love with them.

My first doll was a Luts EL. I bought him simply because he reminded me of an anime character from one of my favorite animes.

My new custom dolls are based on my favorite J-Rock singer, Gackt. I wanted them not to "have Gackt" in my house... I just thought they'd be a rockin part of my J-Rock collection.

that's basically it for me.

I collect Japanese antiques, Samurai stuff, J-Rock merchandise (Specifically Gackt), Anime and Manga... so the dolls just fit.

I just think they're fun. You can dress them up, pose them, take artistic photos, make up stories based on the photos, and display them like any other collectible, or beautiful work of art. and like art, they're great conversational pieces, I mean, look at how I picked up a conversation with two complete strangers because of their dolls.

Plus, the clothes, wigs and makeup you put on the dolls are a great way to express yourself artistically, showcase your talents or display your own personality through the dolls.

Was my life incomplete before, without them? not really. although I can't imagine NOT having a BJD now that I have one... but I didn't buy one because my life was missing something, I bought one because I thought they were beautiful and reminded me of something I loved and enjoyed.

I look at it this way.

the dolls ADD something to my life, not fill an empty spot in my life. I have puppies for that. LOL

however they have helped me in one area.

If the guy I'm going out with has less personality than my doll... bye bye. So I waste less time with bad dates now. hehehe

 

I suppose for me, it's definitely to have a real embodiment of a character I once created. This is really the most perfect way to do it too because they are completely customisable to one's own imagination. I've always loved dolls of all kinds so having a BJD is like having 'the perfect doll' for me. XD; of course, I did choose a really tall model of BJD, probably to compensate for how short I am in real life hahahaha!

 

Do you feel that ABJD's compensate for something you don't have IRL?
No, not at all~
I just like them because they look cute/pretty etc and I love thinking ideas on how to dress them.
I think it allows me to be creative

 

I think my dolls reflect extensions of me... maybe I do project what I wish I could be like onto my dolls. I do dress them in stuff I wish I could wear.... fairy outfits and medieval stuff. I really like them because they can be changed so easily... add a different pair of eyes or a different wig, or some new clothes and your doll is a lot different... i think we all wished sometimes that we could just change a few things really fast and be different... even if it's just for a little while. I think that's what makes BJD's so fun too... they dont HAVE to stay the same all the time.. they can be anything and everything and your imagination is the limit.

 

Very interesting proposition. I have to say yes. My dolls are a way for me to express the GOTHIC Melodramatic part of me that I feel I can no longer express outwardly as I am now too old and live in a very quiet country town. I was a goth in my early 20s and went out and went OTT with clothes & make up and it was fun. But let's face it, a 35 year old goth is not so cool. OK- maybe in a big city with a big gothic sub culture but not in a small country town. I let that look go many years ago but I still love it. Now my dolls wear what I no longer can and they are a way for me to have fun with the whole goth genre and display it in my home.