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Don't Have a Grail Doll?

Aug 29, 2014

    1. One of the most common things to talk about in this hobby is grail dolls. But what about those people who don't have them, like myself? Is this a rare happening or do a lot of people not have a grail?

      Personally, I think it'd be hard for me to ever find a grail doll. My collecting style is much more random than most. I usually stick to secondhand dolls, so every-so-often I go on the marketplace and find a beautiful doll and bring it home. For a while, I wanted a Fairyland doll and bought one, but not a particular sculpt. And when Dollzone released their Christmas event dolls this year, they amazed me so much that I got one, but I would have been happy without them if I never got it. There are plenty of sculpts and concepts that I would like to have one day, but there aren't any that I absolutely, positively must have at some point during my collecting.

      Thoughts? Opinions? How many of us out there are like me and don't have a grail? Why?
       
    2. I don't have a grail doll either.

      I used to, though (Volks Hijikata). Then I realized that as much as I think he's very pretty, there are some things about his features that wouldn't really work well for me as my tastes have evolved throughout the years I've been in this hobby. When I let go of the notion of him, I actually felt freer because I don't need to look for dolls that could substitute for him that ultimately I probably wouldn't have been happy with.

      Having a grail isn't a necessity in this hobby anyway. Since I got rid of my wishlist and story/character-making, I'm much happier just getting whichever doll I fall in love with.
       
    3. I don't really know that I have one, since everything I'm looking for is either readily available (not rare limiteds or "impossible to find" or higher price), or just plain doesn't actually exist and I'm just waiting for a company to produce it.

      There's plenty of dolls I like to look at, and there was one that I thought might've been such a thing... but I sold her on after about a year of having her sit on a shelf doing nothing, and I haven't regretted it. I've achieved the two discontinued dolls I was looking for (though I wouldn't have called them "grails," either, since there are plenty of both in existence and all I needed was patience), I'm not pining for anything on the market or in the marketplace, and with many, many sculpts, I'm very happy to just admire from afar and know they don't fit with my collection.
       
    4. Well ... I do but I don't. The doll I think of when someone says 'grail doll' is a doll I love, but I will probably never get. (Crobi Marisol) She just doesn't fit in with my other girls.

      I sometimes wonder if she's stuck in my head so I have an answer for the common question ... who is your grail doll?

      I'm happy with who I have now, and who's on the way. Will I have a 'real' grail doll in the future ... maybe.
       
    5. I try not to have grails in anything I collect, including my lolita wardrobe xD I don't see the sense in causing the extra stress of pining for it or obsessing over it, regardless of what it is. Because it seems like, at least in my experience, any time I've ever REALLY wanted something, and thought of it often, I NEVER get it. I just try to keep my eye out for dolls I like, which was what happened when I got my first doll. I figure, if it's meant to be then I will find something I love and have no regrets purchasing it whatsoever, but until that happens, I don't mind waiting to just happen to come across it. I'm a fan of impulse buys I guess, but I do try to think them out very carefully before going through with the purchase.
       
    6. I did have grail dolls -- one boy, one girl -- until I actually got them. Reality, while very nice, is very different from company photos. No more grail dolls for me. Ordering a doll is like having a baby; you never really know who you're going to get, but you're ready to love them and care for them.
       
    7. I'm starting to think I don't really know what a grail doll is. I thought it was a doll you just really really wanted and it wasn't based on availability? It sounds now they are rare - ultra rare dolls that you can't get without going second hand? I feel kind of stupid now.
       
    8. I don't have a grail doll either. I buy the dolls I want and I guess because I buy the dolls I want - I will likely never have a grail. I suppose if I had to pass on a doll that I really really really wanted and it was difficult to get a hold of, it would become my grail. In a lot of ways I wish I had one…I like hearing about them from others.
       
