Do non-bjd/non-resin dolls feel "fake" to you?

Well I answered the poll with "other" because I feel like my opinion on it fluctuates terribly, but fundamentally, yes, I now know how wonderful a really good doll can be, and I can feel pretty disappointed with substitutions. I think that's the meat of it and I try to remember that when I'm thinking of impulse buying fashion and playline dolls. Will buying one scratch my itch for bjd related stuff? Not at all. Though there are some other things I really do just love for what they are, like "vintage" looking barbies (actual vintage or repro) I have occasionally gotten thrifting. There's not much about them similar to a bjd except that they are both dolls.
I think the way that "quality" affects my long term enjoyment and therefore preference is the enjoyment I get from handling the dolls. It's not equal across all bjds either and I think it's my own preferences here but the dolls that move the way I want them to in my hands always stimulate my imagination the most and that's what hooks me.

 

I love all kinds of dolls, I personally don’t mind the quality all that much as long as the price point matches. I grew up playing with dolls and I never really grew out of it. I personally think a lot of dolls are “quality” even if they’re not bjd. I just enjoy having pretty or interesting looking dolls in my room, rather than having them to play with.

 

I enjoy collecting plushies, action figures, statuettes and other such things. But when it comes to an actual doll I get really picky, unless I feel like I can (and have the time to) customize it.

 

I find other kinds of dolls cute or pretty, but I've never wanted to own them. The combination of aesthetic, size, and material of BJDs is just perfect IMO So, other dolls weren't "ruined" for me because they were never good enough to begin with

 

I think it comes down to the fact that BJDs are made to be customizable. Sure you can rip a Barbie’s hair off, repaint her face, make clothes for her. But it’s something outside of what that doll was intended for. The BJD hobby celebrates artistry and uniqueness, and I feel that I have a much closer connection to my BJDs than any of my other figures/dolls/toys because I decided who they were and made them look the way they do to a pretty dramatic extent. Meanwhile my $260 Mandalorian 1/6 figure is really cool and all, but can I bond with him emotionally? Is the character really there or is it just a husk that represents him? With my BJDs I know their soul/personality/character/etc is there, in this thing I can hold. I don’t know how to explain it, but yeah

 

I said I'm picky lol. I went through a Monster High phase that started long after I got into BJDs. I've always been into plastic model kits, so ABS plastic and other "typical" plastics don't feel any less real to me, as far as dolls go. I got an Obitsu 40cm doll and love their stable pose-ability and anime features.
My preferences are more for the line of dolls themselves. I'm not a big fan of the more recent fashion doll lines (like Rainbow High), but I do like Azone/Pure Neemo, Pullip/Taeyang, and other Anime-themed dolls.

 

I was never into playline dolls, so my lack of interest in them has not changed.
I'm less hung up on the resin part of BJDs, but I do prefer the weight and texture of resin over other materials.

I have several little Azones and Ob11s that are super cute, but I'm not as 'into' them as a genre of doll as I am resin bjds generally.

 

Mostly no! To be honest I've always been very picky about dolls, so if anything getting into BJDs has made me less picky. I've gotten into Rainbow High, LOL OMG, and more niche bjd-adjacent vinyl lines like Tinyfox and Dollfie Dream just because I learned to see custom potential in them through BJDs.

I have to admit, though, BJDs have definitely set a high bar for posability. When I was customizing Monster High dolls (my gateway drug into BJDs lol) it didn't bother me that their arms and legs had such limited mobility. But now that I'm so used to double joints (which were the standard by the time I got into the BJD hobby), I find myself getting really frustrated with how minimal the articulation on most dolls is.

Like, I love Rainbow High dolls but I'm just mortified by how limited their arm mobility is... to me arms that only bend to a 90 degree angle give a doll that sorta uncanny, stiff "barbie arms" look. And that instantly "cheapens" a doll for me, in the sense that it makes it seem less "alive" and more like... a piece of plastic.

 

I wouldn't say other dolls feel lesser to me, I think so many playline dolls are very well done and gorgeous, I like to follow new releases despite not buying any because, especially in the clothing and accessory area, some playline dolls are doing some neat things!! But I'm like, comically picky and always have been with dolls LOL I think finally getting a hold of some strung resin in the past year really changed my priorities, or I guess it would be more accurate to say it "focused" my priorities.

