When the Doll arrives... - [your regular activities?]

First I look for a suitable wig & clothes, then their eyes get changed. I'm generally not pleased with default eyes as I want something more realistic. After that they usually spend some time on the couch with me so I can enjoy them befor placing them into a display.

 

1. Technically: I wash my hands, cut open the outer packaging, take pictures of the box, open all the other stuff (like bubble wrap <_<) while taking pictures at the same time, take him/her out of the box, see if he/she can stand, take more pictures, dress him/her, put a wig on him/her ^^.


2. Emotionally: Smile like an idiot and introduce him/her to my other dolls

 

1. Put the box aside for a few more hours. (I like to wait a bit more and postpone the box-opening, until the curiosity is killing me)

2. Slowly open the box and peel every tape of the bubblewrap so I can use it again, until I see some resin. (once again, I like the torture)

3. Sigh/squeel

4. Carefully Finish unwrapping the doll

5. Sit back and sigh once more

6. Don't pick up the doll just yet, but simply look at it.

7. Pick up the doll, and check for damage

8. Hold it in my hands and feel the resin to admire how detailed he/she is.

9. Check what wig looks the best on his/ her head

10. Change the eyes

11. Check the engeneering of the doll (how do you take the head off, does it have locking joints etc)

12. Pose it and admire his/her beauty

13. Do a first photoshoot when the doll is still nude.
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14. After a day, dress him/her up for the first time.

15. If I feel like it: give the doll a hug.

 

Doll arrivals are always a big production in our house. As I work from home I will be there when my doll is delivered, but then I have to wait until my wife gets home from work before I can open the box because we always like to do it together.

First we clear the table, bring out some of our other dolls to greet the newbie and get our cameras ready. Then as I open the box my wife takes pictures of every single step - outer box, inner box, bubble wrap - until my doll is revealed. The big moment is always the first time I set eyes on her face - so far I have always had default face-ups on my dolls and I have fallen instantly in love every time! The first thing I do when she is free of the box is put on her wig to make her a complete person and then I examine and explore. I try out different posing with the naked doll, standing sitting etc, and find out all about the new body, her joints, how she looks and feels. I will then hand her over to my wife for her to have a play too and I will take over the camera for a while.

Then it is usually time to dress the girl up in whatever outfit I have purchased with her before more pics - outside ones if the weather allows. My wife will then take pics of me with my new doll capturing the goofy, awe-struck and blissed out expression I usually get at times like these.

Technical things like cleaning or string tightening/loosening etc all have to wait for later because I will be completely caught up in the emotional side of bringing a new girl home for quite some time!

When one of my wife's dolls arrive this whole production starts over again, but with the roles reversed - she opens and I am camera man.

Doll openings are the best fun for us both - sadly they just don't happen often enough!

 

1. Technically -
I take them out of the box and inspect them. I'll notice right away if something's different or if there's somethin' I don't like... I like to torture myself by taking all of the packing stuff out one by one instead of just tearing open everything ha ha. Prolongs the experience. I'll put their proper wig(or in Wander's case chuck the wig he came with back in the box since it ain't right for him), put in their eyes if they're not already in. I've yet to wash a doll when I first got them ha ha. Even Wander who was second hand lol. I tried posing Tima right away when I got her dressed and finished gawking at her but I pretty much failed. It made my psyche drop ha ha. But then I realized that she's not really a poser at all-she can sit and lay down and stand well but the really complicated poses are beyond her. So then I stopped trying to make her pose in difficult ways but in more natural ones that she could do. I of course inspected her ball joints. I still do it OTL

2. Emotionally - Tima I didn't hug her right away. I was really blown away by how pretty she was so I spent a lot of time putting on her outfit carefully and touching her hair. I was a lot more reverent and soft with her. Probably because she's a girl :'D And she was my first-I'd never seen or held a bjd for real up close before. I put everything on her and then softly hugged her so I wouldn't mess anything up XD Wander I just yanked his head outta the box and grinned at him then put him to my cheek like "look he's here!!"

Regular Activities: We just hang out mostly. I rotate so one night I'll bring Tima down with me to watch TV and chill while I'm on the computer and the other I'll bring Wander's head with me. I do play favourites especially when I get a new doll ^^; Sometimes I'll take Tima(since she's the only full doll) out to take pictures in the garden but a lot of the times I just like having them with me not really doing anything ha ha

 

technically - i check the poseability and stringing, trought i won't do anything about it, and move the doll around a little.
emotionally - i dress the doll and make the proper introduction! to the other dolls (like with Purple, my second doll) or my family and my room (like for Haru, my first)
then i have a little of bonding period, usually with me sitting on my personal "doll-art table", the white table only used to draw or play with my dolls (also their home)
and the doll standing on the table, and i'd change his/her clothes lots and lots of times and make her pose, and maybe take some pictures, or just sit in front of him/her so we can stay a little looking at each other, and hugging >w<

(aww. now i can't wait to order my new dolls! )

 

Technically - I /carefuly/ opened the box, removed him from his bubble-wrap suit (lol) then gave him an all-over examination to see if there were any marks/stains/dents ect. Checked his joints and made sure they moved proporly and whatnot x3 He was my first so i was highly technical

Emotionaly - I was recording the whole thing willist taking pics for DoA so i wasn't too keen on hugging a completely butt-neked, bald, eyeless, maledoll on camera XD But i eventualy did...Followed by snuggling...And not letting go the entire day

 

Technically: I drive to the post office and pick up the box, and then attempt to drive sanely home as I battle extreme excitement. I then proceed directly to my room and my bed, set the box down, grab all the implements necessary (scissors, needle-nose pliers, awaiting bodies/heads/wigs etc., "company" and so on...) and open the box as fast as I humanly can. Lol. Which is why I NEVER am able to make "box opening" threads!

