Longest time it has taken you to find a doll?

Not sure if this is the right place to write this sorry

Posting here is fine but what exactly are you asking?  The question is a bit vague.  Can you elaborate?

 

 

Billy

I think it depends on what you are willing to pay. If you want to pay closer to retail it may take months. If you are willing to pay more you could probably find pretty much anything within a few weeks. You would need to check all of the second hand sites and facebook groups frequently, however. It also depends on the availability and popularity of the specific doll you are looking for. Hope that helps

About 2 years to find Marya 

Wow, that had to be my Mai Shiranui....

After I'd seen @baldylox's Mai, I just fell in love with her sculpt! 

A year (or so) later, someone on the forums wasn't bonding well with hers, and, while I made the statement I was interested, finances and life just weren't cooperating at the time.

Approximately(?) a year later, @mitsuki messaged me that there was a Mai being custom painted in Germany. (Anouc!! Luv ya!) 

I was barely able to snap her up, and, yes it took a while for her to be finished.

I would say close to over two plus years overall, but, well worth the wait!! 

Edited January 2, 2023 by battrastard
clarification

I'd have to say that for me, the longest it took for me to get a girl from when I first saw her to when I actually got her home was six years.  That would be Tamaki from To Heart 2.  That girl just didn't want to come home to me!  😄 

I love her old school charm and style and those red eyes and hair just made me swoon at pics of her.  But she was always so silly expensive!  I mean back six years ago she was averaging $2000 or more for a full set in box.  Loose she was like $1500 or so and I saw just her head and eyes selling for over $1000.  I refused to spend that much for her so I put out the feelers and waited.  

Over the years she would show up occasionally at lower prices but when she did, I had no money.  And when I did have money, she was in hiding.  😉  But finally one showed up at a super low price on Mandarake due to some staining on her socks and some slight box damage.  I was able to nab her for $900 plus shipping and was super happy about it.  Six years in the making but she was sooooo worth it!   

 

For me it was probably well over a year for Kurenai.

It was love at first sight when I first saw her, but she's a pain to get a hold of and would like never pop up for sale. When she finally appeared on YA I did not hesitate and went for her. I think I payed a really good price for her too and was definitely expecting her to go for like double but somehow she didn't. The only sad part is she didn't come with her original wig, which I only found out once she got home. The lightning was really bad on the original listing so I didn't really notice. It's the same bob she came home with as her original but in Mirai's color instead of the blonde which was kind of a bummer as these wigs are a pain to get a hold of nowadays secondhand and I much prefer her as a blonde. So I gave her Kizuna's wig for now! (Sorry for the grainy second picture, it was already dark.)

The longest it has taken me to get a girl home from the time I first saw her to when I actually was able to purchase her and bring her home was my Kanu, at 9 years.

So for a bit of backstory, I got into the doll hobby after reading then watching a series called Rozen Maiden back in like late 2010. I wanted actual dolls from the series so I got into Pullips, and after googling around for other Rozen Maiden dolls I stumbled upon custom Dollfie Dreams of the characters. I was like "wow these dolls are gorgeous"! And down the rabbit hole, I went, head first.

It was in 2011-12 when I seriously started looking at Dollfie Dreams, and there Kanu appeared. I was like "oh my gosh I have to have her" but as a very broke freshman in high school at the time and at the price she was going for there was no way.

In 2013 I moved to Japan with my family, and in early 2014 before the Volks Akihabara remodeled they used to have some of their very old girls on display like Beatrice, which is a story for another day, and Ryomou and Kanu and I got to visit and see them in person. Kanu was heart-stopping in person and I was like, yes one day she's going to be mine for sure.

Fast forward to 2015, I had saved up money for my family's next trip to Tokyo and I was ready to hunt. Well, I found her, with no wig, eyes, or anything for $1,000 and I was $100 short. To say it was soul-crushing was an understatement. I am pretty sure my teenage self burst into tears right in Mandarake because she was just out of reach.

Now after that blow I put off hunting for her because I always thought she would be just out of reach and focused on other girls. That is until they released tan skin dream choice girls. That's when I knew I could have a shot at her once again.

I waited I was financially stable as being a college student, marriage and life got super expensive for awhile. But around June 2021 I began my very serious hunt for my girl.

