The wait you can't control- discontinued grails

I'm going through that right now, and it's not even a full doll - it's the Doll Chateau K-08 body, one of the ones with the extra neck joint. I made things worse by wanting it in a specific color, too (not a limited one, at least).

It's a pretty dumb situation because I could get the very similar K-12 body right now if I wanted to, but I love those extra long necks and would like if it was similar to my K-07 body. This is why I generally avoid shelling characters...

 

Ah, I feel this. I'm on the search for a Volks Scarface Reisner and I even found one for a decent price! But they're asking too much for how damaged the doll is. If the doll was a complete fullset, the price would be totally fair, but parts of the outfit are damaged or missing and the faceup is damaged. Probably this is me being too picky, but it rubs me the wrong way that they're selling an incomplete set with a (mildly) damaged doll at the same price that they previously sold the same doll that was in perfect condition.

 

One great aspect regarding those old Luts/CP sculpts is that they are still quite popular to this day. Still seen as iconic BJD. So they can pop up (though not super often) on the secondhand market. If you're persistent and let it be known to the bjd community that this is the doll you're after, one may find you!

The reason I bring up letting it be known is that I've actually happened upon a few grails for other people. A couple times it was the grails of friends of mine, one of which I bought the doll (without telling them) as a gift. But a couple other times it was other hobbyists whom I only knew of on a fellow community member level. Somewhere or another they had a post regarding their grail that I had taken notice of, so when I happened upon said grail on a secondhand market I messaged them the link. It's very satisfying to have helped someone get a grail.

Honestly, a lot of it is pure luck and praying to whatever deity you may worship. I may have used up all my grail luck on an impossible grail I nabbed earlier this year. One that doesn't even have company photos in existence anymore since the company shut down. Nor can I find any other owners of. Satisfying as all heck to finally have. But also somewhat bittersweet as I can never get replacement parts or see this same sculpt in others crews. The multi-year wait up to finding this grail was sort of a "I adore this doll so much and would purchase them on the spot if I ever found one but have almost absolutely no hope of ever finding one". Fastest mandarake purchase I ever made, lol.

 

I totally understand. I would do terrible things for a Pukipuki PongPong. I'm at the point where I figure I'll just buy any Pukipuki I can find, and hope to get a PongPong head somewhere else.

 

The very first doll I fell in love with was Dollzone Merlin, and shortly before I had enough to get him he was gone Even worse is going on marketplace and seeing that you just missed buying a second hand one too. I gave in and bought his body with a similar head, but I just keep hoping I’ll manage to snag his head some day.

 

While she's not a "grail" doll, I've always wanted a Gem of Doll Eleven. She was a 58cm girl who came with an option to have one skeletal leg. I think that's just about one of the coolest things I've seen. I've seen skeletal faces (or half skeletal faces, anyhow), but an actual skeletal leg is another ball game altogether.

Unfortunately, she's long since discontinued. Haven't seen anyone with her either here nor anywhere, honestly. So, just like yourself, @~Suisei_Seki~ , I am sitting here waiting, too.

But don't give up hope. My all-time grail is a Volks F-09 (Mimi). It took me years to find, but I did find her, right here on the MP! So, I know the time will come, one day. Please hang on tight and don't give up hope!

 

It took eight years to receive an answer to my only dedicated WTB grail thread on DoA, and another two or three to get my hands on my other major grail, a limited artist head. The thing that kills me is how little idea I had of the way things would inflate and become scarce going forward. Like back when I first got MP access in 2013, someone was selling a Dream of Doll Black Elf Caracal, a doll that has been on my wishlist ever since. But I've never seen another one listed for sale. How could I have known that would be my 'one' chance, back when I didn't have the regular income? Much less that DoD would close unexpectedly? Same goes for the old Delf elves, many long-retired companies, etc. It can be incredibly frustrating to have something highly desired slip through your fingers, then never have another shot.

