Male BJD fans?

I'm non-binary masculine leaning so I hope it's okay if I comment hahaha.

I currently have 7 dolls (two of which I'm selling) and have put my order in for the full option of Fairyland's Fairyline60 Miwa. I mostly have female dolls because I like the cute fashions they have available but I think my two "male" dolls (one is a genderless being on a male body) might actually be my favorites. Those two are a Minifee Chloe on a male moe body (the genderless one) and a Minifee Niella. Granted my Niella, Nathaniel, needs a different faceup to match his hair better and my Chloe, the Yumenai, needs their "default" outfit so they're just rocking a really cute sundress for now.

 

Hi! I'm a trans guy, joined the hobby back in November but had been lurking until like, January. I think part of me is still anxious that people will look at my hobbies as feminine and use it as a means to belittle my identity. It's happened before, so I understand the anxiety.

I actually prefer male dolls, which I didn't fully expect when I first got into it since I do like female dolls too, but when it came down to actually choosing favourites to spend money on, I've gone for male sculpts every time.

That's not to say I shell exclusively male characters with them though! My dream valley Elias is non binary/fem leaning and I'm going to eventually try to find a large female body for my Aimerai Jean head.

I'm also dreaming dreams of owning miracle doll Melanie as my first female sculpt some day. She's beautiful. Wistful sigh.

 

I'm a girl, but I share my collection with my fiance who is a guy. He mostly collects Anthro dolls at the moment (we just ordered 2 more for his birthday) though he eventually wants to get into owning some more cute girls and off topic vinyl dolls as well. He actually wants to get into more furniture making and set design so he can start creating cute scenes with his characters but right now he just keeps his favorites next to his computer.
I would say he has a definite preference for female dolls but we also have a sizeable collection of anime figurines so that makes sense. Also sorry for responding for him, this account is mostly mine but I'll see if he wants to respond once he wakes up.
Edit: I can't get the picture to work here's a link
This is actually a picture he took yesterday, he said that it looked like Ophelia (the mnf Luha) was reaching out to hold his hand too
Edit2: The partner here borrowing the acc to answer the question. Yeah I mostly collect cute girls as I have this weird not story I plan on making about a woman who takes in animal girls for her cafe called Catya's Cafe (her name is Katya, and I couldn't resist the pun) I plan on making a large scale diorama for everyone, but it's going to be a very long project. For it I'm going to be getting into furniture design as I dont think my wallet could handle buying all the furniture I'd need lol. feel free to ask anything.

 

I’m a man. Nice to meet you. I collect both female and male dolls. All my female crew are vinyl and most of them have huge boobs which people think I collect dolls with big boobs because I’m a guy (so I might be a pervert) but that’s not true. I’m a gay male exclusively a bottom and I like dolls with huge boobs just because I find them cute.

I only have an on topic bjd boy. He is an iplehouse FID Claude.The other five I own are granado vindolls and I LOVE them. They are so muscular and affordable. That was the only way I could afford all those granado sculpts I love so much.

So welcome to the forum and is very nice to see another man in the hobby. Just be prepare to be stereotyped and look down by some collectors (thankfully most collectors are super awesome), but don’t feel bad and keep going strong in the hobby if you really enjoy it.

A picture of my only complete resin boy. I have a floating SD custom artist bjd head.

 

I'm also a guy! I've seen your threads on your Black Cat customisation process and I think it's a super cute concept. I'm excited to see how it turns out!! (I never commented on them directly because I too have a little bit of anxiety. But you seem cool and if you were interested in talking more I'd definitely be down for it!)

I find myself more drawn towards male dolls personally. All of my human dolls in my collection or on order are guys. (My little pet dolls don't really have a determined gender because they're just cute animals.) This is partly because when I got into the hobby I set out to shell some of my favourite characters, who are all guys, and also partly because I find I like male sculpts more. A lot of the female sculpts I see are cute, but they don't really grab me, and I'm not in a financial situation where I can just toss hundreds of dollars at something I only kind of like, haha.

