Have your tastes changed since you first started the hobby?

I like this question For me, even though I haven't been very active in the BJD hobby until recently, I find the types of dolls I have been looking at have changed over the years, for sure. Initially, in 2001-02, I was drawn to Volks, Luts and U-noss and found that their delicate, ethereal sculpts were all that anyone could ever want in a doll (I was used to looking at Gene, Sidney Chase, Barbie and other fashion dolls), and to this day, Isao Nanjou and Jun Tachibana remain grail dolls to me. Over the years I was introduced to different companies such as Souldoll and for many years, wanted nothing but fantasy dolls like Chiron. When I first bought introductory bjds for my oldest kid, rather than getting an American Girl, Bobobie was where it was at, though I was into comic art and statue collecting at the time, so financially all other types of BJDs for me personally were out of the question.

SInce watching many box openings on Youtube, and being exposed to many smaller artist companies, I find I have fallen for many different types of sculpts. In terms of BJD boys, Crobidoll was high on my list last year but has been replaced by Migidoll, Angell Studio, Loongsoul and Ringdoll, and I find my taste for fantastical dolls has branched into elves, and other creatures from high fantasy (such as Lord of the Rings, and games like Dungeons and Dragons, Age of Wonders, etc). I now am also looking to collect more dolls from Batchix (the Orpheus was the first BJD I have ever personally owned), the sweet girls that Kaye Wiggs produces, and the fairy-like creatures produced by various sculptors (Circus Kane is one of my favorites).

The thing is that there is so much variety now! Just going to BJD collectasy has introduced me to so many different companies, so I have no doubt that my wants list will be updated sometime in the future. What this essentially means is that my resin population is due to explode in short order :P but that's generally a good thing.

 

I don't think my tastes have changex, so much as my goals have changed. I started out only wanting dolls to shell my story characters, and I'm still doing that, but I also am starting a Soom Teenie and Little Gem collection, and have picked up two old Delfs, and have heads for dolls that absolutely do not fit in with my "story" because they are pretty and will make for pretty photoshoots. My tastes themselves haven't really changed, dolls that I did not find aesthetically pleasing when I started still do not appeal to me, but I'm finding more reasons to get dolls that don't fit into the pre planned grouping.

 

^Same as Layn, my tastes have not changed but my goals have changed.

Before I wanted only MSD sizes and I thought tinies weren't appealing...now I have every size and I love tinies!! XD MSD is still my favorite size though.

I still like stylized sculpts, I had a couple of realistic dolls from Iplehouse but we didn't click. However, I LOVE to see owner's pictures of Iplehouse dolls and thanks to them, I realized that my tastes have not change and will probably never change. I'm also kind of "loyal" to the companies since most of my MSDs are from DOD and tinies from Soom...etc.

 

As far as the dolls themselves are concerned, not really. My tastes still run more towards "old school" sculpts and single-jointed bodies, like they always have. I'm not a huge fan of either the European art-doll inspired look or the "MOAR REALISTIC!"-trend we're seeing more and more of as time goes on.

When it comes to "the fandom", though? That's a different story. I'm a lot less likely to cut someone slack just because they're a fellow doll owner than I used to be, and I've lost a lot of the patience I used to have for the more... well, let's call them the more dramatic... aspects of the hobby. I look at the Tumblr BJD community in particular pretty much the same way Ben Kenobi looked at the Mos Eisley space-port.

 

I don't think my taste have changed but I think my preferences have. I am mainly an MSD collector and prefer dolls that pose well. I do own SD dolls and like the size, I'm not in love with it. I still like the same type of sculpts too. However, I have found myself liking the more stylized small dolls like Dollzone Wendy and Doll Chateau Ada.

 

My tastes have definitely changed in the two years I have owned bjd's. I first collected Antique dolls I loved sewing for them so that led on to fashion dolls from the USA not Barbie because I have always considered her just a toy doll. When I first saw bjd's I loved the curvy mature women and thought of the endless possibilities for dressing them. Then I became interested in all sorts and have a collection now which consists of many sizes from Real puki's to Sd's. Though I admire other people's male dolls I always choose girls.

 

Frankly speaking, I felt some scary about bjd few years ago but now..... lol and also after I fall in love with bjd, taste also changed! I think it happens since I became more open-minded with the things that I considered as out of my taste; through being touched lots of photos and info about other taste, my taste become more wider, I think.

 

I still like the same companies and the same kind of clothes/faceups, but now I highly prefer girl dolls, which I didn't like at all when I started collecting.

