Do you buy old sculpts or new sculpts?

Uhm, I bought a CP Delf El... last year I think? I bought him secondhand in the MP, but yeah, I was very glad I did it because it was just before Luts stopped selling the old CP sculpts.

I do tend to lean towards older sculpts. They are the dolls that I saw first and which drew me into the hobby at first, so my love for them is stronger than the newer models. There's one or two fresh sculpts from new companies that I like but if push comes to shove I'd still go for the old ones, because I've loved them for so long.
This was also the reason why I finally brought the El home, I had admired him forever. And it helped that the hype was long gone and I felt more secure in owning a "once popular" doll.

 

I buy a mix of both... I think. I have plenty of newer dolls and several older dolls but I guess my greatest infatuatiations are old really old sculpts... CP El, CP Lu Wen, Volks Tsukasa Konoe, Suiseiseki, Shirou Tachibana, YoSD Piccolo... I'm not sure if I really favor "older sculpts", it's just I have less in my family because they're harder to come by nowadays...

 

Hehe, I am the same! I realized that my most recent purchases are dolls that came out around the time I joined the hobby, or ones that had been on my wishlist in the past, but that I never quite brought home. I still love them after all this time! I think some of the new releases are quite beautiful, but for some reason I just don't feel the same draw to buy them as with some of these older ones. I guess I just feel like I have a history with these sculpts already, even though I have never owned them before. It's a bit like old friends, if that's not too silly to say. ^_^

 

I would go for either, but with the older sculpts there are more photos and feedback so its nice to see how varied the doll can be made to look before buying.

 

I'm still new in the hobby so most of the things I collect are probably on the newer side. About 1/2 of my collection are dolls that I bought when they were first released. The others have been around for a few years and I was able to obtain them because they were re-released by the company/artist or they were still available. My tastes are shifting or evolving as well - so I imagine that my collection will always be a little bit of both, as time goes on and I rediscover sculpts I wasn't attracted to previously.

 

It depends, I just have to like the sculpt honestly. I am tending to lean towards the older sculpts recently though, because there's just something about that 2003-2006 timeframe that I love for companies - the nostalgia factor is really big for me I think. I would love to bring home some of the really old sculpts I've always liked, such as CH Chowon or an AR Ren. I'm finally bringing home a classic Volks Syo, which basically screams early 2000s to me (I remember seeing him secondhand in a shop while visiting Japan yeaaars ago, would have brought him home had I the money then!) even though he's still technically available. I'm also waiting on one of the new FL sculpts, so it's not like I've totally written off newer things :>.

I think the current wave of sculpts is slightly outside of my taste range though (a fair amount of focus on beefier guys and realistic faces which just aren't my preference), so it could also account for my lowered interest-in-owning for a lot of the newer things coming out. New company focuses on higher posing ability has lead to a lot of really great advances, but I'm not really a fan of the sacrifice in overall body aesthetic due to it as another example - this is purely a subjective opinion though, and not applicable to every company. I love the classic single joint appeal in older dolls, even if it makes them clumsy by today's standards. The old SD10 body, even with all of its flaws, is still one of my favorite styles.

 

I don't really go for the OLD old sculpts, because I'm not really a fan of the early BJD aesthetic. I like stylized dolls a lot, but the kind that was en vogue during the early BJD days aren't really my thing; I mean I like a couple of the old Volks dolls (like Megu/Four Sisters), but not enough to actually want to own them.

However, my next planned doll is a Supia Rosy; I've liked her since my very early days in the hobby (so at least 5 years now), and now I've finally figured out what character she will be, so she'll be coming home soon (I told myself I have to accomplish some goals before I can get another doll, haha). She will be a sort of an experiment, because she's the first doll I will be buying that has been on the wish list for a long time. I've been buying limiteds for the past few years, so they would always be new sculpts at the time of purchase, and none of them really worked out (except for one).

I usually buy dolls to be characters I write about, so to me it doesn't really matter how old the sculpt is as long as it matches the image I have in my head. However, I generally tend to prefer newer sculpts, because there's been a big branching of aesthetics in the recent years as the hobby got bigger, so now there's a bigger variety for me to choose from, and some of the newer sculpts inevitably end up hitting the spot that none of the older sculpts could.

 

I prefer new sculpts it seems, now I've been buying dolls for a couple of years. Initially I discovered bjd through an interest in lolita fashion, so the traditional style bjd appealed to me most, but then I saw more and more sculpts and now my favourites are all new-style. The doll in my avatar was what appealed to me 2yrs ago, but certainly not any more - I keep her for sentimental reasons only!