As a kid I was never super into dolls; I had a couple that I received as gifts but I never really played with them much. Getting into bjds came as a complete surprise to me! I have a friend who is into them and posted about their dolls a lot, and for a while I was like "that's cool but whatever". But then one day I saw this guy and it was like some switch flipped in my brain, and I couldn't stop thinking about shelling characters. And now here we are!

 

I getcha, there are an awful lot of them but yes, the character I have is a non-binary feminine-ish character and so the face worked perfectly for that. I was looking for something that said "whimsy" while having a rather androgynous body so I'm just glad that I was able to get the moe boy body before Fairyland discontinued it. They're the shell for my favorite OC of mine so it was really important to me to get something that fit so well

 

He's one of the 71cm dolls! Very slender in build and works really well for the androgynous look I was going for. I do have one of the tall MSD boys (Vine!) headed to an artist for a commission too!

 

Haha, the characters I set out to shell are actually manga characters! My favourite series of all time is a really obscure manga, so one day I just went crazy and was like Well, if there's no official merchandise I'll just have to take matters into my own hands!!!! And I did. And then a bunch of official merchandise was released. At least nobody will doubt my dedication...?

I have bought a couple dolls just because I like the sculpt, but I find I get more nervous about that because there's less of an emotional attachment there, if that makes sense. I worry I won't bond as well with the doll without a character in mind for them, and then I'll have wasted money. So far this hasn't happened though! Even if I haven't gotten a good sense of character from those dolls, every time I look at them it makes me happy because they're so pretty.

I haven't heard of Creatable World before but I just did a quick Google and they look really cool!!! I love the idea of younger kids being able to play with expression like that. (And adults too! But boy, I would have appreciated that as a small Yarrow.)

 

Trans guy here! I have an all boy crew, though that may change someday.

I have another irl guy friend into dolls, but he mostly does girl customs!

 

Houshin Engi by Ryu Fujisaki! It's got a teeny tiny fandom so I'd be more surprised if you'd heard of it than if you hadn't.

A Junji Ito doll sounds like it would be fun!! I don't like horror but I've read summaries of most of his stuff because I do get curious. I love his cat diary manga though, haha. Did you have a specific character in mind or were you just thinking of the general aesthetic of his works?

 

I prefer male dolls myself and most of my dolls are male although I do also have female dolls I just buy what I like really. I've been in the hobby for quite some time now (since 2007) although I did leave it for around 4 years and during that time had nothing to do with dolls and when I got back into bjds late 2019 I found so much had changed while I'd been away including the style of dolls that are around now.
I've also added a few more to my collection since getting back into things.

 

They're my favourite (and most expensive eek) so far, so they get all the special and delicate treatment, haha! I'm nervous about doing body blushing and face up but I'll bite the bullet eventually.

Also! I remember seeing your DZ black cat on male body doll! He's very cute.

 

Demi-boy (trans male) here, me and my bi-gendered (goes between female/male) S.O. are both in the hobby. However my S.O. does not have a DoA account. I lean towards male dolls and my partner female, but full discloser most of our dolls are based on role play characters of ours, and other O.C.s. (Though I have a ton of dolls and other things are in my collection like comic book, anime, and novel characters.)

 

I'm a man and welcome to the hobby! My male partner is in the hobby too. Between us we have 3 SD boys ( mine are :a Dollzone Prajna named Oliver and A Telesthesia Doll Quin Niu Sheng named Ulli . His is a Ringdoll Lawand an Idelian 72 Hyperon Mercenary of War name Max.) We also have 4 MSD guys, one of which is a Semi anthro, and a PukiPuki named Finn and a Realpuki Boy who just arrived so isn't named yet. We like mostly realistic guys and cute tinys.

I loved your Black Cat project. He turned out amazing.

I've never experienced any negative reactions in the hobby. Everyone I've met and talked to was extremely kind and generous. DoA is a great place. If you have any questions or just wanna chat, I'm around most days. Good luck and have fun .

