Have your tastes changed?

Well I swore I'd never buy tinies and I have. But the most marked change is I keep wanting more and more unrealistic dolls. I like the same companies for the most part, but I'm not 'wowed' by a lot that comes out.

 

To put it all into one word: insanely. In the past I was revolted by most Volks dolls (Heath being the most ugly to me), but now I own two of their molds and I think Heath is one of the handsomest heads around. I used to be a Dream of Doll worshiper and now I've balanced it out nicely, as I don't hold any personal affiliation to any specific company anymore. I don't want to say that my tastes have become more "sophisticated" or gone through a linear trend from unrealistic to realistic because none of that is true, but they have certainly broadened over time. Even clothing preference has become less specific; all of my dolls share, swap and mix outfits. The only consistency my collection seems to hold is with size. My first doll was an MSD and after trying out the SD size, I rapidly found that it was just perfect for me. And now I fell in love with Iplehouse Arvid after swearing up and down that I would never roll over for beefy bodies--or 70cm dolls, even. I'm nearly six years into the hobby and my tastes are still changing!

 

When I first got into the hobby (2008) I loved loved loved MSD-sized dolls, especially girls. Now, I'm into the supermassive 70cm boys and the bitty tinies. I think just owning bigger and smaller dolls opened my eyes to new possibilities for my dolls. I still want a SD girl to dress up in pretty dresses and fancy wigs, though . I never really swore off any dolls, but there were sculpts and sizes and body proportions that I didn't like and am starting to like now and vice versa.

Also in the beginning, I was enamored by DoD and I hated any Volks sculpt that I saw. I don't know what happened, but I'm looking more at other companies besides DoD. And lately, I've seen more and more Volks sculpts that I've liked, though I can't think of the names off the top of my head. I think that in the beginning, Dollfie Dream dolls kind of turned me off to Volks since I didn't realize that there were more options from that particular company.

ETA: JayEll and a few others seem to have the same DoD/Volks swap thing that I have...it's good to know I'm not alone! LOL

 

I never liked fantasy dolls at first, but now I really appreciate the pointed ears and have been drooling over some of those fantasy Soom dolls.

I was also really biased toward pale skin, and I wouldn't give tan or yellow skinned dolls a second glance. Now some of those have made their way into my wishlist too. ^^

 

I wouldn't say that my tastes have changed in doll buying - only that the market has widened considerably.

When I first saw BJD (before I was a collector) I was in my last year of high school (Not sure what the American equivalent is, but I was 17) So this was a good five or six years ago. I thought that the dolls were gorgeous even then, but I didn't want any of them because they were all very stylised/anime. I was into anime at the time, but the dolls just... didn't interest me.

I came back to the hobby some years later (and armed with a strong love of British telly, and only a passing fondness for some animes) to discover that there were a lot more companies who were catering to my particular aesthetics (more realistic dolls) and I fell into the hobby in a big way. My tastes haven't really changed that much - I still love my first dolls as much as I love my new dolls, and I haven't yet sold any dolls. I think now, though, the market caters for a larger range of people and that more people are discovering their personal aesthetic amongst the amount of dolls available.

 

I've hankered for more realistic boys as I've been in the hobby longer and I've become less fond of the bishonen look. Strangely, my two girls are both more realistic, but I'm selling one of them because I think I prefer a mature girl more than an immature girl. While I still love my Dollzone Megi, I don't think he would have been my first doll if I got into the hobby in 2011 instead of 2008.

 

Yeah, count me in on the hat-into-gob-stuffing. A lot of it was money/value driven. I tend to be of the opinion that if you can get an equivalent for less money, it's better (I'm also the type who lives for end of financial year sales). However, dolls aren't really the same as the run of the mill consumer goods I usually buy. The difference in what one gets for money isn't so obvious to me for those sorts of items, but it slowly became glaringly obvious to me with dolls. The turning point was when I bought a Nanuri 07 head from the marketplace, her face was so much more finely detailed that the other dolls I had at the time. Originally, I would have never spent more than $250 for a doll, but now I'm pretty happy with spending up to $700 if I feel like I'm getting a highly detailed and well-engineered doll. Similarly with clothes, I would have never spent more than $50 for an entire outfit, but I'm happy to spend up to $150 for a well-made set.

So my tastes has changed from what I can make do with, to well-detailed. I guess for me it was a process of familiarising myself with dolls and associated accessories. At the moment I say that I will never own a tan or fantasy colour doll, but in a few more years, who knows what I'll be doing

 

Changed? Not really. I still find myself gravitating toward lean, cat-eyed pretty boys. That's not to say that I don't appreciate ogling all of the buff, mature looking men that have been released recently (girls have never been my thing), but I feel no pressing need to add them to my collection.

About the only thing that has changed for my boys would be the length of their hair - at the moment I have a strong preference for short fur wigs, as opposed to the waist-length synthetic wigs that most of them used to enjoy.

 

In the beginning I said that I would never ever get a female doll.
Uhm well... now I have more female than male dolls ^^''''
I don't know why I changed my mind, but I'm glad I did.

 

I'd been wanting to join the hobby for years, but have only recently dived in. I can say my tastes have definitely changed. Like a lot of users, I started off ogling Luts, CP and Fairyland dolls. I dabbled into other companies like Soom and Iplehouse, admiring sculpts for their beauty and charm. Then, I dropped the hobby for a bit. Being 15 and having no money kind of really sucks.

