What originally got you into BJDs?

Well I have liked dolls since I was a kid. My Mom actually had a small doll collections, they were porcelain dolls. I got to brush their hair and dust them off as an older child. As a teenager I was looking up dolls when I first came upon BJD. I didn't get my first one until college and then I got busy with life getting married, moving, having kids and so forth. It really isn't until now that I am starting to collect resin BJD.

 

Lol. It was almost the same for me. I have, probably, even seen the same picture. Even the year matches.

I learned about bjds while researching lolita fashion,too. At that time, I did not even dreamt of owning a bjd in my lifetime. So I decided not to ruminate about it.

I liked, that these dolls are fully customizable and have jointed hands and legs, glass eyes. I adored the subtle colour gradient of the faceups. This made my heart ache with excitement.

My interest never decreased. I had been eyeing mirrors and other merchandise with pictures of bjds on them.

Five years ago, I got interested in sculpting and stumbled on bjds again.

Last year I got my first bjd.

So the main aspect for me was, is and always will be art and custization.

 

I started to collect wit Pullips and Co. ... than i discover BJDs and want to buy a doll.
My first BJD was a second hand doll. I dont warm up with her. To sell her, i dont want, also.
Now i have 3 BJDs and love this dolls more, than my pullips ^^.
The Face are more reallistic and cute

 

The longing for unique and customizable male dolls.

Since I was little, I never understood why there are a million variations of female fashion dolls, but so few males. I started repainting and rerooting Ken and Bratz Boyz in my teen years, and I also made lots of hand painted cloth dolls based on my favorite male celebrities to go with all of my female store bought dolls. I had the 18" strung Baby Sitters Club girls as a preteen, and had my mom call the company and asked why they didn't make Logan, the lone boy babysitter. Never got a clear answer on that.

After searching eBay for ages for OOAK male dolls, I was eventually lead to Volks, and that started my trip down the BJD rabbit hole. XD

 

haha... a crush on a girl that was into the hobby.... (I'm ashamed)

I ended up getting more into it then her though and don't even know her anymore. At first I thought doing faceups would be my thing, but I found out I didn't really enjoy that. I now like them mostly because I can design and make fashions for them and they make for cute company while I'm working from home. I love that I can design any style for them because they are not as set on the styles they will wear as humans are, and it takes so much less money because of the small size!

 

I remember like it was yesterday! I saw a photographer displaying her dolls at an anime convention. When I asked her about them, she invited me to the bjd panel and I was hooked!

 

I got into BJDs from the anime/manga series, Angelic Layer. I thought it was so cool when I saw the dolls fighting and then found out about BJDs and how they looked like the dolls in the show and manga series. My hope is that one day, Angelic Layer will become a reality.

 

Hm, I don't quite remember when I first heard it, but I got so into it after I saw Iplehouses dolls; they're simply breath-taking! I already own a few other dolls before, so I decided to experiment on them... er.... I mean, customise them xD And turns out, I like it! I was already an artist before I got started in the hobby, so I guess it should be expected that I'd fell in love with doing faceups

 

I was looking into cosplaying a character from a manga that wears the traditional dress of a miko (Japanese priestess) so I went looking on the Internet to buy the clothing and ended up on Etsy there I saw a BJD wearing the outfit I wanted to wear. I'd once before seen BJDs online when I got into Lolita since often the big brands release doll sized outfits but for some reason this time I took notice and started googling and the rest is history!

 

My story is going to be a little long but I'll try to keep it short (there's a tl;dr if u get bored)

I've known BJDs before like maybe '08 because it was really popular and my friend just calls them licca dolls in general so I came to know them by that name (turns out licca chan doll is not even a bjd lmao) and I thought to myself I'll never get them because they're a collector's item and so it must be crazy expensive. I'm talking like maybe a million dollar expensive, because I was young and I didn't bother researching.

Fast forward to 2016 when another friend of mine recommended the game "Nameless" and I was like "aren't bjd super expensive tho" and I tried the game and I thought it was funny how much the game keeps on putting "Crobi" everywhere.

I seriously thought that they were a fictional company. (I even thought Banjul is fictional) So when I decided to search it "just for fun" I was so surprised to see that it was in fact true, and they have male dolls. MALE DOLLS.

This is a big deal for me because it was the first time I ever saw a male doll besides Ken, you know, from Barbie? I've always wanted a male doll that's not Ken but it makes me sad to see all doll majority are girls so I thought to myself if I'm going to have a girl doll anyway then might as well just buy a porcelain one since it's all the same. But WOW when I saw the crobidolls I fell in love immediately and thought to myself I'd want my very first male doll to be from this company.

TL;DR: the game Nameless brought me here.

