Second Chances and Happy Endings

That is pretty much what happened with my first doll.

I couldn’t afford most of the ones I liked, even tried bidding on second hand ones (including a Dollshe Saint) only to constantly lose, then I found this forum, it opened my eyes and introduced me to a much bigger variety than I imagined. I ended up finding something I could afford and whilst waiting for her managed to also get a second hand Pukipuki from the very first release. That Puki still lives with me many years later.

 

Yes, it has happened to me twice, well and soon three times. More on that later. First time, I really wanted a Soom Soul Eater Breccia head in white. I got another head because the Soom heads are hard to find since the Soom SD supergems are less popular so you really need to jump on them. But I bought the Soul Eater head last year and I need to figure out my plans for it now that it's here. Probably a big lady body and a major deyellowing.

Second time was with the xagadoll MSD conjoined twins fullset, I loved the black and white one specfiically, legenddoll had one in stock in the color I wanted and one open eyed head & one closed eyed head so I got her on layaway and she's chilling at home. I will get them different faceups and wigs since the heads are smaller than I thought.

My only other story is with the brand Illusion Doll, they have a head I really want that hasn't been made in five years and is now very very expensive second hand. It's a unicorn Yuli head and I want it with the white horn and white resin specifically, which is non existent. They put out a survey for what people want and it won! So hopefully I will get that head when that preorder happens.

 

When I discovered BJDs around 2008, Elfdoll was a popular company among my friends. My budget was tight but I was able to get a second hand Ryung in a trade with a friend. Then I saw her Soah... By then the company was going thru shifts & changes. Dolls were still available second hand & my quest for a Soah led to collecting several other Elfdolls who weren't Soah before finally being given a Soah head! And then later finding another complete Soah!! And a couple years ago having another friend sell me a third early Soah!!! XD
When Elfdoll reopened for a bit the first time and was closing again I didn't hesitate & snapped up a Smiling Ryung. Then in the market here I saw a smiling Soah painted by Krowbar... Sadly I wasn't able to buy her & have never seen another since. She's replaced original Soah on my someday wish list. Keep watching, you never know. ;}

Also on my long time wishlist was a Kaye Wiggs Nelly. I had watched the design development on Kaye's website for both her & Laryssa. Budget considerations kept me from getting either of them when they were released. After Kaye's dolls became so popular I didn't expect to ever be able to afford one. And then a couple years ago your friend Patti posted your Nelly for sale when I had funds available. So thank you for helping to enable that happy ending for my collection! And I hope the best possible situation arises for you to get the doll you are looking for.

 

This has actually happened to me three times! I’ve always been on a tight budget in general and an even tighter dolly budget in particular, so it was never all that uncommon for me to occasionally miss out. But sometimes I had to miss out on something that truly broke my heart and crushed my creative senses. One of these was the extremely limited Luts BabyDelf Daisy Elf. I loved the sculpt and absolutely adored the way they shaped her ears, but she was only available for a month (when I was already at my layaway max for the year) so I wasn’t able to get her. It broke my heart. But some years later one came up for sale in the marketplace here on DoA, and I jumped at the chance to bring her home.

The second and third examples came as total shocks when the company (Dollzone) suddenly rereleased their sculpts out of the blue. These were for unusual artistic sculpts that I simply couldn’t afford at the time. One was their gorgeous and huge mermaid, Sawarieda. Not only was I able to get her, but this time they offered her in lavender skin! The other rerelease was for their flower boy, Moment. I’d wanted one as a consort to my beloved flower girl Anson (from 2011) but at that time there was no way I could possibly afford both, so he became just another of those lost dreams. When they rereleased him (after more than a dozen years!) I was finally able to bring him home…this time in green skin, which was never available originally.

Hang in there…in this hobby dreams really can come true!

 

I thought I had missed out on a doll I had seen second hand on a local portal - when I had made up my mind, the listing had already been taken down. I dug through DoA and found the same doll for sale on the MP here, but unfortunately the seller did not respond so I gave up on the idea and went on to buy something slightly similar elsewhere.

And then, 6 months later or so, the person messaged me that the doll was still there! I paid so fast and soon enough the SDC Kaede I had been looking for was at my doorstep. I love her face lots and I'm glad I snagged her despite having found some similar alternatives already months before. Of course since then I've seen Kaedes appear on Mandarake, Y!jA and Dollyteria lots of times as she's not so rare after all, but it's still special to have her. I'm very impatient normally but have to admit that dolls you missed will always come to you eventually if you so wish!

