If you had not started collecting BJD would you still be a doll collector?

No, I don't think so. I don't have any love for playline dolls and only the porcelain doll's clothes ever interested me. My folks were really surprised when they found out I collected BJDs. They still remember me when I was much younger when I would leave them clothes-less (sometimes limbless?) and thrown around the home.

Some days I still wonder what it is about BJDs that makes me love them as much as I do.

 

Most likely not. I never really liked dolls growing up for some reason. When I was a kid, I got Bratz dolls as gifts from distant relatives and I really didn't know what to do with them aside from playing with their hair. My cousins loved to play pretend with them and I just couldn't wrap my head around it so I gave the dolls to my cousins and niece.

Not really sure why BJDs flipped the doll switch in my brain but after getting into the hobby, I find myself appreciating stylish playline dolls when I see them. I think Monster High and Rainbow High dolls are super cute, but I don't think I'd buy any. Too small and tedious for me. Plus, I prefer pretty male dolls and playline boys aren't very appealing to me.

 

Definitely!

Before BJDs, I collected Barbie, Bratz, celebrity fashion dolls, and lots of other playline dolls, American Girl, Babysitters Club and tons of figures. I've had dolls my entire life, and have always used them to shell my OCs. I actually sold most of it to get my first BJD! Currently, I only have three dolls that aren't BJDs, but if I'd never joined this hobby, I think I'd have a collection of some other type of doll.

 

Yes.

I've collected dolls my entire life, though I focus on BJDs now. As much as I like aspects of playline doll collecting, I really love DIY, which is not as much of a thing when I was in a playline doll community. If I didn't get into BJD, I'd most likely be making my own cloth dolls, amassing a soft fiefdom. Or buying a couple of Bleuettes and making untold amounts of clothing for them.

 

Yep! I was already a figure collector and had previously debated collecting MH dolls but was afraid of seeming to "childish" and then I found BJD, Pullips, and even customized MH and Rainbow High Dolls and knew if it sparked joy, then I should just go for it! now I've got dolls of all kinds but BJD is still so amazing to me

 

I don't think so. Playline dolls don't really appeal to me as an adult. I used to own a lot of poseable figurines (Figma, PAK, nendos, etc) but never did anything with them, so I've sold most of them off. The poseability and customisation of bjds really scratches a creative itch for me that no other doll does!

 

Almost certainly! I have been concurrently collecting Blythes with my BJDs since ~2016, so without BJDs, I'd still have my Blythes. I also have a small group of Pullips and owned many, many play line dolls prior to starting with BJDs in 2012.

 

That's my story too, down to the childhood attitudes. As a kid I was way more interested in matchbox cars and Lego than dolls. My family and friends were all surprised when they found out I was buying BJDs. There's something about them that just attracts me -- probably the articulation, customization, and mix of realism and style. No other dolls are quite like them.

 

I think so, yes. I guess it depends on your definition of a doll. I have my international doll collection from my grandparents - which I really should figure out how to display. My collector Barbies - which I should really sell/strip of their clothes for my mature mini BJDs. I have some other OT dolls - ASMUS, Hot Toy, TaeYang, Figma/S.H.Figuarts/Nendoroids/Capsule Chix, etc

I love my BJDS and I wouldn't give them up for anything. I do think I need to downsize - maybe figure out who stays and who goes...but that is really hard for me because no one is truly a loner/sore thumb in my collection...at least to me. I might have to have doll friends help me out.

 

Yes, I have a large Barbie collection and a handful of Monster High dolls that I had before BJD's.
I also have a good sized American Girl doll collection with all the historical dolls in it.
A lot of porcelain dolls.
Reborn Dolls
Antique Dolls.
I have over 400 dolls.

 

Not a chance.

I do have a few dolls of other types, and would likely still have them with or without the BJD crew, but I never considered myself a collector of those types of dolls. They're just fun things that I have a few of around because I liked those specific items (The two cotton dolls, my Nendo gang, Little Apples, action figures and POPs-), or that have been given to me as gifts (my two Monster High girls, Canary and the other art-plushie rag-dolls, and my Dakin Merlin-).

 

I already had a house full of dolls of various types before BJD's came on the market so, yes I'ts safe to say I;d stll be buying and making dolls even if BJDs had never become. available:


Teddy

 

Great collection you have there Teddy!

Most definitely, although the majority of my dolls are BJD's, I still have a lot of other dolls and teddy bears.

 

Thanks. I must get a more up to date photo of Dolly Drift Corner. That one is ancient and, looking at some of the dolls, quite out of date.

And probably similar issues with where to put them all....

Teddy

 

@Teddy That's the best part of kids flying the nest, I have Doll Rooms to fill! I also have a good size studio, where I sew and have my 'puter, which I share with my hubby's piano and other musical paraphernalia. It's almost as good as having a basement or an attic like some of the girls in the USA.

 

Hah! I supposedly share the sewing room with my husband (who is also a costumer) but I take up so much of it that he hardly gets a look-in and ends up sewing in the living room.

But I suppose the space aspect is an issue for many a collector, whteve the collection consists of (my husband collects collections, apparently).

Teddy

 

Mine too! Books, pianola rolls, tools, farm equipment!

 

I've always liked dolls, and I was a fashion doll collector before BJDs, so I'd still be collecting them if I hadn't gone the BJD route.

 

Love dolls of any type and sizes. BJD happen to have a lot of variety, customization and artistry to them, that is why I gravitate towards them, but I already have some Pullip and Monster High dolls in my collection

 

Not at all.

I liked (still like!) looking at playline dolls around toy aisles but I couldn't imagine myself buying one. I'm too space conscious to be a collector like that, and not crafty enough to buy a playline doll and customize it like I have seen on youtube (though I like watching them).