 

I've been into bjds since a friend of mine started to bring their doll to school high school. Myself and many of my other friends loved her doll but it was my other friend and I who really decided since getting to play with our other friends doll that we wanted bjds of our own. Sadly it wasn't until many years later that I was finally able to save up for my first my doll.

 

I'm still incredibly new to the hobby, but I first heard about BJDs when a friend of mine on twitter made a thread of dolls she had on her wishlist. I looked up some of them and thought they were gorgeous but didn't know anything about the hobby, so I thought that BJDs were simply collected and kept as they were when bought.

About three days ago a Russian friend of mine linked me to an Instagram account of someone who is doing BJD photography/customization/art and I was completely intrigued. I've spent the past few days researching non-stop and I hope to purchase my first doll soon!

 

I've always been a fan of the bjd culture but never fully got into it until I came into college and my friend got her very first bjd lol

 

I stumbled upon BJDs while trolling through youtube about 3/4 years back and stumbled on a channel doing face ups (Nicolle's dreams, Andreja is AMAZING!). The face ups were absolutely beautiful and I was hooked ever since, but the price really put me off. I couldn't really justify spending so much money at the time. The a couple of years passed and I sort of 'forgot' ( I mean I still watch face ups, look at tutortials, drool over picturs) about the hobby, it's still something on my mind by I just didn't see (or should I say realize) it as something that I could do. Then fast forward to now, I actually started making a good amount of money through my internships while in university, and I re stumbled upon an chinese forum dedicated to BJD's and my love has been rekindled, adding that to my realization that I could actually afford to buy these dolls I made my order with luts & LM yesterday Waiting VERY impatiently for my dolls now.

 

... I got into BJDs thanks to the horror anime Another. When I saw Kirika's dolls in her store I just sat there and said, "I want a doll like that!" I think I did some research and bam, I learned about BJDs! When I learned you could customise them, well, I was hooked! I've always been a biiig fan of dollies too, it was natural that I'd want one and. I was 13 or 14, I started saving for my BJDs, during that time I experimented with face-ups on Monster High dolls, and Obitsu's, but only actually got my first BJDs, as gifts, when I was 16-17.

 

One of my friends on the web bought an MSD from Dollzone. That's how I found out about these dolls and soon got interested in them. Looking back, those days it actually was something like a fashion trend for me, but a few years later I can say I'm really into this hobby. For me personally it is an amazing chance to make my characters into something more material then just thoughts in my head and painted illustrations.

 

My sister's best friend at the time posted a company photo of a Resinsoul/Bobobie Mei on Facebook saying she was getting her, and I fell in love. I was really young at the time and the price seemed ridiculous to me, but eventually I came around. I got my first doll, a Pukifee Zoe, a year or 2 later while visiting Denver Doll. It was an amazing experience, I'd love to go back there sometime

 

My sister first showed me a doll she was interested in a long time back, so when it came to deciding what to get for her birthday I went and searched up BJDs to try to find that doll she liked. However, upon my search, I stumbled across Fairyland's page and found MNF Chloe and her fullset. Though I couldn't get her fullset, I fell in love with her sculpt and the pictures people had of her on Flickr. That lead me to my first doll purchase and I haven't looked back since.

 

I was doing an internet search back around the time that Soom released their Sweet Witch--I saw her, and have been hooked since. She's been my grail for AGES now, and I may finally be able to get her.

 

In middle school, my (then) favourite musician had a forum and somebody posted about their new bjd in the crafting thread. I didn't like the particular doll that much, but I was so intrigued that I followed various bjd companies for a few years until I finally found one I liked and had enough monies to buy her. I mean, I've had dolls since I was about four (dolls that could be described more as "durable" than as "delicate", they've literally fallen out of trees and come out fine), and I've made doll clothes since about halfway through high school... the idea for sewing for someone so lovely and a bit more proportional? Inevitable, really.

 

I think i came across this site called illness illusion or something that had dolls with different characters from Harry Potter and other things too. That was my very first meeting with these dolls I think. But I just could not figure out how to get them or if it was possible to get one, but some years later again I came across the dolls and this time I figured it was actually possible to order one. So my first doll was a Soom Sabik back in 2008 ^_^

 

I am not sure what got me into the hobby. I have always collected dolls in various forms all the way into adulthood. My mother has dolls from when she was a girl in a family house overseas. I think I probably saw them on the internet at some point and it eventually led me to the hobby that I've taken up again. I've had my floating head (Vincent) for many years now. So, I guess my return to the hobby was realizing it was time to get him a body. But in all... in a generalized way. Maybe it was the internet? LOL

 

It was a few years ago, and I was looking at fan art of some of my favorite characters, and a BJD that had been customized to look like one of them showed up. It seemed to draw me in and I found myself looking up other characters and then eventually looking at dolls in general! It wasn't until last year when I fully dove in and bought a doll though

 

I think, initially, it was curiosity! I came across Andreja's videos on youtube one day and watched almost all of them all at once because they were just so pretty! Skip forward a year or two and I'd forgotten completely about them when I came across c_u_l_u_r on instagram and my curiosity was peaked again! I've been super interested in having one of my own for ages now, and finally ordered my first girl a couple of days ago!

