Ball-jointed doll
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A '''ball-jointed doll''' is any [[doll]] that is articulated with [[ball and socket joint]]s. In contemporary usage when referring to modern dolls, and particularly when using the acronyms '''BJD''' or '''ABJD''' it usually refers to modern Asian ball-jointed dolls.<ref>http://collectdolls.about.com/od/dollcollectingglossary/g/balljointed.htm?rd=1</ref> These are [[Casting|cast]] in [[polyurethane]] [[resin]], a hard, dense plastic, and the parts strung together with a thick elastic. They are predominantly manufactured in [[Japan]] and [[South Korea]], and in 2006 [[China|Chinese]] manufacturers entered the market. BJD design is both realistic and influenced by [[anime]] with proportionally large heads and big eyes. They range in size from about 60 cm (2 feet) for the larger dolls, 40 cm (16 in) for the mini dolls, and all the way down to 10 cm (4 in) or so for the tiniest of the tiny BJDs. BJDs are made to be easy to customize, by painting, changing the eyes and wig, and so forth.
The modern BJD market began with Volks line of [[Super Dollfie]] in 1999. ''Super Dollfie'', or just ''Dollfie'', are sometimes erroneously used as [[Genericized trademark|generic blanket terms]] to refer to all Asian BJDs regardless of manufacturer. But Super Dollfie is a registered trademark for Volks line of BJD, and [[Dollfie]] is the trademarked name of their line of [[Barbie]] sized 1/6 scale vinyl dolls, which are not proper ball-jointed dolls at all.
==History==
The history of ball-jointed dolls is many centuries old, with wooden articulated dolls dating back hundreds of years.
The modern era ball-jointed doll history began in Western Europe, particularly [[France]] and [[Germany]], in the late 1800s. From the late 1800s and to the early 1900s French and German manufacturers made ball-jointed dolls with [[bisque]] heads and strung bodies made of [[composition]], a mix of pulp, sawdust, glue and similar materials.<ref>http://collectdolls.about.com/od/dollcollectingglossary/g/composition.htm?rd=1</ref> These dolls were sized between about 20 and 40 inches.<ref>http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_antique_appraisals/article/0,,hgtv_3081_2233326,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.civilization.ca/cpm/catalog/cat2101e.html</ref>, and they are now collectible antiques.
During the 1930s the German artist [[Hans Bellmer]] created dolls with ball-joints and used them in photography and other surrealistic artwork. Bellmer introduced the idea of artful doll photography, which continues today with Japanese doll artists, as well as the BJD fandom.
Influenced by Bellmer and the rich [[Japanese traditional dolls|Japanese doll tradition]], Japanese artists began creating strung ball-jointed dolls. These are commonly made entirely of bisque and often very tall, sometimes as tall as four feet. These dolls are art, and not intended for play or even the hobby level of collecting usually associated with dolls. They cost several thousand dollar, up to several hundred thousand dollar for older collectible dolls from famous artists. The art doll community is still very active in Japan, and doll artists regularly release artbooks with photographs of their dolls.<ref>http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25418 not the best source, but has pointers to others</ref><ref>http://www.japattack.com/main/node/140</ref>
The history of commercially produced Asian resin BJD began in 1999 when the Japanese company [[Volks]] created the [[Super Dollfie]] line of dolls. The first Super Dollfie were 57 cm tall, strung with elastic, ball-jointed, and made of polyurethane resin, similar to [[garage kit]]s, which were Volks main product at the time. Super Dollfie were made to be highly customizable, and to create a female market for garage kits.
{{seealso|Super Dollfie#History}}
By 2003, South Korea started producing their own versions of Asian BJDs. Customhouse and Cerebrus Project were among the first Korean companies to market internationally. In 2006, beginning with Dollzone, Chinese BJD companies began selling their versions of the Asian BJD internationally.
BJDs have a strong influence from the anime esthetic. Prominent BJD companies, Volks with Super Dollfie, Cerberus Project<ref>http://www.cerberusproject.com/</ref> with the Delf line, as well as the Japanese artist Gentaro Araki with U-noa line<ref>http://www.japattack.com/main/node/140</ref>, all have backgrounds in anime style [[garage kit|garage resin figure kits]].
==Moden Asian BJDs==
[[Image:BJD modified Cerberus Project Sleeping Vampire head with normal Cerberus Project boy body.jpg|thumb|300px|A modified Cerberus Project Delf BJD.]]
