Is there pressure to make your BJD the BEST?

I feel like the most important thing is if you're satisfied with your doll. I don't feel like the doll has to be "epic" to be the best.

 

The only pressure I feel is from myself. I like when others like my dolls, but ultimately, I'm in this hobby for me, not them. My main goal is for each doll to look like the character would in my head, and have high quality clothing, faceup, wig and accessories.

My most exciting dolls are either my pop stars leading the glamorous (yet stressful) life of being world famous or maybe my Pharaoh ruling over 18th Dynasty Egypt. However, most of my dolls are just normal every day people. High school students. College students. One of them works in the fast food industry. One of them manages a local skate park. One of them is a small child who likes playing in her back yard with her sister and uncle. One is a teenage boy who has the talent to be a successful rapper, but his dad insists he finish school before signing any record deals. Regardless of if they're insanely famous or just an average person, they'll all humans, with basic human emotions and needs. Nobody gets any special powers or epic quests (unless having the next chart topping single or selling out all of his tour dates counts!)

I think the extreme fantasy dolls can be impressive if well done, but I'm terrible at creating and role playing fantasy characters, deciding where their powers end, their limits, their backstories, or how their powers and species work together. For me, those types are more confusion and stress than fun.

 

Many of my dolls are fantasy dolls, and most of them have some sort of inhuman quality except for one or two. I've never felt pressure that dolls have to be this way; I just love creating intricate characters that have fantasy qualities, and deal with situations differently that we would. Creating fantasy characters allows my mind to run wild and escape reality for a bit, and it's really fun for me! So, while many of my dolls are not human, it's not because I'm trying to make them "epic", but because they're just the types of dolls and personalities I like to create and work with. A doll can be a human and be epic just the same as a fantasy doll could in my opinion, both in story, and appearance

 

I don't really feel peer pressure to make my dolls "the best" in any way. I gradually develop their characters and personalities, and for the most part, they're wearing normal clothes with low-key wigs and are semi-normal people. I don't feel pressure to style my dolls really nicely, but I put that pressure on myself (hence getting awesome face ups for my girls when I can). I feel pressure to be a better photographer, though. I feel like I won't ever get my girls noticed if I don't get some decent lighting and a real camera. I want them to be noticed because they're all so awesome! And even then, I don't feel pressure to become THE BEST photographer (which is really good, I'm terrible, I have dreams of being mediocre). I know there are people in ANY hobby that need to have the best of whatever so they get the most attention and feel like they're superior to everyone else, like they won something. I don't feel like I need to compete with those people. I want to be part of a community, not a contest.