The wait you can't control- discontinued grails

I'm going through that right now, and it's not even a full doll - it's the Doll Chateau K-08 body, one of the ones with the extra neck joint. I made things worse by wanting it in a specific color, too (not a limited one, at least).

It's a pretty dumb situation because I could get the very similar K-12 body right now if I wanted to, but I love those extra long necks and would like if it was similar to my K-07 body. This is why I generally avoid shelling characters...

 

Ah, I feel this. I'm on the search for a Volks Scarface Reisner and I even found one for a decent price! But they're asking too much for how damaged the doll is. If the doll was a complete fullset, the price would be totally fair, but parts of the outfit are damaged or missing and the faceup is damaged. Probably this is me being too picky, but it rubs me the wrong way that they're selling an incomplete set with a (mildly) damaged doll at the same price that they previously sold the same doll that was in perfect condition.

 

I totally understand. I would do terrible things for a Pukipuki PongPong. I'm at the point where I figure I'll just buy any Pukipuki I can find, and hope to get a PongPong head somewhere else.

 

The very first doll I fell in love with was Dollzone Merlin, and shortly before I had enough to get him he was gone Even worse is going on marketplace and seeing that you just missed buying a second hand one too. I gave in and bought his body with a similar head, but I just keep hoping I’ll manage to snag his head some day.

 

While she's not a "grail" doll, I've always wanted a Gem of Doll Eleven. She was a 58cm girl who came with an option to have one skeletal leg. I think that's just about one of the coolest things I've seen. I've seen skeletal faces (or half skeletal faces, anyhow), but an actual skeletal leg is another ball game altogether.

Unfortunately, she's long since discontinued. Haven't seen anyone with her either here nor anywhere, honestly. So, just like yourself, @~Suisei_Seki~ , I am sitting here waiting, too.

But don't give up hope. My all-time grail is a Volks F-09 (Mimi). It took me years to find, but I did find her, right here on the MP! So, I know the time will come, one day. Please hang on tight and don't give up hope!

 

It took eight years to receive an answer to my only dedicated WTB grail thread on DoA, and another two or three to get my hands on my other major grail, a limited artist head. The thing that kills me is how little idea I had of the way things would inflate and become scarce going forward. Like back when I first got MP access in 2013, someone was selling a Dream of Doll Black Elf Caracal, a doll that has been on my wishlist ever since. But I've never seen another one listed for sale. How could I have known that would be my 'one' chance, back when I didn't have the regular income? Much less that DoD would close unexpectedly? Same goes for the old Delf elves, many long-retired companies, etc. It can be incredibly frustrating to have something highly desired slip through your fingers, then never have another shot.

Still. If a grail is truly a grail, if it means enough to you to pay hundreds of dollars and scrounge tens of websites day after month after year, then it doesn't hurt to grow accustomed to waiting. Sometimes, playing the long game is the only way to 'score' in this and many other collecting hobbies, when you're dependent on fellow owners to fall out of love with the things that you're after. There's no timeline for it, it's unpredictable, and that sucks. But it can also be sheer euphoria when the right doll does line up at the right time. BJDs are... a surprisingly intense hobby for your mind.

I will admit there were a lot of times when I thought, "I'll never find one." And it's half-true- there are a number of dolls I'd like to own but have never been able to catch, and a couple I did own but had to let go, and haven't been able to catch again. But that would be discounting all the ones that did come to me, in time. Across eleven years, mind you, but still. 'Give up' is the worst thing you can say, unless you've fallen out of love while waiting, and it is time to retire the pursuit in favor of something else. Sometimes dolls just take their sweet time. Others, your tastes change, and you end up channeling your love and energy into different ideas, but maybe bring along some of the concepts you had for that grail.

It seems that everything in the BJD hobby has a season. Certain styles and artists are popular for a while, until something else comes along and takes their spot. Prices rise and fall in the secondhand market, and what was valuable yesterday sits and sits today. Personally I am hoping that this craze for certain 'vintage' BJDs will cycle soon, and thanks to it, us oldschool nerds will once again have good chances at the discontinued dolls we love.

 

Right now I have WTBs out for a Crobidoll Daydream Lance - it has sleepy eyes and I want to use as an alternate head for my open-eyed Crobidoll Lance. Not only was Daydream Lance limited edition, I need it to be a particular resin colour (to match my doll), I only want the 1st version (there is a 2nd version that is slightly different but different enough that I absolutely don't want it), and while I'm prepared to buy a full doll I'd prefer head only because I have no use for the body. I am watching 5 marketplaces for DD Lance, and have missed at least one sale because I wasn't fast enough to hit the Buy button.

I don't think of DD Lance as a grail since I already have a normal Lance. It sure would be nice to give my girl a sleepy-eyed alternate look, but I can live without it. So I've made peace with the fact that I might never own it, and while it's disappointing to know I missed out on a secondhand sale, I'm not too crushed. I figure that one day, I will be at the right place at the right time to buy DD Lance and give my doll a sleepy expression, but if that never happens, it's no big deal. I love the Lance girl I do have and will be contented with her.

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As for dolls that are discontinued, limited, or small preorder... I will go (and have gone) looking for them, and I give myself a timeline that is reasonable and dependent on how rare and in-demand the sculpt is. And I'm constantly evaluating whether to keep pursuing that doll. Personally, I don't enjoy the grail-hunting aspect of this hobby (no "thrill of the chase", only tedium), so the harder it is to acquire a doll, the quicker I will lose interest in it and move on.

