What was getting your first doll like?

Weird. Even for someone who has collected toys for years, BJDs are different. Their size, weight, details etc make them a surprise when you first see one.

I collected toys and action figures, but not traditional dolls, for years when I decided to search for a toy Thranduil from the hobbit. I came across modoll’s sculpt on Etsy and bought one, before searching for a body online (knowing nothing, it was lucky I found a legitimate site).

When I received him, I was amazed. He had a Modoll faceup, but no wig or clothes. Still, I was absolutely fascinated by the detail, the fact that he had eyelashes and everything. His size and weight (72cm) was also a bit of a shock. I knew the measurements, but it’s very different when you get to hold one. I was pretty much hooked. As someone who always wanted detail and likeness in the toys I collected, I thought BJDs were the pinnacle of this.

In short, I was amazed, and hooked! (3 years on, I have 15 dolls!)

 

Congratulations on your first doll, dear!

When I finally had the guts to spend about 400€ on a doll (I was super scared about spending so much money on an item I wasn’t sure I loved as much as I hoped I’d do), I was pretty nervous about opening her box.
She was even more beautiful in person, her skin color was just so delicious and I got more and more scared about handling her.
It felt so special to hold a doll of this beauty.

Yet, I felt sorry for her being naked, because I had not a single clothing item for her, she had no eyes, hair and didn’t even have a face up.
But I just couldn’t leave her in her box. I felt so sorry for her leaving her in that dark box.

At the same time, I couldn’t just let her sit there on the shelf naked, bald and eyeless, so I decided to leave her in the box and take her out of it every day until I had something to give her regarding clothes and accessories.

You can say, I was pretty nervous over all. And unprepared, too.

But it was totally worth it. This doll is my queen since day one. And I hope you’ll be just as happy as me back then! If you need any help, you’ll definitely find some here on DoA.
Always glad to help.

 

It was pretty exciting. Just a head, but still, after fantasizing for months, actually holding them in your hand is something else. And the first time definitely feels different from the ones after.

 

I think I cried a little. And screamed a little. My first was a ResinSoul Yao. Absolutely gorgeous! It was four years ago and honestly it's still the box opening I remember the most. Have a bunch of fun!

 

He arrived about 30 minutes before I had to be at work. He was so beautiful, I considered calling in sick that day (and I didn’t even skip work when I totaled my car. XD)

I was very excited and emotional and I got attached very quickly!

 

It felt great to get my first doll, like waiting to finally meet a friend you've never met before! Although it came as quite a surprise because I had been waiting for so long the anticipation had kind of gone away, so when I first opened the box I almost couldn't process it. But I had all the clothes, wig, eyes etc. ready for her so I was able to dress her up and she looked so cute I just couldn't help but take lots of pictures of her! And she was even better than I'd imagined she would be, so I hope yours will be too!

 

My first doll was a joint project between me and my mom. I got to choose, but since she offered to buy, she got final approval. She wasn't keen on the first one I pointed out due to my awkward phrasing. After looking at other stores, selecting a doll was losing it's appeal. I finally returned to the original store and selected the first doll I showed her, but with different wording from me. She gave the OK.

Cue several weeks later, when I'm back at college and I get a call from the post office back home. They wanted to know my street address, but not the full mailing address. Not long later, I got a call from my mom saying the doll had arrived. My name, cell number and zip code were on there, but not the rest of the address. This has never happened since.

 

I ended up waiting almost half a year for my first doll... I was starting to lose hope, wondering if I had made a mistake, when she arrived unexpectedly (no tracking number or anything). When I put aside the wrapping, I put aside the last of my doubts. She was everything and more I could have hoped for

 

I was surprised about the size and weight and attention to detail and scared to sleep with the doll in my room for the first few nights. (lol) I was also surprised how hard was it to switch the dolls hands and how tightly strung they actually are. I was so scared to pose him at first because I was afraid I would scratch him.

Next thing was despair since I couldn't seem to find any shoes or eyes that would fit and look good because my boy wasn't standard size. I was also afraid if he'd ever look good because I wasn't allowed to pay for his faceup or clothes and I sucked at painting and sewing. But I started to enjoy making wigs. I paid for him myself but still wasn't allowed to paint him before I would get best grades from my matriculation examination (pressure from parents). I failed the first spring exam getting the second best grade, but next fall succeeded, so he was blank for almost a year and I just spent nights looking at him and secretly planning faceups and even trying some light blush on his resin. When I finally got to painting, I got hooked and have been doing that ever since.

 

Congrats on your first doll, @Hyp3rbole!

