Finding your grail doll

Grail can have different meanings depending on a collector, and for me it has little to do with the price or how limited the doll is and everything with how enchanting the sculpt is. I have currently one doll I can call a grail and she was the one from the moment I saw her promo pictures over a year ago.

If I was to describe why she's so special, it would boil down to Proust's "madeleine taste" and Welsh word "hiraeth". When I look at her I am taken back to places and realities I've never been to, somewhere between medieval sacrum space and deeply sensual fantasy setting? No matter if blank [as is mine], with heavy make-up, or a delicate one, her face is evoking a longing.

I have several dolls I handle more often, but she's less of a doll and more of a special anthropomorphic object I feel bonded to.

It was a discontinued sculpt and I had a lot of luck to find first her head in a mint condition and then body with a matching resin. If she was ever re-released I'd probably buy her again, but at the same time, this is the iteration that I acquired first! She's no OC of mine, nor shelling any particular character. She's just herself.

 

My grail doll is my Aletheia Notdoll and I have two of them in fact it was my first bjd that arrived I had bought apple souldoll and aletheia notdoll about the same time but aletheia came first , I like how the style is unique like a mix of anime and antique dolls and the face is super unique it's also discontinued as notdoll closed years ago so that's my grail doll.

 

I suppose it boils down to how you define a grail. If a grail is a sculpt you love most of all, then mine is definitely Fairyland's Alan. If a grail is a sculpt you adore but don't have, then I'd have to say I don't have a grail, because I've got three layaways going for sculpts that I fell in love with on sight and don't have any I'm head over heels for that I can't purchase.

 

Thank you !!!! Well I wasn't exactly lucky I was planning to get an apple souldoll and an aletheia notdoll for a long time then I had gathered the money and got them , for the second aletheia yes I was lucky because there was a discount event by notdoll so because I liked the sculpt a lot I decided to get one more I was to buy an SD size doll so I felt it was better to be a twin to my first Aletheia, I also loved their resin it was matte and smooth with a bit unique and porcelain feel a bit different than most companies. I had to google ornery lol very fancy wording I see them more like they have a curious expression except belladona tfor this one yes it is but I suppose all antique/vintage looking dolls look ornery to modern standards I ve seen kids literally pointing to a vintage barbie reproduction in toystore laughing and saying "who's gonna buy that evil witch" lol so yes maybe, maybe old styled goes along with ornery !! I hope not cause I'm old and old styled myself lol lol!!!

 

I don't believe having a grail is a necessity. I have been collecting toys for a long time, most people seem to find a collector "grail" for them naturally, but I don't believe it's something anyone needs. It's probably better not to have one, depending on the cost, rarity or attainability of a "grail." I have a few, for the different toy genres I collect, I have been able to get a few of them over the years, but haven't been able to get any of my BJD grails yet. One of them never even existed as a doll, in the first place, but I did managed to commission DIM back in the day of their Minimees, so I at least own the head. The others, I'll probably never own, because they were discontinued many years ago, and not that popular. I don't purchase resin BJD anymore, and I am a germaphobe, so I am pretty much stuck with never owning a lot of my BJD grails. (:

A grail is something that definitely, nobody needs to have.

 

When I was a broke teenager, I would consider dolls grails that I loved desperately but were so outside of my price range that I'd never be able to save up for them. Now that I'm back into collecting and older, time seems to move so much faster, so every doll I come to love just goes on the wishlist or add to cart
Now I would consider a grail to be something unobtainable purely due to its scarcity. Even if you have enough saved up for it, will you catch it on the market in time? Will anyone ever part with theirs? Are there even enough in existence to go around to everyone who wants one? I have an off-topic toy I feel that way about, but not any BJDs at this time.
Such rare BJDs do exist though, and to those collectors who seek them, never give up!

 

I don't think anyone necessarily needs to have a grail doll on their wishlist if that's not their jam. I also think each individual defines what "grail" means for themselves. For me, personally, a grail doll is a doll that I wish for desperately, but would only be able to own if the circumstances lined up properly (price point, availability, and condition) to make it happen. This usually translates to my grails being older, out of print or limited release dolls that have long since climbed in price due to their rarity, especially ones in good condition with little/no damage. My list of grails is also heavily influenced by the people and dolls that I admired the most as I was getting into various doll hobbies, even if those collectors are no longer around.

As it stands, I've been able to bring home all of my grail dolls after many years of hunting and waiting for the right opportunity. My wishlist now mostly consists of dolls I would like to own, but I'm not chomping at the bit to get my grubby little hands on.

 

My grail is a Dream Valley dragon version Sylves, simply because that’s the doll that really kickstarted my interest in the hobby. I’d heard of BJDs about a decade ago, but they didn’t interest me much back then. It was a couple years ago when I developed an interest in dolls and was reminded of BJDs, and it was Dream Valley’s gorgeous dragon dolls that opened my eyes to just how amazing they could be. I’d never seen a fantasy doll like that, let alone a doll with such gorgeous sculpting and so much sheer personality! I was absolutely enamored, I had to know more. One thing lead to another and here I am.

