Nostalgia for the first dolly crushes & reshelling back to the original

Jina is such a good head to fall in love with! I'm excited for you to get another!

The love of my life is Migidoll Ryu. I do own him! I tried to sell him once and was luckily unsuccessful. If I had, I would have almost definitely bought another to replace him. I love the sculpt so much. He has the perfect expression and I love the way his lips are sculpted. He's the most perfect boy I've ever seen! Thank you Migi ;u;

 

Do you also have such a crush? Yes! The Resinsoul Wu was one for me.
Did you actually get to own it and then sold? I did! It was my second or third doll, actually.
If so, have you reshelled your character back to it?
I wound up selling him and regretting it. So I reshelled him into a Wu with coffee skin, and he's never looked better, tbh.

What makes this head/doll so special for you? I think it's because his face didn't look overtly childlike like most MSDs did back in the early 2010s. That coupled with his body made him look more like a teen, which is the age I originally picked for his character. And overall, I don't know, there's just something perfect about it. The mouth, eyes, and nose all separately look good on dolls, but together they make for a rather unique sculpt. Also, did you know the sculpt has very slight nasolabial folds that are especially prominent when the face is blank? I feel like with the right painting and mods you could make an older character with the Wu sculpt, too! It's just a really versatile sculpt. I love it!

 

That's such an interesting topic ! I cannot really answer on that with BJDs because I only had a couple as a doll collector, but I completely understand this feeling that has also something of nostalgia in my opinion. It kinda brings you to the past and your first projects as a doll collector, and even when moving forward with other projects, this doll always stays in your mind, maybe like a grail doll somehow, depending on each person's perspective

 

Do you also have such a crush?
My first doll crush was a Soom Gluino Alchemist Vampire. He is what drew me into the hobby. He became my elusive holy grail.

Did you actually get to own it and then sold?
I did not get to own the doll when I first saw it. Soom had not rereleased it. I gave up on ever getting it.

If so, have you reshelled your character back to it?
I did buy a doll that I fixed up one similar to it. It was a Doll Leaves Ash. But the doll took on he's own personality.

or... have you chosen not to rebuy the head/doll? Why not?
I chose to buy it. I was able to get the doll when Soom Rereleased him last year.

What makes this head/doll so special for you?
He is breathtaking! Everything about this doll is a work of art to me. I have my holy grail now. It is a wonderful feeling.

 

I'm kind of lucky that despite hoarding almost all other kinds of dolls and toys of all kinds, I never felt that way about BJD (I never felt like hoarding them). I always, from the very earlier days of discovering these dolls, knew I didn't want too many of them.

That meant a relatively small number I would allow myself to ever own. And due to the much higher price tag than everything else I do hoard, I was able to keep my BJD collection well under my limit number and thusly I never sold any of my dolls. Even after the million years after my first purchase, I wasn't tempted by many dolls of this kinds! (:

I still own the first BJD I fell for, a long discontinued Soul Doll Paris, and my actual 1st BJD purchase, that wasn't love at first sight, but I do love the sculpt and doll. As well as the rest of the resin dolls that followed. I'm un/lucky that I seem to have weird taste in resin dolls, and rather not sell/re-buy any toy I own. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to bring any of them back! They were mostly all discontinued because they didn't sell well, so finding any in the first place would be a pain, then I am a huge germophobe. DX

 

I have been tempted by a few different head sculpts, but I got pickier about body proportions over the years. I never loved BJD body proportions. I am also a fan of smaller dolls in general, so it wasn't hard for me to never give into temptation and I actually stopped purchasing BJD over a decade ago. I only keep up with news, in case some dolls/head- sculpts I already own get re-released. Otherwise, I am certain I will never buy resin BJD ever again, as I am also not a fan of resin. These dolls are all beautiful, I am just picky about proportions, size and not a fan of resin. I can definitely understand why others would want to get them all! (:

 

I did this this year; in 2007 I owned a Musedoll Ciel who I deeply loved, she was a beautiful doll and exactly as stunning as Musedoll always photographed them. I ended up selling her to cover some bills, and just never really got over her. I searched here on the marketplace about once every two or three months and then in December I found her on sale for an absolute STEAL. My birthday is in January and my parents sent an unsually large gift, so I treated myself to Ciel. She's back with me and just as beautiful as I remembered!

 

Wow! I can see why you never got over her! She’s so pretty!

 

Do you also have such a crush? Luckily, I was able to get my crush (Bimong Narae 412) early on my dolly adventure, on my local community second-hand market, and even if I really love my other dolls too, I think that is the only doll I've ever felt that way towards. I think it's the only one I could never part with even if I had to sell all the others.
Did you actually get to own it and then sold? I've owned for years now and I will never sell it. I have changed the character (and the body) that I've built into that doll several times now, but the head sculpt stays the same.
What makes this head/doll so special for you? I've asked myself this question before, but the answer I think it's simple. A smile. For years, I've been a very insecure / pessimistic / sad person, but when I saw her smile, something suddenly made sense to me. I've gone through a lot of things but, in the 11 years that she's been in my life, I have always been able to look at her smile and know that she was smiling for me, that I had brought her to life and that I could keep creating and doing things that made me happy.

