How important is it to you to be "the first owner"?

Not at all! If the dolls I wanted were ever available secondhand, I'd be all over them. The only thing is that I like "rarer" resin colours (iple ebony, twigling fantasy colours, dollshe grey, custom purples) and most of those have had to come direct. That said, I love project dolls, so I love fixing up damaged bodies, and modding and making dolls what I wanted them to be, so secondhand is awesome for that.

 

I like both! I'm the first owner of all of my dolls right now and it's nice knowing that they were made just for me and that (forgive me for being mushy) they won't be needing to move from home to home because they're staying with me and Toy Story did a number on me as a kid so I tend to personify my dolls.

However, I'm also really enamoured with the idea of getting second hand dolls. I like the idea of giving them a nice safe home, I don't even mind damaged dolls because I just feel like every doll deserves a home and a second chance and I'm fairly crafty so I hope I could pull it off. It's also just an idea in my general life, my clothes are thrifted, most of my other things in general are second-hand. It's also a bit better for the environment and that's never a bad thing.

 

Doesn't matter to me, getting a new doll is always incredibly exciting.
New with a fresh resin smell can be just as good as preloved.

 

Most of my dolls have been bought new for several reasons (including that tan/brown and fantasy-color dolls have always been harder to find), but I've never had a problem with buying preowned ones. Several of my original group were ebay rescues, and I think eight of my current collection are from the MP. I might not buy a doll if I thought it was going to smell like cigarette smoke, though...

 

I'd say I prefer to be the first owner, but only for customization reasons. I want the doll exactly as I envision it. If i could find it second hand for a better price the exact way I wanted I would go for that in a heart beat.

 

I prefer second hand. I hate the wait time, it’s worse with the pandemic lately as I have not much else to do but refresh my tracking information and get disappointed when nothing has changed.
I prefer it for another reason though... when I want to buy or am thinking about a doll, if I want fresh off the line company doll, I can look at the glossy pictures of a future doll yet to be made, if it’s not a brand new limited sculpt I can look at other owners pictures... but when I buy second hand I get to see my doll. My future or potential future doll, right there. I can ask for pictures of the face up, the hands, the feet. I can ask how it stands, if it stands, I can see how well the joints move.
Don’t get me wrong the thrill of opening that box and being the first person out side of the makers to see that doll made just for you is intoxicating, but knowing the doll that I am going to get, knowing her Or him almost personally before they arrive is almost better.

 

i’ll be getting my first 1/3 doll in the coming weeks and it was very important to me for my FIRST proper doll that she was new. as time goes on i have no problem buying second hand but i really wanted the first doll i own to be brand new.

 

As someone who started the hobby less than a year ago, I am the first owner for the three in my crew. I would like to think that I would not place much importance on purchasing a doll second hand, but having never had that experience, I can't say for sure. I am reaching the point where I would like to do a hybrid, and it happens that the three companies that I've purchased from do not sell separate heads, so getting a second hand head or body would be ideal.

There are also some self imposed restrictions that I place on myself that make is harder to access the secondary market such as my refusal to use Facebook (though I guess I still use Instagram...). I am wary of purchasing from eBay because I am not yet adept enough to recognize the hallmarks of a non-legit item. That paired with my very low tolerance to risk makes it so that my path has steered me towards buying new.

 

Not really important to me, I owned both brand new and second hand. There are some rare dolls that you just have to buy second hand, and besides, buying the second hand doll that I love make me happy sometimes because I know he’s coming to a good home!

 

It's not important at all to me. As long as the doll is on good shape I don't mind if 50 people owned it before me. I've come to prefer buying second hand honestly, no wait times.
And it's really fun to update the previous owners and let them see how their old doll is doing.

 

When it comes to BJDs being the first owner is pretty important to me. I think it comes down to my inexperience in the second hand market, so I wouldn't want to spend a lot of money without knowing the provenience/legitimacy of a doll.

But I think if I knew a seller and trusted them to be telling the truth about the history of the doll, I would love to buy and "fix up" a well-loved, second-hand doll. I definitely am that way with vintage non-BJD dolls and it's so fun to have a tlc project.

 

as recasts become more prevalent and insidious, it's become more and more important to me to buy directly from the company.

#1.) to help support the creators of the dolls
#2.) to make sure I never get scammed into buying a recast.

I do have about 3 second hand dolls, but most of my dolls were bought from the companies.

 

It doesn't particularly matter to me. Most of my dolls are brand-new from the company, but that's more because I have particular things I want that don't necessarily correspond to what's on the second hand market.

 

While I like being the first owner, I feel like with some dolls second hand is better for me. I like knowing exactly what the doll looks like completed (some face ups do not come out looking like I want, and it throws the doll off for me, and I don't like commissioning face ups for the same reason), and I love not having a long wait time!
However, I do prefer to buy direct from the company so I know exactly where the doll is coming from. For second hand I join official groups and just wait for the right doll to pop up, and research the seller as much as I can. I am hoping to get access to the marketplace here eventually, I am in no rush because I need to save money, but it IS killing me how much I may be missing out on because there are things my dolls really need

 

It's probably ridiculous, but I have to confess that I did not consider getting a second-hand BJD on the off-chance that a second-hand doll may be haunted.

Yes, I know. Feel free to laugh, even I think it's ridiculous. I definitely watched too many "doll caught moving on camera" types of videos. I had plenty of toys when I was young, toys that were sitting abandoned for a long time (I really wasn't into dolls and plushies when I was young) and I never felt haunted by them. I have no explanation for the source of that fear.

I may get over this fear one day. I am not completely opposed to the idea of buying second-hand, but I may ask weird questions like "to the best of your knowledge, is your doll haunted" and prepare sage, salt and quartz before the second-hand doll arrives.

It's weird because pretty much everything else I own is thrifted and second-hand, whether it's clothes, furniture, etc. But I am a big chicken.

 

Usually I like new things and being the first owner.
But in this case I'm dependent on second hand BJD.
Especially since my BJD wish list includes out of production dolls and the second hand market might be the only chance to get them.

 

It's strange... I prefer almost Everything I get to be second hand. When things are too new and pristine, it's a lot of pressure. I don't want to touch them. I feel much more comfortable with things that are already used. Now I think about it, this might say something about my self esteem. Maybe I'm just passionate about recycling.

 

New stuff is fun, but i think secondhand stuff can be even more fun! It gives the doll history and character!

 

I personally don't mind being not the first owner. I love seeing others face ups on the doll, and I love seeing how I create a entirely new doll from someone's past vision of it.

 

Its not super important to me to be the first owner, however I do find it more reassuring. People can try to pass off recasts as originals, they can be damaged and not disclose it, or even just have the smell of an other persons house if they are a smoker or something. its just safer to buy it new.