People influencing what doll you buy?

Many times after talking to my best friend and BJD-guru I have come to change my mind and/or re-think about whatever doll related subject was the matter. I enjoy discussion my ideas and plans with him and with hubby et c. for fun and for to get hold of any important piece of information I might have missed out on or deciding how to solve obstacles et c. It's a part of the way I work with this entire project and I'm very grateful being able to do so.

When it comes to popular or unpopular sculpts I do think it's a matter of personal feelings actually. Do you love the sculpt? Can you imagine yourself owning him/her? What do you imagine to do (designs, characters et c.) with h/h? And so on. ^_^

 

I do have a friend with some rather strong opinions on certain companies and molds. >.> If I'm going to lay down a few hundred dollars for something, though, I'm going to make certain it's what I want, and not what someone else thinks I should want.

It's fine to have opinions, but it's kind of irksome to have them forced on you. In the end, it should be your decision. Though, I do sometimes need someone to calm me down and tell me to step back and remember that just because I CAN spend the money, doesn't mean I necessarily SHOULD at this point in time. XD

 

I thought the same thing the other day. I really want this one doll but I noticed a lot of people had the sculpt I wanted. I considered getting another one because of that but I looked at it again and it fit perfectly with what I had in mind. So forget what those people have, it's my doll regardless and I'm not getting it just because it's 'popular'. I want it because it's what I want.

 

Honestly, buying a doll simply because it's rare or unpopular is a stupid idea. That is, unless of course you actually do like that sculpt. Worrying about the population of sculpts on DOA is stupid. We're just a forum of collectors, after all. It's hardly a secret society that dictates what you should and shouldn't own. As everyone else has emphatically said, if you like it, get it. I fell in love with the Megi sculpt early last year when I first began looking at what dolls were out there. I had no idea if it was popular, etc. But it just doesn't matter to me if it is - I like it. That's the way I've lived my whole life. Trends, etc I'm pretty immune to. I don't care if it's popular or not. I'm myself, and so is your doll. People should know by now that regardless of the sculpt, no two dolls are exactly alike. Each owner puts their own unique personality into it - and looking at owner photos, sometimes you can't even recognize them as being the same.

Of course, friends are great for helping you making decisions. They're useful for talking sense into you, especially if they're not as blown away by a particular item as you are. But always take advice with a grain of salt. Follow your gut and your heart. If you have the ability, go for it, no matter what anyone says.

 

Only once has anyone had any influence on what I bought. I'd decided it was about time to get my Baha some playmates, but was having trouble choosing. My roommate, who appreciates my dolls but can't afford one of her own, said she was fond of the Zuzu Delf Florist. So, when a Florist became available in the Marketplace I bought her and my roommate helped name her. I suppose she's my roommate's step-doll! But that wasn't really getting talked into/out of a particular doll, more like soliciting advice and then making a gesture of friendship. If I hadn't liked that particular doll already, I wouldn't have bought her regardless of what my roommate said (or, if I'd been feeling incredibly flush, I might have bought the doll as a gift for her and kept looking for myself).

Otherwise, what Orca said, doubled. I only consider three things when deciding to purchase a doll: do I love it, can I afford it and how will it fit with the rest of my crew? It's a nice egoboo when people compliment my dolls, but pleasing myself is what counts. So long as I'm not harming others, no one has the right to criticize my choices. Real life is not high school, and vice versa.

 

When I was first saw Volks Kun, I fell in doll-love, hard. I showed a friend, completely excited, and my friend was less-enthused, told me she was too typical-looking. Here I was, gushing and planning, and she was saying, whoa she's really boring. I still got her anyway, and she is my favorite of all my dolls, period. It doesn't matter how many others I see--in fact, I like to see what other people do with her. Sometimes that's the fun of a popular sculpt So, I say it has to be your choice. There are fun parts of having both unique and popular dolls--but they have to be dolls you choose.

 

I say if you like it, get it. The other people who have opinions against the doll aren't the ones who are paying for the doll and have to live with it. BJDs aren't a popularity contest in my opinion. They are way too expensive for that, so who cares if you have a doll that is popular and everyone else has it? Just a simple face-up, wig, or change of eyes can make this doll yours and so different from someone else's.

If you truly want want an El, you will be disappointed in anything else and regret not getting one every time you look at the doll you were swayed into getting instead.

 

Exactly that.

So what if theres loads of them about, doesn't matter.Lots of people have the same style of black leather shoes, but it won't stop you from buying shoes to walk in will it.

 

Oh, ABSOLUTELY I've been influenced. But not in a bad way. In our house we all collect dolls, so we all talk about them and share opinions. I have a bad habit of getting overly excited about new things, so the roomies keep me from flying off the handle!

