Your Surprise/Sudden/Unplanned Acquisition Stories...

I have made several impulse purchases (I love LEs, so it's going to happen), but the most unplanned purchase I made was my Soom Amber. I knew I wanted to buy an Amber fullset, but I thought it was going to be several years down the road from me joining the hobby due to the cost and her rarity. I was in college and didn't have a whole lot of money to my name when I found her on the MP. She was everything I wanted, and it ended up to be a completely surprise purchase. I still remember myself shaking with excitement and nervousness when I agreed to buy her!

 

I think (in addition to my earlier story) I'd also count both of my SDs as unplanned/surprise acquisitions. The first one (a Delf Shiwoo) I'd been considering, and idly browsing for in the marketplace, with little real plan to actually buy him, but I kept finding the same listing, with the price slowly going lower, and even though he had mods I didn't want, and his faceup/eyes/wig combination was nowhere near what I wanted, he kept looking like he wanted to come home with me, so I finally went for it.

Of course, with one, there must be a friend, and I started looking for a Delf El to go with him. Again, just idly browsing around, and commenting a bit on the search while sharing pictures of the first boy... and then I was offered a former practice head to repair, out of the blue. Definitely a surprise! And it made the two dolls "mod buddies," since they both had similar work done on their heads. And since both were in less than perfect shape when I acquired them, they're certainly a surprise in bringing life back to some rather rough-looking dolls. Maybe not something I'd planned for last year, but I definitely don't regret either of them!

 

For the Soom Kittytaur, I only wanted the human body and fantasy head. But, it turned out I had to choose so I went for the fantasy head and warmed up to the kittytaur concept. Then they offered the teenie bodies and suddenly I have two new dolls incoming. No problem! I suppose they'll be sisters.

 

I've made a few impulse buys over the years - dolls 2 - 4 were pretty much "SHINY MUST HAVE". I got better after that and tried to slow down since I bought four dolls in the space of 3 months and it gets expensive!

My most recent impulse was a "I want to treat myself after finishing a rough stint at work" over the summer, so I knew I wanted one, I just didn't know who would be coming home. It sure was a surprise to me when I fell in love with a YoSD, considering I had seen others and thought them far too small for my liking. But I bought that HDF Pudding and she now has a sister coming home too... darn me and my matched sets of sizes!

I'm thisclose to buying an MSD on the MP right now too... the prices are awesome and I'm waffling so hard.

 

So many of my dolls have been impulse buys, only maybe one or two were actually planned. Though recently, there is a doll for a character that I have been planning to get for months my girlfriend told me was on the MP and jump on her immediately. XD I'm glad that I did cause several others had inquired about her, so now I am working on my layaway payments and she is coming home. >u<

 

Two words: Black Friday. So... I'd been in love with the Limhwa Luna like... FOR-E-VER. I'd always toyed with making her x, or making her y--but her price always scared me a little. I had also usually just gotten dolls on the second hand market. So, several years later--and two Iplehouse $800 doll purchases later--I was looking on JunkySpot again at the beautiful Luna and went "that's it--I know who she is--she is my beautiful Swanmae, Sitara" and from that moment on I wanted her. Like, the kind of want that once you name her you need to bring her home want--but... I was all "Christmas is coming, need to save, blah blah blah". Since a friend of mine also had an eye on a JS doll (A Mystic Kids Eli), we decided to make a small order together once we got tax refunds in the Spring.... Then comes JS's Black Friday sale--and there are both dolls on sale--at fairly decent prices. So... after some scrounging and brief agonizing... I put the order in, terrified she'd sell out. And that's how I got my Swanmae. Xd

 

I've only made 3 pure impulse purchases (out of my current 27 doll collection). I have a rule about not bringing home dolls that aren't already existing characters (my feeble attempt to keep the numbers of the resin army down *rolls eyes at self*) but the following dolls made me ignore that rule.

Darius (RS Pixiu in red): RS came out with their funny little chicken-footed dragon boy and I thought he was just the cutest thing ever. RS always has killer prices for their dolls and I had the money in my PP so I bought him without knowing who he was or how he'd fit into my doll family. I got his name fairly quickly and where he fit in and what he was (he's 1/2 cockatrice & 1/2 demon) but getting his hair and personality right was... that was a year long journey and there were a few times when I thought I might've made my first mistake in buying a doll because he just wasn't gelling right.

