How did you discover the BJD hobby?

I saw the larger Obitsu dolls at some online stores, but I never paid attention to them. I'm sure I used to have thoughts in the lines of, "what an expensive doll. Wonder if there are people who actually collect them?" Anyway, you can say I got to know about BJDs because of a chain reaction of sorts: my brother likes PVC statues and figures, and we usually shop by using my account and card. It was early 2009 and he'd gotten a very cool, nicely sculpted PVC statue; the price was quite affordable as well, so I decided to take a look at the online store he bought it from to check its catalog. When looking around the "dolls" section, I came across the 1/6 Obitsus, and was surprised to find out there were dolls that were sold blank for you to customize: I'd always liked fashion dolls, and was fond of my Barbie collection from my childhood years, back when I spent hours and hours changing their clothes and playing with them in the makeshift dollhouses I built from boxes. That said, my Barbie collection disappeared entirely at the hands of my younger cousins who, according to my mother's account (for I can't really remember what was of it), broke, tore, and threw away my dolls.

...So, I told to myself, well, why not getting yourself some dollies now? Now that you only have to mind your nieces and nephews, but no harm done if the dolls are kept a long way afar from them. That's how I began looking up the catalog of Obitsus and was surprised again to find out there were larger, 1/3 versions of those dolls (but, as I mentioned earlier, I'd seen those in the past) At this point I decided to do a more detailed search on the net, and that's how I came to know about BJDs. One the very first places I learned about was Den of Angels, of course, but at the precise moment membership was closed, so I ended up doing my "research" at actual BJD stores I kept on finding on the net.
A couple of months later membership at DoA opened again and here I am since then, four BJDs later - including my absolute dream doll, a Dollshe Saint: my boy Nero (decided on the name a couple of days ago, at last!) is sitting on my desk, giving me that sour look I love on all Saints, ha ha.

...But the funny thing is that three years into the hobby, I still want an Obitsu, the first BJD (non-resin, though) I came to learn about. Back at the end of 2010 I told myself getting a Dollshe Saint would be my 2012 Dollie Project (so that I could get a whole year to save for it); thanks to the Dollshe PureBody Event and this company's infamous production times, 2012 did end up being the year I finally got my Saint, but as for lately I've been telling myself my next doll will be an Obitsu 50cm doll. Have wanted one of those since they were originally released

 

It's strange, but I can't really remember when I discovered bjds. I just know it was at least 7 years ago and I saw them on the internet but can't even remember where. I was already collecting dolls, mostly Sashas and Barbies. The first bjds I saw looked like creatures from outer space; they were so weird but very interesting. So I went on a search to find out how to buy them and I think I first discovered them on ebay. I got so excited I purchased a Volks Mimi over retail and then a Volks Megu from a broker/dealer. At that time they were not being sold directly to the U.S.,you had to go through a buying service. At any rate, I have many bjds now and I still think of them as space aliens. In fact I like to think of my dolls as beings from a place like earth but different. It's called Beauth and it's another dimension of earth where everyone is happy and there are no problems of any kind. That is a fantay, isn't it? :-)

 

One day I was reading the knitting-hobby forum and saw what beautiful thing a woman has knitted for her doll. everybody asked her about the dresses, skirts, sweaters, etc. but I asked - Where has she taken SUCH A DOLL?! I started searching in Internet, found the Russian forum, then DOA... Now I have several BJDs and that is not the end

 

Hi Poltavka,

I got started the same way that you did. We might have seen the same photos in Ravelry, in the Small Shawls forum, where a knitter posted a photo of a friend's BJDs wearing tiny shawls she had knitted. Those dolls haunted me. At first they struck me as highly unusual because one of them had the smokey eye make up. Then later after I couldn't get them out of my mind, I searched for the post to find out what type of dolls were pictured because I wanted to know more. It must be the magic of the resin!

 

I discovered the BJD by means of Pullips in 2006 but it's only 3 years later that I was really interested in it. Now I do not have Pullips anymore but 10 BJD instead of.

 

I had a Pullip some years ago, and I bough on September my first DD, my namesake, Beatrice

 

I was on deviantart when i came across a photographer with two els (one named Kuja?) it was in '08 if I remember right.
I never really liked dolls (thought they were creepy) but I really liked bjds for some reason! I didn't have my first doll until '10 though.

