For the Love of Old-School

@Cynthia in FlintHills she's awesome. The kind of faceup you hope never fades.

 

Photo from last year's L.A Volks Dolpa... My Volks Cyndy 2 in her fullset outfit, 2005 release. Definitely Old School! She's held up very well. I got her strings tightened and some replaced at the Dolpa by the Dolly Doctor, but she's otherwise all original, no mods or even other restringing at all.

 

Wow! Look at her!

She's exquisite, April. A classic Volks beauty.

 

@april it's been great to see some of the dolls in your legendary collection.

 

I fall into the old school fandom. A couple of my dolls are looking closer to butter-tone so it had me rethinking colors and such. Maybe a color analysis is needed. It would be nice if something like that is done for the old school dolls at like a convention or something.

 

Most of my collection consists of dolls from the years 2000 to 2014, including Old Dollshe, Domuya, CustomHouse, and Volks. Well, maybe not old-school in the strictest sense, but they are definitely not as modern-looking as many newer dolls. I love my stylized folks.

 

I just recently got a Kid Delf from 2013, definitely on the cusp of old school I feel but I adore him nonetheless. I appreciate how stylized older sculpts are, and I would love to someday own a Volks Kohaku!!

 

Old-school aesthetic fan here!! While I can admire more "modern" / "realistic" dolls out there, I like my dolls looking like dolls

 

I envy those who are strictly into one type of doll. I really enjoy both old school dolls and new dolls, really! Though my favorite dolls will always be classic CP Delfs.

 

I'm 100% a fan of the older dolls (specifically Volks) and my entire collection is all older dolls. For me it reminds me of when I first started collecting (prior to my hiatus) and the nostalgia for me is top tier.

Now if a newer version came out would I trade for the newer one? Probably not. But thats just me.

 

I love going back and searching for "vintage" BJDs from various companies that existed "back then" in the secondhand market, mainly to see if I could find any Grail dolls I am still hunting for. My husband and I have a decent collection of dolls from 2006/2007 to now so it is interesting seeing the evolution of our doll collection especially how the older versions of certain dolls compare to their more recent versions. Some I prefer the newer version, but others I definitely prefer the older version.

My best friend and her husband started in the hobby around the same time as us but they took a break due to life and a kid. So when we talk about dolly stuff she would mention dolls or companies that she was thinking of trying to buy from now and I'm like, "Oh dear...I think that doll/company no longer exists now..." It's surreal as there were certain dolls and companies that we thought would always be there, especially when it felt like there were years that those companies/dolls dominated the scene here. But it also tickles my elder BJD owner heart when a newbie on here asks for certain vintage dolls of yore and other sage elder BJD owners informed them kindly that such dolls have been Grail dolls for many years now (10-20 years).

I miss seeing Volks YoSDs in the wild as they seem to be around less and less when my husband and I go to in-person events, but I'm love seeing the "new" Volks DearSDs, ICONs, and the newer DDs. It actually warms my heart when I see familiar BJD owners and their favorite old school dolls still around along with their newer ones.

I take frequent breaks from the forums, especially after getting a new doll. So whenever I come back, I'm like, "Wait...that company is banned now?! Wait...those dolls are no longer sold?! Wait...who is still around now?" Hahaha. I just discovered that Luts Baby Delf line is no longer available as of December of last year and it makes me regret not getting one (or more) sooner as I just always assumed it would be available when I was ready for it as it didn't seem that long ago when they first came out. There are so many amazing new Luts dolls, but I do have a nostalgia for the older ones that my friend used to have or wanted. I love that Iplehouse still has links to their Themed doll collections as it brings me back to certain dolly eras, but it also makes me regret not buying certain dolls back then even though they have amazing dolls available now. I regret not saving a very specific ad for Nobility Doll LIE in an all black outfit as it was one of the first ads for BJDs I ever saw and I only saw that doll once in the wild in that specific outfit and I envy that owner to this day. I think CP Delf Shine was the closest to the aesthetic of Nobility Doll LIE but again...too little too late.

