How did you first get into Dolls?

I always liked small dolls and miniatures, and few of my Flickr's contacts had some little dolls, but I didn't knew what they were. Once I find out what a Puki was, I instantly fell in love with it. Now I just need her to arrive.

 

I was on Deviantart one day when I spotted a picture of hiritai's Hayden on the front page. I was curious and clicked on it. After looking at the picture, I became interested and read her FAQ about where she got her dolls and what kind of dolls they were. I started researching that same day and never went back. Now, just a year later, I have two dolls and am planning to bring many more home. They are indeed like Pringles.

 

well.. my girlfriend started with 1 doll.. and there was still alot of space in the room.

Now, some months later.. I have to puzzle to find space.. I don't even have a decent chair to sit on They are taken by a bunch of (all male) dolls!

That's how I got into dolls, being confronted by them every time I get into my room.. but okay, they look cute

Soon I will be addicted too and gonna paint them myself hihi

 

The sister of my best friend is obsessed with these dolls (she even makes her own) and when I was there once she called me and her sister and showed us some dolls she thought were really cool en I fell in love. Then her sister had bought an Obitsu and I really loved her and then I bought one too. And now I'm waiting for my 2 dolls I ordered.

 

Okay, this is a funny story.

So, I am completely obsessed with Tokio Hotel. There is a woman in Austria who has made two Volks dolls to look just like Bill and Tom Kaulitz, the twins in the band. SO I started looking them up and man, I just couldn't get over how gorgeous and adorable they were!!!!
So I started planning for my own ^^ I was going to get a 1/6 dollfie from Volks because that was the only company I knew about, but then I thought they were ugly, and I found out about more, and now I'm looking all over the place, and I've completely forgotten that this doll was supposed to look like Tom Kaulitz XD XD

 

A couple years ago I was browsing through dA, when I saw those beautiful pictures of dolls I've never seen before. I instantly fell in love with them, and started looking for more information about them. Thanks to their owner's FAQ, I learned they were called BJDs, made of resin, etc.

When I finally stumbled onto their price, I felt immediately discouraged. After that, I thought I'd never be able to buy my own..
But I just couldn't get them completely out of my head.
After some planning and asking the ones who are important to me how they felt about it, I started saving, and now just I'm waiting for the doll to arrive

 

I started off with Blythe and then recently on flickr saw so many people moving over to bjds, mostly lati, and now sat with me I have my first one, at one point i owned 14 blythes (now only 2) so Iv started off the bjd collection god knows how many il end up with, if i win the lottery then il have lots!

 

I joined another forum for a fashino brand and they had incorportated doll fashion into the forum. I fell in love with them and the versatility

 

My friend and I first found Pullips via Flickr and from our other friends on the site, but we really got into BJDs from the masses of Pullip and Blythe owners that had BJDs as well. We researched these dolls for weeks, deciding on the perfect brand and face. XD I finally decided to buy one with some birthday money and my profits from selling my Pullips. So, basically the internet was our main inspiration.

 

My road to getting into ABJDs is a long and winding one.

I grew up a rather normal American boy. I thought girls were gross, I played with GI Joes and video games, liked playing sports, and all those other things boys do. Then puberty hit and I thought girls were the greatest thing in the world And of course I still continued to play sports, play video games, and I even continued liking GI Joe action figures. I always liked cartoons, and when the golden age of Toonami dawned on my life, I became an anime fan.

Fast forward many years, and I became a fan of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I had already gotten a few PVC figures of characters from other animes, and I wanted a figure of Mikuru Asahina from that anime. I didn't like any of the PVC figures, but I did find a 1/6 scale Obitsu doll version of Mikuru. I was in love! Once I received her, I realized I didn't just like Mikuru; I liked dolls as well.

Imagine that, me liking dolls

She was my first doll, and she instantly turned me away from PVC figures and into dolls. I discovered Jenny and Momoko dolls, of which I am still a big fan. While going to doll sites looking for Jenny and Momoko information, I discovered a name I had never heard before: Volks. I found their website and saw their dolls. I did a little more research and found out what I was looking at. I didn't like their resin dolls at first, but I took an instant liking to Dollfie Dream Yukino.

Many months later, I got my own Yukino, and through her I discovered this site. Then I discovered other sites, other ABJD companies, and all the different types of ABJDs. At first, I thought they were all super tall like Yukino. I now know better, but I still prefer the tall ones I'll be getting my first resin ABJD from Dollmore by the end of the year, and I'm already planning my next one from Iplehouse

 

I read about them on some blog (I wish I could remember which), and it was a picture of the DOD Camine, and it was basically like "find out as much as you can." Upon visiting Dream of Doll's website I was kind of stunned by the price, but pretty much completely in love with the dolls. Currently I'm still saving, and I've explored several other companies as well. Then I met this girl who had a doll of her own, and we became friends, and she showed me hers. So yeah, that just convinced me even more that I needed to get one of my own xD Most of learning about them was through the -'internet though d('-'d) Only 5 more months to go! xD

 

I first saw BJD's on deviant art a LOOONG time ago. I've always been fascinated by them. (and a little creeped out I'll be honest) After finding a gorgeous BJD pic in someones DA gallery I began to read a doll faq they posted in their journal and was highly enthralled. I asked a lot of questions, and the first day decided on and vetoed dozens of companies and molds, names and genders. Shortly after I found DOA! After being a part of this awesome community I was able to talk to other owners and SERIOUSLY decide to buy a BJD. I ordered my Junior Iplehouse Doll on 9/12/2009 and I can't wait to have her! I would not have been able to pick such a great mold that was so catered to me without the support and knowledge of the DOA community. I can't wait to post in the box opening gallery! Hehe.

