The Decade Club...10 years of BJD ownership

My tastes and habits have changed very little, to be honest. To the point that many of my acquisitions are 2nd hand oldies and retired sculpts. I am more flexible about size than I used to me. My "only one Mini" rule is long broken, though 1/3 are still my primary target. Still do all my own mods and faceups and I'm still a sucker for "rescue" adoptions with unfinished mods. I really did begin as I meant to go on.

 

Next year will mark 10 years in the hobby for me. My tastes have changed only slightly. I still prefer tinies over any other size. Though i still have a few dolls that are msd and sd size. I would say that i have only recently started to like the more realistic style bjds. I still buy a lot of things for my dolls (mostly props, wigs and shoes...or things i failed at making myself). My buying habits have definitely changed. As the 2nd hand doll market has been kinda slow in recent years i have cut down on impulse buys or rescues. Also, since there are many more companies making bjd now, unless something is limited i try to take my time in deciding which doll to get next. It seems there always new dolls being released which makes for sooo many more choices.

 

I've gone through several changes. I started with a 1/4 doll (which I still have) and then tried 1/3 and 1/6. I decided that I preferred 1/4 so the majority of my collection was that scale. Then I threw in a couple 1/6 dolls and my collection started to head in the 1/6 scale direction. Then I re-acquired my first 1/3 doll and started collecting that scale. I sold off all but my first doll in the 1/4 scale, so now I have a bunch of 1/3 and 1/6 dolls. I also have a Dollmore Trinity (crazy!). So I'm leaning towards bigger is better.

The only other big difference is that I have a better paying job so I can actually afford things now! Yay! (hence the Trinity)

The community as a whole has changes a LOT in ten years. I feel like its more accepting and welcoming. It's fantastic and I'm glad I decided to come back after an almost 5 year hiatus.

 

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to answer here or not--I've been interested in the hobby for more than 10 years, and I got my first 1/6 Obitsu as sort of a feeler/practice doll more than 10 years ago, but I've only owned resin BJDs for just under 9 years.

A lot has changed!

1. As a newbie, I only wanted MSD. Now I prefer SD, but own everything from 16-64cm.

2. I preferred more cartoon/anime styled dolls, now I prefer more realism.

3. I wanted only boys, now I have a fairly balanced crew with more girls on my wishlist than boys.

4. I preferred goth or gamer-fantasy styles, now I prefer casual.

5. I loved long haired boys, now I prefer short.

6. I bought lots of cheap dolls for quantity, now I'd rather save up for one I really like. Also, sculpt detail, posability, body sculpting and resin weight and texture matter a lot more to me now. Same with eyes, wigs and clothes--I'd rather have nicer things I really like than a pile of cheap stuff I don't. (NOTE: I'm not saying cheap can't be good, just that I won't use the price as the main deciding factor. If I love a cheap doll, I'll totally still buy it!)

7. I was far too scared to buy internationally or buy anything that would put me outside my PayPal claim time, so I only bought dolls from US dealers or secondhand from US sellers. This limited me SO much! Now I'll buy from any reputable seller world wide and that opens me up to so many dolls I like better.

8. I dove right into the hobby and did faceups, sewed clothes and made wigs, but I have learned so much and improved greatly!


The main things that have stayed the same are that I generally prefer double jointed dolls, I prefer human dolls and fiber wigs. I still like to have a wig, eyes and clothes home before the doll arrives. The doll's character is still every bit as important as the doll itself.

 

I started out collecting 60cm, and although the average size of my dolls has gotten a little taller over the years, the general SD size range is still my favorite. Style preference evolved from cute dolly to super realistic, but lately I seem to be gravitating back toward cute dolly style again.

I still sew vs. buy about the same as I originally did. My dolls wish I would do more of both. I'm less likely to buy ALL THE SHOES now, because I have a fair amount. I'm still a sucker for eyes and wigs though.

There are so many more doll companies than there were 10 years ago! I'm more likely to wait for exactly what I want now, instead of buying something just because that's all there was. Unfortunately there are a lot more dolls to my taste, which makes it hard not to buy a lot.

 

I am at exactly 12 years this month since delving into BJDs (been collecting fashion dolls for a long time prior). Since starting, I've exceeded my maximum number of dolls (didn't think I'd ever go over a dozen) and I am over 100+ BJDs. I deviated from my original plan of only MSD and smaller BJD. I have dolls in every size from Fairyland RealPuki to EID Iplehouse actually but the bulk of my collection still remain with my tinies. I still admire a lot of the same companies but since I am feeling saturated, it takes a lot for me to jump and buy a doll nowadays. Usually unique concept, cute presentation, and a good price point can be enough to pique my general interest. I used to be balanced between boys vs girls but I am now officially more girl heavy.