 

I am a girl but my boyfriend really loves my dolls He is probably the manliest man I know haha because he is unapologetically himself. He has traditionally masculine hobbies but that doesn't stop him from enjoying girly stuff. He is 23 and he stands up for himself when he gets criticized by his coworkers. Mind you these guys are a bunch of fucc bois who think disrespecting women is dark humor and who desperately try to get a girl but fail everytime. He is very intelligent, loves history, entomology and is overally a laid back guy. But he has been enjoying Winx Club with me, even tells me which fairy he would love to be XD And he loves to support my doll hobby. He thinks pink is a lovely color, loves bunnies and rilakkuma and so on. I just wanted to let you know that hobbies don't define your sexuality. Being any sexuality is absolutely cool! But the stigma that feminine hobbies make you "gay" or something is just pure stupidity. Stand up for yourself and be proud of being a doll collector! I love to see more guys in the hobby

 

Hello. I am a man too.
I still don't have any dolls to show but I've ordered a DC-Nicola B with a DZ 43 cm body a month ago.
I do personally prefer female models. They look really pretty and they have a lot of customization chances. However I've seen some male dolls that I find interesting.

 

Guy here! I have loved dolls since I was a kid. Both me and my brother owned different types of dolls growing up, our mum was very liberal that way. She would make all my Sindy dolls clothes!

When I first got into the hobby about 12 years ago, I was really anxious about being a man in the hobby, but I'm 40 now and don't care so much about what other people think. All my friends know about my dolls and they accept it, as it goes with my whole personality, because I've always been creative, and collected odd things. My wife also collects dolls, so our household is fun!

All of my dolls are female, because I love feminine clothing and the female form is beautiful. I have a variety of the Iplehouse FID women body types, as I love how differently the same set of clothes hangs on each. I also have a Fairyland Minifee Mirwen and a MSD Bimong Narae because I think they're both cute. I have just got a Narae 60 with the N60 body, which wears all the SD clothes I'm drawn towards! My main way of interacting with my dolls is playing dress up.

I tend to go for gothic styles and personalities for my dolls, because I was a feminine goth when I was a teenager! I used to collect male dolls, but I found the clothing very limited, and besides, I liked buying and dressing up myself in those types of clothes!

I have always thought that if a man can collect action figures, which are sometimes refered to as dolls, and not be questioned about his masculinity, then its fine for him to collect dolls.

 

@honestrabbit same here pretty much all my dolls are also goth/alternative types and I'm now 44 and still a goth. It does seem that goth style dolls were very popular many years ago when I first got into bjds but now they dont seem to be as popular as they once were.
Although it does make me sad that the fake leather clothes I had for some of my dolls hasnt lasted which is a real shame, I'm now very wary about buying any fake leather clothes because of this.

 

I'm still a goth at heart (my other collections give me away) and I still wear some black! Gothic styles for dolls were definitely more of an in thing when I first started in the hobby in about 2006.

I can relate to the faux leather! I'm vegetarian and personally will not buy any real leather, so faux leather it is. Shoes especially wear out on dolls if you buckle and unbuckle enough times. I had some old cheap faux leather shoes for a doll; after years away from the hobby they pretty much crumbled when I got them out again.

I see that you're near me in the UK and have a curiosity shop, I collect curios!

 

*waves*

I'm interested in collecting female dolls for the time being; basically, if I wanted to make fashions for men, I'd make them for me or my husband; but I want to practice designing and making gowns and girl style garb as well.

Female bodies are more of a fit challenge as well (more curves), so you get a lot more practice at fitting - but with a client who isn't body conscious and has infinite time to just sit there and let me make mistakes until my skills improve.

I think about getting a male doll, on and off, just for photos and stories, but I worry it would bring up weird feelings about my body.

It's weird how these things are gendered; my husband is a lot better than me at solving harmony and blocking snags in my fashion design work, because he paints Warhammer and wargames miniatures, i.e. he knows how to match colours and create focal points on a model that's an inch high; & when I was feeling bad about my doll, his take was "I can't criticise anybody else for spending £200 on small plastic people". But you'd definitely assume that painting toy soldiers was a dude hobby, even though it's basically the same skills: making characters, thinking about their clothes, learning art skills to model them.

