How Prepared were You When You Got Your First Doll?

Let's just say I accidentally bought $200s of yosd clothing for a 72cm boy...yikes.

 

I had pants... And I had ordered shoes and a wig that weren't supposed to arrive for another two weeks.

He had pants.

 

I had done years of "research", watching how-to's and unboxings and reading everything I could get my hands on. I think it was about 6 years of spectating the hobby before actually taking the plunge and buying a doll. By then I knew more or less everything I needed to about caring for a bjd, but it was still daunting because it was the first time I'd physically seen or had a doll!

 

I wasn' t prepared at all :,D
I didn' t have a wig, the materials do do a faceup nor clothes or shoes.
But within a few months I ordered most stuff I needed and made it work.

 

I had almost zero knowledge/ preparation when I got my first BJD, I knew you could change their eyes and wigs, that their resin was fragile, and they were held together by string, but I don't think I knew much more beyond that. I found out about the world of BJDs in a mid October and had one in hand by mid November if I remember correctly! I ordered an angel of dream doll because that was my price range as a newbie and I was shocked at other's price tags at the time, she was sold by a dealer who had her in stock so my wait time was only what it took to ship. She had nothing but her body suit that came with her. When I opened the box and took her out I was so disappointed because her knee joint was turned around backwards and I thought something was wrong with her luckily the dealer was very helpful and explained that I could just pull on the string a little and turn the knee joint back around. She also told me to join DOA so I could learn more.. I didn't even know about this wonderful place when I started out!

 

I was in the hobby for 3 years before I finally bought one. I'm so happy I did.... almost immediately after, I ran into money troubles. I won't be getting another any time soon.

 

I'm still very new but I found some helpful videos which confused me a lot but in the long run I'm greatful for past me's research

 

I was too prepared I think. I was so ready for her. I learned all I could. I bought her shoes clothes everything. And when I got her I was disappointed in my choices because that was not at all what I wanted for her lol. I did this not once but twice. I learned my lesson. Get the doll first then go shipping. Otherwise I'm likely to style the doll get it and completely change my mind. In other ways it helped because I restrung my first doll like a week after I got her becau Sr she was so floppy and I could only do that because I studied up. But I still think I was too ready at that time. I was jumping the gun a little.

 

I have clothes and stuff ready for two dolls. The ones I could buy but haven't bought yet. I have absolutely nothing ready for the doll i actually bought. Luckily I was able to get him a wig and underpants at the same time I bought him.

 

I did a ton of research before I made my first purchase. The dolls I want are not cheap so I wanted to make an informed decision to ensure I was using my money wisely.

 

I spent a couple of years looking at dolls and watching tons of videos, so I new what I was getting in to! I still was kinda shocked at how much there was to learn with the doll; after I bought it and it came home!

 

I had only admired photos before owning my first doll. I got him second hand from someone who had some other stuff available as well. I ended up buying everything from her. Hair, Eyes, an outfit, shoes.. Sadly it turned into a rough transaction, but it was well worth it, I love my boy.

 

I did a lot of research before buying my first doll, so I knew most things about general care.
I had also bought her eyes, shoes, and both wigs, and I had sewn a few outfits and made a few props. She was practically complete the day she came in haha.

 

I research the living daylights out of anything I have interest in and have been intrigued by the hobby for years. So I was very much prepared to the point I was paranoid to handle my first doll when he finally arrived.

I'd already gotten eye putty, socks, shoes, a wig, his whole outfit, made a bed with blanket and pillow, had some accessories, had a wooden chest for the foot of his bed... I'd researched him so much that I got the measurements for his bed correct and everything I bought him fit (though I had to mod the socks as I think they'd been thigh highs for a female doll and their initial foot shape had been too small for him).

Mind you, as a doll owner I feel like there is always more I can be learning. But I've relaxed and am able to actually enjoy my doll now that I've let myself learn with him as opposed to feeling like I had to be an expert on everything.