 

Well it's been almost exactly 10 years for me now. Just as I hit that milestone, I'm restarting! xD

I'm changing a lot in my life, partly to rid myself of bad memories, and also just need to downsize, so I'm selling all my old dolls, and getting a few small YoSD sized ones. My tastes have defiantly changed, not only in size, but also style. I used to like MSDs and SDs best, now I want smaller dolls, and I used to want pretty or cool dolls, now I just want tiny and cute. xD I'm finding the sculpts that catch my interest are different too. I rarely liked the dolls with slightly open mouths, now I like most of them!

It's amazing how many more dolls there are to pick from now though! So cool too! I'm so happy the interest has grown over the years so that I can still get the smaller dolls I want now!

 

Oof, I left 10 years back a bit ago. XD I'd have to say in ten years that it's much less that my tastes have changed as companies have caught up to my tastes? I still like SDs and prefer boys, but back when I started, rugged, manly men were very few and far between in the sea of wide-eyed, baby-faced gentlemen. Now, so many companies offer mature fellow, wide mouths,square jaws, and large, interesting noses...one hardly knows where to look first! You can even get the company face-ups to include facial hair!

So maybe my company preferences have shifted just because what I really wanted wasn't available at all when I started. ^-^

 

I first joined DOA in 2004 (had to rejoin later in 2006) and I'd first noticed them a year and a half or so before. I'd seen a few but the first I remember was Blue Fairy Mini May. One picture in particular. I saved for a year to get her and when I went to order- they were out! No idea when or if they would have her again. Interestingly I had a chance to purchase her earlier this year and the magic was gone. Odd.

Other than her though, I started out liking the bigger dolls more. Then I segued into msd as my fave size and then after the Elfdolls contract I was smitten with the tinies. Now I still love the tinies but I like sewing for the 10-ish inchers the most. Small amount of material trim and time and easier for my hands to do.

It is still easiest for us to attain tinies, trading outfits and some cash for dolls has really upped our collection We have also been exceptionally blessed with generous friends, our 'heart dolls' were gifts The ones I enjoy the most too, are the ones I acquired in a trade that needed some work, stains are especially fun to work with. I have not yet done a tattoo'd doll but I am pretty sure I will eventually when I get one who needs extensive covering, and I am looking forward to that . I am not really a fan of the big stitches or horrible wounds, to each their own, there is room for all, but not my style. I also love the super fancy gorgeous fashions, but they are more fun for me when I can change the outfits on a whim. Our dolls are definitely played with. Gently of course, but they have a million outfits and my faves tend to be the most recent.

In the beginning I was more towards making a fancy outfit and them putting them on a shelf. I can't imagine doing that now- except for Mae- she is SO big and so butt heavy!

My eldest daughter left behind her Volks Maggie when she moved out eons ago. She did not want me to change her face up and tho I could have since I have not. I'm not really a fan of the plain one color face. Over time her elastic became loose and I have not yet restrung her. She has on one of my fave outfits, but with her needing to be re-strung I have not made any others. I suppose I should sell her to someone who would actually really enjoy her but oh the details, research- undressing, pics - I haven't been able to pin down any kind of current value as a start, which all makes me rather sad. A lovely doll, not an inexpensive one, languishing away. I tell myself she is 'just' a doll, but they are not are they? any of them? They are little bits of our hearts available to being touched and photographed and enjoyed

I have noticed changes in my face ups too, over time I have been able to pics the parts I like best and created some looks of my own. It is MUCH easier to do different looks with all this time under my belt. I enjoy it slightly less then I did in the beginning though. Interesting trade off.

Zanny

 

It's the same for me. To the point where my collection is starting to look like a museum XD. The only difference in what I used to collect, is that I own a few tinies now too (puki size), but that's because they didn't exist back then, or not in a style I liked.

 

I've been seriously involved in the hobby since 2008. Dolls have brought me so much joy, brightened some really dark days for me, plugged the holes from devastating real life losses, allowed a creative outlet like I could have never imagined. For the last few years my interest has vaned, but I feel it's coming back now thanks to the new fashion format I've re-discovered for myself. I do have moments of bitterness now and again, wondering if I should have spent all this time and resources on my current (rapidly shrinking) crew, but then I try to remember all the joy the hobby brought me over the years. It was all worth it.

