Even though I cancelled the Cosplay Skate, I decided to dust off my old pair of skates and head down to the Covent Garden Market rink away. My music was from a CD player and pair of PC speakers I stuck in the side pouches of my backpack. I lasted about 30 feet on the ice before my feet cried no more for pair of skates I haven’t worn since I was a teen. Just as well, my CD player batteries died faster in the cold.
I headed to Tanakaya for some warm miso soup then went back to rink. As I was coming back in, I notced a table of girls with some familar dolls I been seeing at anime conventions more and more.
The top group of pictures were dolls about 18 inches tall while the bottom picture was dolls only 6-8 inches tall. The trio of girls were just meeting together showing their dolls when I came by. They had mail ordered all of their dolls, their clothes and the wigs.
It seems to me this hobby is growing that there is relatively none or little North American suppliers. Though I not certain if the regular North Amercian doll collector crowd has really looked at this current trend. Maybe because the dolls are not that of traditional dolls. Still the local doll stores should look at this new injection of new blood for it’s future.
This might make things easier if a existing doll stores takes up cause of bringing imports of doll parts from Japan. Enough stores might help get a distributor for these products.
It was fun to meet another segment of the anime community. No doubt, we’ll be seeing more of these dolls in the conventions this year.
– editted Jan 27, 2007
Hi there, I live in London and own 4 ball joint dolls. Even though 3 are from Japan, the majority of ball joint dolls are made/come from Korea. There are a few US distributors of bjd such as denverdoll, dollfair, junkyspot and VolksUSA, just to name a few. I have never walked into or seen a doll store; I wouldn’t consider the ball-joint doll community to be a segment off of the anime community, but more a segment off of Asian-culture or something of that sort.
If anyone seeks more information, head on over to
denofangels.com/forums
Actually, ABJD are getting semi-regular coverage in a doll magazine called Haute Doll, which covers current doll trends. So yes, I’m sure they’ve noticed.
I also wouldn’t consider the BJD community to be a corner of the anime community; some come from an anime background, yes, but there are still a fair number that come from the general doll collecting community as well.
VOLKS is the only Japanese maker of these dolls; the rest are Korean or Chinese (with the majority being Korean).
If anyone would like more information, I suggest going to http://www.denofangels.com/forums
I was going to suggest setting up a section in our forums but it looks like Den of Angels has that covered. There used to be a doll store on Picadilly Street but I walked by today and it\’s long gone.
You might want to check out The Smallest Bento which also has links to MET which hosts a doll and miniature show every year at the JCCC. From their site, you might be able to find some stores and shows locally.
I just wonder how many other people in London are into this hobby?
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