The Magical First Time

I didn't have such a magical experience with seeing my first BJD. I had never seen one in person before I bought my own and I had bought two different sculpts for the same character intending to sell one off as soon as I determined which one was a better fit so the very moment I opened the box, I was looking at the doll very critically and while I still liked the sculpt, it wasn't the one. I didn't have an exciting first day with my doll because it immediately went back in the box until it sold.

 

The first time I saw a BJD in person was when my Soom Amber arrived. I didn't know what to expect since my entire experience with BJDs was just research and pictures online. I was so nervous and excited, especially when I started to open her head. When I saw her face it was love. I loved her size, the texture of the resin, how flawless she was... just everything. I knew I was hooked on BJDs after that

 

I knew about BJDs years before I even thought of actually getting one. I was in my middle school English class looking up pictures with google for no reason (class was over so we had free time) and I saw something so beautiful. It was a Fairyland Minifee fullset Chloe (Her image stuck with me for years). I had went home and looked at Fairylands and I think Volks prices and nearly died. I never looked at another doll picture for many years. The first time I actually saw a doll and held one in real life was when I got my own doll in July of 2012...it was not too magical and I had never totally bonded with the doll. I did love her to bits and would carry her everywhere but it just seemed like she was missing something. That same month I went to a local anime convention and right in front of the door to the dealers room was a Ciella cosplayer who had a booth set up. She had a BJD that she went to mod sitting in an upright box with open squares in it. The doll was made to look like a robot with bunches of wires sticking out of it and parts of the doll missing to make it look like he was old. I LOVED that doll, it was one of the first times I connected with a doll and my stomach fluttered and I got excited. The lady and I talked for a while and I got to take home some pictures of him, it was awesome. After she found out I actually had a BJD at home she asked if I wanted to pose him to take nice pictures. I said ok, but I only actually moved his arm and one hand a little and then took pictures. I was too scared I would do something to hurt him if I moved him too much. I was so honored that she let me touch him and photograph him. I would love to see that doll and his owner again someday if I were to get the chance.

 

I'm one of those who didn't have that "magical first time," myself. My roommate got her first (an SD) a couple of weeks before I got mine (a MSD), and while I thought he was pretty cool, there wasn't anything really magical about it. I thought he was kind of smallish, I didn't like his faceup, I thought his wig looked tragic, and I didn't have any clothes. I actually thought I'd just wasted a bunch of money on him, and didn't connect until I took a pair of scissors to his wig and redid the faceup about a month later! (He still has the poorly trimmed wig, actually, though he's on the list for a replacement as I work through wigging/rewigging my whole collection. The faceup, on the other hand, has been redone a couple of times and will get redone again in the near future.)

 

First time I ever saw a bjd, was back when I was in high school in either 2004/2005. I was invited to sleep over with a friend, where it would be just her, and I in a creepy farm house owned by her mothers friend. It was a fun few days I will never forget, with many laughable memories made. She rented the movie "The Ring" from Blockbuster and later both of us were scared for a week! Haha!
Anyways, by the third day, we visited her very small college dorm room, so that I could meet and hang out with her other friends. That's when I saw it. Although the room was so little, there was this big (I think 60 cm) beautiful doll in the back right corner. My friend was very goth/ punk, and tom boyish (I'm talking safety pin piercings everywhere, black baggy clothes, spikes, chains, and black/ rainbow hair), but her doll was the complete opposite. The doll was blonde, pale, elegant, and in a white/ pink sweet loli dress. Alice in wonderland + Sugar Plum Princess.
She stood out from all of the room! The little darling had a whole set up in the corner like a doll house. I couldn't help but fall for the way she was done up so cute! I asked my friend so many questions about her doll, and I'll never forget how shocked I was when my friend said she did the dolls makeup with nothing but colored pencils! What a stunning doll she was for colored pencil makeup!
For the longest time after that, I thought I'd never see a doll like her again. Until my sister found out about them and purchased one. My sister was very temperamental about the doll, so I was quietly curious about it at first. Then one of my favorite cousins purchased one, made this WOWWEE dress for her doll, and let me hold her. I think that's when I went doll crazy, and really caught the bug! lol

The more I learned about them, the more I hunted down shops for one of my own. Started searching for bjd companies, looking up tutorials, watching box opening videos- one that had an Iplehouse girl-then next thing you know- I was a proud doll owner!

