Your view on 'Grail Dolls'

Have you ever had one, or not?
​My first grail doll was LW Mikhaila, while my dream doll (not limited, still in production when I got him) was a LW Mihael. The instant I saw the Purerose Mikhaila on the website when she was first released, I knew I had to have her, and was then so happy when they later released her as a basic.
The mewiefish Bactro is the newest grail doll of mine, and I'm hoping to get her too.
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Mikhaila, yes
Bactro; we'll have to see when she gets released.
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I don't. All my dolls are very special to me, as they're all based on dear characters of mine. She does get more expensive fabrics for her clothes though, but that's just because it's in her character (embroidered dupioni silk for her basic corsets, even more expensive ones for anything more festive).
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
No. My Mikhaila was not very expensive, yet she's one of the only two grail dolls I have had since I got interested in the hobby quite a couple of years ago. Bactro will be expensive though.
Still, it's your feelings and the availability of the doll which makes it a grail doll to me, not the price.
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I wished Mikhaila's skin to be a wee bit more gray than it really was, but the detailing of the body is better than I hoped for, so when everything comes to everything... guess I have to say no

 

To start this off, I am relitively new to this hobby. Until very recently I didn't even know what a Grail Doll was. This threat actually inlightened me to what one is.

Have you ever had one, or not?
I have never had a Grail Doll, perhaps because I've not yet gotten too far into the hobby

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

I would hope that if I did have one, I would one day be able to own it. If not, I wouldn't cry over it. Some things are just not meant to be.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I don't think I would. I treasure my dolls and would treat a Grail Doll in the same manner

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

I don't think so, no. I think a Grail Doll is any doll that is hard to procure that you want very badly. It can even be a cheaper doll that is no longer being scuplted.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I would hope that I wouldn't. I've only got two dolls to my name and I love both of them. I've yet to feel disappointed by them.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
-- Yes, I have had three actually. Doll-Zone's Discontinued Lotus, Soom's Topaz Honeydew and Musedoll's Thalia.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
-- Please to say, yes I have two of them through some miracle have made it home XD Constant MP scouring and layaway juggling finally got those girls home to me x3 The Lotus I'm still on a hunt for.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
-- My Thalia, very much so, she's in a place all by herself in my group. My Topaz, she's just as loved as Thalia but definitely gets to see the light of day more often for pictures and stuff. Lotus probably will be in the same category as Topaz when I find her XD

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
-- Nope, anything that's a Must Have that is hard to obtain for one reason or another is a Grail Doll. Be it discontinued, rare, overall unpopular, etc. If you can't get your hands on it readily (for some reason other than money) and it's a Must Have for your collection. Imo, it's a grail doll.

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

-- Well, technically I guess I could say so. At one point I thought that I had purchased a Lotus from the Marketplace, however for some reason her face just wasn't right when I got her home. She didn't have that half smile mouth. I thought I was just out of luck and that she wasn't what I thought she was. However, my friend who did her face up for me looked at her harder and harder still, compared pictures and more then determined that I'd actually received a DZ Orlando. The person who sold her to me mislabeled the doll. Thus, I was on the hunt again, of course by the time we figured out why Lily wasn't working out for me DZ was like "Hey guess what? We're discontinuing the ones you want!" XD

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes, a pair as a matter of fact. Immortality of Soul's Chaos and Switch's Hahwa.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Almost! IoS is re-releasing Chaos this December and I'm so going to get him~!!

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I'm pretty afraid I will be... I'm so very attached to his character among a lot of other things and he's such a unique sculpt... he's the one doll I ever wanted most in the entire hobby.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Nope, anything hard to get that you must have, regardless of price. That's how I define Grail Dolls at the very least. It doesn't have to be really expensive or anything. A discontinued or really unpopular/very limited release doll also counts as a Grail regardless of price.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I don't think I will be! I certainly hope not~

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
yes, i have. i tried to resist her. didn't work.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
yep. it took a lot of hunting. and timing. its one of those that you have the money and the doll is no where to be found. then they show up and no money lol!

