Intro to Ball Jointed Dolls

This is a post about my long term hobby, collecting Ball Jointed Dolls. You might have heard of them being called 'Super Dollfie' but Super Dollfies are specific dolls made by Volks, who started it all, while ABJD is the generic term :)

This is a doll I have since sold, she's a Shinydoll Kaoli ^^

More under jump~

What are ABJDs? Bascially, they are highly poseable, highly customisable dolls made from a kind of hard plastic. Usually you buy the doll blank or with minimal customisation, and you customise them as you want. Sometimes Limited Editions are available, where you can buy a doll fully dressed and painted. More info on this type of doll is at the ABJD Wiki.

Most of my dolls are from Shinydoll. It's a very small artist company based in Japan. After meeting the sculptor/company rep, I was asked to became the UK dealer for Shinydoll. You can see my little shop by clicking my profile and going to Nemuidoll :)

This is Suzu. She's a Shinydoll Suzune and is 30cm tall.


This is Acacia, she's a Shinydoll Akali, who is around 57cm tall. She's holding Kaoli ^^

This is Moopy (named by Mark!) who is a Shinydoll Chizune head (meant for the largest size body) who I put on the medium size body, to give her a more 'Anime' proportion. I have a weakness for Moe girls :p

This is Eefee, who is also a large Shinydoll. Most Shinydolls have a Japanese or Anime style face, but as Feefee was based on me she has a Western face. It was a nice surprise when the Shinydoll artist told me he had sculpted a doll using my photos ^^

Now, if you aren't already completely freaked out by now, I'll make it weirder. As well as painting, dressing and photographing my dolls, I also like to animate them :)

This is my favourite, it has my current dolls:

This is my video with the most views. But personally, I find it too jerky and looks really 'unfinished' >_<

Anyway, I now have a remote for my new Canan T1i, so I hope I can do really smooth videos with it :)

Another reason I enjoy collecting these dolls is making outfits for them! I made the capri jeans, vest top, scarf and bag in this outfit:

So you're probably wondering what the appeal is? For me, I just love cute things. I love the challenge of making my dolls, and myself, as cute and moe as possible. My dolls can wear all the slutty or extreme things I couldn't wear myself. They can have any face I want.

If you're interested, here are my favourite links for these dolls:

Nemui Doll - this is my Shinydoll shop, so obviously my favourite link :p

Den of Angels Forums - Massive forum with everything you need to know, including a newbie section and busy marketplace. Registration is invite only, so contact me if you need an invite :)

Shinydoll - Shinydoll official site

Volks Super Dollfie - I'm not a Super Dollfie fan but Volks did start it all.

Volks Dollfie Dream - Dollfie Dream are different to ABJDs in construction and material and are aimed more at a male (otaku) market. The dolls are super moe!! Out of my price range so I just admire from afar :)

BJD Flickr group - large open Flickr group for photos of these dolls.

BJD Superstars Flickr group - Group for doll photos with 10+ favourites. Many pretty photos!

Dark Dollhouse - Very talented doll customiser and seamstress with a very impressive collection!

Nacht Zirkus - Another very impressive collector's HP.

A.U.C. Unoas - Stunning himegyaru styled dolls!

That turned into a very long post! But hope it introduces my unusual hobby :)