What was that feeling you had before purchasing your first doll?

Excitement and terror!
I had looked at this doll for a long time. I added him to the cart with all the options I wanted to see what the cost would be so many times! Then one day I decided to just go for it. My friend warned me not to, and she usually is the one in my ear influencing me to just do it!
But I said, nope, I have done this so many times that this time I am going to do it! I waited months for him to arrive. In that time I went through so many emotions, and my stomach was in knots when I would think about it. I couldn't wait for this doll I had dreamed about for so long, but the money spent and the not knowing if I would love him as much in person, or if I would like a doll that size etc...boy, did I have anxiety, but I was also super excited and couldn't wait for him to arrive!
I don't stress as much now as I did with that one, but it was a good learning experience for sure!

 

So excited, it was Blythe and I'd never seen one in person but I went all out and bought 3. When they arrived I was so surprised at how big they were. This was over 10 years ago now and I have a variety of dolls but I do prefer the more cartoony vs BJD style.

 

I genuinely felt like a kid on Christmas. Nothing will ever compare to the feeling of finding a doll you like and hitting that order button - plus, a chunk of you bank account just vanishing into thin air lol. Guess that's the adult part...

 

When I chose the first doll I bought, I spent a long time making sure it was the right one. I actually changed my decision before buying her I wanted a different girl at first but went with her instead. I was super anxious to get her and was freaking out a bit. I bought her a few essentials to make sure I was prepared and wasn't missing anything. The only thing she doesn't have is shoes but I dont rlly care for them cause I dont take her out much.
I have had her for a bit, but I'm still learning.

 

I felt really sick at the thought of spending that much money on a tiny doll. It was a RealPuki Toki full set! In fact I thought the transaction hadn’t gone through and was slightly relieved. But when he got here I was smitten by the BJD bug, fascinated by the jointing and posing, the face-up details and the sheer feel of the doll in my hand. I have lot more dolls now and I really need to stop buying any more due to space considerations......but then another beautiful sculpt will come along.......

 

I was very excited and you would of thought I had won the lottery. The next feeling was the growing excitement as each day went by after stalking the USPS tracking page to see how much closer she was on her way to me. Once I did receive her I handled her like she was glass and did not want to break her. It actually took a few days for me the have to confidence in handling her and realize she would not break with me just handling her. But I do still feel that excitement still with every new girl I purchase to add to my crew..I just now know how to handle them .

 

Honestly? I think it was uncertainty lol

I'd admired BJDs for years before I finally bit the bullet and purchased one... last year. My thought process until then was always the same: "Ah, that's very pretty, but I'll never do anything with it." I have a complex about... inanimate things with eyes lol. It's not a fear of dolls even, like I don't even keep posters or photographs on my wall because of it. Just makes me uncomfortable. Like I'm having a mental breakdown or getting dressed after a shower and look up and there's some celebrity or a photo of my nan just smiling at me, it makes me self conscious So I figured I'd never have one of these dolls since I'd never want it watching me change clothes lol.

Then Fairyland did a quick Pongpong re-release and I'd been saying for a year and a half that if I ever found one I'd get just that one because that giant smile reminds me of my son. So, full of do I really even want this? apprehension I ordered one, figuring I could always quickly turn around and resell if I really wasn't into it.

And then I ordered another doll... and another... ... and another...

Now, the feeling I have is more like the feeling you get when you're at work and you really want to do something specific but you can't because you're at work lol. Like that excited anticipation of oh I can't wait I'm going to do this and this and that. The feeling usually wanes after initial purchase, until I get a tracking number. And then wanes again until tracking shows it's in my country lol.

 

i still have the felling of excitement beacuse i have got it yet also i am not the waiting type

 

Do I really like her? Will I regret it? Sure enough, it's too expensive, or forget it…… When she got home, she was so cute! I love her! It's worth the money!

 

I agree with going back and forth! Continuously debating whether or not I should do it. I think for my first doll, a lot of the debate was moreso "This one or that one? Which one do I really want to be my first?" He still hasn't arrived but I look up pictures of him every once in a while and I'm so glad I bought him.

