How known is TOO known?

This. I meant to address that in my post but brainfarted. Forty years of watching fads come and go, I have decided a few things. Fads, by nature, have to appeal to broad spectrum of people and generally speaking they have to be inexpensive. Oh you may sink a lot of money into them but in generaly it doesnt take a lot of money to participate in a fad. I don't see bjds fitting into either category without a RADICAL change in how the "average" Western person views dolls and the carrying of dolls in public. (I say Western as an American I can't presume to speak for Non-European descended societies.)

 

Sorry Guys, this has probably already been said...but I'm a bit too lazy to read through every page.

On dolls in general: I don't believe that BJDS could ever become so wanted and so known that everyone has one. Think of Pokemon cards, there were tons of them, they were cheap and by the end of the first televised season you had more cards then you knew what to do with. BJDs aren't like that.

You can't pick them up at your local Wal-Mart, they aren't "cheap" even if there are companies that sell them for less than most. To also be quite blunt, people have "better" things to spend their money on. Personally, had I not been given my first doll...I wouldn't have any. For a person who grew up on buying Barbies for $10 and up, to spend $100-$2,000 on a doll is too much. I have more than one doll because I found the joy in having them and I love my guys. If I was a person looking in on the hobby, I would probably stick to simply looking at pictures.

I have also noticed that most of the collectors also watch Anime. Anime where I live goes no further than some kid's show on the Cartoon channel. Most adults who have never seen Anime will not understand the features of the dolls. I know this has been debated in another topic about being offended by association with anime. However, it's really true. When I started looking at BJDs I instantly associated them with Anime that I use to watch. My boyfriend saw the same thing and loves the dolls, when I tried to show my doll to a person who had never seen anime, they simply couldn't wrap their mind around the femininity of my boy dolls faces or their cartoonish features.

To wrap up this little portion of my rant, I personally believe that unless some miracle happens, our hobby won't be seeing any huge increase in collectors for quite some time.


On specific dolls: I personally don't care how popular a sculpt is. If I like it enough and can afford it, then I'll buy it based on my feelings for it.

I do however, see where it can affect your judgment on buying your next doll or a future doll. It's almost like if you see something enough you either hate it completely or it "grows" on you.

I guess it's just something that I'm scared of getting sucked into.

Anyway. There's my opinion on it all.
I hope I didn't offend anyone...and please excuse my rambling.

 

And not just their clothes - but they way they're painted, the way they're posed - having a small fairly realistic human figure involved in your sculpture could be awesome and as a body-artist I'm keenly aware that painting even the biggest BJD would take far less paint (and stand still without complaint) than even the smallest model.

 

Bjds require way too much investment of time, money, and research for them to become a fad.

Plus the hobby is attached to too many unconventional notions - bl, androgyny, gothic/punk/lolita/jrock/vkei, anime/manga/etc geekery, rp/fantasy, and even a dash of fetish in the mix.

I feel that the only way that bjds could make it to the mainstream is if there were a cheaper, lower-quality, mass-produced knock-off that emulated bjds, and if the more controversial/eccentric elements of the bjd culture got toned down.

And that would be just dead boring, wouldn't it.

If bjds really went mainstream, I'd still keep my dolls. But I think the community and perhaps even the companies (who will surely tailor their products to be more appealing to the mainstream, and I wouldn't blame them for that) wouldn't be interesting to me any more, and gradually I'd stop looking at the new doll releases.

Well, I anticipate that there must inevitably come a time when the style of bjds evolves to a point that I no longer like it (regardless of whether it hits the mainstream or not), and that's okay with me. I'll then withdraw to play my own way in my own corner; it's not the end of the world.

 

It's neither here, nor there for me. I like what I like, regardless of the social acceptability or popularity. (That being said, I don't think I like anything that anyone would find shocking, other than my odd fascination with dolls, lol.)

I also don't think that doll enjoyment or collecting as an adult will ever fall off the "weird shelf" in our Western culture in my life time. Regardless of the many times it may be cited that doll collecting is "the number two hobby behind stamps and coins," adults who are interested in what is viewed as a child's plaything are tolerated as the odd cousin, or given that pleasant, bland smile of feigned interest (or disinterest) for a pursuit that does not compute with their peers. That's okay. I remain puzzled over how golf got to be so popular, when the final result for all the angst, futility, and expense is to get a little ball in a little hole.

