How did you first start out?

Not sure if anyone has posted this subject yet, but I figured I'd give it try. Basically all I'm asking everyone is how and why they started collecting Dollfie Dreams.

 

For me... Well it's all because of my cousin and her roommate who for a little while lived next door to me. My cousin had a couple BJDs from Eluts and a Obitsu while her roommate had a couple Eluts' BJDs as well. They would bring them over to my place and have me take photos of them. I guess my interest was perked and I started to do some research online about them. My first was an Obutsu named Syann and then after a couple months I discovered Volks' website and took interest in their Dollfie Dreams. So...I ended up ordering a Aoi who I ended up modifying in my daughter Ash. Beside those I ended up picking up a BJD from Iplehouse and even Soom's Breccia - Moon wish (which nearly put me in debt... ). After sometime I decided that I truly loved the Dollfie Dreams and ended up creating Rain and even going as far as recreating my daughter Syann into a Dollfie Dream Dynamite. Kyrene was kinda a splurge...while my fifth whose on the way was semi-planned... So...that's my story of how I started out... Oh and if you were wondering, I no longer have either the BJD or the Breccia....

I saw Dollfie Dream Mirai on the Volks website in 2003. Volks had an English version of its page, so I could read about her. The website said something like "end of sale," so I knew I couldn't buy her from the site. I kept going back to the site to look at her:

 

http://www.volks.co.jp/en/dollfiedream/characters/mirai/index_mirai.aspx

 

I really liked the message in her description:

 

 

It basically says that everything about her is up to you. You give her a personality and make her come alive. I think this is a central concept with Dollfie Dreams.

 

I looked around on Ebay to see if there were any available. I already could get Takara Jenny dolls there, so I thought there might be a chance to find one there. I decided to stick with 1/6 (anime dolls and Jenny dolls) until 2005. By then, there were plenty of DDs on Ebay, but things were about as crazy as they are know. There was a set of all 3 Production Model Siriuses for something like $4,000. My brother kept saying how much more he liked resin BJDs, but by then I was already really attached to the Volks DD Image Characters Mirai and Candy. I also loved Sirius.

 

In spring 2005, I found a doll hobby shop that occasionally got in DD base bodies and sold them for retail. I thought it would be easier to get one of the custom DD heads I had been admiring for so long off Yahoo Japan Auctions and try my luck at getting a body later. My first DD daughter is Sumireiko, a custom DDH-01 girl. I got her head first and was able to purchase her a body quite quickly. I got a full set Anniversary Model Sirius almost one month later so she wouldn't be alone. Then a year later, I adopted Miyu (DD Kyoko) directly from the Volks USA website. Things continued on from there because of the availability of retail-priced DDs off the Volks USA website.

 

I have also chased down a few Japan-only release daughters on YJA. Plus, I would go for any cute custom DD heads off YJA that went through an auction round without being bid on. Then I felt I had to rescue them. I have quite a few DDH-01 girls because DDH-02 and DDH-03 heads were so popular for a while that the 01 heads wouldn't get bidders. There were also a couple of highly sought after faceup artists who drew attention away from other listings, so I also have quite a few of DDH-02 girls. My only DDH-03 heads are official from Volks. The DDH-03 heads always looked sad to me. I love happy, confident-looking girls.

 

I eventually adopted the 2003 DD Mirai and Candy. They are special to me because I feel like I have know them for 8 years now. Each daughter is special to me in a different way, and I can't imagine letting any of them go.

Great topic! I was actually wondering this myself a little while ago.

 

I know a lot of people that are on these forums found their way here after being on Figurefm. I only found out about Figurefm thru Danny Choos website.

 

I used to collect vintage Star Wars toys. I had done so for over 10 years and the hobby was getting stale for me. So I started looking for something else to collect. I loved Anime so I decided to start buying more DVD's to watch. I then started to notice that the anime I liked so much had figures available for them. So I started to buy those and put Star Wars on the back burner.

 

After a year or two of this, I amassed a decent collection of anime girls but I still felt like something was missing. That's when I found Dannys site and saw the Dollfie Dreams he had. I was floored! I had never seen such large scale "figures" before and in the anime style I loved so much! I read every article he had on them and I also hit Volks website too. I like collecting info on stuff before I really get into it.

 

So after about a year of looking around and really thinking that a DD was going to be way too expensive for me to ever afford, I saw the link to Figurefm. I saw an entire section devoted to the Dollfies and photo stories of them. Again, I was floored by what I saw. So many people had such beautiful girls. I wanted one so badly.... but $500-$600 minimum to build one yourself was a bit much for me to cope with at the time.

 

That is, until I found the classifieds section on Figurefm. I still think it was fate that led me there.... something just told me "Click that classifieds link". That was when I first saw Manami up for adoption. I clicked the link and all I could think was "How do I get this girl into my home?" I emailed the seller and we started a dialouge about Manami and Dollfies in general. Nicole was super helpful to me and more than willing to let me adopt Manami. We made a deal and within a week, my first daughter had arrived.