Still. If a grail is truly a grail, if it means enough to you to pay hundreds of dollars and scrounge tens of websites day after month after year, then it doesn't hurt to grow accustomed to waiting. Sometimes, playing the long game is the only way to 'score' in this and many other collecting hobbies, when you're dependent on fellow owners to fall out of love with the things that you're after. There's no timeline for it, it's unpredictable, and that sucks. But it can also be sheer euphoria when the right doll does line up at the right time. BJDs are... a surprisingly intense hobby for your mind.

I will admit there were a lot of times when I thought, "I'll never find one." And it's half-true- there are a number of dolls I'd like to own but have never been able to catch, and a couple I did own but had to let go, and haven't been able to catch again. But that would be discounting all the ones that did come to me, in time. Across eleven years, mind you, but still. 'Give up' is the worst thing you can say, unless you've fallen out of love while waiting, and it is time to retire the pursuit in favor of something else. Sometimes dolls just take their sweet time. Others, your tastes change, and you end up channeling your love and energy into different ideas, but maybe bring along some of the concepts you had for that grail.

It seems that everything in the BJD hobby has a season. Certain styles and artists are popular for a while, until something else comes along and takes their spot. Prices rise and fall in the secondhand market, and what was valuable yesterday sits and sits today. Personally I am hoping that this craze for certain 'vintage' BJDs will cycle soon, and thanks to it, us oldschool nerds will once again have good chances at the discontinued dolls we love.

 

Right now I have WTBs out for a Crobidoll Daydream Lance - it has sleepy eyes and I want to use as an alternate head for my open-eyed Crobidoll Lance. Not only was Daydream Lance limited edition, I need it to be a particular resin colour (to match my doll), I only want the 1st version (there is a 2nd version that is slightly different but different enough that I absolutely don't want it), and while I'm prepared to buy a full doll I'd prefer head only because I have no use for the body. I am watching 5 marketplaces for DD Lance, and have missed at least one sale because I wasn't fast enough to hit the Buy button.

I don't think of DD Lance as a grail since I already have a normal Lance. It sure would be nice to give my girl a sleepy-eyed alternate look, but I can live without it. So I've made peace with the fact that I might never own it, and while it's disappointing to know I missed out on a secondhand sale, I'm not too crushed. I figure that one day, I will be at the right place at the right time to buy DD Lance and give my doll a sleepy expression, but if that never happens, it's no big deal. I love the Lance girl I do have and will be contented with her.

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As for dolls that are discontinued, limited, or small preorder... I will go (and have gone) looking for them, and I give myself a timeline that is reasonable and dependent on how rare and in-demand the sculpt is. And I'm constantly evaluating whether to keep pursuing that doll. Personally, I don't enjoy the grail-hunting aspect of this hobby (no "thrill of the chase", only tedium), so the harder it is to acquire a doll, the quicker I will lose interest in it and move on.

Ultimately there comes a point where I stop the active hunt, make peace with never owning that doll, and move onto other things, including continue to play with my doll collection and build them out with other/newer dolls. Time also heals all wounds. I've lost count of how many discontinued dolls I've let go... and subsequently forgot about. And when they appeared secondhand I barely remembered that I was looking for them once.

 

I just try to go with the flow. There is no way for me to feel at peace with pining when I can't do much about attaining the doll. So it's probably not that helpful... But I let go. I still kind of hope to find one I missed in 2011... And I don't think I ever saw since. So I know that availability is not good, and chances are low.
If I don't want to let go I just look for similar looking dolls which I think is a fun adventure. It's also fun to check every now and then to see if there is one suddenly. But it's only made fun for me by not feeling upset and fixated.
Even if there are dolls I loved the most I can usually put the idea into something slightly different. Or I just think of the dolls in my imagination and get excited if owner pictures appear. I view it like relationships with people... You can't just bend somebody to your will. It has to come together naturally.

 

I would do anything for a Mihael (Leekeworld) I used to be in the BJD hobby when he was available form the website, but I didn't had the money back then. I keep searching for him but it'll be impossible to find a full doll or even a head

 

Luckily I'm not in love with many discontinued sculpts, just waiting on DreamValley to rerelease Dragon Sylves. Emailed them about him a while back and they said they probably would rerelease him one day.

