How many of you have been with the hobby for more then 10 years?

I will officially hit my ten year doll anniversary (being into the hobby but not actually having owned a doll until three years later) probably around June of this year, but I'm actually hosting a doll meet in lieu of commemorating then the weekend before my 24th birthday, on the sixth of March.

It's been an amazing ten years. I've seen so much change -- in myself, too, because I didn't exactly hit the age of maturity at fourteen! - in the hobby, from companies to sculpts to styles and the collectors who buy them all. It's crazy to me that. I've stuck with an interest this long. But it's so versatile and creative that Si can eady see myself doing the same thing thirty years down the line.

Pleasure to meet another oldie. I miss the DoA 'veterans'.

 

I used to think that was strange, Kiyakotari, but I guess it was the doll group 'I grew up in' that was odd! I'd never met a doll collector In person who'd started out in DDs and other 'anime dolls' until I moved out here to the West Coast. Funny how the hobby brings together people of different backgrounds!

Still, in being in the hobby, I wish I had stumbled on DoA sooner. I started out with friends who had dolls and then mostly looking them up on eBay -- remember when that used to be like, four pages long? I was shy to join when I first came around here, too. Since I didn't know anyone, I basically lurked for a year until I signed up. At last. Pdfffffft.

 

I collect artist dolls since my childhood, but ABJD only since 7 years. I found out about them in 2004 and bought my first doll in February 2005.

starfruit I'm (ovo-lacto) vegetarian, too. It's 17 years ago that I decided to become vegetarian.

 

I started to collect when DOA was a yahoo group and Volk's was the only option to buy a doll. Quite a journey.

 

I'm close to 10 years. I collected 1/6 Cy girls and Volks dolls for a while until I discovered the big dolls in 2003. I bought my first one on ebay in 2004. Even then, I didn't know about DOA until 2005. I met a local collector at a doll show here who saw her first doll in 1999 in a Japanese magazine and finally bought one in 2000, who told me about DOA.

 

I don't know the exact date I started liking BJDs, but it probably has been close to 10 years. I have had Amir for almost 4 years, and had my (OT) 1/6 Obitsu for about 6. I first got into BJDs long before that, when I was repainting Bratz and Barbies and looking on ebay for OOAK dolls and found a Volks Neo Go Guy, and further research lead me to BJDs...though I gave up the dream for a few years, thinking I could NEVER afford such a doll, then came back to it later, "settling" for 1/6 Obitsu (which my mom about had a fit over..."You paid $50 for a BARBIE??? with no FACE?" >.>), then finally realizing that if I can buy a bunch of Obitsus, if I save, I can have resin!!!

Also, starfruit, another veggie here! 13 years this summer!

 

I think I hit the 10 year - I was a member of the yahoo group my first dolls was Syo and Nono, quickly by Ksy hypermaniac. So YES. I prefer this board, it is less clicky, I can be part of the hoard and get lost in a crowd, which I like!

 

Oh dear, this doesn't make me feel any younger and I'm barely 29 XD.

I've been in the hobby since 2003 and I got my first bjd in January 2004. So it's been almost 9 years of being in the hobby and 8 years of owning those little beauties.

I also still remember when DOA was a yahoo group as well, back when there was only a couple of companies in the market. Things sure have changed!

Sariel is currently my oldest doll (though Kiyoshi is only a few months younger) and still as gorgeous as ever. ^___^

 

i got my first doll in 2003. she was an off topic obistu doll. (well, she wasn't my very first doll, but the other ones were bisque dolls, and i don't think they count in this hobby at all). then i got blythes, then bjds. so yes, either 9 or 10 years depending on how you look at it. ^_^ then again, when i finally bought my first bjd it was already 2008, so maybe i don't count at all. ><

 

I have collected and customized dolls since I was a tot. My mother (an artist) actually made Lady dolls with sculpted heads and hands on 60cm soft-bodied dolls for my sister and myself. They had changeable glass eyes, and wigs that held on with velcro. So... like this hobby but about 10 years too early. I recently found one of the dresses she made my custom doll when I was 3, and it actually fit my SD girl! XD

But with ABJDs, around 10 years or so for me (I will be 25 this year). First with the 1:6 Volks Dollfie and then two years later I was old enough to save up for a BJD on my own.

 

I can't claim to have been in the hobby for over 10 years.

