What originally got you into BJDs?

I found them on Tumblr actually, and did some googling. That led to finding some of the cutest dolls, and now I'm here.

 

tbh it was my love of monster high dolls that led me to discovering bjds

 

It's was CallMeGorgeous aesthetics and, of course, Andreja that got me into it, both on Deviantart randomly xD

 

Youtube rabbit hole, I was watching some of Nicolle's Dream video, then some of Dollightful,suddenly next week I have a payment plan set up for my first bjd

 

I had begun collecting reborn babies and started to wish for articulated ones, which bounced me into ooak art dolls, which eventually led me into bjds! But I only lurked for the last three years and just recently got my first little love! I'm so happy to have finally broken into this world!

 

I was browsing through DeviantArt and I don't remember who I saw first, BlackRoosje or Hiritai's dolls, but I know I loved the way they looked. I knew they were expensive and at the time I was only 14, so I gave up on the idea of owning one any time soon. I never did get one until April of this year, so 10 years later I finally bought one I'm glad I waited though, I think I appreciate it more than I probably would have when I was young teen.

 

I grew up playing with Barbies and similar dolls, but had somewhat outgrown them due to their absurd proportions and minimal posability. Then i found Tonner, which led to Haute Doll. I saw pictures of dolls from Luts and Volks and looked them up online They were pretty, but intimidatingly priced. Then I got the "Fantasy" issue of FDQ and saw pictures of Soom dolls. They were gorgeous and amazing. My first BJD was a human Soom Mini Gem (mature tiny) ordered as a X-mas kit. Looking at online picture brought me to Den of Angels. And more beautiful BJDs, along with a great community of fellow doll people.

 

I remember being in high school. I was a freshmen and I started using the internet way more. I think I was on gaiaonline and I saw someone that had a bjd. I've always wanted one right then and there. But I was a broke highschooler. But after high school and me having a job I went to a pullip con. I bought some pullip dolls then started buying bjd's. My friend showed me the bjd sale pages. I bought my first one from there.

 

i believe like a lot of people here, i somehow came across photos of bjds on deviantart...i cant remember who it was specifically, but they had lovely dolls and took wonderful photos, so i lurked for a while, but i dont think i got into the actual idea of buying one of my own until i came across photos of a particular sculpt... after that, i did some research and decided i would buy one one day!
which leads us all the way to today where i am waiting for my very first doll! :- D

 

My first exposure was after watching the anime Chobits in 2008 or so. I was looking at pictures of the character Chii and came across the Volks sculpt of her. After realizing that she would be pretty hard to get, I settled for the idea of trying to assemble a version of her myself, though it ever worked out (I was middle school student at the time), but it did expose me to a few companies and I really got into liking BJDs as a whole. From there I started looking at other dolls and drooling over pictures on dA. But I'm still waiting for the day where I can find Chii and throw down a good chunk of cash to get her.

 

I initially became interested in BJD about a decade or so back when I stumbled upon LUTS Delf Arwen. She was absolutely gorgeous when I discovered her. Fast forward a few years with no activity in the community, due to the expenses of it. I was reintroduced into the hobby when Monster High dolls came out. Through watching custom faceups on YouTube, I was introduced to Minifees; pushing me to finally purchase my first doll this year.

 

I was looking for a particular repro Barbie to recreate her gown in my size for Halloween, and like an idiot, I sorted the Ebay listings from Highest-->Lowest price, thinking that the repro would be at the top. It turns out that the name was vague enough to get old porcelain dolls and BJDs at the top. (I think this was earlier in the international hobby's history where dolls were regularly sold for thousand of dollars.)

I wanted to see what sort of doll could be sold for thousands of dollars that wasn't older than my grandma, and found it was a BJD. I found them during gradeschool, and thought that I could never own a doll that was that expensive, but I stalked pictures on Flickr and got into the volks/action figure kitbashing hobby instead, and eventually Pullips.

I recently decided as an adult to save a bit of my work money for years to buy a doll. It sort of escalated into twelve!

 

I first discovered them on DA as I think alot of people did and was soo intrigued by their beauty that I researched them as much as possible! I was about 15-16ish at the time and when I discovered how much they cost I thought...."okkkkayyy, Im never going to afford them!" so I just continued to admire from a screen haha~
I was also into anime/final fantasy figures for many years before that as well so I guess the interest come in different forms before

 

It's been so many years since I first discovered them that I honestly can't remember. It feels like dolls have always been a part of my adult life (even though it took me forever to find the right "type" for me).

 

This is a great question! I went to a crappy little anime con in 2007/2008 with my mom (one of the last ones I went with her to) and I saw someone carrying around a BJD. It was the first time I had ever seen one and I was totally smitten! It turned out to be an artist that had several at her table and I asked her about them, then came home and found DoA. At the time, I think you had to wait to register, but thankfully I didn't have to wait long!

From there, the rest is history. I decided which doll I wanted and began the grueling process of saving up.

 

I'd been aware of them for a while, but I remember stumbling on BJDs via a livejournal community about EGL fashion years and years ago (2005?). I remember looking up the dolls and being hooked on how beautiful they were. And then I started slowly saving and collecting them.

 

.... it was finding dolls wigs on ebay that got me into bjd's. I wondered what sort of dolls you could put them on, then I found bjd.

 

Lolita fashion! It's not easy to dress like Erica in my avatar when you're in your 50's LOL (although I did cosplay Sophie from Howl's Castle - she is old looking!) So Erica channels my inner lolita - and looks a lot better in it than I did too

 

I was hunting for figures on ebay and came across a doll from Doll Chateau. I thought he was creepy looking, and couldn't believe the price tag, so I went onto the actual website to see what it was. From there I stumbled upon a YouTuber (kimbapchan) and after watching all of her videos, I concluded that I really wanted to start collecting BJD's

 

I had seen some pictures of bjds and was wondering what they were and I thought they were pretty. Then one day my friend showed me Dream of Doll's website and I was totally sold!