As for my own experience, when I got my first doll it was a mix of thrilled, awe, and what the heck did I get myself into?!? I was also fearful I’d break her on accident, like I’d pose her arm and it’d inexplicably break into pieces! Nonsense stuff like that so I was super SUPER careful with her. But that was years and years ago, now I’ll just grab one of my crew and be like ‘Come on, you! Your outfit is getting changed.’ No such silly fears any more.

 

I was so emotional when my first doll came home. I was shaking, crying and so nervous to hold her. My husband had to put her eyes in for me and help me hold her so I didn't drop her! She was a tiny little cherish doll Alley Unicorn.

 

Mine happened just a few days ago! I purchased a doll back in December but there's a bit of a delay with her...then Impldoll had their event and I fell for it. XD I bought Cecelia and Xiaowei in February.

I get an email from Alice's Collection saying they're being shipped, here's their tracking number, and I lurked the tracking sites like a hound. I started thinking they got lost or that they would end up separated or something. Boom! They'll arrive Saturday! Wait...no, tomorrow! Cue excitement. XD The damn things arrived 25 minutes after I left for work that day.

But they're here and I love them. I still need to post my box opening thread and I'm waiting for my actual first doll. XD

Can't wait to do it again!!

 

Purchasing my first doll was very nerve wracking. I bought second hand and even though I paid through paypal, it was still a huge lump of cash to be throwing at a complete stranger, especially because there were some delays in shipping (not the seller's fault she was amazing the whole time). But once I opened the box and held her in person and could feel her, it was amazing! All my worry about my purchase melted and I knew I would need a million more

 

I was nervous! It felt like a huge amount of money to spend on indulging myself. (It wasn't, really...around $200, plus a little more for a wig and some clothes.) I was afraid I would open her up and feel disappointed, like "Is this all there is?" Thankfully, that didn't happen. She wasn't like anything I had ever owned before. Her face, the smoothness of the resin, how poseable she was--I loved it all. And 15 dolls later, I still do.

Congrats on your first doll! Bei is super cute, and I hope she's everything you hope for.

 

I've always been a doll and toy collector, but I have to agree with Spuggey, these dolls are very different, particularly compared to mass-produced ones.
I never collected child or baby dolls, even when I was a very young child, my very first dolls were the fashion type. I wasn't used
to dolls that were larger than 12", so when I got my first "BJD" it took a bit of getting used (I mean a lot of getting used to). I got items for her
before she got to me; I got a Volks DDI as my first doll, but I got her from a US dealer, and so it was like a group order and had to wait for the
shop to get the dolls in stock first. I was a bit surprised at how big the shoes and wigs were, despite knowing how larger she was in inches and cm.
When her body got here, I was even more surprised! I was amazed at the detail and size even more than just looking at photos. I had to wait longer
for her DDH01 head to get to me, because there were some issues during the ordering, it was a pain in the gut, but I didn't meant for that head to be
her proper one from the beginning, so it was just a bit of an annoyance. I got her proper head about a year later (maybe), she was the first resin toy I owned,
I was fascinated and completely mesmerized by her beauty, she was a Cerberus Project/Luts VDES head sculpt. About another year later, I got my first full resin
BJD, he was a SoulDoll Paris, the first doll I fell in love with. I have to say the experience was very surreal. I was completely floored, not only because of how beautiful
he was to me, but because he was (and still is) so precious to me instantaneously. I knew from the moment I saw his face in person I had made the right choice. I waited a long
time to get him because he wasn't around when I first discover these dolls, I wanted something that felt different from all the available and popular sculpts form back in the day (CP El, anyone?).
I was also still in college at the time, so spending that kind of money on a doll was a bit of a hard and a bit of a selfish decision to make; I had to think about it for a long time (in the end my mom and best-friend paid for him).
So, I feel like in a way, my Paris was my first BJD, because he wasn't a hybrid and he was the male doll I had been waiting for, for so many years before I finally got him.
It was one of the happies days as a doll/toy collector, and one that is fondly etched into my memory.

 

Underwhelming, anticlimactic, not particularly memorable ;p When I first joined the hobby I was in a rush to get my first doll, so I settled for one I liked instead of waiting for one I really loved. That first doll just wasn't for me. I've been far more excited about all my other dolls than I was about my first one! Even now I still get super excited every time I order a new doll!

 

Getting my Ada felt kind of like seeing your pet kitten for the first time, I guess.
I'd say that it was like seeing your child for the first time, but I have no parental instincts at all and love cats - so it's like that. Staring at something tiny and fragile, feeling that overwhelming of oh my god this is so small what if I break it but also a lot of (frightened) love!
It was amazing. I wouldn't trade her for the world.