My interest in dolls, with the exception of a few mid-2000s action dolls, has largely been for customization purposes primarily and I used to buy playline purely for that, but because I'm so absurdly picky about how I like dolls to look and move, I always needed to do some gnarly modification to get anywhere near what I was envisioning and I still couldn't quite get there. Many BJD sculptors have aesthetic styles that are much more up my alley, and the nature of elastic strung dolls make them much more flexible (both in the literal posing sense and the customization sense). That flexibility, plus factoring in the costs of modification materials, and how playline dolls in my area are weirdly expensive (limited selection and sales and clearances are rare and even the legion of naked blonde barbies populated every thrift store are marked up), I think for me a lot of playline was no longer worth it.
For my situation, saving up for one nice little $150 doll that I can turn into exactly what I have planned for them makes more sense than buying $150 worth of playline dolls (so like... maybe 3 and a half decently articulated playline dolls with tax orz ) and struggling to make them kind of work for what I had planned.

Material probably also plays a part in it, resin has been a thousand times easier to paint the faces of than vinyl for me I've found (sorry Dollfie Dreams, you are very nice dolls, just not for me!), maybe I like the sturdy surface? But I do also quite like many off-topic strung dolls though like those old ABS Hujoo dolls so I don't mind other materials too much. I think in general I might prefer a strung system to a peg or skeleton system (sorry again DDs) as well.
The interchangeable eyes in BJDs too... absolutely fantastic, like not only can I put anything in there as long as it fits (if I wanted to take some horror photos I could leave the eye holes empty or put something like plants in there for a weird effect), I can also position the eyes however, etc.. I think in general BJDs just ended up making much more sense for my collection personally as I've grown into adulthood, particularly because of my intense interest in customization.

Like I said before though, I think so many playline dolls are really well made and gorgeous, just not for me personally~ (Although, sometimes I look at how nice certain brands like Rainbow High's clothing is and I wish for nothing more than 1) to find a 1/6 BJD I like with very similar proportions and 2) for Rainbow high to finally come out with some fashion packs purely so I can buy them for this hypothetical doll LOL)

 

I have always loved dolls and action figures of all kinds. I never found them less high quality after getting into BJD. I recall in the dark ages there being a game-related channel called G4, in a particular show they tested the newly released PS3, Wii and Xbox. The hosts thought the Wii wouldn't last a second because it was the lightest, smaller and "cheaper"be feeling of the three. They took a sledgehammer to all three, the Xbox which was the bulkiest. Heaviest of all fell apart at the first try. In the end, the Wii was the one that survived the longest. I don't believe weight equals quality, nor do I associate price with it.

Mattel Barbie for example, she might be light, but if a child in a tantrum threw her across pavement, landed on the road and a car re in over the doll, Barbie would still be pretty intact. I wouldn't dream of a BJD surviving much of that. I have always preferred PVC, ABS and other hard plastics to resin BV and vinyl. I don't mind vinyl, I just don't love squishy toys -- I know vinyl can be semi-hard and hard as other plastics, but it is still not my favorite.

Resin was always seen as "poor man's plastic" outside this hobby, because you don't need a factory or special equipment to reproduce it. I don't see much of it being used outside BJD nowadays, so I don't know if it is still considered that by action figure collectors (who don't collect BJD). It was a million years ago. I know resin quality varies. (:

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My answer is - "Yes, but I'm picky." I first started collecting Pullip / other fashion type dolls as a tween. I don't currently own any in my personal collection, but I still think they are cute, to look at but don't feel the draw to possess. I do like Jenny and Licca dolls. I keep two or three around on display. One of my first "BJD" was a porcelain doll and that is really where my heart lies. Bisque / porcelain and clay is my favorite type of doll - they are still considered "BJD" but more creative / art doll than the standard resin BJD. I also have a few vinyl dolls, but I am particular with that too. I am open to many types of dolls but like to keep the most special ones, so I think it really comes down to which dolls resonate with me, and materials other than resin do have their perks too like better longevity.

 

I’m actually going in the other direction and prefer ABS and vinyl bjd dolls over resin as they don’t yellow as obviously and I think they are more sturdy and less prone to breaking if dropped on a hard surface. I’ve never been into play line dolls, and it’s bjds that got me to collect dolls in the first place.

