What originally got you into BJDs?

I stumbled over BJDs on DeviantArt about 2 years ago, but never really pursued it any further. Then I started playing the game Nameless which is a collaboration game from Cheritz and Crobi Doll in December 2015. The game is about BJDs coming to life and this time I started investigating BJDs, reading all about it and finally decided: I want one !!

Well the first doll I ordered still hasn't reached and in the meantime I have bought and received three other ones .

 

My sister! She's been a part of this hobby for a very long time and over the years she has shown me different dolls that she's really liked. I've known what a BJD is for a while, but I've never personally got into the hobby until I realized just how amazing and endless the options are for a perfect little doll!
I was never really a huge doll fan when I was a kid, but the idea of having one this beautiful and so precious is really amazing to me, and I've already fell in love with a couple sculpts from only a few months of being a part of this hobby.

 

My friend got me into this!!! (definitely not blaming her...perhaps a bit when money exits my account for new dolls/doll accessories)

 

I don't remember how I discovered BJDs, because that was years ago. However, in December, I found a tutorial for making them (I've already found the Joint and gotten myself set up there), and it sounded like a fun project... Until I remembered that I'd never seen one in person, and thus had no idea how they worked.

So I researched like crazy, and I was able to identify one of the companies I admired when I was younger-- I found their website, realized I could actually afford one of their dolls, and picked out an unlimited for myself. I'm still waiting on him, but I'm super excited!

 

I was browsing on DA years and years ago and saw these really nice pictures of a boy with gray hair. Initially, I thought it was a cosplayer and then I found it was actually a doll. I was so amazed by the lifelike look of it and quickly got a little bit obsessed. Unfortunately, I was very young (12 I believe), so I had to shelf the dream of owning one of my own. Recently went back through the likes on my old DA account, and the nostalgic awe led me straight to DoA

 

I honestly can't even remember the first time I saw ABJDs. I think it might've been a photo of one that I thought was a real person, only to find out that they were dolls ! Needless to say, I buried that memory for quite sometime and then started to learn more and more about them very slowly. Now, here I am, much older and somewhat wiser about this hobby (which is still relatively new to me).

 

I first saw them at a convention my cousin took me to years and years ago. He was FAR less interested than I was but he went with me while I asked a ton of questions

 

There was an article in the newspaper about ball-jointed art dolls, and the picture was of a sleeping Rapunzel with long blonde hair in a 'dumpling' style by Ryo Yoshida. I could not stop looking at it. I thought it was the most beautiful think I'd ever seen. I told myself someday..I'd have a doll like that.

 

I think I was following someone on Instagram who made porcelain dolls similar to BJDs. I think the main reason I followed them was probably because I thought it was cool what they were doing. But I don't think I was really interested in it all that much. Probably after that, on the explore section of Insta, some pictures of BJDs showed up and I became really curious.

 

I saw people carrying BJDs at anime conventions and quite a few on display in the dealers' room and artists' alley. I was attracted by their incredible beauty, poses, and costumes. At first, I was just admiring. Then I began to look closer. Next thing I knew, I was dreaming of owning one. I must have dreamt for five years before deciding to buy one. I have no regrets about finally becoming an owner!

 

I make teddy bears and wanted to start making clothes for the bears i make. I found myself clicking round the web for cute ideas for clothing and happened to see a photo of a beautiful doll. I had never seen anything like it and so on searching more, i found out about BJDs. This was only a few months ago! So i am very new to the hobby, but excited to start gathering some dolls and making clothes for them. I have ordered a Resin Soul Bei and Little Minipin, can't wait to get them

 

My first exposure to BJDs was hiritai's Hayden (Migidoll Ryu) on the front page of DA back when I was a tiiiiny, tiny high schooler, and I fell absolutely in love with him. I browsed more BJD galleries and loved how pretty they were but I didn't have any income at the time so it felt like one of those hobbies that other people did but I would never get into.

Later, in early 2014 me and a friend were browsing BJD shops for fun - at this time I had a job but it still kind of felt like a prohibitively expensive hobby that would never actually happen. I ended up picking out the DreamingDoll Misora as my "if i could get a bjd i would get this" doll, and made a pact with my friend that if either of us ever got a BJD the other one would too to keep each other company. Almost 2 years later now, she found her dream doll and received her gorgeous DearMine Nocturne last night and my Misora's on the way, to be arriving some time this month \o/ !

 

I started out with other dolls (MH and Pullips mostly). When I got tired of these dolls stock outfits I started browsing for clothes for them. When searching for Pullip clothes on Etsy I also found clothes for bjds, and gosh both the dolls and the clothes where beautiful! So I started doing research. After this I went to a local Con where I met people from the norwegian bjd forum, and here I am with a growing doll family

 

There was a series about Japan called "Japanology" that's on Youtube if you search for it. One thing it mentioned during a segment about Halloween, is that dolls are seen as spooky because they might be the container for 'lost' souls. Ever since I saw that I've been utterly fascinated by the idea of my doll being the vessel for a spirit who can't bear to leave the earth. I've wondered too..have any of you ever acquired a doll unexpectedly that you didn't have a character for but who seemed to develop one of his or her own?

 

I guess I first saw BJDs when I read anime magazines that had articles of ball jointed dolls. I loved to read about these dolls! I got so fascinated about these of how beautiful and how fully customizable they are. Later of course I began to search more about these on internet and I totally fell in love and thought I really need one of these (or more) : )

 

I've always really liked dolls. In middle school my friend bought me a Little Apple Doll.. And from there my obsession grew..

 

I got interested into BJD's when i was around 10 i believe but ofcourse never buy one until i reached 16-17. I came across them on a hobby magazine and i fell in love with them. I remember sending a letter to ''Santa'' with a picture of one of them but ofcourse ''Santa'' had no idea what that was and yeah...sad but eh. Then i returned to the hobby by random pictures on Instagram from Elfgutz, Crackupmadness,isoenate and more and fell in love with their dolls but you know everyone has their own style and mine isnt like theirs much.

 

I was reading a Harry Potter fanfiction and the author included a link to clothes they thought would look nice under the Hogwarts robes and the link took me to the Dream of Doll Kellan page. I didn't even realize he was a doll at first, but it was love at first sight. I thought he was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen. Once I had googled what they were, got over the price, and learned more about them, I knew I had to have him. So, a few months later, I ordered the Kellan, and Fitzwilliam came home to me a few months after that! I've never had that immediate connection with any other doll. He's definitely my favorite sculpt out of all the many different sculpts I've seen to this day.

 

There is a little known anime called 'Angelic Layer' made by CLAMP that came out in the 90s. When I started watching anime around the age of 13, it was one of the first I watched. Long story short, in the show the main character created her own character and then had them battle, but the character she created was a BJD! One google search later I was addicted to the idea of owning one, and now almost 7 years later and finally owning my first doll last year I can tell you the passion for creating hasn't stopped.

 

Having some money lol
I lived in Asian country, so I knew of BJD pretty early in my life. of course, i thought they were joking about the prices. I loved bjd because you can really make it unique and make it your own.