 

My 15th birthday is rolling around and my first doll was a gift for a five year old me, so I'm going to post now.I've changed considerably since then.
then : liked boy dolls more. now :like an even mix.
then : i liked volks. now : I take an even stance, always taking in new companies.
then : i liked small to medium. now : I've spread the distribution of sizes.

that's all I have to say.

 

It'll be twelve years for me in December...

I started out with a pair of very stylized, 1/3-scale CP/Delf guys (my Shiwoo twins-) and, for the most part, have continued to stay with the more doll-like, "old school" look for the bulk of my collection. I added a slim 70cm guy early on (the first version of Seimei, my Hound-) and a pair of 1/4 MiniFees a few years later when the MNF Shiwoos were released. I'd added girls to the crew pretty early-on, too, with Daisy and Sannru (A Dark Human Soo and Vampire Elf Yder girl-)... But there were a few lines I thought I'd never cross.

I said I'd never get a Micro, because I'm a klutz and they looked fragile. I was afraid I'd end up breaking a doll that small. Issun, my Banji, changed all that. He taught me that very small dolls are a lot tougher than they look. (Iss ended up being my travel doll. He's been half-way around the world with me.) He's been joined in the collection by a pair of Dream High sculpts that are even smaller than he is.

I said that I didn't want any child-like Tiny dolls... and then Fairyland came along and made a LittleFee Shiwoo. These days I have a fair few Yo-type 1/6 dolls. Thanks to Ishi, I completely fell for The Cute. Dearest to my heart are my "City of Chibis" group... 5-year-old kid-versions of my favorite City of Heroes MMO toons.

I also said that I didn't want any of those super-heavy, super-huge guy dolls that started getting popular a few years ago. I thought they were just *TOO* big... And then I saw an EID Akando and was surprised how much he looked like Palrah, the original, grown up version of one of those City toons I'd already turned into a chibi. He was joined about a year later by EID versions of Kestrel and Cardinal (The pair in my avatar picture-), and more recently by an even taller Spiritdoll Herculean guy. I've gotten used to the size and the weight of those dolls, though I still find them harder to handle than my 60-65cm gang.

Most recently, I said I'd never get into the current New Hotness... those hyper-realistic Manly McMan dudes. I'm more about the stylized, old-school look and always have been. Until I clicked a News link about one of those realistic guys out of curiosity and found myself staring at the only sculpt I've ever seen who would work for Nemissary... yet another of those beloved City characters of mine... who I'd written off as impossible to make a resin avatar for. So, now I have a Granado V-07 on order. 'Just the latest in a long line of "I won't ever-" assumptions to be broken.

Aside from the composition of my collection, a few other things have changed... I don't take nearly as many photographs as I used to. I still tinker with the gang a lot, but I don't feel like I have to touch every single one of them every day. (Given the number I've ended up with? That's a Good Thing. o_0) I've learned not to try to skate around the fact that I *am* a collector rather than an artist or a storyteller, too, and I've quit even pretending to understand the "bonding" thing. I've never taken myself or my dolls all that seriously, but I'm a lot more open and honest these days about having a different point of view than many of DoA's users.

 

I first started researching BJDs in 2002 or 03, when I was making a Volks 1/6 custom vinyl dollfie for a Christmas present for my partner, and here were all these gorgeous dolls (with eye-popping prices) in the pamphlet that came with my VolksJP order. I didn't get a BJD of my own or join DoA until 2005, since we had a sudden cross-country move that put hobbies on hold for a while. But then Angelregion's Present Ren priest fullset was too perfect to pass up. That's Aramis, my icon.

Mostly what's changed for me (us, since I collect with my wife and we go in on these things together, agreeing on dolls and purchases), is that it's much, much easier to get a doll than it used to be. In that decade+ our finances have improved, our spending is more stable, there are tons more companies and molds, plenty of domestic and English-friendly websites, and the secondhand market has provided pretty much any sculpt we ever dreamed of having. (I just got a mint tan AR Ren secondhand, which in 2005 when he released seemed impossible.) We've never sold a doll, which is a point of pride for us, since we have a soft spot for rescues and like to think dolls with us are "safe home." (At least until we both keel over!) These days, with the dolls we want being cheaper and money being a little easier, we're more comfortable having "Yours" and "Mine" dolls, though it's still a mutual purchase, and we like spending money on each other. Some years are doll years-- we might get four or more inexpensive ones between us or one big shared purchase--and sometimes we don't get anyone new for years on end.

