That first doll....

My first doll was a Ringdoll Qinzhe, and he still remains my most precious one because of everything he represents to me. BJD is really the first expensive hobby that I joined, the first time I've found myself spending a lot of money on myself and things I like. I've always been a fairly frugal person so it was a pretty big change! But I kept looking at pictures of Qinzhe (and his partner Meng He) and fell in love with the official story Ringdoll gave him, and finally decided I wanted to go ahead and get him.

In retrospect, getting a big doll with an extremely intricate and impractical fullset outfit might not have been the best choice for a first doll, but I'm also kind of glad I did so because it forced me to plunge headfirst into the hobby. I had seen only seen BJDs in real life once, at an anime con, and none of them were as big as he was - his size was definitely the first, most impressive thing I noticed about him. It just made him feel even more special.

I did make a few mistakes along the way, most of them related to his fullset Chinese opera headdress and not knowing how to handle it. Because of that I ended up damaging his faceup pretty badly, but for now I can hide it. >_> I also had a lot of difficulty caring for his hair and I think I ended up ruining it with my attempts to detangle it (laundry detergent sheets did not work! Not for me ,anyway). I also used to be paranoid about yellowing and was devastated when I realized his color had changed, but now I don't really care, and kind of like the new color better.

So he's a bit beat up now and not the most pristine, but that just makes me love him more. With everything I've learned from him, I've been able to take care of him and my later dolls much better, and I still find him the most fun of all my dolls to pose and photograph. I don't think I'll ever sell him.

 

I didn't know what to expect with Hyacinth! I think I wrote in my journal at the time "She'll either be adorable or an axe murderer" based on the company photos. They did her justice, but also looked kind of.... eerie. I think it was the color scheme. She wasn't the doll I first fell in love with (that doll had long since been discontinued) or even a grail doll (one day the stars will align... and I'll have enough space for an SD) but she still made me want to take the chance. She looked similar to the doll that made me want a BJD back in middle school, and she was in stock, and I could afford her. Looking back, I seriously lucked out! She's been an absolute dream. The only thing I might've done... I might have ordered her in pink instead of normal resin. MYOU's default resin manages to be even more pale and dead looking than my actual skin color, which is impressive. But then again, that would have added several months wait time, so maybe I wouldn't.

Nobody really looked at me differently. I mean, one of my earliest memories is getting a vinyl play doll. Some of the first photographs I ever took (on a barbie-themed polaroid) were of my American Girl doll. I learned to sew for those dolls. I spent my entire christmas break before ordering Hyacinth making an intricate brown velvet tudor dress for a 16" play doll. I did hide Hyacinth for a month or two because I was mildly embarrassed, but I shouldn't have bothered. Hyacinth manages to charm just about everyone she meets.

 

I got my first doll second hand.. she is a littlefee ante, and is 10 years old... I love her so much and have since added two more littlefees to my crew for a while, after I got my first msd, I thought I no longer loved my little girls and packed them away... but now I have come to realise that I love them all, differently, and that I just need to balance my time for them all I couldn’t imagine being without my darling little girls now! As for friends and family, well, they’ve all gotten used to me raving on about my dollies and all the projects I work on for them

 

My first doll wasn't one but two. The Elfdoll Lydia completely lived up to my expectations but her companion, Elfdoll Red, didn't. I liked him but not enough to keep him so he was one of the first dolls I sold. Even after going thru a face-up enhancement, Lydia didn't survive the Great Purge. I loved her but there were others I loved more & since I was moving into a small apartment many dolls needed new homes. (But I do still have the next two dolls I bought, 1:3 Narin & Narae.)

 

My first doll was just a doll head, i think i was 15 at the time and earning around $20 a week. i saved up and got an old minifee shu shu head which i still have...will not get rid of her for sentimental reasons now, but i have no idea what to do with her.

 

My first was my Dollstown Seola, who I bought from a friend online. I knew very little about BJDs at the time, but Fawn arrived with several outfits and a few other nice extras - and, as a bonus, she fit into most of the clothes I'd made for my fabric dolls. I've had her for close to five years now, and she isn't going anywhere.

 

I'm a 1/6 doll(Obitsu and action figures) owner to begin with and their asthesthics affected how I want my first big doll to look like before taking the plunge. So about 3 years or so of looking at bjds online and off, I end up buyinng a Parabox Megu after seeing her shop pics and reseblance to a fave character.

The 50cm size fascinate me, she was a light weight vinyl and I just love attempting to make otfits for her. Should have been more careful with staining and moving joints but I replace her shell with the same model after 6 years. If anything because of her, I was more willing to get a bigger broad shoulders 68cm Iple Dexter who resemble a character from a game I enjoyed.

I love how the dolls were versatile enough to change looks with just wigs, clothes and sometime eyes. They kinda help me get away from the feeling of that I must buy a new action figure just because the fave character's company release them from new makers every other year.
I get comments good and bad when I take them out for shoots. But then these dolls are my canvas.