It's always worth putting out a WTB or ISO (here once eligible for the MP or also in other communities) - you never know if someone will spot what you're looking for and can send the link your way

 

When I was hunting for a msd f-12, I saw a couple auctions go up and then eventually sell for insanely high prices that i absolutely could not have afforded. Luckily, I was eventually able to just get the head by itself for a price that was still high but much lower than the other prices I had seen for the full doll. (The seller I got the head from actually had a second one listed at the same time, but I could only afford to get one of them. I hope the other one found a good home too...)

 

That was Celandine for me. Missed the chance to get a Dark Elf Soo when the company first sold them, because I was a teenager and my mom wouldn't let me save up for something that expensive even if it was my own money...and then had one turn up over a decade later, only ten days after I realized I still wanted one and started looking. It was a second chance for her, too- she'd had a buyer lined up a week earlier, it turns out, and they had to back out. I got her the day she went back up in her second For Sale post.

I don't think they're rare, per se; I think they're just such beautiful and (nowadays) nostalgic dolls that the owners don't want to let them go!

 

One of the first dolls I ever wanted was Soom Mini Gem Azur. I had gotten into BJD after his sale period and I seemed to miss any second hand sales of him online for the first 10 years that I was truly in the hobby. Fast forward to 2020/2021, and Soom decides to re-release him! I had never paid for a doll so fast! While I still don't have his original human outfit (and possibly not his eyes) I do have his siren outfit and his wig! And of course him!

Other dolls I have had a lot of luck finding second hand here, or on other second hand markets and those are either unintentionally found and pleasant surprises or people respond to my ISO/WTBs.

What I need to do now, is try to rehome some of my dolls to help other people's dreams come true.

 

I'm hoping for one of these with Dear Mine Benjamin's Etoile set! But while I've had this happen with two off-topic dolls, the closest I've come with on-topic is my first Vampire Alan. I saw her head in the face up artist's Instagram feed and thought she was stunning. A few months later, the exact head with that face up I'd admired was for sale! I jumped right on that and love her so much, even though I don't normally like darker lips (but boy do they look amazing with lil fangs!!!)

 

I had that happen with Rachel, my Doll Love Alice. I saw her way back on Mint on Card, but I already had too many layaways and then got sick. By the time I finally recovered and came back to the hobby, both Mint on Card and Doll Love were gone and so was Alice. Fast forward to about 2023, she shows up on here in the MP! I'd never snatched a doll so fast! She's absolutely every bit as perfect as she was all the way back when I first saw her.

 

It happened twice to me, for dolls that were made by indie dollmakers - one of whom does sporadic re-releases of sculpts (it can be over a year in between), the other practically never re-releases sculpts once the preorder is over.

Both times I watched the preorders come and go. I knew the releases were limited, I quite liked the dolls, but I wasn't sure whether I wanted to add them to my collection and didn't want to be pressured into a FOMO buy. Both times, I emailed the dollmakers months after the preorder ended, to ask if they still had stock. Both times, they had stock available, in the resin colour I wanted, and let me buy the dolls.
I've since rehomed one of the dolls because I ended up not liking the size. The other head sculpt is waiting to be completed and is very likely to stay in my collection.

I think 'ask and you shall receive' absolutely happens in this hobby! especially for indie sculptors, many of whom are likely to have leftover stock when preorders are over, and are generally responsive if you ask them politely. If you're interested in a doll made by an indie sculptor and are in a position to buy it, it doesn't hurt to check in with them first before putting out WTBs.

 

My one-off Volks Saki was a second chance I didn't think I'd get.

I saw her for sale online at one of the secondhand stores and wanted her, but since I had just gotten into the serious part of a relationship I had to not be selfish and put the money towards a house and all that.

About a year later, after discovering that my relationship was with a liar, I left it and had some money saved up that was supposed to be for our future. By happenstance I checked to see if she was still available, and she was! It's like she had been waiting for me. I brought her home and she's been healing me ever since.

 

When I first got into the hobby, Dream of Doll was pretty big and I only wanted Homme Kirill. I had no stable income, so I left the hobby altogether. Fast forward to now, I have two Homme Kirills that just happened to find me and I didn't think I'd enjoy the sculpt after all these years, but he's my favorite doll I've ever owned.

 

Here's a "something better" story. Although she wasn't the size BJD I normally collect, I fell in love with the first Volks SDC Renee, and tried for her in the lottery but didn't win. I kept looking for her second hand, but she was tough to find! I didn't like the second release of Renee with a different faceup and clothing as much. She didn't have the same appeal to me.

Then Volks showed preview pics of SD13B Kazuya Kujo! I knew immediately that I'd make him into a girl, and was fortunate to win him in the lottery. She has large eyes and a sweet expression that are very similar to Renee, and fits in with my doll family so much better.

Linda S.
galatia9