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When you have officially 'joined the hobby'?

Aug 28, 2017

    1. I felt like I'd joined the hobby when I actually got my first doll. Before that it seemed kind of impossible! The expense was a LOT for me back then (and then I started making money and then I stopped making money! LOL! So I'm back where I started) and just SEEING dolls at conventions (what few dolls there were at the time) didn't make me feel part of the hobby, aside from I now recognized them for what they were.
       
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    2. Last year summer when I finally got my first BJD who's my avatar.
       
    3. I would have considered myself part of the hobby sometime towards the start of the year? While i was getting more into it and learning more about dolls and other things and i KNEW for a fact i wanted a doll and i was going to save up for one.

      But i think its probably different for everyone!
       
    4. I would say, considering that I only just recently was able to start being an active member of the hobby, That despite having had my first doll since the Christmas of 2015, that I only just joined the hobby recently because it wasn't until now that i was able to start giving my first doll, and soon dolls, the proper attention and the time to learn crafts that'll allow me to be creative with my dolls. ^^
       
    5. I would say when I first joined the forum and started to really talk to others about dolls. Then I dropped out for a while and now...I'm not sure. Dipping my toe in teh water again I think.
       
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    6. I feel like I joined the hobby, when I readed an article in a women's magazine about BJDs.
      It was in end of 2013. Love at first sight! :love:love:love
       
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    7. Even after I got my first doll around a year ago, I told myself I wasn’t going to take this hobby too seriously. I told myself I’m only going to have this one singular doll and that’s it.

      Than a few months after that I bought a few more dolls and made my DOA account and thought to myself, “Welp, I guess I’m here for good now.”
       
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    8. For me personally, it didn't feel official until I ordered my first floating head; just starting that process felt like committing to be a member of this community.
       
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    9. It's hard to say exactly when one is it. For me it was one I committed to myself that I would get one. And until I had my first one I would get to learn as much as I could on how to do face-ups, and make the character and to properly learn about them.
       
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    10. I considered myself "in the hobby" when I owned a ball-jointed doll.
       
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    11. Lurked for years, finally bought first doll in January :D
       
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    12. I considered myself part of the hobby when I started doing research and even trying to sculpt my own BJD out of old clay when I was in middle school. As I grew up the idea of them never left me, but it wasn't until I actually was in the payscale to afford BJDs did I start doing research on the companies and what all was available. That being said, even though I now own a few dolls and a couple heads, I don't think I'll feel officially in the hobby though until I finish fleshing out a full doll character (aka, the head on the body I want, face-up done, name chosen, etc). Once I can start taking pictures and have an actual subject that I feel connected to, that feels "finished," then I feel like I've "made it" in a way, heh.
       
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    13. Rather than saying in or out of the hobby, I think it makes more sense to me to say when did it become a hobby to me. I feel like I only "committed" to it being a hobby when I set my sights on possibly getting a doll. I definitely enjoyed viewing other peoples dolls for a few years prior to that but I wouldn't really have called it a hobby at the time (just a general interest). I only started researching BJDs in the year before I got my first doll. I felt like I learned so much before I even touched a doll! So I think that was when BJDs became a hobby for me.
       
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    14. I suppose I considered myself fully in the hobby when I ordered my first doll, but I think it’s also fair to say you’re in the hobby when you’re researching and saving up for your first doll too.
       
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    15. Not really sure.
      I started to get really interested in BJDs and DDs in 2014, watching videos, seeing different websites and stuff people created for their art-dolls. However, I was a teen at that time, I only knew a really few places to buy BJDs(Fairyland, Volks, Luts and DoD) and I was incredibly broke. I couldn't even afford the 'cheapest' models without faceup.

      In 2018, I discovered DoA and I could also know so much companies and dealers than before. This time, I was so undecided about choosing the first model.

      One year later, I wanted a Nicola-B from DC, but I was too broke and I wanted a human version, so I learnt that hybrids were a possibility.

      This year I finally bought it.

      So, I would say, between 2018 and 2021? :huh?:
       
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    16. I mean I consider when I "officially" joined was when I actually put money down on a doll. Before that I was just "potentially" part of the hobby. That said, I think it's kind of just personal, because there's plenty of people who don't have the funds to get a doll for a long time, but if they want to consider themselves part of the hobby, then I would agree they're part of the hobby.
       
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