Question for all male collectors

@Alternatewarning For OC embodiment is my favorite use of them too.

@spyder88 I agree they work well with art hobbies in general, especially drawing/painting or photography.

It's nice hearing from others. I think price is why most initially hesitate to commit to the hobby and understandably so. I've never wanted to discuss the cost with those that don't already know something or aren't seriously interested in BJDs. I'm sure a lot of us feel self conscious about that with family depending on how your family is with money.

 

Definitely action figures. I started out with figmas and the 1/6 scale Azone/Real Action Heroes stuff, and then I couldn't help but notice....alllllllllll the amazing sculpts, and I ended up in this hobby. RIP my wallet!

 

I had some action figures too early on, come to think of it, and I agree about our wallets, haha

 

Oh ya, I'm with you there. Between Play Arts, Gunpla, BJD, Figurearts... my wallet says please stop buying resin and plastic!

 

My BF started because of me! Well i was looking at doll pictures all the time, showing him this wow, that so pretty! So recently i ask him to get me a yosd from jp for my Bday and he ended up buying 1 for himself! Now he is bz looking for clothes for his girl,

 

@Alternatewarning Right?!

@Coco loh That's awesome! Having a significant other to share this hobby with is the best (and then they don't judge about the expenses either).

 

I learned about bjds years ago when some cosplayers I followed on dA also owned dolls, I decided I wanted one but I was a middle schooler with no money.

Later as an adult I got into collecting Monster High because of my love of monster girls and that re-introduced me into bjds.

 

I got my bf @Durgaaz into BJDs when we were in college. He's got three now, the most recent being one I got him as a gift. :3 I love being able to share the hobby with him.

 

I got into BJDs because of my sister. I sort of followed her into the hobby and when she bought a doll we both loved to play with and take care of her. I decided I wanted to get my own when I moved out of my parents house.

 

I've always had a love for pretty and beautiful things, so BJDs are a natural extension of that aesthetic. I initially discovered BJDs themselves through the anime Rozen Maiden, but I've always held a deep appreciation for puppets and other highly poseable things, so when I found out about BJDs, it all just clicked for me!

Right now, I'm awaiting my very first doll (DreamingDoll Airi), and I'm trying to distract myself from going crazy from the wait by finding her small accessories I think she'll need once she arrives.

It's great to see so many other collectors here, though! None of my friends are collectors (my girlfriend has plans to get into the hobby, though). They don't find my love of dolls weird either, though, since this is the sort of thing they'd expect from the guy who gets excited over doilies and lace curtains

 

I got interesed by a recommended artist on Instagram that owns ball jointed dolls
I found those dolls amazing, and I got interesed in the hobby
Also I like the fact that those dolls are handmade by artists...

 

Barbie back in the day. Before mid 1960s. Before they messed her face up.

 

an old friend was really into them when we were like 13-14ish. I've always been better friends with girls than other boys, and never really been a Man's Man if that makes sense, so falling into a hobby about dolls of all things wasn't so unusual ^^' i'm also an artist though, and really interested in being able to nitpick outfits and accessories haha, so dressing up dolls is perfect for me. top it all off with a love for mini things and i was totally sold.

i wasn't so into it back then, but having a different, now-closer friend revive my passion for them has launched me wholeheartedly into bjds. also, i'm an adult and i don't have to worry about money nearly so much any more lol, so i can just enjoy buying things i like instead of having to save for living expenses ^^' i'm happy to be able to branch out!

 

I got into the hobby after seeing someone post about their doll online. I can’t remember if it was DeviantArt or Tumblr but it was a few pictures of their doll, a kid Delf Bory, and then a long story afterwards about how much they loved him. I was pretty interested in the hobby for a long while after that and started following a bunch of doll artists on DeviantArt. I didn’t get my own doll until like 2ish years later though when I was 16.

Edit: My job into the hobby was pretty reasonable since I’d already been collecting lots of plastic and play line dolls since I was little.

 

For me it was a progression from artist bears!

 

Quite an old thread but I’ll add my piece anyway. I remember looking up references/inspiration when I was in college studying art, and stumbling upon others’ photography. I saved a few of them for character designs but came to the hobby later (I’m in uni now) as I now have the money to buy them. I liked to draw from blank bjds as they have clearly defined body parts and a lot of them were in the style I was going for back then (think doll chateau).

I’m actually waiting on my first one now, a resinsoul Gang. He will be shelled into one of my original characters.

 

As an avid photographer, I got my first doll (a custom Dollfie Dream) to have a “model” I could shoot anytime.
Long story short I keep buying more dolls and taking less photos

 

I got tired of buying static figures of the same characters over and over just to get different poses/outfits. When I saw 1/6 Obitsus and realized I could just use them to make poseable figures with changeable clothes AND use them to make figures of my original characters, I was done for. I've been dabbling with different dolls since then, depending on where my ADHD takes me.

This started before Revoltech & Figma and whatnot existed, so at the time, few anime characters had the really highly articulated options.

 

I found some BJDs of my favorite game characters while browsing ebay, and it only went downhill from there

(Mostly) joking, but I started off with non-poseable figurines + the occasional nendoroid, and after finding BJDs, I realized I could have something similar but poseable, and customized! A tad more expensive, sure, but worth it IMO.

 

transmasc here - and one who always loved fashion dolls but could never find enough "boy" fashion dolls for his preference - I definitely got into the hobby after spotting a KDF Bory on Deviantart. I'm Bory-obsessed. I have 4 and need about eighty more in all the sizes. But like a few others here, I was always about having dolls that could recreate my favourite scenes and characters from the media I love (I made a whole box of paper dolls for Escafllowne because I couldn't afford any of the merch at the time). BJDs are the best way to bring to life characters and designs.