How did you know your doll was "The One"?

Because I kept thinking about it, for two YEARS. When I first found them I bulked at the cost, preferring to stick to my little obitsu dolls. But eventually I decided I wanted one, and my brother bought it for me as a birthday gift. I was so happy!

 

Alright so when I see a doll online and think this is the ONE I download the picture and make it my background on my phone and if I dont get tired of seeing its face everyday and still adore him/her some time later (like 2-3 months), I buy it

 

I started looking at bjds when I was about 10, so I obviously didn't have the money to get one at the time. I settled for getting pullips, but I still researched and looked at the hobby. For the ten years I've looked into the hobby, I was always drawn back to Luts SDF Kara. So, now that I am 20 and am in a position where I can spend this amount of money, I finally ordered her. For me, it was a matter of her always being the one I wanted to look at again.

 

I'm so bad at this. I never seem to know if a doll is truly right until I have it on hand, unfortunately. This has led to me having a pretty high turnover rate. I sell probably half of the dolls I buy within a few weeks of receiving them. This is why it took me like 6 years and 5 dolls to shell one of my characters! Some dolls just look/feel very different in person than they did online. I wish physical BJD stores were more common.

 

I am totally with you! One of my girls has been basically sitting in her box for two years, I have just now named her, developed a personality and is on display... she is more delicate and more for display but have recently decided I’d like more of a fun dress up doll maybe yosd size. I’ve always loved the baby faced dolls. . I placed an order for a luts girl last night so the waiting game has begun.....

 

Difficult question, as is the case with all addictions.
For me when I find a new doll it’s like falling in love at first sight every time. I see a doll and I understand that I cannot live without her in my life.
But honestly I regret buying my first dolls. Because it turned out that I liked their outfit more than them. And I still hadn't figured out what kind of characters they would be. But now I only buy dolls for characters. This complicates the process because finding the right doll is not always easy. But I never regret buying in the end

 

I've had two "the ones" as contradictory as that sounds.

The first and the one that got away: The first bjd I ever fell in love with and planned to buy was a Crobidoll LJ. I fell head over heels in love with him instantly, He fit the character I wanted and he was beautiful. It was mostly technical stuff that made me end up getting a different doll.

The Grail: I thought I liked LJ but there was nothing like the sheer love I felt when I first laid eyes on DollChateau Dennis. I had only recently learned of what would possibly become my most visited site of all time Alice's Collections and was enjoying squandering hours looking through all the dolls. When I stumbled upon him and knew that he was everything I wanted from a bjd. I still want him so bad but now that he has been removed I fear I'll never get him.

 

There are certain features I look for when shelling specific characters. There's already an image I have of them in my mind's eye, so once I find something close, it becomes a matter of really poring over it from every angle and making sure it still fits. I don't even necessarily have to like the sculpt very much; it only has to align with my imagination.

When I do like the sculpt, it makes that feeling of This is The One! even more special. Once in a blue moon, I'll be taken hostage by a sculpt like Volks Kiriko where I'll know that's the doll I must own before I even know what I'm doing with it. (This has also happened with Cocoriang Chico. Every hamster thing just screams to me.)

 

For my first doll, it was the doll that kinda made me stop. Just stop. And look at it. And the longer I looked, the more excited I got. I knew it had to be my first! It was a Kid Delf Ani from Luts. Still have him. He's 9 years old and his hands are so yellow. Lots of noob mistakes, but I love him and I don't care.

For my grail doll, a Soom Marl, I saw the fantasy parts and just...fell in love. So sweet and sleepy looking with the dreaming head. Took years to find her and even longer to find the fantasy parts. Rather than a deer, she's now a delicate pastel unicorn.

Honestly, it's still kind of a 'stop' feeling, if that makes sense. I come across a doll and I just stop. And stare. And I'm in love. The one doll I didn't really get that feeling for, but got cause my husband said I could get one, but gave a pretty strict price range on.... wound up never clicking with. So if I don't stop.... I don't want it.

 

It was a pretty impulsive decission, but I really decided on them after watching different customizations because I don't like either of them in the official website pictures (abadon and minifee lishe) ^^U

 

When you spend countless hours pouring through shops, sites, markets, etc. Sometimes, let's say you've acquired your grail doll, so that pining is well as truly settled. Sometimes, you'll stumble, and this happens to me, every red or blue moon, you'll see a model that's new on a doll site premiering for pre-order or you follow so so many doll owners and hobbyists and they happen to tag whatever pictures they've posted with the model type. You are struck with bricks and then the frenzy for information and availability begins.

My example is the Volks F-01 and similar types, the F-15, and model Cyndy. I used to tell myself I wouldn't. What happened? I did. I'm poorer for it, still on the hunt to catch them all, and completely hooked.

 

I was very stubborn looking for a specific sculpt for a character, I promised myself that I would not buy anything till I had tracked down the one lol
Last week I found the one but he is nothing like the character I had been planning for, I'm over the moon with my new boy and have scrapped the character I was looking for. Not sure what direction the new boy will go in but he is everything I was looking for and more Finding him feels like finding the grail I'd been chasing for years Im that happy! I feel so incredibly drawn to this doll, he is about seven years old (I imagine he has been rehomed a few times) I can't really explain why, but when I saw him for sale I had to have him.

 

I knew he was the one by the look on his face.

 

For me, it was the doll that just got me into the hobby - the Angell Studios White Doe. Which I will admit, I do not have yet, but I am hoping I adore her as much as the photos. The first thing I loved was her face up - specifically her eyes. I loved the milk skin with dark chocolate hair and eyes. But, then, her outfit was the icing on the cake including the small touch of fantasy in the deer antlers. She combined the ancient style I love with a very classy touch of whimsy which I also love.