What do you think of "starter dolls?"

I had a starter doll when being introduced to porcelain dolls, if that counts? I was given two kinds: very sturdy Pierrot dolls, and extremely fragile but inexpensive dolls. The sturdy ones were for me to play with, the super breakable ones were for me to learn how to be gentle (since the sturdier ones could be knocked around quite a bit). I didn't do this with BJDs, but I almost wish I had.

 

Well to be fair, I haven't yet got a doll, and I'm mostly torn in worry that it'll be something that doesn't "get it's use" for being X hundred dollars. I was slightly relieved when someone had told me once that bjds do generally resell for near sticker price as long as they're taken care of, but then another person said that they could sit for ages unsold if it's an unpopular body. Which worried me.

 

hey, I know this information may not be the best as I haven't brought a doll yet, but from reading some of the other comments and following many doll people on DA I feel and am lead to believe that a dolls worth is something you give it, not the price tag its sold with. There are many dolls that are cheaper money wise that I find are way more beautiful and full of character than the more expensive dolls. So when it comes to a 'starter doll', or just your first doll, it should be a doll that you see potential in or one that sweeps you of your feet no mater the price, or the time it will take to save for it ^w^. But that's just my opinion.

 

Like some others said, I think it seems a bit insulting to assume that anyone new to the hobby is going to wreck their first doll, and therefore they should get a cheaper one. I spent over a year researching and looking at dolls before finally settling on a Dollmore Kid Pado as my first doll, because I truly loved the sculpt. I still love him, and would never want to sell him. I don't know if I would still be in the hobby if I didn't love my first doll so much... And I didn't wreck him, because of all the research I did, and all the tutorials I followed.

So I think you should choose your first doll based on what you really want, not a cheap doll.

 

The "cheap" dolls in this hobby are not so cheap for me. I'm going to have a hard time just finishing up getting the heads for the two bodies I've got coming. I may have gotten the bodies as a gift but I still have to put $180 towards the heads that I want to make this happen and I'm going to be saving for quite a while to do that.

(I won't be able to leave the bodies in the box, I am sure. You'll all be seeing some rather funny pics of headless dolls all dressed up like models on a shoot for a while once they get here most likely, laugh.)

There are far more expensive dolls than these that I'd practically kill for (Iplehouse, sigh....) But I'm not likely to be spending the $800 it would take to buy one of those anytime soon.

I have bills to pay. I badly need a more weather resistant camera body for work and that's got to be a priority actually. I don't have a huge income to begin with and most of my money right post paying bills now is going for that goal. It has to. I need that camera to increase my income.

What most people would consider a "starter" doll that's a doll that I consider pretty pricey actually. I'm really indulging myself getting the two dolls I am getting. Honestly if Miro doll didn't have big sales and amazingly cheap and cool looking bodies I'd have not gone there yet at all. Dollmore being willing to sell me the heads I liked unpainted also helps a lot too. They're a bit more expensive than I was wanting to pay actually but I really, really like the Essex and Sara molds and if I am going to only end up with two BJD's those are the ones I really want.

I'm not kidding about that. Likely that will be it for me. I can't really afford to go there again. By the time I am done these dolls will have cost me and mine $350 and that's near a month's lot rent for me. That's just not something I can keep on doing. $350 plus worth of dolls is not in my normal budget for dolls. Not even on lay-a-way.

I did my homework for weeks on those heads. Those are the ones I really want and likely they will fit. I want them pretty bad, and I am working my butt off getting some things ready to sell here and there to try to make some extra $$$ to get them. If I can do that I can rationalize getting those heads before the end of the Summer, but if it comes down to it budget is all and I'd rather put a pair of cheap used heads on those bodies for now than have nothing on them at all for a year.

I know myself though and if I do that likely I'll end up making peace with those heads, settling, and Essex and Sara will never truly exist in my house and I don't really want that. I want the two BJD's I'll have to be really special. I've waited a long, long time for a resin pair and I don't want to settle for something that won't make me happy.

I can't have an $1600 Iple pair, but I can have these and I just want them to be the best dolls ever even if they are terribly cheap compared to most of what's out there.

 

magkelly -- the "cheap" dolls in this hobby are not-so-cheap for most people. I think "cheap" is the wrong term to use, really; they're "less expensive". There is no such thing as "cheap" in any luxury hobby. It's "more expensive" or "less expensive". The fundamentally important thing is that you are happy with them, regardless of how much out-of-pocket cost you put toward them. It isn't like you can't churn out some phenomenal stuff on a shoestring budget if you're both creative and crafty. (Hell, I envy the crafty people! I can't sew or paint to save my soul so I have to bribe others to do it for me. XD) You're getting what you want, and you're getting it as within-your-budget as you possibly can. Nothing at all wrong with that.

Get what makes you happy and what makes you comfortable. If a less-expensive "starter" doll makes you comfortable, go for it. If scrounging and saving to get that Suigintou or Bermann that you desperately want makes you comfortable, then go for it. The fundamentally important thing in any doll purchase, whether it be your first or your 70th, is that you as a collector are comfortable and happy with what you have.

