On Respecting Chinese BJD Artists

B&G Doll (ibgdoll) is one of the best companies out there but they're practically unknown.
For some reason everybody screams Resinsoul/Bobobie but they SUCK compared to B&G.
B&G dolls can stand AND pose WITHOUT all the extra work and expense of sueding, wiring, and restringing!!!! B&G have really impressive dolls.
Both are Chinese companies.

I think the expectation for Chinese-made dolls stems from the stigma that "anything made in China is cheap." And "cheap" has several meanings here.
People call RS/BBB dolls "starter doll" for people who are entering the hobby and need dolls to "learn on."
I've had RS dolls, I never will again.
I've had B&G dolls, and I'm sorry I sold them.

 

It always confuses me so much when people stereotype Chinese-made dolls as cheap or ugly... What they should remember is that Chinese made dolls actually have the widest variety of styles, engineering, over-all quality, and price ranges of any country connected to this hobby (that I know of any way). Yes, you have less expensive and maybe not as well engineered dolls like Resinsoul or MiroDoll, but you also have dolls with great engineering and sculpting like Asleep Eidolon, Loongsoul, or Angell-Studio. Their prices are higher* and the quality of their dolls and their ability to produce new sculpts** is reflected in that.

*Comparatively speaking, many Chinese companies, like Loongsoul, AE, and Xagadoll, actually have their dolls priced at or near the average price for Korean dolls of the same size (e.g. 60cm dolls seem to run about the $500 mark). Angell-Studio (and I think Dollzone and Doll Chateau) have their dolls priced a bit higher than the average (which should not be considered a bad thing).
**Resinsoul and Miro Doll rarely release new sculpts, where as companies like Loongsoul and AE release at least a couple of new dolls every year.

 

Thank you for this post, it was very informative! I didn't know at first that Chinese companies and sculptors faced this bias about expecting cheaper prices or crappier dolls, but I'm slowly learning of this bias. I was confused at first when I saw threads in General Discussion titled things like 'would you choose a chinese BJD company', because I thought, "Why, are they unethical or something?" It definitely confused me, because my first BJD/grail doll was a Doll Chateau Elizabeth, and she is of fantastic quality and VERY unique appearance!

But it's becoming clear that when people want cheaper dolls, they will harass Chinese companies for it assuming, of course, that they're all making huge bucks charging huge prices while living luxuriously on a dollar a day or something . Definitely will keep your post bookmarked to remind them that the cost of living is high in any metropolis, and that there are many struggles that these artists are going through that shouldn't be ignored by pricetag fixation! Awareness should hopefully help, but certain kinds of people will always be whining for lower prices, some going as low as theft to get what they want. Best we can do is educate the reasonable and discredit the greedy, I guess!

By the way, loved the list of Chinese sculptors, many of whom I had never heard of! Especially Ada Dan... holy crap, that half-gnarled grotesque two-face head was AMAZING! I am so enticed by it, would totally put it on my NEEEED list, except I don't really want to scare family members with her :'). It's a shame that many of them are stuck in such a barely-known status when their work is incredible!

 

Ah! Dollzone started out clunky? I love my three Dollzone babies! And one of them is a very old sculpt! I also have a ton of Doll Family dolls! I have a Loongsoul doll and a Resinsoul doll. In fact my Chinese Dolls far outnumber my dolls from anywhere else! I am so glad you posted this. I feel like the Chinese artists are incredibly talented and often overlooked. People buy their dolls without really internalizing where they come from which they seem to do with the bigger companies.

The thing is I buy these sculpts for their beauty more then for the price! If some of these companies started raising prices I would still buy the sculpts that I want from them because they are the faces and bodies that I want.

 

I didn't even know DC were Chinese... because I really don't mind where they come from, I just have to like the doll and I adore DC girls.

 

My Johnny is a Chinese doll from a Chinese company. He's a great poser, his face up is flawless, and he's been buffed all over so his resin is smooth. He's a great product and he's biased me very strongly towards Angel of Dream dolls. By coincidence the next three dolls I plan on getting are also from Chinese companies (Xaga Doll, Resinsoul, and Bobobie). They have the aesthetic that I want.

Can you please tell me why? I plan on ordering from there and I would like to learn everything I can about the products, good and bad.

 

...except for my animal dolls, I think all the dolls I have now are Chinese, actually. Chinese artists produce some wonderful things! I'm sorry that person insulted you; I'm sure they didn't mean it and were just rambling on. I prefer Chinese-made dolls because they're so cute; one of mine is a dragon girl who wears hanfu as part of her heritage (most of my dolls are fantasy creatures.) Chinese artwork can be beautiful.

 

Perhaps it's the stigma that China never respects copyrights and will often steal other companies products to make them with inferior materials at a discounted price? In the manufacturing fields especially, the quality just isn't there if a company moves factories to China.

For honest, hard working individuals this sucks. Plain and simple. I'm not sure how it can be remedied.