Did you grow up with fashion dolls and did it fuel your interest in BJDs?

Barbie is a gateway drug! I think there are people who come to this hobby through doll collecting or just loving dolls their whole life, and people who come to it, not originally drawn to dolls at all, through other fringe hobbies, like cosplay, anime, manga, or writing and art projects.

I have always wondered if the people who come to bjds through doll collecting are less likely to “leave the hobby” because the dolls themselves were the main draw.

 

Not at all! I actually hated dolls as a child lol. Probably more because of them being pushed on me rather than anything actually about the dolls, but still.

I think I came to BJDs through anime, technically. I first saw a BJD online, on accident, while a friend was looking for something else (french bisque dolls). Then I started to see them at conventions, and I got even more curious. I couldn't say what's so different about them that they immediately overcame my dislike of dolls, but it's probably their more "anime" style, or at least that was the style back then. But it's actually the other way around for me: I got into fashion dolls because I was into BJD.

Today I collect both, but I focus on BJD primarily.

 

Nope, not at all, quite the opposite actually!
Most of my childhood I had three main hobbies I'd do: play videogames, draw, read.
I was never one to play much with actual toys. Even when Pokémon was released I was the weird kid who did not play with my Charmander stuff, I put it neatly into a little cabinet I had
So if you gave me figures, stuffed animals or whatever, they would just end up being placed in a safe spot for me to enjoy from afar. I also was more into "boy stuff", which was another reason dolls just really didn't appeal to me. The pink and violently feminine marketing was not for me. The only doll I ever owned was a veterinary Barbie, and only because I wanted the dog and cat figure that was included

Anyway, about the dolls, I received my first BJD as a gift when I turned 18.
My father asked me what I wished for, and I showed him a photo and told him about these dolls I found online.
His reaction was: "You have to turn 18 to finally want dolls?!"
I don't know, something just spoke to me back then when I saw my first one. I loved the aesthetic, and the creative outlet it seemed to present. 14 years later, and I'm still at it. I also tried other dolls since then (mostly Blythe, but also Pure Neemo, Pullip, Hot Toys...).
In the end, only Blythe and BJD stuck.

For me the biggest appeal is still the creativity. I can't draw (which partly the dolls are at fault for, since I stopped drawing to focus on them...big regret right there), so having the dolls to photograph is the next best thing to produce visual content. I also enjoy repainting them a lot.
And of course, their aesthetic still appeals to me. BJDs are just so different compared to any other dolls out there. They did make me appreciate dolls overall more, but they still remain my favorites.

 

I guess I was the opposite. I loved stuffed animals, though, and would always try dressing them up and taking them on adventures. Dolls, though, were never something that interested me. I was the kid that played in the mud.

At least, until I saw an aBJD. I think it’s how much more detailed and full of depth they can be compared to what I’d seen, and the ones I first saw being Volks and CP/Delf back in the late 2000s, I loved their stylized look. It then became a little backwards since that made me revisit some other doll types and now I collect all kinds of things!

 

I was absolutely that way! I always loved Barbie's, Polly Pockets, and American Girl Doll's, and then once I got a little older I discovered BJD's (which at the time financially were not an option for me) but it did lead me to discovering repaints (mostly Monster High) and then ultimately Blythe which I've collected for about 7 years now, and then I finally found my way to getting my first BJD recently at age 29.

 

Oh definitely!! Barbies were my main thing, to this day my parents still get me the holiday Barbie every year for Christmas, a kind of tradition I guess. I loved other dolls though like winx club, bratz, polly pockets, and when I got a little older Ever After High. I also used to repaint EAH dolls and have bought a couple ooak ones. So pretty much my entire life growing up revolved around my love for dolls, so getting into BJDs didn't surprise anyone. I even remember being superrrr young and telling my parents "When I grow up I'm gonna be an expensive doll collector!" Although at the time I probably thought I'd only be into Barbie collecting, which I still am to an extent.

My first higher end doll was Integrity Toy's Floating Dream Poppy Parker that I bought when I was 16 I think. Then I got into BJD's a couple years later when I was 18 or 19 and thought "Oh yeah, I'm gonna buy one when I'm an adult" then went wait.... I am an adult LMAO and bought my first one! Flash forward to now and I can't believe that I've been in this hobby for about two years already!

 

As a kid I loved toy cars, anything to do with hair, Legos, My Little Ponies and small plastic figurines I could take outside with me and play in the woods or on a rock, making worlds for them from natures own shapes. I did have a few Barbies and I played with them when I got to my friends house who absolutely loved Barbies. But usually dolls weren't my thing. I loved making small things look like they'd belong in the environment I created myself and blend in with the real world. That love never went away. About 15 years ago I decided I want to get myself a proper camera and take pics of small things with real world and blend them together in the pics. So I built myself a 1/12 sized horse stable and made it look as realistic as possible. A few years later I was looking for inspiration from Pinterest and found an incredible looking pic which said it's a doll. Started to gather information about these human looking dolls and decided I want to take realistic pics with them. And here we are still on that road.

