Did your interest in resin BJDs lead to an interest in other dolls as well?

Not at all. Honestly, as a kid, I hated dolls. I tended to stuff barbies into the oven, or bury them in the yard behind the garage because I didn't like them, didn't want them. I collected cabbage patch dolls, but they always stayed in their boxes, and I stuffed them into the back of the closet, facing the wall. I didn't want to play with them, or look at them, or even touch them. They were weird. But for some reason I wanted them. I still don't like dolls, don't even own any other dolls but BJD's.

 

I think it was the other way around for me. Other dolls led to my interest in BJDS. My grandmother actually collected Lee Middleton dolls, and had/has about twenty of them. She's the one who got my into dolls, really. I've always loved Barbies, but she's the one who bought me my first American Girl doll (which would lead to a total of five AG dolls). It was later on that I got into porcelain dolls and collector dolls, and then on a whim, I discovered BJDS and fell in love. So I feel like interests in other dolls can lead to this hobby, but it can go the other way around I'm sure.

 

I was a long-time Barbie collector...I have over 400! The challenge of finding the limited collector Barbies, plus the growing necessity of keeping them NRFB to maintain value, really dulled the hobby for me, so I sort of fell out of the doll hobby for a couple of years. I bought a couple of Tonner dolls, but I just couldn't warm up to their beautiful, but bland faces. While I was delving into the Tonner line, through Prego Doll, I met a lot of BJD collectors. They intrigued me, so I started looking at them, but was horrified at the price point. It took a couple of Prego members to tell me to look at basic line dolls instead of limited editions - the prices might be a bit more palatable!

They were right. Compared to $1000 for a limited doll, $400 doesn't seem so bad, and when I realized that BJDs are meant to be played with and customized, the cost seemed even more reasonable. It took me a while (2007) to get up the nerve to order my first doll, but after she arrived, I've never looked back!

The only other dolls I collect now are Tonner's Harry Potter line.

 

For me it was actually that my interest in dolls (in general) lead to an interest of BJDs. I've always loved dolls but could never find one that was perfect for me. Then I discovered BJDs and after a bit of trial and error I found the perfect doll for me.

I still collect other dolls as well and I like just looking at them. They all have their own beauty and form so it's nice. I even have a traditional wooden Japanese doll I got at Comic Con. Even though she's solid and can't move or anything else, she's very lovely and just having her on my dresser next to my other dolls makes me smile.

 

The whole doll mommy experience has made me very appreciative of all kinds of dolls, even Barbies-and I used to not like those at all.
Plus the level of customization that BJDs can warrant has lead to me to consider the possibilities of other kinds of dolls, like monster highs, my little ponies, etc.

 

My grandmother has collected dolls for years before I was even born, and then she sort of used me as an excuse to buy even more Probably if it hadn't been for her huge collection of valuable dolls, I'd never have believed BJDs were worth their price tag, and thus never gotten any. I've got far more other dolls than BJDs, including play dolls, vintage dolls, fashion dolls, etc.

 

Actulley I find alot other dolls kinda scary (not meaning to offend!). BJDs don't freak me out because I complely customize them and they're not old enough to gather bad "ju-ju"

 

Growing up I was interested in customizing my dolls, but I never knew how and my parents wouldn't let me. So I would just rely on mixing and matching various clothes for them to make them different. I eventually had to get rid of most of my toys, so those had gone with them.

Finding BJD's has also helped me find other dolls that can be customized and I'm recently becoming interested in vintage toys from the 80's and stuff. I guess BJD's will help me fill an artistic place in my life since I have always loved customization on anything and making things "my own".

 

From the time i said my first word ive loved dolls. Baby dolls have always been my favorite and i loved American Girl dolls too. I never really showed much interest in Barbie....which is my moms favorite and i never had much interest in porecilin dolls. My great aunt collected mostly Madame Alexanders and 50s fahion dolls so when i was 2 she bought me my first American girl doll. I have always had expensive dolls so when i found BJDS and found out their cost it wasnt too scary for me. Although ever since i have gotten my first bjd i have become more interested in antique and vintage dolls. So in a sense my bjds lead me to expand my doll horizons.

 

Hmm. Well, being into BJDs led to a brief interest in Volks Dollfies and 1/6 Obitsus - as affordable, well-proportioned little dolls with the poseability and customization potential of BJDs, I thought they may be interesting to get into with my limited funds while saving for more resin. Eventually I decided they didn't hold the same appeal...but my little sister saw me looking at them and thought they were pretty fascinating. I ended up buying her a blank Obitsu 27cm girl with rooted blue hair for Christmas 2009, and we gave her a nice little faceup together and put her in this amazingly flattering ANTM doll dress that fit her perfectly, then set her up in a shoebox house.

My sister had fun with that doll for a long time and talked about wanting more of them, but eventually she broke its neck post and I couldn't jury-rig a good repair, so she put the doll away somewhere until such time as a replacement part could be ordered from Junkyspot (we never got around to it...her interest moved on before the next time I came home from school and could make the order. Derp.) That was the end of our 1/6 adventure!

I keep an eye on the world of dolls in general now, and don't own any apart from my MSD girl but do take an interest in releases of 1/6 dolls, Pullips, Monster High girls and more, in case any ever end up interesting me. Right now, the fact is I don't have space for any more dolls but maybe someday.

