What happened to all the fantasy dolls?

I'm fairly new to the hobby. I love Dream Valley dolls and they seem to be mostly fantasy dolls. Whale Island has some really imaginative sculpts also, but maybe you have something else in mind by "fantasy dolls!"

 

I've been in the hobby for nearly 20 years, and while popular styles and companies have definitely shifted over the years, I feel like I'm seeing more fantasy than I've ever seen before. More of everything really with so many companies and artists out there now! So maybe it seems like fewer because there is just so much to look through now?

Admittedly, a lot of the fantasy I see now is a different style from older fantasy sculpts that were often human with optional fantasy parts to add or swap out. So much now does seem to be strictly human or strictly fantasy, or maybe anthros or just horns or wings? Fairyland still has limited dolls with fantasy parts. Doll Chateau, Dream Valley, Miracle Doll, Coral Reef, Whale Tower, Doll Zone, Universe Doll and a lot of independent artists regularly release fantasy sculpts. Impldoll occasionally does. ResinSoul has their dragons and centaurs now, plus horns and animal ears that can be bought separately. Abeyss Planet/Abessy Planet are a fairly new one with a couple of really out there fantasy sculpts.

I don't have any info on Soom, but I am pretty sad I missed out on Opel & Lier. Really hoping for another moth release!

 

There's quite a bit of fantasy dolls on the market right now produced from either bigger BJD brands or very small studios. Small BJD shops make even weirder things, although it's usually just a head. The market is just much larger right now with so many different studios, but a lot of things are also 'region locked' due to language barriers and the use of so many different shopping platforms [honestly seems pretty similar to the older days, but I dunno]. Dream Valley and GEM as of late keep announcing fantasy bodies and sculpts and I see various people post their sculpting progress for anthro, elf, or very strange heads on their accounts and quite of bit of them make it to production.

 

I think most fantasy dolls these days are msd and smaller, so if you're looking for SD and bigger, you might get the impression there isn't as much? But it's definitely there.

 

I'm another old-timer here, been in for a long time and very shortly out of the loop, for less than two years a long time ago. I also feel like there are a lot more fantasy dolls now, than ever before. There are a lot of newer companies now as well, so maybe the fantasy ones are not releases from the older stablished names, we knew in the early to teen 2000s. However, it does seem like (to me) there's plenty more artists creating extreme fantasy theme dolls. Even some creating creature and humanoid fantasy dolls, and even horror. More so than in the past, at least from what I've seen. I don't purchase resin BJD anymore, and I was never into fantasy myself, so maybe it's my biased opinion on the matter. As someone who discovered these dolls back in 2003-ish, I don't recall there being so many different brands, making a plethora of fantasy creatures at the same time, as there are now -- it does feel like there are more fantasy ones to me, than regular plain old humanoid ones. At any given time. Not a bad thing at all, but I don't actually see a lack of thereof, quite on the contrary, I would say. (:

 

I see what you mean about ‘Where have all the fantasy dolls gone’. I remember a big boom back in the '00s and I remember there were a lot of fairies, elves, and so (I remember freaking out, especially with the centaurs) in the most popular makers.

Fairyland/CP, Soon, Dim, and even Volks had those long-eared MSDs. I don't think they've stopped making fantasy dolls, now there are mermaids, fairies with wings, anthropomorphic dolls, etc. I think it was a fad, there was a boom and then it died down. There are a lot of makers, big and small that still make beautiful fantasy dolls.

I also think there is more variety in fantasy resins (and skin tones, thank goodness) and more choice when choosing your perfect doll. I think it was more a matter of fashion in general than anything else.

 

I think it depends on what type of fantasy and what brands you are looking for. I have been in the hobby since around 2008 and feel there is generally the same amount or more fantasy now, but some of the themes and sculpting has changed over time. I remember IDEX 2012 was full of Wizard of Oz everything, but it was all gone 3 years later. Steampunk is another example. I do see less fairies right now, but TONS of mermaids.

 

I find that there are a lot of fantasy sculpts! I mean, three of my five are fantasy dolls and they're pretty recent... and I'd buy a fourth (Ying Long) if I could afford him ;^^

 

I think there's more but maybe not in the same size or from the same companies. There's lots of elves, mermaids, centaurs, and more!

 

I haven’t been in for very long, but I’ve seen a rising number of anthro characters and fantasy humanoids. Lots of Dream Valley, also lots of small companies popping up with pretty interesting new takes!

 

Luts had their centaurs and satyrs recently (MSD), and Dream Valley has been really cranking them out lately, as well!

 

I think some of the fantasy looks more like z sculpt experiments and sometimes they are marketed as screenshots. Many new fantasy dolls might be mistaken as a "prototype" or a personal project (that we all needed to see for some reason). So I think I get why you feel like there isn't much fantasy - the presentation is sometimes not translating as a fantasy or sometimes the doll itself seems "distant" in the promos. Sometimes it's too dark or too colorful you can barely make out details you would like to better appreciate.
The proportions are so... fascinating sometimes and I don't mind newness but some things need to be reassessed before claiming *this is a product to be purchased!*...form is still a factor.

So everyone is right, there's a ton of fantasy sculpts being made but the marketing ranges from cellphone to ornate setup where the doll is barely the main character.

 

I pop in and out of the hobby often too, and I have to say that I'm amazed at how much is out there. Maybe to date myself a little bit, I can remember a time when the list for BJD companies was rather small and it was easy to go through each of them in like one sitting. I checked today after a long hiatus away from DoA and I'm like...whoa. Hahaha. I feel going through all the doll companies now would take me a least a week if not more. There's soooo much more out there now compared to when I first started. It's just a matter of taking the time to go through all of them.

I know I'm out of the loop. When I was talking to a BJD owner at the Volks Dolls Party LA over the weekend and she showed me her dolls on her phone, there were definitely a lot of fantasy style dolls that she owned and just following one of the companies that she buys from showed a lot that are currently on sale. That owner had over 50 dolls from various other companies, some I've heard about from the old days but a lot from the "newer" companies. When I say newer, I hate to say it but for me anything from the 2010s and onwards. For me at least, I'm still stuck in like the early 2000s so my BJD knowledge and company range is so limited.

I actually started branching out today with just the one company she introduced me to and revisiting some of the old companies that I haven't been to in years and I realized how far we've come with not only fantasy dolls but other types. It's overwhelming but fun rediscovering the hobby all over again. It feels fresher now, especially with more options.

It's going to be fun going through that dolls company list as I feel BJDs are more accessible now and not only that, affordable too and even higher quality compared to when I first started. I'm still faithful to my tried and true for sentimental reasons, but I think in regards to fantasy dolls, there's so much more now. It's just a matter of taking the time to look at all the options out there.