Yeah, but what IS a BJD?

Well, now we know how the bjd craze began, but what is a bjd?

Ball-jointed dolls, as one might expect can be most easily defined as a doll with ball joints.  This however is a bit of circular logic because it really doesn't explain anything.

Asian ball-jointed dolls have multiple points of articulation that use ball and socket joints, much like a human's.  Normal points of articulation are shoulder, elbow, wrist, head, hip/upper thigh, knee, ankle.  There are also often one or more joints in the torso, the typical being waist, and upper chest or both.

Waist joints allow for turning the body and side to side movement and the chest joint allows for the slouching posture.

Elastic cord is threaded through the bjd's hollow body and limbs giving it the tenstion it needs to maintain poses with its articulated joints.  The elastic cord comes in a variety of sizes so it will fit a variety of differently sized dolls.  Overtime the cord loses its elasticity and must be replaced.  This is usually called restringing.  We'll discuss restringing in greater depth in a different post.

However what really seperates a bjd from say a Barbie or other similar doll is its customizability.  A Barbie comes with blonde rooted hair, makeup already on her lips in pink or red.  Her only true customization is the ability to change her clothing.  BJD's however if so purchased, come bald with no clothing, no eyes and no makeup to mark their features such as eyebrows or lips.

Through the application of different style and colors of wig and eyes, different colors and styles of makeup, each bjd is unique and presents its own personality.  It is possible, however, to buy bjd's with a faceup put on by the company.  These faceups tend to all look alike.  Oddly, by just changing the hair, eyes and clothing, these dolls often look nothing alike.

This customizability is the root of the bjd obsession.  One sculpt, many dolls.  Many sculpts, endless possibilities.