 

The love of my dolly life is Twigling ingenue. In 2015 I bought a pale tan ingenue head and sold her. In 2016-17 I was a part of twigling’s preorder, but dropped out because of how long it was taking. Then in 2020 I sad-bought an ingenue who would become the love of my life, shrike. I now own 5 ingenues with 1 new one on preorder. I’ve sold an additional 2 ingenues and 1 head.

 

Do you also have such a crush?
My original dolly crush was/is a Crobidoll Lance! I'd liked other dolls before him, but he was the one I kept going back to pining after over the years.

Did you actually get to own it and then sold?
I purchased his head a couple of years ago and currently have a body incoming for him. I sold his previous body, but I don't think I will ever sell his head. He's my dream boy.

What makes this head/doll so special for you?
I'm not sure, actually! I can't explain what makes him so much more appealing to me than any other boy doll out there. I think he's got the right blend of nostalgia and traits that were popular in the doll hobby in 2012 that he just tickles my fancy.

 

I have owned and then sold a Fairyland Pukpuki Cupid a couple times now. I just need to give in and keep this one.

 

I have a couple of interesting "first crush" cases.

The first is Volks SD Anais/Tae. I adored this head sculpt as a newbie, but the SD-sized girl was limited edition and out of my price range back then. However, Volks made a MSD version of this girl, F-06 on their full choice system, so she was more affordable and easier to find. I bought MSD F-06 secondhand, and she was the second BJD I ever bought. Of all my newbie dolls she was the one I most loved and enjoyed. I sold her because I fell out of love with the MSD doll size.
I have no desire to buy SD Anais anymore. I have the financial means now, but she sells very quickly secondhand, and I'm not interested in the grail/rare chase. But if she was more available, I still wouldn't do it. I had her in mini version, enjoyed her, and sold her -- my time with this sculpt is over. Maybe if I'd bought SD Anais in the first place, I may have kept her because I much prefer SD size over MSD size. I won't ever find out now, but I'm contented with that and have moved on.

The second in Migidoll Miho. He was my favourite Migidoll sculpt as a newbie, but I never got around to buying him before I went on a very long hiatus away from the hobby. When I came back from the hobby, I still liked him, and I saw Mihos pop up secondhand. But even though I stared at the sales listing a lot, I couldn't bring myself to open the wallet. After a while, I concluded that, like with Anais, my time to own Miho had passed. If I bought him before I went on hiatus, maybe he would've been a keeper. But my tastes have changed - I'm no longer interested in owning him. I'm quite happy to enjoy the many Mihos out there in owner pics.

On the other hand, I have two "first crushes" that I bought and kept. Crobidoll Lance and Dollstown Mui were the first girl (because I've only ever seen a girl in Lance) and boy BJD I fell in love with, AND made a strong effort to buy both. Of the 8 dolls I bought as a newbie, I sold all (including MSD F-06) except these two. Maybe it's survivor bias, but to this day I look at my Lance and Mui and find that I'm still crazy, madly in love with them, and I can't imagine ever selling them. They're the dolls in my avatar ^^

So for me, "my time to own this sculpt has passed" is real. If I had a crush on a doll but didn't buy them, it wasn't meant to be. I remember those first crushes fondly, but I'm contented to just enjoy owner pics now. I have new dolls to love.

 

I wanted a Dollmore Mettaa since I got my first Dollmore doll back in 2010 and saw him in the promo pictures. I had a idea to shell a character with that sculpt but wasn't able to afford a second doll.
Over a decade later, I got a Mettaa head in one of their head blind boxes. My idea for the particular character I wanted him to be has changed a lot, but I still want to do something similar with him.

 

For me it’s Doll in Mind Larina. I never owned her, only admired photos. I love that she is a little unusual. Her features are just a bit oversized in a cartoonish way. I still think she is really pretty! Maybe one day I will pick one up second-hand.

 

Yes! I bought my first dolly crush this past autumn- a Luts Dark Elf Soo. They don't come up on the market often, it seems, even though they were so popular back in the day. I think nobody wanted to sell theirs precisely because the sculpt was so beloved, and the Minifee version has very different facial proportions. But I trawled IG for ten days- fastest I've ever found a WTB! -and one popped up. Now she's home, 16 years after I first fell for her. For a long time I never thought it would happen, since my tastes evolved and changed- but damn if that bug-eyed lady doesn't still have a hold on me!

 

I've been thinking about this answer because I was never invested enough in the early hobby to have "classic" doll crushes! I was scared off early by a very elitist collector and spent years yearning for a KDF Bory because that was the most basic doll I vibed to. But then I was browsing Alice's Collections (as one does) and went to Impldoll and spotted Tony ... and he was the first doll who looked enough like a grown person that I could unabashedly say "yes, he is crushworthy". So now I have him and love him and will likely never sell him as Impldoll discontinued their classic Idol men (including my second crush, Joshua). So I do have my first doll "crush" and since he's not very popular and now gone from the website he'll likely become more nostalgic with time.