To give you an idea of how vastly expressive and different one BJD can be from another, I want to make a list of what are (in my opinion), some of the more impressive and obscure examples of ball jointed dolls. One might consider these dolls strange or even grotesque, but I’ve found their shape and subtle step away from the complete human form to be lovely. Everything has flaws. As it should be, because perfection is simply boring.
As a heads up, some of these sites I’ll be linking to are NSFW (not safe for work) due to the artistic nudity. These dolls are anatomically correct, which anyone not in the hobby might find disturbing. This, however, I’ll address in another post.
As previously stated, all of these are a matter of opinion, but I believe the majority of the BJD world will agree with me: Doll Chateau has some amazing sculpts. Most, if not all of these dolls are not correctly proportioned as to human standards. Their arms are thin, their bodies (at least for females) have a very pear-like shape, while their legs remain slender and beautiful. I’ve always enjoyed the thought of longer, thinner arms and legs, whether it is architecturally sound or not. It’s not just the shape, though. Their faces are so expressive.
That, however, is not the icing on top of the awesome cake. What Doll Chateau really shines in is developing new and interesting appendages to place on their dolls. Like strange horns, for example!
2. Dollsoom
I feel like this doesn’t count as much as it used to, but when the ball jointed doll market was still young, SOOM made a lot of amazing and unique sculpts. They would color the resin, make it translucent, and most importantly, give life to creatures of imagination like satyrs, faeries, and Egyptian gods.
They’re certainly not for everyone, especially those with empty wallets. A lot of their creations have been hit or miss, but in general the results are, at the very least, impressive.
3. Pipos
Pipos is one of my favorite stores. I’ve bought from them twice now, and would love to buy even more. I can’t claim they were one of the first to experiment with anthropomorphic dolls, but they certainly have some amazing quality to their product.
The faces are expressive, the colors are beautiful, and the joints are thoughtful. Since they started, their dolls have evolved in variety as well. Not only do they have anthropomorphic dolls shaped like children, they have more mature bodies as well.
I know. Cat face human body sort of enhances the creep factor for some people. Believe me, I understand and I have no objections to the people who are creeped out by it, but at the very least, the quality of the doll is stellar.
And that’s my top three. I was actually going to do more, and I might revise the list on a future date, but the more I try to think about it, the more blank my brain goes. I hope you enjoyed the examples, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions regarding my post~
