What is your best memory of being in the bjd hobby?

Getting my first LUTS tiny centaur and being so excited I jumped around in circles. My husband was so surprised he was laughing with me.

 

Seeing my first doll delivered, that tall box, unboxing and seeing her there and holding her in my hands like "this is it, this is my character, this is Blue ;w;"

 

When I finally got housed and stable again after six years almost of pure hell one of my oldest online doll pals sent me a pair of Minifees, boy and girl. The girl she was a Mirwen, a doll that I had coveted for years. I opened that box and saw them and I literally sat down and bawled like a cranky toddler. I was so overwhelmed at what she had done that I literally could not hold back the tears.

For the past two years on every major holiday since, birthday and Winter she has sent me a dolly present. So I now have a very small collection of resin BJD's that I could never afford in my wildest dreams otherwise. The dolls themselves are beautiful but it's her friendship and generosity that means the world to me. She's an affluent person and to her this isn't all that big of a deal but to me it is. That she cares enough about me to do that and be my friend that's irreplaceable and it means way more to me than the actual dolls, love them though I do.

That's the high point for me, having a real friend come out of this hobby.

 

Receiving my very first BJD will always be the best (and funniest) memory I have: answering the mailman and accepting the box wearing a bathrobe and covered in shampoo suds.

A close second is the first time attending a local doll meet in another province way back 2008 and that was the turning point for me: after going home from the said doll meet, it's straight to the computer, opening the Luts website and ordering my very first BJD.

 

When I was in my early twenties (and definitely in my surviving college time) I saved up a little money and went to my first bjd convention. I bought one of DaisyDaye’s creatures and was window shopping at Jpops booth. I ended up falling -head over heels- for a gray Noble Dolls Rhubarb on display, and I must’ve come back to her every 30 minutes just to admire her and see if she was sold. Grace eventually asked if I was interested in buying her and I said she was out of my budget. She asked if I wanted to start a layaway, which was an enthusiastic yes from me as I handed Rhubarb back to her. She pushed Rhubarb back into my hands, told me to take her and enjoy the rest of the convention, and to email her when I got home to set up the layaway. I never imagined I’d get to take her home before she said paid off.. or even before my first payment was made..To this day I’m still -completely- astounded by that one act of generosity and trust, and Rhubarb is still a special doll in my collection. Rest in power Grace, you are missed

 

Up to now, unboxing my very first BJD is the biggest highlight for me! It felt surreal to finally see one in real life and be able to pose her body and admire the artistry of her faceup from different angles and lighting. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it

 

Hard to choose between getting my first BJD, going on convention, meeting people... But getting my first BJD was a special feeling!

 

Long story short!
I am the only odd ball in the families who love BJD dolls, they do not understand or care much about them, even thought they are a bit scary and too expensive. But from time to time they would came home from their shopping and brought things that they thought it suite my dolls well: for example, a little coin purse looks that like a backpack, a little wooden box to use as a dresser.
My family don't like them and they brought stuffs them, that really melt my heart, love my family!

 

Probably going around in a con and seeing so many cute dolls and outfits for my BJDs. It only happened once in my case as I'd moved to Thailand and didn't speak thai by the time i started being into BJDs, and I didn't know how to look for the Thai BJD Community!

 

The first time I got to meet with another BJD owner in person and we both had our dolls with us. Everything just exploded on the floor and it was a giant fashion show and clothes trading circle for the dollies. I would love to do that again, but we live 800km away so I don't get the chance even every year. I cannot even imagine what would it be like to participate in a bigger meet, like having a group of BJD hobbyists get together.

(I live in a small country, so the chance of finding another hobbyists is slim. I think there are only a couple hundred active hobbyists in the whole country. The chance is even slimmer that the person is into even somewhat similar dolls and things as you are.)

 

I will concur with what many of the posters here have said. Meeting fellow collectors, those who have as much enthusiasm and love for the dolls as you do, creates the best memories! I remember especially attending the first BJDC in Austin TX, and Dollism in Buffalo NY. They were amazing! The people I met there are some of my best friends today.

Back in 2005-2010, some friends of mine and I used to create and post photostories, and our dolls had lots of interaction online. We all did so much creating of our dolls' characters back then! It seems we don't have the energy for it anymore, though we still love our dolls as much as ever. Those were great times.

Linda S.
galatia9