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First Doll: How much planning went into it? Plan success or foiled plan?

May 26, 2009

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    1. Warning: Story!

      So, here's the thing. I realized at Fanimecon this weekend that the first time I was ever introduced to Ball Jointed Dolls was at the JunkySpot booth in 2006. Now, it was not the -best- introduction... I went with this guy I was rooming with (of 17, including me and him) and he was looking for a reference-doll... With squishy boobs. So he bought what, a 15-17 cm tall doll with squishy boobs. We messed with his head the whole time and kept putting her into horrible provocative poses when he went to the bathroom and whatnot, but there you have it.

      Within the next couple of years, my friend introduced me to her dolls. She lives in Canada, I live in California, so it was just talk and pictures, but still, I was made aware of them. She even showed me Den of Angels then. I did not immediately catch on. I had forgotten about SquishyDoll and was just not into the idea of expensive dolls.

      Then, several months ago, I was browsing dolls... and I fell in love.

      Orientdoll Il was my character, Jared. I continued browsing and also found Angell Studio Kana, who seemed to be my Liera. I was excited, and decided to start saving. I kept planning, kept reading about Il because he was the one I really-really-really wanted. I still want him. He was to be my first doll.

      Except, then I went to Fanime again. This year I knew what JunkySpot was selling and went over there. As usual I was flabbergasted by prices, because I am NOT a rich person... But I did think the little "baby" dolls were adorable and was talking with the boothlady for a while... I noticed the squishyboob dolls. Memories.

      Still, I moved away from those unconcernedly. I found a box full of Isabellas piled on top of one another. I had never seen this mold before, and thought they were very cute in all their different hues. Greens, purples, etc. And then I saw something.

      Liera.

      So in spite of many months of planning, my first doll was seemingly an impulse buy at a convention. She is now totally filthy because she had been handled before I got to the booth and then handled all con (I was SOOOO EXCITED), and she's kinda naked (she has a MSD sized cheapo t-shirt which is GREAT but she's not wearing it right now because I'm playing with her posing), and I kinda love her to bits. No planning, no second thoughts. Just... Mine, for 100 dollars even, with eyes already the right colour for her, and with better Bobobie posing than I have ever seen in my limited experience of my OTHER friend in LA... and the con-goers Bobobies.

      So.

      How many others have experienced this? What went into your first doll? How did you get him or her? How did you decide? I mean, one friend told me that her first doll was a gift from a friend. LA-friend's was a gift from her gramma (she'sMYgrammanow,bwhahahahah)... I put so much PLANNING it seemed into my first doll... and yet my first doll... was an "impulse" buy that I'm very happy about. You guys?
       
      #1 mekalai, May 26, 2009
      • x 1
    2. My first doll was also a sort of impulse buy. I'd been looking at BJDs & playing with a friend of mines but couldn't quite break the price barrier. Then one night, it hit me, hit me hard that I HAD to have a doll & I had to have it right then. Dolls & Friends had one of the molds I liked in stock so after about an hour on the phone with Jennifer answering all my newbies questions, Lydia was on her way to me.
       
      #2 Gwydion, May 26, 2009
    3. My first doll was definitely a planned buy, a couple months of saving and research, but i originally ordered her as a character doll. Not so.
      She's got a pair of unused red glib eyes sitting in a box right now and I hacked her wig shorter, because she is not Suiseiseki. I went through a period of time where I didn't really have too good of a bond with her, but as soon as i took a good look at her and she gave me her own, real personality, she's been my little Ettie ever since. A couple of faceups definitely helped, as well.
       
      #3 Music In My Eyes, May 26, 2009
    4. Ha ha I had my first doll all planned out. YEAH. That didn't work out so well! I started out with "I'm gonna get a DK Hara!" and ended up with a Soulkid Mayu :'D She was kind of an impulse buy but I love her so it's fine XD
       
      #4 flurryofdancingflames, May 26, 2009
    5. Weeeelll...I had been planning to save and save and save for a DOI Luke or DOT Lahoo.

      Kalix certainly changed that. I took one look at his picture, and I felt like I had literally been punched in the chest, the instant attraction was so strong. I had planned out the Lahoo's character and decided on eyes and wig and everything before hand, but that all got put on the back burner. Kaizer, my dear Kalix, is now sitting besides me. He was sort of an impluse buy, but during the wait he developed into his own character. He's still awaiting parts to be complete (like Euclase legs), but I think he's fairly happy.