Thinking about it, as doll lovers, we have our cake and eat it, too. We have the perks of a popular hobby, yet maintain the distinction of infamy as social outliers.

 

I really doubt this could become a huge trend in the west. especially America. Anime, BJDs, and Japanese/Chinese culture are really not very well known over here. i didn't know much of anyhing until i was invited to join an anime club. I saw a bjd for the first time at my first anime convention. it's not even a rampant hobby in the anime world. I don't see how it could become a big thing all over america.
I'm glad it's not a huge thing all over the place because if it were the demand would go up and consequently Prices! ZOMG! I would die! I have enough trouble affording ANY dolls.

 

I think if this hobby did become popular or a fad, it would all soon die away, leaving the people that truely care. All the other buyers would get sick of the dolls after a while and a lot more dolls would end up going in the market place. So It would be bad for awhile but then good after once the joiners had dropped the dolls for us to buy.

 

technically, this has already happened in Japan/Korea.
almost everyone there has one and if they don't they sure know what it is.
even japanese people i know that have lived in the US their whole lives know what they are
and oddly enough i get more ridicule from them about collecting ^^"

though the US does have a reputation of going over board with things
you have to think of the positive:
maybe sculptors will start BJD shops in the US
we would have our own unique BJD lines
and stores and such (more than just the 3 that i can think of off the top of my head)

now, depending on what celeb is 'seen carrying them around' would make a world of difference
even then i really don't think it would make that much of an impact
because they are expensive and they are highly misunderstood
it would be another fad, and within a few years we will be left to our devices again ^^
and only the true collectors will stay

that and i really don't want to think about DoA being more packed than it already is x.x lol

 

I would kinda be one of those people who said i was into them before it was cool. Though I don't think it would really mean anything. I tell people reading manga in the manga section in the bookstores that when I started reading manga, yadda yadda yadda. It makes me sound like an old person telling their stories about the ol' days but i kinda enjoy it. Well back to the dolls I would be ok with it becoming more popular because I think in the end the people who want dolls for dolls and not the "i have to have the next thing" will be left and I would be cool with that . What I would worry for is if this became like the beanie baby craze where now there are no real collectors and beanie babies I have that were once worth $1,000 or so are worth nothing. It would become horrible if you wanted to sell a doll and might even be bad for the industry after a while.

Though in the end I like being a part of something that is rare where I live so I would prefer it to be that way. A little more publicity might be nice but I don't want them to be a household name.

 

We should also remember that Kerli did release her "Waking on Air" music video and featured a Doll In Mind Flora as her dolly doppelganger. This video was on MTV in the States and the doll received both negative and positive comments on her myspace. One girl even said "They should sell this in HotTopic! I'd totally buy one" and that just made me shake my head and say "If you only knew it's cost XD" (that specific doll's cost becomes more because of it's custom PepStar faceup and Violet Fern outfit)
However, Kerli doesn't know anything about the dolls. She kind of just has a "*scratches head* some doll called bjd or something" process to her. (She did show that she didn't know anything in her blog)
That's one celebrity that went straight to the mainstream.

There is such a phobia of dolls in the U.S. (thank you Chuckie) that a lot of people are turned off to them. Dolls are seen as either creepy things your grandmother collects or something children play with.

My positive thinking is if it becomes a fad, fades quickly, and lots of dolls go on the marketplace--people are going to want to get rid of them for as much as possible, undercutting each other to make the sale. That means cheaper for us! But it is sad to see so many precious dolls pretty much thrown away because it's "no longer cool"


Like others say, it's an expensive hobby and it's DOLLS. It probably won't catch on that much. If it does it will only look like a lot because we are already here to witness it. But from an outside view--it probably won't be that big.

