Inklings of More Character Dolls

    It's no surprise that after acquiring Dream, I am on the lookout for his nightmare companion, the Corinthian. I’ve scoured countless BJD spaces online—from the Den of Angels forum to Instagram, and now even Chinese BJD communities where so much of the hobby’s innovation and trends thrive. 

    But lately, I've resigned myself to being trapped by my own doll niche: semi-realism. More precisely, dolls with mature, Westernized aesthetics rather than the more popular anime- or manhua-adjacent styles. Which, unfortunately, makes finding a doll that truly feels like the Corinthian incredibly difficult.

   There are only three doll companies that produce the kind of semi-realistic dolls I’m drawn to: Iplehouse (i.e. Dream), Sartoria J (i.e. Amara and Cori), and Raccoon Doll. Out of the three, only Sartoria J releases new dolls with any regularity, whereas Raccoon Doll does so once in a blue moon. Iplehouse, on the other hand, seems perfectly content with their existing catalogue and has long since stopped creating new sculpts.

    I may be spiraling because I just can't find a sculpt I like enough to shell him—and I'm growing quite impatient. 

    And then there’s Iplehouse’s Asa: a sculpt that feels perfectly suited to one of my OCs and is entirely within reach. I'd promised myself from the beginning that I'd only ever shell the two main characters of my story. To shell more of my OCs would mean I'd have to go all-in with the ensemble cast. 

    But whenever I see owner pictures of Asa, I just think she's the most gorgeous doll I've ever seen, especially since Asian features in dolls are still rare. My brain also likes to run the whole movie reel of said OC’s life story: Vivian, an immigrant from Hong Kong who attended the same London boarding school as Amara. They insist they were only ever rivals, not friends. Years later, Vivian would become Cori’s very first styling client. 

    Other significant characters in my story include Tariq, a black British man who is Amara's adoptive older brother (black doll sculpts...where??), her bio younger brother Daniel who is a ginger with autism (doable), and Cori's BFF Tasha, a Hispanic woman with a confident smirk and a curvy but built frame. Tasha's combination of traits is especially difficult to find in dolls, and I often find myself shaking my head at the hobby's lack of diversity. 

 

The smirk on Iplehouse's Scarlet is Tasha-coded, but her face shape is too sharp

 

Black Ship's Oil Painting Body is a true rarity among BJD figures, but no dice on that small neck

    So maybe I’ll close the book on shelling the rest of the cast after all. Or at least wait until Dream and Cori feel truly complete before starting another project. Unless, of course, I continue failing to shell the Corinthian. At which point all bets are off.

I may be spiraling because I just can't find a sculpt I like enough to shell my last character—and I'm growing quite impatient. 

Then there exists a sculpt perfectly suited to my OC that's within reach, and it's Iplehouse Asa. I'd promised myself from the beginning that I'd only ever shell the two main characters of my story. To shell more of my OCs would mean I'd have to go all-in with the ensemble cast. 

But whenever I see owner pictures of Asa, I just think she's the most gorgeous doll I've ever seen, especially since Asian features in dolls are still rare. My brain also likes to run the whole movie reel of said OC's life story (namely, an immigrant from Hong Kong who attended the same London boarding school as Amara. Her name is Vivian, and they're not friends, only rivals. Or so they believe). 

Other significant characters in my story include a black British man who is Amara's adoptive older brother (black doll sculpts where??), her bio younger brother who is a ginger with ASD (doable), and Cori's BFF who is a Hispanic woman with a curvy but built body (previously eyeing the Blackship body for her, but no dice on that neck girth) and a confident smirk (Iplehouse Scarlet? But her face is too slim). Shaking my head at doll limitations.

So maybe I'll close that book on shelling the rest of the cast after all. Or at the very least, I get Dream and even Cori's styling to a level where I feel satisfied enough to start another doll project in a year or two—if I fail to shell the Corinthian.