      So, one plan foiled, but an accidental plan success! :aheartbea
       
      #5 ss108, May 26, 2009
    6. The first bjd I came across was the latis and fortuntely they were closed to orders when I first found out about them, so I had time to consider it. Then when they opened I loaded up my basket at least twice before finally clicking the payment thing. Paying that much for a doll is quite scary. I'm still new to bjds and still don't recognise the majority of bjd names but hopefully I'll get there soon! I'm now definately planning for my next doll - although winning the lottery is not proving as easy as I hoped ;)
       
      #6 smudge, May 26, 2009
    7. I am still on my preparations and planning for my first doll. I first learned of BJDs about 5 years ago but I was distracted by Pullips and Taeyangs for a while. But ever since last summer, I have been planning to own a BJD. I have since then been doing research and reading everywhere in my preparation for my first doll. Now I am probably clocking in at hundreds of hours online... ^^ This summer I will get my first BJD finally!
       
      #7 akakai, May 27, 2009
    8. Some what planning some what impulse.
      I found out about BJD's from DannyChoo.com, he has a Volks Aoi.
      At first i thought they were pretty creepy but after reading some of his blogs and stuff i started getting into it.
      So I started doing some research, I originally wanted Volks Haruhi (Which was to expensive) at a price around 76,500 yen (roughly $800) since all I could find was Japanese sellers ^^
      But after looking at the costs and figuring in my current crappy wages I just could not make that big of a commitment.
      So I started looking around for more of my price range (at the time $300), then I found DOD website, and couldn't resist the DOT Shall, and about 2 weeks of planning and semi-research I bought her, and an extra wig and a few clothes ^^
      Total was a lot more than $300 I ended up using my Credit Card to get it all.
      ~Bisc
       
      #8 bisc442, May 27, 2009
    9. I really want a doll of dollmore and picked out the doll the eyes wig and outfit to make it look just like me but the total cost is $547 + shipping. How can i get my doll asap?
       
      #9 Abercrombiedude898, May 27, 2009
    10. I had it completely planned out, then LUTS with its new releases had to completely mess it up. I fell so in love with LUTS Ethan, but I was rushed because he was limited and I didn't know whether or not he would wait for me. So I spent my money... on him instead. It was a dumb decision, since I couldn't bond very well. ; ~ ; But I learned my lesson!

      So, total planning for money, total impulse for doll.
       
      #10 sparkii, May 27, 2009
    11. Well when I was first looking at bjd at the end of 2004 there was a lot less to choose from, but I knew I wanted something with interchangeable elf ears, as I'd never had a doll quite like that before! I did a lot of 'research'; combing DOA, all the bjd web sites I could find, and ebay. I narrowed it down to a couple of choices (Lovelyhouse ShinCho or Serendipity Sharmin) and made my first purchase (Shin Cho).

      But that's as far as my "planning" went. He sat around naked for a long time while I hemmed and hawed about the price of a suitable outfit. I ended up selling him because I decided boy dolls weren't really that interesting to me. So it was kind of a fitful start, but eventually I became used to the astronomical prices of everything and the rest was history, heh.

      Raven
       
      #11 ravendolls, May 27, 2009
    12. My first doll was unplanned. I thought there were only two companies out there being Volks and LUTS until I came to this board and discovered there were like 3986b48g79 more. :sweat

      Now I carefully research things through here before making a purchase.
       
      #12 ahyu, May 27, 2009
    13. With my first doll, he wasn't the first doll I wanted :sweat When I joined this forum, I was interested in buying a kdf but I got disinterested from saving after a couple months ><;

      But after a few months I had interest again to save up for a bjd, but this time I chose to get a BlueFairy Louis. He also had caught my eye when I was first looking. And then I saw how cute he looked on doa :D And then I saved for him, bought him wig and outfit etc.

      And now 1 year after I bought him he already has a twin :sweat I think my second doll was more of an impulse buy :'|
       
      #13 limedragon, May 27, 2009
    14. Mekalai I like your story, mine is boring haha.