 

I think I can probably blame the anime Rozen Maiden for first putting the idea of owning a doll in my head but it wasn't until years later when I actually was first exposed to bjds (in person). At that time I was pushed away by the cost but I eventually started getting bigger anime figures, then smaller dolls like Azone Pure Neemo, then eventually I justified full bjds and dollfie dreams. Now I don't know where to even put them xD

 

I bought a moxie teenz doll that I wanted clothes patterns for. While I was on the net searching, I stumbled onto BJDs.

 

My son has had BJDs for about 10 years and I have always knit and sewn clothes for his dolls but I never thought about having any of my own until I discovered the YOSDs. I just fell in love with how cute they are and really wanted to design clothes for them. So now I have 1, 2 on order and probably another 5 or 6 planned for the future! It's addictive!!

 

The anime rozen maiden, and after watching it I was like " i would really like a doll like that ".

 

What got me into this hobby was how beautiful the dolls looked, plus I liked how one could customize them to fit your character.

 

I've had a couple friends over the years who have been into BJDs so I got glimpses of the hobby from them, but I never really got it. I was never into dolls as a kid and didn't understand why people were willing to pay so much money for dolls. It's weird; I don't know exactly what caused the switch, but one morning I woke up, checked my social media to see a friend talking about a doll they'd seen, and suddenly I went, "Oh, I want that!!!" Life is weird sometimes, I guess!

 

i've known this hobby for a long time now, but the one who actually got me infatuated with this hobby is CJ Dee and Nix de Pano, i was so amaze on their dolls *U*

 

I loved my older sister so much, and she loved dolls. Its how we played when we were little, and the love of that never ended. I realized one day that even though I was a grown man, I could buy a doll if wanted to (had to get over the stigma I was perpetuating on myself as a male doll collector) and I have been hooked ever since.

 

I've loved dolls all my life. I had a ton of Barbies growing up, so it was only natural that I would eventually discover BJDs in 2004. I was instantly mesmerized by their beauty and the prospect of completely customizing them, but it wasn't until 10 years later that I would enter the hobby.

 

I got into it for art reasons. I wanted to have a doll to help me with pose references and things like that because I loved drawing the dolls I seen online. But oddly enough I have never actually used any of my own dolls for art XD Got too attached to them to use them for art now.

 

I got into the hobby through YouTube. I think I was trying to do something with a barbie and I can across a few vids and I was hooked. Then I had to do a couple of hours of research.

 

My friend owned one in 8th grade, and I didn't think much of it until I started seeing ball jointed dolls everywhere at conventions. And THE EYESSSSS. they called to me!!!!

Back then, the selections were limited (rarely any fantasy parts and only normal skin toned resin) They just stayed in the back of my mind for a while until recently, when I was cleaning out my crafts stuff (a bunch of cloth, yarn, pastels, UV resin, magnets, and polymer clay) that I realized, OMFG I have all the stuff for a D O L L. Why don't I get one?! aand BAM, here I am. Sewing like mad, doing face-ups for friends, and making accessories for my dolly :> #noregrets

 

I find it very strange that I got into this hobby, as I have a fear of dolls. Barbies are okay, but I can't handle most realistic dolls or porcelain dolls.

I ended up finding BJDs through anime. I knew of them, but didn't have a solid idea of what they were until a friend showed me DoD's website. I ended up falling in love with BJDs right then and there! I didn't buy a doll until a year or two later, as I was still in highschool with minimum income. I'm happy I waited as it gave me a lot of time to absorb as much information as BJDs as I did!

 

A friend of mine got into the hobby very early on, and often went to doll shows in Japan. I used to love looking at her pictures and really wanted to get a doll, but the prices scared me, so it took me a while to jump in. But eventually I did, and I've been happily collecting for several years now.

 

I found a monster high faceup video by dollightful on youtue and after doing many monster high faceups myself I started seeing similar channels for bjds. I said to myself that I would never buy one just because of the expensive nature of the hobby but I ended up getting my first this christmas. I would say that the youtuber Swandzz really got me into the hobby. She loves her dolls so much and she is really creative.

 

A few years back I saw a Lolita's wardrobe post that had matching BJDs, so I decided to research more into the hobby. I'm really happy that I did so, because discovering how wonderful and artistic BJDs are is helping me to regain inspiration and motivation for my other hobbies that I could possibly integrate with BJDs.