 

trans-masc GNC here! I haven't been in this hobby very long but my local group has a few men and/or GNC people so I know I'm not alone in the local community.
I started this hobby to shell two male characters (and then two more and then two more after that) and though my current collection is about 50/50 male and female dolls I tend to spend and photograph on the boys. Girl and woman-shaped dolls are the ones I tend to admire on other people's accounts but can never muster the same personal investment in mine. I like the larger variety of beautiful clothing and accessories for feminine dolls but (sigh) none of my ladies actually look good in them. I've been debating getting a ridiculously girly doll just to have someone who can fit all the pretty slim mini clothes and use the cute accessories. Your Black Cat is convincing me to buy yet another boy doll instead (I really wanted Keaui but they discontinued him). Love DZ.

 

@honestrabbit yeah I got into the hobby in 2007 and it was a lot easier finding alternative style clothes back then as there was so much more of it around.
I seem to have been pretty lucky with my dolls footwear as only one pair of boots has disintegrated over time and that was a pair of Dollheart boots which I loved, I still have them and I want to try and attempt to save them at some point.
When I got back into the hobby and got all my doll stuff out from storage I had such a shock seeing what happened to fake leather as they were all fine when I put them away, I ended up scraping all the peeling leather off the clothes down to the fabric underneath it so the clothes can be saved but just dont look leather anymore.

 

@ashbelEro they do still show up on the market place but in no way the amount that used to be on there which was a bit of a shock when I came back on here after a few years of being away and wondering were they had all gone?
I'm working on 4 face ups at the moment I'm redoing 2 of my older dolls and 2 new ones I have.

 

@ashbelEro yeah I spent about 4 years at art college way back so I know going from working on paper to a surface that isnt flat is completely different and my early face ups deffinatly were not the best but I've gotten so much better since those early days. Yes feel free to have a chat with me about them if you like?

 

As you can tell by looking at the status under my icon, I'm a man. I must admit, I hid it for a long time, as "an older man who collect dolls" are often thought of as "creepy/sex perverts/weird/etc." Especially since I'm pretty vocal here on DOA. But, BJDs are so beautiful, and unique and who can pass up "art you can play with/pose and photograph?"

I finally decided, literally this year to stop hiding. Strangely enough, it was being referred to as female/a woman in a post that had me come out of hiding. I finally thought "its 2021, why am I still hiding?"

So, here I am, in all my masculine glory.

I haven't read anyone else's response, since I thought it best to tell my story, then go see what the others said.

Oh, I collect mostly male dolls, but I have a few women in my Crew.

Ryu

 

Yeah, I hid my gender as well for a long time. If I was misgendered online within the hobby it didn't bother me though.

I have always said that I am more comfortable admitting my other hobby of collecting antique dental equipment than admitting I collect dolls. Its weird, but I'm working past that. It's probably because collecting antiques isn't a 'gendered' thing.

At the start of the hobby I did get some severe snark online over being an older man in the hobby. I was presumed to be a pervert and a creep for playing with them, which is sexist and ageist. In recent years the doll community is a nicer place, as people of different genders and ages are more out in the doll community. You can find your people easier within it as people are more open and accepting these days.

 

Glad to see I'm not the only Goth dude here! Although, nowadays I'd call myself "Gothic Otaku," since I'm also into anything Japanese.

Yeah, I had to leave the hobby for three years due to health issues, and when I came back, I too had to deal with disintigrated "leather" clothes I had bought for many of my Crew. Sucked. Especially since some of my Crew are Goth as well.

Since returning to the hobby, I actually found a doll that's a '80s Traditional Goth boy, a la Siouxie and the Banshees-style. Reminds me so much of my youth! I've already made him one outfit, and I'm going to make him more, since Goth clothes are so difficult to find nowadays. Its a good thing I taught myself to sew when I first joined this hobby! Of course, being pretty broke back then to be able to buy many outfits didn't hurt.

Nope, and I refuse to hide it too! Wanting to "re-create the band Nittle Grasper in resin" what got me into this hobby.