Fast forward to December 2021, she finally pops up on Mandarake and life was about to get in the way again, but fortunately, everything worked out and she made a trip from Japan to the States to Japan once again and landed in my lap literally yesterday 02/07/2022.

And there's the very long story of my very long hunt for one of my grail dolls, Beatrice being the other that I am still actively searching for.

2007 MegaHouse To Heart 2 1/6 Konomi Yuzuhara

2014ish/2019; several long, frustrating years of watching three or four copies of her gathering virtual dust on EBAY

at around $300 USD per, until somebody finally listed one in 2019 at a more "reasonable" price. ($110)

another $25 shipped or so for an OBITSU BODY 26, and i finally had my dream girl, for a mere $135 or so.

it just so happened that a local U.S. EBAY seller had her MegaHouse TH2 companion doll, "Lucy Maria Misora"

and i got her for only $30 shipped. being based around the late-2000's OBITSU 24 design,

she included a larger version of the same TH2 Sailor Suit that Konomi did.

with some moderate alterations, that larger uniform's Middy sailor blouse, -plus a new skirt-

fits my custom OBITSU 26 Konomi like it was originally made for her;

Edited February 8, 2022 by Tasuke

I first saw my "grail" Dollfie back in 2014, when she was first released.  It was love at first sight!  Back then, I only added resin BJDs to My Crew, I was like "I can't see my self paying as much or more for a mere vinyl doll."

Jump to December 2022, eight years later. 

After a series of terrible life events, I took the advise of a very learned friend who said, "You've had it rough lately.  You should do something nice for yourself."  So, late one night, I decided to look around and get myself a doll.  I found my grail, but she was super expensive, like she has been ever since I first missed out on her.   After messaging two different sellers, I finally broke down and used a credit card to get her from a third seller, and for less.  Luckily for me, she was still Mint In Box!  I even managed to find some super-expensive outfits for her.  

So after a stressful two week wait, during which much of the US had some really strong winter storms, she arrived on December 28th! 

Meet Hatsune Miku, my first vinyl doll!  I hope this pic shows up, I'm new to this forum.

 

Hatsune Miku is home! by Ryuichi Sakuma, on Flickr

 

Ryu

Edited January 1, 2023 by RyuichiSakuma13

Longest completed unicorn hunt was 6 and a half years. I wanted DD Fate T Harlaown since she was first released in summer of 2009, around the same time I discovered this hobby, but at the time was a broke college student. I saw her for sale multiple times, but usually for 1, more money than I had, or 2, just head and body. Finally in fall of 2016, I snagged her from a forum member, missing weapons and the gauntlet but with everything else. She technically arrived in the winter of 2016 though, on December 23rd, because she got stuck in New York customs hell for literally a month, lol. But she is absolutely lovely, no regrets!

Ongoing though, I've been wanting to "shell" one of my OCs since, again, spring of 2009, when I first got into this hobby. Problem is, none of the heads I've seen, vinyl or resin, have really captured how I see her in my head. I need like. . .Alna nose, Sheryl face shape, Kos-mos eye holes, and maybe 2b lips lolol. It's been. . . almost 14 years since I first got in the hobby and started looking for her (yikes), and STILL haven't found the right head for this girl. Do I need to resort to modeling and 3D printing my own head at this point? LOL

I suppose my longest would be my DDS Mariko Summer Festival version. I fell in love with the original Mariko sensei back in 2011 when she was first released, but I was a freshman in high school and couldn't even deign to dream of owning her. Then I watched the SWS student version come and go in 2013, again out of my price range and breaking my heart. Then they re-released her as the summer festival version in 2015, and this time, I had the money for her! I was ecstatic! Then I lost the lottery for her and she was out of my reach again. I impulse bought a nude Mariko sensei off of Mandarake about a week later, but because the original release was WS and WS parts had been long discontinued, I had difficulty bonding with her. I didn't feel right playing with her knowing that I couldn't fix her or replace her body if she broke. I sold her back in 2021 and used the money from her to buy a NIB summer festival version off of Mandarake for about $800 shipped! So it took about 10 years to get the Mariko of my dreams, but about 6 years to find the specific release that I wanted.

