What dolls do you consider iconic & why?

When it comes to a specific sculpt, I think the 5th Motif Venitu is very iconic. The sculpt is super recognizable and unique, and I can easily identify it no matter how people style it. Even the hands are very recognizable. While I've never wanted the doll, personally, I know there are a lot of people who have it as their grail.

 

The original Bermann from Dollshe circa 2003 is iconic, this doll in many ways was a game changer with its distinctive and memorable design. In the early aughties, Bermann's modelesque appearance was intune with the fashion and cultural zeigest that reflected what men's fashion designers like Hedi Slimane and Raf Simmons were envisioning the new masculinity. Settings them apart from other male dolls and made them instantly recognizable. This sculpt is often a holy grail for many collectors who want to add him to their collection. Although throughout the years, Dollshe has released different iterations of the Bermann, THE OG Bermann made between 2003 to 2008 is very sought after.

 

Since acquiring my very first BJD circa 2008, the most popular dorries I saw come from one of these three companies: Volks, Luts, Dream of Doll. Volks was such a big hit, especially the limited dolls like Shiro Tachibana and Tsukasa Konoe. For Luts, a lot of Delf El's (and even his counterpart Breakaway) are the talk of the town especially in DoA forums. DoD, definitely Ducan.

 

I'd argue that Rap1993's Anie & Mae dolls have had a huge influence on the Instagram side of the hobby, and Atelier Momoni's Momonita is considered by many to be the gold standard for posing.

A lot of new creators are expanding into more exaggerated body shapes (generally narrow torso and wide hips) and have a wide variety of option parts such as faceplaces, torso types, or magnetic hand packs because of dolls like these.

 

To echo previous comments: 5th Motif Venitu for the perfection of the sculpt and proportions that were unique at the time, and the Sisters of Volks. I would love to own a first Sister, and Venitu too, if only for their importance in BJD history.

 

DOD Ducan I think is one of the most recognizable dolls and one I remember from my deviantart days. Soom Vampire Gluino is another that comes to mind as well as Volks Shinku and Chii.

 

For me it will always be Minifee Chloe, probably because of the time I got into the hobby. Never got one myself and now I'm not that interested, but she's one of the first bjds I remember really liking.

 

I only really collect 1/3 sized BJD so my list skews heavily that direction, but after 15 years in the hobby, I can think of a few! Off the top of my head:

• Volks 4 Sisters
• Volks Lucas/F-17
• Volks Williams
• Dream of Doll Shall - Shall is such a classic to me, and the first BJD I ever wanted to own. I've even see cosplays of Shall's OG fullset.
• Dream of Doll Ducan/H. Ducan
• Luts El/Breakaway
• Dollshe Bermann
• Migidoll Ryu/Jina/Miho
• Soom Beryl & Soom Dia/Sard - These really kicked off the huge fantasy trend
• Iplehouse Akando - He's discontinued now but I remember how floored we were when he originally came out! Definitely the first muscular doll to break through and get popular.
• 5th Motif Venitu
• Unoa Lusis & Sist
• Minifee Chloe

 

I took a *long* break after being really into bjds in the years around 2007, so I definitely missed the bit where mnf Chloe popped up and gained huge popularity. For me, the iconic minifee is Shushu . But also Volks F-01 & F-16/28; DoD Ducan, Sha/Shall, Petsha, Kirill; Migidoll Ryu; CP Delf El/Lishe/Shiwoo/Chiwoo; Unoa Lusis/Sist, the og Narae/Narin, Dollzone Mo and Yuu, the Domuya Flexi Perennial body, hah! So sad so many of those sculpts are no longer made and that DoD no longer exists - they definitely made the dolls I fell in love with first.

 

I have to say that the dolls I consider "iconic" largely line up with the dolls mentioned here so far, but I have yet to see anyone mention this doll line, specifically: Puyoo Doll's Kumako line, especially Lala and Ruru, the first head sculpts. They are quite popular in Asia, to the point that other companies made cheaper dolls in the same style to try and compete with them. Seriously a lot of 1/4 scale doll clothes tend to have specific sizes for Kumakos as well if that shows their success. While I don't know about their popularity outside Asia, I think it's worth mentioning them...