 

The title made me assume something way worse

Anyway, for me BJDs actually made me appreciate other dolls too. I never cared for them as a kid, since I started collecting them I've been eyeing others too. I own 8 Blythe/2 Middie Blythe, had a Dollfie Dream, Azone Pure Neemo and Pullip too at some point. I enjoy seeing some of the other dolls friends collect or customize. As it is though, without the ability to customize them to a certain degree at least I usually am bored quickly. Quality is often a big issue too, which is why I'd still rather buy an Azone than a Rainbow High for example. Just prefer the clothes there.

It's not because other dolls feel "fake" to me. I just don't find a lot of enjoyment in buying finished dolls and just having them stand around. I'm not that type of doll collector And I also love the large size of BJDs, it just gives them a very different presence vs a small toy doll.

 

I'd say it depends. Most other dolls just don't have the quality and posing and features I adore in BJDs but some, like Rainbow High, are all about the nostalgia for me. RH dolls remind me of the My Little Ponies I loved as a kid, for instance. BJD have made me appreciate historical/vintage dolls so much more, like the early German composite dolls or the bisque headed fashion dolls, or the carved jointed medieval poppets and Roman dolls...

 

My faves are BJDs but I do collect plushies, disney dolls and other dolls too!

 

Like others have said, I really enjoy BJDs for the customization aspects. That's really what drew me to the community in the first place. I did play with Barbies as a kid with the ones my mom had saved from her childhood, but it was very sparingly and I'd get bored with them fast. The only other dolls I've ever had were ones I'd crocheted to look like characters I've made, ironically with a pattern meant to emulate the designs of BJDs (which is how I found the hobby in the first place!), but what made me like those dolls was, again, the customization aspect.

 

(And I just realized that the poll question is completely different from the title of this thread and picked the wrong answer... orz Fixed it now!)

For me, I actually became interested in other types of dolls after getting into resin BJDs. I first branched out to Pullips after getting my first few resin BJDs. I'm no longer interested in Pullips now, though I'm still tempted by the occasional Isul (Pullip's little brother).

Nowadays in addition to resin dolls, I collect vinyl ones like Dollfie Dreams, TinyFox, Azone and Dollce. Resin and vinyl both have their advantages and disadvantages, such as vinyl being more portable and easier to pose but resin being way more resistant to staining, so I don't have to worry as much about their wigs or clothes. But I do love them both equally.

 

I put other because I don’t actually have my bjd yet. I mean I have a cheap plastic one off eBay but that doesn’t really count as a bjd. He’s cute and all but I know he’s not the real thing. The only other doll I have is a reborn baby doll. That was bought for a very specific reason- I miscarried and thought having a doll like that might help me. It did. But I no longer feel any attachment to it and will probably sell it. So I don’t really collect other dolls at all. I’ve never really been that interested until I saw bjd’s.

 

I answered 'Yes, but I'm picky'. I'm picky with bjds to begin with too, so the same could be said with other types of dolls

Barbies aside, I was actually first introduced to bjds as a doll 'type' before my teenage years, but of course I couldn't possibly buy one then - to own a bjd became one of my goals in my bucket list, though. So I ventured into buying a Pullip instead, and started customising an ob22 as well, amongst my many other soft toy 'dolls'. It's not that they were a replacement for this 'bjd' I couldn't have, because they've all sparked joy for me as well.

However, I must say that I'm in the same situation as you ever since owning my first bjd, my other dolls no longer appeal to me as much, and even the ob22 that I was so excitedly customising every part of lost most of its sparkle (and I had spent 1.5 years on it!). I don't think it's because of the customisability aspect of bjds that makes it more personal to me, because I enjoy and appreciate fullset bjds as much as I do 'customisable' bjds, but I think its just that their size and weight, and their relative realness (in terms of facial features and sculpt) makes it easier for me to feel attached to them.

My dolls are mainly pretty ornaments to look at (and occasionally touch), but for some reason bjds just hit different. Ever since I started owning bjds, I've lost interest in other types of dolls, so in a way I get you.

 

I apologize for all the grammar, syntax and gibberish on my earlier post. I was on my phone, during break at work -- I know that I should turn off autocorrect on it, because it's worse than my own typos, but here we are.