On the resin side, my longest was searching for a Feeple60 Juri 2012. Similar story in that I discovered her in 2013 after a dolly YouTuber I used to watch got one, but again, high schooler with no money. I acquiesced to never being able to find one in my price range and moved on. Fast forward to 2018, I was browsing the DoA marketplace just to look and found one for a reasonable price. I snatched her up and she's been with me ever since.

I've waited around 5 months to find DDP Iori. She shouldn't be that rare, but there aren't too many of her around (I wanted her boxed + complete).

I did wait 11 months for a grail outfit for Towa. It turned out she didn't like it anyway 😪.

Incidentally, shortest time between adding doll to "grail" list then finding her was about a week. That was with DD Asuna Titania. I thought she was unobtainium, but then she suddenly popped up on Mandarake, and for a pretty decent price.

Kagamine Rin took a while to find, mostly because I was too slow to buy the first one that appeared on Mandarake. She sold after a day. I snapped up the next one, but the price... ouch. She'll definitely become a real favourite though.

I should just also mention my tan elf eared Mochi-Ashi MDD. I had vague plans to obtain one either in person in Japan or using a proxy, but then one popped up in a FB group and the seller was in my own country. Due to a severe lack of MDD outfits I haven't done too much with her, but now I've repaired her upper body issues I'm liking her more and more. She had pretty much the same head I would have chosen if I'd have used Dream Choice.

I think with Miku in particular, there are a lot around but many went to non-doll collectors and as a result there's a lot that are incomplete, or in bad condition.

I don't know if I have any super grail dolls. I'm concerned about how well vintage vinyl/plastic dolls age so I've been focusing on acquiring their outfits. Anything from 2007-10 is of interest to me, as that was when I visited Japan and have a few figures, posters and other collectibles from that era of anime.

Oh, I just remembered SD Chii from Chobits is my super-super grail but the chances of getting her are pretty remote.

5 hours ago, fishbuttz said:

 Fast forward to 2018, I was browsing the DoA marketplace just to look and found one for a reasonable price. I snatched her up and she's been with me ever since.

I suspect that DoAer was me- this was before they were going for the crazy prices they are now. I needed bill money desperately and had slashed her price out of necessity. I'm glad she went to a good home, because I still miss her, and have most of her things, just not her.

 

Also, Mariko is a dream; good on you for sticking it out and catching your ideal girl! And NIB too- bonus! The best of both worlds. She was just waiting for the right home to love her.

 

Not vinyl, but it took me eight, nine, and ten years to get my hands on three of my most wanted BJDs. All three were simply hard to come by secondhand. In the worst case, all I got was the head, and the only reason I snagged him was the greed of the seller. She charged an outrageous price that no sane person would pay, but I went for it because it was the only chance I had of not being beat to the punch. Anything cheaper would sell out immediately- the artist only made sixty or eighty copies- and I would always get there second, third, or fourth. I still have yet to paint him and get him a good body, and he's been sitting blank in my cabinet for a couple of years, but I have no intention of letting him go until he's been realized. He's my holy grail.

 

You could say, however, that the longest wait has been for Dollfie Dream. Dollfie Dream was my introduction to this school of hobbies. I found grainy photos on Japanese blogs back in the 90s of the earliest ones, but I was uneducated in the concept, and did not realize they were articulated. I wrote them off as more expensive statues and went on with my life until 2009, when I was properly introduced via a friend on an unrelated toy forum. Naturally I wanted one, and like so many other unemployed students, couldn't afford it. In fact, for me to afford a new Volks or Smart Doll now, I would still have to save up and plan months in advance. But thanks to Mandarake, I finally pieced together a custom DDS in 2022. Still, what I had wanted was one of the character Dollfies and their unique sculpts, to style and make my own. I eventually settled on Kizuna AI, and as a bonus, adopted my first MDD too on the last/first night of the year(s). I think that's a decent followup to such a long wait.

 

Waiting for them to all come home and be complete, however. That's hard.

2 hours ago, PolitelyNefarious said:

I suspect that DoAer was me- this was before they were going for the crazy prices they are now. I needed bill money desperately and had slashed her price out of necessity. I'm glad she went to a good home, because I still miss her, and have most of her things, just not her.