I did first hear about bjds around 10 years ago. They were pieces of dolls in unfinished kits! I hadn't actually seen even a photo of a complete dolls until about 9 years ago--that was on ebay when I was looking for wigs for a 1/6 Obitsu. --and it wasn't for sale. They were selling wigs and such for Super Dollfies only.

As far as I could tell, you needed to get a service in Japan to get them, and you had to string them, sand them and paint them yourself. Then you had to go find eyes and wigs (not much available) and sew your own clothes. There was probably more things available on Yahoo!Japan, but I wasn't savvy enough to be looking there at that time.

I was busy working and had no time for expensive and time-consuming hobbies like that, then. When I first started seeing whole dolls show up on ebay from customizers, I started paying attention, though. And despite having a heart-attack at the prices (well over 1,000 for customized Volks-- other Volks were limited, aside from a few MSD sized), I bought my first BJD soon after in 2004.

There were only a few companies to choose from... Volks, Cerberus Project through Luts--that had recently set up an English site, Custom House, still not in English, I think. Dream of Doll had just made their Mini boy and girl (Too-A and B), but I wanted Large because there was almost NO clothes for Minis then! and you needed to know about Bank Transfers and find English-speaking agents to handle stuff. My first few dolls were bought through Liria, who was the English-speaking agent for CP then. And that was in 2004, mind you. And I needed to use bank transfers.

It was definitely a different time then! and I had it much easier than the folk who actually DID start over 10 years ago...

-------------

Edit:
Many of the folk who actually did start 10 or more years ago are no longer that active here, sadly. They were the real pioneers. I was never on the DoA Yahoo Group, for instance. Even though I've been around for a long while, I am definitely more in the 'second-wave' of BJD hobbyists.

I really hope people will add knowledge and experience to the Wiki, since, already, it feels like the 'first wave' is fading away along with all their knowledge and experience... this hobby is so new and so quickly-changing... a year or two passes and everything changes so much!

 

I've been in this hobby for longer than 10 years. I remember when DoA was just a Yahoo group. My interest in BJDs began in about 2000-2001, can't recall exactly when, but because I was heavily into the fashion doll scene, I didn't take the plunge right away. When I began to get increasingly bored with the fashion dolls, I decided to see what BJDs are all about by ordering Custom House Choa in 2003. Ever since I received her, I was hooked. Fashion dolls were liquidated over the years (still have some I need to list on Ebay, though) in favor of BJDs. My oldest two dolls will be 10 years old next year - I should get them something special for their 'birthdays'!

In early 2005, I took a longish break from the social scene of the hobby due to college and, then, internship; but, I never stopped enjoying my dolls and the hobby. After so many years here and no loss of interest, I'm pretty sure that BJDs will always be a part of my life.

 

well, i guess around 10. that's close to how long i have had Lishe. but i had been into the bjd's for a little longer though. it was just a matter of trying to get my husband to agree to a price and me finally picking a doll. wow has it come a long way. i remember the first time i brought one to a doll show. that was funny. still don't see many bjds at shows. and it took me forever to quit lurking and join DOA lol!

 

I received my first bjd in 2003 and I met the DoA Yahoo group although YG always were too chaotic for me, and by then I was only active in the Spanish bjd forum (bbs dreams). I can't believe the time passed that quick!!

I also remember perfectly the first time that I discovered Hypermaniac dolls and I wanted an Elliot so deeply... just too discover that Hypermaniac only sold their dolls in Korea. So after all, my first doll was an Angel Region Dana, but this hobby has taught me to be -very- patient.

Everything changed a lot in the hobby and of course I've changed myself too, my point of view and my way to enjoy these dolls, but I've met lot of wonderful people thanks to doll forums and I think that this is the best of these 9 years.

 

It's been longer than 10 years for me. I started towards the end of 2000. I, too, remember when DOA was a small yahoo board. I think it's a testament to this hobby that so many of us have been into it for so long.
It's such a creative outlet. When I haven't been able to play for awhile and I think the time has come, I just start plopping on some new wigs and eyes and I'm hooked all over again.

 

I think I started with ABJD around 2001... I didn't get one until about 2005. I had been a doll collector since I was little. My first Japanese doll was given to me when I was about 3 years old I started collecting officially when I was 9 and bought a doll in France with money my grandmother had paid me for babysitting cousins .