Back then and now...(Nostalgia Thread)

I got a Ryoma only last year as my first doll - without springy nipples, he doesn't even have a neck joint and propellor peens are nothing special anymore. Still the question will forever linger around... why him out of all the dolls out there. When I say I liked his face.... probably nobody will believe me. What to do... what to do. Lol.

 

No neck joint? For some reason, could swear he did!

AH and Glorydoll. The worst offe for for photoshopping doll face-ups. Wish I could have a Limited Moyuki. That stitched Chelsea smile was sooo cute.

 

I did not fully grasp at the time what was going on with all the El, Shiwoo, Dollshe, Unoa, and Bee-A dolls, but I understand better now what the hype was about then. And why there was a general dislike of Dollzone.

-Agree that aesthetics have changed. Like soom before sard and after the MD venture--you can still see some of their old sculpts at their website but not all :-(.
-Soom's old, white website.
-Papilla good feel was so strange.
-Pipos came out with Baha, setting off the anthro storm.
-The fer craze.

 

The hobby changed so quickly between 2005 and 2008 I feel. I joined the forum at 13 years old in 2005 and made some embarrassing posts, browsed for a year maybe then lost interest, finding it seemingly impossible that I'd ever be able to obtain these mysterious, expensive dolls. When I rediscovered the forum and bought my first doll in 2008 things were so different already! There were so many more companies, and with English sites, making it so much easier to buy BJD for international customers.

 

You're right, the older version of the Emotional boy body had a neck joint. The newer version doesn't. And they simply forgot the nipples on springs with my order. Ah well, in ten years from now I do not expect them to be any more popular .

 

just remembering the old luts website makes me tear up a little...

 

Oh gracious, all of the things I remember! I'm just getting back from a five year hiatus, so forgive me if I'm a bit rusty, lol! Lets see, what do I remember...

-the old Yahoo group. I remember being kind of a dumb 13/14 year old browsing and lurking on the Yahoo group for information about these elusive dolls, but I don't remember ever posting
-Aimee Major's old doll site and FCS write up. This is honestly what got me into BJDs, I'd never heard of such a customizable doll before and I was obsessed, thinking of all of the different combinations I wanted. Unfortunately, I was too young to figure out how to use a shopping service and at the time I wasn't making my own money, so the FCS was out of the question.
-Back when the major players where Volks, LUTS, Customhouse, and DoD, and watching as new doll companies joined the arena.
-I remember LUTS original all-white English website and getting to order my first girl via Paypal in 2005.
-When everyone and their brother owned an El, Lishe, Too and/or Bee-A.
-When the vast majority of FCS dolls were SD13 F-16's boys or SD F-08(later 05 and now discontinued) girls.
-When Volks made their international site and it was very much A Big Deal.
-OH MAN, I remember right after CP split from LUTS to form Fairyland and people were getting really low quality dolls for a few months and really bad customer services from LUTS. For a brief time in 2008 CP Delfs were selling for good money in the marketplace because people still wanted their El's and Lishe's but didn't want to wait forever for potentially lowered quality.
-Back when we were terrified of doing our own face-ups and restringing our dolls. Back when we were still figuring out what materials we could safely use on our dolls (I distinctly remember a time when people experimented with sharpies and nail polish)
-When almost all MSDs looked like children.
-When a lot of SD sized dolls looked like children, too, except for the Unoss and CP's large bust Delf girls.
-When tan resin only existed in limited editions and a doll dark enough to be African American was unheard of.
-When double joints were a luxury.

Oh wow, and I remember a lot of things that other people mentioned as well, such as ordering dolls through Tensiya, multiple releases of Bermann, DZ being crappiest company on the block, etc. I'm just now coming back to the hobby after a 5 year hiatus and I've spent the last week reading up on all of the new companies and seeing all of the changes that have happened since I left (I'd have never guessed Volks would stop selling the four sisters as standards). I am happy for the variety, though, because you don't have hoards of people owning what looks like the same doll. While I'd have never guessed that the recasting problem would get as out-of-hand (it was such a non-issue back then), and I do feel like DoA isn't nearly as active now as it was when I was previously an active member (despite it getting infinitely larger), I do think things are mostly better now.

 

I regret never getting the chance to buy a Cyber Bohemian Shiwoo - he was released two years before I got into the hobby. *sigh*

 

Khell, I totally know that feeling. I actually remember Cyber Bohemian Shiwoo, he was such a cutie! Mostly this is how I feel about the last five years not really paying attention to the hobby. There were so many dolls released during that time that I can't get anymore and it makes me so sad!

 

This thread gives me the feels hahah
I wasn't in the hobby back then (too young with no money lol) but I did stalk BJD sites a lot, which wasn't a pleasant experience since most of them didn't have an English version.
The dolls back then also generally looked and followed a different aesthetic trend. I have folders full of saved pictured from the websites I stalked. Now when I look back at them, they look so much more anime/young/babyfaced than most dolls of the same size you'd find nowadays. Since the market is bigger now, there are much more variety, which is great.
Oh and also, there were barely any Chinese bjd companies back then? All the ones I stalked were Japanese and Korean.
I wonder how things will look 10 years from now

 

YES. But mostly because of the wig. I remember when he was released, but I've never cared for Shiwoo much. His braided wig, though, must be the best one I've seen.

 

the dolls I regretted not getting at the time: KDoll...I forget the doll...and another company that started with a P and made only a head?

 

"I'll never own an MSD too big."

Three MSD's.

"No Yo-SD's."

Two with a possible third planned.

 

I remember back when my sister was going through the struggle of getting a bjd, just trying to buy one. She mentioned it several times to me then, but I didn't quite understand. I didnt realize till I read more about it on the forum, now with reminise stories from others.

Back in highschool a friend or two had some bjds & that got her interested... That was around 2005-ish. My sister really had trouble finding out how to buy a doll. Not the dollar amount part, she saved and had that, but actually how to purchase one. I dont know how she eventually did it, but she did. After she got two, she had to make all their own clothes, and do the faceups on them with colored pencils.
She really had little to no help then on how to do any of it, but somehow did it all. Her dolls didn't have shoes then either...

Now about 10 years later, she has a lot more dolls, and she has them dressed to the 9's & 10's!!
+ my cousin and I to share things with.