Nassano (Sugarble Naga Adian head): I loved the naga that Sugarble did but I didn't like the Medusa head and most definitely didn't want a girl (I only have boys). Then, Sugarble had an Xmas event where you got a percentage off their dolls as well as allowing you to mix and match parts/heads. I ordered a white naga tail, white genderless body and the Adian head with the default face-up. It only took me a few days to realize who he was and I was in luck that I already had the perfect eyes and wig for him. Of course, getting him meant I then needed to get his lover, Dolf (Lume Blaze in zombie skin), and was lucky enough to snag him from the MP within a few months of getting Nassano.

Shae-Lin (DearMine Oskar w/limited Spring 2014 face-up): I went to the Dollism con in Buffalo in September 2014. I told the Hubby that, no, I wouldn't be buying a doll while there as the chances of the 2 I wanted being there were about 0.05% (which I was right about; neither doll was there from either a dealer or anyone I saw attending the con). I saw the Oskar on display at the DearMine booth and he was even better looking in person than when I'd seen him on the site and sighed over how pretty he was. I went back and forth on whether or not I should buy him (I had the cash on hand but if I didn't spend it on this doll, it could go to buy the ones I was trying to save for). On Sunday, as the Dealer Room was closing down, I went to the booth again and saw he was still available. I handed over the cash and he's just a gorgeous doll and I'm happy with my purchase. Although, this again necessitated me buying his lover, Ammiel (OD Il Vampire), which was a bit of happy circumstance as within a few months of my getting Shae-Lin, Leeke opened up a week long ordering period for their OD dolls.

 

WELLLL I was already kind of trying to save up a bit for a Tan Skin M-Line MNF Chloe, but I wasn't prepared when they were offered as part of the Halloween Event...Luckily Paypal Credit is a thing and I was able to get her! >3<

 

I've had a couple of unplanned purchases, mostly due to circumstances where I HAD to get them right away. The limited Iplehouse Cocori western fullset, Kaz's head from a local seller at a meet. Souldoll's Apple head when I got notification they were discontinuing her.

My biggest one was my Souldoll Jinwoo I got through the DOA marketplace. I had missed out on getting him when he first came out and waited in vain for them to re-release him. They never did. He so rarely came onto the market, and usually the few times he did he was much more than I was willing to pay. So I gave up on him as one of the ones that "got away" and he became my "holiest of grails." I didn't think I had a chance at getting him.

But late 2014, I found him for a comfortable price I and was able to bring him home. I wasn't prepared to buy another doll in 2014, since I had bought the F65 Angela fullset and thought that was it for the year. I had to dip into my reserves to buy him, and am having to be frugal until I build them back up, but I don't regret it!

 

My First real impulse buy was my LTF ante... she was just not in my budget right then, but as weird as this is I had a dream about getting her and she had a name in my dream. She happened to be an auction and I just said Ill put my bid in, thinking someone else would out bid me and they didnt! she was a little dirty and her faceup needed some tlc, but after I cleaned her up I'm totally smitten with her. (shes also my only goth/scary doll)

 

I purchased three DC Elizabeth's this last year and due to some miscommunication and abnormally long wait times I did not get them for nine months. Keep in mind I do not plan to have more dolls beyond these three unless other spider themed dolls come out so I was very shocked when I received a DC Russell as an apology for the mixup. At first I toyed with the idea of selling him since he doesn't really fit in with my overall collection but I think he has wormed his way into my heart and onto my shelf.

 

I made an impulse buy off of the previous owner of my Minifee Miyu, back in mid-2014. I was waiting for my Impldoll Gela at the time and I really wanted another MSD, so he just kind of... ended up in my lap, so to speak. I made an impulse buy back in August for my Minifee Chiwoo. I just made two impulse buys for an Angell Studio Cinderella and a Piposland Ringo (white). x_x

 

Several of my dolls are, to some extent, unplanned. I think the most unexpected two are Ky and Koneko.

Ky, well, I was browsing the Marketplace and saw a Soom Namu practice head advertised for $15, took a look and fell in love. I sent a pm to the seller straight away and received him a week later. Once I got him all cleaned up, he turned out to be in far better condition than described and I decided he was definitely meant for more than practicing face-ups on! A couple weeks later, Think Pink! had a sale and the one body they had left when I took a look on their website was the exact right colour and size for him, like it was meant to be! So I ordered him his FDoll body, got him some clothes and a mohair wig, and now he's one of my favourite dolls

Koneko happened when I joined a new (to me) sales community on Facebook. It was mostly filled with Blythes and Pullips (which I'm also interested in), but tucked away among them was a Dollmore Catish Reaa that nobody was bidding on for some reason. Her then-owner was inexperienced with BJDs and from the pictures I could tell that her face-up had not been done with proper materials, but I just felt an instant connection, I had to have her. Put in a bid and it was accepted straight away. She arrived unstrung, a jumble of parts in a box with just some wadded up printer paper for protection, but she made it through unscathed. She was stained, both her body (no clue what happened there) and her face (from a face-up with improper materials), but lots of elbow grease and nail polish remover solved most of that. She is such a beautiful girl, one of the prettiest dolls I own and also definitely a favourite now.

