First dolls and first doll ideas!

I totally regret my first doll. It was such a disappointment. The only good thing I can say about it is that it's good to practice things on....

 

The motivating thing that got me into BJDs is realising I could shell some of my favourite characters, so from the start I was looking for dolls that matched an existing idea. I think this helps me personally justify the cost to myself, since I know I have plans for them so they won't just be sitting around looking pretty. I have plans for three. One is home (though his head is off getting a faceup), I've picked out a sculpt for the second, and the third..... is proving hard to find. orz There's upsides and downsides to looking for a doll to match a character, rather than building a character around a doll...

Ultimately I think I'm wary of buying a doll that I like if I'm not actively shelling a specific character, because I worry I wouldn't bond well with them, or be able to come up with a character at all. My character creation process is more like I find them in the woods one day as opposed to growing them in my own garden, if that makes sense...? And I fear a doll with no character to them would be too... empty. I think I'm the person who likes to have my dolls as little people as opposed to just, dolls. (I named all my stuffed animals as a kid...)

I do have my eye on a couple sculpts that I'd like to maybe have one day, were a fat wad of cash to suddenly fall in my lap. I also want to eventually have a doll I can put OscarDoll eyes in, because I love how they look, but it would be weird to get them for my 3 boys. The pains of shelling existing characters...!!!

 

I do still have her. She's a temporary body for an otherwise floating head at the moment. I practiced sanding the seams on her and I practice face-ups techniques on her head - which is weirdly small. I might have a go at modding her monstrously thick neck next...

 

I've been involved in various parts of nerd-dom for most of my life, and I've also been creating most of my life. I have a group of characters I've had for a very long time (25+ years now), that I'm quite attached to, and a lot of the nerd-doms I've been involved in have had creative endeavors closely tied into them. One in particular taught me about the concept of "kitbashing," or customizing action figures to be different (often original) characters, and I decided I'd really like to do something like that for one of my characters. The problem being, he does not have an action figure body at all. Not even close. There was nothing out there that would work as a base for him, so I kept looking but never started the project.

Some time after that, one of my roommates found the small, off-topic Volks vinyls (which, at the time, we didn't realize weren't the same as the larger ones people were carrying around at cons we attended). I looked at those as a possibility for creating this "action figure" I still wanted to make, but none of the male bodies had the right body type, and I didn't love any of the head types either, so again the project got backburnered.

About a year or so after that, my new roommate found more information about BJDs than the former one ever had, and she and I looked a little more seriously at them, particularly when (at a convention) someone handed each of us a free copy of Haute Doll, which had quite a bit of information in it about BJDs. I found an ad for some dolls that featured a male elf sculpt in a fairly similar style to what I would want, looked him up, and immediately closed the browser window again when I saw his price. (I can't remember what he even was anymore!) I couldn't imagine myself paying that much for a doll ever, and especially not one that didn't look all that close to what I wanted!

My roommate, though, she kept looking around. She found some more affordable sculpts, and right before tax time, she found one that looked like my character. Well. That did it, then. He wasn't very expensive, though still more than I'd ever imagined myself spending on a doll of all things! But he might finally fulfil something I'd wanted to do for nearly a decade at that point, and for that I decided he was worth the price. (I'm not talking big spender Soom Fullset or anything here either; he's a Bobobie mini.)

So yes, he was planned out, in great detail, from long before I ever even knew what a BJD was (and probably even before BJDs existed as we know them today). As for how he turned out, initially he was pretty disappointing, after all that planning! But with time and experience in the hobby, I've gotten him to a point where I'm very happy with him now, and I don't think I would have done anything differently if I had it to do over again, because it was all a lot of good learning experiences, and because I do still own that first doll, as one of the lowest priced ones in my collection.

 

My first doll idea was based off of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. Not the whole character, but green eyes, silver hair, dark clothing, tragic backstory. Amir did not turn out anything like that except he kept a tragic backstory (nothing even remotely similar to Sephiroth's), and has green eyes, but they ended up mismatched.

I don't regret the doll I chose at all, even though now I prefer dolls in a different size and style. I still have him, and it's been nearly ten years. He is blond now. Still the same character, just grown and developed and changed a lot in that time! He's no longer a shy conservative art student, but an overly confident husband, father, artist and business owner.

 

My first legit doll is drop dead handsome. I had written a character bio for him as soon as i saw him. Haha, I had this vision for him and did the necessary steps to make him come to life. The hair was the hard part along with clothes because he is big. So he doesn't have my dream outfit which is a jet black suit, thus sewing research is currently being done for dolls. Hair though isn't too bad for I made it myself. Tutorials on here and YouTube helped a lot.
I wish I did a little more research on clothing. It's a pain and drag to hunt clothes down on the internet.
Another thing is that now that I have him. . . I want more. So i wish i saved up a good Bjd fund.

 

I still have my first doll. Leekeworld.

 

I still like my first bjd - a Peak's Woods, but that was before I discovered Unoa and Fairyland. Peak's Woods is still pretty, though.

 

My first doll was a Iplehouse Amy and the idea was for from one of my comics.

 

I haven’t gotten my doll yet but I’m planning on buying a Minifee Shushu. I’ve got various ideas for her character, but it’s nothing concrete. I chose her because I like the minifee body designs and faces, and her face had the most personality to me. I have a sense of her personality, sort of mischieviously playful but kind, and a bit wild. I’m hoping that when I get her she’ll speak to me more about what she wants. I’m not worried about bonding with her, but I am hesitant to buy her anything before hand in case I get her and completely change my mind about her character.

I go through BJD posts on Instagram a lot for some character inspiration, too.

 

Aah, my first doll was everything I (thought) I wanted. He still needs some work though. I'm still trying to figure out what it is I want to do with his design since nothing has clicked so far. I think he's cute, but I'd prefer other dolls over him in a heartbeat, and I do favor others over him. It's a little sad because I don't feel like I'm bonding with him as much as he deserves since I do feel like he's such a beautiful doll. I adore him anyways, but if I'm being honest...I sometimes do regret buying him when I think about another doll I want that I could've used the money I spent on him to buy that one instead. I still like him but there are days of regret or just not liking him as much as I had hoped.

 

I don't own a BJD yet but my sister and I plan on having joint custody of twin dolls made from the Minifee Celine. We have their aesthetics down (pastel) but a few of the finer details aren't fully figured out yet. I'm hoping these dolls will be a reality some time in the future but not sure when that will be.

If I ever get a 2nd doll after the 1st, I'm going to have a lot of thinking to do since I'm still so new to this and don't have too much information yet either. But I have friends to help me figure things out

 

I'm still new but the first doll I had my hands on was Doll Chateau Carol and while I love her to death and cherish her extra special, I do wish I'd started less... ambitious? :'D I had these fantasies of sewing her an intricate unique costume even though I'd only started hand-sewing for my fashion dolls. I sort of had to because of her unique anatomy...

I've succeeded SO FAR, but I'm still working on finishing her more than a month later. My second doll, Dollzone Carter, was much more reasonable for a beginner and I think a much better first doll in hindsight.

 

My first doll is my MK lillian and I LOVE HER i have many other dolls now and although sh didn't turn out to be the character i originally intended she is my favorite doll. I don't think i could ever find myself parting with her.