Question for all male collectors

I've known about the bjd community since I was 14-15 years old from an old friend that were into them. It didn't really start out from any figurine collection or anything like that. I began browsing different companies and began listing in my head who'd I'd like to invest in etc, and when I was 17 I purchased a doll I didn't really want (low price) and ended up selling it at age 23 since it were just collecting dust.

From then on I've begun a new collection where I pick ones I wish to just be creative with and that fall into my taste. I got no real story for any of them so far, but got ideas for their characters. I currently await two boys from D. I. M (couldn't resist the sale and I had my eyes on those two for quite a while) and I know they're gonna be brothers and their 'style' as, well as their names.

What really got me into the hobby (aside from my old friend) were all the possibilities and the creativity. It's a nice outlet and so many things to do

 

Definitely from collecting action figures. The poseable ones were always more fun than the statues, and I enjoy(ed?) posing them in their signature poses or having them "interact" with each other. Besides this, the Real Action Heros line gave me a final push into the fully-customizable doll line. It's become a fun way to commemorate my favorite characters and conceptualize new characters.)

It's been weird having my family discover/talk about them when they come over, but at least now it's happened, I never have to worry about telling them or taking the time to hide them safely. I pretty gay as I was growing up, so I guess it could have been worse...? (I know some girls really love a sensitive side in a male partner...)

 

Mainly because I am an artist and love designing clothes. Both is perfect for BJDs, I am also a photographer and basically the BJD hobby is all my other hobbies in one (art for face ups, designing clothes for BJDs and making them and of course taking photos of the dolls in the end). That's pretty much what amazed me about BJDs when my girlfriend showed me this hobby.

 

Well I do display work for a major department store chain & I also like to design menswear when the mood hits me. A doll to me is like a mini mannequin... I can dress him & undress him to change his look. I have the larger boys so it makes it more real for me instead of the smaller ones... though I'll always love... shhh (my flocked original kens)

I have 2 - 70+ boys 3 - 17" ones with 4 more big boys coming.....

 

Oh gosh so like I first discovered BJDs while in middle school. They had so many websites blocked and I somehow found my way to a BJD store, I believe it was LUTS, and have been interested in them ever since. At the time I thought that I would just get everything premade for my dolls if I ever got one, but things have changed. One of my majors is going to be costume design and I love sewing so much that I'm going to always make the clothes for my dolls.

 

Haha, I feel so lame, but the reason is because a girl I had a crush on in high school liked them. xD I actually ended up getting more in to them then her and still am in the hobby years later after I lost contact with her! Glad to have met her just for that! I'm really into making characters because I write and paint, so it's cool to have a few in a more physical form. I really like them for that! : )

 

I've loved dolls all my life.

Back when I was about nine I drew plans for my dream doll, but had to wait until I was in my 30's before BJD's came onto the market, bringing my dream dolls into reality.

Teddy

 

I had a very good friend in the hobby and I just found the whole thing so interesting! Being an artist and enjoying character design as much as I do, I just loved the idea of having a physical representation of my characters! I also absolutely love anything in minature, I just find it really cute, the detail in the craftsmanship as well just really pulled me in~

 

I am a hobby photographer and I saw some photographs taken by a friend of mine in the woods, of a beautiful Iplehouse Cherie with a Robin. I was just fascinated and after meeting them both began the long search for my own. I tried to get a second hand one from E-Bay at first but after looking for several months I couldn't find one I liked, so I ended up researching the manufacturers websites for a new one. Fell for the DollsTown bodies and heads.

 

Hmm...interesting, I never really thought about why I'm particularly collecting only male dolls, but I guess they just fascinate me...No real men will ever beat them in the looks department, yes? LOL...come to think of it, this is why I hardly fall in love with men in real life? My God...I'm so messed up...*dies*

 

I discovered BJDs through an interest in Asian culture. I was first taken by their beauty then by the customizability. I live in the Southeastern US and boys who play with dolls are looked at funny so it took 10 years for me to finally decide to break into the hobby ( I admit the expense held me back too) and I'm so sorry I waited so long.

 

I'm not male, but my dad is; and i brought him into this hobby. He is men's clothes designer, and i often asked his advice about sewing techniques for my dolls. He got involved in it, and i presented him his own bjd since i saw he was ready for it

 

For me, partly from watching anime, namely Rozen Maiden. I've got the RM Pullips (plus about 20 other Groove dolls), and a BJD is really just a progression.

I like the poseability, and being able to change clothes/eyes/wigs. Great for taking photos of, or just for sitting on the shelf as an art piece.

 

I'm an artist, so it started out with a want of something to pose for me to draw more accurately, when I was like 15 or something, I found BJD's online and thought they were perfect. Eventually, I gave up on saving the money, because the only one's I found were $500+, and my 15-year-old attention span couldn't handle trying to save that much money at a time. - u -;;

fast forward to wen I'm twenty one and a coworker has a bunch of these beautiful dolls, and takes amazing photos. She let me hold and play with a couple of her boy and I was sold. They ended up being a photography thing for me, since posing isn't an option when you can't barely get them to stand for long periods of time. But I love them so much, it's worth it.

 

I got my first doll after playing nicely with my mom's bjds as a birthday gift when I was five.

I'm now fourteen and have 4 dolls and a head, and 2 off-topic dolls in the works.

 

As a trans boy, my experiences are a little different. I don't have a masculine connection that was my gateway to ball jointed dolls- I just saw some on tumblr and I really liked them!

 

Way late posting on this thread I'm hoping to revive -

I got into ball jointed dolls when I was 17 along with a couple of female friends in our circle. One of those two I inspired to get a doll as we were best friends (and now we're married but we didn't start dating until years later). While dolls in general didn't appeal to me after some point in early elementary school, I loved how poseable they are as an artist (so fun to photograph for aesthetics) and always wanted far more male dolls than female which I've seen isn't always the case with male BJD collectors.

As it is now, I have 1 male doll (DollZone Megi) that I bought back when in 2008 and I currently have 3 males on the way (Dollmore Theo, Iplehouse FID Rex, Granado Uriel). I have another male and a couple of females on my wish list, though, as I seek to purchase dolls to embody beloved original characters.

 

I'll help revive it too!
For me, I remember seeing BJDs first on Deviantart and I thought they were absolutely beautiful and a great way to embody personal fictional characters (OC). But they were super out of my price range so eventually, I forgot about them. Recently a friend of mine got into them, getting herself an MSD. She knew I was vaguely interested so she just kept showing me stuff until she won be over. Right now I have one boy (in per possession until August) and another boy on the way.

 

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