 

Kazumi - I was just lazily browsing another forum I was on and the marketplace popped up... There was this lone body up for sale or trade... This body I actually knew the history of as I had seen it go from a full doll, to a hybrid to a lone body again, then idea's started to come to mind... Of a little ballerina doll, well I did a trade for that body, bought it a head elsewhere and it was also a sort of reward for myself after a hard year in 2013, my dad had left and I promised myself when he left I'd do something to make me happy... So Kazumi came home, denied she was Coppelia (the ballerina doll) and she became my MSD boy's girlfriend (also ruining my plot to get him a boyfriend, sneaky girl)

Veronica - I had been looking at her company for awhile. Had one of their dolls, didn't like it, had looked at the other ones... Tinies... Hesitated... Dad calls me asking me what I want for my birthday and I pick Veronica at random out of the dolls... Two weeks later she's mine.


The others I actively searched for or were grails I had given up on. Avery my Bobobie Isabella was literally the first resin I wanted as much as I wanted DZ Brant, before I had even SEEN Resinsoul Mei. I still want Mei and I still want Brant, but they can wait... I had all the money I needed at the time for Avery so I just bought her, she was a bit of an impulse buy but a happy buy.

Noah a trade.... I had been looking for a BOY... I almost actually got a boy Ren, but I changed my mind and went for Noah, she just seemed like the right doll... And she is... She's the most spoiled out of my MSD's, she has more clothes then the other two MSD's. They weren't planned but they're my girls and I love them so much...


Heh...

Avalon actually was unplanned as well.

I actually didn't like Resinsoul Song at all from the company photo's, he looked so... Strange. But while I was browsing the Marketplace looking for a doll I wanted to put on layaway for my first Resin, his thread jumped out at me, I shrugged clicked...

And there he was...

Not even an hour later he was on layaway and my mom wound up buying him as a birthday gift for me instead of me working off his payments. He was the most surprising because I initially didn't like his sculpt, but really the company doesn't do their own dolls justice, especially Song such a versatile sculpt. Avalon is my lone Resin boy, surrounded by the girls and I'm honestly not sure if I ever will get another boy. XD; I'll just vicariously enjoy everyone else's multiple boys and enjoy my loner.

 

Lots of them. *lol* My Iplehouse PID Dorothy was one, my Realpuki Titi, basically all of my Volks dolls (some more, some less since with some I had more time to think it through) ... which pretty much sums up all the dolls I got in 2014.

 

While at Dollism I happened to spot a Soom Little Gem Thera (the sheepy demon one) across the room at the swap meet. She was there as an adorable model and her owner (a totally awesome lady with extra excellent friends) told me there was 'one up on Ebay...' .... She still counts as a Con doll, yeah? Something so dangerous about seeing these dolls in person. ;3

 

Realpuki Aki and Pipos Minuet Gift Ed. were my impulse buys.... I just went. OOH! PRETTY and clicked. thankfully my hobby money pot had enough in both times XD haahaaaaa... thankfully I'm picky with dolls so I don't buy too many... hopefully....

 

Oh my goodness! I don't think I would have the heart to turn down someone so dedicated either! Bye bye, money!

Hahaha. I planned for my Jonny, but I didn't plan for him to be discontinued! As soon as I got word of that, I had to rework everything and buy the head before I could afford to.

Also, my limited Rex was a sudden, stop drop and roll. Love at first sight for a limited ended in a very costly purchase. I paid in full immediately, yet I was out of money for weeks to pay back the overdraft fees. My math wasn't as good as I'd hoped, apparently.

Actually, when Rex was released I wrestled for a week about him. I had just gotten into the hobby, I had just purchased the Jonny head and I was flat out of money. I had a stressful job, 85 hrs/wk as an aircraft dispatcher at my local airport... one morning, I got an email from Iplehouse warning me about the limited time left to get Rex.

I snapped and made the purchase of roughly $1300 with about $800 left in my bank account.

Hahaha. That was a fun month. I coasted on fumes and hardly ate more than ramen and pasta fazool, but it was worth it. I think I've learned my impulse lesson though.

 

I tend to impulse buy all my fairyland dolls, every single one that I've bought has been an impulse buy. I do not regret it at all. x)

 

My impulse buy was Millie Choupie by Lillycat. I am so pleased with her that I ended up buying a blue Ninon to go with her.