"PRETTY please?": the art of obtaining.

Luckily so long as I don't ask my mother for money and have proof of saving money for my own car, I can spend my money however I like.
So it's just convincing myself to pay for the doll and not letting my stepdad know how much they cost or that I really have them.
Which, I have finally and absolutely fallen head over heels in love with a doll so the pretty pleasing to myself is done. And since she's a MSD, she'll be pretty easy to tuck onto my shelf or desk and he won't notice her if he snoops in my room.
Just have to wait until my mothers surgery and recovery period before I get her.

 

My experience is coming up this weekend, and it's been a long time in coming...

It went like this:
1. Found out about the dolls.
2. Found out about the price of said dolls.
3. Begged mother (this is three years ago) to have one.
4. Mother says no.
5. Fast forward to meeting my best friend who now has two dolls.
6. Freak out about dolls together.
7. She gets Alice.
8. Dote upon Alice and beg mother again.
9. Mother looks at Alice and says no.
10. I GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL.
11. I ask again (best friend now has a Crobi doll)
12. Mother is hesitant.
13. Says the one I want is creepy.
14. Says OKAY
15. Doll is getting ordered this weekend
16. Is super excited.

This will be my first doll and I'm definite it won't be the last. Except...after him I'll pay for my own XD

 

Me: Mum! Lookit these cool dolls I found!
Mum: Yeah great.
Me: Lookit her eyes.. they're glass! And look at how realistic she looks...
Mum: Okay.
Me: And...
Mum: No.
Me: I'LL PAY FOR IT.
Mum: Oh yeah? How are you gonna get the money?
Me: ...
Mum: *smirk*
Me: I'LL GET A JOB.
Mum: HAHAHA- uh right.
Me: NO REALLY.

*Believe it or not, I got a job!! *A*!*

Me: *clutching my $550 dollars in her face*
Mum: Send me the link.
Me: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SHE'S MINE!!

 

Well, my first doll i saved up for for 3 years (wound up having to spend that money on hospital and doctor visits and a plastic surgeon.... all for my daughter (surgeon for removing a cyst above my 6 month old at the time's eye). THEN my boyfriend buys me a brand new doll exactly like the one I was going to buy used. A couple months later i bought my second doll... not so expensive but then she's plastic lol. And a month after that, I pretty much sold my soul for my Reaa doll lol, but it worked and the only side effect? Hanging out with a crazy asian dude I probably would have hung out with anyway XD

 

First I hinted about wanting the doll, then I hinted about the price, then I hinted that I had enough money and reminded my parents about how well I am with money, and then I flat out asked if I could buy him and they gave their permission. I use this method whenever I wanna buy something and it invariably works. Slow, and subtle.

 

I usually use the logic that my hobby's just about as expensive as any other hobby, like guitar or a sport, and I have enough money, etc. usually their counter argument is they want me to save for college. my rebuttle is to make a detailed plan of how much I'll be spending and then also a detailed plan of where I'll get more money to put into my college fund. (this time the plan is to put all the money I get from my graduation party into my fund, and then also 80-90% of my paycheck from my job)

 

I worked really hard (still am, for more clothes ;u; ) at my current job and managed to get a raise! Saved up after a couple months and ordered c:

 

-Acquired tax return
-Spent tax return
-received doll

 

I actually received my tax return recently myself and I'm really tempted to get a doll (stuck between two--as even if I could afford both with it, I'd feel awful buying more than one when I know there's other things we need too), but I guess I'd feel bad? So I've just been sitting here and debating.

Essentially, I'm one of those people who feels really bad spending money on themselves but I'd have no issue spending the same amount of money on someone else--so I always tend to need someone in my family to either:
A. Tell me it's okay to get it.
or
B. Offer to help me with it.

There's been a few times where I'd definitely have enough to pay the doll off through lay-away too, but just would feel too bad getting it even if everything would be fine. I also dislike hearing the "how could you spend so much on something like that".

As for finding them, I have a lot of friends who enjoying collecting all kinds of dolls and more often than not, will link me if they see one they'd think I'd like and worse, they always manage to find that single on that tugs at my heart strings </3

 

Oh my!