 

I was not prepared at all xD he was an unplanned one the 1st doll i was supposed to have was a doll i ordered from alice which would take abt a few mos and the impatient me could not wait at all and then i saw a doll being sold at a local web store and i got him out of the blue. No clothes, no wig, nothing lol but im still glad i got him

 

I was... sort of prepared XD
I'dbeen drooling over BJDs for about six years before getting myself one, so in the meantime I tried to gather as much information as I could about them. I watched plenty of video tutorials about face ups and the tools needed for it, I got myself a few Monster High/Ever After High dolls to practice on while I was waiting for my doll to come and, although I didn't have MSC because it is extremely difficult/expensive to find in my country, I got both Liquitex Matte Spray and Lukas Spray Film (which was suggested as an alternative sealant for bjds on Youtube). I also got plenty of acrylics, brushes (okay, I already had quite a bunch of colors because I used them in some of my past artworks, but some others were bought specifically to paint the doll) and I also collected a whole lot of watercolor pencils, pastels, including what appeared to be an -uber expensive- "flesh tone" PanPastel box. I ordered shoes, clothes and a wig, too. I didnd' really look much into how to restring my doll, because all the reviews I read about Souldoll would pretty much agree on the fact that their dolls are super tightly strung, so I didn't think I'd need to restring my boy at all.

Then... I got my doll.
And I found out that the wig didn't fit, that my brushes were too huge, that most of the acrylic colors/pastels I had weren't what I needed for the face-up (just to make an example, the "flesh tone" PanPastel turned out to be basically BRIGHT ORANGE). Also, watercolor pencils turned out to be a pain in the butt to use, because no matter what I did, I couldn't manage to get thin lines for the life of me .___. ALSO ALSO, my Liquitex Matte Spray can (which I'd successfully tested on my doll's headcap just the day before) decided to die on me JUST on the day I started to work on my face-up. On top of that, the doll's legs and arm were quite loosely strung, so he was in need of restringing, too.

I eventually ended up ditching almost everything I had and used Lukas Spray film (which I hadn't thoroughly tested as I'd done with Liquitex D: ), a bunch of awfully cheap nail art blushes and some (actually flesh-toned) acrylics I'd casually bought that morning for my face-up. Luckily, things went pretty well, my doll's face didn't melt and his face up didn't turn out half bad at all (I mean, been almost a year and his face is still there as it was on day one... '_'). I'm still too scared to restring him, so he's gonna have to deal with a loose arm and legs for a little longer, but luckily pretty much everything turned out to be fine at last

 

I was not really prepared when my first doll arrived. I didn't ordered anything because I thought I had the time ...
So she stayed nake for some weeks

 

I was prepared but it all didn't all go quite the way i had planned.. The msd clothing i bought for my JID only fitted slim minifee's( so not that prepared i guess:p) and the wigs and eyes i had ordered took longer to arrive then the doll itself! When she-the doll- arrived my hopes had been so high up that it was quite the let down that i didn't really like her face up which is why i kept her in the box for maybe something over two weeks.. However as soon as i had done my own -first- face up on her and the items -that fitted- had arrived I again fell in love with her!

 

My first bjd was just a head and I was prepared in the sense that I done loads of research and I had started my bjd Instagram and DOA account and asked loads of questions but in terms of supplies I was less prepared! Still haven't got a respirator to give him a faceup :S (sorry Pip xD)
I will however be more prepared for when his body arrives in January sometime as I've ordered some clothes and a proper wig and some eyes for him. I will have a respirator by then too xD

 

I've been watching monster high doll customizing videos on YouTube for at least a year now and then those channels also had some bjds on them, and I grew more curious. I still don't have my first dolls, but I have three on the way already. I hope I'm not jumping in too quickly. I feel like I know enough for a beginner, and I'll continue to research before I do things like a faceup, making clothes and wigs, blushing and etc. I'm really interested to play with the interesting doll joints and posing these dolls can do. So excite!