What was the biggest mistake you ever made in the hobby?

Um, buying too many dolls?

Seriously, though... I look back at a group pic taken 9 months into collecting, and think, "OH, simpler times!"

 

My current biggest regret is one I am hoping to fix in April and one I had been so adamant about being perfect when I first got her. I bought a Dikadoll Lola and had her switched up to the 65cm body so she'd be taller. At first, this seemed like a grand idea and I loved her when I first got her. But, over time, I realized I should've just kept her on the 58cm body she would have came on. That body was newly sculpted and didn't have massive hands and feet and awkwardly long arms. In the end, yes, she would've been super short but I would've been happier over all.

My other biggest regret that I think about a lot is not getting a Luts Soony. My Elf Soony from Fairyland really is great but I wish I had a Delf Soony and wish I hadn't kept pushing her back at the beginning of the hobby. I kept lowering her importance and then, one day, she was just gone. So frustrating!

My last regret is impulse buying just for the freebies but also NOT impulse buying just for the freebies. LOL! I guess what I mean is I need to choose my freebies carefully. I don't like fantasy or super tiny dolls so ordering just for that kind of doll is not the wisest decision. But, also, if a head really speaks to me, I should try to go for it if I have the funds so I don't have to scour and pay way too much in the marketplace. I guess it's just a matter of filtering and choosing events wisely, especially when it comes to Fairyland.

 

I did a photoshoot on concrete and my very first (and favourite) BJD fell down and dented his nose.

 

I do have one doll I regret selling, and I've never seen one for sale since (and I think the person who bought her from me was banned), so that has been gnawing at me for a few years. Other than that, there were some times where I bought too many dolls at once, and I consider that a mistake because I never got around to completing them, and most of them ended up moving on anyway.

 

I guess my two biggest mistakes involve my first doll. The first one I made was getting her, I guess, as sad as that sounds. I never truly bonded with her. I bought her because I had been in love with the BJD hobby for years and when I finally had the chance to get a doll that was remotely close to what I wanted, I jumped on the opportunity, and I was completely in love with her for awhile until I realized I just had no clue what to do with her. I think something was wrong with her joints when she was cast because her legs pose horribly and the socket of one looks slightly different than the other. And I get a bratty character vibe from her the more I'm with her for some reason, and I really don't like that.

The second mistake I made was taking off her default faceup (which was beautifully done) because I wanted to try my hand at customization to see if I could get anywhere close to what I wanted with her. Her default was a bit too brown-toned for my liking and I was looking for something cheerier with pinks. And I actually did an alright job when I did my first few experimental faceups on her. I have an artistic background and I researched what I was going to do beforehand. But I'm not entirely sure what happened and whether it was the materials or the sealant, but she ended up getting stained. I've used rubbing alcohol, very small amounts of acetone, and even gentle sanding to remove it, and she still has little crevices around her eyes that I just can't get the staining out of. So now I'm left with a blank doll that's slightly stained and can't pose at all unless it involves careful sitting.

I don't know. I don't want to sell her because she meant a lot to me at the time and I still consider her a part of my collection, but until I work up the effort to plan her a whole new wardrobe and faceup with wigs and eyes and everything, she's just going to sit in her box for now. I feel like I underestimated how much of a project she was going to be and that was my biggest mistake.

 

@RainyAeon, if you want to remove the stains, you can try what I did with one of my rescue boys. It used a very small set of tools: 90+% rubbing alcohol, magic erasers cut into small pieces, a basin of some sort, wooden toothpicks, gloves, and Netflix. The alcohol helps dissolve the remaining sealant (you'll want to soak the head for an hour, probably not much longer than that, before you start), the magic erasers and toothpicks help work it out of the spots where it's still trapped, the gloves protect your hands from the alcohol, and the Netflix keeps you entertained because it's going to take you a long time. Still, I was able to bring a badly stained head all the way back to "like new" in about an hour and a half of active scrubbing time doing this. Crevices do tend to get sealant stuck in them, and are hard to get cleaned out; I generally resort to things like stiff toothbrushes (bad for your teeth, good for resin!) and toothpicks to get them clean, if I'm going for 100% scrubbed, or just blush over them if I'm not.

