Being anti-recast is not “elitism.”
I am pro-bootleg-Barbies. Mattel is a giant, faceless corporation, and getting a bootleg Barbie doesn’t harm their bottom line. Plus, bootleg Barbies are cheap and plentiful, both on- and offline. They’re a doll for children. A doll meant to be played with and loved by kids, regardless of whether their parents have a lot of cash or not.
Some doll collectors collect playline dolls, and that’s awesome. It’s a fun, usually-inexpensive hobby. Sometimes, you can’t find a used playline doll for a reasonable price, like Monster High nowadays, and bootlegs are pretty much the only option. For playline dolls, I don’t see an issue there.
Playline dolls are both machine-cast in huge amounts, and allow all children (and some adults) to have cool toys to play with.
BJDs, on the other hand, are not mass-produced. Resin--which is already more expensive than other plastics, just right off the bat--has to be hand-cast, often multiple times, to get each doll part. This takes hours of labor; hours that need to be paid for so that the artist can eat. The long waitlist for new dolls? It’s because of how much time and effort it takes to get even one doll made. (This is not a hobby for impatient people, like in general. Waiting six months or more, BEFORE the doll is made and shipped from Japan or South Korea, is normal for a BJD.)
There are some elitists who think that buying a legit doll secondhand isn’t good enough. Fuck those people; they suck. Your secondhand doll is just as good as their new dolls. One of my dolls is a new head on a secondhand body. The resin doesn’t match, but you can’t tell when he’s wearing clothes.
If the secondhand market isn’t good enough for you, for whatever elitist reasons you may have, then go on Etsy. A lot of artists design and 3D-print BJDs for sale on Etsy, because even buying a 3D printer and filament is still cheaper than casting resin. DoA doesn’t consider them “real” BJDs, but (and this is important) DoA isn’t the be-all and end-all of doll collecting. You can join communities that aren’t DoA. They exist. They aren’t all that hard to find. You can even start your own Discord server if you want. I’m not stopping you.
Hujoo is a South Korean company that made ABS BJDs alongside their resin line. They’re Asian; they’re ball-jointed; they often come up for less than $100 on eBay.
Parabox/Obitsu also makes really nice Japanese dolls that are as customizable as BJDs, and in the same huge range of sizes. They’re also vinyl, so they’re way less expensive. If you want to go even further into anime-style, Nendroids are also way less expensive than BJDs, and they’re super-detailed and look really nice. You can even buy a nude, fully-articulated “blank” or character-based Nendroid doll and create your own character.
Pullip by Jun Planning is pricier than the above options, but still less expensive than most BJDs of the same size. She’s designed to be extremely customizable, too. Plus, she can wear Skipper’s clothes (as in Barbie’s little sister, Skipper), so you can find clothes or patterns for her for dirt-cheap!
If you cannot afford resin BJDs on the secondhand market, and your doll MUST be ball-jointed, then order the 3D printed ones on Etsy, or find a Hujoo doll which is ABS plastic.
My point is, there are A TON of ways you can get a nice, collector-quality doll, without it being an expensive resin one. You can get a collectible doll that is good quality without it being a $500 doll, OR a recast. It isn’t hard; I literally just named 4 brands off the top of my head, including some that are less than $100.
There’s also ResinSoul/Bobobie, which offers legit dolls at recast-level prices. There’s still a super-long wait, but if you’re determined to get a resin BJD, it’s worth it. Plus, they offer a huge variety of colors!
I have been in the BJD hobby for 7 years. You know how many dolls I have? TWO. One took up my entire tax refund for that year. The other is a head and body that were purchased separately, and the body is secondhand. Having one or two BJDs is doable, if you’re willing to scrimp and save and wait long periods of time between dolls. The “elites” of this hobby are rich folks who can afford to buy a dozen dolls within a few years, not people like me who just want to enjoy one or two luxury collectible dolls without people acting like I’m a sucker for not getting a bootleg. Because all of these dolls are a luxury. Nendoroid dolls just happen to be a way less expensive luxury than a Fairyland Pukifee.