I actually have quite a few characters dolls from some older anime. Three of my Crew also cosplay as One Piece characters, another "old" anime. Having to figure out clothesmaking for nearly everyone greatly improved my own cosplaying. I'll post some BJD cosplay pics in a bit.

Anyways, I'm rambling, but its so cool to talk to other guys that "get" BJDs! Glad I found this thread! (Wish there was a "high five" emoji! )

Ryu

 

I've been sharing my hobby with AMAB but GNC friends and am amazed at how many of them a) collected action figures because they wanted dolls as children and b) continue to want or collect off-topic action/customizable dolls. I think more AMAB collectors would join the hobby if they knew it offered the kinds of creative outlets they were denied because it's stereotypically girly to want dolls.

 

@Ryuichi Sakuma 13 I cant make clothes I tried many years ago and failed but I can make things like wings, gas masks, plague Dr maks and I do make quite a lot of Jewellery for my dolls so at least thats something.
I also like a lot of Japanese things like anime and yes I also know Gravitation, I also love visual Kei music.

 

I collect anime figures, but I was never into dolls until I discovered BJDs. Part of the allure of them is being able to customize them in any way I like. And then being able to dress them in different ways, its why my Crew have a better wardrobe than I do. Yeah, I admit I spoil them.

I didn't really know how to sew until I hit the tutorials section of DOA hard and heavy! I started with sock clothes, and went up from there. There are a lot of easy ones in there, but if you want to learn how to use a sewing machine, I can't tell you how to do so. My clothes are all hand-sewn. I found books and websites that showed basic hand stitching, and learned from them. Stubbornness and determination when it comes to my dolls' needing clothes when I first joined this hobby also didn't hurt.

Oh, I promised you pics of three of my dolls cosplaying! From left to right its Tatsuha as Roronoa Zoro, in the middle, Ryuichi as Monkey D. Luffy and Tohma as Sanji.

One Piece cosplay by Ryuichi Sakuma, on Flickr

I made Tatsuha's pants and haramaki (belly band), Ryuichi's vest and pants, and Tohma's shirt and cigarette years ago. I'm hoping that my sewing has improved since then.

You can make wings and gas masks? I'd love to see pics of them on your dolls!

Ryu

 

dude here also i prefer lager male dolls but i do currently have an msd and yosd on order that are both girls so i guess i like small and cute things to be girly lol

 

Yes, lifelong doll enthusiast, way before BJD came onto the market (I'm in my fifties). BJD's added to the mix just mean the house is even more crowded with dolls.

There are over 50 BJDs in the "family" now, the biggest group is the SD-sized gang who are nearly all children (which makes it hard to find furniture, as 1/3 scale assumes the dolls are adults) who are all part of one large-extended Vitorian/|Edwardian family:

I like both but since I sew for my dolls and prefer making girl clothes over making boy clothes, I've ended up with roughtly double the number of girls to boys.

Teddy

 

@Ryuichi Sakuma 13 I've only ever made YOSD wings before but would like to maybe make a pair for my Resinsoul Twlight who is an msd sized centaur
Let's hope this works and I remember how to do this? It's been many years since I last posted a photo on a forum, this is my Dollshe Saint wearing the Plague Dr mask I made.

Plague Dr mask

Ok that didnt work to well I should get off my phone and try do it properly later.

@Teddy so many dolls I've heard and seen on you tube some people have doll rooms but I just mainly have bjds and no way near enough for a room.

 

Sadly, I am that dolly-hoarder. That main picture is just the corner of our living-room that has the most dolls in it (known as The Dolly Drift, or Dolly Drift Corner). There are more in other places, and more in other rooms, though nowhere near this dense a population (although the picture is quite old so the line-up has changed a bit since then). Although most of the shelving in our spare bedroom has been taken over by boxes of dolls clothes, shoes, wigs and accessories organised by size and gender of doll. SO if I had a room available to devote to dolls, I've no doubt I could easily fill it.

Your plague mask picture shows up if you click on the link, by the way.

