What's your hobby story?

It's interesting to hear your story and how you got into the hobby. My story is very similar. I always loved playing with dolls and also seemed to play with them a lot longer than most people! I have two younger sisters and we all used to play with dolls together.
Unlike my sisters, who threw away or sold their dolls long ago, I kept onto some and kept them in the loft. I think I'm a bit of a sentimental person
Dolls have always kind of been more than just a doll to me, sometimes I get attached to the stories and personalities behind them. (I probably sound really weird! Haha)

I'm 20 now and so I think my transition into BJD's came quite natural. I'm also an artist, and the creative appeal of designing and imagining my own characters and stories is very interesting to me and suits my Piscean nature!! I've always been the kind of person that keeps a notebook to write stories and character designs - and I LOVE imagining little scenarios!

Im getting my very first BJD tomorrow, so I am VERY excited!!!


EDIT: Plus, it's also so lovely to be part of a community where adults can collect things they love and discuss their passions and ideas together. My family think I'm childish liking dolls and I'm still a little conscious about it, but I'm looking forward to getting over that and enjoying dolls for the rest of my life!

 

I never liked dolls as a kid. I never owned a Barbie, or any other dolls of the sort other than a few my grandma gifted to me (a Chatty Patty and a Strawberry Shortcake doll).
I did however own a handful of She-rah action figures.

I was actually looking for a "custom elf figure" to use for my D&D characters when I found an customized Luts head (a Nanuri 06 with elf ear mods) on ebay. It was an instant, "oh my gosh what is THIS!?" moment.

I was hooked. I did a bunch of research, joined the DoA, and started saving for my first doll. I planned on placing an order in February of 2007. Then I got suckered in by the Luts winter event and ordered my first doll in December 2006 (about two months after finding out that BJDs existed ).

So it took me 26 years, but I finally found dolls that I like! I am not sure if grandma would approve of them or not though... I have no clure how she would have reacted to elf ears and hooves for feet.

(Congrats on your first doll, [MENTION=68846]dollyholly[/MENTION]!)

 

Your stories are so cool to read about.
I liked dolls growing up but stopped when I was like 11. Then when I was about 18 I saw my first tonner doll on deviant art. Then a few weeks later saw my first repaint. I was in love with the sense of personality the repaint gave the doll. So I looked more into and then stumbled upon bjds and realized how cool they were and how I wanted one but also felt weird cause I didn't want anyone to know. Then one day I told my best friend and he encouraged me to get one so I did then he bought me one then he bought himself one. So today I still own my two dolls but am currently only working one. Its been almost a year I've had her and I'm still trying to get her complete.

 

As a child, I hated dolls. I had a couple of Barbies and one Cabbage Patch Kid, but spent most of my time playing with My Little Ponies, stuffed animals, and my CPK Koosa (anyone remember those?) instead, while the Barbies sat in a drawer and... I'm not even sure where the CPK spent its time. I wasn't interested in dolls, and especially not baby-dolls.

As I got older, though, I became interested in fantasy creatures, particularly elves, and wished for some elf dolls. Nothing really existed at the time (this was still before BJDs existed, and I was much too young to afford one anyway), so I considered things like modifying patterns for CPK-like dolls to be elves, and "kitbashing" action figures to be more what I wanted, though I never quite got around to either. (Eventually, I did design and sell some elf ragdolls, which were cute, and I still have the pattern, should I decide to make more in the future.)

At some point, I spotted BJDs at anime conventions, but at the time, only ever saw fluffy lolita-styled Volks girls. Nothing against them at all, but they certainly weren't the male elf I wanted! So I didn't really pay much attention to them. At some point, a roommate I had at the time asked about them, and found the Volks USA site, and we mistakenly thought the less expensive ABS versions were the big ones we'd seen around, and considered ordering some to customize and resell. Never got around to that, either, and again, none had elf ears so I just wasn't very interested.

Eventually, I moved in with a different roommate. I started doing Artists' Alleys at anime conventions. Somewhere along the way, someone handed out copies of Haute Doll to all the participants who were interested; I took a copy out of curiosity, and in one of the ads there was an elf doll! I can't recall what company or sculpt he was, but he was quite gorgeous, and had a company name and sculpt name next to him so I looked him up... and immediately backed off, because he was over $700! No way!

