Did your "Grail doll" remain your grail doll?

When I first joined the hobby I adored the DC Christina (which I still do), and she was my "grail".
She isn't anymore but I still would want to get her. I'm still looking for the "perfect doll", though some have come close.

 

I would say kind of yes and kind of no. My very first grail doll was exactly that, a dream doll that I quested after for years and was never able to get. Then 5 years later when I did get one, I was actually rather disappointed with her and sold her within a month of getting her. I have no regrets in doing so, because soon after that happened my true grail doll was released.

I had always had this image in my head of what my ultimate dream doll would look like, but sadly such a sculpt had never been released yet at that point. Then when it was, it was perfection! My '2nd grail' is my ultimate grail. I have one now, love her, and she is still my grail doll.

 

I would say that it has, but mostly because of size and tastes. As a teenager first introduced to the concept of BJDs, I surfed popular BJD websites and decided that Soom Cuprit was the "Grail" I would buy one day. Over time, though I still think her face is pretty, it didn't really interest me as much because it was too safe, I suppose. My next grail was a Cerisedolls Lyse, and she still sorta is, because that girl is GORGEOUS. But when I started looking at the sizes of SD dolls and realized how HUGE she would be, I suddenly lost the 'want' for her, and now she's just another tickmark on my wishlist xD;;.

For me, a Grail is a doll that, if it pops up and you have the money, you'll buy it right away. When I got a job outta college n' got money, Lyse was on preorder, but I rushed instead to buy a DC Elizabeth. I suppose she is my "attained" grail, because although she's still naked, I spend all my dolly time researching plans for her, as if she's some grand Magnum Opus of mine x'D. I look at doll preorders and think, "Oh, they're pretty", but none of them detract from my interests in working on my current doll.

 

I lusted after a Dollshe Bermann, and was always searching for one I could get my hands on without bankrupting myself. It took me four years but I eventually found him. No other doll has replaced him in my eyes, he is pure perfection. Most of the other dolls I see and like I can pass on, its not the end of the world if I don't get them. The closest thing to a grail I would have right now would be a Popovy sister's Magpie. I would love to have one, but it's not even close to the Bermann.

 

It was my SoulDoll Chiron centaur. And it still is.
Even better, once I get him, I wasn't looking to buy any BJD, even started to sold a lot of mines.
It looks it was the ultimate goal, now I just kept him a friend and that's all. I still have three other BJDs in boxes, waiting to sell them but I count only two now.

A BJD cured my BJD addiction, woah.

 

I had a grail doll for a little while. It was the Dollfie Dream Dynamite Miko. But then I realized...ohh, the bust. The poor bust. XD

Not my cup of tea to have it that large. I mean, I thought it looked nice at first but then I realized what she'd look like in t-shirts and such. Maybe I'll get her someday, but for now I'm going to just save up for one with a more average body.

 

She definitely is. I even have links to two of them on sale, but I'm putting it off because she's more expensive than I'm willing to spend right now. They've both been there since sometime last year so I'm not too worried she's going anywhere.

 

for the longest time my grail doll has been a Soom Amber pure spirit.
she was the doll i had wanted since i had got into this hobby,
but i knew i would never own her as she was sold out and is very pricey on the marketplace.
i have had enough money to buy her second hand before and i can get the money again but i realized that i was more in love with her concept
and other peoples images of her than i was with the idea of actually owning her so although she is one of my biggest grail's i doubt i will ever buy her
though i did buy the male romantic Amber that soom released not that long ago whether that had anything to do with my not wanting Amber any more
i don't really know

i have also just recently bought one of my grail's a Twany Soom Dia and i'm pretty certain he will remain on a slight pedestal in my heart because he will
be becoming one of my most cherished characters.

so i think grail dolls can and quite often will change over times as your tastes change.
sorry if this is long and doesn't really answer your question

 

Yes.

I've had two grails, Soom Ender and Volks F-16. I've wanted countless other dolls, and my tastes in size, company and aesthetic have changed over time, but those two are still my grails. I own them both, and they both have to look perfect at all times. They are not my favorite characters (in fact, they're the only ones that don't get RP), but they hold a different sort of "specialness" that the others don't have.

