What did you think you would like vs what you actually like

I think a lot of the changes for me came down to changing tastes - I started out wanting to collect 40+ cm dolls, mostly boys - I had a Lati Blue (because Latidoll was the first company I was introduced to) and a Luts KDF, then also a Soom Super Gem. They were also all supposed to be dolls of the characters I was drawing and writing. My story-telling preferences started shifting, and I started buying more girls, but still MSD-SD sized. I did have a few tinies and they were my favourite to dress and transport, though.

The two big shifts that came that were really unexpected I only really realized recently. The first one was that I walked into the hobby expecting to shell my characters, then outfit them with character and setting-appropriate clothes. Which would have been mostly grand sci-fi type things (think the opulent outfits from Star Wars 1 and 2), but... I couldn't find ANYTHING remotely like it, and I fell out of love with sewing so I couldn't make it myself. My dolls hung out in fantasy or modern clothes, which didn't suit their characters. I also collected cross-company because I was looking for the "best likeness" and none of them even looked good together. Recently, however, I realized that I DIDN'T want to shell characters. The dolls are still roughly based on the same character concept as the characters in my story, but they didn't need to be accurate or the same, and that opened up the freedom to admit that I actually just want dolls that look very doll-like and have lots of frills and cute, historical outfits and stuff.

The second realization was that I wanted dolls that looked good together, and that probably meant sticking to a few companies... and also that I didn't want a huge collection, but rather that I just wanted 3-4 (I have 1 now that I plan to keep).

 

I started with YOSDs but when I got my first MSD Big Baby, I just ! Turns out that I love the proportions but prefer a bigger size.

 

I though I will be a lot more interested in anime-like BJDs, like Dollfie Dream. While I still find them beautiful, I ended up leaning towards more realistic sculpts. I also didn't expect to prefer boy BJDs as much. I'm waiting for my 4th one and no girls lol None of the girl sculpts caught my eye just yet but I'm hoping that's not the case for too long. I really want to start shopping for more girl fashions too

 

I first fell in love with bjd when I saw Lati Yellow dolls but when I finally was ready to enter the hobby I felt yosd were a better value and through my search I found iplehouse. So I thought I’d be into realistic yosd size which I do like still but I realized I’m still stuck on Lati Yellow dolls, I have a few other 1/8 that I really love but the Lati get me every time.

 

What a cool topic It made me actually dig into my "other people's BJDs" photo folder I have on my laptop, where I store what it says there literally: other people's BJDs. The folder is from 10 to 8 years ago, from the first couple years in the hobby, when I was downloading the doll pics I liked for inspiration. Here's what I can find there:
+ lots of Soom and Lati tinies. *super-cute faces unlike any non-BJD dolls*
+ lots of hot emo/Goth boys. *usually similar to my IRL my crushes when I was turning 20*
+ volks f16, migidoll, switch and dollshe boys in contemporary casual and messy, short hair. *Fur wigs, fur wigs everywhere*
+ soom Dia... soom dia everywhere xD
+ one boy (LM Chloe) dressed as a girl
+ some curvy Iple women
+ some MNF Chloe's
+my first bjd crush - Crobi Lance.

What my collection's been over the years were girly girls, goth or girly boys, cute baby tinies, plump-faced MSDs. mix and match.

What my collection is currently: 4 SD13 girls and 2 SD boys (one is a petite, the other a classic SD guy). The style? 80% realism, hourglass figures and cute legs of the girls, and boys lacking muscle definition, Loving vintage or contemporary, elegant clothes

 

Personally thought I would prefer male dolls, but after some time in the hobby find more interest in clothing and accessory shopping for 1/4-scaled female dolls. At the moment I have two and may look into a similar size in the future, but I am surprised I haven't picked one up yet. Nothing has really called to me like I expected it to.

 

I love the stylized dolls that are more stylized and slightly moddled after or "inspired by" an animal- such as dust of dolls appi line, some of the 1/6&1/4 lillycat dolls. But when I get one, I can never bond with it because it doesnt really look human. It's hard to explain. I think i prefer closer to realistic in style. I do love elf ears though!

 

I used to have only SD dolls. My first BJD was a Volks SD Mark. I thought he was gorgeous but I couldn't work out a style or character for him. Keep having 1/3 dolls for years until I realised that they were too big for me. Moved to 1/6 (in fact, my SD Kun now is a YoSD Kun ) and 1/4 dolls and I cannot be happier.
Who knows? Maybe in a few years I'm back to 1/3 sizes again!

