Impulse buying a bjd, any regrets?

Impulse buying…oh there have been regrets! Years back, Soom had me for a good while, I’d see a pretty Soom sculpt/full set come out and buy right away only to get it and have it for a few months then sell. That cycle went on for far too long! Thankfully, these days I’m not hit too often with an impulse buy urge and can better assess when the urge does hit. I feel like I’ve gotten much better over the years about knowing what I truly like. Though I will say, my favorite impulse buy was ages ago, my Dream of Doll Code No 7, I was absolutely taken by his promo pics and once I got him in hand he was just gorgeous….no regrets, no looking back! Still have him all these years later, he’s one of my favorites and I’ll have with me in my collection forever.

 

When I first started out buying BJDs, I impulse bought a Quartz Magic Mirror Keira. I thought I wouldn't be able to find one in a non fantasy color, so I jumped the gun. I have some other dolls I impulse bought, but I love them nonetheless.

 

I've only regretted a couple purchases, though mostly I have not.
I prefer characters or ideas beforehand but sometimes I can create as I look at them.

The ones I truly regretted, I don't want back. I've honestly regretted selling more of the dolls I had, than the purchases themselves.

My first impulse buys were too adorable though and I still own them. They've been with me for years now.

 

I have bought a fair number of dolls on an impulse, but I can only think of one that I regretted. It was a mnf Rendia head, she was really beautiful, with a stunning face up, but just did not work out for me.
There were actually more planned dolls that I regretted getting in the end, than the ones bought impulsively. Kind of surprised by this myself.

 

My only regret wasnt the body, i love my DDY, but i really wish i picked a different standard model with a different face/head, the Towa face looks way too 'dead inside' for me and its absolutely a regretful choice for my OC doll TT_TT

 

Aww! That's sad to hear. Maybe she could appear to have more life in her with custom make up.

I've definitely regretted quite a few impulse buys. For a while I would add a doll to my collection just because I thought they looked beautiful. But once home I was never able to come up with how I'd actually style them they didn't look nearly as beautiful just plopped on my shelf in undies

 

I definitely agree! I will hopefully be able to try a face up or get a new head for her soon >w<!

And i agree to that, definitely one thing to see them in photos and another to have them on your shelves xD!

 

I tend to have more impulse selling regrets than impulse buying - maybe I like getting money too much LOL

 

When I first got into the hobby I would impulse buy a lot. I was excited for sales on in stock dolls the most. Too be honest, there was a few doll that after I got them home I wasn't sure about. For me, just changing the wigs and clothing, sometimes the faceup. to give them a different look makes me not regret them. After the first year I started to get more of an idea in what I wanted in dolls. Now I'll try to get dolls only if they were something I was looking at for awhile.

My impulse buying has went down to whether it's a style/size/gender I was looking for and the doll crossed my path on sale, or if it's a doll I have been wanting to get for quite awhile and now suddenly the company is having a massive sale, or someone has a doll I wanted up for auction at a really great price.

I don't have any regrets over my dolls, I find a way to make them work out for me.

 

Impulse buying is something I try to avoid doing with dolls since I live on a tight budget, however some people would likely argue that all I do is purchase on whims. That's partially how I ended up with such an odd smattering of dolls, for sure. At the beginning of my time in the hobby I was--like a lot of people in the thread--looking mainly at in stock dolls, especially those on sale. My first two dolls (RS Erin and Doll Leaves Amara) were impulse buys in the sense that they were convenient and I didn't have to wait but a few days for them to arrive. Tempest, the RS Erin is a project doll (first doll I restrung, first doll I practiced faceups on, etc.). She has a very special place in my heart, but is currently in pieces as I need to redo the elastic with my better knowledge >.<' Amelia, the Doll Leaves Amara, has gone through several iterations of styles, but her personality is rather consistent in my mind. Almost none of the dolls I own have had shelled out characters before I got them, which is why some people here would probably consider all of my dolls impulse buys (even the preorders). Even after they arrive, I still mostly treat them like really cool roommates and not OCs. Now that I am a bit more long in the tooth in the hobby (not by a lot to be clear...I still don't even have marketplace access here lol), I have a better idea of what I am after and that has significantly cut down on the "convenience" buying as most of my babes have started coming from preorders. I am also now more likely to "traditionally" impulse buy yarn or fabric to sew for my dolls than dolls themselves as I have realized the joys of frequently playing dress up...which is kind of a weird psuedo-problem to have haha

Even after having explained all that, I don't typically end up with regrets. I have traded dolls, but, for example, the one I just traded was not out of dislike or even boredom with the doll. I had simply run my course with her. She felt like she was ready to move on. That sounds kind of weird typing it out, but hopefully not too odd XD

 

I almost never impulse buy BJD, but... I've gotten two little dolls that way this year. One is a 9-10 inch head meant to be on a YoSD body, but I'm putting it on a 1/4 for better if still bobbly proportions. The other is a little fairy tiny. Both got to me by being cute. If I regret them in future, I suppose I could always sell them on- after making them extra cute for their next home!

 

Back when DZ had a big discontinuation event, I impulse bought several heads & a cpl tinies, convinced I had/could come up with characters for them - then a few months later, fell out of the hobby altogether......now years later I'm back in the hobby & wondering wth possessed me bc now I have a pile o resin that if I want to keep, I need to find bodies for, and if I want to sell am gonna have to deal w/ the fact that while well kept, these are several years old & maybe no one wants to go body hunting either

 

My mnf Celine probably counts as an impulse buy? She was a doll I had on my maybe list, then I saw one at a really good price that was already in the UK - so no import fees, either. I snapped her up and I love her so, so much in person! She's probably the only doll with a company faceup I'll ever have, so she'll always be special to me that way too.

 

My impulses are Pete & Billy, Party Martian, Eddie, and the girl I'm waiting on-- though with Party Martian Eddie, I specifically hoped/knew I would be buying a doll at the two conventions they were purchased at, just not which one.

No regrets with the two convention boys or with Kitty M-- money was free and clear and from a specific doll fund for those purchases.

With Pete and Billy, I ordered them together because I came into unexpected money... and then almost immediately discovered I needed that money for boring, practical life things. That was very early in my collecting, since they were my second/third dolls, bought together, and I definitely had regrets as I rearranged funds and had my mom hold my dolls until I could pay her back a small loan. But, I still have them! And I received a valuable lesson about keeping my doll fund separate from my Life Happens money. So I would say I got through the period of regret with them.

Life Happens has needed to pull from Doll Funds once since then, but mercifully before I found and purchased the next doll.

 

My first ever real impulse bjd regret is with a doll that should be arriving today. I saw him on y!japan auctions and bid on him, and won him for a steal. I was super ok with the purchase until i realized that Japan is still restricting their shipping to Canada and so shipping and import fees cost me twice as much as I paid for the doll. I regret it so much, and I hope I don't hate the doll for it when he arrives.