 

I can only speak of my personal experience in the hobby. I started with 3 dolls, because I wanted to have both SD and MSD and I wanted at least one couple. So I got a Dollzone Cosmo and Stramonium and an IslandDoll Crystal. I thought it was better to use the funds I had to buy more dolls and have more variety by going for dolls that weren't my absolute favourites but that were quite good quality for money.
Now, two and a half years later, I only have Cosmo left. I don't fully regret having bought the other two, I did learn a lot with them, but I think I may have gone instead for one single doll that I really really liked and be 100% satisfied with it, then save up longer if I wanted more dolls, instead of settling for 70% satisfaction and ending up selling them a year later.

 

In my opinion, one should get a doll he/she loves.
If you buy the one you really love, you tend to take good care of it right?
If you just choose a cheapest one, I think it's quite hard to bond with it.
One of my friend actually did that and now her doll just sleeps in the bag, ignored. When I asked her about her doll, she told me that she even forgot that she has one. And that's kinda..... u know

 

Actually, I do understand the purpose of "starter" dolls, and I think they can be quite useful when you're first getting into the hobby.

 

I dunno, I don't like the idea of a starter doll, 'cause it never is your first choice. If you happen to love a cheaper or more simple doll, that's great, but getting one BECAUSE it's cheap or simple as opposed to a doll you find more beautiful seems silly. I feel like you wouldn't be able to bond with it, and you'd always be pining for another doll... as for making mistakes, I dunno... having a dolls just for those too, that one doll will have so many things wrong with it by the end... If you do enough research and ask questions, those mistakes can be avoided altogether.

 

First I'd like to say this is a really good topic.
Anyway, I guess I purchased a 'starter doll' without really thinking I was. I bought him because he was cheaper in order to see if I'd enjoy the hobby or if I'd hate it. Thankfully I loved it! I made a lot of mistakes with him (for example, using an exacto knife to remove crusted gloss on his lips therefore accidentally cutting too deep and not realizing until it was too late) but I learned so much from my experiences with him! I recommend getting a starter doll but of course it completely depends on your preference!

 

I started off with an AOD Chi, and though he really did end up being a "starter" doll, that's not the reason that I bought him. In a way, I'm glad I got him first, instead of something more expensive or large in size. By the time I started getting serious in the hobby and putting some serious money into it, I had an idea how the general mechanics worked, and I wasn't so afraid to handle my other dolls.

 

I would agree with the "starter doll" attitude, imho.
simply depending on what sort of person you are, it could be the wrong choice, though...
I'm a very careful person, and it might have been because of this that I did get such a doll. I didn't want to jump right into the price leap, so I chose a 27cm dollfie that didn't set me back enormously. I really just wanted to get used to the concept, I think.
For me, such a doll was the right decision.

 

This topic is strange to me, my first doll was a fullest Senior Delf Blanchet and to this day she is still the most pricey doll I own. She has been perfectly taken care of, displayed, loved, and everything else. Not everyone's starter doll is the cheapest or easiest to obtain doll. I waited months to pick the perfect doll, longer to finally order her and longer still to get her. She is still my favorite to this day, and I have had her for about 6 years now.
Of course. Have no problem with someone buying a test doll to really see if they want to go full force into the hobby, and if you thrash your own doll, here's the thing it's yours to thrash. Enjoy it, play with it, and do what you want with it.
But that's my opinion.

 

I do not own a doll yet. However, I really want to buy Iplehouse's JID Cecile, I do not think she is a "cheap" starter doll (even if she is not that big) - and I will not settle for another one. I don't think I will ruin her. I will however get a company face-up (with a little custom touch).

 

Nope, your motivation shows that this is a doll you really want, not just some doll you like and you can practice modding/face-upping etc on.

 

I feel it depends on the individual. If someone (like myself) is likely to change hobbies frequently (and if they aren't afraid of modifying the doll themselves) then maybe a less expensive doll to start off with would be a good option to make sure it's something you're going to enjoy. However, if someone could be easily frustrated learning how to suede, restring, or modify the doll in any way, then i really think it might be better for that person to save up until they can get a doll that won't cause them as many problems. This isn't taking into account whether this person really likes a particular sculpt or something ( In which case my opinion is just to get the doll you like best). This is just my personal opinion though, and I would never judge anyone for what doll they choose to buy and why.

 

I did a lot of research before I got my first doll. Months and months. It may have even been a year or two. I never spend a large sum of money without doing the research to make sure I'm not wasting my money.

In my case, I did get a starter doll. He wasn't at the top of my list, but I didn't get a doll that I wouldn't like. I liked the sculpt, I liked the company. He is a Resinsoul Song, that I got from junkyspot. I looked up owner pictures, and box openings before I got him. I liked all the different ways people customized the song sculpt and I decided that was the one I would get.

I didn't want to spend $5oo on something I might not like. So I bought a cheaper doll, just to see if I would like the hobby. I ended up loving it. And now I have finally bought a DollZone doll, which I consider to be a doll near the top of my list. For me, buying a more expensive doll first just wasn't an option because I can't bring myself to spend so much money on something I'm not sure about. Now that I am sure, and I've held and experimented with these dolls, I'm more inclined to spend larger amounts of money.

That being said, whenever I want to try something new, my song is the one that get's experimented on most. For instance, I'm going to erase a face up for the first time, and it's going to be his. That doesn't mean I have the expectation of ruining him though. I've done a lot of research on this.