Curious, how many impulse dolls?

YOOOO I'm just getting back into the hobby after a decade+ away where I had sold all of my dolls but one and I just impulse bought two dolls so... u_u

edited to add: all my dolls that I sold (and I miss!) were for the most part made by companies that no longer exist or don't sell the doll anymore and they're hard to find on the secondary market. I'm in a much better financial position than I was in my early twenties (part of why I sold most of them) so if I see some of my little loves again I will absolutely be snatching them up if I see them again!

 

Almost all my dolls qualify as impulse buys in some way. I got into this hobby in 2005, bought my first doll as a secondhand head on the MP after I had saved up enough money as a broke teen. My philosophy is "the doll is available, I love it, and I can afford it" and that tends to guide what I buy, lol. Now that a lot of the dolls in my collection are old enough to have been discontinued, or made by companies that are no longer making dolls at all, I don't regret that strategy. I still basically abide by that, honestly, it gives me a lot of opportunity to add unique and uncommon dolls to my collection! I definitely have grail dolls that I'd love to own, but for the most part it's impulse all the way, haha. I only have one doll out of 23 that I can say I planned to get, and even she took about 15 years to happen. Sounds very scatterbrained, but it keeps me from the stress and anxiety of worrying about discontinuations, studio closures, shipping and production delays, and it also minimizes issues of photos being radically different from the doll in person. I like having the flexibility to enjoy things as they come!

 

...all of them? I'm going to say all of them. Unless a vague "I like this company/doll" counts as planning beforehand, I see a doll for sale and I jump on it.

 

All of them!! None of my dolls have been planned in the slightest lmao

 

Just one- It was soom zak artist version. I had slept for only 4 hours and it was before a final, saw him and just bought him out of stress

 

For me, impulse-buying is where I feel like some force outside my control (like FOMO) is pushing me to make buying choices, but without time to reflect on the new doll or come up with even a vague plan for them. I find this unpleasant, I hate the feeling (whether real or perceived) of being forced to make a decision, so I try to resist this and give myself more time -- at least a few hours, preferably overnight to 2 days -- to think and settle the matter inside myself. But ideally, I want at least a whole week to ponder ... basically, to not impulse-buy.

2 of my dolls were impulse buys. For one of them, within 48 hours I went from discovering that the dollmaker made BJDs in my preferred scale (1/3), to ordering a doll. It was like a fog of madness descended on my rational judgment, and when the fog lifted a couple of days later my wallet was lighter and I had resin on order. I freaked out at first (how did I make a decision so fast, over how much money?!? --this is my most expensive doll), but eventually settled it inside myself. Thankfully it all worked out and now this doll is very dear to me.

The other impulse buy... well, I didn't expect to get anything. It so happens that this head sculpt is in crazy high demand and the preorder tends to be a clickwar. On a lark, I joined the preorder because I was curious about what BJD clickwarring felt like, but expected to just have an interesting experience and not get anywhere. (Though in retrospect I wasn't that impulsive, because I purposefully set up my buying account and funds beforehand, and was already waiting at the website right when the preorder opened.)
Well, to my astonishment, I made it all the way through checkout and now had an unplanned floating head on the way. I was not expecting or wanting a new doll! But I've now found a place for them in the crew.

 

This is the realest thing I've read in a while! The worst part is that by now, it's happened to me a few times... no regrets yet, but it's only a matter of time.

To answer the original question, I think most of my dolls could be considered "impulse", because there was a powerful element of FOMO involved with each. The first two were fullsets that, although they evidently were available a long time (and one still is, last I checked), they did in fact have a quantity limit. Since I had no way to know how close that limit was to being depleted, I had to decide sooner rather than later. If I knew then that I would be where I am now, I probably would not have bought one of those two, but he's gorgeous, so I'm not in any rush to get rid of him.

Since then, almost everything else has been impulsive too, because I never know how long a company is going to keep something around, or because it's something like a Dream Valley release where there's a tight window of availability, and then after that, you're basically screwed and have to hope to catch an instock or secondhand.

There are only two things I don't consider impulse: one of those is all my Resinsouls, because this is the only company (that I'm currently aware of) which reliably keeps practically all of their sculpts available at all times. The other is my fullset He Yi, because I intended to eventually pick up a nude edition of him. Finding a fullset was unexpected, but I couldn't call it impulsive since he was the doll that was on my wishlist from the get-go.

 

I believe in love at first sight so all my dolls were emotional choices and they always trumped any plans I had. But Candell was the only one who messed with my budget and timing. Her preorder was long over but the company told me they had one in stock. I dropped the money on the spot. No regrets, I love my little clown.

 

Sometimes you have to impulse buy. Otherwise, "You snooze; you lose".

 

Yup, it's this exactly, I'm not normally an impulse buyer, but BJDs are an exception to the rule that I'm becoming more comfortable with over time. I would love to be able to give months of thought to a purchase of this magnitude, but I'm quickly learning that if I see anything that speaks strongly to my sense of aesthetics, it's better to grab it now and rework the rest of the Fun Budget later. There'll be millions of copies of that video game (or Insert Widely Available Big Box Store Item Here) floating around for decades to come, but these art pieces? Not so much.

I also feel a bit less bad about impulse dolls knowing that there's a substantial secondhand market, and if I'm asking a reasonable price and keep all the important documentation around, there's a good chance I can recoup some of that loss.

