First of the month, time for Doll Owner’s Corner. When I, the doll owner, talk about anything I want.
This month’s topic:
How the Hobby has Changed for Me
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much things have changed over the last couple of years since I started collecting ball jointed dolls.
I mentioned this before in this post, but when I first started I really just wanted to get one and only one doll and focus on collecting/making clothes and props for her. Hikaru would have loved that so much. But I also mentioned in that post how many cute and wonderful bjds are out there.
So next thing you know, I have my second doll, and then another, and another, etc. Now I have six ball jointed dolls and a ball jointed pet deer, and there may still be one or two in the future.
Another thing, Hikaru was almost larger. When I first learned about bjds and started to get interested in getting one, I was so sure I wanted a SD or 1/3 scale doll. What changed? Partially the price, most dolls that size cost considerably more than 1/4 and 1/6 scale. Plus, I couldn’t find a doll that size that I really liked, most of them are too “adult” looking for my taste. Cuter is my thing.
The biggest thing is the blog. When I started it, I wasn’t sure if I wanted it to be just about bjds or about all sorts of dolls. I do enjoy other kinds of dolls (I actually own several Barbie dolls that Hikaru doesn’t know about, and several Monster High and vintage porcelain dolls as well). Which is why the first few clothing tutorials involve taking measurements and/or drafting a pattern. So that they could be used for just about any kind of doll, not just the ball jointed ones.
But then I started making more patterns specifically for my bjds, mostly out of necessity. I had trouble finding patterns for things, so I made my own. Because if you’ve looked at our Doll Tutorial Directory, you will noticed that several of the tutorials were designed for American Girl, or Barbie, etc. The same if you search for bjd tutorials on Google or Pinterest. I mean you get a lot of results, but not as much as for other types dolls. I wanted to make more for ball jointed dolls, mainly because I had so much trouble finding patterns and thought others did too.
In other words, the blog has focused mostly on bjds because we needed it to. There needs to be more out there about these dolls, and not just on forums like Den of Angels (though it is a fantastic place anyway). There are several great blogs and sites with information about bjds along with patterns and tutorials (see this post for a few), but there still is room for much more.
That’s where I stand today. I can’t say for certain things will be like this for me and bjd collecting in a few years. Who knows, I may venture into creating them instead of just buying them, or at the very least start actually painting faceups. Only time will tell.