I love any Nintendo (and PlayStation) system, including the Wii and the WiiU (and all that came before and will come after), I never thought any felt cheap. I just want to clarify. I was mentioning what I saw on an old forgotten TV show, when those systems had just been released -- there seemed to be a biased that the Wii felt cheap on that show, compared to the PS3 and XBox, so they speculated it wouldn't survive. I personally thought the hosts were a bit off, when they made it seem like the Xbox would "win," just because of the heft. I don't consider weight immediately equaling quality of any product. I own a lot of small light weight toys of all kinds, and I have yet to see any of them disintegrate or fall apart, just because they are light weight. I am a (very) short, scrawny old-fart, I prefer toys that I can actually "hold." They are more comfortable for me to hold for customization purposes, like repainting, sewing, or even just setting up to take photos. So, I really don't mind things that feel light, and actually do mind if they are heavy, because it hurts (physically). Other than to customize (and dust), I don't really hold my toys for long, so in the end the weight of a toy to me is irrelevant. DX

Having said that, we all have different opinions on what makes something a worthy collectible and what doesn't. I prefer lighter toys, because it's easier for me to customize (or just hoard). If I could have a magic wand, and change all of my resin BJD to be turned to PVC, or ABS plastic dolls, I would do so in a heartbeat. Because resin is not my favorite plastic, by a long shot.

Resin kits are kind of a different topic, due to a lot of them being illegally copied versions of existing scaled anime figures (just like with most any other popular niche-toy). I'm not saying that's all there is (or ever was), but a lot of them were and still are illegal copies. Of course, just like with any other illegal item, there are some people that find zero issue owning the illegal ones. I love building model kits myself; Gundam were some of my firsts, I had stopped hoarding those for a while, but now I might want some tinier (impossible for my old-lady-shaky-hands-to-build) ones, just because they are cute. I still prefer legit (other) plastic non-resin model kits. However, I would sell a kidney for some legit/licensed resin ones, sold at certain Japan-only conventions, if I could find the ones I really want in pristine condition. I don't hate resin, but I would prefer if all my dolls were made out of other kinds of hard plastics and were definitely not heavy as a ton of bricks (and would also love for 1:6 action figure companies to stop making rubbery upper torsos, since I am now making my toy-wishes public. Lol!). Sorry if I went OT, there, I kind of have a problem with (virtually) running my gums, when I am talking about toys. (:

 

I think owning a resin BJD has actually made me appreciate normal plastic far more as a material for these sorts of things: I have PVC figures that have been displayed out of their boxes in the sun for over 6 years at this point and they’re all still in “like new” quality. If I dropped one it probably wouldn’t crack or break, and aside from regularly dusting my furniture (which I have to do anyways just to keep the place tidy) there’s not a lot of maintenance involved.

Not that I’m not looking forward to buying more resin dolls, but it’s definitely a material that’s more convenient for the maker’s end of things than the consumer.

 

i pick 'other' for many reasons, mostly because in general i don't like dolls at all even when i was a kid, i preferred cars and soldiers to the dolls.
for me bjd is not a doll, it's an art object.

at the same time i recently found myself fascinated from particular action figures 1/6, probably because the that i like reminds me of those soldiers
i do own one barbie and one rainbow high, but i bought them because of their design and they stay still, as a decoration, same for nendoroids (3 nends) and figurines (2 figurines)

 

No, but it's more of an aesthetic thing for me. I don't really care about the material, it's just the dolls I like (and am able to buy money-wise and size-wise) happen to be resin. I would totally be okay with buying ABS/3d-printed/playline, etc... if it matched my other criteria.

 

I do feel like a lot of other dolls are somewhat "less" in certain characteristics that I like about BJDs. I think it's the sense of "aliveness " that comes from having movable glass eyes, expressive posing, and the tension/self-movement due the elastic.

I have a few monster high dolls that I've had since well before I got into BJD and they inhabit the same display area. It bothered me a bit that the MH dolls looked so much more flat and lifeless next to the others. my solution was to gloss their eyes and reroot them with the same hair type as I use for my bjd wigs. Though not 100%, it did reduce the feeling of difference. I kinda feel the same when I put acrylic eyes in a BJD too, it's just gotta be glass or I can't look "into" them and it decreases my sense of engagement with the doll.

I still follow and buy other retail doll lines, but they have had a hard time sticking in my collection. New playline dolls I buy usually hang out in my workroom for a week where I admire them as-is, then I steal all their clothes, customize them, and sell them on.

 

So I don't have a BJD yet, but I do have other dolls and figures. I appreciate dolls, in general, more now than I did as a child and I like that certain types of dolls fit and fill specific niches. While I have no desire to buy Barbie, I like watching Barbie videos. My nendo dolls and figures are fun to play with and take pics of and I love my Smartdoll. Once I get my first BJD I'll get to experience the different ways I can interact with it and create new bonds that are different than my normal figures.