 

I think I'm still getting used to have her, I'm almost afraid to touch her sometimes. When I could finally afford to buy her she was out of production but then I managed to find one second hand.
When I got her I told myself I wouldn't change anything but she's getting old so I had to restring her, she yellowed so I blushed her (It was too heavy on her hands to sand away)
Her eye putty is literally falling apart so I will have to change that as well. I'd cry if her faceup got damaged, I want to keep her default as much as possible.

My Serendipity Noel, being made in 2005 is probably the oldest in my collection.
She was my first love when I got in the hobby and she will always have a special place in my heart.

 

No. Years after she was made she came up on the marketplace and became mine. Since a grail, to me, is in the quest, having her means I am no longer looking for her -- so now she is a much loved doll and I have no grail.

 

my grail doll is still my grail doll. i still badly want a minifee and/or a feeple60 celine. i don't know if it's weird to have a minifee celine as a grail doll but she is one of my most desired dolls. I also like/want a leekeworld arien and supiadoll hael. celine is still my grail doll who was also my 'love at first sight'.

 

Absolutely. She was one of the first dolls I saw, before I really knew about the hobby, and by the time I was looking to buy my first doll a couple years later I was sure she would be completely unobtainable. Then it turned out she wasn't, and I was able to bring her home years later.

I've barely touched any of my other dolls since I got her in February, and will probably sell or box up at least one of the three. Beyond the pipe dream of finding the right sculpt to shell a couple RP characters, she's it​ and that's totally okay with me!

 

No, not at all actually. Back when i just started out I realllyyy wanted a Migidoll Ryu. My interests since then have completely changed! My grails now would have to be an elfdoll vivien, and a dust of dolls appi (any sculpt would be nice). I think having an immediate grail as soon as you start the hobby is going to be pretty uncertain. You will discover new dolls, and interests can change

 

Every single one of the dolls I thought of as "grail" dolls turned out to become something I no longer needed, because other sculpts came out that were closer to what I wanted and monumentally cheaper.

 

Soom Chrom was my grail doll. He was burning a hole in my mind for about two years before I caved in.

Once he arrived, I was shocked at how short he was, and how much I disliked his factory face-up. I bonded with him when I re-did his face up, and he means a lot to me, but my grail doll wasn't exactly what I expected.

Over the years, I've noticed an odd pattern, wherein the sculpts I obsess over tend to disappoint, while the ones I'm more indifferent towards tend to blow me away in person.

 

Oh yes... xD did they ever. I've had a few grails myself -as I consider a grail dolls that are really important to me but are either very expensive or difficult to ontain- to this day nothing can quite compare to them.

 

I joined the hobby three years ago, by looking into Iplehouse and falling completely for EID Roger. He's my true grail and even after these three years I still dream of getting him one day. Sometimes I feel that people tend to use the term 'grail' way too loosely, meaning 'a doll I really like' rather than 'the ONE doll that's on my dreams all the time and that I would sacrifice my firstborn to get'. With that said I think you could have several grails and also change grails over time - my taste in dolls have varied over the years and the dolls I felt I really wanted to have at the beginning aren't really my cup of tea any longer. Maybe you get home a doll that set new standards for what you want in your collection and you realize that the old dolls won't live up to those standards.

 

Hi everyone!

I am still new to DOA and collecting bjd's...

I began with a very heavy Kaye Wiggs collection...

I then made it my goal to own EVERY single NikkiBritt doll...

I came very close to that goal...

My number one "Grail" doll is still Pepper Annie by NikkiBritt...

But yes, my tastes have changed severely...

Right now, my collection has shrunk, lol, and by that I mean I prefer to collect dolls 30 cm and under...

I have a rare, OOAK Wendy Weird by NikkiBritt, and she painted him and dressed him like a boy!

I also have her two tiny ones Ellemenno and Maggie the Magician...

But my main focus is finding all the rare, hard to find Dust of Dolls bjd's....

I am obsessed!

So, my Grail dolls now are anything by DOD...

But I'm happy to say I am welcoming my first DOD: Krot Këte is joining my dolly family!

Hugs, Shaira