 

my interest in bjd was actually stemmed from my initial interest in anime figures, I remember buying a few figma figures as a kid because I loved how they were completely posable and customizable, but I HATED how finicky they were (you breathe and they completely fall apart!) so I started my conquest to finding another figure that was posable that still looked good, and behold I came across dollfie dream! Posable anime doll of my dreams! From there it just descended into bjds as a whole, and with it came an additional interest in fashion doll customizing,

 

I was definitely a "Barbie girl" growing up (mainly MyScene, but I had a few normal ones, too), but the main draw for me was making furniture and props for them. I also always loved dollhouses and miniatures, and the first BJD I ever saw was a Fairyland Pukipuki in an adorable dollhouse, and that's when my obsession began. I've never actually owned a Pukipuki, but 12 years later, I collect 1/6 scale "fashion" BJDs, so I think I've come full circle!

 

I disliked humanoid dolls as a child and mostly played with stuffed animals. As an adult I can appreciate some fashion dolls just for their aesthetic value (got some reproduction Monster High dolls a few months ago) but for the most part I got into BJDs and doll customizing in general through anime figures and art.

 

I didn't like dolls as a child, I played with animal toys mostly. But I've always loved miniatures and dioramas so I that's the angle that got me into bjds.

 

Lifelong doll lover here. When I was a child in the 1950s there were already fashon dolls on the market, long before Barbie. I had a Little Miss Revlon who was a vinyl doll with a innocent face sculpt and a curvy body, with breasts and hips. She also had high heel feet. Unlike Barbie, she was not shaped like a fashion model, but like a more realistic youthful shapely body. Mine came dressed in an airline hostess outfit.
I got my first Barbie when I was 10 in 1959. I loved the clothes more than anything. We couldn't afford the store-bought outfits for her. I had one purchased outfit (Solo In The Spotlight) and my mom made me a wardrobe of clothes for her.
As an adult I got into doll collecting because I wanted to have the dolls I'd had a kid (they had all been given away when I turned 14). And when my local mall had a doll show, I found a Barbie, ken and Midge just like the dolls I'd owned as an adolescent. The rest is history.
Over the years I got very involved in the Barbie collector's world, attending conventions, etc. I even had a job working at Mattel for a few years. But I also collected Chrissy dolls, Tammy, and some dolls from the early 50s. I sold most of those, and just about 3 years ago started buying a few Barbies again, plus Monster High. But BJDs are my main collection.

 

I grew up with Barbie, American Girl, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, Breyer Horses, Polly Pocket, and Legos. At some point in my teenage years, I got rid of all of them except for the horses and collector Barbies. I got into BJD because my friends had them and the first one I got was a Soom Mini Gem - so she was fashion doll size. I had some Tae Yangs too - they were like the bridge doll because more poseable than Barbie and more anime featured.

Now, my BJDs and my figure collections are big and strong.

 

Yes! I always wanted more barbies as a kid ^o^ I started customizing fashion dolls in my teens, and somehow or another I found out about BJDs. After my first girl, I was hooked. Now BJD customizing and collecting is my main hobby due to how it encompasses crafting and art that I was already familiar with and loved.

 

I definitely did. I had so many Barbies and a couple of American Girl Dolls. As an adult, I started getting into LOL and rainbow high which eventually led me to BJD. It is so cool to see everyone's journeys.

 

I didn't actually care much for dolls as a kid, I liked animal figurines and plush toys but humanoid things didn't interest me outside of one single fairy barbie (it had a cool skirt-that-turns-into-wings mechanism!!) but I remember being enamoured by my grandmother's collection of porcelain dolls dressed in intricate lacey clothing that she had in a big glass cabinet. I think that may have been the beginning of something because when I learned about BJDs in middle school I fell in love with the sizes and aesthetics many of them go for.

I didn't have the means for BJDs at the time since I was a seventh grader with no money, but I did get interested in fashion doll customization and other dolls in general around then too. I dug up a tiny little cheap mass produced porcelain doll my grandmother gave me years before that I didn't think much of at the time, and started displaying it and examining the clothes and construction. While I do like fashion dolls a lot now, I think my tastes still lie more on the BJD end. Maybe that's why I didn't care much for dolls as a young kid, maybe I was too picky LOL

 

I feel like I had this barbie too and it really got me into fantasy dolls. My current BJD and the one I just ordered are on the fantasy side.

 

It all started for me when I was a kid and my uncle gave me his 1970's G.I.Joe land commander; a 12" tall, partially tension joint/ partially elastic strung, action figure (doll). It resulted in a lifetime hobby of collecting not only action figures, but dolls and miniatures of various sorts and sizes. Over the years I've collected everything from Star Wars action figures to Brats, Monster High to WWE figures, Transformers, Figmas, Tabletop gaming miniatures, and of course, BJDs.