Once I picked it back up now, at age 18, I remembered a company I sort of looked at back in the day that I kind of liked. I hopped onto Bluefairy's site and began to look around and build my wishlist. Soon enough, any Luts doll that had been on my list was promptly removed and replaced by Bluefairies. They're the only company I can even think of buying from, aside from Pipos (I'm a sucker for their cute animals). Versatile sculpts in a perfect size that can be any gender really won me over to their company, and I haven't looked back.

...though I admit I still find myself ogling over Iplehouse and Soom. You'll never get me! xD

 

YES! lol

At first, I said I'd ONLY have MSDs, SD is too big and I hate them.....now I'm in the process of upgrading almost everyone to SD. >.>

I said I'd never spend over $200 on a doll....My most expensive fullset sold for $600 + shipping.

I said I ONLY needed Amir and Loki. I now have 17 dolls...

I said NO tinies or children. I received a BBB Nissa as a gift and can't bear to sell him, and also have a 30cm kid.

I was ONLY going to buy dolls from JunkySpot. Now only 4 full dolls and 2 heads are from JS, I needed more variety and mature sculpts.

I ONLY wanted white skin dolls. I have everything from WS to NS to tan to pink. Just no fantasy colors. (unless pink counts)

The few things I HAVE stuck to are : No childish SD dolls, No frilly lacy/time period outfits, No fantasy dolls (only exception is Lucien, he was a gift), no animal dolls/anthros.

 

When I first joined the hobby I though I would never fall for anime styled dolls or even vinyl dolls in general. Then I bought my first obitsu 50cm and bam everything changed I was floored by the awesome
Poseability that a doll with an internal skeleton could provide and while at first I didn't care at all for anime style faces they grew and grew on me until I know have 2 dollfie dreams in addition to my original obitsu
50cm. Funny thing is I still don't actally watch much anime and for the most part I know nothing about the anime series that most of Volks limited dollfie dream dolls come from but I still love their faces and enjoy making up my own back stories for them .

So yeah my doll tastes have done a 180 since I joined the hobby I'm glad they did while I'm still
Relatively new here. It would suck to find out about it late in the game and have to try and sell off a big
collection.

 

I think it's an inevitable thing that taste changes over time. Like someone stated before, we just grow up and start to appreciate different things in sculpts and styles and quality.

1. The biggest change for me has been the gender issue. When I started out I only wanted male dolls, however, my tastes have changed 180° so now I mainly go for girl dolls.

2. The whole skin color thing. Yup, I was totally gone for WS. Nowadays I wouldn't even touch a white skinned doll with gloves if I had to. Though I don't go for fantasy colors, normal skin (and possibly tan) is the new standard for me.

 

I always gravitated towards more masculine dolls. It was once a complaint of mine that BJD males were generally too pretty or too girly. My tastes have generally included mature-looking dolls. Be that as that may, I find myself wanting Tinies and Minis for no other reason than because they're cute and I like them. Which is a little weird for me, as I'm not exactly a "cute" kind of person.

So, yes, I think my tastes regarding BJDs has changed - but it's all for the best. Rather than limiting and being somewhat elitist, I'm becoming more and more enclusive to all BJDs.

 

I have not been in the hobby for that long - only for one year or so. And I would say my tastes have not changed very much until now.

The big, mature men were always my thing. However, I was looking for a sculpt where everything was perfect. The first choice, Iplehouse, fell through, as I cannot stand their EID's joints. If Iple ever decides to change this, I am doomed, I am afraid...Don't think this taste will change that fast.

Now I have a man I really love from other companies. And of course he needs a female partner. This was not planned, though. And perhaps a little one.

A big dream of mine, though, would be a big fullset centaur horsie though...but this is far away.

And I have a big weakness for any pointed ears.

MSDs are a size which hardly interests me at the moment. But if the right doll comes along, who knows...I am open to almost everything.

 

I do think my tastes have changed a bit. When I first started out, I was interested only in the traditional beautiful or pretty dolls and now I find that I am more attracted to quirkier faces and sculpts. While I still like the pretty, I've added several unusual-looking and less popular dolls to my collection and I plan to add more.

 

Not really. I still wouldn't buy a white-skin doll. I still prefer single-joints over whatever-many-joints there are now. And I'm still looking for a Kanon Louis and Dive Seimei. Those old-school faces keep pulling me in.

When I look at my collection I see an affection for Volks' stylized dolls, but also realistic dolls like Dollstown's bodies and Iplehouse EID's/SID's. And I still love women with strong faces, not pretty ones. I'm just glad that nowadays there are more of them ( Souldoll Hye).

 

Yep - my taste has grown way more expensive. Sigh.

 

My taste in dolls really hasn't changed. I am still attracted to the same sort of stylized faces and classic, single joint bodies. Most of the dolls I own now are ones I have owned the longest. I suppose my only real change is that I much prefer owning large girls now as opposed to large boys and so I am only down to one large boy. My large girls are still in the same style as all of the large boys I've owned, however. I just like buying girl's clothes more.

 

I'm in the process of letting go of my collection to simply buy a single doll. Quantity is not as important to me as it used to be. I'm mostly interested in focusing on one doll. (We'll see if that changes again!)