 

I worry about that Hot Topic thing. Although I love Hot Topic not all my dolls are going to be punk or goth. I would really hate BJDs in America to get associated with just Hot Topic and the gothic subculture because not one type of person collects them. This reminded me that they do sell Twilight BJDs at the bookstores and although i've never seen them at Hot Topic I would believe some of them may very well sell these Twilight BJDs.

 

Ah, so BJDs are kind of already mini-mainstream with Tonner dolls and another company had a Hannah Montana release.
These are still less expensive than average ABJDS, off-topic for this forum, and we still don't see people walking around with these dolls (and less admitting to owning them)

 

I've already put in my two cents, but I had an interesting thought not long after I first posted. She's the closest that's ever gotten to mainstream. She's OT for this forum, but for the sake of this conversation she needs mention...

Blythe.

She got as far as stocked in some of the more hip and trendy shops, only to be sold on super-clearance for $20 months later. Even though she had the perfect vintage look that was oh-so-hip at the time, and she had been featured in some of the hip kid magazines, it just wasn't going to happen. I think no matter what, doll collecting will be just a little too out-there.

And I, honestly, wouldn't put Tonner in the same universe as BJDs as far as hints to the mainstream goes. If Tonner did only their Tyler Wentworth, Ellowyne Wilde, and other orignal designs, they'd be unknown to the general society as our ABJDs. But because they do super heros, characters from classic movies like The Wizard of Oz, and pop culture mega-hits like Twilight, they attract a lot of people that aren't doll collectors, but collectors for that kind of thing. (I've heard that their Twilight line has already sold more dolls than any of their other lines.) Also, I think it helps they are much more like a Barbie in appearance/construction than ABJDs ... and hundreds of dollars cheaper

 

You know, someone mentioned Gwen Stefani and the Harajuku dolls-- they have perfume that Gwen Stefani designed based off of the Harajuku dolls; could you imagine if BJDs were so popular they had their own perfume line?

 

BJDs? Really? I'm just curious, because in the past a lot of people here who have some experience being overseas in Japan have said that they really aren't all that widely known--certainly not to the point that they would be considered mainstream.

 

If known means I can go just about anywhere and get a doll, then known = goooood.

 

Umm....*cough*....I do wear a pearl necklace with jeans and t-shirt. Kind of like wearing really fancy lacy underwear under ragged jeans and a flannel shirt. I like the incongruity.

I've never really worried about trendiness or not- I pretty much do what I like and don't worry about what other people think about it. Even in my choice of dolls.

As far as becoming more popular, I would mind it if they were a bit more popular because I live in a remote area and I don't know of anyone IRL who has them. So if they were more popular maybe someone here would get some and I would have someone to play with.

The problem with becoming more popular is that big companies like Mattel will jump on the bandwagon (there is already some behind the scenes indications that that is happening), start mass-producing them, and get it all wrong. It seems like any of the more commercial doll companies who have tried doing the BJD doll thing have not been able to quite get it right. (look at the teen trends doll, for instance! Eek! And while Ellowyn Wilde and Goodreau dolls have their fans and are beautiful dolls, they still don't quite have that intangible something that makes BJDs unique).

Mainly, I think, making a bjd is so labor intensive and expensive that I don't foresee them ever really going mainstream. Even the least expensive BJDs, like bobobies/resinsoul cost so much in terms of labor/materials that it would be impossible to reproduce on a mass level.

 

Is this really a problem though? The dolls you mentioned as examples are mostly considered separate from our hobby. I'm not sure that would have much of an effect. I do, however, think it's been interesting to see the more abjd inspired dolls come out--and I have to agree that they often don't quite hit the mark...I think to really get the look and feel of abjds down it would take a lot of immersing oneself in the dolls and the hobby. It's possible to grab at a few superficial characteristics, but that's different from really being able to fully grasp what makes our dolls so unique.

 

I don't think it's a problem.

"WE" may consider them separate, but I think the people who developed them did not. If I remember correctly I think the Goodreau people were surprised the reaction from the BJD community to their dolls.

I certainly wouldn't mind shoes and boots being a little less expensive, though.

I just personally have nightmare visions of walking into a Walmart and seeing a Teen Trends-type product on the market and being promoted as an ABJD.

Eek.