How did you discover bjds?

I started collecting vintage play dolls to replace my childhood ones. In 2001 I found out about bjd in the ot section on a forum for other dolls, they were still very niche back then I think so I did not look into them. 20 years later I was at a point of having my collection of other dolls complete, so I started looking for something else and remembered bjd.

 

Wow! I aspire to have a collection that big one day!

 

I'm an odd man out here. I was never really into dolls, so this hobby took everyone, including me, by surprise.
A dear friend of mine at the time got into it, and I try to know at least the basics of all my friends hobbies so they have someone to talk to about it. When researching, I came across faceup tutorials on YouTube and the customization aspect. I thought "hey, I could do that," borrowed a head from a friend, and lo! I could! That lead me into collecting my own dolls, and, after a lot of trial and error, I found my hobby love in collecting and customizing mostly semi realistic SD+ dolls.
I really like how this combines many hobbies, from sewing to photography, and that's probably why I've stayed hooked.

 

Like you, I’ve always loved dolls too and never really outgrew them. My sister heard of these dolls before I did and then I saw more at a convention and wanted one.

 

18 years ago a friend invited me to join a UK based doll forum that had sections for all kinds of dolls to be shared and discussed. One of the women had a daughter who was into BJD and did wonderful photos and stories. I was smitten and asked her lots of questions. In less then 5 months I had all my reborn, OOAK and similar dolls sold and I ought with those funds my first 3 dolls from Denver Doll. In stock Elf dolls. 2 girls and one boy. Thus began the adventure and after most likely buying and selling 600 most likley I have been in this hobby for 17 years and still love it.

 

I started drawing a lot more seriously as a teen once I had really gotten into anime - naturally, I also ended up on deviantArt to show off my digital drawings And from that, it was just a short stone's throw to BJDs as someone's images trickled through my feed... probably it was an image of DOD Shall or Ducan? I also vaguely remember a pen pal from a pixel art forum owning a doll. Although I was really obsessed for a few years, I never managed to save up enough and kind of forgot about the whole thing.
It was only in my 30s when doing a puppetry-related project that I remembered BJDs when looking for jointing references for marionettes... and then I bought a doll and joined DoA and then bought a few more and now I have 5 lil dudes chilling on my shelf. I feel like my teen self is really happy now haha!

 

{laugh!} You might want to balance it against how much space they take up.


I'm lucky my husband is also a collector so is fine with the amount of space that collections can take up. He reminds me I'll need to find space for any new doll I get, and I remind him whenever he's looking at a new sword or laquer box (and we both despair over space for bookshelves and artwork):

Teddy

 

When I was younger, I saw Dollfie Dream and thought they looked beautiful! (specifically, Beatrice and Maria). But I never bought any until recently

 

I was twelve (I'm 38 now), and I saw a brief advertisement in Barbie Bazaar about Volks' Super Dollfies. At the time Megu was the most popular, and when they described her as dark-haired and fair-skinned I wanted her. Oh, I wanted her. She reminded me of my mama, who at the time also had dark hair and fair skin (her hair is silver now, LOL). I'm no longer dead set on on owning Megu, but she was the one who taught me what ball-jointed dolls are.

 

Hey, I’m new here! I actually discovered BJD (Ball-Jointed Dolls) through a Photoshop speedpaint video of Miley Cyrus from around 2013. It was the first time I saw a BJD transformation, and it really sparked my interest in the doll community. I’ve been looking for the video ever since, but it seems to have disappeared! Have any of you come across similar edits or speedpaints?

I’ve been trying to track down a speedpaint of Miley Cyrus being turned into a BJD. It was on YouTube and probably posted in 2013. The video was edited with Photoshop and had a sped-up version of “Wrecking Ball” in the background. I thought it was amazing and it really made me dive into the BJD world. Anyone here know this video or similar content?

I’d love to hear how others discovered BJDs or any interesting videos or edits that inspired you to get into the hobby. Anyone else have a similar experience?

 

For me it was also angelic layer!
After reading that manga i wanted a doll just like that and discovered BJD.
I couldnt afford them at that time but recently remembered them. Now that I own one they really have the same magic to them!

 

Hi! That’s so cool, I totally get that excitement! BJDs really do have a magical quality to them. I’m actually trying to find a YouTube speedpaint/timelapse from around 2013 where Miley Cyrus was transformed into a ball-jointed doll (BJD) — it was the only person turned into a doll in the video.

It’s been so hard to track down, and I’d love any tips or memories you might have if you ever came across similar edits back then.

 

Hiya, it's been so long I struggle to pinpoint exactly where haha but I assume it was a culmination of the below!
I started off with classic dolls like MH, Barbie, plushies etc. and naturally fell into the rabbit hole from there. I was also big into anime and manga so got around to reading things like Chobits, and badly wanted figures. I think Popovy Sisters had popped up on my recommended at the time too and it completely changed my perspective on what my original interpretation of what dolls could be.

From there I dug deeper, through mostly Youtube craft videos with face-ups and clothes. I eventually began to watch more and was amazed by how much there was to the hobby, especially the intricacy and beauty of it. Character customisation had been a big thing for me since browser flash dress-up games so BJDs really touched a part of me in seeing that become physically possible rather than just pixels on a screen.

 

Weirdly, by accident, I was looking for something better than an art mannequin. I stumbled upon Volks Dollfie Dream. Exploring more, I found their BJDs and was instantly captivated by them. Learning more and talking to my friend, she also liked the concept of BJDs and how customizable they are. We talked about making them into our OCs. So we eventually found Dream of Doll. We got the money we needed and bought our first dolls Bee-A and Too back in 2005.