Modern Asian BJDs are fully articulated and highly posable. Most have ball and socket joints in the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles. Some are double jointed, with two joints at elbows and knees for example, and some also have one or two joints in the torso, and more rarely even in individual fingers. Body elements are held together with one or more thick elastic cords that attach to hands, feet and head, creating tension and friction between the parts.
BJDs have comparatively large feet, contrasted with fashion dolls like [[Barbie]], and a lot of BJDs are capable of standing on their own, without a stand or other support.
Ball-jointed dolls follow a distinctly Asian view in their esthetics. The designs are diverse and range from highly anime-inspired to hyper-realistic. They are often considered to be collectors items.
Ball-jointed dolls are initially modeled in a substance such as clay. When the sculptor is satisfied with the result, the hardened clay body parts are used to form molds for multiple parts to be cast in synthetic [[polyurethane]] [[resin]]. Cured resin has a hard, smooth, [[porcelain]]-like feel, but is much more durable. Unlike porcelain however, polyurethane tends to turn yellow and decay over time depending on exposure to UV light and heat.
BJDs have more or less prominent ''seams'' along the body parts and sometimes other traces from the casting process. Some choose to sand the seams down, and some companies do this for the customer.
BJDs are readily customizable. Wigs 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.
The resin material is easier to paint than the softer and more slick [[vinyl]] often used for other types of dolls. BJD face paint is usually referred to as a ''faceup'', to note that it's not just make-up, but all the facial features that are painted and customized, including eyebrows, lips and blushing to enhance features. Some BJD are delivered without a faceup, leaving it entirely up to the owner or a customizer to paint the doll.
Faceups and body blushing are usually done with with [[acrylic paint]] (applied with a regular brush or an [[airbrush]]) or soft [[pastel]]s, which are coated with a sprayed-on layer of clear matte sealant to protect it from smudges or ultraviolet damage. BJD faceups, even from large companies, are always painted by hand, and it takes considerable skill to do professional level faceups.
BJDs are sold as anything from complete fullsets to kits. A fullset BJD comes fully assembled, painted and with clothes. Unlike many other collectible dolls though, the wig and clothes are usually included separately. Owners of even limited fullset BJDs often use a different wig than the default, and different clothes than those included.
In contrast, a BJD sold as a kit is just the bare parts, similar to a [[garage kit]]. Sometimes a wig or eyes are included, but neither is attached to the doll, which have to be strung together, painted and dressed to complete it.
Most companies sell BJDs assembled but it is up to the buyer if they want to have a faceup when they receive their doll. BJDs can also be purchased as a kit unpainted/unassembled (some of Volks' msd line) or in parts (head/body seperately).
Some BJD creators sell just heads, in size and skin color to fit with doll bodies from other companies.
==BJD Culture==
In the BJD world, while the dolls are often highly collectible, the customization and personalization aspects are usually more emphasized. Even collectible limited-edition BJDs are played with and used as props in photoshoots, and even dolls that are no longer in mint condition can command high prices in the second hand market.
BJDs are usually named by their owner, and sometimes assigned individual characteristics and personality traits. The dolls are often used as subjects of artistic work, such as photography or drawing.
There is a sizeable international [[fandom]] community dedicated to BJDs. The largest English BJD forum has over 17,000 members as of June 2008.<ref>http://www.denofangels.com/forums/index.php</ref> Drawings, photos and photo stories are shared in the [[internet forum|online fandom forums]]. Fans also organize offline BJD meetups and conventions.
There is also a considerable overlap with other fandoms, like [[anime]], [[cosplay]] and [[Gothic lolita]].<ref>ShojoBeat June 2007</ref>
Doll manufacturers sometimes base BJD on popular characters in [[anime]] or [[manga]]. Owners can achieve a similar effect through customization, creating one-off representations of these characters, or those from books or movies.
The Delf line, and some other BJDs have elf ears and are popular with members of the fantasy and elf fandom.
There are also some BJDs with visible [[vampire]] fangs.
Many BJD owners use their male dolls to stage [[yaoi]] style photoshoots.
BJD are often dressed in contemporary and casual youth fashions. Dolls styled in [[Punk fashion|punk]], [[Gothic fashion|goth]], [[Emo|emo]] or scene fashion are commonly seen.
[[Doll Master]] is a Korean horror movie that sets dolls as theme.
The main characters in the manga and anime [[Rozen Maiden]] are all BJD-like ''living dolls''.
