You know, I’ve been doing some thinking. Remember, this is my blog so I can spout out all the opinionated folderol I want to here! Yes, I do that on occasion.
I was thinking about how things have changed in the hobby since I started back in 2000. In terms of the supplies & stock available to customizers and collectors and just the state of information in general.
People don’t really know how good they’ve got it now–both on the 1:6 and 1/4-1/3 scale areas of dollfies & the BJDs. Really.
I’m gonna sound like a cranky old-timer here, but really…how it was in the old days:(at least for me and my fellow customizer friends)
- If you wanted supplies (volks dollfie bodies, rooting hair, heads etc) you had to either order them through the 1 (and only) retailer in the US (the Doll & Hobby Shop) at the time or you had to go through a shopping service in Japan. For a short while there you could buy volks stuff from HLJ but that was discontinued.
- No matter which of those routes you went you were bound to end up waiting MONTHS for your supplies to arrive.
- If you wanted anything special you were going to wait even longer.
- Sometimes you could buy your supplies on feebay or on a forum but generally they were priced even higher than the cost of going the other methods.
Those things made the hobby more of a labor of love than basic ol’ barbie customizing. If you customized barbies (or the like) they were considerably easier to get your hands on–and if you screwed them up you weren’t likely to cry as much either. If you wanted to buy someone else’s customs (and this still hold true for the really good ones) you’d pay and arm & a leg.
But this brings me to where the hobby is now….or at least how I perceive it to be….
- It’s well-and-away worlds easier to get supplies now.
- For those inside the US you’ve got Volks USA & various outlets selling parabox/obitsu stuff.
- For those outside the US (in Europe, like me) you’ve got volks.co.jp which will now sell to your through their website. It’s something of a pain (mostly because between the shipping charges-EMS only–and the customs fees) but better than nothing.
- feebay is now totally awash with dollfie/obitsu customizing supplies. (Back inthe day you could type in “dollfie” and you’d be lucky to end up with 50 items…now you get thousands. You want heads? you can find em there. Want bodies? Ditto. Clothes? Ditto. Accessories? Ditto. There are so many more listings for dollfie/obitsu related items than there have been before. That’s good…right?
Well…yes…I guess.
I say that because, well, I think that to some extent, the hobby has suffered because of the ease of access. I know–you’re thinking –”what? didn’t you just say it was a good thing?!!” .
I did.
But IMO it’s made the 1:6 suffer a bit because everyone’s gotten completely sucked into the 1:3/ 1:4 scale dollfies. (Don’t get me wrong–I like them. Heck, I had them in the past and sometimes regret giving them up!) What I mean is that the 1:6 aspect of the hobby is getting overlooked. Example: If you search dollfies online, 8-10 times you’ll find that the result is something related to BJDs and not 1:6 dollfies. Even Flickr, a site which thousands of people (maybe more) use…dollfies more often than not will bring up BJDS. *sigh* (and can I say here for the record one of my biggest pet peeves is when people refer to volks (excellent, beauty, CM or Dollfie plus) or obitsu as BJDs. For Pete’s sake before they say that why don’t they LEARN what exactly a BJD is??!! (a Ball Jointed Doll) *and for the record, BJDs (historically) were made also made in Germany although that link doesn’t mention it*)
And that’s the thing-The 1:6 pool seems a bit empty at the moment.
Things wax & wane in popularity. People’s interests change or expand (or contract). I’m guilty of this myself, at times. But I always go back to my 1:6 dollfies. I think they are my first love and always will be. I just wish more people could realize the positive aspects of them. I think to a certain extent I’m worried that they may end up being pushed off/out of the market. *shrug* I don’t know.
I don’t think that the pool of customizers is as big as it could/should/would be….but I guess that’s the nature of fads and hobbies? I’m glad to see that it doesn’t seem to have waned much in Japan (at least judging by the Japanese blogs I read, and my browsing on YJ). I hope that the 1:6 hobby picks up in the future.
Why am I bothered about this?
Mostly because seeing the work that other people do/put into making a figure inspires me. It makes me want to try and create something too. I can count on one hand the number of western doll people I know who actively customize & repaint their figures. That’s not Bad…but I just wish there were more. As it is, I frequent a lot of Japanese sites & blogs because I find the level of artistry astounding & awe-inspiring. And I need to be inspired…to be motivated. An example would be PAPY (one of the few japanese customizers on Flickr) who I admire.
Ok, I guess I’ve rambled enough.
7 Responses to “Japanese dolls & customization *rambling thoughts*”
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The Fashion Royalty collectors on the DollDivas board are doing lots of customizing, fwiw.
True, and there are still plenty of folks out there doing customs on Barbies & tonner and other figures. My main gripe (if you can call it that) is that the Japanese dolls (and I really mean base figures, not dolls like Misaki, or Momoko, or Takara’s Blythes, or CGS or Jenny) are falling by the way side.
Customizing isn’t declining….
Just the particular area that I find of interest.
I agree with your complaint about the scale. Personally I had to promise not to go anywhere near the taller dolls (although I am soooooo tempted by the Avantguards) and it annoys me to no end when I search for something and come up with lots of stuff I’d better not even look at.
I started customizing later than you, but in regards to non-military 1:6 Germany is still a bit backwards (and I rarely order abroad). What I recently noticed for myself is that I do not get that excited anymore about new stuff. 5 years ago I went nuts with joy over a simple Obitsu body, nowadays it’s nothing special anymore. I kinda miss this feeling of having hunted patiently and successfully (not to mention being able to quickly find stuff). But maybe that’s just me getting old…
Exactly so. (I can understand the lure of the larger dolls) but yea, there’s a certain amount of frustration when you’re looking for selection or choice (or inspiration) and you find everything but what you’re looking for!
Nah, it’s not you being old–its just you’re more used to finding and the ease of getting those things now. Me too. Mark still pokes fun at me about the time he called me and I’d received my package of doll supplies from Japan. LOL talk about screaming with excitement. I don’t react like that anymore…although I am still excited and happy when I manage to score supplies.
But my reaction–or yours–I don’t know if I’d say it isn’t special anymore….so much as its more commonplace? Therefore acquiring it isn’t as big a feat? Who knows, maybe we’ve become a little bit jaded?
Yes, jaded seems to capture it. The joy of the hunt is almost gone. Of course there are other figures worth hunting, but nowadays it’s a space- as much as a money-issue. And even if I have had something on my wish list for a very long time, I find myself asking “Do I really need it?” (in terms of “can I use it for a project”). So more often than not, especially when it comes to Mattel, I decide not to buy something that I previously longed for.
But you’re right. When I find something that I deem worth buying, I am still excited. Just not in that need-to-tell-everybody-immediately-way anymore.
“…I always go back to my 1:6 dollfies. I think they are my first love and always will be…”
I think that precisely sums up my feelings about the hobby too. Sometimes I miss those “good ol’ days”, those feelings of excitement and just wish to be a newbie all over again. With supplies being more readily available and more choices than ever before, I think that has also affected the sense of community…people used to come together for info and to share their work, but now it doesn’t somehow seem necessary. If you want to find such and such, it’s probably on ebay, eh?
I also think that manufacturers play a part in promoting the 1/6th hobby…while Obitsu has been expanding their line in the past few years, Volks’ 1/6th releases have been minimal. Meanwhile we are seeing more and more companies jumping onto the larger dolls wagon, focusing their energy and innovations in that market, and offering more affordability. So perhaps the consumer is not entirely to blame?
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