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Falling out of love with the Grail

Jun 2, 2016

    1. Nope. My grail dolls are my grails for keeps. I did have three dolls that weren't grails (as in: they were easy to obtain) and I eventually sold them all. Apparently, I need that extra box ticked, where I have to search for the doll for a long time, because then I get to check if this is a 'spur-of-the-moment' thing, or if I really want them, no matter what.
       
    2. I am also painfully familiar with this particular struggle, hah.

      I have two real "grail" dolls - a tan Migidoll Jina that wouldn't require spraypainting, and a DIM Minimee Xiah Junsu. I have both heads, but neither has a body. I could have purchased one with my Jina, but Migi body doesn't suit him, so that was out. I'm in the process of acquiring a body that I THINK will match, and if it doesn't, I've accepted that the only other option is custom resin matching.

      As for the Minimee...eesh. This guy's super pale for an NS doll, and I wasted a lot of time and effort trying to find non-WS resin that would match him only to realize he just needs a WS body. It doesn't help that I am extremely picky about the body, because I want it to be accurate to the character the doll will portray (and thus accurate to his human counterpart.)

      I've gotten super frustrated with both multiple times, and even put the Jina head up for sale once, but I couldn't go through with it because I know that eventually he and the Minimee both WILL come together in a way I'm happy with...it's just going to take a long time to get there because of finances and other plans. In the meantime, I've just set both aside and will give them their time in the spotlight once they're what I hope them to be.
       
    3. I realize this is a few days late but:

      I feel as though we need to start a campaign for Soom vs DK resin. I found the same info way back in 2010-11 that it matched, and when I got the DK body it was WAY off. And mine was the original Soom tan that I don't think was ever made again, doll was Afi. Because of this I've had similar problems with him that you have with your Ender. :\

      Afi was not a grail for me, my #1 grail was Volks Michele, and after years of pining after him, then owning him, I've yet to fall out of love. I treat him differently - not only was he my Grail, but my most expensive and hardest to get, so he rarely leaves the house, and I don't "play" with him often. He also only has one outfit....but it's because I feel like it's perfect and have no desire to change him. Well, technically he has the fullset outfit he came with, but I don't put it on him.

      SO I'm going to use Afi - Ai and Afi are THE Soom dolls for me. I've had others and sold them, these two guys I've had forever. Ai is a FL hybrid, which is what I wanted when I decided I had to have him (which was just after the order period so I had to track them down second-hand), Afi is on a DK body and I've pretty much hated it since day one.

      -Have you ever fallen out of love with your grail after getting them?
      I wouldn't say I fell out of love with Afi, though I tried. It was the hybrid I just couldn't like. The DikaDoll body is kind of chunky and the clothes that fit my other YO sized dolls are tighter on him. I have had a lot of different bodies in this size and most of them are very nice posers, but there's something about the DK body that doesn't work right for me. Little Monica has single joints and is more graceful and natural....pretty much the rest are FL Littlefees or at least on a LFT body, and they literally are one of my favorite BJD bodies ever. Between the size and posing and color mismatch I just didn't like the poor thing anymore.

      -Did you end up keeping or selling the doll?

      Ok, so here has been my dilemma. I've put my Afi up for sale several times now, and eventually pulled him every time. I just can't do it. First, he's adorable. There's something about that face I just really like, and no other Teenie Gem has had as far as I'm concerned (though Flint was close). Another big part of it is the actual head I have. He was modded to have his already-big eyes open even bigger. It's a very well done mod, was like this when I got him, and I love it. If I sell him, I will never get him back, period. I could get another Afi, maybe, but it wouldn't be the same. So I keep chickening out.

      And I still love the head! No part of me really wants him gone.

      -If you sold the doll, did you regret it later?
      Haven't sold him, and I'm sure i'd regret it if I did, which is the only reason he's still here.

      -If you kept the doll, did you ever love it the same again? - If yes, what did you do to fix the problem and love the doll again?
      Well, I am in the process of completely redoing him. Several of my YO sized dolls never actually had characters other than names and a similar style (odd for me, I generally care more about the character than the doll), so he's not getting a character redo, just a total cosmetic one. I wiped his face, found new eyes and will be giving him a different look from what he had --- biggest thing I'm doing is attempting to get him a LTF body. Since they sell tan now I am hoping to grab one eventually, even if I have to buy a full doll to do it. I want him to look like my Ai, and LTF is my favorite body ever anyway.

      I don't care if the color is off - good body + blushing will make it work.


      I get the need to stick to a character - I do it too - but sometimes it helps to be a bit flexible with clothes, due to BJD hobby being skewed toward certain styles that aren't necessarily what everyone wants.
      I'm not saying put him in jeans and t-shirts....but maybe something like a person who has no idea what historical Egyptian clothing looks like might dress their doll in. Like, fantasy-Egyptian. Enough to understand what the concept is, but not perfect. There are a lot of fantasy outfits floating around out there that pieces could come from, and a couple Etsy sellers that might have things from time to time....you could at least get a few things for him this way.