Doll research *or* Buying too soon?

Honestly, I believe that in this day and age where access to the necessary information is right at our fingertips, most mistakes that ruin a doll are due to impatience on the owner's part. There's just so much information that'll prevent mistakes if one bothers to slow down and do their research.

 

my dicision to buy my 1st doll was may be even too easy: I saw BJD doll at the exhibition and ... fell in love with their beauty!))) in a week I ordered a doll knowing absolutely nothing about BJD, but of course, after 100 days, when he finally arrived, I had some information)

 

I did a lot of research...a lot. And I must say at first the hobby itself felt soooo intimidating.
This actually made me think too much for several months before I ordered my first doll. But then again, this happened when I wanted to adopt my cat. So I guess doing some basic research--although it may be intimidating enough to make one shy away from the hobby as a whole--is important if you want to be a responsible owner

 

I have been looking up stuff about dolls, and looking for the perfect doll since since I was like 12 or 13. So I spent a few years, because I didn't purchase my first doll until today haha. I think if someone wants to buy a doll without doing any research is fine though. It is their money, as long as they do not complain too much when they make mistake which ruin the dolls, I think it is fine.

 

I think research is really neccessary in this hobby. To avoid future confusion and damage. And not only dolls in general but also companies you but dolls from. There were seituations when people buy a doll thinking it will arrive in one colour (assuming from the name) and it comes in another, or they order a basic doll and get dissapionted in it when it doesn't look like its promo fullset pictures... There are a lot of issues. And when you purchase something this expensive, the decent thing is to learn how to care for it and and all the detail...

 

I honestly cannot fathom how someone can get into such an expensive hobby and not do research. But some people are just like that, they just dive in and take a chance. Though it does seem very unwise and such a....needless gamble to take-buying a doll on impulse and risking not liking it-I can't bring myself to think less of people that do it. I think it's odd to do, but I'm not gonna criticize someone for it. We all do what we do, and the world keeps turning.

Though, admittedly, if I had the funds to work with, I'd likely be much more impulsive than I am right now, and would likely have more then one single lonely doll noggin.

 

I nearly jumped right in with no idea! I saw a BJD for trade on Blythe kindgom, and thought why not...she'd make a great model for my paintings (I am a portrait painter). Sadly the deal fell through due to trans-Altantic postal prices, but I kept interested in BJDs.
I have just joined here, and I must say, there is a silly amount of choice, so I think if you researched too much, you might never get one!
To find my doll, I ask flickr folks what type of doll I am admiring in their picture, I have asked Blythe friends which are good starter dolls and I have enquired around about another trade doll (a 5stardoll) to see if she would be suitable as a starter doll. I am swithering between MSD or SD, but ideally something I can work with as customising is my passion.

When I started Blythe, I bought a clone to customise, as it was cheap. I rescued so many Blythes and Pullips that people have done terrible things to, but through doing that, I got to practice on cheap fodder and maybe even save a few (four are in new homes now).

I think I will approach BJD the same, and when I have to do something complicated, I'll just ask...I am sure you are a friendly and helpful lot! xx

 

I tend to research things very carefully and then wind up acting on a sudden hunch. By then it's a well-informed hunch, so it usually works out well.

 

I'm actually very bad at being patient heh ^_^'. I purchased my first doll off of Tumblr from someone who was getting out of the hobby and then immediately turned around and started a layaway for another doll. I didn't actually know what my first doll was or what company he was even from and had to ask a community that i was in to get the info. I love my first doll though and I'm learning a lot about maintenance and customization with him. I can't wait to get my second doll !

 

Haha, I wish I COULD make an impulse-buy! Since I'm very (and I really mean very) low on cash for "fun things" (meaning everything besides shelter, electricity, food and such) I always take a tremendous care in purchasements... Of any kind, really.
It took me about a year to find my dream doll (Unoa Lusis), then a half year spending thinking about wether or not I should really get one (because they're pretty rare and expensive), then after deciding I really wanted one I spent another half year researching and hunting for the perfect one.

I must say it was totally worth it. I could have bought one much earlier, but I'm so glad I waited. The one I own now is just perfect. Everything about purchasing her felt right, instead of that slightly nagging feeling I had with the other optional dolls, while my mouse was hovering over the "purchase" button.

Even my other dolls (2 off-topics), who were much cheaper and easier to obtain, had months of planning ahead of them before I actually bought them. Same goes for my handmade one (or third off-topic as one might say, but I consider her a different category). She was very cheap in terms of materials, but took months of planning and research before I finally got to making her.

I understand that someone would buy a doll on a whim, but not when the person knows absolutely nothing about these dolls to begin with. For starters, I don't get why they would puchase an item that is so expensive, without thinking twice about why it has such a price... Even if I never heard of these dolls before, I would immediately get suspicious that it is something rare that needs unique treatment, and then start researching them before getting one.