Not too terribly long after that, the new roommate (also an AA artist) and I observed that there were an awful lot of BJDs around conventions. She talked to someone, found out about the Junky Spot, and decided that it would be a good idea if each of us got an inexpensive doll from there to start making clothing to sell at our tables. Okay, I said, if they've got one I can make look like my main OC, that's not too expensive, I'll use my tax return on one with you. Remarkably, she found one... though it was a girl, and the OC in question is male. Thankfully, Emory was quite kind and managed to do a body-swap, to give me my male elf I'd wanted for so many years. And... I really wasn't impressed when he arrived! It wasn't until I wiped his default faceup, chopped his wig up, and repainted him, that I started to actually like him, and started to legitimately fall into the hobby (that roughly coincides with when I registered my account here).

Honestly, it took me a really long time to get into this hobby, and I kind of had to be dragged into it by my persistent roommate. Back when I first spotted those cutesy lolita girls, I never would have imagined I'd own a single BJD, much less the 29-and-counting I currently own!

 

As a child I loved dolls of all kinds! As well as stuffed animals and an obsession with my little pony. My mom used to buy me those really expensive porcelain dolls.

When I became a teenager I got rid of all my "kid" things and wanted to be cool and thought grown ups don't collect dolls and teddy's. I kept a few stuffed animals I couldn't part with.

It wasn't until later in my teens (around 17-18) I became interested once again in my little pony. I bought a few ponies and did re rooting and painting. Then again it went out the window.

Finally at 24 years old I went back to Dolls once again. I found out about monster high dolls and became obsessed. I would go to Walmart every paycheck and get a doll. Then I discovered limited adition disney dolls particularly the Elsa in her queen outfit. I was smitten and had to have her!

Finally I was browsing dolls and came across BJDS. That was it. I sold my monster high and Disney doll in order to put money towards my first BJD. I saved for a long time.

Now I have been in the hobby since 2013 and I don't look back. I adore this hobby more than anything! I'm so happy to have found it

 

I've always had a lot of Barbie and Sindy dolls as a kid, I really collected them and I would arrange them and take their pictures. When growing up and moving to my own apartment I got rid of all my toys. Then suddenly you are in your thirties and you get an epiphany... I don't have a real hobby anymore! So after virtually collecting dolls on Pinterest I finally ordered my first Blythe and now here I am holding my first BJDs!

 

I don't remember ever being bought a doll when I was little. I was interested in animals so I tended to either play with stuffed toys or animal/anthro type dolls/figures (or in the garden playing with bugs and climbing trees with the family cat). I was also keen on my brother's toys such as rocklords and anything which looked like a monster or alien (star wars robots and aliens were one of my favourites), but standard dolls just never really interested me.

I collected designer vinyl in my twenties (think pete fowlers monsterism, world of 3a etc) and I found Blythe dolls through simply browsing sites looking at vinyl figures, this wasn't too long after Takara had started to reproduce them. I fell in love with their unusual aesthetic and I started to collect them and that hobby or collecting turned into what it is today! I no longer have any blythe dolls, but I still sew and design clothes for them.

The creativity of the BJD world has kept me interested ever since and the expansion of the types of dolls available (especially doll chateau in recent years) now has me hooked.

 

I've loved dolls since I was little, but starting around 6th grade, I was just SO annoyed that most fashion dolls looked basically the same. Long blond hair, big blue eyes, lots of makeup, same bodies. Almost NO boy options that weren't some dorky Ken dude. So I started cutting my dolls' hair to style it differently, tried "dyeing" it, I even did a few repaints before I even knew people did such things. (They were a mess. Nail polish remover, nail polish, liquid eyeliner and white out are not good faceup supplies, especially on vinyl. XD )

Once I was in my later teens, I was looking on ebay for rare Ken dolls and Bratz Boyz, when I started coming across OOAK repaints, which mesmerized me. After I'd seen every single one on ebay several times, I started looking for "OOAK boy" or "OOAK guy", and came across an absolutely gorgeous Ancient Egyptian themed Volks GO Guy. That got me researching Volks as a company, and lead to finding Super Dollfies. At the time, I was a broke college kid and felt there was absolutely NO way I could ever afford a doll that cost $500 or more, and I was afraid to send that much money to a foreign country anyway at the time, just in case something went wrong. After more research, I ended up finding JunkySpot.