      I first discovered bjds through the volks website. Although I thought the bjds were the most gorgeous things I had ever seen, I was shocked at the idea of spending so much on a doll. So I went with 1/6 dollfies for about a year until I found DoA. Through this forum I found out about so many different dolls, and the one that stood out to me above all others was Luts Yder, and I decided I was ready to step into the world of bjds. At the time I was trying to decide between Yder and the Too&Bee-A set from DoD. I liked Yder the best, but Too&Bee-A were two dolls for about the same price, and I thought they were super cute too. I ended up going with Yder, and I am still as enchanted with him as back then. It was a good thing too since I decided later that minis just weren't for me. I was also last year able to get a Volks Kohya; one of the first dolls I looked at, and one I never thought I'd be able to get.
       
      #14 Nefla, May 27, 2009
    15. Sorry this is long!~ *_*
      I wouldn't say my first doll was an impulse buy, but I was rather so fixed on getting him I didn't look at as many companies as I probably should have.
      I started seriously looking into dolls in October of 2007 but had vaguely known of them before hand.
      I never had any particular characters in mind, and still don't, I buy dolls based off of if I like the sculpt or not and go from there.
      Adrien, my DOT Homme Ducan, caught my eye immediately after my sister had told me about the company. (One of her friends owns a DOD)
      From that point on I knew he had to be mine, I planned out his character looked at tons of clothes and was even planning what dolls to buy next.
      Problem was I didn't have a job, but low and behold after a fit of looking at dolls one night I knew there was no way I'd be able to keep up with this hobby unless I got one so, I applied at a bunch of places for about a month, and finally in March of 2008 I got a call back.
      This job is still the one I have now and I pretty much can owe bjds for getting it. :sweat
      ANYWAYS, after saving my first few paychecks I was able to order him in May of 2008, about 6 months after I decided to buy him.
      I still have him now and I can honestly say I still love him to bits.
      His character changed significantly from what I had originally planned but I can definitely say I'm happy with how he turned out.
      I might have rushed into buying him just a tad, and probably should have looked at some other companies before deciding to buy him first...but I still adore him to pieces and have absolutely no regrets at all. :)
       
      #15 sparklypancakes, May 27, 2009
    16. That's pretty much the same way I found out about bjd's, I saw a picture of Danny's DD Saber letting a figma sit on her arm. After seeing that I just knew I was going to have one. I already had some money saved up for other things but after doing some research I used some of it about a week later to order my Sayuri (DD Aoi). I actually preordered DD Yoko the same afternoon I got Sayuri once I had some time to take a few photos and see that she really was worth it. Then I saw Claudia from Angell Studio, she was an insta-buy like Yoko. Hopefully I won't see anyone else any time soon that I can't resist, my bank account is looking a bit emaciated lately. :sweat
       
      #16 Toolbox, May 27, 2009
    17. I started planning everything out for the first doll I fell in love with.. until I realized I had absolutely no personality, story or anything. So, I set out to find a doll for my character, Oliver. I didn't really know who he would be, but I wanted him. DOD seemed to be my best bet, because their style is very similar to how I imagine my own characters. I looked at Camine for a bit, but he wasn't right. Sha had closer facial features, and I wanted him for a bit, despite the fact that the character would still be better if he was tender eyed.
      And literally... two days after I decided that, DOD released Tender Elf Sha.
      And I printed a picture, gave it to my parents and said, "This is what I want for Christmas."
      They were hesitant about getting me such an expensive doll that they knew nothing about, and apparently already had my gifts, but knew I wouldn't be as happy without him. So they agreed. And I got him.
       
      #17 Ella, May 27, 2009
    18. I did the same thing. Bought, saved, then boom! Impulse. Bought my first boy. I've been better since then though.
       
      #18 forfax, May 27, 2009
    19. My first three were actually impulse buys. I really had no idea what direction I wanted to go in with them at the time, so I just got things as the desire struck me. It didn't end up working out as well as I'd hoped, since the first two I got were MSDs and I later discovered that I don't really bond as well with the smaller dolls.
       
      #19 andarton, May 27, 2009
    20. I did not take much time in deciding that I did in fact want to own a bjd and actually that I was ready to buy one (I happened to have the money at the time). However, when I get interested in something, I'll look up info and read obsessively so even though it was a very short span of time, I did look at a number of different websites. I basically decided on a budget and looked at all the dolls I could find that fell within it (at that time all minis). It really came down to a choice between a standard edition and a doll that was only available during an order period. I had to decided fast, because the order period was almost up, and I did go with the LE, since I could always go back and by the standard doll later if I wanted to--he actually became my second doll :)
       
      #20 Taco, May 27, 2009
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