BJDs are any doll which is articulated with ball and socket joints, so they can be posed in many natural positions. The kind I collect are mainly manufactured in Asia - they're cast in polyeurethane resin, a sort of strong, clay-like plastic. Their limbs have a hollow tube running through them, with hooks at the wrist and ankle, to which thick elastic string is secured and fed through the tubes - the ends go up through an opening in the neck, up through a hole at the base of the head and hooked inside. The tension keeps the dolls standing and posing like a dream...even though it probably sounds incredibly creepy!
BJDs come in many sizes, but the most common are Super Dollfies (55cm-60cm approx.), Mini Super Dollfies (45cm approx.) and Yo Super Dollfie (around 25cm). There are other sizes, both larger and smaller, and I currently have one of the smaller ones - you'll see her below!
There are dozens of BJD companies which design, mould and sell their unique dolls in both mass production lines and limited runs. They vary from western looking humans, to fantasy humanoids with gorgeous one of a kind interchangeable parts, to anime girls in schoolgirl outfits.
Prices depend on the company, quality and production - limited dolls will often cost more than main production line sculpts, but this isn't always the case. This is probably where these dolls differ the greatest from your normal barbies and porcelain baby dolls - they are not cheap and unless you are uber super talented like the lovely Andreja, it can cost even more to customise them! But if you research for a good while and maybe even meet one in real life and you still want a BJD, saving up to get what you want is completely possible :)
Speaking of customising, BJDs are very customisable, that's part of their appeal. They can come in fullset form, with factory made clothing, wigs, accessories, faceups and eyes, but you can also buy completely blank sculpts and gather all these things up seperately, which is what I do ^_^ Just type "dollfie" into Ebay and you'll get an idea of the variety available - quite often I get jealous of my girls clothes!
Personally, my dolls are a creative outlet. I sew for them and spend a lot of time styling them how I like, simply because its something I enjoy in my free time, like putting together posts for my blog, or like any other hobby really! Photography is a huge part of it too - getting my dolls has sparked a huge love for photography in me and it has spread to other subjects too.
Let me introduce you to my little gang ^_^ Click on a photo to see more of them :)
Arrival: 5th September 2011
Sculpt: Dreaming Kana
Company: AngellStudio
Size: SD
Faceup: In progress - Nicolles Dreams by Andreja.
Name: Evie
Arrival: I can't rememberO_O
Sculpt: Shoyo on DollinMind Body
Company: Dollzone
Size: MSD
Faceup: Human Beans
Name: Juno
Arrival: Christmas 2010
Sculpt: Ai
Company: Soom
Size: YoSD
Faceup: Nicolles Dreams.
Name: Kimiko
Arrival: 8th July 2011
Sculpt: Pukifee Zoe
Company: Fairyland
Size: Pukifee - smaller than YoSD.
Faceup: In progress - Human Beans.
Name: Ingrid
Arrival: Er...
Sculpt: Minifee Chloe
Company: Fairyland
Size: MSD
Faceup: In progress - Human Beans.