What originally got you into BJDs? - Pt.2

I had a friend who was into them and posted all about dolls and soon I was hungry for my own!

 

I found out about bjds oddly enough from a non-bjd doll group I was in-- someone shared a photo of a doll they had seen. Volks had just started making modern bjds and so I began just salivating over all the awesome face-ups/dolls on Y!Japan since in those very early days the only way to get a bjd was to physically go to Japan or hire a third party go-between for a non-Japanese buyer to buy directly from the Japanese market. Those days pining over beautiful and (at the time) hard to obtain dolls on Y!Japan made me reeeeeally want one.

I was lucky enough to then find out about the only authorized US seller for Volks that would post a very limited amount of available dolls on their website-- first come first serve and the dolls disappeared quick! In the days of dial-up internet if your connection hiccuped you could miss getting one! Sometime in the early 2000's but before 2004 (I do not recall it precisely when as it was so long ago now!) I snagged my very first bjd kit- a Sakura MSD. They only came in kits so I had to de-seam her, string her without any other instructions than what came in her box, and add my own faceup. The wealth of tutorials on bjds did not exist at this time so it was like the wild west with most everyone learning as they went. It was a really fun and interesting period. But truthfully I am grateful the hobby is where it is now. There are more companies to choose from and more sharing of ideas, tips and tricks. There is also less snobbishness since sadly in those early days some people were very snobby about the dolls they owned and unless you owned that company's dolls you were not truly a bjd fan. Thank goodness that is not like it was! I like the hobby a whole lot more now.

I still collect all kinds of dolls but the bjds have so many extra fun things (especially their posability!) that I think that is what I mostly own and have collected in recent years.

 

I've always loved art dolls and figurines of various kinds. I've admired many BJDs in the past, but only this year did I order my first one, a fullset artist doll, and she should finally arrive sometime this month (her pic is my avatar). I love the intricacy and artistry of them, and the unique character of each one. I like seeing how different people interpret the same sculpts in such different ways.

 

I saw a girl carrying one around at a small anime con in 2008 and thought it was super cool but was too chicken to approach her. The next year at the con someone ran a "bjd 101" panel explaining them and where to find them online and such. And by the next con in 2010 I had my first

I love that I can shell my ocs into a physical form. It really brings me joy.

 

The desperate search for unique male dolls that weren't all orange skinned yellow plastic haired Ken. Growing up, I had a very good variety of female dolls in a range of ages, colors, hair types, sizes, sculpts, etc, but it was SO hard to find any sort of interesting male dolls. I had Bratz Boyz and Ken, but started looking on eBay for OOAK male dolls, found a Volks 1/6 guy, which lead me to Volks and then other BJDs. It was love at first sight! Since I was about 10, I had always said that there should be some sort of doll that you could customize--choose the face, the body, the color, the hair, the eyes. This was before BJDs as we know them were a thing, so finding them was a real dream come true.

 

Poseability -- I was really drawn to a doll that could adopt a wide range of poses.

Of course, right around the time that I made the jump, playline toy manufacturers began to produce dolls and action figures that had much better posing options than what had been available up until that point. But by then, I had fallen for the weight and texture of resin toys, and there was no going back for me!

 

I'd first heard about them sometime around 2003-2004 from friends and conventions, but never really had the chance to see them so I didn't think much of them. All I knew at that point was that they were really expensive dolls.

It wasn't until recently when I went shopping around Sannomiya in Kobe that I finally got to really see some at the Volks showroom there. The ones they had on display were so amazing and detailed I knew I had to bring one home! Now I wish I brought back more since they had so much available there and with the great exchange rate it was like getting an extra 10% off!

I'd love to travel some more and visit other shops and showrooms to see other brands.

 

That' s nice if you have a real friend who likes bjds^^

Then I hope you' ll get your artist doll soon, good luck with her/him!

That' s so cool! In August,I was at an anime con as well,and guess what I saw-someone carrying a dollfie dream! As a DD owner myself I immediately ran over to her and we talked about bjds haha

I' d personally love to visit japan one day and go to the volks store there

 

I received a catalog from a seller of collectible toys and dolls, and absolutely fell in love with the Pipos Baha and Heero they had for sale. Although my sister and I thought they were expensive, we ordered them. Long story short-they were even nicer in person and we were both hooked on BJDs.

