What originally got you into BJDs?

at first i saw pictures on fb of bjds costumized as ciel and sebastian from black butler. i was fascinated how good they were looking so i was searching for the name of those dolls. i tried to find out as much as i could and i searched for a long time to find my perfect first bjd. i ordered ringdoll sol who has arrived two weeks ago. im very happy and eaven my boyfriend likes my hobby :p thats how i got into this hobby

 

The first doll I saw was online years ago, it was a Volks Lucas and I was instantly smitten with him. I searched all around online to learn about these dolls but was at first really put off because of the price because I didn’t think I’d be able to afford it. It’s weird but I sort of lost my like for the aesthetics of Volks dolls after a while, when they made such an impact on me in the beginning.

 

I originally got interested in BJDs by seeing the anime dolls and figures on the Korean and Japanese sites I frequented while looking for new 3D paper model templates. Many of the same anime characters are available in pattern/template form, free, from taobao, or shops at naver.com. I didn't think I would ever be able to afford one of the real models. It is very strange that I liked all the anime character model dolls with their very stylized eyes and faces, but now I would never buy a BJD with that type of face.

 

I was just randomly searching through pictures and whatnot and came across a picture I swear was a real person. Then I looked closer and I found out that it was a doll. I was so surprised and found out that it was called a BJD. I swear I saw something about BJDs before that but I really can't recall so this is what I consider my true first finding out about them. After that, I searched more into them and slowly fell in love. Then I found DDs and fell in love with them as well. (: After about a year or two later, I was able to buy my first DD head and am now on my journey to have a doll family (but not a huge one; I'll try my best to not impulse buy! XD)

 

I saw a Luts Yder while browsing Deviantart whats feels like a millenia ago and absolutely fell in love!

 

I saw a Blythe doll on a forum. I never thought of customizing a doll before. I really wanted one but i didn't know where to get something like it. I went to AWA in 2011 and saw my first bjd. I saw a gentleman walking around with his doll - I saw him carrying her around two or three times that day. She changed clothes and hair each time. I really wanted to ask him what the heck the doll was but was too shy. Next year I think in 2012 at AWA again there were more bjds so I started asking everyone what they were. I wrote down so much information. I got a DC Jodie 2nd hand to see if I liked them. And that was that.

 

I've collected dolls on and off for most of my life. I saw photos of BJDs on Flickr a year or so ago, and thought they were gorgeous. I look on Ebay constantly for doll stuff, and started looking at BJDs, and recently bought a Limhwa To You Sara for a very good price. I felt she needed a friend, so about a month ago I bought a Lumedoll, Lucas. I'm now trying to decide on an MSD, but probably won't get one until next year.

 

I collected porcelain dolls and barbies when i was young. Then one day I was trying to remember my DA password and as i was looking around at some fantasy art and I saw a photo from Yenna of dimensiondolls. I was so blown away by how beautiful these dolls are and so I started researching everything i could..all I knew is i wanted to be a part of this world!

 

For me it was looking at all the lovely photos on deviantART... I used to spend a lot of time on there and it had sort of established a background awareness of them before I even really noticed how much I liked them. Then one day to my friend, without really thinking about it, I was like "...I think I want one of those ball jointed dolls." And so it began. xD

I love this hobby now because it's pretty much the ultimate culmination of all my talents and interests... Crafting, sewing, customization... Designing, sculpting... Characters, stories, art... Photography... Cute miniature things :'D... I have to say, I never thought that my calling would be dolls. I never even played with barbies or anything as a kid. Who knew.

 

My roommates, only a few months ago. Six months ago I wouldn't have thought I would want a bjd or own one, but here I am, waiting my first one to arrive and planning the next dolls.

 

In the early 2000s, I was creating mascot-like characters as both drawings and sculpted or hand-sewn and felted. I have made my own toy figures since childhood and also had a small collection of vinyl "designer toys" made by comic artists and illustrators. In 2006 I held an exhibition with my characters and after that I wanted to develop my characters further, to make them able to pose. Actually I had been looking for something like an inner construction like the ones used for animation, but somehow I came across photos of BJDs. I fell for them instantly. They were exactly what I had always wanted - if only they had been around when I was a kid! I remembered seeing pictures of BJDs before, but at that time I couldn't find out what they were or how to get them.

 

I first ran across BJD's while browsing through Google Images. I thought they were absolutely beautiful, but I had no clue on how to buy them and what can be done with them, so I disregarded them quickly. Two or three years later, a friend of mine brought in a head which she did a face-up on and let me hold it. Seeing one in person really sparked my determination to try to buy one.

 

I don't really remember exactly how I found them, but I came across Volks back in the beginning, like maybe in 2000. I thought the idea was really cool, but I was also was a tween that had no money and I don't even remember if what I was looking at was in English. I just let it slip to the back of my mind for a long time. I saw bjds every now and again on deviantart so when I got to my undergrad in 2008, I decided to look them up again. I wasn't really into the anime look because I've never been into anime at all so I was delighted to find all the companies that had sprang up. I was waiting tables at the time and had enough money that I went and got myself a doll. I've been in and out of being social in the hobby since, but I'm still collecting dolls.

 

I saw one at a convention and they looked so pretty I couldn't forget them. So I went to google, read it up and saw all these pretty dolls.

 

Accident >___<))) I was trying to send an e-mail to my friend and I saw a teaser bumping up with a very VERY beautifull eye on it (yes, just a doll eye with eye lashes picture). And I liked that, but I don't go after bumping up advertisement normally, so nothing happened that time.
The second time I saw this eye it was like: "Arrr.... Allright, that's it! I must find out who has THAT beautifull eyes!" I thought there will be some sort of cosmetics on the link, but... there were dolls. The eye appeared to belong Dream of Doll Ivan, and though I never purchased him in particular, the dolls ocupied my mind ever since.

 

Well, sometime I loved manga and especially Seimaden series by You Higuri. And once, googling fanart pictures of Laures (ha-ha), main character of this manga series, I say pictures of a doll looking quite alike him, with his "bat" ears - somene made Laures out of his doll. I was very impressed, and started googling on BJD dolls. Came across SOOM site, saw Clozel and Phonolus and fell in love with them xD

But I bought my first BJD only 1.5 years later

 

I loved the anime Rozen Maiden and originally started looking for a sculpt for Suigintou, but ended up shelling my original character Mitsuko first. I regret nothing; she's perfect!

 

I got into bjd when I was about 11 because thats when I was buying volks dolls the obistu's the smaller ones and one day I saw my first bjd when I was looking for more volks dolls on the internet.

 

I went to a anime con and saw a Ringdoll Sol. I can't forget about it and after 2 years I researched clearly about bjds and started.

 

I was looking up cloth doll making and one of the sites I was browsing linked to bjd making instructions. I was taken by the style and shortly afterwards I joined DoA and a short while after that I got my first BJD. The rest is history. : )