What was Your Greatest Find?

Spent years looking for a Soom Mini Gem Azur for Soom to re-release him. I got him real fast! Still looking for his human outfit set though.

Found a Doll Zone Elf Ian unexpectedly and didn't think I would win his auction on shopgoodwill. Well I did. Now to figure out who to ask to help me repaint him.

 

Pretty much all of my second-hand finds have been great, including my grail (Soom Sphaler, with fullset and original blushing. My precioussssss). I think objectively, two of the shiwoos were absolute gold finds though - the Vampire Dreaming just because it was released so long ago (this sucker is old enough to legally drink), and the Smoky Quartz fullset just based on how rare it was - I think it was LE5? Just goes to show, you never know what you'll find on a lil jaunt around the marketplace.

 

Many years ago I got my grail Volks Nana as a head with a beautiful faceup, it took a while to find in my price range. The faceup was not my style but way too beautiful to wipe off. I was in and out of the hobby like I tend to be and chose to sell her in the end and almost leave the hobby completely. 5-6 years later I got that bjd itch and came back, scrolled through DOA to see what had happened during these years and all that was new on the market, then I went to casually browse secondhand.. There she was a full blank Nana for a steal I could barely believe it! I have never written a message that fast It was unexpected, the best deal Ive ever made and that pretty much solidified my comeback to the hobby and I couldnt be happier

 

I found a 1st release Soom Lig/Nodia after 9 years of waiting. Tbh at that point I had already given up on ever finding one, I mean, 9 years. Damn. But one day while scrolling through a local secondhand market page there she was! Papers, original face-up, everything! And she was not even far away!
Nothing will ever top that for me XD

 

I'm a hard core classic Bluefairy/Tinyfairy and Angel Region/Little Fair fan and check all the second hand markets every day sometimes two or three times a day if I just get a feeling.
Just recently who should show up in a BF box but a DOD Dream of Doll Homme Kirill. He doesn't have his fullset but his faceup is perfect. And now I've been adding DOD DOC's to my daily searches.

 

I left the hobby for years and vowed to come back and buy myself a Dream of Doll Kirill. Come to find the company had disappeared, but managed to find a full set just after the pandemic. Opening his box felt like magic.

 

I’d have to say it was a couple of Dollzone surprise rereleases that were my greatest finds…I mean, who knew they’d ever release something so limited ever again? Certainly not me…I was aghast! One was for their huge mermaid Sawarieda…and they made her available in purple skin! The other was for their flower boy, Moment…which I was able to get in green skin! These beauties were both dolls I’d missed out on initially due to tight dolly finances at the time and never dreamed I’d ever see again, certainly not new from the company. When it happened, many years later, my wallet flew open so fast!

 

I think many of my dolls were quite lucky finds, but I think most unexpected of them all is Nuoyi. I had found a good deal on a Souldoll new double kids body and was looking for a head, any fitting head, for it. Someone was selling a Doll Legend practice head for cheap locally so I grabbed it without thinking twice (and without thinking about the possible resin mismatch.... ). I thought that it would maybe be a temporary head and I'll swap it out sometime later but it was a perfect proportional fit and I love the grumpy expression. And i've never seen one for sale again! I've also never really stumbled upon another one, aside from the few old pictures in the Doll Legend minis thread. I would have never known this sculpt existed unless I had bought it on a whim but I'm so glad I did.

 

I've had a number of times when ordering a doll where a limited was still in-stock at a dealer when I decided I truly wanted one. Two of my greatest were a Creatures Dolls Absinthe the artist still had one of my favorite of the 3 resin colors available in stock after getting the dolls for a pre-order. I had admired another one of their very unique dolls years before, but didn't buy it for financial reasons. The other was a blue Jiyu vampire elf Denver Doll had in-stock. He's perfect for a character concept I've had in my head for a long time.

 

I'm grateful for the internet. I was very fortunate to find a doll maker that shares exact style and concept as mine when I was looking for my first doll after a lot of browsing. Regardless how short or long I took to find the maker and acquire a doll from them, I feel very fortunate.

 

I've had the good luck to find CP Delf head on a Japanese secondhand website for less the 40 bucks a couple of months ago. A sculpt that I had been searching for almost a decade! I'm convinced, that all my dolly luck has been depleted by this event, so this was it! He's yellowed but not "beauty green" and he's got some mods (albeit very expertly done ones), but I'm still so happy that I could get him without a hitch. It definitely wouldn't have happened without the shopping service that got him for me, although the seller didn't have that many positive feedbacks at the time.

 

A couple of years ago I found an old basic Kinoko Juice Kiki on Mandarake, basically my ultimate grail 10 years ago. But they were so impossible to get I really had to accept that it would never happen. Kinoko Juice has already made their dolls very easy to buy, but it was still so shocking to see Kiki that old, probably one of the first batches, on Mandarake of all places, going for $200 or so and all I had to do was add to cart. In great condition too! It felt like I finally came full circle when it comes to hunting down dolls. If you stop looking for it, it will just show up!

 

One of my best doll "scores" was a Souseiseki/Suiseiseki head I bought for $300 something here on on the MP YEARS ago. She's so lovely and I've seen such high prices for that mold.

Another impulse buy was a Vintage Ai Odree I found long after Custom House shuttered it's doors.

 

My best finds were my F60 Juri 2012 and my DD Sasara. Both heads go for a pretty penny these days and I'd basically written off the potential of ever owning them. Then, as the story goes, I was doing my little stroll around the marketplace at the right time and managed to find both at price points I could afford. I still can't believe both of these beautiful girls are in my collection!

 

Pukipuki Ruby in tan and Harucasting Zzang.

When I found Ruby she was in Germany and the seller was hesitant to ship overseas but she decided to take the risk and everything worked out. She arrived on Christmas Eve in 2023 and fairyland still has not brought the sculpt back so I feel lucky that I found her.

I missed a preorder for Zzang last year and knew she’d be hard to find. I messaged Haru and he said he would do another preorder for her this year but I hate waiting so when I found her second hand I could not pass her up. She is the only Zzang I have seen for sale second hand and just happened to be the resin color and face up that I wanted. A new preorder has not come up so far this year for the sculpt.

 

I hate to say "the friends I made along the way" but... I'm going to say it anyway.

 

A modest find in comparison with some limited grail dolls others may have found, but for me it is the head of my first girl. It is a Narae 412, which was a pretty rare find back then, that I found second-hand on a local forum and I have yet to see a doll sculpt that brings me more warmth, happiness and solace. She's been with me for more than 10 years now and I get the feeling she'll stay with me as I get old and wrinkly. Best find ever.

 

I have always wanted an Art Bimong Dandelion, I was thinking about how I probably would never find one. Then I looked on line and there she was!

 

I wanted sadol So Dam since I first joined the hobby. I got her with a faceup (it is so perfect), heel and flat legs for well under 600$ during their black friday sale 2 years ago. that was probably the doll deal of the century for me.