What doll got you into the hobby?

The doll that made me want to start collecting was DollZone's Wing, a 65 or 68 boy, I don't rightly remember which. My best friend got him as a fullset and he was just gorgeous, so she showed me the site where she got him and that's where I met my girl!

 

For me it were Unoa dolls, Sist and Lusis... I got one of each and a Chibi, too. I love them to bits. They're classical beauties.

 

On the art gallery site Deviant Art there was this artist who used BJD to show their characters from a story they were writing called Frankie*Snatch. Their doll for their character Bonhwa was the very first BJD I ever saw and started a rabbit hole dive I've never recovered from.

 

I remember being absolutely floored by a picture of a Unoa Lusis- a picture of one with blue eyes and brown hair that's been reposted so many times that I genuinely don't know the source (the only place I can find it is a recast aliexpress listing ). I remember being stunned by her soft features and just how expressive her face was... I was doomed.

 

The first doll that caught my eye and drew me into this hobby was volks Chii, I've never seen her in real life yet but if I can never get my hands on her. I would be happy just to see her once.
Compared to my first doll that was on the cheaper end of the scale and vinyl, my 60cm Obitsu with two heads sharing the body Gretel and Haruka at the time.

 

I guess dolls from Crobidoll! I really got interested in BJD because of the videogame Nameless ~The one thing you must recall. In the game, the protagonist owns a couple of BJD that turn into humans. I was very fascinated by these dolls and looked up how much they would cost... yikes!
Now I can finally afford one... hm, maybe I should get Lance from Crobidoll.

 

I have this game on my Steam wishlist!

For me, I became interested in the hobby three years ago when I first saw pictures of a doll which I later discovered is Fairyland's FeePle65 Moonlight Elf Chloe. She was, and still is, probably one of the most beautiful dolls I've ever seen, as well as Angell Studio's Kana. I will not include these specific dolls in my own collection since I have learned I prefer smaller dolls and certain proportions, but some day I intend to recreate the Moonlight Elf Chloe in the form of a hybrid I'm planning with a Dollshe fashion Diana.

 

For me it was dolls from Fairyland in general. Fell in love with their Minifee dolls back in 2015 and that's what got me to look more into different bjds. Never ended up getting a Minifee myself, but maybe someday.

 

@CatWedding
They really are so beautiful aren't they? I'm always amazed with their fullsets. It looks like so much goes into making all those intricate clothes and accessories

 

The doll that initially made me want my own is Dollzone's Rosemary! It was posted two months ago on Mercari and I sadly missed it, which is what led me to try to seriously start looking at other dolls to buy.

 

Doll Chateau Snowborn was the one that made me bite the bullet and order my first BJD.

 

The doll that got me into BJD's is a Volks doll that was made to look like Malice Mizer's Mana. I came across her picture while searching for something else and she just took my breath away. It took me years to figure out that 1. she's from Volks, 2. what her sculpt name might be, 3. confirmed her sculpt just to find out she's long discontinued, 4. finding her on the second-hand market.

I am really thankful to say that I've finally found her. Finally.

 

Years ago I remember being on Pinterest and seeing a photo of a beautiful lady wearing a renaissance dress. Imagine my surprise when I realized that lady was a bjd, an Iplehouse Carina, I believe. I had never heard of bjds before, but didn't think a whole lot about it at the time.

My sister later started learning about bjds and got us both wanting one. In 2016 I found ACBJD, and saw Loongsoul's Wei Huo Hu and immediately fell in love with him, though he was far out of my price range at the time. Years and many bjds later, I now have him. I never thought I would be able to because by the time I was able to get a doll like him, I figured he would be discontinued. Thank goodness for my sister who remembered his existence and tracked him down for me!

 

I watched a tv show called outsiders and on this one episode a woman who collected dolls namely bjds showed her collection and the first doll was a Delf Soo She was so beautiful and after that I turned to google and dolly youtube, and it all snowballed from there

 

It was a limited edition SD-sized doll from Fairyland which name I no longer remember cause it was 15 years ago or so. I saw it in a convention and it was lovely customized, very fairy-like dressed in purple with jewelry and everything, and I found her really appealing but also too big. Not much later I found they did come in a few shapes and sizes and... here we are.

 

If we're going to go way back, around 2009 is when I learned about the hobby and wanted to get involved. I saw a picture of B&G Dolls Afra and thought it would be so cool to get one to customize. Unfortunately I was 14 and knew the hobby was well beyond my budget, so I put that on hold for a decade.

After that, I think it was Villitunes' Minami and Mimi-Chu that really made me want to dive into the hobby for sure. I had started collecting vinyl dolls by then as well, so stepping into the resin space at that point wasn't too daunting.

 

Joining the Unoa Lusis club. She is so pretty and has such a unique face! But at the time I was intimidated by the size so I gravitated more toward 1/6 size dolls and started my collection from there. I still don’t have a Lusis of my own, but I love looking at pics of her.

 

Bimong Dandelion. I saw an owner photo of her on Flickr one day and absolutely fell in love. She wasn't the first doll I ordered, but she still remains the goal post in many ways. I actually have several Dandelion heads now, I just need the right body (Bimong's 53cm Fusion body is lovely, but I need something more child-like for my OC).

The other doll that got me in: Rosengarden Hana (the little one in my avatar)! She was the first doll I ever received and I thought I was crazy to take the plunge (I had never spent so much money on a personal purchase before). I still love her dearly, even though she still has no faceup or proper wig X)

 

The first one I saw was on a now long gone forum, I think he was a Elf Doll because that was my first 3 BJD's. Sadly once the one's foot fell off and I saw how Elf Doll did feet I sold all 3 and never bought another Elf Doll. I went onto Soul Doll, Dollstown and many, many X infinity it seems; others. Last count was around 600 in my 16 years.

 

A japanese classmate began with these dolls from Angel Region and at the begining I was reluctant until I began to see dolls on websides and a DOD Ducan just catch my eyes.