 

I'm definitely on the lookout for a Delf Soony, preferably on her original body. I have an F60 Soony '14, but there's just something about that original. Though I don't know if I could ever afford her at this point -- her value seems to rise with each passing year, and what with her being one of the most beloved Fairyland sculpts, she's rarely on the market.

 

*points at her sig*

Yeah. THAT guy...

The LatiDoll Red line limited Oracle M was released (Along with the Temple Knight K, who I have in the crew-) in July 2007. I thought long and hard about buying him back then, but ultimately didn't.

I was an idiot.

In retrospect, I really REALLY should have just listened to my first instinct and done it... Because here we are, sixteen years later, and I still want one. 'Trouble is, I've never seen an Oracle M come up for sale. Not one, in all those years. I'm starting to wonder if they actually exist, or if... like the mythic unicorn... they're purely the stuff of legend.

 

I don't have the funds to put up a WTB post yet, but my grail is a Volks SD10 Old F-07 (so, before they did the restructuring and she was replaced with the Nono sculpt, who's still F-07 to this day). Her face is so sweet and I have a soft spot for older Volks sculpts.

I don't know how difficult she'll be to find (and I know she'll need a lot of TLC when I do find her given the age), but I've not seen one pop up secondhand yet (there are older listings on Mandarake, but that's it). And she only would have been available in the FCS in Japan a few years (1999 to around 2003 or 2004?) and I have no way of knowing if she was popular or not (though given that she was completely replaced instead of simply being re-numbered, I have my suspicions and they're not good)

I'm expecting a long search for her, when I have the funds to bring her home. I'm fine with any condition where she's not been modified, and she wasn't a fullset so I'm not on the hunt for any particular release. She'll just be a bit of a hunt, but I'm honestly looking forward to it. To me, she's worth whatever wait is in store for me. That's the thing about grails that separate them from dolls we just "want". There are dolls I want that I'd be much less patient with, even unwilling to go to the lengths I'm gearing up to go to for OG F-07, but it's worth it for her and I'm actively excited for the search ahead of me.

 

If this is the head you're talking about, Volks JP have it through FCS until the 25th of December

 

@castironteapot I saw, and it's so cool they brought her back (even if its temporary), but I can't afford a brand new FCS doll. But, I can save up and buy one that's old, on a single jointed body, that's yellowed and probably stained from Mandarake or something. I'm fine with having to fix her up, I love a project

 

Honestly, I find it a lot easier to cope with this when the sculpt is actually hard to find. The ones that are so rare that none have showed up for sale in years. I can handle that- it feels like a matter of luck and determination in searching. But often the problem is merely that a doll is limited/discontinued (but not necessarily rare) and its secondhand price goes beyond what I'm willing/able to pay. These ones do come up for sale now and then, but with a huge price tag, and that feels a lot worse IMO because it's less about luck and more about money... I'm trying not to torture myself these days, so I don't even bother searching for those out-of-budget grails and just accept that I can't have everything I want.

 

I have a few favorite Soom dolls that I absolutely need, but they never appear again. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with it. I know that even if a Sabik SG or Ignim-cat or Souldoll Chiron centaur came along, they would be immediately bought by someone faster.
I feel frustrated and tired of not being able to finish characters from the world I'm creating.

 

This is my life and I very much don't hate it.
I am very patient and like taking my sweet time to save, research, and hunt down the doll that's meant to me mine and have managed to bring home long sold-out LEs, limited number sculpts, rare bodies/clothing sets/wigs/etc. A lot of those were thanks to awesome DoA members reaching out after seeing my WTBs so being active in the community helps a lot!

I also find that wanting something "now" seems to be quite expensive so patience is key!
No matter how rare/expensive the doll is if it's out there in the world the chance of you getting one is not zero so if you really want it don't give up hope. Just keep saving (don't touch the savings), put out WTBs, pray to Mother SD and the doll for you will come when the time (and budget is right

 

For me it was Soom Gluino, I first saw the doll about seven years ago when I was actually looking at antique dolls, and he just popped up. I had never seen these types of BJD's before. Some one had sold him full set, both faces, with box and CoA for close to 3k. He totally took my breath away, and then looking at the pictures from the Soom website and finding out he was sold only for a month only in 2010?! 3K is too far out of my price range, also he had already been sold. I followed the Soom page anyways, even though it seemed hopeless.

