How many of us got into the dd dolls from anime?

I've always been into anime, I absolutely adored watching Sailor Moon when I was little and would play with Barbies, reenacting Sailor Moon episodes I saw. As I got older I'd continue to watch more anime and start drawing it. Then in college I helped some schoolmates run a booth at an event and one of them brought what might have actually been a Super Dollfie to display on the table. I thought it was so cool and she was gorgeous, so I asked questions about the doll and afterwards tried to look more into the hobby. Oof, it was expensive, but I found out anime dolls were a thing and preferred them over non-anime styles. Although at the time I thought I could never afford to get into the hobby.

Skip to recent years, and several of my Vocaloid friends are getting dollfies!? It took me at least another year to mull over it, but I saved up some money working and I have art and sewing skills that I think will be useful, so I'm trying to join in now!

tldr: Always liked anime + played with dolls when I was little. Eventually caved in since some friends started getting some and I wanted my own too.

I was in bjds for about 4 year, and ob11s for about five years, just get my first DD last year December because of Bungo Stray Dogs.

Yes and no; my other doll collecting hobby eventually lead me to BJD videos on YouTube. But in the end, my love for anime won my heart over when I discovered anime-faced dolls.

I just couldn't resist getting into the hobby, everything is so pretty and precious and my life feels so much happier~ 

I got into this mess because of Miku, so, 'not quite' because of anime.

I got into Dollfie Dream and BJDs because of anime conventions. My sister was always into anime, but we didn't meet until I was a teenager so I was introduced to it late. The first time I went to visit her, she took me to Otakon 2003, and I got to help carry her dolls around to meetups. I was initially creeped out by the aesthetics but I really liked her Dollfie Dream girl's poseability and I thought her squishy lil hands were cute.

I don't think I would have gotten into the hobby without that initial IRL exposure. The Uncanny Valley was deep for me.

Anime was indirectly responsible for my exposure to BJDs. I first learned about them by following a rabbit hole of links on Wikipedia that started with looking up gothic lolita fashion, which I was interested in because of anime.  I was more drawn to (and only had the budget for) the 1/6th Dollfie Plus line at the time, though, and then resin BJDs (or vinyl ones of that style, like the Obitsu Gretel).

Getting into Dollfie Dreams was because of my love of a specific anime, Fate/Stay Night.  Rin Tohsaka is one of my favorite characters ever, and when they released the UBW version, I really wanted her... unfortunately, the lottery did not work out in my favor.  But that got me reconnected with the hobby, and I eventually ended up getting the original version from Mandarake.

Yes, I got into Dollfie Dreams because of anime. I love my girls.

I got into DDs from Azone 1/6 and 1/12 scale anime dolls, which I was interested in from loving anime since I was a child. I had some old Sailor Moon and Cardcaptors dolls but they were poor quality, so when I got my first Azone dolls I was in heaven with how cute and well-made they are.  After dozens of Azone dolls, I finally caved and got my first DD... and the rest is history!

Hard for me to say, really. I have always been very much into Anime, but likewise I have always been very much into dolls, as well. So I honestly don't know where my love for these particular dolls came from. Most likely it's a bit of both. My love for Anime and my love for dolls coming together?? Yes please!

I'm also a cosplayer and I love the idea of taking my doll with me and making them into a mini-me of the character I'm cosplaying. (Sometimes they already are that character 😂)

12 hours ago, Roxanne said:

Hard for me to say, really. I have always been very much into Anime, but likewise I have always been very much into dolls, as well. So I honestly don't know where my love for these particular dolls came from. Most likely it's a bit of both. My love for Anime and my love for dolls coming together?? Yes please!

I'm also a cosplayer and I love the idea of taking my doll with me and making them into a mini-me of the character I'm cosplaying. (Sometimes they already are that character 😂)

I think it's fun to cosplay with your doll by dressing your doll as a 'companion' character. When I was a teen, I cosplayed as Aerith to a convention and dressed my SD as Cloud, and carried him around all day. People got a kick out of it lol. 

10 hours ago, Ageha said:

I think it's fun to cosplay with your doll by dressing your doll as a 'companion' character. When I was a teen, I cosplayed as Aerith to a convention and dressed my SD as Cloud, and carried him around all day. People got a kick out of it lol. 

Oh yes for sure! Companions as well of course! I don't know how I forgot to mention that! It really is lots of fun, not only to do but also to see for sure!
And aww! I absolutely love Final Fantasy and Aerith is my favourite character for sure ;w; That's so cute ♡

Crypton Future Media announced a project to create an anime featuring Hatsune Miku, so in the future, my answer to this question will change.

7 minutes ago, Mega Negi said:

Crypton Future Media announced a project to create an anime featuring Hatsune Miku, so in the future, my answer to this question will change.

I'm really terrified to see what they're going to do with this, honestly.  I saw someone's thoughts about it on Twitter, that they're hoping it's more of an anthology series, and each episode is a different story by different writers/artists, so that it keeps with the canon of Hatsune Miku, which is to say that there is no canon, and she's whatever you want her to be.  If they took that approach, I'd be pretty excited to see it, but until we get word of what their plans are, I have to say I'm very apprehensive.

I will agree though, that it very well may change the answer to this question for a lot of people in the future!  If it does well, it may become pretty common for DD Miku owners to say they got into Dollfie Dreams through the Miku anime, which would just be wild~!

This is me for sure. I knew nothing of BJD's/DD's prior to stumbling onto the Volks Japan website looking at anime related figures.

