Who inspired you to collect?

A friend of mine brought her newly arrived Dream of Doll Bee-A out to meet us once and I fell immediately. I had never seen anything so beautiful before and when I went home that night, I just obsessively started researching BJDs and eventually got myself a DoC Hoo as my first! It's been 14 years~

 

For me, my inspiration came from a YouTube video of a girl showing off her two BJDs. It was more of a picture slideshow of the two dolls posed together as a couple. I still have the video saved on a playlist on my YouTube account. I'm not sure what truly sparked my interest in that video. Maybe it was the way I cold tell she enjoyed and adored her dolls.

 

I don't really have any friends who collect dolls, I've been a form of collector in one way or another most of my life though. I guess the first person who really got me into dolls over other kinds of toys was a childhood friend who would play Bratz with me. And then Rozen Maiden was also extremely influential into me both admiring fancy dolls and learning about the Asian doll scene.

 

I'm a very obsessive fangirl in the Nitro+Chiral fanbase. My friend and coauthor on a collaborative fic is super into BJDs, but I only vaguely knew that they existed before talking to her. I've never collected dolls of any sort. I didn't even know where to start... or why I'd want to, until my friend started giving me advice for shelling out my OTP. I'm also a cosplayer, so I love making costumes and sewing, and it's always been appealing to sew doll clothes because they are so small and use so little fabric. Now, because of her influence, I'm really excited about getting started in this hobby.

 

I actually found it on my own. My family has many seamstresses so I love making clothes. I started making clothes for my old dolls and when I was looking for bigger, more realistic dolls I started seeing bjds and eventually got into the hobby.

 

Mine adventure was started from Marina Bychkova. Somehow I found her dolls on google in 2009 or 2010 (wow it will be 10 years already?? ) . And my adventure started not from sewing for dolls but doll making.
I even sculpted a doll with double legs and arms joints inspired by MB dolls.
I was also admiring Emilia and her Inamorata dolls, her mind and skills to do everything herself is amazing. She was always on of my idols. And I can't forget about Nune - in the past Immortal Classic , now Sensational Dolls. These dolls are just divine.
That is always good thing to have so many inspiration around !

 

I've been an onlooker to the community for quite some time now until @inhaletheresin's posts come up on my Instagram Explore feed.
Her doll Min Ki (DollZone Scarecrow Hal) inspired me to buy that doll in specific so I did and now I'm a full-blown BJD fan

 

I didn't really have any friends or people I knew who was into this hobby. I just stumbled around this hobby online. I think I first saw Dream of Doll -dolls and fell in love. However, I didn't start the hobby until I found out that there were forums and community, so I could find more information about this hobby.

 

I read an interview with a local BJD collector in a magazine. From the moment I saw pictures of her Luts dolls, I was sold! Well, then I saw the price and I thought I'd never buy dolls of my own, but I figured I could admire them from afar. Which I did for several years until I was able to buy my first doll.

I wish I remembered the name of the collector they interviewed, I'd love to see what her collection is like these days. I'm thankful to her for introducing me to this hobby, even though we never met. I loved the way she described her dolls' personalities and the limitless possibilities of BJDs.

 

I didn't know anyone in the BJD hobby until this forum. I looked at BJDs and art dolls for many years before I finally realized, hey, I could own some of these amazing pieces of beauty and art too! Popovy, and (Off topic art doll maker Alissa Filippova and Michael Zajkov), were some of my favorite and after drooling over photos of them for years I finally decided to order a BJD. I liked the possibilities of posable dolls and went with Dollstown for the amazing sculpted bodies and sizes that go well together proportionally.

 

Much like the original poster, I think my love and interest in dolls stemmed from my Aunt. We are much alike in the sense of artistic creativity and crafting. I remember he sewing lavish designer style clothing for my cousin's Barbie dolls. That memory has always stuck with me and I ultimately hope I can create beautiful things like her, someday.

As for the BJD hobby specifically, I actually learned about it from a member of the hobby who was interested in the dolls that I collected at the time- reborn dolls. It's funny how we just "traded" doll hobbies. We became fast friends. :P I then was able to learn more about BJDs when visiting my first anime convention. I got to meet the local doll group members there and see BJDs for the first time.

 

I was not inspired by a person but by the dolls themselves. Around 15 years ago someone had posted Volks' Japanese website on an art subforum I was a member of with the potential of using the smaller dollfies as drawing reference. I fell in love with both the 1/6 dollfies as well as the MSD and SD and after a year of collecting the 1/6 I got my first 1/3 resin BJD

 

I have the same experience as Teddy!

 

My reason for collecting came from my parents so it sort of got passed down. I've been a collector all my life which had me frequenting Shows, Antique malls and Flea markets, and while at a Toy Show while in my teen years was introduced to bjd's through a fashion magazine by one of the vendors who thought the dolls resembled my fashion at the time. A few years later had the chance to purchase a resin doll from an American artist. Then a year later with the help of a very nice online friend I got my first msd in 2012. She was a big influence in my desire to own dolls along with Jrock fashion on bjd's.

 

I think it was when I randomly googled and found a bjd doll picture. I was surprised how realistic I thought he was! Later on I kept researching and I guess I found other dolls and owners.

 

One of my friends on some website (I don't remember what it was anymore) was a picture of one of his bjds, and I eventually stumbled across them again on deviantart. I thought they were so realistic, pretty, and interesting. I only realized what they were and learned about the hobby from some blog (don't remember the blog name either) and that's what originally made me want to join the hobby. Though I sat on the idea for a few years because it was so expensive before I actually 100% decided to start saving to get my first doll.

 

My friends had been collectors for years before I bought my first one. I had been around them but not really wanting one until AWA one year. I can across for one sale in the dealers room that called to me. I actually had her hold her while I went to find my friends to look her over. I bought her and had to figure out how to get her home since I was flying. I didn't buy any more for a couple of years. Then this year I bought my first SD parabox 60cm from a group on facebook. I loved her look and that started me down the road to more SD and MSD girls.

 

Foolbot on DeviantArt! Their Mr. Kitty was my intro to BJD. But also my best friend who I played Barbies with as a child and got into BJDs with me. I don't know if I would have went through with my first purchase if it wasn't for someone in my social circle who was just as into dolls as me.

 

I remember finding BJDs for the first time when I was a teenager, and of course I was immediately interested in them. Sadly, I had to forget them soon, since they were all way too expensive for me and just looking at pictures wasn't that fun in the long run. For many years I didn't even remember BJDs existed...until something suddenly happened among my friends and the BJDs were back in discussion. This was also the first time I realised I could get one for real, and considered that very carefully. After finding a couple sculpts I fell in love with, and with the support of my friends, I decided it's finally time I'm getting my doll. I'm so glad I chose so!

 

A friend of mine brought her doll to a convention we worked together and I completely fell in love! I hadn't really seen BJDs up close and in person before but I've always loved miniature things so it was a pretty quick sell.