What was the worst mistake you made when you first started the hobby?

The biggest mistake I made is trying to match every head a individual body. Sooner I realized I don’t have that many space to place those 70-75cm dolls and the cost of clothes are too high. Now I stick to 2-3heads share one body strategy which saves me a lot money as well as room space

 

Not writing down what dolls had boxes, heads and bodies that had COAs. It makes reselling much easier. I've spent hours searching for a COA for a doll head when there was only one for the bust stand that came with the doll (fanff hai).

 

Same as many others - Research. Not research about the doll itself, but what you’re gonna need FOR the doll. Available shoes, outfit, eyes wigs, compatibility with other characters in different scale etc. Especially shoes, do not make my own so it’s been really difficult to find ones for one of my dolls

 

I bought too many dolls! At some point there were twelve of them and for me it's a lot I was angry at them and at myself cause I didn't have enough time to deal with them. Dolls have ceased to be interesting, they have mixed into one annoying pile There was only one way out, to sell those with whom I no longer want to engage. After the big sale it became much easier for me, and I'm sure won't have more than five dolls at the same time.

 

My biggest mistake was not doing better research on the specific proxies and companies i was ordering from. I wound up with all my dolls eventually (and a refund, also eventually, for the item that never shipped) and they're all legit, but the customer service for two of the orders to different places left something to be desired. (Okay, it was atrocious.) And these are known issues, I just wasn't aware.

I'm very happy with my dolls, but ooo boy am I asking around about anything unfamiliar these days before making an order! (And I've since had much better experiences!)

 

Impatient, not doing enough research, and impulse buying. I spent far too much money at the time. I think there is only one impulse buy that I don't regret, and that's mainly because it was my grail doll.

 

For some horrific reason I thought I could put pastels over naked, unsealed resin and spray Mr. Super Clear over it. Luckily I figured out how to do the whole customization thing properly and the staining was only minimal. I also have a ton of eyes that are the incorrect shape for my dolls because I didn't realize that dome heights were a thing.

 

I probably wouldn't have gotten a puki from Fairyland as my first doll. My main reasoning was that they were on my wishlist and were the most "affordable" (not for what they are, which I now know) because I was 14 or 15 at the time and had to save up all my money. They're adorable, but not nearly as satisfying as having one that's SD- or MSD-sized. Also, like another commenter said, I was in the mindset of trying to make/do everything and got overwhelmed; I'd even asked for a fancy camera for my birthday/Christmas so I could take pictures of her like I'd seen others do on DeviantART and never learned how to not take super-blurry photos (this was before smartphones with cameras were standard).

 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - buying the most expensive dolls first. I was the newbie who worked backwards - I started with pricier dolls (Iplehouse, Dream Valley). And they are beautiful! I love them! But mod them? Suede them? Restring them? Horrors! What if I scratched the resin? Damaged the face-up? So I kept buying dolls, because they were so pretty! But I was terrified to do anything with them. And they sat on display, looking pretty... but not much else. I paid for face-ups, only to realize that I didn't like them.

It wasn't until I purchased used, more affordable dolls that I realized what I was missing on customization, modding, etc.

Also - turning up my nose at more "affordable" dolls (I wasn't vocal about it, but I was "that" hobbyist). I thought Resinsouls were boring. Not my thing. Now they're some of my favorite dolls.

If I could start over, I would buy used, affordable dolls first and really learn how to string, suede, do face-ups, sew, and photograph them. Then, and only then, would I spring for the pricier dolls.

 

Other than buying too many BJDs, my worst mistake was buying wigs that were too big for many of the SDs, simply because they were marked SD-size.

It took me years to understand that even some SDs needed 7-8/MSD sizes, that wouldn't "eat" their heads.

 

I think my biggest mistake was when I was trying to swap out the feet on my SD13 without the proper tools and the cord came off the hook so I had to figure out how to restring her legs completely lol. My fingers hurt quite a bit for a while after that.

 

[Ordering from DolkUS], that was my one and only worse mistake when starting this hobbie.

Spoiler: Full story

Imagine when you pre-order a full set doll as your first bjd with in one week after the company announce this new doll, you paid in full, and then...

- After a year the doll not show up
- Many people start to show this doll pictures (Months ago...)
- The doll it self appear in Dolk store in Japan, full set (What about mine!? )
- You've try to contact DolkUS many time via email and they won't respose even single of them.
- You try shout at Dolk's facebook page
- They then respose 'via email' in a tone that like nothing ever happen and they never ignored you before
- A month after that (So, 13monthsin total), you received the doll with defected faceup (distorted lip shape and one eyelash fall off... Ok this is the only thing you can blame doll company not DolkUS, but did they not even check?)

Well, I think when you have come over all these for your 'First Doll'. Anything else are trivia... That's the only good thing I got from them I guess(?)

Ps.I don't like to admit this but, Dolk JP, although pricier, give you an excellent service. Like they're not the same company

 

Picking fabric that’s not very beginner friendly for sewing clothes and picking complicated patterns. The learning curve for sewing itty bitty clothes is nuts too!

 

Making my own face up on my first BJD ever after watching only 2 tutorials on YouTube... I thought that thanks to my drawing skills, doing a face up would be a piece of cake. Well shame on me for thinking that, because it was literally a catastrophe

 

The one thing that comes to mind as a beginner's regret? This one time I was cleansing sealant off a head to redo the faceup. I left the head sitting for several minutes in rubbing alcohol to soak, and...the resin kind of disintegrated a bit around one of the eye-wells. The damage wasn't extremely distressing, but it did require me fixing it up with some two-part epoxy. Since then I try not to soak heads in cleansers for more than a few minutes.

 

Not doing more research before buying from a particular company, and realising I probably would've preferred a different doll from another company if I had researched it better.

 

THIS!! Ahhh same omgg, I bought the Towa standard model and I really regret sinking that much money into the doll, at the time i thought i'd come to love her head sculpt, but i cant stand it and im always looking for a new head to stick on her, definitely wish i actually did 3 minutes of research and found out theres a LOT of other companies out there besides Volks (being brand new and finally have the money i impulse bought on Volks because for some reason i seem to have convinced myself at the time, that Volks was the only doll company on the planet???)

 

- Not getting them sooner.
Honestly knew about them a while back, just didn't know how to find them for a great while. Feel that they could have helped with some past experiences (cosplaying/ taking fashion classes).

- Getting dolls based off friends.
Atm, had a falling out with someone, haven't seen them for almost half a year. No contact at all. Having a doll based off of them, and the memories that come up when looking at it stings a bit. Was one of my first dolls.

- Having a lot of spare accessories.
Lots of different sizes of eyes, clothes, and wigs that didn't fit.
Left with a box full of things I can't sell as fast as I would like.

- The price tags adding up, and not being able to get other things before they sell.

 

Buying too many accessories, clothing, wigs, etc.

I wasn't sure what I liked or what my doll's character was so I experimented. It's much harder to sell than it is to buy!

 

Ahhh same, I am still trying very hard to match every single head with an individual body! They are occupying all the spaces and I literally need to find gaps inside the house to store those cases.
I bought a lot of accessories/clothing/wigs as well, didn’t plan my budget and too lazy to sale those.
In the end my room is like a shithole