How old were you when you got into the doll hobby?

Hmmm... I think I heard of BJDs back when I started attending my first anime conventions in highschool... or it was at a Japan festival I attended in college. But I'm only now getting into the hobby at 25! I feel like I'm too young and need to save up more/build a more stable life. But I also feel like participating in such a hobby has helped me to achieve better stability (though definitely hasn't helped my wallet haha).

 

I think I got into bjds after seeing a swandezz/pintsizedpalace video; I instantly feel in love. I think at the time I was between seven and ten but I couldn't be sure. I then got my first bjd (my second hand doll chateau Queena) in 2018 so I was... eleven I think! I know, I'm still super young and am incredibly lucky to have gotten into the hobby so quickly/young. (For the record though I did put $100 of money I saved up towards her) ^^

 

I have loved dolls as long as I can recall (action figures too) I remeber being age seven and made fun of by a friend of a friend cuz and I quote. "You still play with Barbies? That's really weird." I was Seven so laughed it off and was like you don't? why not Barbie is awesome. As I grew up my style of play might have shifted some, but I never grow out of toys. I started customizing action figures, and dolls in my early teens. In my Early 20s I found high end fashion dolls like Toner, and I got into 12 inch Action figures more.
In my mid 20s I found BJDs, around 2006 and in later 2007 early 2008 I got my self a Dollmore Model Bella and a Dollfie Dream.
I forget which one was ordered first but I recall having the DD girl before the other.

That was like twelve years age give or take for fuzz memory of dates, and I'm now 37 and I've never falling out of love with this hobby. I still love my dolls, I just have a lot more of them, and a way different collection then I thought I would.
I went from I want a few dolls to play random dress up with, to I want to make my favorite RP characters and OCs, as well as my favorite characters from books, movies, etc, and a few random odd ones here and there just to mix things up.

I truly believe grown ups need play just as much as kids to be happy and healthy. (Play varies person to person for me it's RPing, writing, sewing for my dolls, or customizing a doll/figure.) I have changed a lot over my life, but one thing is the same when someone laughs at me for "still playing with dolls" I laugh back with pity that the other person doesn't.
I love this hobby, and that it's not limited by age or gender or anything like that, anyone can love dolls, for lots of reasons.

 

35, and I was never interested in any other kind of dolls before.

 

I got into the hobby when I was 16. My first doll I purchased was a Ringdoll alfanso. I was able to afford him because of allowance and my parent helping me sell current things I already had (I did payments on the doll). A lot of my friends found the hobby to me extremely weird...lol.

 

Full a$$ grown man at his 30 like it's no ones business

 

For BJDs specifically I was around 18 : D
I am now 31 lol

 

I think I was four years old at Christmas when my sister got an Ideal Chrissy, grow hair doll and I became obsessed until I finally got a velvet the next Christmas. But Velvet had blond hair, and I loved Chrissy, who was more grown up and had RED hair! I still loved my velvet, as she was still a quality doll and pretty but my obsession with "adult like" dolls and red hair were born at the age of four and are still with me today, LOL.

Of course, I went through all the covert doll buying in my youth when I wasn't supposed to like dolls anymore, visit Grandma? Get someone to take you to the store where you never frequent and nobody knows you, LOL. Yah, the pressures of society suck, and I'm sure they're no different today for young people than back then (I'd hope people and kids were allowing others to pursue their passions, but get real, eh?) At least we can find our people on line no matter who they are or how few there are, they're here

 

I first learned about BJDs when I was in high school (about 14-15) from a few doll artists I follow on YouTube, but I officially joined the hobby this year at 19.

 

I bought my first "collection" doll with 18, a Dal, from the Pullip family. While I was still focused on my plastic family I got a Custom House Yeondu, but sold her quite fast back then.

The moment of no return is when I got Chainsaw (the Minifee on my profile pic) in 2016 with 24 and having just started working full-time. It all went downhill from there...

 

I think I was around 16-17 when I when I got my first BJD. I remember making a deal with my mum that if I saved up half of it's price, she would give me money for the other half as a Christmas & birthday present. I'm 28 now, so it's been a few years since then lol

 

27! I bought a Monster High to customize when I was in High School, kind of forgot about it, and then this year started watching more doll youtube and stumbled on BJDs (though I was already aware of them from being into Rozen Maiden way back when lol). Honestly, I'm glad it happened this way because I have a full time job now and can afford it.

 

It's so cool to read there really are people of all ages on the forum!
I was 24 when I bought my fist doll, but I had been admiring them for a while then. I am 39 now and I still love them.

 

I was 15 or 16 when I first discovered BJDs. I worked two jobs for a summer, no days offs, no spending, and finally had enough to purchase my precious DOT Camine.

 

I vaguely remember hearing about fancy collector's dolls back in my teens in anime online spaces? But only got pulled in this year at 30

 

I saw the first pictures when I was 22 :3 My first doll arrived 1 year later.

 

As a little kid, I had a love/hate relationship with dolls. I loved dolls that were children like me, or action figures of super heroes and the like. I hated Barbie, because my parents never bought any of the sets where she has a job, and I didn't really know what teenagers did, so I had no idea how to play with her.

When I was 26, I mentioned my old American Girl dolls, and my now-husband pointed out that clearly dolls mean a lot to me because I was talking about them for so long. That's when I started collecting dolls in general, but mostly off-topic dolls.

A couple years later, I found some ball-jointed ABS dolls at Tuesday Morning and realized I really liked the doll type and would be willing to pay a lot for a high-quality resin doll.

The year I turned 30, I fell in love with the Han/Asronn sculpt from Soom and ordered Lucrezia. She is my first resin-baby and I already know I'll have more than just her and the "twin brother" I'm putting together. It'll just take a while to amass much of a collection.

 

Around 21 or 22. I think I had made a Den of Angels account pretty close to when I started the hobby.

I like dolls as a kid but didn't have any fashion dolls just baby dolls and American girl dolls.

When I was older I got into anime figures and then slipped into BJD when a friend showed them to me in college. At the time the dolls were less realistic and more anime like so it wasn't such a big leap in logic.

 

I think I was 15 when I first saw them on DeviantArt and got curious. I got my first doll at 17, and I'm 25 now. It's crazy how long it's been, since I still consider myself a complete newcomer.

Edit: Apparently I made this account when I was 14? I guess my timeline is really off.

 

Probably 16 or 17? It was back in the ye olden days of Livejournal I know that much. I still only have one doll to date, but I've never regretted it. I really just love looking at all the creativity people come up with for story-lines and photo shoots, not to mention all the time and patience people have when making outfits.