 

It's a little of both, but I really do buy a lot of dolls soon after they come out. My very favorite doll was purchased a few days after she came out. I really have been liking the new dolls coming out now, so I have been buying more of them these days.

 

I definitely have a bit of both... of my acquisitions this year, I've brought home a brand new event head from an established company, as well as one of their newest body designs. I've also brought home a full doll from a brand new company (I think they emerged last year? Maybe a bit longer than that). I also brought home one of the very oldest sculpts sold by that established company. Twice, if you count the variant I just snagged. I also brought home a full doll that's probably nearing 10 years old, and just got a head that's close to the same age.

I'm not really into the super-realistic style that's becoming popular, at least in my collection. (I love to admire from afar, however!) I'm also not into the super-anime big eyes-small mouth aesthetic that's in some of the earliest, as well as some newer sculpts I've been seeing. (Again, love to see them!) What I really like is the aesthetic that falls between that; a little more anime, but still having defined features. To me, age isn't really part of the picture; there's so many older dolls I love out there (the pre-2005 anniversary thread has been filled with wonderful eye candy!), but I really love seeing what's just come out, too.

 

I like newer sculpts I think. There are so many new body shapes and mature looking dolls coming out now. I could be wrong because I've not been in the hobby for too long but the older dolls seem very ideal, thin and youthful. I'm really loving the pear shapes, buff and chubbier characters I'm seeing now.

 

Definitely a bit of both for me. I only started collecting in 2009, but a lot of the sculpts I own have been around longer than that - Volks F-20, Custom House Hyun and Mars, Volks SDC Arashi, Ninodoll Bada. But I have a lot of newer sculpts as well. Variety is always welcome!

 

Yeah I'm not too typical from what I've seen. None of my dolls look like they are from the same universe and everything I like seems to be really hard to shop for. I think sometimes it would be nice if I got the ideal body more often - it would make clothes shopping much easier.

I think if I wrote stories for my dolls or maybe even put a little forethought into how they would look together I wouldn't have such a goofy looking bunch.

Your collection is very beautiful Gala - they look like they belong together.

 

For the relatively short time I've been involved, used dolls predominate among the resins. So the sculpts are usually older. Among the Dollfie Dreams, it's been much more affordable to pick up some of the newer head sculpts with custom face-ups. My choices are primarily made based on the immediacy of availability. I have been exceedingly blessed to acquire what we have with very little inconvenience and at fair (sometimes bargain) prices. My first (SD16 Ami ) fits the criteria of a "Grail" doll, and the rest are pleasing additions which have brought increased enjoyment. I'm currently going through a DD/DDdy phase which should finish up shortly, and I'll be looking to increase the resin male population. I think a doll from Iplehouse will be among the first considerations. It will 99% likely be another already released & immediately available item.

 

Old, definitely. All of my girls were made between the years 2001-2004. I've had short love affairs with newer dolls, but it didn't take long for me to fall out of love with them and find them new homes. It's like classic cars vs modern racers; the new ones are fun to take for a spin, but the classics are the ones you restore and keep forever.

 

I buy both, but my taste is mostly in old sculpture.... :-)

 

Old-school BJDs for the win!

I agree with what Lady Ravenswood and Schtiel said about the high nostalgic feeling of seeing a lot of older BJDs; I feel a connection to them because they were what was prevalent in the hobby when I first joined and everything was still fresh and ~magical~, haha. (It's the same feeling I think the newer forum members will have about Minifees and Resinsouls and Iplehouse/Soom limiteds five years down the road.)

Dolls I thought were a little odd then seem to be what I covet most now! Then, I thought Notdolls were hideous, Dollmores too stylized, Unidolls a little bland, Souldolls very pointy, Volks a bit "dolly-faced," and Happydolls too square-jawed. Now, while I do honestly love a lot of the newer and more realistic styles out there (hello wishlist!), I miss seeing these weird but familiar faces, and am working on bringing some of them home.

Another factor for me is somewhat of an unpopular opinion, I think; I feel the older sculpts had more character. That's probably an erroneous assessment to a degree, as there are far, far many more companies making dolls now than when I first got into the hobby, and it takes longer to sift through the various sculpts. I see a lot of very, very beautiful faces when I see newer sculpts, but not as many of them stand out to me (though there are some obvious exceptions).

Also, I buy almost exclusively secondhand, so my older sculpt preference actually works in my favor. Yes, they can be harder to track down, but I get a real sense of satisfaction when I find the one I'm hunting for. Bonus: they're also usually cheaper. Another reason I concentrate on buying older sculpts is that by the time I've found most of the ones I'm looking for, the newer ones that I like now will be old hat by then!