 

I love and own other dolls. Buying slowed down over the years, mostly i try and save the money to buy another bjd.

 

I said "yes, but I am picky". I love so many types of dolls, plush and figures, but I am more selective now than I used to be. I have learned a lot of what I like and don't like so I try and stick to my parameters as far as what I buy now. New things come out all the time, so my limits do get tested though lol

 

My other dolls are vintage dolls from the 80s and early 90s so even if they were marketed for play they were better quality back then. Current play line dolls, even the expensive ones do seem cheap to me though. BJD made me lose interest in buying other dolls since I started the hobby but I still have a lot of my ot collection displayed.

 

I answered "yes, but I am picky". I've gone through various phases of doll collecting - Barbie as a young kid, into American Girl that lasted into my early twenties, then Monster High Repaints, then Blythe, and now I've arrived at BJD's. I loved all of those dolls, but now that I own a few BJD's, I can't really see myself getting back into play line dolls, and really appreciate the customization/artistry of a BJD or in some cases, Blythe - though I pulled those dolls out recently and they felt soooo tiny and bizarre to me after solely handling my BJD's the last few months.

 

I love BJDs, playline dolls (like Rainbow High, LOL OMG, Monster High, etc), and also really love Pullip dolls, which are kind of in a category of their own. I also love figures, both action and static. I’m pretty much open to any human-shaped thing LOL

 

I have collected Pullip family dolls for over 11 years now. They will always be my "main" collectables since they are what I grew up with. I'm so used to them and everything about them means home to me. I also possess a lot of knowledge about them so their world is very familiar to me. I don't see any dolls better than others, I find all kind of dolls important and valuable as long as they bring joy to their owners. I also have plenty of playline dolls and I would never look down on people who collect only them.

 

Resin BJDs are my primary collecting focus, but I've collected a fair number of playline dolls (mostly Rainbow High, a few others) as well as some of the new PVC "blind box" tiny BJDs. Just being made of a different material doesn't make them feel "fake," and in fact, I'd argue that the ones I have feel quite high quality compared to what they'd be if they used cheaper materials.

 

Yes, but I'm picky! I collect American Girl and Smartdolls. They have well made accessories and feel like they're built to last. Most playline dolls or porcelain dolls kind of creep me out and Blythe dolls actively scare me. It's something in the stylization; they're just not for me.

 

Kind of? They definitely feel cheaper to me. I collect Monster High (actually trying to sell them off haha) and have recently ordered some Paola Reina Los Amigas and Ruby Red Fashion Friends based off of online reviews. I really like the 14-inch/MSD Big Baby/Child proportioned dolls so they seemed like a natural fit for me. I haven't actually gotten them in yet but I hope they'll feel more "real" like resin dolls.

 

Yes this! I'm not commenting in this thread otherwise since I still don't have a BJD, but I recently got into Barbies, and the older dolls were still made of the heavier plastic, and some of even the playline dolls were beautiful. I got a glimpse of how much you can bond with a doll if they're moveable, though, and you can interact with them - I have a jointed Disney's Esmeralda doll and I kid you not I teared up a bit when I sat her on my palm for the first time. Can't wait to have a BJD ♡

 

I had that Esmeralda doll! She was gorgeous.

 

I've got a number of other dolls, but one thing I never expected to grow to appreciate is the ability to move and switch eyes in bjd.
Smaller irises just help them feel so much more realistic and vibrant.
Since then, though I still enjoy other dolls, I get so irritated at their dead expressionless stares and identical eyes.
Non-doll people say it's creepy when doll eyes look alive and stare at them, but I want all my dolls to look at me

 

That said, I love the feel of vinyl, stockinette and composition dolls. The more the merrier!

 

I didn't really think about this. I used to
occasionally collect "cheaper" dolls, but not too excessively because I don't know something made me lose interest in collecting those dolls. They were pretty to look at, but that was about it. I tried collecting Monster High, Ever After High, Pullips, Kikipop, Licca-chan, Funko, Nendoroids, Q-posket, Disney princess dolls, Legos, etc, but nothing kept me collecting for long.

I think I was just trying to substitute my desire for a bjd through these other hobbies. I was really into Funko because of the youtube toy channels I would watch, but i felt really overwhelmed by how much I had. I got a lot because of good discounts that kept me collecting, but I realized how much I hated the quality of Funko and truthfully found them incredibly ugly.