- Find mold I want
- Look through a million different dolls looking for a doll that is similar but cheaper
- whisk away 100$
- go back to the first doll and mope
- find 20$ in laundry
- Design a wardrobe for my new doll but don't buy anything
- whisk away 100$
- Browse dolls that are similar looking but not as expensive
- pray
- ask dealer for the doll I want to order
- become incredibly optimistic
- do a cleaning job for about 200$
- soul crushing depression at the price I ultimately pay
- Get scolded by my mom
- order the doll
- order clothes for the doll
- Bliss

 

Well a few holidays, delayed birthdays, absent relatives, unintentional guilt-trips, and most prominently my unexpected graduation CONVERGED on the same week and my family and friends literally shoved hundreds of dollars on me and i was like, "Woah." Then i wasted it all getting clothes and a doll. What a waste. WHAT DELICIOUS SINNNNN

So basically-

-senioritis; dying
-graduation requirements waived????? ;_;
-graduated
-new year
-christmas
-birthday
-congratulations on surviving college party
-graduation party w bffs
-whisked to grandparents
-forcefully advised not to get an eigenharp
-agree
-remember hella expensive dolls
-dither
-dither
-suddenly buy spree
-
-doomed for life
-"wait, can I bring these to law school or is that too weird?"

 

From the very beginning, when I fell in love with my first BJD, my parents, mostly joking, said that I could get one if I bought it myself, if I wanted it so badly to save up for it. I was eleven. I said I'd do it. Everyone, even my grandmother who has always been into fashion dolls (and just recently converted to resin!), said with a doubtful smirk (The kind you give a six year old who says he'll take care of a puppy if only you would get him one...) 'Okay then.' It's true, I was going through a new-day-new-obsession phase, and I'd get really excited about something only to forget about it the next week, so of course nobody thought I could do it.

BUT I DID. I was almost thirteen! And, well... I've just never STOPPED, y'know? I can hardly believe I've been a doll owner for about four years now...

But pretty much, for me, I just have to prove I'm committed to something before I'm allowed to get it. I wanted a Casio DG-20 electronic guitar, I learned to play (sort of) on my dad's acoustic guitar. I wanted a dog, I took care of other people's dogs and agreed to split the adoption fee with my parents. So to prove I was committed to this whole doll thing, I had to be willing to sacrifice my spending money and do extra jobs around the house and babysit and by god I did it.

Lately though my mother has been trying to get me to slow down on my doll spending, which is reasonable considering I usually have two layaways going at once. HOWEVER.

Today, I may have found a new way of obtaining the remaining dolls on my wishlist. During a conversation about exercise and motivation, I said 'If I had to win a marathon to win some amazing doll, I'd do it.' And my mom just looked at me, and said 'hmmmm' We then discussed the possibilities of what I could accomplish, some big thing, a terribly impressive goal, to earn a doll. There was even talk of slightly smaller goals to earn bodies for my floating heads. Nothing is finalized yet, but if I can do whatever my mom decides I need to do to deserve a whole DOLL, in the amount of time she gives me to do it, I WILL DO IT.

Wish me luck?

 

For me begging never worked, so I got over it, got my butt off the couch and found a job XD

 

For as long as I remember I've never really begged for anything....just have to convince others it's a good idea xD
My parents said it was a waste of money but since I never asked them to pay for it they couldn't stop me :L

 

I originally saw dolls on deviantart when I was in middle school and thought "wow, those are beautifully creepy, but I don't know what they're called and have no idea how to get one." Fast forward to right after graduation from high school when I joined my local lolita group. I met a guy in the group who had several dolls with beautiful outfits that were entirely different from the scary gothic dolls I had seen before. I already had jobs in the past so I saved up and bought my pukifee off of ebay because I was too impatient to wait to order the doll I REALLY wanted, the Kid Delf Kiwi. Because I live on my own and don't go to college my parents don't pay for anything for me, so I'm asking them to help pay for a new dolly for my birthday in August.

TL;DR: I waited till I could afford it on my own and it feels great.

 

Uh, no. No amount of begging or wheedling would get me an Iple Luo or anything near his price range. My family is well trained in terms of the doll thing. They get me the odd bigger fashion doll on discount for $125 or less for my birthday or Christmas but if I want something like a Luo I'd have to buy him myself. I did get the two $58 Miro bodies as a gift from them but I had to pay the shipping when all is said and done and I'll have to find something to go on them. Actually if I ever did buy my Luo I'd not tell them how much. They'd have me committed probably spending that much on a doll...:P

 

Uhhh okay xD let me see how my own story went... I actually had forgotten most of this ever even happened to be honest. I found out about these dolls around 2004 and I was seriously in love. I really wanted one of my own but was too young to afford one... so I eventually had to sit down and discuss with my mother about how I would afford that after taking my sweet time on deciding which one I wanted and seeing the price; note I didn't really ask for the doll, just for help in saving up and ordering it. It wasn't really that much of an expensive doll at the time either, the one I wanted was a Dream of Doll MSD which at the time didn't go for quite as much as they do now, plus the euro to dollar conversion was far more favorable than it is today.