The virtual band [[Mistula]] is composed of customized BJDs, Super Dollfie and Delf dolls.
==BJD Types and Sizes==
BJDs have been produced in many different types and sizes as the market has expanded. There are roughly three main size categories for BJDs, full ''SD'' size, mini and tiny. Compare with [[Super Dollfie#Super Dollfie Models|Super Dollfie Models]].
===Full size===
Large full size dolls, sometimes referred to as ''SD'' size from the [[Super Dollfie]] size range, are around 55cm or taller. Roughly 1/3 scale, they usually represent fully grown teenagers or adult body types. Full size dolls from Korean companies are often closer to the 60cm range of Volks SD13 dolls, even for girl versions.
Fullsize BJD generally begin at US $500 but can easily reach more than US $1,000 for limited-edition dolls.
Typical full size BJD examples:
* [[Super Dollfie]], from Volks
* Delf, designed by resin kit designers Cerberus Project<ref>http://www.cerberusproject.com/</ref>, made and distributed by the Korean company Luts.<ref>http://www.eluts.com/</ref> Often referred to by the acronym ''CP'', or as ''Luts dolls'', after the distributor.
*Souldoll<ref>http://www.souldoll.com/</ref>, Korean
There is also a range of slightly larger full size BJD, from 68-80cm tall.
*Dollshe<ref>http://tensiya.com/</ref> introduced a line of tall, slim, double jointed mature boy dolls in 2003<ref>http://www.abjds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181</ref>
===Mini===
Mini size dolls, sometimes referred to as ''MSD'' size from to Mini Super Dollfie size range, are about 40cm tall. Minis are often around US $400-500.
Minis are sometimes referred to as 1/4 scale, but accurately there are two major categories of minis, those that are roughly in the same 1/3 scale as full size dolls and are meant to look like children in scale to larger dolls, and the ''mature minis'' which are meant to represent fully grown adults and are closer to the 1/4 scale.
Typical examples of child-like minis:
*Mini [[Super Dollfie]] from Volks
*D.O.C. (Dream of Children) from Korean company D.O.D. (Dream of Doll)<ref>http://www.dreamofdoll.com/</ref>
Typical examples of mature minis:
*U-noa Quluts, from Alchemic Labo<ref>http://www.alchemiclabo.com/</ref>, the company of Japanese artist Gentaro Araki
*Narae and Narin from Narindoll<ref>http://www.narindoll.com/</ref>, sculpted by Korean artist Bimong
*Minifee, Mini sized version of the Delf dolls, distributed by Korean company Fairyland.<ref>http://dollfairyland.com/</ref>
===Tiny===
Any BJD under roughly 30cm tall is referred to as a tiny. These are available in many different types and scales.<ref>http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pf3nXpzqLiCvmEs9VYmfvEw tiny size reference sheet</ref> Tinies are usually in the area between US $100-300.
Some tiny BJD are made look like toddlers or babies next to full size dolls, these are about 25 cm (10 in) tall.
*YoSD from Volks<ref>http://www.angelden.net/volks/yosd/index.php</ref>
*DollLeeke-D from Korean company Leeke<ref>http://www.leekeworld.us/</ref>
*Petite AI from Korean company Custom House<ref>http://www.ainai.com/en/</ref>
*Ciao Bella from Korean company Bambicrony<ref>http://www.bambicrony.net/</ref><ref>http://www.abjds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127</ref>
*Tuesday's Child from Korean company Rosen Lied<ref>http://rosenlied.com/eng/</ref>
There are also even smaller childlike dolls, tiny tinies, these are usually not made to be in scale with any larger BJDs. These tinies are more often than other BJDs housed in a [[dollhouse]], and some are in scale to the standard dollhouse sizes.
*Nari-pon from Korean NotDoll Lab<ref>http://notdolllab.com/</ref>
*Lati White and Lati Yellow from Korean company Lati<ref>http://latidoll.com/</ref><ref>http://www.abjds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1295</ref>
*Pocket Fairy from Korean company Bluefairy<ref>http://www.bluefairyint.com/</ref><ref>http://www.abjds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=811</ref>
*Pukipuki, distributed by Korean company Fairyland<ref>http://dollfairyland.com/</ref>
There are also tiny BJDs with mature bodies, which are in the same 1/6 scale as Barbie and other fashion dolls, about 21-30 cm tall. They can share clothes and accessories with fashion dolls.