    9. I had a grail doll head because it was one of those Luts event heads from last year but, I've never had a grail doll since I tend to look for newer models in general. But I guess I'm like mdonline03 in that I buy all the dolls I really want without a second thought. Though there has been a couple of times where I didn't buy dolls I really wanted, but I get over it (except for one that I'm still regretting not buying //sob)
       
    10. I've never had a grail doll - I enjoy impulse-buying and my tastes change constantly, so it would be hard for me to fixate on getting a doll. I recently really wanted a DC Christina on an old style DC body, but it was discontinued so I put it out of my mind thinking I'd never have it. However when a body came in stock with a dealer, I was up till 2am working out a way to buy it LOL - and broke my golden rule of not going into debt for a doll (but only by £40!) - So I guess she was my 'grail doll' even though I didn't know it - I'm now saving up for her head! She was totally an impulse-buy though - so I'm not sure if that qualifies as a 'grail' (I guess her head does though). There are a couple of dolls on my 'wishlist' but they are cheap and still in production, and I don't really care if I can't have them, although I'd like them.
       
    11. I had a grail doll, but... it got re-released and I own the guy now.
      While generally a grail doll should be an unobtainable one, at the moment I consider 5th Motif's Venitu such a doll - the guy somehow feels too precious for me to own him.
      Other than that, I just like to buy on impulse, I guess?
       
    12. Well I still have a grail but I found her after one year of relaxed searching for an acceptable prize. I will probably pay her today. Grails often help me save money and to not impulse buy because the help me to make priorities ;)
      Being spontaneous is very nice but also very dangerous to my poor wallet so better not...
       
    13. Radish- The definition of Grail Doll changes depending on who you ask. For most people, its just a doll that you really, really want to own one day. For others, it should be rare or unattainable for some reason.

      And I'm glad to not only hear that I'm not the only person in the hobby without a grail, but it's nice to know that I'm not the only carefree "I'll buy what's pretty" collector. Perhaps this style of collecting produces more non-grail-doll-having people.
       
    14. Never had one but once Xavier got here he became the favorite and hasn't relinquished that title.

      Growing up as I did if it was unaffordable or unobtainable there was no point wishing for it because like hell I'd ever be able to get it. I felt lucky to get anything. By the time I could afford my first ball joint I had the thought it might be my only one so I had to pick reasonably and carefully.
       
    15. Thanks Chan. :hug: At least I know what it means now. I suppose I really don't have a grail doll then. I do have several I really really want but nothing that I would be forever devastated to miss out on (at least not enough to pay thousands of dollars to obtain).
       
    16. I don't really have a grail since I'm not actively buying or saving up for dolls. Even when I did though, what I might consider my grail, many other people wouldn't have because it is neither rare or limited.
       
    17. I don't have one either. All the dolls I want are readily available- budget willing. My Chaka was the closest I ever got to a grail because he was getting discontinued. I managed to get him right before he became unavailable though.
       
    18. A grail doll to me is a doll you've really wanted for a long time (above other dolls) and for whatever reason could not bring home, even if you had the capacity to buy dolls.

      In that sense.... I don't really know if I have one. I've listed a couple in the "what's your grail?" but the thing is, I CAN try to get them now! I have enough money saved up to buy a doll, so I could go and list a WTB in the marketplace right now and try to get them. But I'm not doing that, because I'm actually looking to buy another doll right now... Which is actually one of those dolls that I've wanted for a while (5 years) but didn't buy (not because she wasn't available - I just didn't buy her; bought other dolls in the mean time).

      I guess I just don't feel like torturing myself with a desire for something I want but can't have. Usually if I find a doll I like, but find out it's not easy to get, I'll immediately start noticing (without consciously trying) all of the things about it that aren't juuuust right. Maybe the head sits on the neck a little funny and make the doll look like it's sucking in its chin, maybe the doll has no butt. But suddenly the doll goes from OMG WANT to "okay, it's nice, maybe one day I'll want it enough to try and get it." I could never bring myself to want one doll really bad, but bring home another.... that just never works. The purchased doll ends up being one I just don't want.

      I mean there are a certain number of perfect dolls in my head where this wouldn't work.... but no one's made them yet, and probably won't for a while, so until then.... I don't really have any grails.
       
    19. No problem, Radish.

      And yeah, the whole torturing yourself part. I am able to tell myself that I can't have it and move on, which helps quite a bit. I've done this to one or two dolls in three years... I'm just glad it doesn't happen to me often.

      I usually only go looking when I have money, too, in addition to my random collecting methods.
       
    20. I have had grail dolls off and on. In fact, I have to say that half of mine were "grails". I saw them and wanted and wished and finally got them. I also have to say I think it's perfectly wonderful to see a nice doll and say, "I want that" and get it! I have done both of those...