 

When I was a teen I remember watching a lot of artists and photographers into BJD. Time passed and I forgot but two of my friend enter the BJD world 1 or 2 years ago. Seeing them loving and photographing their doll, talking about it, etc, convinced myself to do the same ! x)
I can't wait to do some crossover with them !

 

I was officially introduced to BJDs by the amazing @DenaliWind via her YouTube channel. I got into Blythes at the same time she did, and then got sucked into watched most all of her BJD-related videos.
I learned the most about BJDs and maintenance from Swandzz/Sarah/PintSizedPalace on Youtube.
And I was the most inspired by Anne Pecaro(@MissEmily) on Youtube - she got me back into writing, and pushed me over the fence when I was debating actually joining the hobby.

 

I was in middle school, my friend got an MSD and gave him a lot of love, occassionally bringing him to school lol. That's how I was introduced to bjds. Now that's more than 10 years ago. While this friend just keeps her old bjds at home and don't really take them out I still love bjds lol.
In conclusion: My friend lured me into an expensive addictive lifetime hobby and escaped by herself, leaving me alone here lol

 

Originally, I found the hobby from binge watching all of Andreja's video's on Youtube! Fast foward a couple of years and I started following a few faceup artists on Instagram when I found them while browsing one day; after that, I couldn't get enough!

 

For my part, even if I don't remember well I remember I did go to the volks's Tenshi no Sato out of curiosity and the discovering of dollzone years later definitely got me into bjd's (Sawarieda stole my heart!!).
My interests drifted for some years but I finally took the plunge at the beginning of this year.

 

I originally began seeing all these Monster High doll face ups and doll customisation videos then I saw some things for BJD's and I fell in love!

 

I got into customizing Monster High and Ever After High vinyl fashion dolls, and once I got a good footing on that I wanted to branch into something BIGGER. Something that might have a stronger impact, that was more of a challenge. Or just, a larger scale with a wider range of variety than the cast of those two lines.
So far I've been nervous to start doing the faceups on my Luts Delf doll.

 

I have been selling on ebay for many years and back in 2007 is when I first started noticing the BJDs and I was so attracted to them because they are so unique. I like that you can change eyes and wigs and the same doll looks like a different character.

 

Ive always been a doll collector, so my mom would get me subscriptions to doll magazines, I would drool over the BJD photos. They came up often in one of the magazines (I think it was just called DOLLS magazine)
BJD's were so perfect for photo taking.
Many Many years latter I got into doll photography so started looking them up again. I finally purchased a second hand one and the rest is history. I have well over 20 now with many more planed for the future.
Even tho I dont typically post my photos public any more, I still love to take the photos.

 

I've been a doll collector my whole life so naturally I'd discover bjds as well. Since I was a part of the Flickr pullip community I saw bjds and gradually looked into them more.

 

I was wondering around on the web and suddenly found there is a photo of a BJD. I can't help thinking is this a doll she looks amazingly beautiful. Then I started to gather information about BJD and decided to purchase one. My first doll was musedoll Ceil and she was the doll I dreamed to have.

 

Was looking for more info on a porcelain doll that caught my eye in Doll Reader magazine and came upon BjdCollectasy. And the rest as they say is history.

 

I´ve been collecting anime figures for 3 years, and someday I order an Alice in Wonderland Pullip. As I liked her a lot, I searched online more about pullip, and I discovered BJDs. So I started looking over them and saving money.

 

I discovered BJDs through deviantart via a user called Geekisthecolour (back then known as Dieux-Faux). I fell in love with her Migidoll Ryu and started to follow her and discover more and more BJD owners on the site. I fell in love with the hobby instantly.

 

I seriously have no memories of what got me to like BJDs..
But I remember I was eyeing on Dream of Dolls when I got to know about BJD..

 

It was long ago.. I found bjd-forum and saw dolls , by chance, while searching for information about 1/6 figures.

 

Definitely my love for dolls and the fact they are so customizable, I just adore how much variation there is in this community, and the artistic creations that spring up from it!

 

i got into them around the time my tonsil's got taken out, unfortunately and luckily. A friend gave me one as a combo christmas/birthday/I'm sorry you're in pain gift and it has since spiraled out of control. i've gone from one tiny to...still not enough in my life. : D

 

Wonderfully enough another BJD owner got me into them, it was someone who is actually a member here (darthmissy) that had one of her dolls sitting on her desk at my mother's workplace. I asked her about the doll and she gave me a quick summery and told me to join DOA if I wanted to know more, been a great ride ever since

 

I became interested in bjds through YouTube actually. I saw Nicolle's Dreams videos and got curious. I searched them up and found out that they were bjds.