How known is TOO known?

The problem is that not just ONE person decides what is separate and what is bjd. If large, mainstream companies do start to take on bjd dolls and products, they will want to make them more widely available in $$ an thus quality/anethesiatics. The majority of population just takes what is fed to them and they don't care if the "originial collectors" (I guess) consider those dolls bjds or not. They will even retalated and be full of confidence to say that no, those "original bjds" are not bjds.
Mass media will distort anything because the general public doesn't give a crap.

To maybe 80% or even 90% of doll people/ general public, those resin bjds we see now would be not a true bjd due to all the other "bjds" out there. And the world is democratic, no?
It won't matter if you don't care what other's think. The point is, you may be one of the only people with this knowledge. Your voice will be drowned out by the others and it will be locked up and invisible. Because no one cares. Majority rules, and that sucks.



O_o whoops too long a post.... in summary: "unique" would become "eww knock-offs, made expensive."

 

Well I don't think a mass produced bjd would spell death for the Asian companies any more than Corell spelled the death of the luxury china business. (Corell is cheap table china sold in places like Wal mart and Target) The people who want cheap dollies will buy them and the ones that one expensive designer dollies will buy them. It's really an apples and oranges argument.

 

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Yep. It's interesting to talk about on a philosophical level, but bottom line- I don't think it would make a difference one way or the other to the die-hard fans (like...us, lol!).

 

I third that sentiment.

...*Makes a human + doll collection sized bunker out of BJD clothing* You know, just in case...

 

I dunno really. Probably I wouldn't be too worried.. the cost of the dolls is enough to turn most non-serious people off I guess. If you're willing to save up the $$ for a doll then you're committed enough. There are tons of things out there that have gained ridiculous popularity and then died off again that I still like, soooo... I guess all that to say, it wouldn't worry me much.

 

A: good/bad for collectors
bad. it woulod suk, cuz there woukd probably be no dollires left!
B: make BJDs lose their uniqueness for being different
yeppperoos.
C: make you mutter "I was doing it before it was cool."
probably, but then maybeh not.


i just am hopin no celebrities( specially disney wierdos) would go public bout it. i would find a way to make them stop*deveel smile*, tho. im good at that...

 

i dont kno how to edit my post and put this in, so double post. this person made a great point. i would hate it if i saw walmart or target selling bjd. i would even have the erge to sue them( pretty random thing to sue about). i hate knok offs, especially wen thier of somethin i love. considerin all the ppl on doa, i think if this happened these " fake bjds" wouldnt be alowed. if this happened(oh gods i hope not)

 

There's a nice little 'edit' button at the bottom of each of your posts.

As for suing Wal-mart over having some version of a BJD...somehow I think that would be a complete waste of time, energy, and money. So what if some mass-market toy company tries to jump in on a "trend". The point is that any mass-marketed toy that even resembles a BJD would be so vastly different purely by nature of the product that it wouldn't even threaten our little corner of the hobby world. It is, as toshirodragon mentioned, an 'apples to oranges' argument. (Not to mention that Wal-mart is merely a retailer, not a producer of items like this.)

As for the "anime and Japanese culture not being well-known in America" thing...I'd say if anyone visited Seattle for any length of time they'd find out otherwise.

 

Well, I'd like to think that I'd still want to be involved. But if BJD's went up in popularity in America, I expect that a few production companies would pop up over here, maybe even some cheap toy-priced ones marketed more towards children. But with companies popping up more over here, I don't think it would have too much effect on the foreign imports. Some people that are into the Asian models would probably jump to the domestic newcomers, and a lot of others would remain loyal. But some of the people that would get into it as a new fad would probably want the original Asian source, while I expect most would want to purchase from local companies. When demand goes up, supply follows more often than not.

As per the draw, as I said, I'd like to think I wouldn't let it bother me. But at the same time, I do tend to shy away from the mainstream. The bigger the anime gets, the better it has to be for me to care. When Naruto was a small fandom in America, I loved it. Then I stopped caring. Same goes for Inuyasha. I don't even want to give Bleach a chance. I don't like name brand clothing, not because it's expensive or gaudy, but because it's a name brand. I don't want to be an Abercrombie, I don't want to represent Hot Topic. And if I could find my gaming/nerd shirts anywhere else, I'd be all over it.