 

Yes, I feel I've gotten more particular about what I love, and what I'm looking for... Even though I was already a bit particular before. Becoming more certain about what I'm looking for. There is a infante amount of things that I like in this hobby, but I've been narrowing it down to what I fall head over heals in love for. Not only that, but I feel a little less afraid in the hobby, especially with every doll added to the gang. Everything went from, "I'll just get one doll and make one character outfit for her and be satisfied, because its all too much" To every gift list being filled with dolly things, and just dolly things! It went from a small curiosity and slowly into an obsession. Don't know if that's healthy or not, but its fun and my husband really supports it.
Also, never thought I would get anything other than my MSD size characters I had planned, but that changed when my love for sea life and mermaids leaked into the doll love.
Before I was looking for more mature, realistic and semi dark/ noir characteristics. Never thinking I would go for anything adorable and Fae like.
It just keeps surprising me... xD

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No, my taste in dolls hasn't changed. However, the aesthetics within some companies in this hobby has changed,
so I realized that I rather own more realistic, mature-looking sculpts than overly stylized ones. Still, after being in this hobby
for a bit over ten years, I find myself drawn to stylized dolls even now. I just rather keep a relatively small collection,
so I own more realistic-looking sculpts than stylized ones but I still enjoy looking at the anime-ish ones as well. Although
the aesthetics of these dolls (when I first learned about them in 2003) wasn't what attracted me to them in the first place.
I just wanted one because I was interested in doll customization for a long time, these dolls seemed perfect for it so I got
one, but it wasn't love at first sight for me when it came to the aesthetics. That is also why my collection remains small
even after so many years, I am picky when it comes to aesthetics and proportions. I think that is one aspect that has changed,
I'm a lot more picky now. I would own a lot more complete dolls if I found proportions and aesthetics that I loved in a single (doll) body.
Sadly, the only doll that I currently own that is remotely close to my ideal of perfect balance of aesthetic and proportions is my FL CL Rou
and even he has a few thing I would love to change. (:



- Enzyme

 

I guess I would say it's more like I have a better understanding of what I'm looking for. When I first start this hobby, almost every dolls out there look pretty and appealing to me. I want 'em all !! But as I developed more into this hobby, I narrowed down a lot and I guess I can say I know my taste better. Though, My taste on clothes and wigs have changed, I remember used to like fantasy type of clothing a lot. Also, my goal changed too... only wanted anything SD size and up but now I'm waiting for a 7.8cm tinies and a msd...

 

Ah, I'd say it definitely changed. I was never interested in Volks dolls and thought they looked generic and boring compared to others. Now I'm saving up for a Lorina, ouch. ;__;

 

Yep. I started out in the hobby while I was still really into drawing anime so I looked for MSD and the more anime dolls.

Then I had a brief stint into Yo's because my tastes changed dramatically and I started drawing really cartoony and stylized characters.

Now I'm just all over the place. I love really unique takes on stylization, like the dolls by Lillycat or Enaibi. That also related to my general love for the "artsy", small-studio dolls because they tend to be the unique vision of a single sculptor. But at the same time I also love realistic dolls so I'm drawn to the more popular companies like Iplehouse and Soom. Oh and I predominantly shop in the SD range now, because I suddenly (quite literally in the span of one day) decided that anything under 50cm is too small. Wish I could tell you how that happened. >.>

 

I have! Starting out, I only wanted MSD size dolls, to represent characters 18-21, only male, and only companies I could buy in stock from JunkySpot (partly due to cost, partly because I was scared to invest so much in something that would put me outside my PP safety net). Also, I wanted goth or girly boys, or fantasy dolls.

Now, I only want human dolls or pet dolls, no fantasy, no anthros, and I mostly only want SD. Any MSD I get will be a young child under 10 years old. I have boys and girls. And I don't limit myself to one dealer anymore, I get what appeals to me. Style has changed too, mostly I just want casual, hip hop or hipster now. I have 29 dolls now and not a single goth or girly boy!

 

When I first got into BJDs I was so sure that I was a SD kind of girl. Now I find myself loving YoSD and MSDs! The YoSD was a big surprise to me, I always thought they were too small to be worth the money you'd pay for them but then I got Shu and I fell in love with the size. I'm always eyeing tinies when new dolls are released and I just want them all.
I also find myself wanting more MSDs too. It's funny, most of the time when I see SDs now, I think "ahh, too big". I'm happy with the one SD boy that I have.

 

Not counting the early part where I was fully determined that I wasn't starting this hobby, just getting a model to make clothes (worked as well as you think it did)... I started out intending to only get a few dolls to represent a small core group of OCs I've had for ages. This meant only elves, only a small handful, never a large collection or any human dolls. It also meant keeping in scale with the first, so only MSDs.

Now, I've got more humans than elves, I've got a whole horde of tinies hanging around, and brought home two SDs from the marketplace this year--both sculpts I had absolutely no interest in at all when I started out. I do still love my elves, so I suppose I'd say my tastes expanded rather than truly changed, but there's a lot I love now that I would never have considered bringing home back then.

 

I came across bjds around 2008 or so. Back then I was mostly drawn to the females. However, I've been taking a good long look at males recently. I still plan on buying a female first. But I am seriously considering purchasing a male, as well. After all, the female I plan on buying is heterosexual. I guess you could say that my interests have expanded in the hobby. I would also like to mention that I'm drawn to unconventional bjds, a la Popovy Sisters and Doll Chateau. I wouldn't have ever given those dolls the time of day back in the day.

 

I don't think my tastes have changed. xD I got into the hobby intending to shell existing characters and I wasn't sure which would work better, anime/less detailed style or realistic and I even though I liked the realistic dolls from the beginning, I thought the anime styles would work better. Well it didn't and I'm glad the realistic style is working out now.

 

My tastes have changed a lot since starting the hobby 2 years ago. This is probably due to my indecisive nature mostly. When I first started I leaned towards stylized appearances and lolita esque fashions. Now I like more realistic proportions in face and body and more modern clothes.