Bright lights burn their faces as they pose relentlessly still. A few camera clicks and photo stills later, it’s time for a costume change.
They remain under the hot lights, seemingly unfazed by the chaos of fast hands that dress them in elegant outfits, paint their faces, and assemble them into new poses. It has been a long day for these models. Yet not a drop of sweat breaks on their foreheads because the smooth resin skin and painted cheeks belong to immobile model dolls.
Unconventional toy
“Back in high school, someone showed me a website featuring [Asian ball-jointed] dolls (ABJDs),” says Krishna Calingacion (III AB Lit Eng). “I really, really, really loved them [already] but it seemed like [an] impossible dream to buy one.”
Given the dolls’ prices – ranging from P20,000 to P50,000 – and the exclusivity of ABJDs to Japan back then, Krishna says fans like her could do nothing more than admire them from her computer screen.
Unlike traditional collectibles, ABJD’s are modern dolls that are taken out of their boxes to be played with. With ball and socket joints found on their torsos, hips, and ankles, they can showcase a variety of poses, much to the liking of photographers and artists. Moreover, this allows for the customization of their features, which further enables owners to create the unique personalities of their dolls.
Bea Yu (III BFA ID), for instance, has created a casual boy-next-door, an edgy emo rocker, and a strictly formal doll. By customizing the hair, eyes, facial features, and clothes of her dolls, Bea was able to create her Shuri, Keran, and Keiri.
One can easily replace parts such as the head, hands, and feet by ordering from companies such as Volks. These parts can also be easily reshaped by sanding on the resin material that makes up the doll. Facial features are then emphasized by paint. “[It’s amazing] that I can [actually] breathe life to the dolls,” Bea says. “Kind of like [the computer game] Sims – but isn’t.”
But Joey David-Tiempo, founder of ManikaManila (a community of ABJD owners in the Philippines), says the dolls’ extended joints are not the only reason for the ABJD craze in Japan and South Korea. “The dolls are special [because] they can be transformed into characters that are unique to the owner,” she says. “Every ABJD is one of a kind.”
David-Tiempo owns Uno, front man of Mistula, the first virtual band in the Philippines. “When a character you’ve long imagined and held close to your heart comes into being, it is unbelievably overwhelming. [It is] even more fulfilling when you are able to inspire other people with the characters you’ve created,” she says. “Every time a person quotes Uno, draws an artwork based on his stories, or sings a Mistula song, all the money, time, and effort I put into these dolls become worth it.”
Playing doll
By being able to change the eyes, hair, and outfit of her doll Ulalume, Krishna says she has an outlet to extend her creative frustrations. “It’s not so much the dressing up of the doll, [but] more of the ownership of one,” she says. “For me, to own a doll is to own an embodiment of a character.”
However, by running around school with a bright red bow paired with an elegant-looking outfit, Krishna shows that aside from dressing up her doll, she enjoys dressing herself up as well.
She is quick to point out that her dolls are not a compensation of herself. “I am happy with the way I am structured. Despite this,” she says, pointing to her body. She then points to a picture of a doll displayed on her laptop screen saying, “I can still dress up like that.”
Unlike Krishna, Bea chooses to dress like any other Atenean on campus. Clad in a blue-and-gray top and jeans on one busy school day, Bea says she prefers to save her doll outfits for meetings with other doll enthusiasts from ManikaManila.
“My doll usually just sits on my table,” Bea says. “[But when there are meets], we get all dressed up with our dolls. We eat in a nice venue, take pictures of our dolls, and [update] each other on the [latest ABJD news].”
David-Tiempo says ManikaManila is very small and exclusive compared to similar groups in other countries like Singapore and America. “ABJDs are not as popular in this country as they are perceived to be,” she says. “ManikaManila has 96 members and only 40 percent own dolls.” David-Tiempo explains that the price and the costly maintenance remain to be a deterrent, especially to teenagers who depend solely on their parents to buy these luxuries.
Material girl?
Unlike traditional collector’s items, David-Tiempo says the joy of owning an ABJD does not end when the doll is safe and sound in its display case. For ABJD owners, the hobby begins when the doll is taken out of its box. “The true beauty of an ABJD is most expressed when customized lovingly, photographed in various poses, dressed in different outfits, and shared with other people,” she says. “They are meant to inspire creativity, imagination, and friendships.”
However, as the community of ball-jointed doll owners continues to grow in the country, critics will also continue to judge them on the amount of money they spend or the foolishness of playing with dolls at such an age.
“People don’t seem to look beyond the fact [that] these dolls are very expensive. They think we’re throwing so much money away with these little pieces of resin,” says Krishna. “They don’t see [that] for most of us, having our doll is more than simply looking cool. These dolls are like an expression of oneself.”
Despite the demands of such a hobby, doll owners Bea, Krishna, and David-Tiempo all agree that these dolls consequently give enjoyment and a sense of fulfillment to those who see beyond their materiality. As most owners have discovered, ABJDs are stoic photography subjects, uncomplaining fashion models, convenient creativity outlets, quiet therapy means, and constant silent companions.