Guilty!  I'm obsessed with One Piece and have about 400 "a few" Nami Figures. 😂

 

Dream is to get the Nami Doll (I cannot remember if it was Volks or SmartDoll)

On 2/26/2021 at 3:21 PM, OccultBeast said:

I'm really terrified to see what they're going to do with this, honestly.  I saw someone's thoughts about it on Twitter, that they're hoping it's more of an anthology series, and each episode is a different story by different writers/artists, so that it keeps with the canon of Hatsune Miku, which is to say that there is no canon, and she's whatever you want her to be.  If they took that approach, I'd be pretty excited to see it, but until we get word of what their plans are, I have to say I'm very apprehensive.

I will agree though, that it very well may change the answer to this question for a lot of people in the future!  If it does well, it may become pretty common for DD Miku owners to say they got into Dollfie Dreams through the Miku anime, which would just be wild~!

I am hearing that it is going to incorporate live action as well. I guarantee that I will watch it. I don't guarantee that I will like it.

On 2/27/2021 at 1:11 AM, Mega Negi said:

anime featuring Hatsune Miku, so in the future, my answer to this question will change.

 

On 2/27/2021 at 1:21 AM, OccultBeast said:

I'm really terrified to see what they're going to do with this, honestly.

 

If its going to be a combo of animation and live action, I wouldnt be too surprised if it were a "Me and Miku" type deal where they showcase how different artists bring about how they make / Made Miku perform in their works, where the raw software interaction is removed to coach her directly for instance (there's been a few non-ero doujins like this, at least one was in the tone of someone pirating Miku causing a awkward initial setup) ... alternatively her sitting inside the computer receiving instructions through the user interface and either being excited or annoyed by them ... or just showcase how they got her to do what they did, since the talent base is such diverse, from meme songs, to something like Michie M's Freely Tomorrow where you'd be mistaken to think Miku is actually breathing -- and anything and everything in between.

 

8 hours ago, Mega Negi said:

I am hearing that it is going to incorporate live action as well. I guarantee that I will watch it. I don't guarantee that I will like it.

I saw that as well, and definitely agree: I'm gonna watch it, but I may absolutely hate it lmao

3 hours ago, finnleo said:

If its going to be a combo of animation and live action, I wouldnt be too surprised if it were a "Me and Miku" type deal where they showcase how different artists bring about how they make / Made Miku perform in their works...

Oh, this would be a great approach, too!  I know it's still obviously in the very early stages of discussion, but I do wish they had waited to say anything until they had something a little more substantial to give us along with the 'announcement.'

On 2/28/2021 at 10:04 PM, kaptinbadruck said:

Guilty!  I'm obsessed with One Piece and have about 400 "a few" Nami Figures. 😂

 

Dream is to get the Nami Doll (I cannot remember if it was Volks or SmartDoll)

The Nami doll is a Smart Doll. She goes for a lot of money nowadays though. I hope your dream of one day owning her can come true!

8 hours ago, Roxanne said:

The Nami doll is a Smart Doll. She goes for a lot of money nowadays though. I hope your dream of one day owning her can come true!

Thanks!  Yes, I've seen the $2000 version on Ebay.  Got to earn that money somehow...

I'm like "Kidneys for sale!  Get your kidneys here...!"

I only need one right? 😂

I've been into anime for a long time - my faves being Elfen Lied, Chobits and Angelic Layer. I'm lucky enough to have visited Akihabara in 2008 - 2010 although that was well before my Dollfie phase. I do have a few figures, posters and books from that time though.

Last year I Googled "Miku Hatsune Smart Dolls" then after some research I found Dollfie dolls.

My first doll wasn't actually Miku but DD Dynamite Towa. I'm not keen on the snow Mikus and I like that Towa was a basic model so I could buy her outfits and redress her regularly.

We have Miku hair and a Miku carry bag. Maybe that's enough Miku for us! We might get a Miku but maybe once you go DDdy you never go back 😂.

Oh and the Dollfie I'd really love to own is Chii from Chobits. Shame there's only like 200 of her in the entire world.

Eh, I guess this is a good enough topic to drop this into.

There has been some recent big news relating to Macross.  Big West and Harmony Gold have finally come to agreements on their long-standing licensing dispute.  The announcement states boldly that Macross is now immediately available for worldwide distribution.  The actual nitty gritty of the agreement is less clear, but it seems like Harmony Gold still gets a cut of things related to the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series and the Do You Remember Love movie.  Everything else is under Big West.

In Dollfie terms, I wonder if that means Volks USA could conceivably start selling Sheryl, Ranka, and Freyja backstock?  I doubt Volks has any new Macross DDs in the pipeline, but it means there is one less hurdle for any potential new one as well as being able to sell it worldwide instead of Jp only.

 

10 hours ago, Gabriel said:

Volks USA could conceivably start selling Sheryl, Ranka, and Freyja backstock?  I doubt Volks has any new Macross DDs

While possible, they might shift some stock to the usa branch, but im guessing that anybody who's into the franchise who's wanted a Ranka or Freya (who are the last one's still in stock at the international store) would have gotten them by now, so they might end up as a possible impulse buy at best maybe.

as for future projects, its been quiet on the macross front.. they might do a Mikumo out of Delta .. if they wanted to go a bit obscure maybe a Mylene out of Seven, or just go full retro with a DYRL Minmei ... who knows.. they've surprised people before.

OG Minmei dollfie? RIP my wallet. If they really wanted to twist the dagger, they could put out a Misa Hayase, too. Or a Millia Fallyna...

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Tasuke