Two Years

Wow does time fly. I received Jaimee, my first BJD (ball-jointed doll), two years ago. I ordered her soon after I started this site. She is a reminder of how I felt when I made that first post. It's hard to believe it's been that long. Here are a couple shots I took of her in a nice outfit with some headphones.

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Along with some other things, getting my first BJD led me down many new paths. Hobbies are great, but they can be even better when they inspire you to do more. What started as one BJD turned into another and now Dollfie Dreams, all of which help to inspire me. Now at the two year mark for my first BJD, I realize how little I've actually done. I blame my MMO addiction.

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With Jaimee I've taken a couple photos here and there, but she's remained largely ignored. Not for lack of interest, but lack of time. While it's good to be productive, I feel something can be lost if you don't take the time to balance things with a more varied set of activities. But it seems our world more and more demands us to be in one spot as work piles up and money becomes tighter.

So in a sense these BJDs and Dollfie Dreams remind me that I need to take a step back sometimes and get off the computer and, basically, stop ignoring other parts of my life. Just as Jaimee is doing here—relaxing and listening to some music. Hopefully, as things move forward, I'll find more time for photos and such. I'm glad I have her to remind me there's more to do than what's behind a screen.

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Do you have an item that inspires you? Do you have something that keeps you aware of how you spend your time? Do you feel you could spend your time better? Hopefully next year I can say that I did more things I wanted to do. How about you.

 

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One Year with Jaimee

One year ago I got my first resin BJD, Jaimee. It's hard to believe it has been a year already. Just last month I got my second resin BJD and I have two Dollfie Dreams on the way, but Jaimee was the first and will always be special to me because of that.

Ordering Jaimee was a big decision. At the time I was certain I was crazy! She was an expensive purchase. She was not sitting on a shelf somewhere, she was made because I ordered her. In essence, she would have not existed if I didn't order her. The same goes for my latest resin BJD, Alexis. It really makes them feel more special that way—more personal.

She's been with me for a year and it's been great having her around! I'm glad that I took the chance and clicked that order button. I thought one would be enough, but it seems I'll need more space soon.

After ordering Jaimee, I was certain that she would be the only BJD I'd ever own

 

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Lazy Night

It was a quiet night and I got a couple new outfits for Jaimee, my BJD Dream of Doll E-an, so I thought I'd take some photos of her. This is my second time taking pictures with her. I'm still getting used to using the camera and posing a BJD. I didn't want to do any extreme posing, so I kept it simple. I hope you enjoy them.

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Jaimee is relaxing in some nice jeans and a simple shirt.

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She's being a little playful.

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I like these close shots, it looks like she's day-dreaming about something.

 

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Dream of Doll E-an

My first resin BJD (ball-jointed doll) came in the mail today! I could hardly sleep, yet the doorbell rang without waking me up. Her box was outside when I eventually did wake up. I couldn't wait to open it and finally see her in person!

It took me weeks to settle on which BJD to get. There are so many, but the Dream of Doll E-an really caught my attention. I didn't really want to spend so much, but it was better to get what I really wanted instead of something else.

It took four weeks for her to be made and shipped to me all the way from Korea. Since this was my first time ordering such an expensive item from a foreign company, I was pretty nervous the whole time. While waiting I bought a wig, eyes, and some clothes. It was kinda surprising to see how big the clothes are! E-an is a 60cm BJD, which makes her about two feet tall. It's hard to realize how big that is until you actually see them in person. It really gives her a presence, making her feel more alive.

As is tradition with most BJD owners, I took pictures during the box opening. She was so well packaged that it took a long while to get her out. She was wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap, pillows, and more bubble wrap! It made the anticipation of seeing her in person even greater.

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The box was bigger than I expected.

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Finally! There she is!

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After the -many- layers of bubble wrap she was free. She is surprisingly heavy. The face-up (the paint on the face) is so detailed and well done. Here are a couple quick shots I took of her all together with the other things I bought while I waited for her to be shipped to me.

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She's so amazing! I can't help but smile. I love her futuristic top and her huge boots! I've decided to name her Jaimee!

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Desk Diary 5-18-2010

I just ordered something I never thought I would, a two foot doll. Yup, you read that right, a two foot doll. (Yes, that's Strike Witches on the TV.)

In my last desk diary I wrote about a some of the things that have rekindled my creativity recently. One such thing was BJDs, which stands for ball-jointed dolls. These are a class of doll mostly made in Asia and greatly range in style and size and are typically made to order or sold as limited editions.

Many collect BJDs because they can be completely customized and they like to take and share photos of them. Some BJDs can truly be considered works of art. Some also buy them for companionship or for many other reasons. There is a huge worldwide community built around this hobby.

To me some are amazingly beautiful and I love that they can be customized—from simple things like the hair and eyes, to more complex changes like the painted face. It is like an inspiring canvas for creating your own character or just a way to express yourself with fashion and/or taking photos. I love creating characters all the time on paper or just in my head. The idea of having a beautiful -physical- character that I can customize and that can sit next to me on my desk is rather inspiring.

It was a big decision as they are fairly expensive and there are literally dozens to choose from from many different companies. Besides price and style, the doll size is another thing to consider. There are mainly two "standard" sizes, SD and MSD. They stand for Super Dollfie and Mini Super Dollfie, which are actually two brands of dolls from Volks—the company that pretty much put modern BJDs on the map.

SD is about two feet tall and MSD is maybe a foot and a half, so these are big dolls. BJDs are generally made out of several separate hard resin plastic parts—like the head, torso, etcetera—that are stung together with thick elastic string. The ball-joints between the parts along with the elastic string allow them to move and be posed. Some can even stand on their own.

There are other BJD type dolls made of other materials. Most notable are the Dollfie Dream dolls, which are also produced by Volks. They look like anime/manga characters and come in the two standard sizes as well, but they are made with soft vinyl parts and a plastic poseable skeleton.

As for the one I ordered, it took weeks of searching through BJD sites and photos to decide. I agonized over which one to get. Eventually, the Dream of Doll - Dream of Teen E-an seemed to be exactly what I wanted. She is an SD sized BJD made of resin plastic. She is also one of the more expensive ones. So it took me a little longer to save up. However, I ordered her today and I'm rather excited!

Dream of Doll is a Korean doll company. Their dolls have a great style and design to them. While I'm excited to get her I must say I'm pretty nervous about it as well. It's the first time I've ordered something this big and expensive overseas and when she does get here I don't know exactly what to expect. Also, as I said above, this is a made to order doll, so I have to wait several weeks for her to be shipped. It will be a long wait.

I'll be sure to post photos when she arrives. In the meantime, I need to save up again so I can order some hair, eyes and clothes!

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