Hey, it may have been you that sold her to me! If it was, thank you again. It means the world to me to have one of my long-time grails living in my house (and, dare I say, she is very spoiled and snootled).

7 hours ago, Xiongmao said:

Oh, I just remembered SD Chii from Chobits is my super-super grail but the chances of getting her are pretty remote.

It would probably be easier and better just to make her yourself. Given her age, the body is antiquated and very likely yellowed, and knowing Volks, her clothes and accessories are probably falling apart 😅

Since the DDH-01 was derived from the SD Chii sculpt, you could easily commission someone to paint a blank 01 head (possibly making it look even better than the original), put her on a modern f3 body with a Long-Long Dollce wig in white or blond, and get the eyes and hair/ear accessories by BAF Studio (or 3D print them yourself) for a more economical and modern Chii.

24 minutes ago, ragnamuffin said:

It would probably be easier and better just to make her yourself. Given her age, the body is antiquated and very likely yellowed, and knowing Volks, her clothes and accessories are probably falling apart 😅

There was actually a Chii on manda a few weeks ago, her fullset was reasonably intact imo. https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1182489853&ref=list&keyword=volks chii

Getting the OG doll instead of making one out of parts is a special feeling tbh. I wanted a DD Yukino v2 badly despite her "just" being a DDH-03 with a now-standard paint mask.

17 minutes ago, Emil said:

Getting the OG doll instead of making one out of parts is a special feeling tbh.

I can appreciate that. If the character and/or specific doll is that meaningful to someone, then it’s totally understandable to hold out for the original.

There is something to be said for the joy of building your own doll from scratch though. It’s what I would do if I was interested in owning a Chii (but if I cared about her enough to make a doll of her, maybe I would feel different about the OG SD version…)

Personally I thought that listing was in terrible shape and would not pay that price for it, but, again, I’m not partial to the character so what do I know 🤷‍♀️

11 hours ago, Emil said:

There was actually a Chii on manda a few weeks ago, her fullset was reasonably intact imo. https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1182489853&ref=list&keyword=volks chii

Getting the OG doll instead of making one out of parts is a special feeling tbh. I wanted a DD Yukino v2 badly despite her "just" being a DDH-03 with a now-standard paint mask.

Oh that sucks I missed Chii but my email alert wasn't triggered 😟. I think the problem is I've been setting alerts on specific items, but these alerts aren't always triggered if the "same" item comes back into stock. In future I'll just set keyword searches up. The whole interface is a bit sucky really. If anyone else is searching for grails just be aware Dollfies are sometimes just tagged with "Volks".

Speaking of email alerts... the SD I tried to "win" in the lottery a year ago has appeared on Mandarake, but for almost double her original price. Ouch. I don't know too much about SD but do older ones appreciate in value over time? From what I've seen on Mandarake there's a tonne of older SD but not that many seem to have a lot of value. Again I don't know too much about them as we're currently just a vinyl household.

38 minutes ago, Xiongmao said:

Speaking of email alerts... the SD I tried to "win" in the lottery a year ago has appeared on Mandarake, but for almost double her original price. Ouch. I don't know too much about SD but do older ones appreciate in value over time? From what I've seen on Mandarake there's a tonne of older SD but not that many seem to have a lot of value.

It depends a lot on the specific doll. Lieselotte, Charlotte, and Luna will all go for very high prices, even their original releases. I can't speak for the boys because I don't really watch them. A lot of the Lolita brand collabs will go high as well (Charlotte and Liese releases have all been clothing collabs iirc as an example: BtSSB, Alice and the Pirates, Galerie as well) I've seen the SD16 four sisters go pretty high as well... I'm not sure who you're after specifically, and how old "older" is (crying at the hobbyists calling 2015 old.... like sure but ouch), but it does depend almost entirely on the doll/sculpt for how high they'll go IME. Body also plays a part, just about any SDGr girl goes for 25-60% markup, sometimes more depending on the sculpt. If it was someone popular, it's always possible they'll get a special version this year with Best of the Bests, or a lottery for the older releases via Best Selection. 

38 minutes ago, Xiongmao said:

Oh that sucks I missed Chii but my email alert wasn't triggered 😟. I think the problem is I've been setting alerts on specific items, but these alerts aren't always triggered if the "same" item comes back into stock. In future I'll just set keyword searches up. The whole interface is a bit sucky really. If anyone else is searching for grails just be aware Dollfies are sometimes just tagged with "Volks".

