Why are you into BJDs?

For me, it’s a way to bring my own fantasies to life. I love creating elaborate characters...finding the perfect doll, doing their face-ups, creating their costumes, building their displays, etc. It’s like getting to create a personal fantasy world I can immerse myself in. My dolls are spread throughout my home, placed here and there in the elaborate displays I’ve created, so I can see them at all times. It’s a truly lovely way to live.

 

I've known about and liked them since middle school. Absolutely no idea how I found out about them but I've had an affinity for them for as long as I can remember.

 

I've always liked dolls in general, my grandmother used to make her own porcelain dolls and I was entranced by every stage of it. From painting the faces to sewing the clothes. While I don't know how deep into customization I'll go, it's one of the things I like most about dolls. And BJDs really seem like the height of doll customization for me. I also really enjoy character creation and depicting those characters in different settings. A solid, physical representation as a lot of appeal to me.

Also I just really like cute/pretty things, and welcome more of that into my life.

 

Ive always liked collecting and creating little cozy spaces, so a bjd is something i can do that with while turning her into my story protagonist. I hope to start sewing with different patterns once stores open up again.

 

Playing with doll is kind of meditation. When I just look on them or touch them I feel that my mind get clear from any bad thought I have in the moment.
When it’s stressful situation, but I’m far from them, usually I look at their pictures and get calm very fast. So I can say it’s kinda therapy from anxiousness for me.
I wanna get more deeply into the craft. But last time no inspiration unfortunately

 

I discovered bjds when I was a teenager (Andreja faceup stories) and I always loved how aesthetically beautiful (and modicable they are.) At the time I discovered these dolls were handmade by artists my interest in them increased.
I also really like to see pictures of these dolls. I find them beautiful and sometimes considerable really relaxing, haha.

 

My obsession started back when I was 17. There was a thread on Gaia about bjd and I was intrigued. People were sharing pictures of there dolls and what company’s they got them from. So every giftable holiday I would go on Luts’s website and make a wishlist. My parents never gave in. My obsession grew and grew. I lived in Okinawa japan for 7 months and I tried to find a shop (they did not have one) so when I moved back to America my obsession became overwhelming. I started with barbies that had moveable joints. I collected a few of those. Them this one brand of doll came out where you could switch around the wig. Got like 4 of those. Then monster highs came out and I got a ton of those. My husband would tell me every birthday he would get me a bjd but something always broke that we would need to put our money towards. Finally for my 30th birthday my best friends mom got me Ashi, a resinsoul yaoi. And from there my collection has exploded

 

Because they are beautiful and you can make them into anything you want.

 

Artistic reasons! BJD's are perfect if you are into photography and handicrafts. There is so much you could do with your doll just to make it "perfect"; faceup, body blush, sueding, sewing clothes, making wigs, making props, accessories, and furniture, thinking about the storyline before the photoshoot, taking pictures, then the photo editing... And the things I cannot do myself (like faceup), I can pay for some other artist to do. I got interested in this hobby mainly because the dolls are so pretty, and I felt that this is a good way to express myself.

 

I saw a picture on deviantart and thought it was so pretty and I was like 'when I have a job and money I'm gonna get one' took awhile but I did.

 

Because they are pretty was my immediate answer to this question.

 

I love dolls. But at the end the crafting side of the hobby is win me over. I am a veeery slow creator, take my time with everything. I like to do face up, making wigs. (Sloppy, but my work). I like sewing too.

 

I like that their so customizable and poseable. I love being able to sew for them and change their hair up and they also photograph really well.

 

If I recall, I bought my first BJD because I wanted to make crocheted pullovers that didn't take years to finish. The crafting aspect is very important to me. It makes my dolls who they are and gives hints of what they can become. This way, I learn new things and improve in others.
I enjoy the naming, the character building and the story telling as well, though the sculpts I have are quite tame and not particularly demanding.
All of my dolls have different shapes and are of different sizes. It makes this hobby even more interesting and I can investigate each size's advantages. This is opening windows onto other hobbies like building miniature dollhouses or doll rooms, shoemaking, toy furniture repairs, etc.
I never thought I would enjoy doing face ups, but I do. I wish I could do them during the dampness of this winter. The different sculpts are a joy, because they are quite dissimilar and demand a personal approach. In fact, shoemaking is probably 'ma bête noire' at the moment.
Most of the time, my BJDs wear things I make for them. This reminds me that I can do things very well when I rarely expect to be good at them, and this, just by being patient and taking my time. And when I feel I can do better and that my dolls deserve better, I look into it and improve.
I enjoy the idea that my BJDs are personal to me and that their 'stories' can be investigated at leisure whether by sewing, doing face ups, creating props, dreaming of the next best 'creation' that suits a particular doll...
The good thing is that they can be left for weeks without needing any care, and, at the same time, they provide a basic form of one-sided relationship which is great when life becomes bleak and trying. Moreover, most of them have an heft that is agreeable and this often stops me being anxious.
It is very difficult to have a bad relationship with a BJD .

 

I love how they can be anything you want. I used to roleplay by myself a lot as a kid and then in online chats when I was in middle school, and BJDs have been the perfect way to bring my OCs to life~ actually I first found out about them by looking for a new profile picture. I thought the doll was a real person and when I realized she wasn't, I was in awe at how real she looked and just knew I needed one in my life.
I like to live vicariously through them. I feel like I've wasted my life/youth and have never been happy with my appearance or who I am, but my dolls are beautiful and they can be whoever I want them to be! They make me really happy.~

 

Because of my idol Mana-sama who is in my profile picture. He's in his 50s now but I've been a fan of him and his previous and current Visual Kei bands since mid 2000. I first became a fan of him, then I visited a girl's MySpace profile and saw she had dressed up her dolls in Gothic Lolita style, something he is well known to be dressed in as well. That was the first time I found out about BJDs and I wanted a Mana doll of my own.

Eventually I were lucky to find not just one, but two Mana-sama MNMs on the MP. My dream came true about owning a doll of my idol

 

I can't draw that well right now, unfortunately. However, having something there to live out the picture I see in my head is AMAZING! To snap that picture is so satisfying and helpful to my wellbeing. So I love having my lovely dolls to help me bring the images in my head to life even better and more realistically than I could ever think of♡

 

The quality, mainly. It can feel kind of silly to make a fancy outfit for one of my vinyl play dolls, because they're very much "child's plaything" quality. But a BJD just screams "adult collectible," and something about that makes me feel more confident about attempting fancier, more elegant clothing (or at least the fanciest I can do at tiny scale).

Plus, they're so customizable! Got an extra head or body lying around? Make a Frankendoll--the parts don't even need to be from the same company. Want it to look like your OC? Paint it, sculpt it, give it piercings. Change that wig (which is SO much faster and easier than rerooting a vinyl doll!). Change out the eyes. Whatever. It really feels like your doll is more special than if you bought the exact same mass-produced doll that millions of other people have.

 

I like that I can make my characters "come to life" so to speak. That being said, the great irony of it all is that I always had told my friends I would never want to have dolls of my characters (back when I was collecting MH)- and now here I am... investing hundreds of dollars on dolls that represent my characters RIP haha