After I decided to finally enter the bjd hobby I've found myself occasionally wanting to collect maybe a kikipop or Legos or something in my old list of stuff I tried collecting, but I found that I just couldn't get over that they weren't as good "quality" as a bjd and I couldn't feel a connection to these items. They just felt like toys to me compare to bjds feeling alive in a way that makes me feel connected to the doll. Which I suppose is odd. Also I couldn't justify the cost of those other stuff because I felt like the price wasn't worth the actual item.

The only things I still collect besides bjds are BTS, plushies, kdramas, and I think that is about it. However, due to bjds I've cut back on collecting plushies and kdramas.

I agree to this.

I'm the opposite. I am more picky for non-bjds items excluding BTS merch, so it's hard to choose which doll I truly want. I can be picky about what I like in a doll, but a few flaws to a bjd doesn't stop me from purchasing because I somehow feel an attachment to the doll before I actually buy it.

I think the difference between a bjd and a non-bjd is something like a figure is meant to be looked at, but a bjd is something to create a character out of which grows a sense of closeness. Toys and non-bjds dolls are meant to be played with, but it lacks that aspect of creating it from your vision which makes it feel less alive. If an inanimate object can have a soul I would say a bjd has a soul because the owner of that doll puts so much into that bjd and brings it to life, but things like figures and non-bjds toys feel soulless to me. Although inanimate objects can't really have souls. I hope that made sense.

I find dolls like Barbies lack of mobility kind of charming. Maybe it's because of the Toy Story movies.

 

I own two pulips and won't buy anymore because they both satisfy me enough. I got the first one as a project for the make it own kit and the other one is a special edition mana one that i am still waiting for. I have no interest in buying anything other dolls and probably only see myself buying one or two other bjds mainly because of space and i feel like the more dolls i own, the more i have to divide my attention and devotion to all of them.

 

BJDs are a another kind of doll to me so they exist in their own world in ways. This lets me appreciate different aspects of BJD and play dolls.

Not too different from how there are different kinds of plushies; some are made for cuddling while others are meant for display. Same with anime figures. There are the less fancy, lower priced prize figures and then the ones that are more like formal art pieces with the attention to detail.

I try to remember things exist for different reasons. I don't know if a lot of kids have the dexterity to play with BJD in the way they can with dolls that have less articulation. Thinking back to when I was a kid, sometimes less was more with toys as it encouraged more imaginative play. Like damn, I could turn a fruit basket into a cage match or submarine easily.

 

I replied yes but picky. Before discovering BJDs I was very involved in the Barbie collecting community. I still have a few Barbies and other vinyl fashion dolls, but my space is so limited, that I made the decision to concentrate mostly on BJDs.

 

The thread OP is asking two questions...

Do you like/collect other dolls too?
No. I never liked or collected dolls prior to getting BJDs, and to this day I still don't like/collect dolls. Neither am I into figurines, plushies, or pop culture merch. Yes I have a few figurines and plushies hanging around, but I buy them for fun/novelty not for collecting, and to be honest, I hardly pay attention them.

In my mind, BJDs are their own category and have unique presence and significance. I agree with what someone said earlier - BJDs are more like people and characters, than "toys". I'm not that interested in toys, but I sure love my resin-embodied figments of my imagination.

Do non-bjd/non-resin dolls feel "fake" to you?
I wouldn't say they're "fake", but Barbie, Pullips, etc, are totally insignificant to me, they just don't feature in my consciousness or my life. But I've thought that way since I was preschool age and discovered that matchbox cars were more fun to play with than dolls. BJDs are a separate category in my mind, so they haven't really changed my perception of non-BJD dolls in any way.

 

I think the thing I look for in dolls is if they have a unique or edgy look to them. This is why I enjoy Monster High and Rainbow/Shadow High dolls, but I don't enjoy dolls like Barbies, Bratz, or American Girl. To me BJDs have that unique look to them, which is why I especially like getting vampire/elf sculpts and love the customization of them, because I can make them as edgy (or not) as I like. After taking a very long break from all doll collecting (I had previously started collecting dolls through BJDs, but also bought a few Monster High dolls), the new Monster High helped me get back into dolls in general, which led me to picking up my BJD hobby again. This is also why I plan on repainting all my old BJDs that don't meet the unique or edgy criteria in my eyes. I also enjoy repainting mass produced dolls to be more unique.

