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

Oddly enough, I did buy a tester doll. It was an Azone Pureneemo, and I still have it. Not particularly on-topic or even ball jointed persay, but it did finally get me to jump on the bandwagon into buying a Mystic Kids doll, which definitely was my first real experience with BJD's. I would never buy an Azone again though.

*far in the future, the future me sneezes as she plays with at least 5 different Azone's*


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I did as much research as I could on ball jointed dolls when I started off the hobby and tried to find sculpts that I liked that were of a cheaper price. But, all the sculpts I really loved were ones that were on the pricier end. So, I just decided to get the doll that I liked the most, even if it wasn't one of the "cheap" dolls. I considered purchasing a "test" doll, but decided that it would be best for me to get a doll I would enjoy and not regret buying. Although, I would definitely purchase a "test" doll if I were to ever start trying to do face-ups or modifications.

 

I did the exact same thing; I purchased the first cheapest MSD I could find, just to test everything out before I actually invested my money in a larger and more expensive dolls. It's actually nice to see that others do the same thing!

 

I told myself I was going to get a test doll, then jumped in head-first with a limited 70cm guy, back when 70cms were pretty new. No regrets.

 

My 'test' doll was a 65cm doll lol.

But I bought him second hand for a VERY good price just incase i didn't connect with the hobby as I anticipated.

Now i have 2 with a 3rd on the way~❤

 

Nope. My first doll was pretty expensive, but I did get an impldoll event head before my full doll. Although that wasn't really a test head. The biggest reason I didn't buy a test doll, was because a lot of people online say not to and to just get a doll you love. I took it to heart and am glad I did because I absolutely adore my first doll. I did want an MSD (which I still want) that would have been much cheaper, but I want that doll because of how it looks, not because of the price.

 

I considered it... but then trying to pick a "tester" just reinforced the fact that I'm incredibly picky :p

 

Strange, id say my third doll was my tester doll. The first two dolls i bought where and still are perfect as they are. Then i wanted to try all those cool things like modding and face-ups so i got myself a chaperonne test doll ( a dollzone, at that time i think they had 3-4 sculpts, where a bit cotroversial and cheap as chips, if i recall correctly i paid 98 straight from the company).

 

No, I didn't. I personally think it's better to save up to buy whatever doll you really want instead of a cheaper "test" doll. It just sounds like a waste of money to me, but then I did a ton of research before owning a doll instead of jumping right in. Though, I was lucky in that a girl let me hold her SD-sized doll before I owned one myself so I already knew that size was what I liked and wanted.

 

I bought 3 $8 test heads to practice doing face ups. I didn't like the idea of working on a head costing more than $100 and hard to replace. I also bought a sewing machine on the cheaper side for around $70 but there are even cheaper ones. I figure if sewing turns out to not be my bag I can always sell it and get some of my money back and the initial $70 isn't all that bad of a hit.

 

Yup.

I bought a secondhand DZ mini as my first doll to test the waters and see if I wanted to stick with this hobby before dropping the big bucks on the doll I really wanted. As it turned out, it was a GOOD thing I did that because my tastes ended up shifting pretty dramatically and I don't think I would've been as happy with the doll I "wanted" at the time. My little mini has since passed on to other owners, but that's okay; he served his purpose here well.

 

The first doll I got is probably considered starter since it's resinsoul, but it was a sculpt I really wanted the second I saw it so I guess it kind of worked itself out. I'm pretty new to the hobby in general, so I also didn't want to get something too expensive incase I mess it up.

 

I almost always buy a "test" doll. But- it also has to be a doll I love. If I don't like it, then I just don't buy anymore of that type.

 

Back in the days when I bought my first BJD more than ten years ago there weren't as many shops as there is now and buying a cheap doll was not really an option. Because of this, my first doll became a DoC H. Kirill. I did chose an MSD because they were cheaper, but it was not like i wanted a test doll, I truly felt that the doll was what I was looking for.

Instead of buying a test doll I used a very long time convincing myself that it was okay to have a hobby that was this expensive.

 

Maybe if I was planning some extreme modding, but because I'm not- no way. A test doll would still be pretty expensive, and if I'm gonna spend a bunch on a doll I'm going to shell out a little more money if I have to and get the one I really want the most!

 

I guess my first doll could be considered a sort of test doll. At the time, I was collecting Jenny/Licca dolls and was reading an article that happened to mention BJD dolls. Having no idea what that was (I live in the midwest so "new ideas" don't make it to us very quickly ) and never having heard of DoA, I searched for one on ebay. This was way back in 2008-2009 so there weren't very many companies around. The Volks dolls were "OMG so expensive" in my mind and "who would pay that price for a doll"! But I was fascinated by what I was seeing so I kept on looking at them on ebay.

Then I found one for around $200 which I still thought was horribly expensive but I bought it (Angel Region Tan Ren) to satisfy my curiosity. I still have him and his beautiful colored resin started a love affair with all things tan! He came nude so I had to do research to find clothes for him and that's when I found Dollmore Ah, the beauty of Dollmore and specifically Lillis Liv This was when I really started to pay attention to SIZE. I had been concerned about getting the MSD size because that was "similar to Tonner sized dolls and those were too big, what would I do with something even taller"!! But I kept starring at Liv daily. I didn't actually take the plunge for her though until 2 more dolls later.

I also did a sort of "test run" SD doll that just happened to be from Dollmore - he had been a window model so was being sold cheaper (I'm guessing due to yellowing? I didn't know anything about that at the time). And while he was indeed bigger, I found myself comfortable with the idea. And the resin feel was so much different than Angel Region. My love affair with Dollmore began. I think it was late 2010 when I actually bought Liv. And she was/is beautiful. It had been almost 2 solid years of looking at her before I bought her. And with her purchase came the realization "buy what you love", save up the money and buy what you love vs buying what is cheaper.

My collection today spans all sizes, but I've found that my favorite sizes are tinies (1/12 scale to go with the miniature dollhouses which is a whole other slippery slope) and SD size. Those 2 sizes get the most attention. And while they don't get played with very often, I still find myself getting some MSD and Yo-Sd sized dolls, just because I like them, and they're pretty, and its okay if they just sit there and look pretty. They make me happy.

 

Nope...I didn't buy a test doll or practice head or anything like that. Before I decided to even start the hobby, I did a ton of research. I literally looked at every company and every sculpt I could so that I could figure out the points that were most important to me. I knew that even if I just ended up with one doll; I wanted it to be an item that I would keep. I still have this doll and if I had to part with all of my collection but one, I would still keep him.

 

I've always collected porcelain and barbie. So when I stumbled on the bjds while looking to find some new eyes for a doll I knew I wanted in the hobby. I found a little 21 cm obitsu to help the cravings while I save for a bigger doll.

 

Not really test: I have collected dolls for along time [and brought this up in another thread] and first saw the fantasy SDs of a friend of a friend: they were beautiful, perfect but too big and expensive so for myself so I got some OT US MSD sized dolls that were resin and thought that would keep me happy but was still looking across the water at the types of dolls I wanted, lol. Finally there are enough legitimate companies out there that are producing dolls a little less expensive and they are lie a drug to me as I can have my cake and eat it too.

 

First, when I was still looking for a doll wanted to start with a cheap model, but thinking a little bit more, I decided to buy the doll I want even with a high price.