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Falling out of love with your Grail?

Dec 24, 2019

    1. Well... I do have a grail doll that I still fell for her but would never buy her. It's not because I don't like her anymore, it's because from the start... she isn't on a size that suit me.

      I still keep looking on her picture from time to time... But I'm not thinking about having her myself anymore. I still like her but her size not suit me, and that's all.
       
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    2. I've had a few but I found sculpts that more interested me. Right now my current grail is Xaga Doll Mini Zoe...
       
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    3. One of the dolls I admired the most when I started the hobby was one of Soom's Faery Legend dolls, Labas. When the company had one of their free choice events and I had a chance to get one, I realized I liked a different doll more.
       
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    4. My dream doll (way back when I first was in the hobby) was a Cerebus project dreaming Chiwoo Vampire. I wanted him soooooo bad. There was one on ebay(its is about 13 years ago) who priced rather high. I saved and saved, terrified that someone would buy him.
      I finally saved enough and bought him. I was so excited opening the box and then nothing. He was pretty, but so dang big! I tried everything, but he just sat on a shelf because he was to big for me to comfortably carry around.
      It happens, I still think of that doll. Maybe one day I'll get a littlefee chiwoo and see if a modding would be willing to open or close a Chiwoo faceplate. But it's just not the same excitement and longing
       
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    5. I just wound up selling two of my one time Volks grails, a DearSD Megu and a SWD Kira. I was so excited to get both of them and they were absolutely perfect for my initial concept. But after 2 years I realized their characters just never developed beyond that original conception. And when I saw their original owner was searching for the same sculpts again, I knew it was time to let them go back home. My dolls are very much character-driven, and while I certainly loved their sweetness and beauty, in the end they were just a couple of pretty faces and I couldn’t justify keeping them.
       
      #25 PoeticSoul, Jan 26, 2020
      Last edited: Nov 12, 2021
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    6. For a long time I have been seeking this grail ( I won't name) it has been years and I would stare at pictures and image how great it would be to have that grail. After years of looking I have my grail but I feel so disappointed it wasn't what I expected. The fabric is not good, and the body is not very good at posing, the wig which looked good in pictures is poor quality and the faceup is not as impressive in person. Anyone else obtain their grail and felt disappointed?
       
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    7. It's a little funny. Some of the dolls I fawned over eons ago seem a little lower quality in my eyes now. At least with the costume, if you wanted/dared, you can disassemble it and reassemble it made of better fabric. Ultimately, other than the head sculpt, pretty much everything is exchangeable.
       
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    8. I had this happen to me. I had been pining for this doll ever since I first started collecting and once it finally arrived I really had a 'What is this?' feeling. One of my friends told me I had probably idolized the doll too much and set my expectations too high. I tried to take some distance from the doll and tried to look at it less sceptical. After a while I felt myself warming up to it again and I still own the doll to this day.

      Try not to get too discouraged if you feel dissapointed when it first arrives. It is still possible to bond with it afterwards.^__^
       
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    9. Even though he wasn't really THE grail to me, I did fall in love with the promo pictures of one sculpt near-instantaneously and decided I just had to have him. But when he finally arrived, there were a lot of "meh" moments that I never encountered with my other dolls upon arrival. His body aesthetic was quite different from what I was used to, and his skin color was a lot paler than I expected. I even saw issues with how his head was proportioned, which made nearly every wig I owned look quite awful on him.

      Nonetheless, I resolved to give my problem child a chance. ("Even in your case -- though it's the toughest case I've yet to face -- don't worry, I'm determined to succeed!" was essentially my mantra for a while.) I recently just finished a time-consuming wig for him, and it did a lot for me to finally click with the doll. Sometimes implementing small changes to a doll's styling could do a lot to save a situation.
       
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    10. Im not really dissapointed as much as underwhelmed with my grail. Ive been searching for a normal skin human Soom Heliot for years, but none was ever coming up. I caved, bought one with hooves and the unicorn fantasy head, and send the head to be modded to human.

      Once I had him back I simply didnt know what to do with him. It took me months to make him a wig. More months to sew a simple outfit I dont even like on him. And yet more time to give his hooves a very basic airbrush job.

      All in all I still love him but he inspires no ideas or interest like my other dolls.
       
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    11. I didn't bond with my first 'grail' doll, despite being absolutely crazy about the sculpt in other people's pictures or even seeing them at meetups. For whatever reason I just didn't gel with that sculpt, and over time my taste has changed a bit away from that sort of style. I felt really bad about it at the time, almost this disappointment from what you 'should' be feeling. Despite modding and changing up the look it still didn't work for me. It's funny how these things happen. However, having sold that doll, I was able to use the money to buy one I absolutely fell in love with.
       