 

I was on Etsy, looking for a toy or ooak of Thranduil from the hobbit films. They seemed to make good toys of the other characters, but not the one I wanted. I stumbled upon the modoll sculpt & bought one. Because I thought he was amazing. I then searched for a body & got to dollmix, so I got a T&D body. When I received him, I was completely amazed. I’d always collected toys & action figures, but the detail & size of an SD bjd was amazing. Not least the fact that I like the feel of resin vs other plastics.

Five years on I have 16 dolls and hopefully one on the way soon. I still have Thranduil, but I’m very careful with him because he has a company faceup & I don’t wanna mess him up. My other dolls (with one exception) have face ups by me.

 

I stumbled upon a blog written by a person owning Volks BJD many years ago. I instantly searched for more information and found out about different companies, many, many beautiful sculpts and possibility to customize the dolls.

After admiring them for nearly 10 years I could finally purchase my very own BJD a year ago and I loved it! Now I have 3 BJDs and I'm hungry for more haha. I love the idea of customizing the dolls and their pose ability.

 

I know right? I think the thing I like most about bjds is that they are customizable and come in so many shapes and sizes^^

 

Lol I would have bought them right away,too

 

I first saw dolls at a convention i was at in Orlando over about 14 year or so ago

anyways, i saw someone holding them and i thought... weird and neat. I saw that they had 1/6 size obitsus (not Yosds) but the other version the size of a barbie or so so i attempted to get started in that, but i did want them a bit bigger, so after playing around with the Obitsu and purchasing a momoko doll, i saw a parabox obitsu type that i fell in love with at that time and she was my first one and from there ive gained, changed and sold lots of my crew to get them where they are today.

 

I first saw a BJD way back think it was around 1990 and just loved everything about her she was in a doll magazine doing a feature on the Japanese / China BJDs After a few years I saw one at a doll fair and was lucky enough to buy her but found she was a tad too big for me I am sorry to say cannot remember who she was as I sold her. Then last year I decided to get back into it and wow had it all changed all these different doll and sizes I just love it

 

I don't remember all of the details now, but I was searching the internet for something and came across some dolls. Don't ask me how. But, I told myself I'd have one someday. I don't recall the company name, or any of the sculpts, or if they were even BJDs, but this was more than 10 years ago.

Seven years ago, my mum was diagnosed with AML (leukaemia), and I just decided to go looking for these dolls again. As I hadn't made a note of any names, or web addresses, I couldn't find the exact ones I'd seen all those years prior. But, I found a couple of sites dealing in BJDs and put one on layaway (DollZone Mo). I soon changed my mind for another doll (Ringdoll Sol - big difference, I know) and cancelled the first. I wish I had researched a little more and held out for one I really really loved. My first has since been stuffed back in his box, I took four/five years out, and I'm only now just seeing my hobby dreams come to fruition. I have a good portion of a group I'd love to see shelled, and I'm working on a seven-year-long doll "passion project".

My first doll is still chilling in his box, the sentimental connection still too powerful to just shift him on someplace else. He came into my life at a tough time and he helped take my mind off the darker stuff, we've kinda been through a lot together, so it feels wrong to just get rid of him. He needs a bit of "maintenance", after being in a musty box for a few years, then I might have him out again. Separate to the others, though.

 

I was looking up character reference pictures for an RP character about... fourteen years ago at this point and found Dream of Doll pictures on google. DoD Ducan lead me right down the rabbit hole of wanting a bjd. I looked into them obsessively and tried to figure out how my little twelve year old self could ever get that kind of money. I ended up giving up on getting a doll back then but I kept circling back to them over the years. One doll I was completely hopeless over during one of my obsessive periods was Souldoll's Morse. He wouldn't fit the crew I'm building but if I ever found him secondhand I might have to get him anyway. It wasn't until last year that I got my first doll.

Basically what first got my into bjds was how pretty they were. What kept me interested in them and kept me wanting them until I could have one was the potential they have to shell my various characters. All I've ever wanted was to have physical manifestations of my characters.

 

The first time I saw the dolls was on a card. A few years later, I knew that they are called BJD.

 

What do you mean with "card"? (:

 

I played the game Nameless quite a few years ago. I'd always had lots of other kinds of dolls and had a bookshelf just for my porcelain dolls. The game introduced me to bjds, and I instantly fell in in love with them!