Your view on 'Grail Dolls'

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes, I have had a couple, actually - Volks Williams, Soom Vesuvia and Volks Tsukasa Konoe to name a few.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
I was lucky enough to snag a Williams shortly after he was released before aftermarket prices got crazy. Earlier this year I finally managed to get my #1 grail doll, Tsukasa Konoe, after nearly four years of waiting, searching and scheming.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Initially, maybe. I fussed with Apollo a lot more than I did some of my other boys... but at this point he's part of the family. I'm not the sort who doesn't handle my dolls, and he's no exception.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
I think that to consider a doll a 'Grail doll', it has to be difficult to obtain on a certain level. This could be because of many different things - Different people will have different definitions, but mine is usually related to the 'limited-ness' of a doll, which really does translate most of the time to expensive aftermarket prices.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
Nope! I was thrilled with what I got. I understand how this might happen, though, having built something up in your head to such a degree. The actual thing itself could potentially be anticlimactic. Fortunately, Tsukasa was everything I had thought he would be! *grin*

 

Yes, I've had a grail doll. Volks SD Charlotte, the second I saw her I knew I must have her someday. She's still pretty new, so I haven't added her to my collection yet and who knows? I may never. She's quite expensive and her price will only double by the time I will be in a financial position to buy her. I think if I did have Charlotte, she'd be treated differently from my other dolls if only because she'd be the only SD in the house. But really, each of my dolls always gets treated differently from one to the next, even with identical twin dolls I am still likely to treat each one differently. In my case, my grail doll is indeed expensive, but I don't believe they have to be.

 

Ah... so, in that case... (is it possible that you explain what a 'grail doll' is in your opening?)

Have you ever had one, or not?
Well, sorta. I always had wanted a Volks doll - haven't gotten one yet, since I am one who likes to buy dolls that are less expensive. For me, a grail doll would probably be any doll I wanted (or thought I could afford) to buy. Yeah, I'm like that...

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Yes! I have Emma, and she was everywhere before I got her - my iPod, my computer desktop. Mostly that was because I wanted to make sure I never gave up saving.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Can't say - she's my only one

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
No way! Any doll is a grail doll, to me. As long as you love it, it's a highly-wanted doll

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
Nope.

 

Reply #10 in this thread pretty much explains what a grail doll is.

 

Have you ever had one, or not? A couple, DIM Kassia, Dollstown Soph, and NotDoll Belladonna

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection? Yes! I have a Belladonna now, and a Soph head on another body (which is a fine compromise for me, as I like the DT elf body, but was really drawn to the head sculpt).

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls? Not really, I treat them all the same.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls? Well, kind of. I don't have a Kassia yet because she's rather pricey. I really consider her to be a grail doll because I've wanted her ever since I first saw her, whereas many sculpts I like initially, then become less interested. Belladonna became a grail doll because she was discontinued, but I luckily found one on Ebay. I guess I would say that a grail doll is one that you really want, that is difficult for you to get. I define my grail dolls as sculpts that I've liked over a long time, that I haven't been able to buy for whatever reason.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I had a little trouble bonding with my Belladonna because she came blank, and I couldn't give her a faceup I was happy with. I briefly considered selling her, but friends talked me out of it. Then I got her an awesome artist faceup (from Phantasmagoria), and now it's all good. I'm really glad I didn't sell her.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes, i would say i've had two, so far. Custom House St. Mina, the first BJD i pursued, and Hypermaniac Omicron. Current grail quest is Dollshe Sarubia.
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Yep. Eventually got St. Mina, and traded/purchased Omicron by giving up another Hyperdoll i adored. No regrets!
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Not really, but they are close to me, somewhere i see them every day.
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Not really. To me, collectors call something a grail because it is difficult to obtain. The reasons could be financial, or scarcity, which aren't always the same. It depends on what you value, and what your resources are. But by my definition, a grail is one doll, or one at a time. The impossible-to-obtain IT.
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it? Not a bit. However, the Omicron was the most expensive guy i ever got - or probably ever will get. Because of that, i was kind of shy around him until i forgot about his 'value' and relaxed to enjoy him. But he is fabulous, sitting right by me as i write this.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes, Soom Hati/Skoll.
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Yes! For much more money than I'd have liked, but I did manage to buy a Skoll all in one piece.
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Waiting for it to arrive, but I'm sure I won't... though I may spoil him more than others...
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
No, I see grail dolls s a doll someone seriously wants, but it is either A) too expensive to purchase right away, or B) is a doll someone has fallen in love with that is no longer available through the store it was sold.
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
Not as of yet...