Obviously mass produced doll lines feel much cheaper to me, mostly because they objectively are, but thats a part of why they're mass produced. When I buy a mass produced fashion doll, I go in with tempered expectations and don't compare them to my BJDs. Instead I compare them to other mass produced dolls, which has helped me keep my appreciation for them. Not to mention, with the price point being much more accessible it helps satiate my appetite for dolls at much lower price point while I'm waiting for my new BJDs to arrive.

 

My short response is not they didn't for numerous reasons , my long is as follows : first material goes according to price so when wou pay 10euros for a doll you certainly don't expect resin or quality plastic same as for you to enjoy the finest porcelain even the most expensive bjd price wouldn't be enough .... also quality is defined by many factors not only weight of the material many vinyl dolls are very much comparable quality to resin dolls , to me is more a nice balance between quality aesthetics and price that matters most. As a direct conclution to that is that I find many vinyl/plastic dolls very qood quality p.e. Paola Reina to me stand above bjd in quality for their price because their plastic is good quality and non toxic practically indestructible but able to become molded to some of the cutest sculpts I have ever seen their clothes and hair are premium quality too with human quality fabrics and with even collections of organic cotton and all that in a price that cannot be beaten and made in Spain (so less taxes/customs for us Europeans) , I also once handled a very expensive amazing quality porcelain doll of the finest porcelain in an expo that normally might cost thousands and is museum piece I felt anxious for touching it even with gloves and guidance of the guide I could never have something so valuable in home it would make me lose sleep. So no for many reasons but mostly two reasons better quality is not always most suitable for me I prefer collector quality but not museum quality , second playline doll or vinyl/plastic doll doesn't mean low quality or less valuable than any resin especially if we add durability and color issues and also heavier doesn't mean more quality. Last I want to add that especially for big size dolls the weight of resin to me makes them wanting to get rid of them after 3 house moves carrying from house to house and pack properly the big 70cm muscular hunks or make them want to stay to their shelf had become more of a burden than pleasure If they were plastic/vinyl and lighter I'd keep them but 5kg each no sir no, they are to go !!!So that are my reasons resin has pros and cons but certainly didn't make me stop admiring dolls of other materials and styles.

 

Nope, but it’s not as simple as playline dolls vs BJDs for me. I have a collection of expensive, well engineered action figures made for adult collectors and I don’t think of them as less than BJDs. They’re just a different animal.

 

I love all kinds of dolls for different reasons. BJDs are just one of them. Every doll has an artist or two behind it and so I kind of appreciate them just for that.

But I can’t collect everything so I try to keep my samples small.

 

While there are some playline dolls I adore (Monster High, Smart Doll), most of them don't "speak" to me. I have a few Barbies for pattern-making purposes, and I'm keeping some of my Monster High girls, but I like a nice sturdy BJD. If I didn't live in a tiny apartment with barely any space I'd keep them all, but no. The playline dolls will have to go.

(And when I say "some," I mean "maybe 10 or so out of the dozens of dolls I bought when I was depressed and went nuts buying as many MH characters as possible.")

 

Yes I have other types of dolls like Reborn dolls about 4 of them and even the 1/12 sized dolls like Obitsu/YmY. I only have one of those ymy dolls and its my character I want to shell to a BJD! I don't have any BJDs yet so he will be my first.

 

I actually have never liked dolls, especially affordable plastic ones, my entire life. Still don’t but I randomly became obsessed with BJDs age 35.

 

I had a tiny collection of 1/12 action figures like Figma, and I wasn't very happy with them. Even the more expensive ones look really crude and "industrially made" to me now. Part of it is just the scale.
By the time I left the hobby I was noticing that especially Chinese companies were releasing more nicely made dolls in 1/6 scale which have a much better finish (example here) but especially since prices are close to BJDs I don't think they hold up. They can get really creative though and often have a stylish cartoon look which is rare to find in resin.

 

BJDs definitely killed my interest in other types of dolls.

Don’t remember what year I bought it, early 2010’s, but I have one MH doll. I thought I would enjoy collecting these but after the first one, it just didn’t give me what I enjoy about BJDs at all.

All of my BJDs have either been made for me or have involved some kind of quest to obtain. I also like having more options for creativity with them.

There are two Barbies I have, and I love them, but they are meaningful because they were gifts. One was actually my favourite as a kid (Princess Jasmine) but my original was beheaded by one of my sisters. So yea, these are special, but I otherwise don’t have an interest in collecting Barbie. I do love seeing other people’s collections though, both of these and MH.