 

There’s only one that I would consider to be truly impulsive, and that’s the only one I’ve never really done anything with. I never bonded with this doll and one day I’ll get around to selling.

Technically my most recent was somewhat of an impulse, but not sure if she counts because I’d wanted her since 2009. I wasn’t planning to buy any dolls when I got back into the hobby, so the decision to get one was impulsive, but again, I wanted her since forever and I’m so happy to have her now.

 

I’m afraid most of mine have been impulse purchases, but I’m really happy with what I have. I’m definitely going to be a bit more sparing with my money moving forward. It’s in these situations that being a bit picky can be helpful.

 

I am trying really hard not to make impulse buys but alas I ended up with one full impulse doll, which was second hand and 2 impulse doll heads. The rest of my dolls were planned at least a couple weeks/months ahead and I had ideas for them already.

I really like the impulse doll/heads but I feel like its such a slippery slope. Part of the reason I try to shell OCs is because I thought it would help me limit how many dolls I got. I had no idea what I would do with the doll heads as I don't have a OC concept to shell on them but I ended up really loving the doll heads enough to start shopping for bodies. So yea, impulse buys are dangerous for me and my wallet.

 

I think I had some impulse purchases back in my very early days of the hobby that were typically limited edition dolls, but I've generally regretted all of them. Nowadays, I no longer impulse purchase despite the onslaught of temptations due to limited preorder periods (particularly with Chinese companies or artists).

Some of my secondhand purchases could be thought of as impulsive, but mostly from a timing perspective? Typically I'll have the doll on my wishlist and if I come across one on the secondhand market at a good price with a faceup I like, I'll spring for it so long as I have the budget.

 

So because I am a very boring and paranoid individual at times, i have a hard time parting with an amount of money over £50 without thinking it through atleast a few days, so Im rarely impulsive with spending.
I've purchased 36 bjds since I started this hobby march 2009, and only 2 of those I would call impulsive.
The first was at a doll meet in 2011, so I had to decide there and then. She was very cute and the 2nd doll of her size (16cm) which I'd recently fell in love with, which is probably 1 of the points that swayed me.
The second impulse doll hasn't arrived yet as I only decided to be impulsive on friday I think? Or was it thursday... either way, I was looking at my wish list, and there was a few from the same company I havent got a doll from before. And while i was researching this company, the reported production times broke my impatient lil heart so just for fun I looked on the market place. I didnt expect to find anything I wanted. The 1 I found wasnt even on my wish list, but I didnt know whybecause she was so cute! I checked the company pics and thats probably why, the company pics didnt 'speak' to me. But her little face in the sale thread did. I left it upto fate. I asked the seller if the doll was available. If not it wasnt to be. But she was, so I bought her.
No thought and no plans for her name or character. Thinking of a character and/or name before I buy a doll is kind of a personal rule and I broke it

 

Most of them But, aside from the issue of trying to get rid of the ones that didn't work out, I don't entirely see it as a bad thing. Thanks to impulse buying, I learned very quickly that what I like in a photo is not necessarily what I like to hold in my hands, and now I know what to look for. Super skinny bodies? Look great in pics, but nope. Smooth, undetailed bodies? Also nope. Full-sets and company faceups? Absolutely not, I have to paint a doll myself to feel a connection and excitement for it. Now when I impulse buy, I essentially already know what I'm looking for, but I can still appreciate the things I don't like personally in other people's photos.

Oh very much this, I just missed out on a doll I desperately wanted this way. Should've been impulsive two weeks ago!

 

Technically my very first doll, a DD boy , was sort of an impulse buy, because my ex more jokingly said "How about you get into Dollfies as well", and like a day later there was a DDSB in the right skin tone tight there on Mandarake in good condition and a good price ... so that just happened.
I usually try to keep my impulses in check and only act on them if it is a doll/head with a fairly low price, but sometimes it is semi-impulsive, where I see a doll, fall in love instantly because it would work for one of my boys and then act on it in the following days.
Or cases of browsing Mandarake and spotting a good deal for something that I wanted anyway. Happened to me with a mystery 1/3 boy that looked perfect as a hybrid option for one of my floating heads and I just got him in hope that it would be a good match. Or a MDD body with a modded boy chest that just happened to be perfect for a head which I sort of took a break from.
I like to call these happy little coincidences, really.

 

I was determined not to buy any dolls this year but I just had one of these “happy little coincidences” you speak of. Many moons ago I had a Luts Kid Delf Aru (cutest sculpt in the world) but her MSD size didn’t work out for her character, so I sold her on. But I always missed that sweet face! All these years later I stumbled across a Luts Aru head (more recently released in SD size) right here in the marketplace. And it was at a great price too! I recognized immediately that she would be perfect for a new character I’d created, and would fit on a body I already owned, so I bought her on the spot!

 

I just impulse bought a doll breaking my vow to stick to my wish list this year.
I mean, it was a good deal.
The doll is fullset.
I can make a character for him.
Yeah, bad impulse control.

 

Omigawd, I just realized that none of my dolls are impulse buy dolls. I think it's because if I really want something, I get it. But before I get it, I make sure I'm in a financially good place before I do. And if I'm not in a financial place to buy that doll immediately, I save up and get the doll when I can afford to. So...basically I still wait and think about my doll purchases before I get them. Now, if you ask me about impulse jewelry buys...that's another story. Hahaha.