*Mini Gem from Korean company Soom<ref>http://www.dollsoom.com/</ref>
===Anthro===
Humanoid [[Anthropomorphism|anthro]] animal BJDs are usually in the tiny size scale.
* Elfdoll<ref>http://www.elfdoll.com/</ref>, a Korean company, have released many types of anthro BJDs, starting with Catsy.
* Pipos<ref>http://www.piposdoll.com/</ref>, another Korean company, has released several types of anthro dolls. Baha is a popular type of anthro cat from Pipos.
There are also some ball-jointed animal dolls that are not humanoid, but stand on all four, and in scale as pets for larger sized dolls.
*PetDoll<ref>http://www.gigglegeek.dk/dollpetdoll.htm</ref>
==Chinese BJD==
The earliest Chinese-made BJDs were knockoffs, direct recasts or only slight modifications of Super Dollfie or original Korean BJDs. Made of plaster, low quality resin or polystone (a mix of resin and a filler material, like sand) they were very cheap but not very durable.
Dollzone<ref>http://www.doll-zone.com/</ref> was the first Chinese company to release their own original sculpts in high quality polyurethane resin, in late 2005/early 2006.<ref>http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47000</ref>
Chinese BJD are cheaper than their Japanese and Korean counterparts, with mini size dolls prices starting at around US $200<ref>http://www.doll-zone.com/showcatalogue.asp?ps=35</ref><ref>http://happyhouse4u.com/shopex/index.php?gOo=goods_search_list.dwt&gcat=3</ref> and fullsize dolls starting at around US $300-$400.<ref>http://www.abjds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=784</ref><ref>http://happyhouse4u.com/shopex/index.php?gOo=goods_search_list.dwt&gcat=2</ref><ref>http://www.doll-zone.com/showcatalogue.asp?ps=34</ref>
==Related dolls==
There are resin ball-jointed [[fashion doll]]s like the [[Sybarite (fashion doll)|Sybarite]]. They differ from the typical Asian BJD in several ways. Their main influence is from the collectible American 16 inch vinyl fashion dolls, like [[Gene Marshall]] by Ashton-Drake Galleries and [[Tyler Wentworth]] by Tonner. Ball-jointed fashion dolls are usually around 16 inches tall, closer to 1/4 scale than the typical 1/3 scale of Asian BJDs. They have more realistic proportions, smaller heads and eyes, and less child-like, more distinctive facial features.
There are several types of larger 60cm vinyl dolls in Japan. These are in the same scale as fullsize BJD and with similar proportions. Their facial features tend to be more highly stylized after anime and less realistic than the typical resin BJDs.
The two most common types are [[:ja:ドルフィー・ドリーム|Dollfie Dream]] {{ja icon}} (from Volks) and [[:ja:オビツボディ|Obitsu]] {{ja icon}}. Some of these dollls are occasionally loosely classified as BJD. The first Dollfie Dream body type had a strung body with classic ball and socket joints, but the current body has an internal skeleton of hard plastic,<ref>http://www.volks.co.jp/en/dollfiedream/basebodys/01/index_01.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.volks.co.jp/en/dollfiedream/basebodys/02/index_02.aspx</ref> as does the Obitsu dolls.
Vinyl dolls are easier to manufacture, machine-made and injection-molded in soft vinyl, and thus lighter and often less expensive than their hand-cast resin counterparts.<ref>http://www.hlj.com/product/OBT03602 Obitsu body for US $200</ref> These vinyl bodies can, sometimes with some modifications, be combined with a resin BJD head.
Paper Moon dolls<ref>https://www.pmoon.co.jp/TOUSHINDAI/index.html</ref> are five feet tall life-size dolls cast in resin. They have pronounced anime features, and have specially constructed joints that are superficially similar in appearance to ball and socket joints. But due to the inherent difficultiy in stringing such a large doll with elastic, internally the joints are hinged. Unlike many other lifesize dolls, Paper Moon dolls are not sex dolls.
==See also==
*[[Asian fashion doll]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refimprove|talk=y|date=July 2008}}
==External links==
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*[http://www.gigglegeek.dk/bjd.htm SD-like Ball Jointed Dolls] A database of Modern Ball Jointed Dolls
*[http://www.denofangels.com/ Den of Angels] the largest English BJD forum
*[http://bjd_wtf.livejournal.com BJD_WTF] Tutorials, photos & more
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