Your view on 'Grail Dolls'

Awww, thanks for the reply, lostkitten! Your story makes me feel so much better. I'm actually hoping to get into the Marketplace soon--maybe someone will get the Eugenie and realize it wasn't what they wanted, and will try to sell it. I'll totally be there to snap it up!

 

Good luck my dear! She is breath taking! I hope you find her soon!
: )

LostKitten

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes, it would have to be the Elfdoll Lydia, I wanted her for such a long time, she was supposed to be the first doll I would get, but I don't know what happened that caused me to get a doll that was much more expensive than her...
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
It is a future doll on my list.
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
N/A
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
No, elfdoll lydia is not too expensive, she is a SD so her price is fair. Some people consider expensive dolls to be their GRAIL doll, but I think its all about the collector. The doll could be a tiny, or a 70cm a AOD, or a volks. I just believe it depends more on the actual doll than the actual price.
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
N/a

 

I'm too mercurial to have a grail doll. And I guess I feel like grail dolls are supposed to be rare or expensive.

It feels weird to compare a standard edition readily available doll to the Holy Grail. I just have whatever my present goal is and it will change about three or more times between getting the idea and having the money to pay for the doll

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes! With my first doll, a BlueBloodDoll Valentine, I knew he was the one for me because I first fell in love with his face, and then his price fit my budget (he was on sale for christmas too!) and he checked out in reviews by other owners. To me, he was perfect and I had to have him as my first. The same process is repeating itself with the Ringdoll teenager Petter. It was love at first sight with his face, and I really knew I was in trouble from the get go because his fullset comes with pupilless light purple eyes and on all other dolls I have seen I do not care for the look of that style of eyes, but on him I loved them -_-; His price put me off a bit because he is more expensive than Vin, my first doll, was, especially since I am interested in the fullset. So, in an attempt to ease the ache in my heart over wanting him so badly (and pitifully try to save my wallet) I went looking for owner photos to try and prove to myself that he simply couldn't be that gorgeous in real life. And this backfired on me. He is. He is absolutely stunning in all the owner photos I have seen of him in the skin tone I want (white) and he even looks good in normal skin too, even though I have no interest in him in that skin tone, as I want him to be my first white skin doll. And so after this didn't work, I tried to somehow find faults with him, to try and make myself want him less and that failed too lol. I am head over heels and so he has made his way onto my wait list. I am just waiting for some money from Christmas cheques from my dad to go in the bank before I put my first layaway payment down on him and begin the grueling wait.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Yes, for Vin my BBD, and I am waiting anxiously to start paying for the Petter I want.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Hmm....Since I only have Vin at the moment it is hard to say if I will treat my Petter any different than him, or vica versa. I know that Vin goes a lot of places with me, and already has a bunch of outfits on the way (That I know he will be sharing with the ringdoll when he arrives!) and I am very nervous about letting non doll people hold him, but I think I will be that way with the RD too. Vin is none too happy about the newcomer eventually coming to usurp his place as momma's only doll, but he is begrudgingly excited about Petter's outfit, which he should fit no problem. Such a fickle guy! Lol "No you can't move in with me and my mother, but you can leave your outfit on the doorstep. Don't let the door hit your bare butt on the way out either, you pale ass, purple eyed weirdo." Ahh but callboys will be callboys and honestly I think Vin just feels threatened by him, since he is younger, that's all. I think once he sees that I love both of them the same, he and the ringdoll will eventually get along.


Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Nope, not really. It is all based on how much I love them.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
There are small things I wish Vin had joint wise that he doesn't and that I will be looking for in other dolls I buy in the future, such as a torso with more range of motion and full mobility joints in his thighs, but I'm in no way dissapointed with him. His limitations aren't really "limitations" to me, more like quirks.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yep, I have one - Soom Amber, with her fantasy parts.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Sort of. I have her head (complete with original face-up I had to ship her to the company to have done). I have her hands and arms. And I have her fantasy legs... from the calves down. Meaning I've had to mod them to fit regular SG legs, and they aren't identical to her default form. I've never succeeded in finding her a tail

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Not really - all my dolls get equal attention - I didn't spend so much on them to ignore any of them

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
I must admit, I can't imagine having a cheap Grail doll. But this is probably because I've never been lucky enough to have a cheap grail anything (MLP, Pullip, BJD). To me, part of having a 'Grail' is defined by it not being easy to get (at least, at first).

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I must admit I'm not as in love with my Amber's modded legs as I was hoping to be. But I'm getting a bronze Amber body in the current Free Choice event, so hopefully that will go some way to filling that gap in my collection

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Not really. There has been one time when the doll I wanted was offically sold out for two days. But I asked them if they'd ever re-release her and they told me they had a cancelled order, so I could place mine instead. So I was never really eyeing a doll for a too long time before getting it.
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Every doll I really liked from the pictures to the extend of stalking the web for more are home. They're all treated quite equally.
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
No. But the doll being expensive makes it harder to get of course. And the more time, maybe the more <em>want</em>. ^^
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
Never with my dolls.

