Does your grail doll change, or can you have more than one?

*shrug* Tastes change over time. There's nothing saying your "ultimate doll" might not shift from one mold to another over the course of the hobby, and "grail" means anything you want it to mean, really. It might be a mold you reeeeeeeally want. It might be the ultimate doll. It might be the doll(s) that say 'yep, once I got this, I'm done searching'. Everyone's different.

I have two, Volks Shirou Tachibana and Dollshe Afghan. The Afghan is a newer addition to the list; she just grew on me after a while. If I find those two? I'm done collecting. I'll have everything I want.

 

I've always thought of a "grail" doll as being one you really, really want that for one reason or another seems very unobtainable. (Could be because of price, could be scarcity of the doll.) I don't see why you can't have more than one. I think a lot of times people use the term to describe their #1 most-wanted doll, but sometimes you might have several in mind that were sort of tied. Personally, I wouldn't think of a doll as a "grail" anymore once I had it, more like former grail. There'd inevitably be another to take its place on my wishlist.

 

Is it possible to obtain your grail doll, then later find another one?
Of course! Some people do genuinely have only one doll that they love as a "grail", but many find new ones too.

Or, in that case, is that first doll no longer the grail and that status is transferred to another doll?
I guess that's individual.

I kind of had grail dolls, but I don't seem to anymore as I sold them for one reason or another. After having felt that way a few times and that feeling fading away, I feel the grail concept doesn't apply to me anymore.

 

I always had 2 grail dolls: Souldoll Chiron Centaur in grey skin (which I actually found!) and Dollmore's Tell Me Your Wish Keeley (which I actually found as well :3)

To me a grail doll is a doll you absolutely HAVE TO HAVE in order to feel your collection is complete. It doesn't have to be limited or unobtainable to me. That's just how I feel about it though

I suppose it could change. Though I have my two grail dolls (ones on layaway at the moment) I suppose I could always dream up a new one

 

I'd say you could have more than one, or you could transfer over to a new sculpt that infatuates you more as tastes change. For me, I've got two versions of what was my grail doll, and another of what would have been my second grail. Since I've gotten them though, they're no longer 'grails' to me as I no longer need to quest for them. So some newer dolls have stepped into their places and have become must-haves.

I see grails as that one doll you really, really, really (really) want and are just drawn to. They may be unobtainable at the moment for whatever reason, but that isn't a requirement for them to be your grail. It's entirely possible to be drawn to more than one doll, and it's entirely possible to no longer feel that 'tug' towards that one doll that you thought you wanted.

Personally things like resin color and default face-ups don't really factor into my consideration for wanting them. While yes those things are nice and are preferred, if I couldn't get my hands on the exact version I want I know I can change the doll to suit my needs. I can blush a lighter doll darker. I can find an artist to do the face-up should I not like it (or do it myself). Heck, in the case of herder to find dolls- even if I couldn't get an exact sculpt right, I'd settle for a very similar sculpt if it was similar enough.

 

I believe there can be more than one grails. Grail dolls for me are extremely desired, usually very hard to get dolls. In my case, well, I have a triad of grails (Crobidoll Daydream Lance, Switch Seoha and the penultimate grail, Immortality of Soul Chaos). I'm currently in possession of two, looking to buy the third. To me they all still retain their grail status in my mind and will always be very very special. c:

 

Is it possible to obtain your grail doll, then later find another one?
Oh yes, mine has changed more than one. First it was Liselotte, Suiseiseki, Luna and now I am dying for Lorina. Literally freaking out for her. lol

Or, in that case, is that first doll no longer the grail and that status is transferred to another doll?
Sort of but now I am finding my collection is getting to a place where I completely adore everyone. Usually I would have that feeling like who could I sell if I wanted another doll and now I am down to "I cannot sell anyone"!! I am literally in love with pretty much all my girls.

 

I had only one and once I finally snagged him, I've never had another. I've bought lots more but I didn't obsess over them.

