Long-timers, What trends have you observed?

Well I got into BJDs about 1 1/2 to 2 years ago when my Lovely friend mobbed my at my job to show me the strange doll she was getting. She tackled me. But anyway. The first dolls I saw was DoD Dollfies. They were so cute!! And my friend ended up getting one so I got to see Him in person!! I've been obsessed ever since. Okay enought about that. For me, I think your right about the leaning towards realistic. And I think they stay very asian in appearance. The more Mature sculpts are definatly becomeing more popular and they are getting so big! Wonder if there gonna have one life sized O.o

 

At least year's Anime Iowa, I saw ONE BJD owned by someone I didn't know, and it was a Dream of Doll. One year later at Anime Detour, we had enough BJDs to fill a panel about them. Then came ACEN... whoo boy, the dolls!

Also, the Minnesota meet... the person who got me into BJDs can remember when it was three people at someone's house with their dolls. I think we had... more than 15 people at the last meet?

One thing I noticed is the move towards minis and the BIG dolls. Minis totally over-ran the meets at ACEN, and people who aren't getting minis seem to be forgoing the 60cm size for the 70cm size in search of the more mature boy.

More mature dolls also seems to be a key point, when it was announced that DOD was releasing something new, the tidal wave of hope that it would be a mature-bust mini nearly washed all the small bust DOD girls downstream.

 

Even though I haven't been in the hobby too long, it used to be that ABJDs came only from Japan and Korea. Now China's getting in the mix, and I think Taiwan has a company now too? Not to mention the western world with Bishonen House dolls, Liebchen and Matilda.

 

One thing not mentioned yet that I've noticed is that a lot of the newer head designs from all companies seem to be a bit 'smaller' in scale than they used to be.

So the overall proportion of these dolls seems to be changing a bit too.

Can be a pain when wig shopping

Oh, that and muscle tone...if you look at the differences between the 1st generation Volks SD-13 boys and the redesigned body you can really see it. SD-13 girls too, the 1st and 2nd designs are markedly different when it comes to muscles.

Both of these can be argued to be trends towards "more realism", I think.

 

Definetly just the expansion of there being more companies even as well as the trend in more mature figured dolls.

I originally saw my first BJD [a Volks girl] in 2001, most sculpts were anime-like from what I can remember. But now there is a degree of greater realism.

Even in the last year, the sudden boom in new companies like OrientDoll and JollyPlus (LaTiDoll, Bambi Crony?)

Even in a few months, really, I mean I ordered my Hound in December (Options of NS or WS with either SA or Open eyes), come a few months later and bam we have IM Hound, Tanning Hound, Husky, Bernard, Saint, and Van.

We'll see what the future holds

 

I completely agree! When I got Armand (he was the first Hound in the US) most people thought he was indistinguishable from Bermann. A few took notice and bought Hound, but absolutely nothing like we see now. Dollshe Craft has help the market explosion in this area as well, with so many new sculpts being added in just a little over a year. Now it's not just Hound ad Berman, but Husky, Saint,Bernard, Van and IM and SA versions of most all of em. It's HUGE! It's hard to believe that Hound was released just a little over a year ago.

I also agree that the trend has been to move away from such Anime looking dolls, and more into an area of realism. many new sculpts have smaller, more proportionate heads. Eyes are realisticly sized, and body sculpts are looking more like human beings, and less like cartoon characters.

As more people enter this hobby from areas other than Anime, I think the trend towards realistic proportions will continue.

 

Tomorrow marks the second anniversary from when I ordered my first BJD. I don't think that really qualifies me as an long-timer compared to people like Aimee, but it's certainly a long time for me to be into a hobby.

Along with the other things mentioned, one thing I've noticed since I first got into the hobby is the improvement in default faceups. My first doll, a Dolpa 8 LE MSD Ken had something like a total of twenty strokes put into his faceup in only two colors. No shading, no lines on the lips, very simple. Starting in late 2004 though, Volks started putting a lot more effort into their default faceups and my most recent boy, Kikyou, has one of the most amazing default faceups I've seen. I'm not sure if this is true of other doll companies, although I seem to remember that the first Luts faceups -- when they opened their own website, rather than selling through others -- were pretty simple compared to the ones they offer now.

 

My first doll I wanted was a nono, still one of the dolls I really love. But, I was sooooooo young, I couldn't afford it. I had to wait for years until I had a job. When I came back, Volks wasn't the only one out there that you really really saw, there were a lot of choices. More male dolls, the bodies have over time gotten a lot better (old skin does have its charm, but SD oldskin can be difficult to deal with, especially if you've been spoiled by pureskin) I don't know how oldskin SD13 is though.

If a company like Dollzone, who has such inexpensive dolls, I would have been able to get one very young. Funny, after all the time I waited, I still gravitate toward Volks though.