I began to notice that Soom sometimes brought back older discontinued dolls, so now all I did was hope that he would eventually come around again. They did put out a grey version a few years ago, but I passed on it, not the same thing for me. I even warned my family if he ever popped up, money was coming out of my savings to get him immediately. I did see a couple selling second hand, but I don't trust the second hand market with him.

This month Soom finally brought him around again. I can't even begin to tell you guys how over the moon happy I am to have finally been able to order this doll. I pinching myself and looking at my confirmation, I probably wont fully believe it until he finally gets home to me.

I hope everyone here gets the doll that they want.

 

I am on my third "I'll never find him" grail doll. I found my first quest doll after just a couple of days of intense searching in Facebook groups (three-year-old listing) after months of monitoring eBay and bumping WTB threads. I found my second one (Tender Too) after a year of daily searching. What did it that second time is that Facebook suddenly changed their search function, uncovering a listing from 2018 (five-year-old listing). I got him.

I have never been able to snag a doll through WTB threads, but I'll keep trying. My only hope for this one is that it will attract someone who wants to sell an old, forgotten doll to fund a different one. (I know we all probably hope for this!).

Good luck to you all. It really helps to have a thread like this for support. Please continue to share your stories.

 

Yup! I'm right there with a doll I've been wanting for years. I back-burnered him when I went inactive, but I came back to find that Fairyland aren't doing Pukipukis now (or maybe not ever again). Thing is, ALL I need is the faceplate; I've an extra Pukipuki body that I could use for him. I check here and on sales groups all the time, but apparently nobody wants to part with their Cupid 3!

 

Ohhh yes. I joined the hobby back in '07 and LOVED Delf El, DoD Ducan, and MNF Shiwoo, but I was a high school student with a part time job and absolutely did not have the money for multiple dolls. At the time I figured that was okay, I'd get them one day, and they were so popular that I could enjoy others' photos.

Took a long hiatus & came back to find all three discontinued, and not many people post photos of them these days

So I went searching. I successfully found El after a while at a price I could afford. I've seen Ducan once or twice, but never affordable. And original MNF Shiwoo still eludes me. I did manage to find Delf Shiwoo, which was a pleasant surprise, but I think I'm going to put him up as a WTT to see if I can swap him for the MNF version since I much prefer that size. It's rather disheartening, but it is what it is haha.

 

I've gotten 2 grails and it took me 8 years to do it. I wanted an Impl Miguel The Demon Hunter in grey (LE100 world wide) and a Unidoll Ark in WS. I couldn't afford the Miguel at the time he was released and Unidoll closed unexpectedly. Funny enough, I found both of them on the MP here within 2 weeks of each other.

I'm not sure if it counts as a grail as I'm not obsessing over him, but I would immediately throw money at someone if they were selling a SD Kyle/Amon The Hanged Man (gargoyle version only). He was a limited doll and I've never seen him for sale 2nd hand. That doesn't mean he never has been for sale somewhere but I've never spotted him *sigh. He's not even listed on the SD now.

 

Most of my grails were limited releases. The sculpts still exist but they're no longer available in that form/style. (DSD Nono, my beloved...)

I would adore a CP Soony. I'd also love to get my grubby little hands on a Rosenlied Holiday's Child or another Aimerai Big Baby. Add a PukiPuki Ante, and you've got a stew goin'!

My pie-in-the-sky-won't-get-it-til-I-die grail is Volks' Nono Snow White version. Only 30 were released... in 2000.

 

I waited for years for Soom's Ender Dreamwalker to pop up on the marketplace after missing the sale by a few months. It was an instant love, he had everything I wanted for my character. So I waited, and waited, and waited. I decided to give up and find a different doll so I posted in the BJD Addicts FB group about it and someone descended from heaven and said "I have him for sale"

That was in 2016 and I've been in love with him ever since. I'm so glad I posted in that group

 

Aw man, that's been me for the last SEVERAL months.