I'll never forget that beautiful doll my friend owned though. That doll really stood out from the rest, and also showed the inner girlishness I never knew my friend had. I love that about bjds! Her and I lost contact long ago, so I'll guess I can't really ask her what make and model her doll was. Glad remembering that moment though.

 

The first time i saw a BJD was when I got my first doll. I ordered her in winter of I think 2007, when I was either in eight or ninth grade in school. I was naive about BJDs at the time, but when I opened her box I was hooked. she was lovely to me.

I was smitten and joined this forum shortly thereafter. I'd never previously seen a bjd before I got her, but I knew after seeing many pictures I wanted one. she was the stepping stone to my obsession with BJDs (in a good way.. maybe not so good financially). But I loved her as I took her out of the box, full face-up and dressed in a nightgown.
My Hera is not necessarily a top-line or common or sought-after doll but I love her unconditionally and I still think shes so beautiful. At first I had wanted a DOD doll but it doesnt matter to me after I got custody of my Hera. I love her so much.

 

The first time I saw a BJD was when my friend bought hers to our house share. It was a SD 60cm boy, and I couldn't believe the size of it, or the weight! I felt awkward holding it as well....I'd watched all the youtube videos I could find on them, and there is this fear these videos like to spread about how delicate the dolls are...I'd built up this thought in my head that if I held it too tight I might warp the body or something horrendous!

We both built up each others excitement for the dolls, she is a lot more internet savvy than me so she found all the links and forums. I tended to stick with what I knew which is things like Deviantart and Flickr. I'd ordered first not long after she had hers, so I only had to wait a few weeks after holding one before I had my own >w<

 

The first time I saw a bjd in person was at a small booth at the now defunct lolita convention Frill. The booth was advertising for the Atlanta Ball Jointed Doll convention. I thought that the dolls, who were of course dressed in lolita and dandy, looked interesting and I took a flyer if I recall, but the moment wasn't particularly memorable.

 

The first time I saw one in real life was my own from Latidoll. I was a Blythe collector but a few of my contacts on Flickr had Latis. One girl in particular did a ton of photostories with her Lami and it was just so cute that I decided to expand my dolly world into bjd and order my own. I was not at all disappointed with my first doll. I was lucky and Lati opened orders just shortly after I decided to get one. I waited 2-3 months and when she arrived, she was perfect. I loved her faceup even though she was just a basic. It was so pretty and she just seemed so delicate and teeny and cute. I sort of wish now that I hadn't sold her =/

 

My friend actually told me about them and he showed me a lot of pictures and told me loads about them and I thought 'OK I actually need one' but when it was his birthday me and some other friends went round to watch a movie and he brought ALL OF HIS BJDS FOR ME TO SEE. I had them in my lap all evening- and I was totally in love.
Then for my birthday I had a Pukifee Pukisha faceplate as a gift! I was over the MOON!!!!!!!

 

The first time I saw one was when I got my first BJD. Seeing pictures can't even compare to seeing them in person and being able to hold and feel the resin.

It was an awesome experience! Although I am happy to be over with my "too careful" phase where I thought anything I did would break her lol.

 

The first time I saw a BJD (in person) was when I received my first doll. I had done a lot of research and was already a member of DoA beforehand, but I was actually really paranoid when I first unboxed her. I kept worrying that I was going to break her, and when I removed her head to change out the eyes, I had a really hard time figuring out how to get it back on. Now it's really funny looking back on it, but it was actually pretty stressful at time.
My first time ever seeing a BJD was a few years back on DeviantArt, when a popular member purchased a Dollfie Dream. However, it was only until a few years later when I finally researched and figured out what they were.