Teddy

 

@Teddy I have a friend that collects all different types of dolls but with me it's mainly bjds I do have a few others but bjds deffinatly interest me more than any others.
@ashbelEro I have to go on my DOA list to count mine I know I now have over 20 lol

 

NB male here, and I've been a fan from afar for years and only recently getting into owning my own dolls. I mean more towards masculine shapes and sculpts, but the only BJD I own is a girl MSD I got as a test case to see how I handled the size (the SD sculpts are what initially drew me in, but they sounded so big even tho I'm 6"2' ). I'm definitely looking to get an MSD and an SD guy, I'm just finding myself to be very picky both with sculpts and wanting darker natural tone resin colors.

 

Haha yes that's I worry about. I do like the MSD size tho, it gives me Angelic Layer vibes when the one I have is sitting in my hand. @ashbelEro

 

I have all sizes of dolls but I like the large ones the the best my biggest 2 are 70cm.

 

Well, they are generally the best articulated whihc does bump up th appeal factor (for me at least)

Teddy

 

{laugh!} Our tastes run in different directions there... My latest non-bjd delight are the artculated 18" FancyNancy and Bree playdolls from Jakks Pacific.

Teddy

 

Another guy here! Although i'm sure i had seen bjd's before i didn't really knew anything about it and the hobby. Started by collecting toys, statues and 1/6 scale figures. At some point i bought Jake sully from Avatar as a 1/6 scale figure. A Neytiri model didn't exist weirdly enough and since i was busy making an Avatar animation video i had already made a 3d model myself. So i decided to try and turn it into a figure (still didn't know about bjd's at all).
I kept having problems with my own joins tho and decided to pull a string through them to keep everything more tight. By then i was contacted by a bjd doll creator or seller, Denny Kim, i believe it was. He sort of introduced me to bjd's! I unfortunatly lost his contact so thanks again should you read this

my unpainted Neytiri figure picture next to Hottoys Jake Sully


Unfortunatly my latest prototype was stolen by the painter. Was pretty devastating and i dropped out of the hobby completely for a few years ...but i returned to the hobby last year with a new and my first bjd!





Currently busy creating my next one so the hobby got me pretty good in the end! To be honest i have received both positive and negative reactions so i don't talk about it much and only the people close to me know about it. Good thing i can share stuff online. Great to see there are plenty other guys in the hobby!

 

I'm sorry you've had so many bad experiences, @fierox ; the thought of any of my girls being ran off with makes me nauseous, and I can't even begin to imagine how terrible it must have been to have all of your hard work, effort, emotional investment and artistry ripped from you so cruelly. Dolls are so much more than an object to their owners, and I wish more people understood that.

On a more positive note: your Star Trek girl is SO cool! Sci-fi BJDs are such a rarity as-is, and this is one of the best I've ever seen. Maybe a tiny bit jelly...

I don't really have any experiences to add being a woman, but it's always upset me to see things so needlessly gendered. Masculinity and femininity aren't defined by some sort of pre-approved checklist; it's all about personal discovery, and everyone's experience is as valid as the one next to it. Anyone that draws the line at dolls—something cherished across countless civilizations regardless of age, gender, sexuality, or ethnicity—is as immature as they are socially and historically ignorant.

 

Very well said! And thanks for the kind words

 

Gotta say @fierox, those dolls look awesome! Honestly an inspiration. Did you 3d print the models or sculpt them?

 

Thanks so much! They are computer sculpted and 3D printed. If you are interested i keep build threads here:
Alien: /threads/alien-nudity.826751/
Felines (next project): /threads/felines-nudity.831922/

 

i love this thread! it's been so cool to read all the responses.
i am nonbinary transmasc. i am mostly drawn to large male dolls. even so, most of my dolls are not married to the gender binary. clothes are just clothes and if it fits and looks good on them, they'll wear it!
i do have one girl doll, she's a dollzone mini shyo and i just love her cheeky little face!
i have tentative plans for an androgynous female doll but i haven't found a sculpt yet that feels perfect. i may have to go the hybrid route and i just dont have the experience for that yet.