So by all rights, if ABJD's were all over the place, there's a good chance I'd give up on the idea of buying one, myself. Having a news report done at a 'con about a doll meetup and the phenomenon is all well and good, but if they did a report on how Ashley Tisdale or Miley Cyrus collect them and have 20 dollies and they're the coolest thing ever, I might have to jump ship. Somehow, I think that's how half of the girls in America (and some of the boys, too, I'm sure) would beg their parents to buy them one.

 

Visions of Walmart prices for Dollfie clothing and rack upon rack of Dollfie clothes and shoes to choose from!


Wont they rather promote them as US made BJDs?

 

Except that if it is at Walmart, I would guess it is highly unlikely it was actually manufactured in the US. Nothing wrong with either, obviously, but US labor costs are high compared to much of the world, and given the option to get cheaper labor cost and a lower price tag, Walmart would be quick to take it.

 

I have to be honest, I doubt BJDs will ever be that popular. Look at all of the threads about people making fun of them, or hating them and wanting to break them for no reason. At most, it would be a fad for a few months, with people wanting them, but parents not wanting to shell out that kind of money for a kid/people not having that kind of income to purchase one. Those few that do get one will either sit there, seeing how huge they are and that typical Barbie clothes don't fit on them, nor do they come with hair or eyes or the clothes they had on the site and thus will get tired of them and probably sell them for a bargain since they don't really know their true worth.... or they'll actually be fans who had been looking for this sort of thing their whole life, and might quite possibly find the hobby of their dreams. I think the latter might be a lot lower in number than the former.

As for doll shops, there is a chance we could see some of the bigger companies making their way here, but I don't think there'd be any American stores popping up, or BJD clothes ending up at Target or Walmart.

I guess to sum it all up, combined with its price, size, and unfinished nature, I just don't think that they'll ever be that huge. At most, we'll see a small boom, and then it'll slowly decline as more and more people realize that buying one is only part of the whole thing and that they're not really interested in all of the customization (or if they get one that's complete with everything, they don't know what to do with it besides put it on display)

 

Not just California...we're in NJ....Japanese anime has been big for a looo--oong time. My 17 yr old knew about bjd's years ago...and at that time...my knowing nothing about them said "How on earth can anyone spend so much on a doll?"....3 years later...here I am...waiting for my 1st doll to arrive!

 

I would really hate for them to become too homogenized, which, unfortunately is what happens when big toy companies like Mattel get involved....They'd probably be really easy to spot though, the mass produced dolls would probably have 4 or 5 styles/options, most likely in vinyl....the eyes would NOT be removable, as that is a big NO-NO if your trying to sell something for kids (no small, swallowable parts), They most likely would have rooted hair (most moms don't want wigs that come off, because they can too often be lost by the kid.)...so they would end up looking like every other mass produced doll on the market now. Bleeeech!


I agree with Toshirodragon...bjds as they are now vs. 'popular' mass produced versions are 2 completely separate entities...like she said apples to oranges .

 

i dont want them to be more know. cause if ppl know it, it does not mean they'll like it... so then they'll know they are anatomicaly correct and would laugh about it all day and stuff...
ooor, there'll be a kind on trend. ppl will go like : Ooooh, i want one! they'll buy a cheap or small one and someday they'll lose interest cuz its not gonna be ''in'' anymore.
i've seen this happen with tokio hotel XD

also, i think its fun explaining to stranger what these dolls are ^^

 

I don't think this is becoming "trendy" only because there are a ton of people out there still looking at dolls and going "I hate those, they are scary" or "I don't like dolls, they are for kids"
Overly biased people will contain the hobby to people who really love it. LoL.

 

Actually there has been been a news story done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8mP...2E4476CB&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=74

 

I would say all three.
If more people buy them their price goes up.
More of them show up so if some one shows a person their doll, the other person my say I have the same model!
On the last one I have nothing to say.