My mom found that about 200 USD for a doll was ridiculous and greatly discouraged me from getting one, proposing to go for a Blythe doll instead which would come at about half the price. I ended up really disliking Blythes when she showed me them, finding them ugly and alien looking plus they could never cut it due to me wanting a boy doll. So at that time I gave up seeing how there was no way I could get one. I still doted over my fabled doll, however, keeping qan image folder of his on my desktop to stare at when I needed and dreaming what it would be like to actually own him.

Eventually I got caught up in a lot of things and a few years passed where I did someon and off research. Six years later I finally had enough to afford buying my frst doll so I went around and round trying to decide which one to get. My aesthetic preferences having changed quite a lot I didn't end up going for something even remotely similar to that first Dream of Doll I so coveted; the only similarities were the size and gender. I still want to eventually get him one day, maybe if I have a character in which he can fit...

To this day I never really asked my parents for a doll as I know that first of all it would be impossible for them to get me a gift like that. I often save what gift money they give me for dolls, however, or doll things as my crew really needs them...

 

I got into the hobby as an adult, so I didn't have to beg anybody to buy one for me or let me get one. My experience with my first doll, Paul Sebastian, was something like this.

1. Sapphire accidentally stumbles upon BJD while looking at other types of dolls on eBay.
2. Becomes fascinated by BJD
3. Discovers the price and immediately freaks out, because it's 2006 and she is in her final year of law school, has no steady job, is living in a lady's garage, and has absolutely NO MONIEZ...WAH!!!
4. Does obsessive BJD research and lusts after an SD boy, but figures it'll NEVER EVER happen.
5. Three years go by, and it's now 2009. Sapphire starts seriously thinking about BJD again, as she's been called to the bar and has gotten a real job.
6. Starts allocating money to the doll fund, and starts trying to find 'the doll'
7. Discovers Elfdoll K and falls in love
8. Is put off by the price
9. Stumbles upon someone selling an Elfdoll K on eBay in 2010.
10. Bids and crosses fingers.
11. Wins the auction OMG!
12. Pays...and then feels extremely guilty for having spent that much money on something.
13. Waits for Paul Sebastian to arrive.
14. Finally receives her lovely boy and immediately forgets why she felt guilty for spending the money on him.
15. Is hooked for life on the BJD hobby.


My subsequent doll experiences have been a lot less fraught with tension. lol

 

Stumbled across BJD by watching Doll Master (korean horror movie in 2004) first thought they were made for the movie "how silly of me" later realised to google them and found out about Custom House! woohooo ... until saw how much they where 800-1200 dollars...WHAAAAAT.. I nearly fainted at the time.. (every year I would find a need to go trough BJD sites and admire the dolls) Now 10 years later when I actually have a job I realised that I can actually afford to get one yeeeey.. And with birthday coming closer I managed to scrap some cash together to get myself Doll Chateau Stacy

 

Lucky for me, I don't live at home anymore so I didn't have to explain to my parents about dolls and whatnot or convince them to let me have one. I was the one who needed convincing, to be honest. The timeline basically went like this:

~*~Back in 2007~*~
Me: discovers BJDs at a con, is scared of them. Nightmare fuel
Girlfriend: sees them at the con as well and falls in love with them, can't afford because we're teenagers without jobs.
~*~Over the next 4 years~*~
Me: still terrified of dolls
Girlfriend: finds ones she likes and admires them from afar, still can't afford one, knows I'm terrified
~*~2011~*~
Girlfriend: confesses that she loves BJDs and would love to have one so much once she can afford one
Me: still terrified of dolls, tell her there's probably no way I would be comfortable with her having one
~*~2012~*~
Me: slowly gets accustomed to BJDs (forcing myself to on my own free will, really), finds one or two that I don't mind looking at, tells girlfriend that she can have one if a) she can afford it with her priorities put first and b) I approve of it to guarantee that I won't be scared of it
Girlfriend: instantly goes searching for one
~*~2013~*~
Girlfriend: finds Luts Cirrus, shows him to me
Me: I approve of him, by this point most BJDs don't really scare me anymore as long as they don't have creepy eyes. Still a bit thrown off by the price but I know she won't buy him until she can afford him
Girlfriend: orders Cirrus late September, her excitement gets me excited and suddenly I start wanting my own BJD
Me: starts looking at BJDs as well, finds RD Crystal and falls in love, I order him late November, receive him just before New Year's Eve.

And that's how I somehow stumbled into this hobby.