Finally, in 2006, I caved and bought a 1/6 Obitsu from JunkySpot. He was about $40, which was crazy to me for a blank doll, but I felt it was worth it. I practiced faceups, sewing, character development, photostories....all the basics with him. Poor guy.

In 2008, about a month before I got married, after I was out of school and on my own, I finally decided I WOULD get resin no matter the cost. I wentback to JunkySpot, since they were the only US dealer I knew about, and I fell head over heels for an in stock Angel of Dream Chen. He was only $183 with shipping and more perfect than even the Volks I'd been longing to own. Still, that was a LOT of money for a doll.

Over the years, I had acquired a ridiculous number of fashion dolls, both in boxes and rescued, picked up for 50 cents here, $5 there, maybe $15 for special occasions. I decided I'd rather have resin, so I set up a booth at a local weekend flea market and started selling off all my fashion dolls. I took the leftovers to a used toy dealer and sold them for about 50 cents each. I sold unwanted action figures, lighting, and DVDs. Finally, 11 days before my wedding, I had enough. I bought the AoD Chen and a pair of boots for him. I bought the cheapest wig and eyes on ebay. I attempted sewing and a faceup myself. He was a mess, but Amir was home! He would be my only one. Until September, when I got a promotion and Loki came home.

Then......money was a little less tight, and the crew began to grow. I went through phases of "only JunkySpot dolls"...then found DoA and became "Only secondhand dolls".....then got much more confident and it became "any doll I want". At most, I had 38 dolls. Now, I've cut back to 19 after realizing that was a bit much for me. XD

I'm still loving the hobby, just focusing more on my favorites and trying to make them their best instead of constantly buying more dolls. This feels better to me.

 

I'd always loved dolls as a kid. I had (and still have) a ton of Barbies, plastic dollhouse dolls, and eventually Bratz dolls. Even when it started to be "uncool" to play with dolls (around when I was 11-12), I still loved it. During my spooky (scene/emo/wannabe-goth) phase in middle school, my best friend and I rediscovered my Bratz and "gothified" some of them! We didn't know better, so we used sharpies to give them eyeliner and tattoos... We also cut off limbs of a couple of my barbies and decorated them with fake blood (we thought we were really spooky). This was a few years before monster high, so there were no "alternative" dolls out there! When monster high came out a few years later, I was so happy. I started a collection of them.
Now that I was around 15 and had a tumblr, I started seeing that people would modify these dolls! I started doing it myself when I was around 16. I ran into BJDs a few times, and was amazed, but at the time I couldn't see myself spending that much money... Gods, how wrong I was. :P
Around 17, I decided I really wanted to own BJDs. I bought my first doll, a Hujoo Freya, with my Christmas money. I did her faceup, made her a bunch of clothes, and I loved it.
For my 18th birthday/high school graduation (my birthday is May 29th and my graduation was June 7th, so they were kind of combined), I asked my mom for my first resin doll: Nobility Doll Miu. She agreed to buy him for me! He came a couple months before my birthuation (I knew companies could take a while to manufacture and ship, so I asked for him well in advance), but I had to wait to have him. I ordered him with a faceup and blushing, because the company blushing/faceup are just too adorable.
A few months later, Denver Doll posted Juri '13 littlefée heads for sale! I couldn't pass THAT up.

Now, I've gotten so much better at faceups, I feel confident about restringing, and have learned a lot, thanks to dolls in general (not just BJDs). And now I even have an etsy shop for doll clothes! I really love this hobby, and I think I'll be in it for the rest of my life.

 

I was a military brat who moved every year, so my parents didn't really let us keep anything for very long. I had two dolls and a stuffy, plus one box of books, but otherwise, everything went away every time. I might have gotten into a collectible, or action figures, or something, but I knew better than to get attached to anything.