I think the best thing that time has brought, is definitely the fanbase being organized so large, out of the confusing and hard to follow Yahoo group, and into what it is now. So many boards, LJ groups and such. It's so easy to find other people, and maybe it was just my age back then, but it was difficult to find information.

And definitely more dolls. I like seeing more.

 

I've known about bjds for about 2 to 3 years now. I only ever saw them on artist's pages and the like. I also couldn't find as much information about dolls as I can now- but that's just the fact they they are more popular, I guess.

I'v seen way more guys dolls recently, as well as more mature looking dolls.

 

I've noticed their clothes and accessories have become more easily accessable in the time i've been collecting. It used to be nearly impossible to find some things in the U.S. unless you were going to get them used. Now it's quite a bit easier, and I like not waiting months for shipping. ^^

 

Theres a lot more mature minis now ^_^ I remember when Narin Creative was totally new, and when Volks sold Unoss...

 

^-^ I'm still a big noob really. I've only been in the hobby a year. But no one can deny the shift towards greater realism (in mini size too!) and the push for higher quality straight from the companies. Also the latest boom is definately Tan skin! Look! They're everywhere, hehe. XD

 

I've noticed a trend to make the dolls more model-like. I've seen dolls that look like they could come out of the pages of fashion magazines. Tall bodies, lots of lanky or thin proportions, and faces with perfectly done make-up.

 

I remember watching this trend, too! Long before I got my Hound, it was EL, and F-something or another was very popular too...

It does seem like the shift has really been into realism, however, I think it's stylized realism. Even if they certainly look more real than DDs, usually the eyes and face shapes or lip proportions are too big to be on a believable face. Despite their realism, if you look at a clear photograph you can still tell that it's a doll. I feel that the trends we see are more like an evolution rather than a westernization, as long as the dolls never lose their appeal unique to ABJDs, which for most of us was the draw from the beginning.

 

El and F-16 i think it was... were huge! I don't remember Volks having u-noss but I do remember the big controversy over whether narin-doll was infringing on copywrights for U-noa. That was a big deal... I couldn't figure it out though. I thought they were THE most amazing dolls (and unique in their own rights!).

One thing I've noticed is bOOm in dollfie/bjd accessories on ebay. I used to have to do detail searches to find anything, and when I found it, it was usually hand-made or directly from the doll-makers. Now, there's all kinds of stuff mixed in.... like low-quality barbie clothes and hand-made things that aren't (in my opinion) worth the 100 - 300 dollars that the sellers are asking!
Granted, you've still got the great quality artist made clothing, but it's so hard to find when there's so much to sift through.

-Liza

 

I think that since the fanbase has grown so large, and with more and more companies making english sites, things have become so much more accessable. I remember it used to be rare for me to find a personally customized doll - Like, faceups, yeah, but extreme mods, no. I didn't start seeing those until recently - Even something as simple as opening the eyes of a sleeping head as become common practice now, when it used to be really exclusive.

Also, the sheer variety of the types of dolls has become a huge tread. I remember when I really only ever saw Volks, CH and Luts boys - DollShes, DODs, all of those were completely alien to me until this forum system happened up. But that goes along with the companies becoming more accessable, I think.

 

I've noticed there is more of a variety when it comes to bodies that when I got into this. Where it used to be you'd have one type from the company for the size range, now I'm seeing more and more companies with a mature type for minis and such.

Also when I first got into this there wern't american producers. Now there are more and more people trying to make they're own dolls, both for personal enjoyment and for sale. It's been really neat watching the progress of dolls made by people like Fancyboots and Donn.

There's been a drastic increase in the number of people in the fandom in america and so there's so much more stuff available. Whether it be clothes or wonderful faceups there's just more. Also there's been a longer time for people to hone their skills. I've noticed a drastic change in the quality of clothing made by people on the board and a few interesting price fluxuations. We have a living market, it's interesting.

 

I'm still very new to this but I saw these dolls about a year or two ago, possibly a volks one on the internet somewhere. I thought at the time there's no way I'd ever own one 'cos they're just so pricey. However I have my own Elfdoll one now and adore her. I'm not fussed about owning a male doll as I much prefer the female ones.

 

How about prices? Have prices always been so high?

Also, do you think that as more people in the USA collect BJD's, is there more acceptance to carrying dolls? What I mean by acceptance is, have people become accustomed to seeing adults walk around with 'big dolls?'

 

I think the biggest trend is/was costumizing.
I remember when DoA was just a yahoo group, and we rarely talked about face-ups/sanding/coating/ect.
Now I see all these wonderful artists work... And good face-ups are sought after. Before, when I was 10/11-ish and I saw my first BJD ( a Volks megu I believe.. it was about 1998 ), I thought her face paint was amazing! lol. And I think we all can recall of Volk's solid brown eyebrows they used on thier early dolls. Yup, so I think the biggest change has been the whole customizing of dolls scene. Its way more versitile and outgoing than is was years ago.
*jen