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Oh, yes... *sighs* Soom Bix (with claw) is my biggest so far. The Dollshe Orijean not far behind.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
If I managed to keep my grades up this semester, I might be able to get the Orijean in the spring. We'll see.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
... I don't know. Never managed to actually get a grail doll home. Unless it was the Heliot, but as he doesn't have a body... I'll play with a new doll more than an old doll for a while, but my interest generally evens out after a month or so.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Nupe. Usually my grail dolls are just dolls that I either can't afford immediately, simply cannot find anywhere, or just want really, really bad.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
Again, never managed to get my hands on a grail doll yet. I'm hoping I won't be disappointed, and I try to keep a realistic idea in mind. I look at all the reviews, paying extra attention on bad ones, just so I know what I'm getting myself in to. I like to know what actual owners don't like about the doll(s) I want and what issues they've had about anything. Just because I really want the doll doesn't give me an excuse to set myself up for disappointment. I just wish I had a similar mindset when I bought my car, lol

 

Yes, I had a grail doll. He wasn't an LE or stupid money, he was just this one particular doll that haunted me from the first moment I saw him. I followed him through at least four owners and as many years, everytime he came up for sale I put in an offer and was always refused, but I knew, one day, I'd bring him home.

I did in the end and he's never going anywhere again now, he's not treated any differently to the others, but whenever I look at him, I realise how lucky I am to have him and all his friends all the more

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes.... Homme Ducan. Not a day goes by that my heart aches to have him at my side.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Not yet, but he is last of the superwant dolls I'm after.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I probably will as Homme Ducan will embody a very special OC of mine.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Nope. Price doesn't matter. If a doll can strike your fancy in such a way that takes your breath away, make your heart stand still, your eyes well up in complete aw and make your heart ache everytime you see photos of it, its your Grail doll.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I don't have him yet although I'll be saving for him after I get PW Goldie. I doubt I'll be disappointed. Homme Ducan is the reason I got into this hobby.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Oh, hell yes - I had two! (Twice the pain - Soom Sard and Volks Genji.)

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Yes, believe it or not. I got both of them!

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Well, I do find I'm more reluctant to bring Genji out to meets with me. In my eyes he's irreplaceable.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Well, the term 'expensive' is misleading. A grail doll is a doll that hovers out of reach for one reason or another. For a young person who doesn't have a job or is making minimum wage, that Bobobie may be just as unreachable a 'grail' as a Volks Reisner one-off. Speaking for myself, I have both a decent job and disposable income *knock on wood*, so my grail dolls were very expensive limiteds.

(The funny thing is, I consider myself lucky. I got my Genji head for something like $500, which seemed like a ton of money at the time. Well, strike that - it is a ton of money, but nothing like what he goes for now.)

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
Nope, I love them both to bits.

​

 

Have you ever had one, or not?

Yes, I've had several - but I do fall in love easily, and am tenacious when I am in love, so none of them have been really extremely long waits between first wish & final arrival. My Satoko Ohno SchoolHead A mod is one (I may not have a diamond or a Porsche, but I have an Ohno repaint in my living room ).... my SDink Volks Genji is another (I had gotten settled in for a long long wait while looking for a whole Genji, when a fabulous deal fell from Heaven into my lap).... and my Tan Lion was probably the longest wait, because I had to wait a whole year for him to be invented first (Iplehouse didn't make many tan dolls back then, and to finally snag one of those 10 Lions was a dream come true).

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?

Yes, I have all of my A-list dream dolls. However, there's always a few remaining pipe-dream dolls that I would love to have, if new space magically opened up in my apartment one day... Unoa B-El, Dollti D or Wooyan, Lumedoll Saiph... Iplehouse Lee...

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?

Not really; I treat most of my dolls differently though. My SchoolHead A never travels, but my Genji has flown to New York and been to a zillion local meetups.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?

No, price doesn't enter into grailhood... a grail is simply the object of seeking, often what feels like eternal seeking.

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

Nope!

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Two! Mythdoll Leroi and Batchix Machina Gamma.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
I have a Leroi Snow (my first), but the Gammas haven't been released yet...

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Maybe, but not the way you'd think. I've had Alec for over three years, so I know his limits pretty well; I'm actually less careful with him than I am with Kitty (I worry about her delicate DZ fingers breaking where I know Alec's well nigh indestructible). Also I'm not quite so worried about him yellowing; I try to prevent it but I know I'll love him no matter what.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Certainly they're more likely candidates, but Mythdoll was on the outs when I entered the fandom, so getting my mitts on a Leroi was a task and a half. I think any doll you really have to work for, whether in terms of time or money, can be considered a Grail Doll.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I'm occasionally disappointed in Alec's posing, but we find a way to make it work.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Definitely. Volks Tohya. He was the first doll I saw that got me into the hobby.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?

I did, this year, after finding him on eBay. ^_^ There was happiness abound that day. Not so much waiting for him to arrive though. The customs fees also had me twitching. :<

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?