We might not always agree with each other's loves, but we support each other. And I don't care what they look like, I'll sew for them anyway. ;D

 

I'm pretty hard to steer away from a doll once I've latched on; I got used to listening to the "waste of money" speech on all sides very quickly and only had two friends who were very supportive. I guess I'm a little hard skinned now because of that when it comes to dolls. Of course, if my best doll buddy had a serious problem with a doll I was considering, I would take another look because she has very good taste and is well-educated about the dollfie world.

(Just have to put in my two cents on the El thing...I've been looking at him for a long time now and only recently figured out that pretty much everyone and their brother in the doll world has an El. But I still love the doll because it would be an individual to me, regardless of how many others there are out there. Don't put someone else's value judgements before your own without taking a good hard look at what they're saying.)

 

I kinda had this problem a while back, but it was because of the taste of clothes I've given to Hikaru. My friends nagged, nagged, NAGGED me that I need to be buying him fancier clothes--no matter how many times I told them that his character preferred comfort over fashion. Some people seriously do not know when to shut up. I'm willing to hear out advice, but don't even think about making the decisions for me. If I want 'dat El, I'ma gittin' 'dat boy no matter what anybody says. He really is a gorgeous sculpt, but it's his cute smile that keeps me from buying him, unfortunately. I mostly have a lot of grumpy male characters.

 

Nobody told me I shouldn't get an El when I wanted one- but I stopped myself from buying one for the same reason. There are so many Els! But I finally gave in after getting 3 other dolls first, and you know what? I seriously wish I had gotten an El sooner.

So forget what anyone else says! You should get what you want. Even if it's an overly popular mold, even if it's a greatly disliked mold, you like what you like, right?

 

The is only two people I talk to or interact with about dolls. Both of them said: buy the one you like. That's how it should be!

When I made my choice, I looked at pages and pages and pages of different dolls. Waiting for the first one to grab me as "this is the one, I have to have it". Needless to say there are a bunch of Ducan's out there, but you know what... The one I bought is mine and mine alone.

Don't let someone dissuade you from buying your dream doll, if El is the one you want buy him!

 

Mm. My friend influences me but not in that way. Her and I have a few roleplays together, and we want to have some of our dearest boys or girls put into doll form. I would really enjoy having the lover of her own character per se. So that can influence me to buy certain dolls and types I like (long as I like em. ;D) and such. If any of that makes sense.

 

I'm not bothered if a friend disapproves of my taste in dolls. If I truly like the doll, it won't deter me. But sometimes it's actually helpful when someone points out a flaw I had not realized. Like once the phrase "his nostrils are so lopsided" jolted me out of an infatuation with a certain sculpt and once I took a step back I noticed all sorts of coarse areas and roughness in that doll. In another case, my mom thinks my incoming doll looks "mean and ugly" but upon closer examination I can't agree - I adore him. If you really love El, it won't matter if someone else thinks he's too common. But if it really, really troubles you that he is common, and if you realize that common/rare is actually very important to you - that's okay too. Just give yourself a little time, you will reach the right decision.

 

Well, nobody ever told me not to get a certain doll, but sometimes if there is a "famous" doll (by this I mean a doll that everybody knows in the Finnish forums I mostly hang out), it makes me think.

For example, I would like to have DF Moon as an angsty, heartless vampire boy. BUT. In the forums, there is a certain angsty, heartless demon boy, DF Moon as his mold. And I had some thoughts about if I look like I'm copying this very, very famous character. I almost let go of the idea, but in the end I decided, that if I want him, I will get him and that's it.

 

lol no one has yet to talk me out of a doll no matter how hard i beg them too. XD.

 

with me, my friend is really supportive of any doll I want to buy, and helps me with tough decisions. She's acutally the one who got me interested into the dollies. I think though, any doll you want, you should get. Even if there are a million of them already owned, your dollie will have a different personality and won't be the same as every other doll there is. It's a lot like people. You may have the same name as a bunch of people, but you aren't them.

 

Hey, if you want an El, get an El! There is a reason that sculpt is so popular -- people love it! Don't let someone naysay or talk you out of getting what you want. It's just like you said: There may be a lot of them floating around, but YOURS will be all your own. Don't let these negative feelings influence you.

I guess the only doll I really have that seems to be fairly popular is the Migidoll Ryu. But it never deterred me from getting him! Hiroki's his own "man," and I'm sure your El will be too! So stick to your guns. ^^

 

If I'm torn between sculpts I like other people's input. Obviously I like all three or four choices, but I can't make a choice between them, so whichever one I get I will like. I don't mind passing off that decision to my friends because what they choose (and for which reasons) can go a long way to help me make my final decision.

Case in point, I really wanted to get an MNF A-line body during this Christmas event at Fairyland. Technically it didn't matter which head I got with this body because I really wanted it for my sleeping Shushu head and it would be shared with the Juri M event head to be an alien character of mine...so I texted my good friends asking them only to pick a letter, A, B or C (A- Shushu, B- Rheia or C-Vamp Woosoo Girl) and the majority went with B, so I did too