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What was getting your first doll like?

May 26, 2018

    1. I was so happy to get my first (and only so far) BJD. I ordered her with a face up, wig, and outfit. I wanted her to be fully dressed immediately. I arranged for a friend to be "with" me on the telephone when I opened the box.

      I cautiously opened the box and unwrapped her. She was (is) beautiful. I was attempting to adjust her wig which I had just put on her and the top of her head came off. I definitely screamed. My poor friend on the telephone thought something had happened to me. I had no idea that BJDs come apart (laugh). I was used to dolls that are not poseable and just sit.

      That was several years ago but I still remember the joy I felt when my sweet little dolly came home.
       
    2. The day that Ludo (my Unidoll Cupi) arrived home, I made an event of it. I was so excited for my first doll opening. I'd wanted a bjd for years, and I could finally afford one (little did I know, a year later I'd have seven!). I took pictures of every step in the box opening, and when I held her for the first time, I was absolutely enamored. I couldn't stop thinking how tiny she was!
       
    3. Oh, that was really a special day. I was dreaming of a BJD since I was 16. I've discovered the world of BJD dolls accidentally after winning a ticket to a relatively big BJD convention, and this discovery helped me getting over a break with my only best friend. I even tried to get a job to earn money for a doll (that was a terrible experience cause amount of jobs available for a 16 old teen is small), but I spent the money I've got on some essential needs. Adn finally receiving a doll I've been dreaming of was like... Living the life I want, another step to achieving my many dreams. I ordered a Dollzone doll, Miss Kitty, and she turned out to be lovely : small but flexible, pleasant to hold and really, really cute. And she arrived in a hard time when one of my pets was ill, so she was a light in really hard times. I guess that's why I consider her as a friend rather than just as a fancy part of my collection.
       
    4. I was so happy when she came in! At first I told myself she'd be the only one but of course I'm planning on getting my second :P
       
    5. It was surreal, I had been waiting all day that I never noticed when she got here. She had all her clothes and I immediately played with her, I had never had something with so much range of motion, and the pictures did her no justice. Like a dream
       
    6. Underwhelming. I wasn't totally sure about buying one in the first place, because even though it did fit something I wanted to do (create an OC in 3D), and the price was much better than ones I'd seen previously (with a sculpt that matched my character better). I still took the plunge, and when he showed up, the combination of his default faceup and the wig I'd gotten with him made him look, not like my character, but like some weird alien.

      I also managed to accidentally unstring him within minutes of getting him, so that didn't help, even after I put him back together. I didn't have clothes for him, either, so he was stuck in an ill-fitting temporary robe from another doll. Basically, he felt like a lot of regrets at first.

      And then I decided "I kind of regret this already, so what the heck, let's try changing him up." I chopped at the wig to get the style closer to what I wanted, wiped his faceup and did my first ever go at one, and found some better clothes for him, and it was worlds different. No more regrets, he was starting to look like my character at last, and the process of working on him was really satisfying too. It's why I only order blank dolls now, because they really feel the most exciting to me when I'm able to make them my own. It's that point that's always more exciting to me than when they arrive (though most haven't been that level of underwhelming as my first, because now I know their potential).
       
    7. Honestly for me getting my first bjd felt like Christmas morning when I was a kid lol

      I had been searching for the right doll for quite some time, after eyeing the hobby itself for literal years. After finally picking her and paying in full, I was so excited to get her that she was actually my phone background while I waited for her! Once she finally shipped after about 5 months, I checked her tracking literally daily (sometimes multiple times a day ^^") for any updates, and when she got here I pretty much dropped all my plans for the day to focus on her.

      Looking back, I'm kind of surprised that I wasn't even a little bit disappointed, since I'd been anticipating it for so long and building my expectations very high before she actually arrived. She really was everything I'd hoped for and more!
       
    8. Its been so long since I've gotten my doll so I don't remember any of the emotions I had while ordering or waiting for him, but he was sent to my grandparents house (since my grandpa was the one who helped me order him it was just easier) but because of that I had to open his box in front of everyone and since I was like...12 and Kaede was atomically correct it was...embarrassing to say the least lmao.
       
    9. I had hyped myself up so much about getting my first resin doll that when she was finally here I was actually a little disappointed. I had set the bar so high that the reality fell short. That disappointment didn’t last though. After a couple of hours getting to know her I was head over heels. Getting the second doll was a much better experience initially because I set proper expectations with myself.
       
    10. Looking back it was kinda weird and pretty funny. My first “BJD” was just a head LOL. Cue head in a box statements :lol: She did come with a wig, eyes, and face-up so I took lots of pictures! The majority of the time was just spent admiring the work of the face-up artist and I loved it :chibi

      I didn’t get her a body until almost 4 months later :sweat
       
    11. I was really nervous and also very hyped. I had this idea in my mind of how the doll was going to look when it came home (I had ordered a blank doll with nothing but default eyes and wig which was a total mistake for me) and I had her character very clear in my mind and also this idealized notion of the special encounter with the first doll as the first kiss.
      When I opened the package I felt... not disappointment but like I wasn't feeling what I was supposed to feel when getting my first doll. I didn't know why and I was mad at me and a bit mad at the doll and I even doubted I had done right buying her.

      Luckily, a few months later, after having given her a face-up and some clothes and still not feel the bond I hoped, I found a head in the second-hand market which I felt I had to buy immediately and when I placed it in the body of my first doll, even without a face-up, I felt the joy I thought I would feel with the first one.
      So, for myself, that is the moment I like to recall when thinking about my first one. I consider the previous head sculpt just a bridge for getting a body for a head I still didn't know I would find xD
       
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    12. I ordered my first doll a bit after Christmas a few years ago and it was a fight. First, saving up took a long time and, as my mother had told my grandmother I wanted a doll, suddenly grandma became defensive about helping me in any way buy a "gay sex doll". I really have no clue where she got that idea from... Anyway, once I did have the money, thanks to my own savings and very generous Christmas money from other family members, he got caught in a snowstorm during shipping so I was on the phone with the postal service trying to locate him. However, once he was actually in my hands, I was thrilled.
       
    13. I had a bunch of money saved up, and once I started looking at dolls it was hard to find one in an aesthetic I liked. Ended up with a dream of doll E-an after looking at many photos. I really loved the whole kpop suit style. In person, I don't think I realized how big 1/3 dolls really are! I was like WHOAAAAAAAAAA. I still have her, the skin has yellowed a bit but she's still stylin.
       
    14. After looking at a couple of dolls at a re-enacting event, I really wanted one. After having been a collector of
      plastic dolls, I searched and searched. This was long ago enough that there were not that many makers. First I was
      outbid on ebay on a Choi, then I found CPDelf and fell for Lishe. She arrived on Memorial day, delivered by the postal service.
      shock!! Federal holiday! Poor baby was naked and bald, but she did have a face-up. So excited, but surprised at her weight.
      Didn't take longer than a couple of hours to get her first dress done.
      Still have her and she still sometimes wears that dress.
       
    15. My first doll was mostly a gift from a friend? I payed like a fraction of her cost, and she and her girlfriend covered the rest of it... they even payed to have her face-up done for my birthday one year!

      That doll's being re-shelled so the face-up's been wiped, but I still really love her. I don't plan on ever getting rid of that doll... I still love her a lot, and I'm excited for the character that she's going to become!