How did you discover bjds?

I discovered bjds through Pullips in about the middle of 2010. At the time I wanted to collect all the Rozen Maiden Pullips then I saw and clicked on this video on Youtube:
I was so enchanted by the dolls in that video to say the least (heck, I sure didn’t forget that video either and it’s been over ten years!) And the rest is history as they say! Lol

 

I don't exactly remember but I think my cousin had asked for a Pullip Doll for one of her birthdays and I remember really liking them. I later bought myself two. During that search I found that many pullip collectors also collected BJD's and I think I fell in love immediately with Fairyland dolls.

 

I used to go to many Visual Kei and Anime conventions and saw BJDs there.
I became interested many years later within an art project at university where I suddenly thought I should try sculpting one.
But what got me into buying one was that again many years later when I was collecting 1/6 scale hottoys figures (mostly Marvel) there weren't any Supernatural dolls.
I wanted to have Dean Winchester and found his BJD head. I bought a Dollshe body then. It arrived one year later and I had changed my mind, realizing an OC instead of Dean.
What got me in the hobby completely was being able to get a doll I didn't ever dare to think of.
My love for him made me want to have more dolls.
I was a slow burner, but today I can't get out anymore. It's my no.1 hobby and the dollamount increases ...

 

Dolls were my gateway drug to...well, more dolls.

Almost 100% sure I first saw a blurb in Barbie Bazaar magazine around 2002-2003. (They used to have a tiny section introducing other dolls and I am fairly positive Volks Megu was featured there.) Joined DoA in 2003 when it was still a Yahoo! group, found the Volks website (all in Japanese, of course) and was shocked at both the price and how difficult it was at the time to purchase a BJD outside of Japan or Korea. Gave up the idea for two years until I had a steady source of income (I was still an unemployed high schooler back in '02-'03), rejoined DoA (now as a forum!), and found that BJD dollmakers were beginning to sell to the States. Purchased my first in 2005 and haven't stopped since.

Thanks, Barbie!

 

browsing the internet for I think photo references and I came across them and after I saw the price I said "NOPE!" And never looked back at them until several years later when I moved to Colorado and made a friend who had them and then purchased my first two dolls.

 

Crap. Thats so many years ago now (i feel old all of a sudden)
I saw one at a japanese pop-culture con maaaaaaaany years ago (think more than a decade ago)
It took me a few years before i finalyl decided to get my very own though. I've had my first doll since i was 18 by now.

 

Someone on a music forum I followed in middle school had one! I was in awe, but obviously as a 12-year-old I couldn't exactly order a fancy expensive doll on my own.... so I waited until college, when it occurred to me that nobody could stop me from ordering a doll if I could afford to do so.

Which I could. I have accepted my fate as a Crazy Doll Lady. I have dolls All Over The Place. I regret nothing.

...well, okay, I slightly regret not carefully vetting a couple of them carefully enough. But they are still good dolls. I regret almost nothing.

 

I’ve always loved dolls. I like playing with them and collecting them, just everything about them…

One day I was doing an internet search for my ideal doll. I had decided my ideal doll was jointed, maybe antique, so that left me with searching wooden and bisque dolls. Finally, I just happened to stumble over an image of an old Volks dolls.

I was immediately surprised with how it seemed to be my ideal doll, the doll of my dreams. I remember that I didn’t even know what resin was at the time I still remember how shocked I was to learn that there were different companies and doll sizes! I even remember swooning over the clothes and wigs (I didn’t even know you could change doll wigs). And then, I took the BJD plunge and learned everything I could!

 

I was 11ish and browsing DeviantArt when I came across the story account of a BJD owner. She had multiple dolls that were interconnected in an elaborate story, which got me hooked as I was definitely in my story telling phase and they just looked so cool! My favorite was a Pukifee that she had, but now I prefer Lati Yellows

 

An anime magazine had a short article about them. I immediately had to go online and see what they were like. It took me years to admit to myself that I really wanted them to myself.

 

I was on a Sims forum in 2006? 2007? And someone asked about a BJD skin - which lead to a BJD discussion thread, which lead to me seeing pictures of peoples dolls and going "WHAT ARE THOSE". First dolls I saw were Dream of Doll. I looked at the price. I closed the window. And kept going back to look at them. Eventually made my way here, where I was looking at so. many. gorgeous. dolls. Until I finally gave in and bought one.

 

When I was in college I used to do character commissions for people on flight rising, and one of my commissioners recommended me to a friend of theirs who had a character they wanted me to draw that was based on a bjd they owned. I remember being really curious about the whole thing then, but not investigating much into the details, though it did make an impression on me. Finally, years later, I decided to order a nenderoid doll of an anime character I really like, and then that sort of stirred up memories of bjds and how cool I thought they were back the, so here we are at last haha

 

Resinsoul Ya was the first bjd doll I saw on the Internet (2014). Those days I didn't even know the classification, then I found Alice's collection site and discovered the whole new world of them.

 

I was at a comicon in 2005 or 2006 (I got a free poster for the film The Science of Sleep) and I was very small and had a lot of difficulty coming to terms with my sexuality, so I consumed any media that had the faintest whiff of same gender attraction. I saw a man with a Super Dollfie that was shelled as Yomiko Readman from R.O.D and promptly lost my entire mind. I got directed here and I hung out wordlessly for a very long time, long enough to see the birth of Doll Chateau at least. It was an interesting culture then.

 

As a kid I've always liked dolls and always wanted "nicer" ones since, so it seemed almost natural that I had eventually discovered BJDS. I had seen images of BJDs here and there and have heard of them through anime and otaku culture but the first time I saw one in person was when I was in college and an old friend of mine had brought one in to class. Seeing the pose-ability and finding out the customization options had drawn me into the hobby. About a year later I had purchased my first doll and I still love her to bits ^^ Throughout college I had used her to help me with poses and helping understand space with a figure in a composition and while I wasn't super into the hobby at the time in the "traditional" sense, it kept me interested up to this day and now I can say I'm here and back to stay :'3

 

I was like 15 at the time when I first got into BJD's... thats many moons ago considering that I am now 30. However I have always been into anime/manga/etc. I believe I was on ebay looking up something related to Lolita fashion brands based in Japan and stumbled upon a Volks bjd with a Lolita outfit. I don't remember which doll it specifically was but I was hooked from then.

As someone who also got back into the hobby I got reintroduced to BJD's from looking at my old photobucket account and lo and behold I still had some pictures saved from when I stopped collecting and I was like yeah... I remember that niche hobby! I should get back into that! I miss dolls!

 

A person I followed on social media posted pictures of her dolls and turned me on to Luts. This was... a year ago now?

 

I think I was looking at decora makeup on Pinterest and I saw some dolls that were painted by elfgutz (on Instagram) and I thought they were so amazing. That pretty much started an obsession with bjds and I found so many amazing artists that just made me love them more. That was a while ago and now my small amount of free time is spent working on dolls.

 

I have a Barbie Instagram page and I saw a doll on someone's post and was blown away. I can't recall what doll it was, but it was so poseable and had such a great face, I had to find out more. So I bought two used dolls and am getting a new doll who will be here in a couple of months.

 

tbh, the first impression when I saw my cousin's BJD was negative. I thought only seven or eight year olds would want those dolls. It was a slap in my face when I discovered Enchanted Dolls! Although their eyes seemed a little creepy to me at first, I was fascinated by the level of detail Marina put into them. Then I got into more research and found a new hobby!!