But yes...those old school sculpts and aesthetics will always have a special place in my heart even with the option of buying something new and of the latest trends.

 

Count me in as a big fan of BJD's with old school aesthetics. I was fortunate to have entered the BJD hobby back in 2007 when companies such as Luts, Volks and Dream of Doll were the most popular brands. Hahaha, I remember the joy of finally owning Luts Delf El (both open and dreaming) as well as having the opportunity to buy DoC Petsha second-hand.

While realistic body-to-head proportions are more popular in recent times, I still am charmed by the larger head sculpts of Luts (ie. Chiwoo, Shiwoo, etc).

 

I am definitely on the old school bandwagon, the few purchases I’ve made recently are for “vintage” heads or dolls back when I started in the hobby in 2007. Volks mostly.

I do love the big heads! But some of the newer switch heads appeal to me- like Dojin and Soseo.

The one drawback I noticed is trying to find clothes for my SD10 & SD13. I wish more companies still catered to them….

 

Old school Volks bobbleheads with big old alien eyes are my jam. Old SD-F-07 is my fav (like, I want one in every color kind of fav) but I also have recently finally welcomed home SD-F-32 from her short FCS window! I admired her for over a decade. Other old sculpts I love and hope to own someday are MSD F-12/Miisha, Rose/Bianca/Momoko, Ran, and Ushiwakamaru. I also fixed up a super crusty YoTenshi Yuki a while back, and have a Volks D head that needs some TLC!

 

I double-checked release dates, and I must be an old-school fan, because my most recent doll (purchase) is also my most recent (release), and he came out in 2013 (Claude the Prince). My first doll, a Shiro Tachibana first release, is old enough to drink hahah (released 2003). Almost every one of my dolls is pre-2009. I started around 2004 and had a hobby hiatus, but I've gotten two dolls since then, and they're 12 and 14 years old. I do see some new (and just newer) dolls that I think are beautiful and I appreciate newer styles, but I haven't seen any I've really strongly "clicked" with; and I have wondered about how they'd fit in with my old school Volks crew, too. I guess I'm hung up on an older aesthetic! I am hoping to update faceups to be a little more "modern," since I still love their sculpts, but makeup styles have changed some. Most don't have their company faceups, so I can update them without any pang of guilt over messing with the classics.

I also love seeing older molds I never owned, like Luts Chiwoo, Shiwoo and El, it feels like seeing old friends!

 

Yeah. Compared to the earlier years, most of the good male clothes nowadays cater to the uncle sizes.

 

@Feli-chen I really love some of the older Volks sculpts, namely SD-F-16 and SD-F-33.

 

They're probably not dolls I would want in my own collection at this point just because my personal preference has changed so much over the years, but I looooove seeing old school dolls. There's something so special about seeing the dolls that got you to fall in love with this hobby in the first place, perhaps way before you could even think about affording the hobby like in my case! I've been lucky enough to see some of those dolls in person (Chiwoo, a couple of Chi Dollfies, and quite a few Dream of Doll sculpts!), and I really appreciate everyone who brings these dolls to conventions and meetups.

 

I love old school sculpts! While I've gathered them only over the last few years I've been actually active in the hobby, the larger half of my collection is early-00s dolls I still remember from my teenage years - I think my SDC Kaede is the oldest resin I have, with 2004 engraved in the headplate, the oldest mold I have is probably MSD Myu (2002, cast in 06). I love the huge eyes/sharp nose/big noggin combo a lot, there's something so charming about it - I think it's mostly fueled by nostalgia but they don't make them like they used to, don't they?

Here's a group pic of my oldies:


I love seeing old DoD and CP/Luts dolls as well, it's so nice to see how loved they still are.

 

Classic CP love forever! Wish they’d sell them again.