I consider stuffed animals to be doll-adjacent though, and I do collect stuffed bats. They are also a bit unusual and still fill some of that “hard to obtain” chase I thrive off of

 

I think for me it's just hard to enjoy a doll that is smaller than a certain size and takes a lot of effort to customise - bjds are a handful, I can swap their eyes and hair with ease and pose and express them as I imagine so they feel like a perfect fit for what I want. I'm also not particularly into "shelf stuff" or trinkets so I appreciate that I can really *do things* with my dolls. I don't collect other types - I did have a couple of blind-box bjds, which I feel are a bit of a different genre of doll, for a brief while but they felt too ready-made (already customised and dressed) and much more like collectibles so I let them go as I'm also not collecting any other types of dolls closer to that.

All in all, I mostly enjoy bjds for the interactivity and just don't get that itch scratched with other dolls. I don't think that makes anything else more "fake", though, I just want to be very handsy with my hobbies and some types are just too fragile for that

 

For me, BJD versus other dolls is sort of an "apples to potatoes" issue. They're totally different things; one is a personal art project that's infinitely customizable, the other is a static thing to add to a shelf and then... probably forget about. I do consider the blind box BJDs and "real" (bigger, especially resin) BJDs to be in a more similar category ("apples to oranges", if you will, both fruits but very different kinds) since many blind box BJDs/MJDs are easily customizable/have swappable parts, but even then, there's a wide gulf between how I perceive and value my big resin guys vs the little blind box fellas.

I didn't start disliking my regular old anime figures or my blind box BJDs once I got into resin, but what resin BJDs did do is force me to reassess how much I care about every other type of collectible I might want. Do I really want these five cheaper impulse purchases (because I can have them fast and feel less financially irresponsible), or would I rather put that towards one big expensive BJD? These days, I almost always rule in favor of the Big, Expensive Guy. They've kept me in line better than anything else!

What I'm finding is that the bigger investment is most likely to be the better decision long-term, because if I tire of their appearance, nearly everything about them can be changed so drastically that it's practically a whole new item. This isn't something I can easily do with a play line toy or an anime figure. Those have a fixed appearance (aside from maybe the clothes on play line dolls) unless you want to get into heavy modification, which will instantly devalue them to practically nothing, so if you ever wanted to sell your modified figure, you're probably screwed unless you happen to make something so awesome that someone else will actually have interest in it.

 

Finally someone has put it into words. For me it has definitely ruined other dolls. I've tried many times to collect other types of dolls (fashion dolls) and I can't seem to fully like them, they feel cheap, small, etc. I am very picky with the dolls I collect now.

 

I actually vastly prefer dolls made of natural materials- mostly ceramic and wood -to resin. I know they're made with incredible artistry and a lot of work/investment, but ever since I got into porcelain BJDs (over the course of years, since they're more expensive) it's gotten harder and harder to justify to myself spending hundreds of dollars for a doll made of plastic. Every time I see a resin BJD I like, something in my brain goes "well...but...it's just plastic." And the same goes for sewing for/wigging resin dolls- why buy a nice mohair wig when the doll is Just Plastic? Why make a dress out of silk when the doll is Just Plastic? I love my resin BJDs, but if I could wave a wand and make them wooden or porcelain, I would.

I really wish non-resin BJDs were on-topic; I hate not getting to share my girls on a forum where I've been active for almost 20 years now. My sig makes it seem like I only have two BJDs- I actually have five, but the other three are porcelain. I feel like I take them out less than I'd like to, because I know they won't get as much engagement on forums where they ARE allowed as resin dolls, and it's not like I can show them off on here. Oh, well...

 

I actually started doll collecting with porcelain dolls. BJDs didn't really become known in the US until well into my adulthood.

 

I get the feeling and I used to have a similar stance, but there's plastic and plastic. Composite laminates can be nearly indestructible and the binder is epoxy resin. Kevlar is a plastic fiber like nylon. These days they make high stress tools like sledgehammers or axes with fiberglass handles that never ever break (big problem with wood handles).
Of course that's not relevant to artistic work, but cast urethane resin and injection-moulded ABS (what's used for toys most of the time) have very different characteristics. Injection moulding is much more convenient for mass production, but limited in terms of materials, so most plastic you get to handle in everyday life is not the greatest thing.