Ultimately there comes a point where I stop the active hunt, make peace with never owning that doll, and move onto other things, including continue to play with my doll collection and build them out with other/newer dolls. Time also heals all wounds. I've lost count of how many discontinued dolls I've let go... and subsequently forgot about. And when they appeared secondhand I barely remembered that I was looking for them once.

 

I just try to go with the flow. There is no way for me to feel at peace with pining when I can't do much about attaining the doll. So it's probably not that helpful... But I let go. I still kind of hope to find one I missed in 2011... And I don't think I ever saw since. So I know that availability is not good, and chances are low.
If I don't want to let go I just look for similar looking dolls which I think is a fun adventure. It's also fun to check every now and then to see if there is one suddenly. But it's only made fun for me by not feeling upset and fixated.
Even if there are dolls I loved the most I can usually put the idea into something slightly different. Or I just think of the dolls in my imagination and get excited if owner pictures appear. I view it like relationships with people... You can't just bend somebody to your will. It has to come together naturally.

 

I would do anything for a Mihael (Leekeworld) I used to be in the BJD hobby when he was available form the website, but I didn't had the money back then. I keep searching for him but it'll be impossible to find a full doll or even a head

 

Luckily I'm not in love with many discontinued sculpts, just waiting on DreamValley to rerelease Dragon Sylves. Emailed them about him a while back and they said they probably would rerelease him one day.

 

I'm definitely on the lookout for a Delf Soony, preferably on her original body. I have an F60 Soony '14, but there's just something about that original. Though I don't know if I could ever afford her at this point -- her value seems to rise with each passing year, and what with her being one of the most beloved Fairyland sculpts, she's rarely on the market.

 

*points at her sig*

Yeah. THAT guy...

The LatiDoll Red line limited Oracle M was released (Along with the Temple Knight K, who I have in the crew-) in July 2007. I thought long and hard about buying him back then, but ultimately didn't.

I was an idiot.

In retrospect, I really REALLY should have just listened to my first instinct and done it... Because here we are, sixteen years later, and I still want one. 'Trouble is, I've never seen an Oracle M come up for sale. Not one, in all those years. I'm starting to wonder if they actually exist, or if... like the mythic unicorn... they're purely the stuff of legend.

 

I don't have the funds to put up a WTB post yet, but my grail is a Volks SD10 Old F-07 (so, before they did the restructuring and she was replaced with the Nono sculpt, who's still F-07 to this day). Her face is so sweet and I have a soft spot for older Volks sculpts.

I don't know how difficult she'll be to find (and I know she'll need a lot of TLC when I do find her given the age), but I've not seen one pop up secondhand yet (there are older listings on Mandarake, but that's it). And she only would have been available in the FCS in Japan a few years (1999 to around 2003 or 2004?) and I have no way of knowing if she was popular or not (though given that she was completely replaced instead of simply being re-numbered, I have my suspicions and they're not good)

I'm expecting a long search for her, when I have the funds to bring her home. I'm fine with any condition where she's not been modified, and she wasn't a fullset so I'm not on the hunt for any particular release. She'll just be a bit of a hunt, but I'm honestly looking forward to it. To me, she's worth whatever wait is in store for me. That's the thing about grails that separate them from dolls we just "want". There are dolls I want that I'd be much less patient with, even unwilling to go to the lengths I'm gearing up to go to for OG F-07, but it's worth it for her and I'm actively excited for the search ahead of me.

 

If this is the head you're talking about, Volks JP have it through FCS until the 25th of December

 

@castironteapot I saw, and it's so cool they brought her back (even if its temporary), but I can't afford a brand new FCS doll. But, I can save up and buy one that's old, on a single jointed body, that's yellowed and probably stained from Mandarake or something. I'm fine with having to fix her up, I love a project

 

Honestly, I find it a lot easier to cope with this when the sculpt is actually hard to find. The ones that are so rare that none have showed up for sale in years. I can handle that- it feels like a matter of luck and determination in searching. But often the problem is merely that a doll is limited/discontinued (but not necessarily rare) and its secondhand price goes beyond what I'm willing/able to pay. These ones do come up for sale now and then, but with a huge price tag, and that feels a lot worse IMO because it's less about luck and more about money... I'm trying not to torture myself these days, so I don't even bother searching for those out-of-budget grails and just accept that I can't have everything I want.

 

I have a few favorite Soom dolls that I absolutely need, but they never appear again. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with it. I know that even if a Sabik SG or Ignim-cat or Souldoll Chiron centaur came along, they would be immediately bought by someone faster.
I feel frustrated and tired of not being able to finish characters from the world I'm creating.

 

This is my life and I very much don't hate it.
I am very patient and like taking my sweet time to save, research, and hunt down the doll that's meant to me mine and have managed to bring home long sold-out LEs, limited number sculpts, rare bodies/clothing sets/wigs/etc. A lot of those were thanks to awesome DoA members reaching out after seeing my WTBs so being active in the community helps a lot!

I also find that wanting something "now" seems to be quite expensive so patience is key!
No matter how rare/expensive the doll is if it's out there in the world the chance of you getting one is not zero so if you really want it don't give up hope. Just keep saving (don't touch the savings), put out WTBs, pray to Mother SD and the doll for you will come when the time (and budget is right