Ball-jointed doll
[2] These are cast in polyurethane synthetic resin, a hard, dense plastic, and the parts strung together with a thick elastic.
During the 1930s, the German artist Hans Bellmer created dolls with ball joints and used them in photography and other surrealistic artwork.
[6] The history of commercially produced Asian resin BJDs began in 1999 when the Japanese company Volks created the Super Dollfie line of dolls.
The first Super Dollfie were 57 cm tall, strung with elastic, ball-jointed, and made of polyurethane resin; similar to garage kits, which were Volks main product at the time.
[11] The first Chinese company to release their own original BJD sculpts in high quality polyurethane resin was Dollzone.
The more costly BJDs have body elements which are cast in polyurethane resin and held together by thick elastic cords, making them fully articulated and highly poseable.
BJDs tend to follow a distinctly Asian view in their aesthetics, but the designs are diverse and range from highly anime-inspired to hyper-realistic.
Face-ups and body blushing are done with watercolor pencils, acrylic paint—applied with a regular brush or an airbrush—or soft pastels, and coated with a sprayed-on layer of clear matte sealant for protection.
[17] Enthusiasts have also held offline BJD meetups and organized conventions, like Dollectable in San Francisco, US.
[21] Some BJDs are collectible; limited editions and skillfully customized dolls can fetch prices much higher than the original in the second hand market, sometimes as much as US $5000.
Even collectible limited-edition BJDs are played with and used as props in photoshoots, and even dolls that are no longer in mint condition can command high prices in the second hand market.
Many BJD owners have other interests such as anime, Gothic Lolita and cosplay, and some dress their dolls in related styles.
[24] Other dolls may display fantasy elements like elf ears, vampire fangs, different types of wings, horns, hooves, and cyborg parts.
Doll manufacturers sometimes base BJDs on characters from anime, manga, other works of fiction, or even historical figures.
Some BJD owners similarly customize their dolls to create one-off representations of existing characters or celebrities.
The Korean horror movie Doll Master from 2004[25] and the Taiwanese drama film Spider Lilies from 2007 feature BJDs.
BJDs are also an important motif in the movie Ghost in the Shell: Innocence where many dolls have "spirits" of some sort, but at the same time are not quite human, with designs based on the art of Hans Bellmer.
A few tiny BJDs have mature bodies and are in the same 1/6 scale as fashion dolls like Barbie, about 21–30 cm (8.5–12 in) tall.
Unlike porcelain however, polyurethane tends to turn yellow and decay over time depending on exposure to UV light and heat.
In 2004, Time magazine described Super Dollfie as having "trendily refined makeup" and "exaggerated features inspired by Japanese animation".
[1] Shojo Beat, in 2008, said they have "cool glassy expressions", "a distinct anime look" and that their styles "stay true to a Japanese aesthetic.
"[4] The Japanese artist Gentaro Araki first started in BJDs in 2000 with the 60 cm Andolrea U-Noss line in collaboration with Volks.
Minifee are mini-sized versions of the Delf dolls made by Cerberus Project, distributed by Korean company Fairyland.
(Dream of Doll)[28][43] was one of the earliest Korean companies to make a large line of child like minis, D.O.C.
In addition to a range of fullsize human dolls, Elfdoll have released many types of tiny anthro BJDs, beginning with Catsy.
In 2013, the company collaborated with makers of Gujian Qitan (古剑奇谭), a popular Chinese MMOG to create ball jointed dolls for the game.
[48] Resin ball-jointed fashion dolls like the Sybarite differ from the typical Asian BJD in several ways.
Their main influence is from the collectible American 16 inch vinyl fashion dolls, like Gene Marshall by Ashton-Drake Galleries and Tyler Wentworth by Tonner.
They have more lifelike proportions, smaller heads and eyes, and less childlike, more distinctive facial features There are several types of larger 60 cm vinyl dolls in Japan.
Vinyl dolls usually have facial features that are more highly stylized after anime and less realistic than the typical resin BJDs.