I got heavily into textiles as a teenager and young adult (including deep historical research in textiles industrialization) and I absolutely have a textiles habit. I make most of my own clothing, but there is no possible way I could ever wear, much less afford the time and money to make, everything my brain coughs up. But in smaller scale, the idea became possible.

I've also had a sandbox world in which I've been writing for years. At some point in around 2008ish, I realized I wanted to embody some of the characters. I started with a couple 1/6th Obitsus and they frustrated me. The scale was just wrong. I put them away for a while, then replaced them with a pair of 1/4 scale. They were better, but still frustrating, so again, they got put away, too.

Then last October, I was listening to a podcast and trying to envision an event, and couldn't, so I pulled out my Lan and Miro to re-enact it and realized how much I enjoyed the physicality of them. (As an aside, in terms of the podcast, the dolls proved to me that the event as described could not have happened.) but I did recall how frustrating I found their size. I happened to have the money to give the hobby one more shot, and bought a pair of 1/3 scale. And I'm not frustrated.

I've spent twenty years building a skill set to support them -- textiles, woodworking, painting -- and the career to make the wallet pain manageable. I haven't had them very long, but every morning, I'm excited to do something with them.

 

Life long artist and story teller. I still have my dolphin and sea lion plushie BFFs, after that it was plastic dogs and horses, then slowly it became dolls. As I got my own money I was able to look for store bought dolls with certain hair and eye colors. The customs started with off topic 1/6 ones to match original characters. Same thing with the on topics, all but the twins are OCs, the twins are prizes. Now I make 1/6 heads so I can have the little people I want. STill trying to make a ball joint that locks.

Meanwhile sewing, pattern drafting, sculpting, jewelry making, all the needed crafting skills have improved because outside of shoes my customs don't get much store bought stuff because they're hard fits.

 

My mother blamed my Aunt Marge for giving me that first Barbie at age two for my lifelong obsession with dolls. I sewed my first doll dresses when I was six, I was mercilessly teased and gave dolls up at 12. I started collecting porcelain dolls at twenty and learned to sew for them. I took up making Medieval and Renaissance costume in the Society for Creative Anachronism in my mid twenties. I got into making over the top Victorian doll houses in my forties. I was introduced to a BJD named Nell that belonged to my friend Aimee in 2007. I HAD to have one! I was completely computer illiterate at the time, so I had to learn how to use a computer and do a lot of research in order to buy my first doll the following year. I currently have seven BJDs and one floating head...and I will be ordering a new doll for my birthday this weekend, an Island Doll An. I am thinking about ordering an Iplehouse Leona next month. I also do silversmithing and will be attending two dollshows in the next few weeks selling silver and gemstone doll jewelry there. I feel like my entire life has been shaping me/ aiming me at this mad passion I have for BJDs.

 

I wasn't a big fan of dolls as a kid. I had two Barbie's and that was it. What I loved doing most as a kid was crafting, role playing and collecting things in general.

Does anyone remember Tazos? I was the first kid in my whole school to collect the set and other children from other years would come and see my collection. I went through a faze of collecting Lion King tradin cards, gemstones, vinatge polly pockets and vintage littlest pet shop.

I would forever make shoebox houses and my own plush toys with my crafting.

When I was 14 my dad died. I don't remeber much after that time but I kind of 'woke up' when I read Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone for the first time. From that moment I started collecting Harry Potter merchandise and the only time I would feel any form of joy or excitement was when I got a new something of Harry Potter. I estimate to have spent over $40,000 on HP merchandise up until I was 26.

When I was 26 I spent 5 months packing my whole collection away and put it in storage. I wrote my Will, stole various types of other people's medication, filled captuals with draino powder and attached a hose to the tale-pipe of my car. You can probably imagine what I was intending to do. But I didn't. I couldn't get the thought of my mum, and how hard the death of her husband was for her, out of my head. And I couldn't do it to her as well.

A few days after that I was diagnosed with major depression and, eventually, bipolar disorder. I was given strategies to stop self harming and medical professionals to talk to. That was 3 and a half years ago.