Been obsessively hunting for DollZone KeAi, checking everywhere I could possibly check most days.
DZ MiYou is my favorite lil babyboy (I actually have two of them ahaha), so I've been wanting to get my hands on MiYou's cute cheerful little companion for ages!

I FINALLY had some luck about a week ago! Had posted a WTB in one of the doll sales FB groups I'm in, and this absolute LEGEND of a person came along and said she found him on the Chinese secondhand markets that I don't have access to! She was able to grab him for me, so he'll finally be coming home to me in a month or so once he ships to her in Singapore and then to me in the US!
He's blank, so I'll have to commission a faceup for him as well, but I'm just SO EXCITED to have found his sculpt at all considering how few of him there seem to be out there!

The wait absolutely sucks, man. I'm super impatient ahaha. Last week I was legit considering posting in here like 'how do you guys come to terms with the fact you'll likely never find a certain grail?'

Hopefully yours will come home to you, too!

 

I have only managed to get one of my grail dolls, but I'm really happy about it nonetheless and it was definitely an experience.
When I started in the hobby I had no idea anthro dolls even existed so when many years later I discovered them a handful of limited ones had been already released from several companies. Still my brain immediately started cataloguing every single one I could find and adding some to my (improbable) wish list, but I didn't took the task too seriously (I just searched for them in forums and other groups from time to time). Then I stumbled upon a post talking about finding discontinued dolls on Japanese websites and auction places and that's when I started to optimistically think I had a chance of finding at least one that way. And, after an undetermined time, I did found there a fullset LUTS Zuzu Delf Romance Wolffy Vampire limited and I bought it, and it was a nightmare with customs... but it's been home for a while now and it fills me with joy.
That said, I don't plan on finding any more of my grail anthros. I haven't actively searched for them in a long time and, if I'm honest, I think I wouldn't buy them even if they appeared unless they were a great deal because my resin family is closed and complete.
Anyway, good luck in your hunting or congrats if you've managed to get your grail.

 

Dream Valley Glen.......... He was so adorable but I didn't get the chance to get him.....

 

There aren’t a lot of dolls I really want but Iplehouse Luo was my first ever grail doll. He was discontinued by the time I had gotten into the hobby. I wanted him a lot and that want was only solidified for me more when I encountered one at the first doll meet I ever went to. He took my breath away. Anyway I was so extremely lucky because a month or two after that someone in my local group was selling a Luo head. I messaged her so quickly and not so long after I had him in my hands.

I also really wanted a Luts Minifee Shiwoo a few years ago and I was extremely lucky that one turned up on eBay - with an amazing backstory. Something about that face is just perfect to me.

 

I'm in love with so many discontinued/hard to find dolls. I've managed to find a few of them on Ebay and a fellow doll collector selling them on DeviantArt (who's also a Den of Angels member), but that's about it.

 

So the loongsoul black dragon recently came into stock on bjdivas. I tried to resist the siren call. Tried so hard not to. Someone bought the full set and I'll be honest I panicked. It's in stock but I still ended up putting it on a year long layaway so it didn't feel as much as a burden.

I thought I might regret it more, but I'm genuinely excited. I can't wait. He's white so he doesn't have to be dark and I'm sitting her planning maybe a more copper color for him? But the fact I'm so early on my journey and I expected to buy him second hand, years from now. I. Have. Insane. Luck.

 

For me, pretty much every doll I want at this point has been long discontinued for the most part. It’s definitely irritating having to wait for unknown amounts of time for a doll to pop up. I do like that it gives me time to save away and be prepared if one appears

 

Or worse - to find out that your grail doll was bought on a second market by someone just a month before you fell in love with it.

 

The mold has been re-released, but there's a particular MNF Shiwoo that keeps popping into my mind, even though I don't know if anyone remembers. He was a little emo boy named Radio and had a gore mod.

On my list is a Unidoll Pring, particularly the Christmas Elf version.

@SPhosphate I have a Gem of Doll Eleven with the skeleton leg. It's a shame not more people ordered her, but I think it was because the company photos weren't great at showing her off. The company face-up made her look sullen and sweet, but without she looks like a bratty princess.

Mine still needs a face-up, but she's full of attitude.