 

This. I think the phrase is very over used. I only ever had one grail doll and it was the fullset black shall. With a lot of luck and patience, I finally got her, fullset and all. She is literally one of a kind and I can't imagine there are too many other dolls out there that fit my criteria as a grail doll.
To me it should be a one in a lifetime kind of a purchase and be quite rare or hard to get to be compared to the holy grail.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
I have dolls that have sort of become grail dolls, and others that are more in the lines of 'if it falls into my lap at an awesome price, I will dance with joy and thank the heavens'. ^_^ One doll that has slowly made her way into near-grail status is a Delf IF, who was far down on the list of priorities because Delf has been around forever...and when the announcement was made, we didn't have the money anywhere. And she rarely shows up on the mp. So I wouldn't quite give up anything to have her, but immediately click on sales threads for her.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Actually, one is almost about to. It's more of a demi-grail than a full grail doll, but when the Fairyland MNF Kyle Tyr fullset came out, it was everything my partner and I wanted for one of our characters. We scrimped and saved and then literally a week before we'd have the last of the money to pay for him, he was out of stock. We spent close to an hour mourning him and then put our big girl boots on and decided we'd just watch for him in the mp. And THEN the little bugger decided he was white skin instead of normal, so we had an even harder time finding him...until recently. We've just completed the last payment on him and he's coming home.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I rather doubt it. We've already decided on how his fullset is getting divvied up between our other boys and I know we're going to have a lot of fun with him when he gets here.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
I don't think so. Of course, I haven't had what I would really consider to be a true grail doll... But there is that aspect of it being hard to find one way or another, whether it was a limited or just currently discontinued and not especially popular. Or if it's a doll that ends up modded a lot and you want the original. It's the doll that haunts you, that you think about 'if only...!' And if that doll was a one-off or LE or something along those lines, yes, it might be expensive. But sometimes it's just the doll that keeps being pushed back on the priority list, but that you want just the same.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I don't think we'll be disappointed in our demi-grail coming home, but we've already discussed what additions will be made to his faceup to make him more him.

 

I'm one of those who think of Grail dolls as something that must be worked hard for, either because of the cost and/or because of rarity.

Previously, I had an unreleased dream doll, a Soom Bygg in NS since I knew I wouldn't get along with either GS or WS. This dream was short lived though because in just a few months after I got this idea in my head Soom got their SO line out. And soon they released their SO Bygg, my Grail. I stayed up in orde to get him, won at the click war (he sold out in fifteen minutes or so) and the victory spoils were sweet He wasn't that expensive, but the effort it took to get him counts him as a Grail achievement (in my book, at least).

Well, currently Volks Souseiseki is my Grail. I have the cash, I know she's available from several sources. It's just that I've set myself a weightloss goal before I can buy her : Still a few kilos short of that, I can only pine after her photos. But I'm convinced that once I do get her, she'll be all the more special because I did all that in order to get her!

 

I agree with the definition of "grail" meaning rare and hard to get, espeicially since the Holy Grail itself is still being searched for after centuries, LOL!

I guess the closest that I can come to "grail doll" is the tan version of Bambicrony Judy fullset (editions one or two, didn't matter). I didn't get a tan Judy, but I did manage to order one of the last pale Judys when they were being produced in September of 2011. I really am happy that I got the peach puff version rather than tan, as she is simply stunning! Whomever made her beautifully sanded all the seams, and the face up is perfect! She was considered a special edition, but not offered as a full set. However, I just recently managed to secure a fullset outfit complete with wig from someone who owns the 2nd Edition tan Judy, so you could say that I now will have my "grail doll" in her entirety!

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes! I desperately want a Volks School A.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Not yet!

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
The way I see it, if it wasn't so rare and expensive, I'd already have it, so kind of yes. But also kind of no, because any doll can be The One, regardless of price or rarity

 

here's my take on this topic.

Have you ever had one, or not?
yes i have 5 only missing 3 to complete my collection for good.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
the five yes. one out of them i've wanted since i first started this hobby in fact! - CP Chiwoo.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
no. i give them all the same amount of affection!

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
no. I consider ALL dolls you have spent a mass amount of time and energy on to be truly grails no matter the price cost.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I have been dissapointed with dolls in the past - but never my grails.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?