I’m a pretty frugal person and cautious when it comes to money, though, so I wound up going for a less expensive doll as my first. I do adore my Resinsoul Ming, so I’m not upset that I got him, but by the time I felt ready to purchase a more expensive doll the limited order window for the dragon version of Sylves had long since passed.

Holding out hope for another rerelease some day, in case I never find him on the secondhand market.

 

There are four bjd sculpts that I have that I thought of as grails. One I never expected to get because the artist was doing a limited run & selling each one at a time, but good friends helped me get in the queue. Two others were no longer in production when I discovered them. But then as I waited & watched they became old dolls people were willing to sell. And I ended up with duplicates of both! The fourth was a doll sculpt & body I saw in photos on DoA when I was first a member, from a Japanese company that was hard to get a hold of & again didn't seem likely. Luckily, by the time a body appeared fs id learned that the joint engineering was awkward & the body not so pretty from certain angles so I avoided getting one. Then the head appeared with a dreadful faceup & an inexpensive price. I was able to get her, get her repainted & buy her a body that works for my plans that was a decent resin match for her!
All of them are among my favorite dolls in my collection still & it was interesting waiting, watching & learning but there hasn't been a bjd doll to give me that kind of urge for a quest in quite a while.

 

I separate dolls I want into the wishlist and the grails. What makes a wishlist doll is a doll that I can still obtain easily from the market such as a dealer/store/secondhand and also at a lower price. Dolls that haven't been retired or are floating around with several listings on the secondhand market are this. A grail for me is a doll that is very difficult to obtain, with no listings for years or ever after a certain period, and I don't even think I can ever obtain one because of it. It's less of a price issue and more of a 'can I even find one' issue. Most of my grails are older to very old sculpts and I gravitate to them due to interesting features that were produced during a time where the hobby was very new. Some grails are newer and I like them because they have cool features and aesthetics but were limited hence a thin market. I still haven't found any of my grails and I likely won't, but I'm not too worried about if I will ever be able to have one or not since I love the dolls already have.

 

I was fortunate to get my grail doll this year (I actually only got the head- he is in the process of becoming a hybrid). It was by complete chance that I got him, I put a WTB in the marketplace, believing Id never find this doll

I first saw this doll (DIM BBjorn) back in 2008 I think. He’d had already been sold out before I could get him. He had the cutest grump face but also could look sweet and innocent when pictured in different angles. I can’t really explain what is so special about him to me- it’s just one of those unexplainable things. There are a couple other dolls I’d like to get but if I never get them, I’m satisfied with the grail I did acquire.

 

To me, grail status describes something practically unobtainable / so hard to find, you don't even have a definite source, regardless if one can afford it or is currently prioritizing the item. Like the Holy Grail, no one knows where it is! It's something that one quests for, probably with much time and effort. I respect other peoples' uses of the term, though, since I so frequently hear it used much more casually than I consider it.

I was looking at various size ranges before I even bought my first BJD, to decide what level of detail / appearance I liked and wanted for my character. So while browsing Volks clothing and owner photos, I encountered the smiley face of their Renee Puss in Boots doll.. and her huge baggy boots and fuzzy clothing!? The full set stuck in my brain as a "someday I hope I can get that!" wish. I didn't know then that it was one of the harder to obtain sets even at its original release, rarely re-sold, and more expensive than others of her classification. With that moment of inspiration, I set myself up for a long quest.

About 7 years later (and 14 years after the doll/set's original and already hard to obtain release) I finally found her under a misspelled listing on a secondhand site. She needs a faceup and some restoration work which I have been very gently and haltingly approaching. But the clothing is so satisfying to get to experience in person~ And everything so cute and so well made, even if it required slight repairs here and there.. It feels worth the long quest, to have her at home at last. And now I'm too scared to send her away for a faceup..

Two of my other "grail" status dolls did not even make it to production. I was following their sculptor's blog as they progressed with the sculpts and made plans for those very special dolls.. They had very nice eye and nose shapes, and proportions different from most BJDs of the time. Then the project was put on hold indefinitely. Then the studio closed down.. so those grails will remain unobtainable. To this day, there aren't even any other BJDs made to the same height / approximate style, so I haven't been able to satisfactorily substitute them in my collection. I guess a general "50ish cm non-musclemonster male" would qualify as a grail for me currently. It's been about 6 years of hunting for one and they just aren't out there.. yet..

 

I believe my grail dols are Unoa Lusis, which I was lucky enough to adopt at the beginning of this year and I've been waiting to buy one since I started in the hobby... about 13 years ago.

I also love Mihael (Leeke) and Volks Michael (The newer version) - I just got noticed about their names LOL.
DOC Tender Yen
Ringdoll Xie Lian

I love these dolls, but I am unsure if I'd buy them as I wouldn't know what to do with them!

 

I haven't really thought of it until now, but I guess I don't have any. There are dolls I like that I can't afford or probably won't be able to find secondhand, but I won't want them super desperately. I feel like the dolls I end up with, whether I adored their sculpts to start or happened to find and buy them, and grew to love them later, are good enough for me. I think having a grail would just stress me out and take the fun out of collecting. If I saw it secondhand I'd get bad FOMO and feel like I NEED to spend the money.