 

Id thought that I would love anime styled bjds. Well much too my surprise I’ve never really vibes with any it didn’t help that the original character I wanted to shell was a guy and well anime styled guys are basically non existent. So over the years I instead obsessed over tall beefy guys soom idealians and the regular soom fantasy guys and I shelled my oc into that instead.

 

Originally I thought I would love Smart Dolls, but I learned more about the company and their practices, and never bought a second one. I also thought that definitely I'd only be interested in vinyl dolls but I've been really getting into resin BJDs from both Volks and Fairyland lately.

 

I thought I would love the smallest of the small, micro dolls. But they turned out to be my least favorite because of how hard they are to string, find wigs for and even install eyes. I've found I prefer 1/6 to 1/4 sizes. I do have a 1/3 and she's lovely but a little too heavy.

 

1/3 beautiful girly boys lured me in. I tried to convince myself to like tinies, minis, girls, vinyl, but I'm afraid my heart has gone right back to 1/3 boys with a few exceptions of very cute 1/3 girls.

 

I thought I would like anime sculpts, nope. I thought I would like cute yosd’s, nope (and yet I keep buying them). I thought I would like fantasy sculpts, nope. I thought I would like SD size dolls, nope (although, I have taken a risk on buying two.)

 

I thought I’d like full set dolls with fantasy parts, like those from Ringdoll and Dollzone, because of how gorgeous the companies have done with their promotional photos.

However, when I got such a set, it ended up in a dark display cabinet after assembling him, and I didn’t really know what to do with the doll apart from opening up the cabinet and staring at the doll every once in a while.

However, when I got to know more friends in the hobby, I came to realise that purchasing nude dolls gave so much room for customisation. It was so cool to hear friends share about the concepts behind their dolls, the different personalities and styles of their dolls, and from there I started afresh, sourcing for things that could fit what I have in mind.

Rather than giving my dolls a story and specific personality, I found it more fun to dress my dolls up in different fashion styles, and it felt like I could project what I’d personally want to wear on myself (but can’t because I don’t look good) onto my dolls!

I’ve always had SD sized dolls, but when I bought an MSD sized doll off a friend, it really changed my perspective that big is better. Having a smaller is so much easier to carry around, and easier to dress too.

Overtime, I came to prefer MSDs over SDs!

I’d totally bring my MSD on solo trips so I can do some doll photography, and bring my SD dolls out for doll meets as most of my friends are 65-75cm doll owners.

 

Originally I prefered MSD size dolls. Then I got into SD size and I prefer them over the years.

 

I thought that'd I'd style my dolls to be decora/yami-kawaii like elfgutz (because their dolls are what initially exposed me to bjds back in 2014), but instead I started out by styling my dolls like regular people, then moving on to styling them like circus performers, and now I do mostly goth dolls, still with a few circus performers in the mix, and the very rare cutesy decora aesthetic.

 

Another rider on the "Only MSD" train. SDs were too big! There's no way I could ever own more than, say one.
Well, OK. Two actually fit together pretty nicely.
You know what, they should have friends.
...
These MSDs are too small. Is there an SD version?

Also - I swore I wanted only realistic mature female dolls. Doll Dreaming/Little Monica just sucked me into those sweet, big-eyed youthful faces.

 

I'm still very new but I've already discovered a few things!

What didn't turn out to be correct:

1/4 is too big for me! I thought I would like both 1/6 and 1/4
I thought I would like both resin and vinyl - I only like resin
I don't like normal or white skin tones

What I ended up being right on (so far):

I love anthro and anime style
1/6 size is perfect fit for me
I like shopping for doll clothes more than my clothes lol
Both boy and girl dolls - I want a mix!

 

Well in a way I think I like what I thought I would like, except that I like girl dolls more than I expected. I was drawn into the hobby by memories of a volks sd boy in a magazine and I liked the stylized, artistic face and that it was a boy. In my early years I experimented with different things, more realistic dolls and less, different styles and proportion, but 12 years later I'm close to back where I started: a preference for dolls with kind of large heads, stylized faces, big eyes, on the shorter, less thin and less muscular side of 1/3, just that I have both boys and girls.
I think my fashion preference has changed more than my taste in the dolls themselves as I move away from my original interest in mundane or subculture casual wear into something more retro, whimsical, fantasy inspired or something...

 

Same here! I don't know if I necessarily regret my 1/4 dolls, but I think I won't be adding any more to my collection. I have roughly equal numbers of 1/4th and 1/6 sculpts, and the ones I end up working on and making things for are all the 1/6ths so far. Kinda funny to think about this question specifically and self analyze!