The Japanese doll market includes a lot of "ball-jointed dolls" - these are dolls that are FAR more posable than the typical American doll. Which means, of course, that they cost more and cater to the more serious collector. They also tend to have large anime-style eyes and quite elaborate clothing.

Here are some pictures of nice dolls:

Want to get in on the doll craze? There are two main sizes of ball-jointed dolls - 1/6th scale (20-27cm, vaguely around Barbie size) and 60cm - two feet tall! Those are the really expensive ones. Gorgeous, but out of the price range of most beginners. Do a websearch for Dollfie to get started - though the Dollfie brand is not your only option. Obitsu also makes a good cheap 1/6th scale figure. The company Noix De Rome makes doll heads with elf ears, but it's very hard to buy from them if you're not in Japan.

And, of course, great dolls need great clothes! Azone is a top brand name for good doll clothes, but there are plenty of seamtresses on ebay whipping up crazy things.

Some good webstores to find doll stuff at are Hobby Link Japan and Hobby Search.

I may put up dolls for sale here at some point - if I can bring myself to part with mine!

In the meantime, here's some more pretty pictures to look at...