BJD(balljointed doll) is any doll that is articulated with ball & socket joints.BJD
usually refers to ABJD,Asian ball jointed dolls.these are generally hard,dense
plastic, and the parts strung together with a thick elastic.These are normally
produced in japan,south-korea and china.They commonly range in size from about
60 cms for the larger dolls to 10 cms the tinny BJD’s.
The
history of commercially produced Asian resin BJD’s began in 1999 when the
Japanese company VOLKS created the Super Dolfie line of dolls.The first super
dolfie were 57cm tall,strung with elastic,ball jointed ,similar to garaze kits,which was volks main
produc at that time.
Modern
asian BJD’s are intended for adult collectors and customizers and range in
price from US$100 to over US$1000.
BJD’s
are readily customizable.Wings and eyes are easy to remove and replace,as well
as heads,hands,and feet.A doll may even be a hybrid of parts from different
companies.Some BJD owners or customizers even re-shape existing parts by
sanding them or applying epoxy putty to them.
There
is a sizable international community dedicated to BJD’s.The largest English
language BJD internet community,’’Den of Angels’’,has over 43,000 members as of
February-2016.
There
are also vinyl dolls that are being used now-a-days.There are several types of
larger 60cm vinyl dolls in japan.they are in the same scale as full sized
BJDs,with similar proportions.vinyl dolls usually have facial features that are
more highly stylized after anime and less realistic than the typical resin
BJDs.Vinyl dolls are easier to manufacture ,machine made and injecton molded in
soft vinyl and thus lighter and often less expensive than their Japanese resin
counterparts.
The
modern BJD market began with Volks line of Super dolfie in 1999.Super dolfie
and dolfie are registered trademarks but are sometimes erroneously used as
generic blanket terms to refer to all asian BJDs regardless of manufacturer.
