Meet the Blank Slate

Hello Panzellie, and welcome!!

I hope you get your first bjd soon enough, you will absolutely love her/him, I'm sure

Be careful when buying dolls on Etsy, there are many recasts being sold there. Make sure the doll you get is legit

 

Welcome!! There are loads of affordable BJD companies that officials dealers sell too! When I was first starting out, I just went on alices collections and looked through every company to find an affordable sculpt. At the time I was only looking for MSDs and there are a few companies such as Doll Leaves with dolls under $150!

Good luck finding your first doll!!

 

Hello, Panzellie!

Welcome to DoA and the doll hobby!
I remember, it took me years to find my first doll. I highly recommend holding your horses and doing research first. It's nice to know "which size do I want" and "what is my budget" first. That will help you to narrow your potential field significantly. Some of the most popular sizes are the 1/4 (MSD). They are a great gateway size with a reasonable price point.

I also recommend Alice Collection. Depending on where you are, the Denver Doll Emporium is also pretty good!
Best of luck to you!

 

Welcome to DoA and the hobby Panzellie!

There is alot of info on this forum so you'll have lots of resources, plus everyone here is very helpful and willing to answer any questions you can't find already answered.

I second Alice's Collection and Denver Doll Emporium, they are great dealers to start with!
I would also really like to recommend Resin Soul, they have afforable(cheap!) dolls that are very good quality and have great customer service. Though they're company photos are lacking you can find alot of the dolls around the forum with much better photos!

 

Howdy howdy! Welcome to the hobby!

I second everyone here on being careful with Etsy, though it definitely feels more comfortable shopping with a site you're familiar with, Etsy is FULL of recasts.

If you're in North America I can't recommend Denver Doll enough, They have great customer service as well as a variety of dolls in stock if you're the impatient type like I am

 

Welcome to the hobby! I wanted to chime in, as you are looking for a lower cost doll to start, maybe you can check out Jane's doll land (dealer) they appear to carry lots of 1/4 and smaller dolls that are around $200 or less. Best of luck finding the right first doll! The hunt is really fun I think. I hope you enjoy the community too.

 

Welcome! You already have gotten a lot of great advice! If possible, see if you live near a dealer or can go to a local meet up where you can handle different sized dolls. That might help you decide on a size! My friend let me handle her different sized dolls so I could get a feel for what I would or wouldn't like to start out with.

 

Hello and welcome!
The choice of first doll can be difficult, but learning what's out there will help the most.

The dealers like Alice's collections, or Denver Doll, or BJDivas, or Legend Doll, or Jane's DollLand are really good places to start to look at lots of different dolls! And also try BJD Collectasy to see what's new and get an idea about how the different dollmakers release their dolls. Many companies have Instagram accounts too!

For video I recommend Lomi's Playground and Asenvabjd on youtube, and Asenva has a very beginner accessible website at BJD Life

Most dollmakers have dolls that are available all the time, or at least on a regular basis. Other dollmakers release new dolls, have them available for a few weeks and then retire that sculpt. Many have a mix of both! It's good to know the difference when you are deciding what doll you want to buy.

And please do look around here, there is so much information here! Check the doll profiles and the box openings in the Galleries, check the Discussion threads for specific dollmakers when you have some names, and this guide /threads/the-big-bjd-faq-guide-for-newcomers.850259/ for a topic-by-topic explanation of most parts of doll ownership.

Welcome again and don't be afraid to poke around!

 

Oh and Clover Singing's another dealer! Forgot to add that one

 

Hello and welcome!!!
I am a newbie myself. I had my first bjd for about a month and let go of her in 2008. I officially started dolls as a hobby last summer!

It is absolutely best and wise that you take time to find your likings, gain knowledge and research as much as you can before you get your first doll! I wish I knew any doll community back then!

I hope you find your the one doll soon!

 

Of course of course! Any time!

 

Welcome! There are so many companies and artists to choose from, so do your research and take your time! It will be great to see photos of your bjd after you choose, and if you share your photos!