 

The Grail Doll for me is exactly what you described. I am also the type of person with a lot of 'Must Haves', but a Grail Doll is like love at first sight. If it's sold out, you compulsively look everywhere for it.

I had one non-bjd grail doll in the past. Now that I've had her for many years, she's no longer my grail doll, but I think it's because I'm not interested in that type of doll anymore (fashion dolls.) Now I have a new grail doll (Soom Ender), and although I would love to have the fullset with factory paint and all the trimmings, I'm just happy to get an Ender! (I have one on layaway from a nice person through the Marketplace!) I think if your grail doll is very hard to find and you pass up getting one because it doesn't have factory paint, for example, you might regret it. I'm sure you can hire a talented person to produce a similar face up.

 

This happened to me, actually. My grail doll is a Galena head on a Beryl body (Soom) but she had to be in Normal Skin. Beryl was not made in Normal Skin with her hooves and Galena was, but she was a human (I assume this means she did not have the fantasy version's pointed ears). My grail doll had to have Galena's pointed ears and Beryl's hooved body. I resolved that this would never happen and I would never try to dye her into being my grail.

But then Soom had the Free Choice Super Gem Female event and BAM. Grail came home early last year and I adore her. I don't know if another grail will come along in my quest to complete my collection but the possibility is out there!

 

I think of a grail doll as one that's out of your reach for some reason... at least for a while. Mine definitely changed; it was Soom Amber Pure Spirit for a long time, but I got over her. I still love Amber (I always check out gallery posts featuring her), but I just... stopped wanting to bring her home. Partly it was the cost of an original Amber; $2000 or so is way more than I want to pay for one doll. And partly my tastes changed, as more stylized sculpts like DollChateau and Circus Kane became available.

My current grail doll is Doll Chateau Stacy--I think she's one of the most beautiful dolls I've ever seen. She's not limited, fortunately, but it'll be some extra work saving up.
I also happily managed to order a Nexeven by Circus Kane, who would have been one of my grail dolls if I'd missed her

 

I also tend to think of a grail doll as something difficult to obtain but that you really really want. I've had about three separate dolls that fell in this category, usually because I found out about them after their order period was over or they had been discontinued. I've never had two at the same time though.

Definitely also agree about what the OP said about being willing to buy the doll regardless of size or price. I only collect SDs and one of my grail dolls was a Dollzone Moment. I was willing to ignore my preference for SDs in that case. And my Soom Sard and Nabarro's Boys Har both cost me as much as a full doll just to get the heads. ^^; I have no regrets though.

 

I've seen people use "grail" to mean "doll that I want that I'm saving for next" and I kind of... don't think that the term "grail" really applies to that. To me, a grail doll is something that is ridiculously difficult to obtain to the point where the whole process of finding it and bringing it home is like a pilgrimage or a quest. And obviously, you desire this doll so much that this long, painful process is worth it - regardless of whether you think your collection will be complete after you have it, or because you just absolutely need to own it irrespective of your other planned doll purchases.

Of course, you can have more than one such doll at a time - if you're a masochist. And you can definitely have more than one because you brought one grail doll home and found the next one. And the grail doll CAN change, but I think in order for it really qualify as a "change in grail doll" it would have to be after considerable time was invested in the first one.


Me, I don't have grail dolls. If I have to wait and search around for years, I'm likely to just consider it not worth it, unless I found a doll that is so perfect it literally looks like it walked out of my dreams. No such doll exists, so, I usually just look/ask around, invest some time into the search, and if I decide that it's just too much work to find one I move on with complete confidence that in a few months I'll find a doll I like even more.

There is someone in my local doll group who has been looking for a discontinued, unpopular mold for YEARS now. Like, at least for the 3 years that I've known them, possibly even more. That's really impressive... And I won't be able to do that, ever. (For example, I briefly considered Volks Lorina as a grail, but she was out of my budget on the crazy secondary market, rare, and way too frequently recasted for me to feel safe, so I moved on. Found a much cuter doll a few months later that had all of the features I liked about Lorina with fewer of the features I didn't.)