I cut myself off from the Harry Potter world. And I began collecting Monster High dolls. I still found that rush when I discovered a new doll I didn't have. But that stopped for me at the end of 2014. I hated that Mattel were bring out so many dolls with all sorts of different themes just so they could increase their profit due to their popularity. I ended up with over 200 Monster High dolls. I am planning to sell my more generic MH dolls but keep my first wave, SDCC dolls and a few others I'm a fan of.

Which lead me to BJD. My tinies and miniature fascination was with me from childhood (littlest pet shop and polly pocket) and didn't let up when I could buy miniature replicas of HP brooms and wands or other accessories for my Monster High 1:6 dolls. I got into making miniature fimo food, fimo kawaii characters, tiny furniture out of cardboard or wood and many other accessories. I wanted a dollhouse and a little someone to live in it, but I hated how lifeless dollhouse dolls look. So, from searching the web I found all sorts of tiny BJD and eventually lead me to PukiPuki's.

I hate that I've missed the 'trend' for PukiPuki's, and I wish FairyLand would reproduce some or even create some new molds, but I managed to find two beautiful basic girls on ebay and secured them for my own.

My depression leaves socially distanced from everyone, but my girls keep me company and never judge and kind of make me feel like I have friends.

 

I hated dolls as a kid. Never got interested in them as a teen...and then one day I saw BJDs and I said "this is for me". It was love at first sight^^ and 10 years later, my love for BJDs is still strong.

 

I can't remember exactly how I found out about dolls no matter how hard I try. I believe I found out about them on youtube via AsenvaBJD and had been researching them ever since uwu

 

I've collected stuffed animals most of my life and also have a few small figures of anime characters. I tend to like collecting in general, but for the most part wasn't interested in dolls. I knew about BJDs for a couple of years, and I actually didn't like the ones I saw at first, and didn't think it was for me but that's obviously not the end of the story.

I became more aware of them when I played the Visual Novel called Nameless: The One You Must Recall. It's about BJDs coming to life and is surprisingly touching, I was surprised at how sympathetic they made most of the characters. It started making me want to own one, though I didn't go out of my way looking for them, it was the game that made me just consider it.

One day I ended up seeing ads for them on pixiv, and decided out of curiosity to look more into them. And as I did so, I found more and more that I liked. When I came across the anthro dolls from Luts and Dearmine, I knew then that I had to have one. And I thought that I'd just want one, but after holding it and seeing just how incredible they are, I've found myself interested in getting more dolls, including some human ones.

 

I always loved dolls and plushies. Even after I stopped playing with them, I held on to some of my favorites. (One of the perks of being an only child!) Back around the beginning of 2008, I became interested in making cloth dolls to represent some of the characters I'd had in my head for years. At the same time I found some pictures of the "ball-jointed dolls from Asia" in a copy of the old Haute Doll. They were gorgeous, but at the time I had no idea how I'd even go about getting one - or if I could afford one if I could find one. It wasn't until 2012, when I became involved in another doll community and started searching out other doll blogs that I started stumbling on BJDs again. I finally found a company name - Fairyland - and a website to go with it. Then, about the same time, an online friend downsized her collection and - one of her lovely girls became my first BJD. Not long after her arrival, I added my first Fairyland doll to the family - and it went from there.

I have a bunch of Monster High dolls and some assorted fashion dolls as well, but the ones I really adore are my handmade cloth dolls and my BJDs. I feel like they're truly MY characters, rather than something someone else came up with that I'm just trying to make work.

 

When I was twelve my mum told me I was 'too old for dolls' - secretly I think she didn't want me having them because I'm male; I'd always loved drawing people and enjoyed doing makeup, so when I was looking through tumblr I noticed a faceup tutorial from youtube and watched it. I scrolled through the channel and did a bit of research and the hobby just seemed to be exactly what I was after. I pre-ordered a cheap 3D printed BJD from etsy and then grew impatient, I ordered a practice head - a Luts Chiwoo and a Doll Chateau Hugh before my 'first bjd' had even arrived!