 

What do you mean with "creepy dolls"? Barbies?

 

otaku_club: My mom had old porcelain dolls that would scare me ):

 

Well, a friend of mine had one. Much later...I was hooked to one I saw on the internet. It doesn't take long before the family of bjds grow.

 

I had always collected porcelain dolls (my Mom was a dollmaker), and so when I would do eBay searches for wigs and clothing, all theses items for BJDs would pop up. It's so funny, because I remember seeing one doll (Kaye Wiggs), who I swore up and down was so ugly at the time, but who I now own.

 

A friend of mine who got hooked on BJDs got one for herself and decided to share her new found hobby with me. She gave me the link for dreamofdoll and ever since then I got hooked as well that was back on 2006. Her sister, now has a new BJD which she got early this year. After years of waiting I finally ordered a DOC Petsha last 02/02/2012

 

Many years ago, when I was still in school (8th grade or so) I was looking for Manga in an online store and found the so called "Deleter Dolls". I think they somehow looked like Obitsus and probably were made of Vinyl, too. I think they are not being produced anymore...
Anyway, I wasn't interested in dolls at the time and I just thought "What, you have to put the doll together yourself, choose a head and a body and a wig and eyes, that sounds complicated!"

Then, 8 years ago I got interested in Barbie dolls again (I looooved Barbie dolls as a kid and probably wanted to relive my childhood or something *lol*)
4 years ago I got bored by Barbie dolls, you can't really do anything with them, you can't cut their hair or colour it, because they only have their rooted hair (I didn't know that you can reroot them back then, but that is much effort to just change the haircut temporarily, I think), it's hard to sew clothes in this size (for me), etc.
I remembered the Deleter Dolls and looked for such dolls on the internet, the first picture I found of a BJD was a DOD Twin-B I think, and I instantly fell in love with this kind of dolls.
Well, then I looked it all up on the internet of course and now I'm addicted
You can change their hair easily and sewing clothes for them is easier, too *lol*

 

google xD
i was googling for cosplay costume for maid , then i found DoD doll's ~
but back then i was too young to think to have one and not bother to search for more information ~
then i decide i got to have 1 ^^

 

While on a randomly searching Google back in '05 I stumbled upon Deviant Art for the first time and one of featured photos was of two dolls playing hide and seek around a tree. It's been love ever since

 

I stumbled across Dollfies in 2002 or 2003. I don't remember... I think I saw one on some hobby website and later on I saw more BJDs on Deviantart. I didn't really do major research until I got into Pullips and Blythe about two years ago.

 

I first discovered the hobby at an Anime Convention. I saw people gathering with them, carring them places, and had them at sales tables. They intrigued me a lot. I soon fell in love.

 

I've always loved dolls, but I first saw bjds on the blog of an artist I follow, Aurore Blackcat. I immediately fell in love.

 

I'm not sure anymore where it started, but I remember seeing beautiful pictures of someones doll in a online game site. I just marvelled at it and asked the owner was it hers and what is was and so on. But when I met more people through cosplay and such, many of them owned a doll so I just kinda jumped in and finally got all my money gathered for a doll.
That's basically iy.

 

I've wanted to be a BJD owner since 2006, since some writers I was following on Livejournal got into the hobby; I remember reading their photostories and being fascinated by the characters they'd created. The first company website I visited was Dream of Doll (whose dolls I still adore), but at the time, I was still in high school and couldn't justify paying so much money for a doll when I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. There were also less sculpts available back then, and I was less in love with a specific doll, more with the idea of them.

I passed through a couple of different hobbies over the years, including collecting Japanese anime figurines. But the figurines were still pretty expensive and far less customizable, and I found I was still looking longingly at dolls. Eventually, I realised that because it was a hobby I should find something I fully enjoyed, and owning a BJD was achievable if I planned, made goals and started saving my money seriously.

I finally began seriously researching the hobby in June last year with the intention of shelling the two main (male) characters in the story I was writing as dolls, promptly fell in love with some girl dolls instead (both of who eventually were written into the story, so that balances out), and joined DoA two months later. The rest is history!