 

I remember the giddy excitement and trepidation I felt leading up to receiving her. Of course, as everyone else, I went back and forth on whether or not I should get one. I mean, I was ~16-ish at the time, so $250 was a lot of money for me to spend on anything and took months upon months of saving to get to, and just because I had admired them online for a couple of years by that point didn't necessarily mean I would adore them in person. Then I went back and forth for ages about this one or that, do I start small or start big, yada yada. I finally committed during a Luts summer event and never looked back.

Then I proceeded to spend the next few months obsessively checking my email for the day when Luts would send me her tracking number, followed by a few days of anxiously stalking the mailman. She now belongs to a friend of mine, but she brought me a lot of joy for the time we had together.

 

I felt anxious! Hoping my doll would come home intact and that my family would be open minded about my latest hobby.

 

oh my goodness, this was exactly the type of post i needed tonight! i just purchased my very first bjd today (chicabi remy, super cute yosd!!) but oh boy was my anxiety bumping. i've admired bjds since 2016~2017 and am absolutely sure that i want to be apart of this community! i've had my eyes on all sorts of dolls since then, but for my very first, i've long decided that a yosd would be the best way to introduce myself into the hobby -- start small, then go big! mostly to get used to the way resin behaves/posing/shipping times/etc that comes with bjds, so i thought it would be better with smaller dolls first!

i've been saving money, checking the company's social medias + website, videos, owner pics, all that jazz! i'm still feeling rather anxious, especially since after i bought it, i excitedly told my mom everything (she is well aware of my strange interests LOL) and her reaction....made me super self-conscious!! she wasn't mean or anything, but her surprise at how much i spent caught on me and made me realize "oh snaps, this hobby must sound pretty expensive to outsiders."

i was just happy i spent under $500 for a doll + all sorts of cute accessories! (i originally was looking into msds that could easily pass that, so this was a huge relief to me financially haha)

i think her reaction + spending that much at once + blooming nerves all mixed together and overwhelmed me at first, but i am really hoping that soon it'll be excitement more than anything. i truly want to enjoy myself in this wonderful hobby!! it's helped reading how others found it worthwhile when their dolls arrived with them. i hope to experience the same! take care!!

 

so!! much!! fear!! >< but then also so much excitement! but mostly just anxiety over whether i'd purchased on impulse, but as time goes on, I find that wears off and I just get more and more hyped for their arrival!

 

Congrats on your first doll!!! I just bought my first (two...cough) yesterday and it was definitely a mix of anxiety and spender’s guilt with excitement!!! Now that the initial guilt is over I mostly feel excited haha

 

A mixture of excitement and anxiety. On one hand, I was very excited about ordering my first bjd after admiring them for many years. However, I was anxious about the cost. It was the first time I had ever spend so much money on a doll, but I rationalized it as it's not very different than purchasing an artwork from an artist because of how these dolls are made.

 

Money anxiety mixed with excitement and thoughts of 'please don't regret this'! I don't spend large chunks of money all at once unless it's a necessity. I don't buy expensive clothes or handbags or things like that. I do collect some other stuff, but nothing expensive. A good thing that came out of the pandemic was I saved a lot of money by not commuting to work, and not going out to eat. I didn't realize how much I spent on just those things until I stopped doing it. So late last year I decided to go for it after admiring the dolls from afar for a long time since I had some splurge money saved.

I was in love with the first doll when I got her! WHEW. And she's gotten me back into sewing when I can spare the time, which is something I missed from some years ago. And since I loved her so much of course I found her a little sister! And I've been spoiling them like crazy.

And now the dolls are starting to multiply... send help!!

 

I stopped myself from buying Vilitunes Mimi-chu in the first preorder I knew about. And I regretted it so much. I had wanted her for so long and got really exited when I found out a preorder was coming up. The only reason I didn’t do it was that I’m a person that panics anytime I need to spend money, and spending so much on a doll I just couldn’t do it when the time came.

Like I said I regretted it. So I waited for the next preorder (took about a year) and I still had a hard time doing it, but I did. Panicked for a couple hours. Thought about canceling the order. Didn’t. Then i was just happy that i would have my first BJD, and still am.

 

My waffling was over "Is this the sculpt I really want? I like this other one, too."
I thought about it for a good month or so before I hit that BUY button, and have never regretted the choice.

So, don't get so wrapped up in it that you start to second-guess yourself. But taking a little time to weigh your options? That isn't a bad thing.