Emotionally: I fuss. For a good strong hour at least. Whether that means dressing and playing around with getting the right "feel" of the doll, or simply gawking at all angles of it, I like to spend some time relishing in the feeling of "new arrival"-ness.

... it's always so much fun, as I'm sure many others are likely to agree.

 

I've only been able to do this once, but...

1. Technical: I got home from school, got a big box out of the package closet, went upstairs, moved furniture around so that I would have a decent space to open the box and take pictures. I was so slow and careful with each step.

2. Emotionally: I picked her up and looked at her. She was a lot prettier than I'd anticipated, even without a face-up. She was strung really tightly so I couldn't really hug her. Actually, now to think of it, I don't think I would have because I wasn't entirely sure of how durable she was (I re-strung her within a few days after she arrived and now that she's more "floppy" she's very huggable!). Any dolls in the future, I most definitely would hug when they first arrived (if they're the type that would like being hugged). I'd originally requested a certain type of eyes for her default eyes (as Souldoll allows this). However, mid-way, I decided that I didn't like them, but figured that I wouldn't make an issue of it since I could always sell them. However, I was exremely delighted that they'd sent her with different eyes--a lovely set of pale grey-green eyes.

I didn't have any clothes for her at first, and since I was very busy with school, I had precious little time to make any, especially since she needed a face-up too! So she was naked for a bit, but still very lovely with her long blonde wig. She kind of reminded me of a fairy like this. ^^

 

Technically, I take them out of the box, put their wig and clothes on (if I already have those) and take pictures.

Emotionally: I go a lot, take pictures (including box opening pics) and post them right away at some BJD forums to show everyone else what kind of fantastic uberlovely awesome doll I recieved.

And then I keep staring like this again to my new doll.

 

When I got Mira, I waited for her in the snow, until she came in and I video taped my box opening. :3 Then I messed with her eyes for a little, and then my friend told me I should pull on her stringing and check for dust, so I got to take her apart before anything.

I cuddled with her for a while, then I made her pajamas for her birthday, and started working on her Christmas present. I think I'll do that for everyone, make them pajamas the day they get there. After getting the pajamas done I took pictures. XD It was a nice long day.

 

Let's see...

I...

-leap to the door and sign for the package
-thank the mailman
-bring the box inside and get everything ready, ('everything' usually entails my camera, knife and any of my other resins that feel like participating the the box opening)
-start the box opening/photo documentary/photostory...which generally includes a photo of every step of the box opening process lol
-unwrap bubble wrap mummy and giddily bounce back and forth
-inspect new doll...grin maddly
-take photos of my giant cat playing in the shipping box
-pack doll back into his box and set said box in my face-up 'holding cell'...my BJD don't generally come to life for me until their face-ups, wigs, eyes etc are all finished and in place and since I order my dolls blank, it's usually a little while before I get super excited about them

 

Emotional : I cannot wait for 3 months to have my first (so second hand)
I chose the nearest owner !
He asked me to wait the week end (so 5 days !!!!!) to give him to me.
I cannot sleep all the week before
The day D, I had a stupid static smile on my face.

Tecnic: I open the box. Ryn was protected, but as newbie I wondered why so much protection.
The owner explained me a lot of thing about him (during 5 h we talk about BJD, how to care of, technical stuff..etc..)

Re-emotional : The 2 days after (and so now) I can not quit him. I was looking at him all the time !

technical : 3 hours after he came, I broke 3 fingers of him T_T and well understand the protection !

 

Technically- I look my doillie over and look for everything, from resin chips to discolouration. I get her dressed and decide what sort of face I want for her, and get on either finding someone else to do it, or doing it myself..

Emotionally- I squeal, hug them, look them over in pure excitement. XD I usually am too excited to get out a camera or other resins for box opening picture time. I mull over every detail of the new dollie, pose and play and wonder about the name for them, the concept I want for them, and everything else I need to "complete" them.

 

I grabbed my doll from the postman and run to my living room. I grab a knife and cut the tape and open the box. I look the doll over to make sure nothing is broken and then immediately stick the doll in my dad's face because I know he's offended by the nudity, even though he won't admit it.

And then I give the doll to my mom and she looks and them. I get them dressed go through my box of wigs and clothes to decided which matches them best, get them dressed so my dad can stop being offended and then I decided if I like their eyes or not and order a new pair if needed.