 

I'm usually so careful with the things I purchase but I just absolutely fell in love with him. I'm beyond careful now a days. I realized how incredibly lucky I was when I actually received the product. I don't want to push my luck hehe

 

I'm not sure, but reading your reaction makes me think that you thought I was talking about shady sellers... But that's not what I meant by "I would get suspicious" :P
What I meant is that if I were to see a lovely item somewhere, that would have a price much, much higher that I'd expect, I would wonder why it would be so expensive: One option is indeed to think that the seller is a *peep*hole and just wants to sell an item way overpriced. The other one is that there is something special about this item, which I do not know of. For instance, if I were to spot a nice closet, that would seem like an ordinairy closet to me, but had an astronomical price tag, I would research that closet to find out why it is so expensive. Then, I would discover that it is some classical handmade item from the 18th century, made by a famous woodworker or something.
In that same way, a person who has no knowledge whatsoever about Ball Jointed Dolls should scratch their head when seeing how expensive they are, before just buying one for the heck of it: "There is obviously something valuable about these things, I should find out why before I buy one. Maybe they need special care or are very rare or something."

 

I'm with you there- my husband and I just got married a little over a year ago, so we're still very much in the "broke newlyweds" phase.

As for planning before purchasing a doll, I'm actually glad that I usually have to wait quite a while to purchase one. A perfect example is the doll I just picked out to be my vampire OC- I wanted a slim-looking 70cm+ doll that was able to pull off a natural-looking slouch, but I didn't want all the extra bells and whistles (not to mention insanely long wait time and high price tag) of the Dollshe bodies, not to mention none of Dollshe's face sculpts work for the character I have in mind. I was very excited to discover that Dikadoll has a 73cm body with a 5-part torso and a face sculpt that works PERFECTLY for the character! Now keep in mind that I've changed my mind about the sculpt for this character at least 5 or 6 times because I just couldn't seem to find the "perfect" one. In this case, I'm VERY glad that I waited, because I'd be kicking myself if I dropped the money on a different sculpt before finding the Dikadoll one.

 

I’m one of those who jumped right in. However, I’m also one of those people who will obsess from time to time over things I really like. So for a week, I was always looking up BJD videos, advice, doll sites, and care tips whenever I had a spare moment. I probably stuffed a month’s worth of casual looking into that seven day period. And then I couldn’t stand it any longer and ordered my first doll, Evelyn. She took about six weeks to get to me, which means I had plenty of time to do more research and learn as much as I could about the hobby. So, really, I’m a mix of “the impulse buyer” and “the researcher”.

 

I researched for about to 2 years till I bought my first doll. I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't regret it or anything like that. I think it's up to the person

 

I searched and researched for 11 months to make sure I found my perfect first doll and how to take care of her. I think it's pretty careless if people don't research what they're buying, especially if it costs them a good chunk of money. But i guess everyone is different.

 

When I bought my first doll, Custom House Choa in 2003, the only thing I researched was how to pay for her, what will be included with her and how long she will take to ship. And, by "research", I mean "read the sales page before hitting the 'submit' button". This was back when DoA was still a Yahoo group and information about BJDs in the US was very sparse.

The learning process started when I received the doll and, as time went on, figured out what she was all about - how to handle her, how to take care of her, how to do basic maintenance, etc. I still have this doll, and, other than being much yellower, she's as good as new.

These days, I do research more before I buy a doll, since there's such a wealth of information available here on DoA and other doll-related sites. Mostly, I look up the latest company reviews and, if the doll is not new and/or a limited release, look up owner pictures of the sculpt I'm interested in. All this information is readily available, so I find it to be good practice to find out as much as I can before I commit to a purchase.

At the end of the day, though, BJDs are still just dolls; expensive dolls, but dolls nonetheless. I can see how someone who is new to the hobby would take the plunge without doing much research - as long as the price is right and the sales/company page is thoroughly read, why not? Everything else can be learned once the doll is home.

 

I wanted a PKF for nearly two years before I finally got her. I researched a lot and have spend hours and hours and hours in front of my laptop. I read a lot of company feedbacks, looked at tons of owner pictures, watched hundreds of youtube videos until I was really sure that I had found the right doll from the right company and felt prepaired for her arrival.
I am a collector for years now and I think doing my research is one of the main aspects I learned^^

 

I don't know how to service my car, what engine it has or what the proper name of the paint colour is, but I still like to drive it.

 

I was with you, but I did all that research because I was going to build a doll first. Then I met someone selling one at a convention and just...ka blam- I had a doll. Thank god I knew what to do and how to treat her.