If BJD's were to become the 'next big thing'...

I personally don't want them to become too popular because then we would have lots of lower quality "knock offs" and they would lose their charm of being such odd objects/creatures to me. Just the right amount of popularity, in which you could choose from a variety of dolls and be able to take them around easier, would be nice.

I fear BJDs might go the way of video games if they become mainstream: We'd have high production values on some dolls, making them masterpieces, but we'd also have pieces of crap that companies make because they think they know what the masses want. Hopefully it won't come to that.

 

I would be very upset and bothered by the fact that its so popular and crap.
But it really wont change the fact that I love my dollies.
But still. . .
I wouldn't want it to be the new fad.

 

Hmmm, this is an interesting question. I usually tend to be ahead of the trends and once others start getting into a hobby, I tend to lose interest. That said, though, with BJDs I think I would probably still enjoy what I have. Since they can be so customized, you can make your doll look different from someone else's even if they are the same sculpt.

I think the main thing that would tend to turn me off, and I have seen this over the last year as more doll collectors become introduced to BJDs, is that these collectors tend to look at the acquisition of BJDs as a contest to see who can obtain the most the quickest. I look at each BJD as a piece of artwork. Individual and special. To have them reduced to a competition makes me sad.

 

i myself would be upset, because now it's something really special, and i really don't want bjds to become some popular and crap >.>
now i have almost 100% certainty my doll will be the special and only one in the world, if bjds become popular there will be lots of kids having same dolls, probably very worse quality, it wouldn't be the same then.
and i'm not goin to feel bothered just because someone will lok at me strange when i'm with my doll ;P
non-popular hobbies are the best, you feel really special then, and care about that thing even more.
i would probably still be willing to buy my doll, but it wouldn't be so much fun i guess ^^;

 

I don't do the meetups or anything, mostly because my experience with attempting individual communication on this forum have met with less than stellar results- but I do like the weird looks people give when me and my friends have our dolls. We had them at a marching band competition show a few months back, and people two and three rows down were staring and taking pictures of them while we had them out. (We didn't have them out much because of the sun, but we took a few of our own photos of them in the stands.)

I think if they became more popular, I'd still love them just as much, but I wouldn't take them out at all most likely for fear of someone deciding to try and steal or damage my doll.

 

I would definitely enjoy a greater availability. In the frederick area there's one doll shop... and the lady working didn't even know what I was talking about when I asked about BJDs, I was rather disappointed. Having to do everything over the internet is a slight drawback for me. I like going to stores and picking through things and touching them before I buy.

 

I'd be uber upset if bjds became the next big thing. They're not supposed to be some stupid fad that's great one week and lame the next. They're meant to be something special for people who truely love them. I love my own dolls but I think that my love for them would probably fade once everyone had one.

I wouldn't want too many shops opening with bjd stuff (One would be nice). I really enjoy going to goodwill and antique stores rummaging through junk trying to find something my dolls might like. I guess you could say that I like bjd-ing the difficult way.

 

I like what I like. I don't really care what others do. If popularity made them less expensive, then I could have more of them. Actually, I don't think it will ever be an issue because all of them, whether expensive or less so are, to some degree, handmade. That kind of cans the idea of mass production which would be necessary for "the next big thing."

 

I'm not really a "Doll Collector" per say- I love BJDs- but they're the only doll I'd even remotely consider collecting for collections sake a this point. I used to collect dolls of all kinds when I was younger (Like 10-12) but I wouldn't anymore as- what good would it do me? I see BJDs as artist's type dolls- I love the creativity, customizablity, etc. of the hobby- so yeah I'd totally love to see more people get into BJD collecting- there's nothing I'd love more then a good chat with my friends about a great hobby we all share- But.... *prepares to get to the actual point*

BJDs sound and are going the same way as Anime- when it first popped up outside Asia it was a tiny audience huddled in the corner of someone's dark basement that recieved it. For a long time, said people were thought to be "weird" or "geeks" by those not involved in the hobby- it's pretty much the same with BJD, (with a few exceptions before you all flame me to death )

Now, Anime is quite popular- it's not huge, but people everywhere at least know what it is and can say whether they like it or not without any awkwardness. Even people who don't know it are into it in some way if only because of their favourite show/character/book/artist etc. It hasn't changed how I feel about it in the least- it's something I really like that has turned me on to the world outside my tiny Georgia dormroom in a big way- JET programme anyone? The point is, if you like or don't like it doesn't concern me one iota. I like it, and that's what matters.

What I'm saying is, one day BJDs may be like that, if they aren't already, but that won't change my opinion of a great hobby- I hate nothing more then the idea of liking something because it's not popular and then hating it when everyone else gets on the bandwagon. Just because something is popular, doesn't mean that it has to change it's meaning for those that were there from the beginning- unless we are so fickle that our love of something can be so easily tempered by what others think. We do this with bands etc. all the time and I always have just one thing to say:

Quit acting stroppy and enjoy the bloody music.

*I am done *

 

eh, id prob continue collecting

 

That is one aspect that - mostly on the forums - has become really annoying. There seems to be this big "contest" to have the most limited, most expensive sculpt, and have it be like a status symbol in the community. Those with less expensive sculpts, more common ones, tend to be ignored. I was pleased that when I made it to a local meet for the first time, everyone was friendly, courteous, and genuinely interested in all the dolls regardless of their make.

