Was your first BJD "your style?"

Same!
My taste is more for Doll Chateau and the like, but for some reason I went for Dollshe?
Dollshe is beautiful for sure, but I have no idea why I didn't go for something more my style. XD

 

Hello Cswift!
My choice of first doll was exactly what I expected of myself. I didn't have anything in mind when I started looking but I am generally very conservative with our finances and knew this was an expensive hobby. I decided to start out with an inexpensive doll to "test drive" the hobby. I had done a lot of research and went back to the companies with the most affordable dolls. I really liked a couple of the Miro Doll sculpts so I ordered a 60 cm male doll with Orlando sculpt, knowing the issues people have had with dolls from this company.

I love him! He stays on my desk in my home office and helps me. I must have gotten a good one because he seemed well strung right out of the box; can stand without support, holds poses. It was very difficult to attach his head though. An octopus of elastic strings was sticking out of his neck, about 2 inches long, several of them. I decided to do something about it so I studied BJD restringing videos.

Miro Doll had attached the elastic string for the arms to the S-hook in the neck. None of the stringing videos I watched did this. I took Orlando apart and restrung him, leaving the arm elastic in the chest. Everything was easy except for reattaching the feet. AHHHHH!! I got one foot on, apparently by luck, but could not get the other foot attached. I enlarged the opening of each end of the hook and attached the hook to the foot. I was able to push the elastic string coming from leg into the other end of the hook. Success!

I'm looking for my second BJD and considering all BJD companies! I love the BJD pets so am looking for one of these also. This hobby has been wonderful for me!

 

I ordered my first one back in September (she's finally on her way to me now, yippee!) and she's sort of my style and sort of not! I typically like hooded eyes and more serious expressions but I went straight for MYOU's Zuzana the second I laid eyes on her because I couldn't say no to the melancholy yet sort of cold expression she has. She's a bit sweeter than I typically think is my style for characters but at the same time I think she works perfectly!

I had a period of anxiety too for a while after ordering her because I felt like the face up didn't suit my character because it felt too light and I kept panicking about how I couldn't back out but after some help from people on here I emailed my dealer and they said the company was willing to do changes for free and the anxiety died! I recently saw my first few owner photos of her too and I'm 100% happy with my choice now!

 

Oh congrats! I'm getting a Fairyland Niella too. And congrats on your doll too @mellifluous

I'm not sure exactly what my "style" is, but I do like fantasy dolls and my first one fell into that category. Though, I didn't really think I was getting into a new hobby. All I saw was a really cute centaur kid and I wanted one. And then, I wanted more. Eventually, I ended up here.

 

I bought two dolls about the same time when I first started collecting. I still have my Dim Bellosse but I ended up selling the other doll, an Ainsley by Kim Lasher. Over time I realized that the Ainsley wasn't for me as much as I wanted to love her. It took me a while to realize that I like more mature in age bjd dolls.

 

Kind of yes xD
My first doll was a CP Delf Breakaway '08. It was my grial for years, but at some point I just gave up on him (it took me 6 years to buy my 1st doll), until I found him in the secondhand market. Back then I liked that kind of doll but at the same time I think I was going through a transition.
Now I'm into more stilized/semirealistic dolls, like Switch and such. And probably, if I had seen him 1 or 2 years later, I don't know if I would have bought him. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do it right now xD
Do I regret it? No, actually I want to redo his faceup and change the concept.

 

I did little to no research, personally, and my first doll (still in my collection) was and is absolutely my style. I'd wanted a poseable figure of one of my characters for ages, had considered both BJDs and off-topic smaller vinyl dolls as a base (as well as "kitbashing" action figures), but nothing really made a good base for him (and I sure wasn't dumping BJD money on "not even close," especially for a first and not knowing about modding possibilities). My then-roommate found my first, knowing that I wanted to make my character (and knowing what he looked like). The sculpt is a near perfect fit to my art of the character, and subsequent dolls have been in a similar style.

 

I ordered a Minifee Chloe and now waiting too. I fell in love with her instantly but maybe because I like this fairy - beauty style. This reminded me of my Winx Club dolls ^^

 

My first was exactly what I’d have expected of myself. Fairly realistic, male, adult, not too cutesy (he was Modoll Thranduil/Lee Pace). Several years on and the majority of my collection fits the same sort of description. I do have two child dolls and one girl now, but that’s out of 16 dolls. One of my child dolls is a Daydream Ryan, and he’s not a chubby cheeked, cute kid.

I’m not a fan of cutesy dolls, frilly dresses, pink pouty lips, doe eyes etc.

 

Originally I expected my first doll would either be a minifee or a resinsoul. In part - involving Fairyland - it was "right." (Though I did have several minifee event heads before getting my first full doll that I had later sold off to fund other dolls, lol)

My "first doll" I bought was a Mirodoll-Fairyland hybrid (feeple65 Juri 2012 event head, Mirodoll body), since I loved her face so much. Her price was very low, too, and I figured it would be a good time to try out SDs. My "second" doll was a Withdoll Ruby (elf version) and she actually arrived before my Juri did. When I opened her, I immediately fell in love with the MSD size. I also loved the feel of Withdoll's resin; it's a very soft to the touch but, imo, rather sturdy resin. When I had gotten my Juri, I liked her too, but... well. The size was so difficult for me to get used to. It was hard for me to get her to do anything that I had wanted because of how big she was, and I just struggled a lot with her. She was - quite literately - a bit of a handful because of that! I did, however, get her stylized just the way I wanted... cute elf with an "elven range" type deal outfit... if it wasn't for her size, she would have been 100% perfect and I'd loved to have her as an MSD-sized doll.

