What was it like getting your first BJD/MJD

Hiya!

I was planning on getting my first BJD/MJD, a Tinyfox, and i am just curious on how yall felt getting your first 

How i think ima react?

In summary, Given i have wanted anime type BJDs for almost 3 years now, imagined myself getting one and even dreamed about getting one multiple times..
I will not be surprised at all if i dont just get excited but i cry happy tears too. XD

 

Can't speak for BJDs, - as i've yet to enter into that category - but i do recall that my first-ever Doll, Princess Ayeka Jurai

from TOYNAMI's short-lived early-2000's "Tenchi Muyo!" Anime Character Doll series,

was instrumental for single-handedly inspiring me to learn Hand-Sewing for Doll Customization,

since i was finding myself rapidly growing dissatisfied with the quality of the included clothing

on what i had initially figured was going to be a "Deluxe Jumbo Action Figure" based on one of my Top Favorite Anime of the time...

and yet ended up being so very much more to me...

 

 

 

- Ayeka, 2001/2002 -

 

- Ayeka, 2023 - (with "Konomi Yuzuhara" my No.1 Doll, twenty years later)

 

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by Tasuke

first off I'm super excited for you. I was I think 17 at the time. it's was a smartdoll Haruka. I remember it felt like the mail man took forever to deliver her. my mom was out of town at the time and I facetimed her when I opened my mjd up. my heart felt as if it was going to burst out. Then as soon as I pulled the bag out and saw the top of her bald head the water works started. I could barely get the wig on between hugging her and balling my eyes out. I've had Haruka for 4 years now and still love her so much.

I just got my first doll last month! The unboxing itself was as exciting as everyone else says it is, but I think at the time I was much more excited to make her cosplays of all of my favorite characters, and design other costumes for her too. That…hasn’t happened very much yet XD Mostly because I ordered her with a full set of clothes and they suit her alright. Also because I already gave her handmade eyes, wig, and faceup and have run out of hubris that I can make stuff look decent without any experience…

That said, taking photos with her as she is has been much, much more fun than I anticipated. It’s another skill I need to get better at, but just planning, posing, and staging is so fun in itself.

One more thing, TinyFox might not have this problem, but the ImomoDoll body pieces kept rotating on their skeleton and/or straight up coming off. This annoyed me so much, and I eventually modded her to be a lot less bad at posing, but I had to get one of those blind box BJDs to confirm that posing just doesn’t come intuitively to me and it’s not just the doll’s fault. Might be something to keep in mind.

I had to look up what MJD actually means. Never heard that term before.

When my first BJD arrived I was very impressed by the quality. Especially the details in her face were captivating. Could look at her for hours. Never have seen something like that before. The dolls that I knew were a total difference. 

 photo’s do say more than words.

 

After I unboxed Minori (my MDD), I could not put her down. From the moment she was dressed up, she became glued to my arm until my nerves finally set in and I became worried about damaging her by carrying her everywhere. I have found that I don't cry easily (unless frustrated, in which case I'm a crybaby 😁), so I didn't exactly tear up, but I couldn't put her down. It was such a wonderful experience to hold her in my arms that night as I watched Cardcaptor Sakura, and I've never forgotten that feeling. It was honestly a bit surreal but a great experience.

Edited January 31 by frollywoggy

My boyfriend handed me a card at Christmas with pictures of Smart Dolls on the front. my brain stopped working... I stared at the words inside it but couldn't process them. Then he gently told me it was time to order a vinyl girl! I never thought I'd be able to get one so soon.

She sits on my desk and every time I walk past my eyes are glued to her. She's incredibly beautiful and so expressive somehow, far more than my 1/6 or 1/8 figures. I'm addicted now...

My first DD boy is tied with somewhat bittersweet memories, because I got him, and into the hobby as a whole, through somebody I don't have contact with anymore, but I like to keep the memories fondly either way.

We got his body secondhand on Manda, and they brought him with them when visiting me, and I got the chance to see his faceup come into existence live and in real-time that way, which was a very exciting experience. I do like to think back to working on doll things alongside each other (I was styling wigs and blushing hands).

Towa arrived during 2020's covid madness. I felt I needed an emotional support doll.

The covid era affected me more than most. When it happened I was actually working in a university in China. I had previously visited Wuhan. If that's not weird enough I have a PhD in genetic engineering. But the worst thing was listening to all the "experts" try to explain that it wasn't a lab leak.

Back on topic the hardest thing was deciding whether to go for Towa (standard model) or Yuriko Nanao (character model). Also Uzuki Shimamura was a distant 3rd choice but she was a lot more expensive than Towa.

Ultimately I decided to go for Towa since I wanted to dress her up in my own styles and also get some Miku hair for her. Had Miku been available at the time I probably would have gone for Miku.

Ironically given the size of my doll fam now, it was a whole 18 months before Towa's sister arrived. Most of the time we spent rebuilding my life and deciding who her sister would be. We had a saying that two dolls would be mad, and now look at us.

Towa's first sister turned out to be Uzuki Shimamura (reboot). She's an epic DD with one of the best outfits ever. Third was Kizuna AI because Towa and I spent a lot of time watching vTubers during the lockdowns.

I also have a lot of smaller dolls, Legos and plushies but the DD are super special because being the size that they are, they kind of feel real. Towa even freaked out my sister 😂.

Towa's unboxing...

My first bjd had been a resin, and until recently I didn't have much of an interest in vinyls/mjds. But this past weekend, I went to DollCon Dallas and there were a lot of Smart Dolls and Dollfies! I thought that they were so much cuter in person and I instantly wanted one 🥹

So on the second day of the convention, I bought an Imomo from one of the vendors! Then immediately went to DDE's booth for some clothes and wigs bc it was also my first 1/6th 😂 But she is the absolute cutest and now I'm obscessed.  

Azone Ex☆Cute PureNeemo‘s Raili, Majokko, Littlewitch of the Snow was my was my very first and quickly following was Yuzuha Rock’n Girl then Mermaid Princess Minami which are both PureNeemo too. I adored them, bought them all a tonne of clothes and have them still sitting at my desk keeping me company a decade or so later. Only now am I even considering selling off some of their clothes to fund DD clothing, haha, but they’ll be hard to part with! Can’t part with my girls though. After that I have a couple of blind box resin mermaids who are just so damn cuuuuute, I got them a few weeks before finally biting and getting a DD. 
 

And as much as I love all my dolls (and gazillion figma and figures), I’ve never quite connected with them in the way that I have with my Stoli (DD Y’shtola). I had to film her box opening since she was a Mandarake buy so it wasn’t a particularly good opening because all I’m doing is squealing, lol. I want her to have all the things and spend so much time with her. I’m afraid I’m a bit obsessed… she’s already got 4 wigs and a new bust on the way and I’ve had her for like 2 weeks! Once I’ve got her new bust, it’ll be outfit time and I am afraid. 😂