Yes, I have had a grail doll, but only with my Pullips. I could maybe consider Fairyland Juri 08' and Bambicrony Ellen to be grail dolls, but for me the word Grail Doll is limited to THE ultimate doll for you. Again this is totally just me.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
As I said before, only with Pullips have I had my grail doll. Yes, she is a part of my collection

Do you treat it differently from your other dolls?
Oh totally! She gets the most attention, clothing, and love. If there was a fire she would be my first to grab, if there was an earthquake she would be the one I worried about the most. It is not just her unavailability, but how much I am attached to THAT specific one.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
For me, the term Grail Doll is a doll that may be harder to attain (a limited/sold out) and/or more expensive. I can understand why other people feel differently, but there is a certain magic for me for when you find that perfect Grail. The one you've been waiting for to get on the market for so long because they are almost there, the one who is actually at a decent price. Again this could probably apply to any doll, but for me Grail Dolls are harder to obtain and also fewer. Having 10+ Grail Dolls makes it less special ^_^

Have you managed to buy your Grail Doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
No, my Prunella is truly perfect

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes. Volks Suiseiseki, Another Secret Mr.Milu, and Migidoll Owen.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Nope! I doubt I will ever have Suiseiseki, from seeing the prices on the marketplace, but she's still a nice dream. I'd love to have the first doll that I fell in love with, and the one that actually introduced me to bjds. Mr.Milu I also doubt I'll get, just because he's probably going to be so rare, but if he pops up for sale somewhere, I'm definitely snatching him. He was an event Christmas head, so. /: Owen I am slowly working on! I'm hoping to have him by summer or fall, if nothing unexpected happens.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
If I get them, I will probably accidentally spoil them more than my others. xD

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Not really. It depends what a person's view of 'expensive' is. Someone could have a doll that is $200 as their grail doll, and another as $2,000.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
n/a

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes! Soom Amber Pure Spirit and Soom Heliot God Master are my two grails, though Amber is definitely my "ultimate grail".

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Yep I have them both.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Well, they are the two main dolls I have, my Chrom and Miho are still waiting on their bodies. But I would be more protective of them because they are rarer, more expensive and would be extremely hard to replace. I think I would love them all the same though ^^

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
No. A grail doll to me means that the thought of never owning it makes you sad and almost sick to your stomach, and you're motivated to pursue it.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I was not disappointed at all, they were exactly like I thought they would be. I knew I would love Amber more than any other doll I could want, so I was almost relieved to have her. I actually liked Heliot even more than I expected to, so that's a nice surprise.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
All of the dolls I want right now are grail dolls...I don't have any! lol.
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
See above answer.
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I probably wouldn't, since any doll I want is one I really want...
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
I guess if you're supposed to be comparing them to the holy grail then they should be! Maybe it should be something nearly-impossible to get, like its namesake.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
I define a 'Grail Doll' as a rare doll that is so coveted that one would go to any reasonable lengths to obtain it. Using this definition, no I don't have one and never did. There are two dolls on my wish list that are expensive and rare - YoSD Four Sisters and FL Juri '08, but, I am fine waiting patiently until their respective companies re-release them. Since I don't want them enough to pay the secondary market markup, then they are not truly my 'Grail Dolls', they are simply dolls that I'd love to have, but won't be too upset if I don't. I guess I am at a point in this hobby where I have enough dolls that passing up or missing out on a fantastic doll is not that big of a deal.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
If I count the two rare dolls I mentioned above, then, no, I don't have them. I am sure that eventually the companies will re-release them, at which point, I'll try to bring them home (please see edit below!)

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
n/a

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Not necessarily. A doll can be very rare, but unpopular enough to not command a huge markup. However, usually, rare dolls do command a higher price on the secondary market, so for the most part, 'Grail Dolls' are rather expensive.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
n/a

Edit: Well, I recently won a chance to purchase Yo-Megu from Volks lottery! I got one of my dream dolls without having to pay a markup on the secondary market. In this hobby, anything is possible, one just needs a little patience! Now, FL just needs to re-release Juri-08 and I'll be set

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes - there have been several that I've been desperate to own.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Yep, I've been lucky enough to own most of the dolls that I have coveted, but I have to admit that once I've actually had them in my collection, my tastes have changed and I have moved them on. There are still certain dolls that I consider as being 'grail' but I would not obsess about owning them any more.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I was more reluctant to take them outside for photo-shoots and I was worried about them getting damaged, so I tended to treat them with far more reverence than my other dolls to the point that they ended up sitting on shelves rather than being played with.

Do you consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Yes. If I don't wrack up a hefty credit card bill buying a doll then it isn't a grail doll, in my own opinion! Having said that, there are some custom dolls out there that I like that don't go for huge amounts of money, but they are still very hard to get hold of.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I no longer own any of my Grail dolls as I have been so disappointed with myself for allowing myself to spend ridiculous amounts of money on dolls that it has taken the fun out of collecting. The thrill of owning your first Grail doll is amazing, but the reality of credit card bills for me soon came crashing through the euphoria. I think most of the 'fun' is in the wanting rather than the owning!

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
-Yes!
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
-I might be able to buy him in a month or so....
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
-I probably would, but only since he's a drastically different size than what I'm used to.
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
-Nope! I've had more than one grail doll. I've had two. I managed to buy my first one though. (An Asleep Eidolon Cherry)
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
-Yep. My Cherry came awfully strung and with a chipped faceup.