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
i would be lying if i said she was treated like the others. she is obviously a loved girl lol! spoiled horribly. even my Grandaughter favors her and callers her hers. and i have a lot of dolls.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
no. its the one that got away or you just didn't have any money at the time. you come back to them time and time again to stare. you find yourself liking them in almost all there incarnations. you even compare your other dolls to your dream and wish you had them.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
no. she is everything and more. my only disappointment would be i don't have two of her. or three lol! she did come in cream white also...

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes - I actually have more than one "grail" doll.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
I have brought some of them home, yes - and two of them will probably be here in some months!

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Yes - I tend to play with them more often. They are my "favourites", to a certain degree.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
No, the price is not really than important, it is rather the difficulty to get one at all (sold out, limited, discontinued etc.) that makes a doll qualify as grail for me, and its beauty (in my opinion).

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
No, the ones I got are just as perfect as I imagined!

 

ahh! those grail dolls!!!
my absolute grail doll is a soom phonolus in tawny skin and human form
when they sold him i had not yet discovered the hobby T_T
the only one available in that description in the marketplace so far was already on hold for someone T_T ( the human head seems a real pain to acquire >_<)
and now.....soom is holding the wonderful event...but no dark skinned phonolus in human version with his mischievous narrow eyes!
so, i will wait and wait and search and search...the price is not what makes it grail for me really, it's just that he isn't there for me to get!!!! and even if i could do it right now, i'd have to wait.....because of the other "impossible to get" guys that are definitely going on layaway...afterwards which my pocket will have to be sent to the emergency room, i really hope that by the time i recuperate from the expenses my dear phonolus shows up!!

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes! I think of Grail dolls as ones that are practically impossible to get, for one reason or another. My current grails are Soom Hyperon-Dhampir (which was a limited ID before I even started collecting), and Volks Hijikata & Genji (which Volks makes sure have ALWAYS been ridiculously impossible AND expensive).
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
I am so gloriously delighted w/Soom for making Hyperon available again, briefly!!!! So my Hyperon will be soon be here!
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
No - well, I have several extremely beloved & precious sculpts (Ringdoll Kirin, IH Bichun & Dexter, my Soul doll Key who's faceup is very special, etc). I love ALL my dolls as they all were chosen to fit certain characters I love. Now I do tend to take more risks (ie take to DragonCon...) those dolls that are easier to replace & are cheaper - for obvious reasons.
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Not at all - it ISN'T the price, it's the unavailability!!!!
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
Nope! The first time I saw LoongSoul LuoYue & IH Dexter, I fell in love And still am delighted w/them. & my Ringdoll Kirin is soooo worth the 7 month wait for him!!!!

 

Grail doll? Yes, Mine is the Soom Idealian York and I just ordered him this week after thinking I would never be lucky enough to own one! He won't be treated any differently than any of my others though, because each is special in it's own way and part of my family now.

 

To this day, I don't have a grail doll. No doll has ever screamed buy me and no other doll. I likely will never have one because I'm not that picky. For the most part, I have a face and body I like but I don't have to have any particular doll. (Which really makes the thought of dropping $700-900 on a doll nuts for me)

 

Have you ever had one, or not?

Yep, my DZ Yuu.

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

Yes! He was the first doll I bought.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?

Not really, I love them all.

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

Not at all. Mine happened to be the most expensive one I have, but it was the sculpt that got me, not the manufacturer.