I'd set the alerts for the Japanese name honestly, same reason I search ボークス instead of Volks or Volk. A few items slip through the English searches and only show up under ボークス for some reason. 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Emil

I've been trying to get my hands on the Azone Sakura Kyoko 1/3 since 2017 or so. She pops up, but has a habit of popping up when things are stretched thin and I can't spend the money. 

Last February I saw her on Mandarake. I've never been able to get a functioning Mandarake account - something happened when I made an account so I can't log in OR reset my password, and I've heard something about IP banning so I don't want to try to make a new account, and I never got anywhere with support. But I have a friend with a Mandarake account who uses it for doujins and stuff, so I gave her the money and asked her to order the doll for me as a favor. Said friend is across the country but domestic shipping is cheap enough, I wasn't worried. We'd done this before with wigs and a couple other things.

Long story short that friend is the sweetest person in the entire world but a teensy bit flaky and I still haven't gotten that doll 🙃

I literally visited her a few months after and saw the doll in the shipping box in her room and was like, we can handle the shipping while I'm here, that's no issue, and she said "no, you don't have to, I'll take care of it." 

That was June... 

 

 

So uh, 6+ years for me I guess lol? 

Honestly I don't even love the way the Azone Kyoko looks I just need her because Kyoko. I feel like I should be able to fix that horribly uncharacteristic wig once I have her though

On 1/7/2023 at 4:13 PM, Emil said:

It depends a lot on the specific doll. Lieselotte, Charlotte, and Luna will all go for very high prices, even their original releases. I can't speak for the boys because I don't really watch them. A lot of the Lolita brand collabs will go high as well (Charlotte and Liese releases have all been clothing collabs iirc as an example: BtSSB, Alice and the Pirates, Galerie as well) I've seen the SD16 four sisters go pretty high as well... I'm not sure who you're after specifically, and how old "older" is (crying at the hobbyists calling 2015 old.... like sure but ouch), but it does depend almost entirely on the doll/sculpt for how high they'll go IME. Body also plays a part, just about any SDGr girl goes for 25-60% markup, sometimes more depending on the sculpt. If it was someone popular, it's always possible they'll get a special version this year with Best of the Bests, or a lottery for the older releases via Best Selection.

Thanks - I just reserved my girl. I don't see many SD that I really like, but this one is something special. Had I won the lottery for her she was intended to be Towa's first sister.

She's not old, and not crazily expensive (less than what I paid for Rin) but I may never get another shot at her at a reasonable(ish) price. She's also on eBay for a major markup.

This means there's a new grail outfit lol.

On 1/6/2023 at 11:40 PM, ragnamuffin said:

I can appreciate that. If the character and/or specific doll is that meaningful to someone, then it’s totally understandable to hold out for the original.

There is something to be said for the joy of building your own doll from scratch though. It’s what I would do if I was interested in owning a Chii (but if I cared about her enough to make a doll of her, maybe I would feel different about the OG SD version…)

 

Miku was definitely my OG "unicorn/grail" doll, so for me, her high price and having the credit card free enough to get her was worth it!  I did find a Miku cosplay outfit and wig for one of my BJDs, and it just made me realize that much more that I wanted the original doll.

I agree with "the joy of building your own doll from scratch."  All of my character dolls are ones I made from scratch, and I'm happy that I did!  It was challenging and fun, but it was also nerve-wracking.  The very first doll I created that way still doesn't have his canon wig.  And I started him in 2008!  I have found wigs that "will work for now," but olive green boy wigs in a very '90s haircut just aren't that easy to find.  I even started to make one with the right colored wefts, then I realized I didn't know how to cut it in the correct style.  I'm just not a barber.😪  

 

Ryu

It's nowhere near the longest times mentioned here already but mine is probably 2.5 years or so. I really wanted to order 2B when she was up for preorder but I was in a dubious situation regarding finances and employment so I held off.
I started seriously looking for her shortly after she was arriving but it was 2.5 years until my finances lined up with finding them for a price I could afford.
I actually just got her a few days ago and it was worth the time and effort.