J-Dolls were first made in 2006 by Jun Planning Co, Inc. As with their Pullip cousins, manufacturing changed hands in 2009 when the Japanese branch of Jun Planning declared bankruptcy and the production of the dolls moved to Groove, Inc. In the United States, Jun Planning and Groove seem to be linked, with Groove USA a subdivision of Jun Planning USA. There were three new J-Dolls in 2012, but no releases for 2013 yet.
The J-Dolls are named after streets throughout the world that symbolize high fashion. Each doll's outfit reflects the character of the particular street she's named after. For example, Sunset Boulevard is near the ocean in Los Angeles and the doll with that name kind-of looks like a mermaid. Some of the associations are lost on me, though. The stunning Via Appia doll is named after an ancient Roman road, but she looks more like a cross between a World War 2 nurse and a pirate.
I chose this particular J-Doll because she was the cheapest one I could find still new in her box. She cost $50 and was described as the "Joseph Splatz" J-Doll, which I assumed was the name of the man who designed her funky outfit. In fact, Josephsplatz is the name of a street in Germany. Here she is:
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| Josephsplatz J-Doll |