 

How many of you have become interested in other "off topic" dolls as a result of your interest in BJDs?
I definitely tend to notice other dolls now. Like if I went to a friend's house or I pass by an antique store, dolls tend to pop out and I spot them easily. Maybe it is just because I'm now aware how huge doll hobbies are. Sorta like if you like a particular breed of dog you tend to find them and spot them easier than other dog breeds. I hope that makes sense.

Also, how many of you got into BJDs as a result of an existing doll hobby?
Besides owning Barbies as a kid I never got into collecting. BJDs are my true first doll hobby since the dolls I had as a kid were part of growing up not collecting.

Have you purchased other types of dolls to be "friends" for your (resin) BJD, or perhaps even as an accessory (dolls for your doll)?
Well the Asleep Eidolon girl (sold her last year) came with a freebie dollie. I did use it for a few shoots. However I wouldn't go out of my way to get more dolls. Nope. I'm good with just BJDs.

 

I was never much into dolls when I younger. I was more into action figures. But since collecting BJDs, I find myself getting interested in a couple other types of the more customizable types of dolls (Dollfie Plus - I recently bought two). I don't see myself really getting huge into other types of dolls, but I do notice that I'm branching out a little bit. It's only a matter of time until I get a Neemo or two (those things are adorable!)

I also still collect gashapon figures. I guess they're doll-like? Just pretty to look at, not to play with. They like to fall apart when handled.

 

I've always been into dolls and as a kid had Sindy's, Barbie's and My Little Pony's...for a while my hobby stopped when I was 13 and purchased a 'Jem' doll from Jem and the Holograms and my mum said to me 'Don't you think you're getting a little old to be playing with dolls....?' my world came crashing down and I did feel a sense of shame that I should have been acting older or something....
Anyway, fast forward about 20 odd years and after watching 'Being John Malkovich', I was desperately trying to find out where I could get a puppet like the ones in the film and through searching on the internet came across a pic of a Dollshe Saint (I've believed it could have been one of Zagzael's...as it had wings) and I was blown away...from that point the rest is history!^^

I've not bought dolls for my dolls, but Jem (Soom Mirabil) has a mini articulated rabbit-teddy that was bought especially for her.

 

for me it was the other way around! lol i was collecting other dolls before i found bjd's so it was a natural progression into bjd's.
i still own other dolls too, but now i mostly only collect bjd's.

 

It was for the purpose of making art that I bought my first bjd. What an avalanche followed! And other dolls became interesting to me along the way. I love the customization of Blythe, and then...and then...and then...Yes, I collect Blythe, Pullip, Dal and a sampling of others...even the spooky antique dolls, including cupie and Lenci types -- less spooky. I do like the idea of making some art of images that include the different kinds.

And I have a dream of one day making my own doll, or dolls. Maybe art dolls, maybe sculpt to resin. Who knows where my love for bjd may lead? Just hopefully not to status of BAG LADY. Har-har

[bag-lady=homeless] In my country there is a picture of a homeless woman pushing around an abandoned grocery cart full of bags of things she has hoarded, all her belongings in her cart. I'm be a bag lady with beautiful dolls in my cart. And I'd have to find a BIG refrigerator box for us to live in.

As for my earlier doll "collecting" -- I was an only child with a powerful imagination so my dolls were alive to me. Over the Christmas years I ended up with 5 dolls, each very different kinds of dolls. I still have 3 of those and even now my emotions are stronger than my rational thinking about whether they would know if I sold or gave them away. [And THEY would be very hurt] -- so I guess I was a doll "keeper" more than collector. I didn't see them as collectible objects. But I have kept those 3 dolls for a LOOooong time.

 

I've always loved dolls, BJDs only introduced me to other dolls I had no clue existed like Obitsus, and Hujoos etc.

 

Actually, I have been interested in different types of dolls before I discovered BJD's. Of course, now that I know what BJD's are, I wish I had discovered them sooner.

 

I have always had other kinds of dolls as well, but I was never really part of a community until BJDs. Others in the community who had other kinds of dolls caught my attention and I researched more on other kinds of dolls and found my love for Pullips. Though, I will never own as many Pullips as I plan to have BJDs.

 

I'm another one who has ALWAYS been a doll collector, and my other dolls led me to BJDs. I've collected Barbies since I was a child, I still have several in a closet at my grandparents' house that I hope to retrieve when I have more room to display them MIB. I got interested in the Jun Planning lines a few years ago, and at one point had about 30 of them, but I sold most of them off when I needed money to move. I've recently gotten back into them, which is what started my BJD browsing again. I would always look at pics of them, but I stumbled into a sale thread...and I caved, lol. So yeah, for me it was the other way around. Barbies led to BJDs in a very twisty-turny way, with a lot of other dolly roads in between and after.

 

I collected Madame Alexander, Precious Moments, and lots of other dolls as a child, they have been in my curio cabinet collecting dust for years as I lost interest as a teenager. Then about two years ago I discovered Ellowyne Wilde by Wilde Imagination and I fell in love! After I bought my first three Wilde came out with Amelia Thimble, a tiny resin doll (Puki size). And after talking on an Amelia forum a collector told me about BJDs and then I officially became addicted to Puki's... Even though I'm into BJDs I still love Ellowyne's and will continue to collect them, but I don't think I 'll be collecting any other type of doll...