I ended up selling her and, instead, got my second MSD - a Withdoll Angela (dark elf version). Even though I am not fond of Withdoll's female MSD legs (single joint, and little mobility...), I really love their dolls. I ended up selling Ruby because her face wasn't quite right for the character I imagined; I do intent on reshelling that character, but I still have my Angela and even though bonding was a bit rough because of several factors (not related to the doll itself), I love her to bits.
Sadly, because Angela has a pretty small head for a MSD, there is a lot of dolls I don't really see myself getting because they would look so weird next to her! I probably won't be getting any minifees (unless I ever get my hands on a Siean elf... in which case... I'll live lol), resinsouls, or any other companies with bigger heads which leaves me a bit... disappointed? The disappointment isn't so great I'd sell her off, I think, but I am a bit disappointed that I am not sure if I'll ever be getting a resinsoul Mei or Ju, which makes me a bit sad since I honestly really, really like both sculpts - I love elves and they're both cute! That's not to say I won't ever get any resinsouls... which is not true, I like some of their tinies and one of these days I will be seeing if I can get Autumn on a normal human body and maybe a Bei or Yu, but... probably not any of their full MSD dolls.

Eventually I'll probably try to get a minifee for hybrid purposes, so there's that, but needless to say nothing went according to how I was initially planning it, LOL. Honestly I'm fine with it, though. If I had more money to throw around and having the same dolls look "proportional" next to each other didn't bother me, I probably would get some resinsouls and minifees, but it's neither here or there.

 

I didn’t have a “style” in mind when I picked my first, but looking at the trends across the dolls I’ve gotten (Very striking looks [in my opinion, anyway], more stylized than realistic, more handsome and mature-looking than cute), yes, my first doll is very much my style.

 

Ooo neat subject, I’ve never thought about this before.

Actually my first Dollmore Model girl, very mature and 65cm-ish) I purchased in 2007. She was, exspecially at the time, very hard to find clothing for! I ended up getting into more youthful standard SD sizes for years.

Flash forward to now, when I’m able to sew my own clothing, I actually almost exclusively collect 65-70cm mature dolls

I guess my first doll really was my ascetic

 

I definitely had an idea about what I wanted for my first doll, and was carefully considering my options, waiting, and saving. Then I saw a doll for preorder I'd never seen before and instantly fell in love. I definitely have a style that I like and that I want for my dolls, but honestly, I'm sort of excited to see how my aesthetic might change over time!

 

At the time, my first doll was definitely my style. I was very much into pretty boys, especially like Final Fantasy style faces, so he was perfect.

Now, I prefer my boys to be a little more masculine, and he is MSD, which I really don't like much anymore except for children to my SD crew. I still think he has a pretty face that fits the character well, and I don't regret him at all, he's just not something I'd consider buying new for myself right now if I didn't already have him.

 

Oh gosh, I've been worrying about the exact same thing recently!
Since i'm very much new to the world of BJD's, I keep wondering if my grail boy on his way (Venitu) is going to be that....my grail- or me finding I jumped the gun on a very expensive sculpt. Wondering if he's gonna fit me, if you know what I mean. But to be honest, I was absolutely smitten the first time I laid eyes on him. And these doubts are probably just the excitement of being told to wait so long or just wait at all, really.
Since I was first looking at Crobi I kinda got nervous of the gap between styles.
Do I really like this realistic style? (Yes. I love him to the core.)
How am I going to dress him?(...uh.)
I also don't know about the face-up, I am terrified of butchering him or with my luck, damaging him in any form. But boy am I going to try my best and learn new things for him


[had to restrain myself from almost writing a love letter there lol. Would love to hear updates once Niella arrives ]

 

Sure Both were - I ordered my IH Dexter first of all my dolls, but I GOT my DragonDoll Tiny Girl first. Both are exactly what I wanted (happen to be father & daughter LOL)

 

I was introduced into the hobby through Minifees, so it was no surprise my first doll was a Minifee Mirwen. She was adorable and absolutely perfect. Then I purchased a Littlefee Ante and she was just as adorable and perfect. And after a year or so I just got so busy with life and thought I didn't really have the time for the hobby and sold them. (I totally regret it since I loved my Mirwen. Maybe I'll get another one one day!) Minifees really fit my aesthetic that I have in my head for the characters.

Then again any other doll I see in person is absolutely amazing and I have so many from other companies on my wishlist, but no characters or even a slot in my story line for them.

 

The first doll I got wasn't in my style at all, although I do love anime, I wanted a male vampire doll as my first large resin doll.
Unfortunately, when I first discovered the hobby (in late 2003), there weren't a lot of options around. There were like maybe four or six different
companies, most with very similar aesthetics; super large heads, larger than life eyes, spider-legs, etc.. I wanted a slightly more realistic sculpt,
just a bit less bug-eyed, but all the vampire males were LE and Luts (CP sculpts at the time), which weren't really my cup of tea.
In the end I ended up buying a female vampire sculpt from Luts/CP because none of the males at the time called my name. ^ ^;;
At one point I was dreading having to go for CP El, but luckily SoulDoll released their Prince of Fate Paris, and I had faith he would be a standard
doll as well, so I waited and saved until he was (in the end, he was a Christmas present from my mom and best friend, but I had already saved the money to get him!
It was the weirdest most ambiguous feeling I ever experienced while getting a doll).