30 day challenge prompt #1

     Day 1 challenge is "Why do you like BJDs?"

     I've kind of talked about what I like to do in the hobby, and I guess that's why I like BJDs--customization. When I was a kid, my brothers and I were always trying to make our own toys out of whatever we could. We made dolls out of clothespins and scraps of felt, painted toys we already had to try to make them into characters we'd made up, and all sorts of other silly things just to get something that was our very own. The biggest goal, of course, was figuring out how to get them to pose. My older brother came pretty close just before we found out a BJDs--he sculpted figures out of Sculpey around a string framework, but it was just regular string and they didn't have actual joints to them. They were more like hard, floppy ragdoll things. 

     It was always about having something that was specifically ours, that nobody else had made or bought before--or at least that didn't look like everyone else's. We were all in competition about it, too--whose looked the nicest, or which one was sturdier, or if somebody started making something different than the other two was a big deal. It's kind of silly, but that little competition we had going was really great. We all really liked making things, and it helped us bond and play together as siblings. I wouldn't be into dolls if it weren't for my big brother, after all. 

     I also like them because dolls are something me and my older brother can really talk about. Our little brother gets borderline obnoxious when he doesn't want to hear about them, but with my older brother we can talk about our plans, faceups, and whatever else is going on in our lives. We talk each other in and out of projects, and I like that, together, we've got kind of a joined doll family going. Of course his dolls are strictly his and my dolls are mine, but what I mean is that we make or swap things with each other for our dolls. He just got an Iplehouse Boris, and we found that some of the clothes that were much too big for my RS Li will fit, so he's got them now. My big brother is one of the best friends I've had in my entire life, and I'm willing to admit that a part of what keeps me motivated in the hobby is the little competition we've still got going between us. Just because we have what we were striving for so long, doesn't mean we have to stop competing. Where's the fun in that?

     So anyway. I guess basically I like BJDs because they're that fully-customized toy that I've always wanted (except better) and because it's something I share with somebody who's always been very close to me. Oh, and because they're pretty. Well, I guess not all of them are pretty, I mean you've got your gore mods, cutesy dolls, anthros, and even dolls modeled after old people. I think what I'm trying to say is that I like them because they're whatever you make them. 

~~Aronzo~~