Did you purchase a "test" doll before fully committing to an aspect of the hobby?

I haven't thought of that since it would have a domino effect like all my other hobbies: first I had a 120 liter aquarium, then 230 and suddenly 1200... I think it wouldn't stop anything but just waste money

 

I was thrilled to be accepted here at DoA in December 2015. Still a newbie!!! I'd tried to join about six months before without any success and just went to look at the site again. What a Christmas pressie when I received an invitation!!! I read alot here and looked at "You Tube" videos and then in January 2016 purchased my first bjd (Minas by Dollzone) from Angelesque.co.uk I didn't intend to buy but knew that's what I really wanted. So I've never seen a bjd in real life, bought a SD, and I am still waiting to see if I like bjds???? Ask me in a few months time if it was a mistake!! I've just got this instinctive feeling its going to be brilliant. Wish me luck!!!

 

Nope! I'm starting out with a doll that I really love, because I don't really see a point in buying a doll that I'll end up getting rid of later. Also, I don't really plan on doing much customization myself (ie. mods and faceups), so that's not really a concern of mine either. I did however start with a smaller MSD size doll, since I thought that would be more manageable that having a huge 60 cm+ doll as my first.

 

I bought a couple of MH and EAH dolls before I got my first BJD, but I didn't end up doing much with them haha, so I don't really think that counts :P

 

I jumped in at the deep end. My doll was SD-sized and midrange prices, but she was the one I fell in love with. I still have her.

 

I don't think I'm going to to do a trial doll. My only problem right now is trying to pick from all the beautiful dolls... SO MANY =)

 

My first doll was one that I absolutely loved, but ironically after being in the hobby for over a decade I've pretty much become like Sid Phillips from Toy Story and will buy random project dolls thinking of ways I can mod them "how can I carve up this turkey?"

 

I did start on the lower end of the cost spectrum (gee whiz, back when DZ was the "cheap" company!). He wasn't really a trial/test doll, like I thought he was wicked expensive at the time.

But now my most expensive doll is Dollshe David Kuncci. I think my doll expenses merely escalated with more personal funds and changes in my tastes. If I got into BJDs now, I doubt I would have bought DZ Megi because he's both smaller and not my aesthetic anymore (but I'm keeping him forever because he's my first doll).

 

No, I didn't purchase a test doll. I did choose a doll from what is considered a budget company, but I chose her because she was perfect for me, and I definitely don't consider her a test or practice doll because I adore her

 

Yes, I bought a fairly cheap used doll off of eBay. I didn't want to invest too much money, only to find I didn't actually like having a doll as much as I like the concept. But I very much like the doll, even though she's not in the best of shape

Part of the other reason I got her was because I didn't know if I would like the size, and it would help me figure out what size I'd prefer. I think I'd probably like most sizes actually lol. But I definitely like large dolls, like SD size. I may try a smaller size later c:

 

I've "collected" (amassed might be a more accurate description) dolls my entire life so when I discovered BJD's it was just a matter of which one I'd buy (I was foolish enough to think I'd only get one). If I hadn't been smitten once I had that one, he would have been a lone example among my many other dolls, so I was going for one I really liked rather than looking based more on price.

Teddy

 

Definitely test doll, but looks like I'm falling in love with her. I always wanted a boy doll, however my first one became a girl. I got her for half price, because I just wanted to feel if it really worth to be BJD owner

 

I got a Luts on ebay as my first bjd. I liked that I could see her and there was no wait and the price was reasonable. When she arrived I knew I liked bjds, and then moved over to Iplehouse. I never should have! LOL

 

Well, I was pretty certain that BJDs were going to turn out to be the Grail doll for which I'd been searching, for most of my life.

Even so, my first doll was pretty much a test doll.

I figured I'd start with the 1/6 th size, a Custom House Petit Ai, because I'd read that most of the Yo sized BJDs even though they were usually dressed and presented as little girls, were actually asexual.

I thought I'll just buy one I like, and make 'her' a boy instead, and being a smaller size 'he' also wouldn't take up much room.

Plus, I knew I could still get a feel for the size and weight, and the articulation, as well as the fragility/sturdiness of a jointed resin doll.

