Your reasons for choosing your first doll?

I got inspired to buy a bjd and customize it like my favorite character, Ciel Phantomhive (in my avatar pic). I had seen other people on deviantart dress up their dolls in different ways to look like Ciel, and I really wanted to do one myself.

The doll they were using was the Luts Kid Delf Bory, and I thought it sort of resembled Ciel a bit. Plus, the Bory sculpt is gorgeous

 

Number one reason was because it was on a sale. It was really cheap for a doll that was very detailed with good pose-ability. The second reason was because I bought the doll from a company that I really like and support.

 

After deciding I wanted a doll I'd asked the friend who got me hooked on them for some places that sold dolls that were good quality but not crazy expensive. ...So they'd linked me to some sites like Junkyspot, Bobobie and the like.
And Resinsoul's Mei was the first doll I saw that I immediately loved, and I got super attached to her just from her picture on the site and wouldn't really hear of getting any other doll but her.

 

For me, it was kind of clandestine. I always knew I wanted Crobidoll Lance to be my first doll; I just was a little hesitant on buying him right away. Fast-forward to a week later, someone is selling him on tumblr, and I decide to go for it! I've had my ice prince ever since.

 

The one rule I set for myself while looking for a bjd was that it couldn't cost more than 200, this was because I had to save up for months to even afford that price range. I was originally looking at a different sculpt but I kept coming back to him, I wish I had known the variety of cheap bjd companies before I made my final decision because there were others that I longed for almost instantly after I pressed the buy button. I still love him though, he will always have a special place in my heart.

 

I'm not really sure why I chose (Hana Midorikawa) as my very first Dollfie Dream. It's probably because I love short hair and straight bangs. Or maybe it's because I am a masochist at heart and didn't know it. I'm not sure yet. Maybe I will figure it out once she's finished. I still need a good face up/body blushing artist to finish her up!

 

I can still remember the day when I chose my very first doll I had been dreaming of having a volks Michele for a long time and I was sure that I must bring him back home.He's still with me now and I'll never sell him in the future

 

I wanted to recreate my favorite video game character because they don't sell merchandise of her anymore. So I decided to use a BJD to recreate her. I searched for days to find a doll that I liked with her face and body proportions. Then I ended up buying more and more.

 

My first doll was a Supia Haeun. I really liked this sculpt bcs the sculpt looks oriental and has feminine facial features. She also looks young but not too young, around 17-20s? The Supia body also has nice lines and looks realistic.

 

I was actively stalking BJD company websites and looking at other people's dolls. When Doll-Chateau was announced and released, I immediately fell in love and got 3 dolls through Mint on Card. They are still one of my favorite companies since I love their body shape and sculpt.

 

I had to do a lot of research. At first I found this boy in Migidoll that was very appealing to me. But he was very expensive, HUGE and out of stock. So I continued shopping and decided to get a doll in the 40CM range. I wasn't part of this forum so it was difficult to find all the popular stores. Eventually I ended up browsing the kids in Soul Doll. It was funny because when I saw his sculpt I went "why would I want a doll that smiles?" (not a whole lot of dolls give expressions). Kept scrolling then I stopped and went "...WHY WOULDN'T I??" (he's Joelle btw) I went back to look at him. and just fell in love. So I got him during a summer sale. I'm really glad I stumbled across him. Almost bought a doll I wasn't completely interested in.

 

Honestly, it was very important to me that my first doll be a more inexpensive one. I know a lot of people say that you really should get the doll you want regardless of the price, and while I totally agree that it is much better to wait for a doll you love than to immediately get a doll you don't like, I personally believe that almost anyone can find a doll they like even in a lower price range. Because I was just starting out in the hobby and was not sure if I would like it or not, I did not want to drop a ton of money only to have the possibility of quickly getting bored of the doll. When I saw a Mirodoll girl going for a ridiculously low price, I had to get her. This was a bit of a gamble as, at the time, Mirodoll did not have very good photos of the sculpt at all. Luckily, as soon as I saw her in person I fell in love. I honestly like this doll more than many many many of the more expensive ones, and I think that is mostly due to the fact that I have bonded with her so well. So for me, going with a less expensive option worked out really well.

 

I was actually researching other topics on the internet. I came across the Volks website. I do not read or understand Japanese. So I just looked at a few photos and figured out that it was a doll manufacture. I fell in love with the outfit and the way it fit on Ran and the way that she looked at me said "please take me home with you". And that was all it took. I looked at several more photos on the site and I kept going back to Ran. I spent the next 5 years trying to adopt her.

 

My main reasons for buy my first doll were, it's size, pose-ability, and price. While I wanted to get an MSD, I knew I really wanted to get a 1/8 or 1/12 sized doll so I could make a dollhouse for it. I knew no matter what size I got, the doll would have to be able to do a variety of posing for me. And lastly, while I wasn't looking for the cheapest doll possible, I was looking out for a decent deal.

 

There wasn't much of a choice back in 2002, I only knew about Volks because my friend saw a picture of Volks SD13 Chris & Lucas and all of us just went crazy over them. We didn't know of any doll forums so it was really a closed circle and all we wanted was a SD13 Chris/Lucas because they were Volks' only male dolls until they introduced a third male doll. Then we learnt that Domuya had a physical shop somewhere in town and we would go down to drool at the dolls haha and then one day, on impulse, I bought my first Volks Hiroshima Chris. I couldn't sleep for days after buying him because he was so freakin' expensive LOL.

 

Same here for me! Resinsoul Mei was my first (bigger) doll, and I had a very similar experience that you had with her.
Technically my first BJD was a Felixdoll Brownie Toby. The company was going out of business or something and selling their dolls for WAY cheaper, so my older sister told me and my other sister about them and we all ended up buying one. Toby is my absolute baby boy with his sweet face and adorable little punkish outfit!

 

My first doll I bought was a really yellowed DF-h doll I found on eBay and bought because she came with clothes, eyes and a wig for a really awesome price. Honestly I got really lucky she was legit...

The first doll I bought that I actually took time to look around for was a Dream of Doll Tender Zen. I really love all of the Dream of Doll sculpts, especially the "Tender" versions of them, so I was really excited when I saw one for sale on tumblr. He was absolutely perfect, and has now turned into one of my all-time favorite dolls and characters. I ended up selling my real first doll to pay for him, but I really loved him a lot more than the first one anyways.

My advice is to not jump at the first doll you see, but actually look around and do research to look for a doll you'll love, rather than one you just "like". I mean, sure, if you buy second hand for your first doll, you can probably get your money back, but I would really wait until you find one that you just absolutely love before you buy

 

Yes, she really is a gorgeous sculpt, I'm very glad I was able to get her.
Oh that's cool you were able to get him for a cheaper price. I'm not as much into the smaller dolls personally, but I looked up some pictures and Toby does look cute.

 

I chose mine, Impldoll Chapman, as a second hand on ebay (showed box and COA). He had a horrible face up and had been there for a while. Because of this, he was priced pretty cheaply. My heart went to him. I wanted to get him a home and look to make him happy. So I did. He's probably been the best to me of all I have to this day.

 

I chose my first doll because as for being first time buying a doll, it'll be a hassle to buy stuff separately. So ever since, I already said that I'll be buying a fullset doll for my first bjd and then I just did, and it's Volks SDC Mina. I'm really happy because Volks has always been my "fave" company too.