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

Nope! I love him to pieces. My only complaint is that he was too tightly strung when he got here.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
I had her (twins in fact). Sold them a while back. Got 1 back again very recently. ^^

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
Back then? Yes. This time I don't think I will though. :-)

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Not necessarily. However when I got her before she was quite expensive so it was generally harder to get than the other ones. Grail dolls can just be rare/limited. Doesn't have to be expensive.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
My grail doll was a Kurumi. After I sold my twins though things changed. I never had another grail doll after that actually. Someone I used to know did something that really upset me a lot because of Kurumi as well as a very disappointing flakey sale. When I finally got her after those 2 bad experiences, I find that I wasn't happy with her at all. T-T;;

After I sold them I had no plans of ever getting her back. I saw a well-priced one in the MP just recently and somehow I found myself wanting that particular one badly. So here we are again, I got a Kurumi back. :-)

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
My ultimate grail doll was a Volks Yugiri. I've had other grails in the past, but Yugiri was the only one that stuck around.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
I was able to find his head this year for a very good price. Once I got him, I booted my School C off the SD-10 body I had and plopped his head on.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I think I definitely treat Jordan differently. I love taking photos of him and carrying him around the house. I don't normally post pictures of my dolls (because I'm lazy) but Jordan has gotten a lot of internet exposure

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Not necessarily. I think it depends on how badly you want the doll and how hard it is to get it.

Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I was slightly disappointed when I noticed that there was a little cut on the bottom eye lid (probably from when his eyes were removed) when I took off his old face up. But regardless I'm super happy with him.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes. When I entered the hobby I really wanted a Volks Kurumi.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Sorta; This year I discovered the Rose/Bianka head (who looks somewhat similar to Kurumi) so I bought a Rose secondhand

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I sold the first two dolls I bought. I bought them in the first place because I was 15 and had no idea how to get Kurumi (plus...her price tag was a shocker). I really loved those two dolls, but I knew after a couple years that I wouldn't feel satisfied unless I got my dream doll and that it was a mistake not trying to get Kurumi in the first place. So now it's down to two dolls that enjoy both the same!

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Not necessarily, but that seems to be how it goes.

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

I was disappointed when I got her and the seller didn't note that there was a chip in the faceup (on the underside of the chin, but it's not noticeable). I was pretty bummed, and the seller never got back to me...Maybe they didn't notice it? Regardless of that, I love her and am super happy I've got Rose. Do I still want Kurumi? Yes.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yes, two grail dolls were a dollshe orijean and the February blueblood silver fullest.
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
I actually managed to get silver after he was sold out a week ago, so I'm elated.
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I try to treat all of my dolls equally, but I do adore him.
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?

A lot of the time it seems as of that's the way, but I think Grail doll is more the one that got away or you can't stop thinking about.
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I was a little disappointed when silver arrived and his shirt wasn't exactly the same as pictured on the website. However I'm still overjoyed to have him.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
I have some that i would love one day then forget about.

If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Not as of yet.

Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I doubt i will.

Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
No depending on what your grail doll is varies from person to person and also what you find to be expensive!

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

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
Yep! Soom Amber was my grail doll for the longest time. She came out not too long after I bought my first doll so I didn't have the funds to buy her too.
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
Yep! I managed to snag one of the special order human versions from SOOM.
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I have more ideas for outfits and photoshoots for my Amber but other than that I think I treat them equally.
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
Not at all. I think any doll has the potential to be a grail doll. Expense can be a factor, but it doesn't have to be the only factor.
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
I wasn't disappointed with her at all!

 

Have you ever had one, or not? Not yet, hopefully someday! A Unoa Lusis hybrid. Akubi face, new Dollzone girl body.
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection? N/A
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls? I would try not to
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls? Not always, you can get a good deal
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it? I haven't bought her yet

 

I don't think they need to be expensive, but I do think the term only makes sense if the doll is rare. If they're easy to find I think it makes more sense to just call it a dream doll. But maybe that's semantic nit-picking.

 

Have you ever had one, or not?
I don't own one
If you have, have you finally managed to have it in your collection?
I still don't have it . . .
Do you treat it differently to your other dolls?
I would! Yes!
Do you only consider the very expensive dolls as Grail dolls?
He is around 1000$
Have you managed to buy your Grail doll, but then been disappointed in some way with it?
Thats my biggest fear, but I've looked so long and hard and I can't find anyone complaining about it or even reselling it so I can't imagine I would be sad. Just - in awe.