Currently, I have three dolls that need new eyes and one that needs a new wig.

 

oohh great thread! well with Reija, I was at work when she arrived and had no clue, so was uber excited when I got home to see the big box, I dropped EVERYTHING and opened her up straight away, took photo's, marvelled at her, dressed her posed her then set up a myspace for her and posted her box opening on here!
when Bezzlebub arrived, again I had no clue and was at work, but I was really happy as he arrived one day before my 24th birthday
again I done the same thing of marvelling at how small and cute he was, took photo's and posed him with his big sister then went off and done my first face up on him!

 

Technically:
1. Am amazed a box is arriving that's for ME!
2. Take it in and if I can open it right away.
3. Check for damage, check movement and quality.
4. If it passes muster I take it apart and clean/sand/mod/re-engineer as needed.
5. Paint! Faceup and maybe bodyblushing.
6. Wig and Eye time! If I have anything appropriate that is. I keep few extras, so I sometimes have to repair to the computer to start a Search and Acquire campaign. If I'm lucky, though, I have what I want for her on hand.
7. Clothes! I usually have something dolly can wear while she's waiting for her 'real' outfit. Though sometimes I'm pleased to leave them naked so I can admire their body sculpts (okay that sounded weird).
8. Play! I'll carry the doll around and fiddle with it during the day/evening, to get to know it I guess, haha. My family are used to this and nary an eyebrow is raised.
9. Photography... I've been extremely disgusted with my photography lately and haven't done much. Some of my dolls don't really require photographing because I don't feel I have anything artistic to say with them, I just plan to enjoy them as a dolly. ^_^ I do like to have database photos though, at least!

Emotionally: I'm strung along a continuum somewhere between OMGSQUEE and Erm... ^^;; what was I thinking? Ideally it's more towards the former. Getting a new doll is always a big event, though!

Raven

 

Technically:
- Once the box has arrived I assemble the camera, scissors, and any other tools necessary.
- Take pics of the shipping box before opening, take pics of the doll box out of the shipping box, take pics of the doll box w/ the lid removed. Unwrap the various items taking pics along the way until I have the naked, bald doll.
- Inspect the doll for damage.
- Check the doll to see how it stands and take pics.
- Take pics of the naked doll in various poses.
- Be sure to get pics of the cats in the box and in various stages of inspection.
- Try on the wig and clothing purchased/made for the doll. Take pics.
- Take pics with other wigs and perhaps outfits.
- Update my database with purchase information.

At some point depending upon time and weather I will sand the seams, coat, and body blush. I always purchase with a faceup as I don't have the skill.

Emotional:
- Stare at the doll and squee.

 

What do you do when your dollie arrives?

I'm now on my tenth or so... so it's a bit different from my first or second...

1. Technically - do you take her/him out of the box, put to wash (as I've read some dollies have resin dust left and we all know, Safety First! ;O), prepare for customizing (if you're one for it)?

I haven't ever washed mine down... I probably should, but don't...

I make sure I have my camera ready in case I want to post some Box Opening photos.

I open everything, making sure I have everything and it's not broken. I know I SHOULD do this right away--preferably before I accept shipment--but who can actually DO that??? We sign first and then open and check later... ah, well! So far I've been lucky--no problems--or if there ARE, I've ordered from companies and they have all fixed them.

I start putting the doll together--wigs, eyes, clothes... as much as possible, to take some more New Arrival pics--either for that category or for Gallery in general. And of course, just to see how the doll looks!

If customizing is needed, that usually takes me AGES to get around to doing, so that's for another day, or week, or even year! I'm slow at these things!

Doll will sit about until I get my act together... either to take them out to a meetup if they are ready, or to fix up (seams or modding or customizing).

2. Emotionally - do you take her/him our of the box and hug? Greet? Put straightaway aside and get back to dinner? Do you dress her/him up and pose or put away?

No hugging... but I do wish to "play" by posing and taking photos as soon as possible. And dress up or fix up in some way--as soon as possible.

THEN I'll put them away or somewhere for a while... I can't play with them ALL the time!

Please, share! What are your regular activities when a brand new BJD finally arrives? You can put it into one, short story about particular doll!

Sorry... not good at story-making!

I'm also really interested, since I'm waiting for my first ever BJD to arrive. And I wonder, what I will do.

My first was way more emotional... I'd never seen a BJD in real life and was really worried about bonding and whether I'd made the right decision or spent my money wisely, etc., etc.! And I had a problem with my first! They sent me a normal skin instead of white, so I had to get that sorted out before I could bond. It was a total stress-trip! agh! But once I got it sorted, then I dressed him and tried on wigs and got stuff for him and took photos and tinkered with his faceup and tried on eyes and did all kinds of REALLY OBSESSIVE things. And during that time I bonded and fell in love and took him to my first meetup and continued buying clothes and shoes and wigs and... got him lots of friends! Heheh... And it's never really ended from there.

Although I DO still have to put him down and go eat dinner!

 

I've never owned a BJD before, but I know if I received my first one, I would totally freak.
I would take her out of the box so fast and dress her up and take like a million pictures of her. Haha.