What do you like most about BJDs?

I love the way they inspire me--I do faceups, sew them clothes, and write stories about them. I love creating their characters--there's just so many creative things that can be done with them that the hobby never gets boring for me.

 

The look of them. And how you can hold em ha ha. I also like posing them. But looks is the best thing about them-there's so many pretty ones >w<

 

I like that I customizing option as well. I've always had an urge to create, anything and everything that comes to mind, and bjds give me the satisfaction of making something as I please.

 

The customization and physicality of them really do it for me. It's like creating a real person, and that allows me to connect unlike all other dolls.

My stuffed animal cat, Cathy, is the only other thing that I connect to on this level. She's very, very special to me ^_^

 

I have to say...the ability to customise them...
different outfit, different make up make them totally different~
they always give you the fresh look that you want...>_< b ...

 

I love the way they look. I'm not much into customizing outside of giving them new clothes.....

It's more of a "I love that doll and his default faceup!!"

 

For me, it's the way they look, and also the way they feel. Pullips may be cute but after seeing and holding BJDs in real life they just seemed cheap and junky in comparison (ah, my poor neglected Pullips and Blythes, they get no love since I got my BJDs ). When you look a a BJD, pick it up, pose it... it's just obvious that it's something that people have put a lot of time and art into, that it's been made to be a high quality product. I've always loved dolls but without a doubt my BJDs are just the overall nicest dolls I've owned.

The posing is nice, but since I have single jointed dolls they actually don't pose as well as a Pullip (but of course I think BJD bodies are so much nicer in general). Customization is wonderful but I find I don't really go that far with customizing my dolls aside from wigs/eyes/clothes (one has the default faceup, the other has a company premium faceup, though I do plan on getting a custom artist faceup for the doll I'd like to order next). I don't really consider my dolls companions, I don't roleplay or write about the characters, and I don't talk to them, so that aspect of them isn't really a part of it for me at all (though I'll admit I sometimes sit them on my lap when I'm watching something or set them next to my computer when I'm browsing the internet).

To me they are beautiful objects, beautiful to look at and not behind glass with a "do not touch" sign- I can pick them up, change their clothes, put them into an adorable pose, and that's the fun for me. It's the intersection of "art" and "toy".

 

I put "something else," but for me it's a combination of all those things. Transformation is a quality I think is amazing---just looking at the gallery, you can see a number of dolls with default faceups and no two ever look exactly alike. It shows that they're made by human hands.

 

I think it's the look of them that drew me to BJDs. Sure, posing ability and the ability to customize is all good and well, but I think the look is most important.

 

I love the customizing part.
I never liked dolls, untill I discovered BJD's. And I loved them so much because you can make them exactly as you want. And I still love them because of that.

 

I agree with others here that having to choose one option is hard, because there's more than one thing about these dolls that I love.

However, I choose "The look of them" because it was their drop-dead gorgeous looks that first attracted me to them and made me want one...or two...or more.

But I also love the customising, posing, photographing and then there's the way they can make me smile for no reason whatsoever except they're there.

 

i never liked dolls before BJD. i like them because they're realistic and they photograph well, but also because they can be customised to look how i want them, not how the manufacturer wanted them to look. i suppose it's all down to the wide variety of dolls and also that two people can own the same doll but they look totally different.

 

For me, they're a fantastic outlet for creativity and emotions. I can make them clothes or photograph them, but they also give me an emotional outlet too.

 

I was pretty stuck between the customization and posing, so I guess it's hard for me to choose my favorite part... X3
In the end though, I guess I wouldn't dish out all that money for them if they didn't have such great posing ability, since I use my dolls as models for my drawing a lot.
But I am also really drawn by the customization aspect-- one doll could be pretty much anybody, and it's up to me to bring out their unique appearance and personality by using my own individuality as an artist.
And that's what I am at my core: an artist. And I'm so happy to have dolls that allow me to express that. =]
[edit]
Also, I meant to mention:
ravendolls, that was such a lovely and eloquent answer. It made me really happy just to read that.

 

For me, BJDs have all my favorite characteristics of other dolls rolled into one. I love the diversity of faces & styles. Some are closer to fine art than to a doll. This was what I loved about my artist dolls. They can wear clothes wonderfully & do a variety of styles including really over-the-top designs which reminds me of Cissys. They're highly articulated & pose beautifully like the CEDs & newer Tonners. And they just have an "air" about them, something undefinable & mysterious similar to antique dolls.

 

the thing about customization is that it makes me feel totally in control over something to change it to my liking and it will always be perfect in my eyes.
many things in real life dont turn out as good as the effort you put into them
while bjds never disappoint us, is something we completely own and can always be where we want them.
companionship and control is the thing that drew me into this hobby.
i cant ever be that obsessive over a real person...

 

well i think for me they have a very human quality to them that i feel other dolls seem to lack. they don't have smiles plastered onto their faces, they are poseable and they have very exppressive eyes. and most dolls that i have seen have these huge eyes and they stare at you... like this > O_O. kinda is a little freaky to me.

 

I chose pose-ability too.
Ball jointed dolls are awesome to pose. You can't get that out of any doll. I also really love the size of the SDs. It's hard to find a 24" doll that isn't porcelain. Porcelain dolls are made to be put in a stand and stood ...that's it!
BJDs can actually be "played" with so to speak and it's because they're poseable.

 

This is going to sound really, really stupid - but honestly, what I like most about them is the people. I've met so many cool people and made amazing friends because of my dolls that I would have never known otherwise. I like the community element.

Strictly doll speaking - I like the personalization, the aspect that every doll is different and unique. We can make them into anyone we want.

 

The first thing that got me about them was OMGTHEY'RESOPRETTY They're really unlike any other doll I've seen, even though I've only been exposed to like Barbies and Bratz and the occasional American Girl doll this one girl had in elementary school... but still, look how pretty they are~
Though the close second is obviously the customization. I get bored easily, so if I ever get bored of my dollie's hair, a switch of the wig fixes that problem! It's awesooome~