So, if for some reason it turned out that BJDs weren't my Grail doll, I figured that at least he'd still be a cute little boy doll who could hang out with rest of my other smaller dolls.

I actually wasn't all that impressed with the Petit Ai's articulation, to be honest. The Petit Ai had a one piece, non-articulated torso, and was a bit more chubby, in a baby fat sort of way, than I was expecting too.

However, the feel of the resin 'skin', the beautiful exquisiteness of the face sculpt, and the posability of even the Petit Ai's limited jointing, all told me that I'd found my Grail dolls...... but what really told me I'd found the dolls of my dreams, was the extreme sense of self she had, the strong life presence that seemed to emanate from her, and the personality she displayed right out of the box.

Lol, she was little Kestrel all right, a name that had just sort of popped into my head when I'd spotted her on eBay. However, she was having no part of being a little boy, she was a girl, and she was going to stay that way, whether I liked it or not!

Needless to say, I immediately leaped on the slippery BJD slope with both feet, and never looked back!

I quickly found, and purchased/won four more BJDs on eBay, three MSDs and one new type, called an SDC.

Lol, keep in mind this was back in 2004-2005, when you were fairly safe buying BJDs on eBay. At the time, eBay was actually one of the few places you could find them for sale, unless you spoke/read Japanese or Korean, or had friends and/or connections in Japan or Korea.

Oh, and silly me, I figured I'd just put this little Petit Ai girl right back up on eBay once my real boys arrived......

Lol, well her two older brothers, Peregrine and Merlin, set me straight about that, as soon as I'd let them out of their boxes!

 

LOL. I just jumped right into the frying pan as the saying goes. My best friend showed me a picture of her Dollfie Dream and told me to look at Asian Ball Joint Dolls pictures. I did some research about what kind of things I could get with BJDs because I knew I would never get a Rufus Shinra doll or statue from Final Fantasy VII it's a video game(thanks a lot Square Enix). I had no idea how tall these guys where, but I knew I had to have one. I found DIM that did custom sculpts at the time and started the ordering process. While I was waiting for him to come in the mail I when to a convention that was doing a intro panel into BJDs. I got to hold and see other peoples dollies and I knew I made the right choice including the size of my doll. Sure a little heavy but shoot love it!

 

Nope, I'm a 'jumper' when it comes to pretty much everything in my life. (I mean, my first tattoo was a half-sleeve on my fore-arm). My first doll was a sculpt I really wanted, my first modding project was a Volks Williams. Once I've got an idea and so I want to realize that plan, and not anything else.

 

Sorta. A situation came up where I was required to purchase a doll for a group I used to be a part of, and since my wife and I were fans of BJDs but weren't about to spend that kind of money on them yet, we went and got OT J-Dolls. I figured having my own BJD would be a lot of fun in the future, but they weren't bad "starter" dolls for figuring out how simple joints worked, how to pose them, and how to mod them up.

 

I certainly did. While I knew of bjds for a while they didn't really seem like my kind of thing until I discovered Pipos and then eventually other anthro and monster/nonhuman dolls. Now that was something I could drop a couple hundred dollars on I thought! But, I'm a rather broke college student and at the time I was only working 15 hours a week on a biweekly paycheck so needless to say I was at an even worse position financially. While digging around for more info I stumbled upon what some had called "pipos on a budget" aka the Hujoo Freya. The reason for why they are so cheap is also the reason why they are off topic: they are made of abs instead of resin. The jointing system, changeable eyes, and customizeability are pretty much on par with other dolls (though the cat ears are sculpted on so wigs can be hit or miss) but much more friendly to my wallet and more durable. I'm a bit of a klutz... I figured if I can prove to myself I won't drop her everywhere or muss her up I can take the leap onto resin. Which I did!

 

No, I didn't feel the need to. I've been collecting dolls for most of my life, and was fairly confident I was ready to move up from smaller dolls. I wanted more room for detail work, and while I found working in smaller scales capable to producing beautiful outfits, there is only so much room for detail on a smaller doll body.

 

Yes my first was a tester
All my friends and family told me I should try it out before spending a lot of money