I don't think I do. I cart him around a little more because I'm happy to finally have him, but I'm happy with all my dolls. :3

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?

Not really - I found my Tohya on eBay for less than retail price and he'd never been taken out of his box. Admittedly, he's my most expensive one but if it's a doll you really like and want to save for, then it's a grail doll in a way, because it's a goal. ^^

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

The only thing I was disappointed in happened to be the customs fees, but the doll more than made up for that when I finally got him home. XD

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Umm.. I dont know exactly. i feel very attached to all of my dolls living with me so i suppose I would consider them all my grail dolls? The only doll that I feel like I must have someday is a soom dia (i like the sculpt so much i actually want 2...)

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?

I have her body and paws ready.. saving up to buy her head lol soom stopping ws production really caught me off guard

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?

I dont think I would, I love all of my dolls alot and the only difference is some get carried around more because they are smaller/purse sized/ etc

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?

No, all dolls are very expensive to me but I think of them in terms of how much I want/like them, not how much they cost.

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

I dont think I would ever be dissapointed with my dolls

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes - a whiteskin SD-13 Kun. She's been on my wishlist since I first started in this hobby over 5 years ago. Other dolls have come and gone, but she's always stayed. Of course, I didn't realise back then that you can only get white skin if you go FCS; nor did I know that Kun only came as an SD-10, not SD-13. It took me a year or so to realise the only way I was going to get her was going to be FCS - which was going to be out of my reach. I figured I could settle for a Pureskin version, but Volks have never announced plans for one, and I've never seen a Kun head on an SD-13 body come up on the secondary market either (not for lack of looking). Then the standard Kun became unavailable because Volks were getting ready for the 2008 Renewal release of their Standards - which seem to be perpetually out of stock on both Volks USA and Volks Japan; so I was even thwarted from buying a standard Kun and an SD-13 body seperately! Didn't stop me wishing for 5 years though.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
I have now. I was very fortunate to find a 2009 WS FCS SD-13 F-22 here in the MP - my exact dream girl! I guess she was someone else's dream girl too at some point and it just didn't work out. Sad for them, but fortunate for me.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
She's not here yet - but to be honest, I don't see how I couldn't treat her differently; I've been waiting and dreaming about her for so long in a way I hadn't for any of my previous dolls. There's always going to be something different and special about her because of that.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
No; only the elusive ones. As I've mentioned above, I would have settled for a Pureskin version, but even that seemed impossible to track down purely through coincidence and unlucky timing.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
She hasn't arrived yet, but I very much doubt I'll be disappointed with her. Even if I don't like her face-up, I can wipe it and redo it - that's the beauty of BJDs, after all. Even if she isn't 100% perfect when she arrives, I can mod her, repaint her, dress her how I choose to be perfect. The appearance of a doll when first you open the box is only ever a stepping stone on the way to their final appearance, in my opinion. The doll is a blank canvas upon which to create your dream.

 

Well, now that I think about it, I did like this one a lot...

[Hotlinked Image Removed]
First saw her on ebay, actually... but so much happened since then.

I also wanted this one - but my mom (and my conscience) said there was no way:
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Yes, I have a few Grail dolls, but I don't own a single one. A SOOM Sard, a Volks DD Komaki Manaka, a SWITCH Hahwa head, a SOOM Amber boy, an Ariadoll Valentine boy, and the tanned gentle Bermann.

These are the only ones I can think of off-hand. And the Hahwa head and Valentine boy are probably the only ones that wouldn't cost me $1000+. Though with the amount of competition in the MP for popular dolls, and how people never seem to check if others have a WTB thread for a specific doll before posting their FS thread, NOT having it an auction, and having the doll snapped up instantaneously because it's so popular... Oh, it hurts!

Though, the worst are the auctions that are closed for an undisclosed amount of money. I don't even know how much to save up for, or what competition I'm really facing!

 

For me, a grail doll is a doll that I want but cannot purchase due to high price (either I don't have much dispensable income or I'd feel strange spending that much on a doll). I have had two grails I managed to get, though: an Iplehouse Luo and a Volks Megu.

My Iplehouse Luo was cool to have, but I didn't play with him nearly as much as I did with my other dolls. He just kind of... stood there. I was fairly disappointed in him - somehow he seemed more majestic in the photos than in real life, and he posed terribly. It was really kind of a shame since I had pined for him for about 8 months or so before I was able to get him. I had no patience for the poor guy, so he ended up being sold.

My Megu, on the other hand, was a doll I missed out buying at a meet due to hesitation - with her price, she was snapped up quickly. A few months later, though, the buyer offered her to me, and I couldn't resist. I'd say she's perhaps the doll I've bonded with most. I love her! She isn't going anywhere ever