What do you think of "starter dolls?"

I have my RS Mai in WS that I bought as a starter doll and practice doll, but then as I bonded with him he seemed to fit to an ORPC I had developed a while back. So then Nebel was born and he's the most spoiled of my group. XD So even just having the starter doll might develop to be your favorite or most spoiled. :3

 

I got a Bobobie to start with because I wanted to see all the things I could do to a doll. I am one of those dive in people. I am glad that I did because it helped me to try out crazy dip dyes and faces ups. With no feeling guilty that I spent to much or ruined something I loved. I sort of think of my first doll as an art doll that I got to try things out on. I still love my Bobobie even if she looks funky and was a sort of starter doll. I think it is all about what you want the dolls for not sure if that helps?

 

I think it's a good idea to have a practice doll/head to kind of get a feel for aspects that might potentially damage a person's expensive doll. If one messes up it's reassuring that it wasn't totally unexpected, especially when everything is still new enough that the chances are a lot higher. I've always been the cautious type though when there's a distinct possibility of wrecking something because I might not know everything to avoid.

 

Personally I am against starter dolls. I think that cheaper dolls are good only if somebody realy love those sculpts. If not it is better to buy your dream dolls.

 

I think "one good doll much better two bads"

 

I think it's a good idea...My first was an Obitsu and I got used to the posing, the delicate feeling, the abillity to sew, my first face up (which was crap) and now I'm saving up for an RS Mei....

 

i bought 50cm obitsu doll.. not because she will be my starter doll.... i really love her body sculpt ... but when i start buying my boy who is a 70cm DZ i got scared a little.... well prtly because obitsu is skeleton not stringed and i already stained her... >.< i am too lazy to use the remove-zit that i bought for her... so i bought a 15cm RS... the little guy is not over hundred dollars so you could say i bought him to be my starter doll... i plan to practice restringing on him so when my DZ come i will not be shocked or overwhelmed... but i am glad i bought this little guy... he is so cute

 

For my first doll, I went all in and got a pricier Dream of Doll, while I do know people who chose to buy a cheaper "starter doll" and eventually lost interest in the hobby, so for them, they felt like it was a good thing to have started with something cheaper to test their interest.

 

I will always say buy the doll you love. I think the passion you have for the "dream" doll is what gets us into the hobby anyways, right? Just practice face ups and mods on other stuff before altering the doll. Just my opinion

 

I definitely did. But it felt like, and still feels like, a good move to me.
I started off with a Resinsoul... Now, I want to get him a new body now, that doesn't pose terribly, but I'm still very happy with this doll. He made me fear face ups less, well, fear REMOVING face-ups less, face-ups don't scare me too much... And he's helped ease me into restringing and the like.

The thing is, my first doll could have NEVER been an expensive one. My mindset at the time was still that ___ was too much for a doll. Well, more like too much for ME to spend on a doll. I could respect the crafstmanship, but just didn't feel I could afford it...

But I bought a 70cm DZ boy after I got my RS, so, obviously, opinions changed. I realized that with saving, it's not a lot of money for something I want. Florian, my RS, cemented me in this hobby, he was my safe little gateway drug. (Okay, technically obitsus were, but Florian got me hooked on the resin and strings.)

I DO think that people should go for a starter doll with more poseability, for instance, any double jointed doll, and NOT a singled jointed one... But otherwise, I think starter dolls are a good thing.

But it really depends on the person.

 

The idea of a starter doll is a really good one. The starter doll, at least to me, is a doll that is meant as kind of a half experiment. It's, for one, to test out whether or not your into BJDs. I know it's nice to start off with the doll of your dreams but if BJDs just aren't for you, and you can't really bond with the doll, then it was just a waste of money.
Not only that, but with a starter doll, it gives you a chance to experiment. Saying that your the type of person who doesn't do that much research, and have a tendency to just try things out to see how it ends up. Then starting with a cheaper doll could work better, in case you do make a mistake. After all, messing up an expensive doll is not a good way to enter the world of BJDs. At the same time though, that doesn't mean 'go buy a cheap doll and test it out'. Really you should find one you like, that isn't too expensive, and give it a chance. Because there always is the opposite problem where you might buy a doll just because it's cheap. The only thing is, that when that happens, your eventually going to figure out that you don't like the doll. So that entire excursion would have been a waste of money that could've been spent on another doll that you would've liked more.
There are a lot of places to go wrong when buying your first BJD. The best advice to people who want to get BJDs is just to think about what their getting before they get it. I don''t advise buying the first one you see or the cheapest one you find. Getting a starter doll can be useful to those just starting out in the hobby but just as long as it's a doll you like and something your willing to put a bit of time into.