 

@vicemage, thank you for the advice! I did try everything except soaking it in pure rubbing alcohol and repeating the steps again, I think. And I can't remember if I tried toothbrushes. If not, then I'm a dope because that should have been my first idea. Most of the staining is in the creases of the eyes in addition to sealant buildup inside the ears (elf ears are the worst for this). I'll be sure to follow these steps in my next attempt at cleaning her up, though.

 

@RainyAeon, you'll want to pick up a "firm" toothbrush to do this--basically the kind your dentist generally tells you to not use. It's better for getting down into the crevices and really scrubbing at them; the toothpick lets you scrape out the rest, and is soft enough to not mar the resin while you're doing it. With that and patience, I think you'll be very pleased with the result, and prepared to take on a fresh look for your girl!

 

my first mistake was when i just got in to bjds and i didnt realise that ns wasnt the same from all companies so i picked a head from one and a body from another. when i found out they didnt match i couldn't afford to complete either doll and then one of the companies quit selling the heads/bodies separately so i never was able to complete that doll.

my other big one has been impulse buying a le doll because it was an le. impulse dolls seldom work out for me and usually end up selling for less than i paid by the time you factor in shipping and customs fees..

 

My biggest mistake was waiting to order the Delf doll I wanted. I had just come into a large sum of money and could easily have gotten a doll, but thought I should wait and buy one as a graduation present to myself. Literally a week later when I checked Luts, the Delfs were discontinued. I finally got an Angel Elf Soo head with the original face up, and now she needs a body. I also have a full AES coming with a new face up that's pretty! I also left my first doll, a Leeke Sweet, in the living room of my old place after taking pics of her and she got A LOT of sun before I realized I'd forgotten her for at least a week! AND I DID IT MORE THAN ONCE! She's starting to get pretty yellow now. Sigh.

 

Sizes! My crew is mainly sd-sized, and then somehow I wound up with a mature tiny, and I have no clue what she's supposed to do in this verse. I want to sell her. I really, really should, but I overpaid a bit for her, and I'll never break even.

 

Oh my god the biggest mistake I ever made was thinking about getting a recast and I was about to buy one I am so happy that I changed my mind waiting and saving up money now that I look back I am like what was I thinking! But now I finally put supia doll hael on order and I am so happy that I didnt buy a recast. I will, never ever think of getting a recast ever again. I support bjd artists

 

My greatest mistake was ordering a wig which cost me 150 USD -_- Finally, it was absolutely spoiled when I was trying to fix hairdo
Instead of it I failed to buy one of IH BID's when they were available in Addiction series. Anyway the last mistake is possible to fix, though it'll cost me a lot again XD

 

I haven't been in the hobby too long, but the biggest mistake I think so far was ordering my first doll with a face-up. It was a pretty big sum of money and I only did it because the company wouldn't include eyes otherwise, and all the eyes I could buy separately on their site were like $50 for some reason. And I guess I didn't realize there were tons of options for places to buy eyes. But anyway, I wiped her face-up and redid it within a week, lol.

 

I sold a body for one of my most beloved dolls when I really needed money. I figured I'd just buy it again later. In the meantime they stopped making the bodies, and I haven't found one since. :/

 

My biggest mistake was forgetting to buy msc when I got my first doll and decided to redo her face up. Oh god. Still haven't gotten back to the look I wanted

 

Impulse buying inexpensive dolls that I don't like that much >_<

 

Trading a Fairyland Karsh for an SD that had a lot more yellowing than the other party mentioned. :/ It didn't show up in their pictures but it's really uneven and it looks like they tried to sand some of it off. I might just use that body to practice modding, but now I'm definitely more wary about that kind of stuff.

 

My biggest mistake was deciding to base my characters off of demons in the Ars Goetia. Dammit I should have picked a theme with less names because there's 72 demons and I just keep getting more and more of them!!! XD

Other than that... there was this cool grey bolero with tails and a fur trim that I had... and I sold it. I miss it but I've never seen anything like it since then! Whoops. Also this awesome shoulder armor by Luts that is super rare now and I sold that too T_T

 

I haven't made any huge mistakes. I did buy a 1/4 size shoe for my DD Miku. That was before I knew about sizes. I just assumed there was only one size for dolls. Silly me.