 

My first time seeing a BJD was on DeviantArt when I was about 14. I was stunned by how amazing and beautiful they were, but my excitement quickly deflated when I saw the prices. BUT I was finally able to afford one last year after my 19th birthday so I FINALLY got to see one in person and it was all mine! I remember being absolutely amazed at her delicate little fingers and just being so happy every time I looked at her for like a month. I also saw one at a local anime convention shortly after I got my own. It was an SD-sized one and I was shocked by how freaking big those guys were! My girl is only a MSD so it was a pretty big difference. Made me realize I'm probably not going to be getting a big doll, at least not any time soon. I just love the tiny delicate features of the smaller ones so much!

 

I honestly can't remember how I got turned on to dolls in the first place. I didn't really play with them much when I was a kid, except for to do very elaborate wardrobe design for Barbies, so it wasn't that.

I saw some pictures...I can't for the life of me think of why. But I'd never held one, or seen one in person, till I got my girl in the mail.

She was a LOT bigger than I'd anticipated. I'd measured it out, based on company measurements, but no one can really prepare you for the actual size and heft of the physical object. I was actually floored by her size and...density? How much she weighed in my hands, and how smooth her resin was. Basically, it was a much higher quality object than I was prepared for. (Incidentally, she's an MSD, so she's not even THAT big...)

That was pretty remarkable, truthfully, to have this amazing piece of art/toy/design in your hands, and know you get to PLAY with it as much as you like.

I'd actually been sewing for barbies for a couple weeks before she got here, to get my hand in at designing on a similar scale, and there was zero comparison between the two. That was probably the best bit, actually, that I'd been "prepped" by looking at low-quality, mega-mass-produced toys. To have that baseline to compare to made her a million times cooler.

 

The first time I saw an actual BJD was in a volks store in akihabara. I was absolutely mesmerized, which I was not completely expecting. I have always known about BJDs, but something about seeing them IRL is.... different. For one, I definitely was not expecting them to be so large! I used to think that the huge size of SDs were a bit overwhelming, but once I saw them, I just thought that they were absolutely perfect.

 

My first time was not so 'magical', actually.

I belong to another forum about a Japanese game series and I was checking out a blog from one of our members. They had pictures of their Dollfie Dream Saber Alter which really weirded me out.
However, for some reason, Saber stuck in my mind and I started doing more research on Dollfie Dreams only to find out they were pretty gorgeous.

Opening my first girl was magical, though, there's nothing like getting an SD sized doll for the first time and being entirely overwhelmed with how large they really are!!
It's so hard to judge scale from pictures alone!

Even now, I still get that 'magical' feeling whenever I get a new doll. It's just such an exciting time!

 

I hadn't seen a BJD in person before I bought mine.
I'd seen a lot of pictures online and then my boyfriend bought me one.
It hadn't quite clicked as to how big an SD really is so my initial reaction was "Oh my gosh she's huge! :O" xD
It was a pretty magical experience for me though. Getting her out of her box, getting her dressed and getting her wig on.
She has the most beautiful green eyes so I just about melted when I got that first good look in person.

 

I haven't yet seen a BJD in person. Right now I'm still researching to find a doll that will be perfect for me, but I'm nervous about being disappointed or underwhelmed--I really enjoy the larger dolls so if I don't like it I'll have wasted a rather large chunk of change. That extra pressure to like whichever doll I eventually choose isn't good, so my plan is to have high hopes as I save up for my first doll and then try to lower my expectations as much as I can after I order it. I really want it to be love at first sight as it has been for many members!

I'm glad you eventually brought Ayame home!

 

I had seen pictures, but nothing compared to holding one. The first I saw in person was my own, Amir, AoD Chen. He arrived just minutes before I had to go to work, but I rushed to unbox his naked, bald, blank self....and even being totally blank, he was PERFECT. I actually cried (and I don't cry easily). I was almost late to work because I just sat there, holding him and crying. He was better than I expected. Heavier, more detailed, just different than any doll I'd seen before. Six and half years into the hobby, probably close to a hundred sculpts have come and gone in my house, but Amir, though he's since been upgraded, still has not left my house. I still have his MSD form boxed in my closet. I can't let him go.