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    12. I was definitely there with Nobility Doll LIE. I think it might have been a few years after I saw his promo photos and absolutely wanted him as my first boy doll that I was lucky enough to find him in the second hand marketplace. Since I was a total newbie, I think I might have asked the owner/seller for IRL photos or to see the doll in person at a local meet up (I forget which came first honestly). Either way, the person complied and I couldn't believe how different he was from the promo pictures. I literally had spent years dreaming up his character and a whole backstory and other characters/dolls to include around this doll, and then...I didn't like him. He wasn't the same as the promo pictures (or maybe the promo pictures in my mind) even though he was still a handsome doll, but I just didn't connected with him. I felt so bad declining to buy him in the end because I had full on gushed on how long I've been wanting to have this doll to the owner/seller. Luckily, the owner/seller found a buyer elsewhere soon afterwards, but still. Ever since then, I've been hesitant to buy a doll that I've only seen promo pictures for which sucks sometimes because I also regret not getting some dolls right away. :yawn
       
    13. During the Souldoll discontinuation I ordered a Diammah because of her chipmunk cheeks, only to discover that her cheeks are flat in-person and it was just the filters and blushing that made them rounded. I thought they sent me the wrong head at first.

      She's still a cute doll and I'll do something with her, but she's not what I expected. I did order a Moa.S animal head and she has the cheeks I thought Diammah had.
       
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    14. I felt this way too to the point where I sold him. Mind you this is an extremely rare doll. Months later I yearned for him again. I was seriously confused as I thought I had moved on. I'm now finding the sculpt again to buy but I'm paying almost double from what I had paid. Give them a chance. Change something around. Especially if they're rare! Don't be like me u.u
       
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    15. Ugh, I can relate to this to a degree.

      For my main OC, I fell in love with each of the sculpts I picked out for him. So—a bit like a grail in a way. The first two I slowly fell out of love for—reasons, but two of the ones that followed...I spent hours admiring the sculpts and pining over various photos of them (promos and personal owners photos). When they arrived, however...that magical draw to them just—fizzled. The spark I'd felt when I was looking at them via various online images just seemed to go out upon seeing 'em in person.

      A bit of irony in this situation—the sculpt I currently have for this particular OC was one I saw a few photos of floating around and hadn't thought much of them at first. But then, when a swap opportunity popped up that allowed me to acquire him—it was love at first sight...in person.

      Things can be really odd in this hobby sometimes. When they don't work out the way we suspect—it can be painful. When the pieces fall into place in an unexpected way, however—it's absolutely satisfying.:kitty2
       
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    16. I guess I've never really had a true 'grail'...one doll among thousands that I felt outshone them all. There are so many amazing creations out there that I can't even imagine that happening. But, I've definitely fallen hard for sculpts that, when I finally acquired them, did not really live up to my expectations. My feeling about those is, don't quit right away. Go through multiple faceups, suede difficult joints - or if the posing is bad enough, resort to wiring. Try new outfits, wigs and eyes. Whatever it was that enraptured you in the first place is still there, unless the promo pics were so poorly done that they completely distorted the features. If all else fails, of course you can eventually sell...but it's a shame to go that route until you're sure that you can't create what you wanted so badly to begin with.
       
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    17. This happened to me, though my grail was a hybrid because I didn’t like how buff his default body was. I researched for ages about what would work or not, finally had the chance to buy the head (Soom Ender in brown tan skin) and got a body that, by my research, should have been a good match. It was not. At all. In color or size. I tried so hard to make it work. I couldn’t get the faceup right and sent him to an artist, something I almost never do. I spent hundreds of dollars to commission the perfect outfit and jewelry...it didn’t fix him. In the end, I sold him, broken hearted. In person, he just didn’t work the way I planned for so long. It happens.

      (FWIW, I still absolutely love the Soom Ender sculpt. He just won’t work on a slender body, and I’ve accepted that while I still admire his beauty, he just isn’t for me. )
       
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    18. I got my grail doll recently. Had so many issues about getting her and when she arrived. I sold her in less than a week. Now I cant even look at pics of her because I just have grown to destain her lol

      It's sad but I guess it's a sign to not put dolls on a pedistal until you have them. You might just be let down.
       
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    19. Ah, yeah a little bit. I picked up mine pretty recently and even in the sales listing he was a little...uglier than I remembered. I'd wanted him for over 10 years so I got him anyway. And yeah, he is a little bit. His forehead is so shiny and the company makeup makes him look maybe a little too feminine for my tastes and I can't say I like how his teeth are painted. He's not a great poser either. Admittedly I love him anyway but my first impression of him was awful. A new faceup should help but yikes.
       
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    20. I had this happened once but it wasn't a grail, it was just a doll I wanted but I fell in love with his default look so when I got him I was disappointed since he didn't look nothing like his default photos from the website. His eyes looked bigger, his whole face looked big and round while in the photos the face looked smaller, more delicate. It wasn't the face up, it was the sculpt itself. I removed his face up, gave him a new one like 3 times. I tried to change his style, eyes, wig etc many times and nothing worked so I ended up selling him. I never found out who he was and no matter how much I struggle with a doll, I need to know who they are to feel attached to them. Like same thing happened with another doll but I found the right wig for her and woah! as soon as I tried it on her it was instant love and all of a sudden I knew who she was.

      As for grails, I must say I've been lucky. My grails are only about the blank sculpt, I don't really care about the face up and outfit they come with or even the body because I can always get him/her a new one. I wish you luck with your doll!
       
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