 

I saw them on Aimee Major's website while I was there to look at her animation art. I don't remember what I thought about them exactly, but I wasn't all that curious. Then, I don't even remember how, but I stumbled upon the Fully Articulated blog about the Mistula bjd band. I liked following the stories, but still I didn't become curious about the actual dolls for a long time. I visited the Volks website but was confused as none of the molds I liked were available for sale (of course, since they weren't standards). So I was aware of bjds for a few years before I got "into" them. At some point, probably through browsing Aimee's site again, I started looking at DoA now and then. Around when DoA made its gallery members-only and I decided to join, I became more actively curious and actually bothered to look up the prices, the different companies, and think about whether I wanted to own a bjd too.

I think the nail in the coffin was the day when I realized I was able to tell apart Volks F16 from Lucas/Chris. At that point I knew I was obsessed.

 

I always had dolls ever since I ws a little girl. When I hit college and beyond, I liked them, but wasn't really into collecting them anymore. When Gene came out, though - I thought she was cool and loved the quality and era of the clothing line. So I got one Gene and clothes, and then I started modding Gene and then in looking up Gene doll stuff, I found BJD. At first, I was shocked by the prices, but then, I decided they were no easy to play with manipulate, etc. that it was worth it. So, I tracked down a Volks - new - in the US - at that store, wasn't it in Florida, that used to be the only US Volks retailer. And I ordered her. I told my husband he was getting me the doll for Christmas and when she came I kept my word - he checked to make sure she was okay, but I didn't see her or touch her until Christmas. At that time, I vowed she would be the only one. Then, I thought, a boy would be nice. Then, well maybe the MSD size, and so on, and so on, and so on.

 

My story is rather simple, but to the point and pretty quick i guess. ^-^
I bought Aimee's book at a Barnes and Noble, read it, saw the section where
she visits Volks... and followed the link provided to--here!
So right at the start i landed in the best place possible.
Soon after, Friday was coming home, since i had a bunch of money saved up...
with nothing to spend it on! I think fate was edging me on there. :'D

 

If the post is too long, here's a summary: An online friend got me into them.

First off I saw a table at A-Kon 17 (anime convention in Texas, 2006) selling BJDs, but they were just bodies or parts of bodies so I wasn't really sure what they were, and at the time I found them kind of weird. Then in 2007 I saw 20 that a friend of mine from another forum collected, she posted a bunch of pictures, I thought they were cool, but with how her's were styled (they were emo/goth dolls) I wasn't interested, as I thought that's how they were by default, you know, rooted hair and stuff, I didn't know how customizable they were since she didn't tell me.

Then in 2008 another friend of mine from another forum got 2 which she showed me, they were a CP Delf Kid and a FairyLand MiniFee, she dressed them up so cutely and everything, I was in love once I saw how they could look. She was the one who really explained to me what BJDs were, what you could do with them, the sizes, etc.

The friend from 2008 also linked me to some amazing photographers on Flickr, who mostly had Volks dolls and I loved the look of them and asked her if she knew which company those dolls were from and I said I wanted ones like that, she pointed me to Volks website and from then I was hooked, there was no more excuses not to get one, after seeing dolls like I wanted, price was no issue. So after that I was interested and made my first DoA account once she showed me DoA, but I never posted so my account was deleted, then between September of 2008 and June of 2009 I had some real life friends with Bobobie MSDs that I got to see in person and was even more excited to get into the hobby and I created this DoA account, which leads to where I am today, with two Volks FCS MSD girls on their way home to me.

Out of everyone, no one was more to blame (lol xD) than the girl from 2008, she really helped me to learn and understand the hobby and the dolls and helped my passion for the dolls turn into a burning flame. So that's how I got hooked, long story, sorry about that.

 

I actually Find I quiet Strange I'm into ball Jointed dolls. As A kid I never really Like Barbies or dolls I always drifted away from them.

And I actually Happened Quite Some time Ago When I saw Photo's from Hiritai On Deviantart ( She goes by that name here too )

Her Photo's took my breath away and I wanted to know more, I looked around at these doll's and Totally Off myself thinking "that's soo expensive!" and I left it at that,

But I continued to look at photo's Recognized Brands and names and learned terms and Methods what resin was and what not. And I thought "Hey $300" isn't THAT much, And Built On that Looking for the Sculpt I liked. Looked at other peoples Dolls for abit. But I never got a feel for Any of them,

Then I stumbled On Luts, And I browsed there For hours On end and I had fallen In love with two molds, Ani and Bory.

But after what seemed Like months Of looking into them I had found that Bory is everything I could ever want in a Doll, And I had to get him,

Ever since then Ive thanked my lucky starts and All those BJD Photographers for Making me find Something I love some much !

 

About 7 years ago someone in my guild on an online game I played collected ball joint dolls and I thought they were neat since I've liked dolls my whole life but it wasn't until earlier this year that I started collecting Pullips and Blythe (I had admired Pullips for a few years but didn't get into a good financial situation until this year) and then took more notice of ball joint dolls and bought my first.

 

Oh god. Ha ha. My bff Jack has liek 5 dolls and when I went over to her house for the first time I was like OH MY GOD! They are soooooo pretty!!!!!! And now I want one Ha ha :3

 

I think I saw a Finnish article on a magazine about BJDs. That article got me a bit interested, so I did a little research. I found the dolls pretty interesting and as I searched more and more information, I started to think that I want a BJD.. That's basically how I got into these dolls :3