What is a BJD (Ball Jointed Doll)?

What is a Ball Jointed Doll (BJD)?

A Ball Jointed Doll (BJD), is a doll with articulated joints, usually ball shaped joints. The dolls are usually made of Polyurethane Resin, and are strung together by elastic chords.

Although they can also be made from Vinyl, Silicone or even 3D printed. They all come in a large variety of sizes, shapes and colours.

How realistic are they?

Many are quite anatomically realistic, although some are more “anime” style such as those from the Dollfie Dream Company (see image below). Yet others are gender neutral. BJD’s are oft en bought “naked” or “Blank” without faces, clothes, hair or eyes.

Volks Dollfie Dream - Poster for the Anime Festival Asia 2014

Some BJD's are even sold “Unstrung” which means disassembled for ease of shipping, requiring you to put them back together. And all of them can be completely customisable, meaning you can add as much detail as you want, or even “mod” the original doll to look completely different (eg. amputee, scarring, open wounds, open eyes, closed eyes)

There are as many possibilites as there are dolls to choose from, some can even become “Hybrids”

Which involves taking a body from one company and pairing it with a head from another or

vice-versa. And as a result the art of “Resin Matching” is a highly sought after skill from those professionals able to do face-ups for this reason.