 

My first doll was a cheaper doll. I really wish I could've gotten a better one, though, but I'm happier that I got a cheaper one.

 

I think that unless you want the doll to mod or practice faceups on, you shouldn't buy a starter doll. A lot of people buy a cheap doll the first time and regret it later. It is better to wait a little bit longer and save up for a doll you would really love.

 

Two of my dolls still do not have face-ups and I am new at the hobby. Why, because I want to do them justice and I am just not certain I have the necessary experience to do so at this juncture. I have recently completed a face-up on a unlisted doll with a bigger face to try and gain some much needed experience. I have undoubtedly put far too much pressure on myself to be really good at something right out of the shoot and to make my girls look fabulous because I have emotion attached to them. It actually doesn't have anything to do with the money. So in a sense, I just wish I had the foresight to purchase just a bunch of cheap heads to practice on those first and toss at will. You can't get attached to a head can you? LoL.. maybe you can.

 

I think it depends on the person for a starter doll.

I play guitar. When I first got into it, I did not buy a "starter guitar". Why? Because starter guitars usually don't sound very good. Because they're lower end the guitar itself is not made very well, if it's electric they put mediocre pickups in it, etc. As someone who very much enjoys music, I wouldn't have enjoyed a "starter guitar" because it would've not sounded the way I wanted it to.

Starter dolls, to me, are the same way. I want to buy the sculpt I like, whether that's a cheap or expensive doll. Now, granted, I don't expect to ever do my own faceups. I am terrible at painting in general. Either way, I'll have someone else making the faceup for me, either a company or someone I commission to do that. So the only reason to have a starter doll is if I feel like I'll mess up the doll in some other way. However, I did a lot of research before I got into the hobby. I knew what I was doing. Sure, I've had to learn some other things along the way, but it worked out for me. And, ultimately, I enjoyed my dolls more because I got the exact ones I wanted instead of one that is intended for me to "learn on".

 

when i buy something, i buy it because i like it. not because of its value ^.^ I think if youre the type of person who needs something like a starter doll, the idea is great. But if youre someone who wants what they want, I don't think a starter doll is something that would be good for you.

If you're looking for something like a practice doll or a practice head, that's a different story. I'd comb the market place for cheap heads/bodies to practice on :3

 

If you're interested in the hobby enough to actually invest in a doll, then I say go and get the one you love most, it will mean more to you when you get it and you will be happier with it.

As for price, you'll always have your own limits set in the back of your mind, you see something and you'll always either think it's something you can't afford or something that's too cheap. I've heard of doll owners who own up to 20 or more still having their price range set, so that's just how people who plan to invest in ANYTHING kind of think.

I think it's rude that some people like to assume that others don't know the first thing about what they're doing just because they've never owned/purchased a doll before and suggest that they don't get exactly what they want and whatnot.

 

After reading many replies, I think a starter doll is good for some people and not for others. My one and only is a starter, not because I plan to destroy her, but because I have a hard time learning in 2 dimensions. I really needed a doll in my hands to understand what they were and what I might want from this hobby. And I didn't want to spend a thousand bucks for the experience, especially if it turned out not to be what I hoped.

So far I don't at all regret getting a second hand doll for my first bjd. Now that I've had the chance to play with her, sew for her, pose her, and photograph her, I have refined what I like and what I don't. Now when I look at 2D images of other dolls, I have a much better idea of what I'm seeing (if that makes sense).

 

I settled and regreted it ever since. I have been disappointed by my first doll that I bought to get into this hobby. I researched for a year and heard nothing but good about the dolls; that they were good starters. But when I finally got her, I hated everything about her. She was floppy and I didnt know how to restring. Her face up was not what I wanted, but paid for because my other options scared me. I was deathly afraid of the sun, so I saw her maybe once a week. I thought maybe the bjd hobby wasn't for me. But I kept going back to this site and flickr to look at the doll I really want. Then I bought another "starter". Hated that one too. Maybe it's my choice in dolls, but I'm not ready to give up this hobby yet.