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How did you discover bjds?

Aug 4, 2020

    1. This is exactly my own story! It feels like so long ago, doesn’t it? I’m so glad that the Daily Deviation showed me BJDs back in the day. :3nodding:
       
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    2. I think it was arround 2004 or so when I was in love with Volks Dukan. I really liked the one with white clothes... was love at first sight. I don’t remember very well, but I think I found him while browsing at sculptures and handmade stuff on the internet. My first bjd however was a Volks Ryu I bought years later, when I just moved to Japan 10 or so years ago. Still have him, but I’ll soon give him to a friend who dreams os having a bjd back in my country.
       
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    3. I can’t reply to everyone, but thank you all for sharing your stories! It’s amazing to find out how everyone got into the hobby.
      I think we can all share one thing: the joy of owning our dream dolls! (Even if I am still waiting for my first one, but I am sure I will be super happy when I will finally receive him :love waiting months is hard :shudder )
       
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    4. Rozen Maidens! I watch the anime and fell in love with dolls, i search and found bjd but its was really expensive then i didnt buy any till years later.
       
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    5. I discovered the existence of BJD through a movie called Doll Master. Had the urge to own one but didn't have money for it until nine years later.
       
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    6. Seeing dale zentners dollstown girls had me intrigued. I’ve finally managed to save enough for my own dollstown girl.
       
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    7. I discovered BJDs when I saw a group of people with them at a local cherry blossom festival, around ten years ago. I was immediately interested in the hobby, and was able to purchase a preowned doll shortly after, but have only gotten back into it this year, thanks to some of my friends being interested in doll customizing.
       
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    8. I discovered BJDs through a YouTube video about Blythe dolls when I was 12! I then discovered Fairyland, then LaTi Doll, Luts, Soom, and more. I'm 23 now and own over eight BJDs :aheartbea
       
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    9. Exact same story here. Suiseiseki and her saying "desu!" was an early meme on a certain peach colored website. I thought the character was very cutely designed so I watched the anime. This was like 10 years ago! I never thought I'd buy an actual BJD, but I'm saving up now.
       
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    10. Near the end of the 90s I was buying and modifying Volks 1/6th Dollfie. I'd started picking them up at an anime shop in LA, and then continued buying things from a shop in San Francisco called Heroes Club after I moved here. Around the year 2000 I bought a book from Heroes Club called Dolpa File that was dedicated to 1/6th dolls and at the back of the book they were introducing these new dolls called Super Dollfie. There were pictures of the Four Sisters and Nono, the first mini size doll Ian, and Gentaro Iraki's first Unoss BJDs.

      I've been a doll and figure collector most of my life, so I was immediately intrigued by Super Dollfie. It was so difficult to buy a BJD outside of Japan at the time. Only one place in Florida sold a few at a time online and there was a Yahoo group that discussed them (which lead to DoAs creation) After a couple years, and the release of a few more Volks dolls, other companies started to pop up. Even though I wanted a BJD back in 2000, I couldn't afford one, so I didn't end up buying my first doll until 2005.
       
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    11. I've always like posing things and photographing them. Toys were easiest because I didn't need to ask anyone to be still lmao
      Some how I ended up on the Fairyland website as a young teen and when I got to college I finally purchased my first doll!
       
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    12. My mom showed me plastic BJDs and introduced me to the idea of sculpting dolls. From there I started looking more at dolls. I'd always been interested but this really sparked my interest as an artist and as someone who just has always loved dolls.
       
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    13. I was 19 at the time. I had already seen some pictures of BJDs online, but I didn't know the name of these dolls (BJD), and I saw them so pretty I thought they would be something exclusive to Japan or something and totally out of my budget xD

      Then, I went once to a anime event and I saw a girl carrying one, so I got all pumped up and asked her and she was on a local group who would meet for making doll stuff and pictures and having fun with dolls in general, and coincidentally the founder of the group was there so she gave me her number to join if I wanted. I went to one of their meetings and saw a Minifee Niella fullset among other dolls and was mesmerized. I started customizing kid's dolls until I got my first BJD, and the more time I spend on this hobbie the more I love BJD and art dolls <3

      I was so lucky to meet these girls on that event!
       
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    14. It was in 2004, I was searching anime-related-things in Google and for some reason Dream Of Doll Leya showed up... I fell in love, hahaha. Found the website but when I saw the pricesI knew I couldn't afford them (I was just a teenager), so I forgot about that.
      A few years later, a friend discovered them in DeviantArt and showed them to me (more Dream Of Doll BJDs) and I decided to made some research. I learned as much as I could regarding BJDs, joined forums, etc. It was until 2010 that my first BJD arrived.
       
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    15. Bit different way perhaps, i had collected a few 1/6 figures (hot toys, bit like high-end action figures) and at some point i tried to make my own. I got pretty far in that project but i kept having problems with the joints (i used friction based joints like most toys have). After lots of trying i decided to pull a string through the center of some of these joints to pull the parts together to make them tighter. When i posted about this someone mentioned BJD's. Wow that was quite the eyeopener!
       
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    16. Found BJDs through Geekisthecolour's DeviantArt (back then she was known as Dieux-Faux). Honestly, not sure how her page got referred to me but I saw her photos and I liked them!
      Always admired how beautiful the dolls were and how lifelike people could make them look in photos.
      Later joined Instagram and became very interested in peoples BJD photos and stories: in particular I like n47s, lpslck, propertyoftheuchiha, and nixdepano.
      The part that really stuck for me was the character building people did with their dolls :)
       
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    17. So back in high school, I had this whole fantasy world built in my head. One those escapism places you go when you're stressed out. Eventually I wanted a doll of the MC, so I looked up customizable anime dolls hoping to build her. Volks was the first thing that came up.

      I loved it, but of course they were expensive for a highschooler with no job. It wasn't until recently that I could put in for my first doll. Gaia from Gem of Doll. Still waiting for her.
       
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    18. I saw some random bjd photos in google in 2010. Can't remember how I found them at all, but they were gorgeous. And so the wonderful journey began :-)
       
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    19. I can not really remember exactly but I think it was probably on Etsy as I did a daily browse. Probably sonething to do with dollhouses. I loved the doll I saw and even messaged the maker but it was just too expensive for me at the time. And then I didn't think much about them until I was on another forum (non doll related) and someone posted a picture of their new purchase.
      I again really liked it so I did some research.
      Now years later I realise that it is a hobby I would like to do. I just need to budget well but I am used to that so it's ok.
       
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    20. I've always been a doll collector, but I have to blame my subscription to Haute Doll Magazine for my discovery of BJDs.

      Back in 2005, they ran a number of articles on BJD companies; Custom House, Volks, Soul Doll, and Dollshe. I was stunned by how beautiful these dolls were. I'd never seen anything like them!

      But, it was this Doll Heart ad in the magazine that really cinched it for me! Who was this gorgeous boy? And, who was making custom, uber-cool clothing for him? I was totally hooked! From that moment on, I was on a mission to find out about these dolls and acquire one. And, believe me, the internet was not as user-friendly 15 years ago as it is today. But, I finally got my first boy, a Doll in Mind (DIM) Persia.

      (I still have my Persia! He turned 14 years old in March! :smallcake *throws confetti*)

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      Here's the old ad that captured my imagination:

      CP/Luts Chiwoo in 2005 Doll Heart Ad in Haute Doll Magazine
      [​IMG]

      (P.S. I finally got a CP/Luts Chiwoo in 2009. :hug:)
       
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