 

For me a grail doll is one that is incredibly different to find and generally incredibly expensive and therefore extremely hard to find and requiring a lot of effort and sacrifice to acquire. I mean, the Holy Grail was only ever found after an extremely long quest that only the most pure hearted and noble of all the knights was successful at.

I've had one grail doll that I angsted about getting for almost 5 years and then was able to obtain. It was pretty awesome. I've actually since then sold the doll since I tend to eventually grow out of dolls and it was time for me to move on.

Now, my pipe dream perfect doll I don't even consider a grail doll because I am not willing to spend that much money on a doll with my current finances and will never actually happen... it'd require a lot of luck, a trip to Japan, and $5000 to win Dream FCS to have a white skin Michele boy on an SD13 girl Seirei body.

 

My tastes change all the time. I really don't have a HG doll or doll company. I used to think I had a HG doll, but once I bought that doll, I started wanted a different doll. I do have doll companies that i like more than others but thats about it.

 

As other posters have said re: definition of "grail doll", I do think it's one which is sold out, limited, and so hard to find it will be nearly impossible. If it's just a doll I really want and it's readily available, it's not a grail doll.

 

^This is what defines a grail doll for me. A doll that didn't cost me months and months of painstakingly searching the marketplace, losing several bidding wars in the process, isn't a 'grail' doll to me. It's 'just' a Must-Have.

My IH Kamau for instance, was a doll I wanted since the first time I saw him, but I didn't buy him until he became a standard release. So, although I wanted him badly, he isn't a 'grail' doll to me, because he's readily available. Same for my Peroth, whom I pre-ordered back in 2007.
My other dolls however, ARE grails. Each of them took me a long time to obtain. (although I have to say that my Volks Williams is definitely my favorite; when I finally got him, I wasn't interested in buying anything doll related for years)

The way I see it, it's possible to have several grail dolls. I still have one or two that I'm searching for. It also - to me at least - really matters what the doll's skintone is. I'm always looking for NS or tan, so a WS version of my grail doll, isn't my grail doll. Same goes for sleeping versions, if I'm looking for open eyed ones and visa versa. I could mod the eyes of course, but then it wouldn't be the same.

 

This pretty much sums up my ideas of a Grail Doll as well, and with these explanations as a guide, I've never had a grail doll. I've had dolls I really wanted, I've had Dream Dolls, but I honestly don't think I'd call any of them Grails. I think mostly because I didn't ever have a doll I was actively pursuing or unable to find that I wanted so badly that I'd be willing to actually shell out the insane after-market pricing. My first doll is still my favorite mold, and when I bought him a million years ago, my Ultimate Dream was to have him in White Skin...but Dollmore only does WS for limiteds, and there wasn't one at the time. A year later there was, and I was lucky enough to have money and be able to buy him (and then the next year another one!) and years later he's still the Ultimate Dream Doll for me...so that might have killed any Grails I might have had in the future lol

There are other dolls on my "list" that I wouldn't mind having if a miracle happened (or a tragedy leaving me with money to blow) and I was in the position to buy - Volks Michele was one of them, the top one actually, I've wanted him for years! I did manage to get one (he's on the way now!) and I am beside myself with excitement for him, but I still don't consider him a Grail. I was actively looking for all of 3 weeks before I got one (which is not very questy) and I never would have bothered at all if I hadn't suddenly found myself with the money to do so. I actually had back-up sculpts I didn't like as much but would have been ok with had I not been able to get Michele and I wouldn't have been completely devastated if I didn't get one. It would have sucked, but life would go on! I used to want a Soom Heliot fullset but I don't even think he needs to be on my list anymore...leaving me with a few others I would like to have but not enough to spend the money. I honestly don't think there is a doll out there I would like as much as some of the ones I own already. I guess that's a good thing lol
Saves me stress, heartbreak and money!