 

D.Lace Raphael Fullset since the artist goess full Michealangelo. Sad thing is, the artist had to scale back due to covid so they're relatively unknown. They're mainly on Dollyplanet and had a few amazing preorders that didnt recieve enough buyers to make. There was one that was a shattered Roman solider statue that looked like it was put back together. Just seeing it causes wrist cramps.

 

As others have mentioned, Fairyland Chloe is like the face of Minifee hobby history wise.

Distinct sculpts such as Dollzone Carter, Doll Chateau Bella, and the Pipos cats & mice live in my brain for free because of their designs though.

As for both on the Dollfie Dream side of things, absolutely DDH-01.
DDH-01 dominated the custom market for these dolls, usually with artists sanding the mouth off. VOLKS releases heads now without a mouth sculpt because of the popularity. While other brands have similar (Obitsu, Azone, most anime style resin and now the Kumako dolls) I think I'll always associate that style and aesthetic proportions with DDH-01.

 

I'm not into the hobby enough to really know individual dolls. I love D.Lace and got the Raphael Fullset because D.Lace makes models with faces and bodies based on Renessaince Era art. They even created a bjd jointed set of beautiful wings that click into Rapahels back. They take a long time to produce the dolls and beautiful preorders can fail because they're not relatively well known. One that failed was, as best as i can describe, Kintsugi put back together Roman Soldier made to resemble a marble statue. Each shard was visble, some weren't, and it all was handmade. They also do cyberpunk or Memento Mori. In any case, theyre more art form then doll and D.Lace has my wallet.

 

One of the most iconic dolls I can think of, and also one of my personal favorites, is Fairyland Soony. I've just never seen a sculpt quite like hers, especially the Event '14 F60 head with the elf ears. There is just something about that sculpt that just pops out at me whenever I see it, even when it has an ugly faceup. Also, it's an older sculpt, so to me it kind of represents the history of the hobby.

 

definitely oldschool luts delfs like shiwoo, el and breakaway. If i ever caved and collected bigger dolls id want it to be one of them.

 

She isn't talked about much cause she's old and rare to find secondhand, but I think the Volks SD Chii from Chobits is iconic. She's the basis for the ENTIRE Dollfie Dream line (she also might have been Volks first official collab doll? Not entirely sure on that)

I've been falling out of love with resins lately (thinking about selling mine and moving to vinyls), but if I had the money and she popped up, I'd get her in a heartbeat

 

Minifee Cloe comes to mind. I know others have said so, but she's like Fairyland's flagship doll or something. I also think of Mirwen. but that might be because I once thought of getting her.

 

Seconding the person up the thread who said Enchanted Doll, but specifically the porcelain fullsets. The resin dolls are gorgeous – see signature – but The truly iconic ones are the dolls with the insanely detailed, luxurious outfits. I think a lot of people have seen the porcelain one-offs even without realizing it. When talking about my girl, I will often say “oh, she’s an Enchanted Doll“ and get blank looks, but pulling up a picture of the Madame de Pompadour or Red Riding Hood or Cinderella dolls immediately rings a bell.

 

Iconic? I suppose dolls I see a LOT of. Minifee Chloe is everywhere, and all of the 'popular' BJD people on instagram seem to have a Venitu... so, I suppose those are iconic?

 

A few for me... I only have a few of these.

Dollzone: Carter & The Star & The Hermit
Doll Chateau: Bella & Hugh & Elizabeth (spider)
Resinsoul: Gang & Mei
Alchemic Labo: Unoa Lusis & Unoa Sist
Soom: Gluino & Hyperion & Cheshire & Dia
Minifee: Chloe
Luts: Diez & Bory
Dollshe: Hound & Saint
Dollstown: The Val Zeitler & Connie Lowe Collection
Ringdoll: Lucifer & Jade & Alice (Although they have been coming up with a bunch of great stuff lately.)
Iplehouse: Asa & Daniel & Lonnie

I'm probably missing a few, but those are the first ones that come to my mind.