Personally, I believe BJD's already are the "next big thing". Several have said themselves: the community has grown exponentially, there are now a dozen different companies, many doll dealers, etc. You are guaranteed to find them at anime and other pop-culture conventions these days; only a few years ago, you were lucky to find one at all and then you didn't know what they were. An item doesn't have to be mainstream to be the current hot must-have. Honestly, as many have said, I don't thnk BJD's as they currently are can be mass-produced. There are already customizable domestic doll companies that are established - like American Girl.

More exposure would be great, then perhaps prices of things like accessories/clothes/etc might come down. But I think the real BJD hobby is safe. As long as you're happy with your collection, it shouldn't matter.

 

I would be rather bothered if it became the "next big thing." You've seen all around with other things that have came into trend. It attracts the "wrong" crowd and even "posers." I would get annoyed fast with that. You'd also get the snobby rich people into the hobby if prices were that high still. They'd flaunt that their daddies or parents bought them such an EXPENSIVE and RARE and GORGEOUS mold.

Us, hobbyist do flaunt that we have such beautiful molds that we finally got or on a strike of luck got. I think we deserve since we earn it to get it for ourselves since it's so expensive. But putting it in perspectives of it becoming big doesn't make me happy.

I would love to not be looked at as a freak but I've always been called freaks by my friends in a jokingly way. They wouldn't have me any other way. XD

 

I would continue collecting, but I don't know if I would take dolls out into public as much. I agree with most of the things I've read on here, that I would fear them getting stolen, I like how unique and different they are from other doll hobbyists, and I would fear cheap, rip off dolls. I would, however, love easy to get clothes, and would gladly reap that, but over all, I'll stick to the good, reliable, expensive companies I shop at now, and would be moderately smug that my dolls were better than the mainstream ones.

 

I think it would be nice for bjds to have more exposure.
But, on the other hand, I wouldn't like everybody to have one.
It's like having a secret broadcasted.
I like the sense of community in DoA, people bonded through a common point.

If it went mainstream, there are bound to be people in it just to say "I have limiteds!"
Before I got my darling, I was worried that I wanted a doll just to show off.
Some people do do it unwittingly.
=X

I'd like it to remain as our secret growing through word-of-mouth.
=)

 

I would enjoy the more socail interaction fo teh doll community btu I do feel after a while it would become suffocating. Mainly becaue I feel some fo my friends have issues where they ahev to be the best and they probably won't shut up and will always be trying to get what I have etc. and I do feel in the instance of friends(copying and stuff) they wouldn't be that special anymore

 

Meh. I've already had to deal with that very thing happening to my anime passion. And while it is annoying to have idiots babble at you about the current most popular thing and to have people your age going 'oh, my kids are into that', it hasn't lessened my love for it at all. I get the impression that it's not really something we have to worry about though. The concept still weirds out too many people. ^_^;

 

I wouldn't really care because I'm trying to get minimees, meaning custom, so even if it did become mainstream I'd still have my own special ones that stand out.
It'd probably be easier for others to understand, and the media would not think strange of it.
At the moment people buy BJD's because they love them, not because it's the next big thing - and if it does become the next big thing then well, once that dies down you should still be able to love it, not cast them away because it became mainstream.

People say that they wouldn't want it to be a week long fad and whatnot but I don't think it's about that, it sounds more like wanting to be special and unique with your doll, and not wanting everyone to know about something you like.

They're highly customizeable so even with bragging about one doll that was super expensive or whatever, your doll will always be different from someone else's - whether on the outside as in appearance or the character you give them, or if you decide not to give them a character.

It's not like ten thousand people will walk around with the same mold you had and whatever.

People sell what's popular - having one store getting a lot of business(say for like BJD's) would cause other shops to open, a chain effect, so you can't really have one without having the rest of it.

It's not really personal, I guess.

 

This, exactly. Any BJD that became "the next big thing" would HAVE to be mass produced cheaply, and almost certainly would be off topic for this forum anyway.

It wouldn't bother me if something like that did become popular, though. Anything that makes it possible to clothe and accessorize less expensively is good by me.

 

i would be upset mostly because the people that would get into it later would have it easier than we did. they would see us, who strive to attain the money and time to put into these dolls, when if it were mainstream they could just get it without any hassle at all, and we would have nothing to prove that we tried. we would have nothing to say "hey, we were here first and we actually LOVE our dolls for the dolls, not just cu it's a fad" because everyone will say they were "original BJDers" because it's will be cool to do so. this has happened with basically EVERYTHING i have ever gotten into, it became poopular and then all my hard work that would take forever would be attained in a matter of seconds for others. i would even see people who'd make FUN OF ME for something i liked pretending to like it now that it was in.

but if this happens i ill still love the dolls and probably still like them, but i would not take them out or show them off, because they are special, and the people viewing them would just see them as all the other knock off dolls and dolls that thier owner really doesnt care about. i couldn't put my dolls through that.

 

I think in the end, wether they become a fad or not, I would still collect, just let the thing blow over and carry on collecting.
It would really show who were the people really into it from the faddy ones. After they got bored they would just be sold on, and the person would probably never appear again.
Most things I liked as a kid like anime etc, are now huge in comparision to what they were before, and whilst I dont really watch it as much as I used to, (partly because I don't like a lot of the newer ones) I know fans will come and go, no reason for me to stop. Same with dolls