Since my favorite dolls are usually older ones, I've had to get more comfortable with restoration and repair. My faceups still aren't perfect, but I learn a little more every time. I've learned that while I CAN sew, I generally have more fun shopping. ^_^ So I save my sewing energy for things that can't be found elsewhere. I still prefer the 1/4 scale, because of ease of handling and set building, but I really don't have the time for long photostories anymore and I miss that a lot. I've learned it's okay to find out a doll you bought to be one character might turn into a different style or character entirely, and it can be a really pleasant surprise if you just go with it. I have dolls I never thought I'd have (My own Lucas, An IP Claude, an entire army of Rens), and I've learned to be more patient in general when it comes to acquisition. But I still struggle with figuring out how much of my house real estate to give over to dolls full time, how to keep them on display so I can see them and get to them but so they're safe from dust and light, and finding time to update my website. I've also been frustrated to discover that some company products don't hold up over ten or even five years (that's on you, giant pile of Dollzone shoes with sticky finishes). But some dolls become more and more precious with each passing year (like Janus, our oldschool Hound, king of our little family, and gentle giant).

Last night I put my new Ren in his t-shirt that just arrived, and spent two hours happily taking basically the same picture of him over and over again. So I have to say, the most important things don't change.

 

Well, while my tastes have changed a bit and I have gotten much bolder at modifications, just going at dolls with dremel and sandpaper without a care, I'd like to think that my best change is that I'm no longer the pointlessly salty bitch I was 11 years ago.

 

I really agree with this--and I feel a lot less pressure to endow my dolls with creative and interesting stories now than before.

 

I hit the ten-year mark last month.

When I started, I thought for sure I was going to stick with minis; my first two were mini-sized and that seemed perfect for me. But then two things happened -- a) I went to my first doll meet and saw an SD for the first time, and b) I fell MADLY in love with CP's Shiwoo. I didn't want the Minifee version, I wanted the big boy. So I got the big boy. Katen is still my pride and joy ten years on. He was also the start down a slippery slope that has led me to have a collection now entirely comprised of the big folk. Nothing else does it for me anymore.

I also said, at the outset, that I wasn't going to get any female dolls...and then I got a good look at a Dollshe Afghan at a con meet. I'd been kicking around the idea of shelling a beloved old RP character of mine, and Afghan was PERFECT for Jes. Little did I know that she'd be damned well impossible to find (but then lightning struck and I managed to get my hands on her). She definitely helped instill patience in me, though. It took a year's worth of saving to get my hands on her.

On the flipside, though, my tastes haven't changed a whole lot over the course of that ten years. I still favor stylized over realistic; the hyper-realism trend does nothing at all for me, nor do the more outre sculpts. I consider my collection to be fairly conventional, all told. I also consider my collection to be, for all intents and purposes, complete. I have for years said that if I got my hands on a Shirou Tachibana I'd quit collecting, and I FINALLY (after ten years) added him to my collection in January. So I can comfortably and happily say I'm pretty much done. (Even though my daughter, who has become a HORRIFYINGLY good enabler, says I need a Viktor Nikiforov doll...damn me and my love for anime character dolls.) I am also very proud to say I never broke my self-imposed limit of ten dolls at any given time. I have eight, and that is fine with me.

Me too. I've never been particularly apologetic or quiet about the fact that I'm just a collector and nothing more, but these days I just don't see the need to attempt to hide the aspects of my collecting that are 'different' (like the fact that my dolls are all in storage and I rarely pull them out for lack of space). My collecting is every bit as valid as everyone else's motivations, after all. There's nothing wrong with that. The sandbox is still as big as it was ten years ago, and everyone's playstyle is going to be just a little different. There's room for all of us, and we all bring something valuable to the sandbox.

 

I'll join the Decade Club at the end of this month - my first doll was a birthday present to myself in 2007. Surprisingly my tastes have not changed all that much. I thought I would stick with the slim-mini size, and I have. I thought I would create most of their faceups and outfits myself, and I have. I thought I would get about equal numbers of boys and girls, and I have. The only thing I was wrong about is how many I would end up collecting, and still want more!

 

just passed the 10 years of BJD collecting this Feb XD,
When I started, I thought i wasn't going to get any boys, and then Volks released SD17 Reisner... I thought I wasn't going to get any mini size dolls...then Volks released SDM Reisner... and Williams... I tried to be balanced between boys and girls but I am now giving up... XD now Im trying to keep all my boys on SD17 Size, and Girls on SDGr size... thats easier for me to get them clothes... (my Michele and SNG Hyul.sh are on SD10 body... but they can wearing girls clothes... i also have 2 SD16 body that i will put jo and beth on...)
o ya...I also said i wasn't going to get any dollfie dreams... now i have 6 of them...