 

Having her in front of me was a really eye opening experience. I had no idea of the scale of a DD and she was so tall in person! She and I bonded almost immediately and we have been tight ever since.

 

So that is how I found out about the Dollfies and how I got my first daughter. It seems so long ago now but it was only a little less than a year ago. This June will be the one year anniversary of me becoming a Dollfie Dream parent and it will be Manami's first birthday. I cannot wait to give her a birthday party.

 

 

Billy

How it all started

I was curious about Japan's culture and decided to look it up on Google - I typed 'Japan culture' on the Google search engine, and the first link to appear was Danny Choo's website! Danny Choo was a familiar name; I have heard of this name a few times before in the past. And, without much thought I entered Danny's site. I scrolled down the page, and a post (picture) of a doll that look like Saber caught my eyes. The title of this post is called, "Dollfie Hong Kong." A quarter of the way reading through the previous post (or article), I went off-track - I clicked on "Dolls" in Danny's "pop-up" slider on the bottom of the screen. To my surprise, that "little mistake, " leaded me to even more posts and pictures of Danny's beautiful daughters! I will have to say that I checked all of Danny's posts - any post that has a doll in there would be fine, as I thought to myself. I guess I kind of fell in love with Danny's daughters, . With that said, I will like to point out that Danny's post of him taking his Saber Mirai to a barber shop was very... attractive. I mean - Danny treated his Mirai Saber daughter like a real daughter! That in itself sparked my dedicated interest in Danny's "daughters."

 

It all happened so quick, and in the process of my research I found out that these "dolls" are called Dollfie Dream and that they are BJDs (ball-jointed dolls) of the Japanese Volks company. With that knowledge, I looked up Volks on Google, and that's how it all started - a body from Volks USA and a custom head from the Secret Cross team.

 

-Halcyon

Nearly 2 years ago I was totally addicted to collectiong figures when I have discovered Dollfie Dream world: at the time I thought they were only higly expensive figures (somebody sais that "collecting DDs is the last stair for a senior figure collector") and I have ignored them for a while, until the discover of Al Azif MDD. I had started to change my mind: I was in love with that character, I liked everything about her and I have decided to get her MDD in the future!

Then some events I have already told (that damned Al Azif auction) happened and I have ended up buying a Latooni MDD^^

I've had a long standing love affair with all things culturally Japan-I studied the language and the culture in college and was part of an anime club as well. I've had the interest in the design and art ever since I was a little kid and knew there was a difference but didn't realize the style was geographically dictated ( ay least initially, right?).

 

Super Dollfies were my gateway. I thought I really liked the culture around it, the sumikas and the idea they were/are, quite frankly, selling. I have one SD 13 girl who I adore but don't play with as much. Dollfie Dream just seemed like a natural fit and I decided to paint my own girl instead of buying a default one. I composed my own and just like that- someone offered really good money for her. I was initially conflicted but the "buy in" for these dolls is expensive and I thought it'd be great if I could help make money towards my hobby by selling face-ups and other DD related items.

 

Face-ups were a natural choice because I paint and there (oddly) was a demand for my style of face-up that reliably sells via Ebay. My first girl sold within 24 hours. Eventually, I created a business model that basically earns me USD $50.00 for each face-up + costs and I ship my dolls insured & internationally. As for the preorder Volks items: Volks kind of creates this niche market that results in a very lucrative second hand market profits and many people have that sort of money to spend so I figured: why not, if I have the money up front? All the money goes back to Volks because they continue to make amazing dolls that I always spend mucho $$$ with them (aka all my profits).

 

I think I've heard any sort of sale of limited/preorder items called 'doll scalping' in the resin market- and that it is "frowned upon" unless you are selling them at cost. a) I never see individuals selling/buying limited or out-of-print items at "cost", (b) I don't sell lottery items and c) I don't particularly care what people think. On occasion, I provide people in other around the world and in the US a chance to get items they wouldn't ordinarily have, so I believe it's a fair trade. This last paragraph probably sounds harsher than I meant it- I just dislike hypocrites/hypocrisy and people who use virtue only when it is convenient for their argument's sake. <---There tends to be a lot both on the internet/forums though, thankfully, none here.

 

Thus began DollFlip... built on the desire to provide affordable face-ups with Volks products (until Volks offers more selection) and occasionally the sale of a HDD/accessory from Volks. I really look forward to airbrushing and becoming better at 'playing' with my dolls. I really adore them now that I am figuring out "who" they are! Also the community on 'Dollfie Dreams' really allows me to enjoy my girls more than ever before- it's because of all of you, your input and appreciation for the hobby that makes it fun for me- so thank you!

 

Wow! It's really wonderful hearing everyone's stories and I thank everyone for sharing.

Thank you for posting such a fun topic!

Yes, excellent topic Shard! ^___^

For me, it started out with BJDs. And getting into those led me to the Volks site (USA)! I spent so much time looking at their Super Dollfies and Dollfies and DDs, there are so many awesome dolls out there . I bought a BJD first, then was really interested in ordering a DD, but ended up ordering another BJD! (This was years ago).

 

I've never seen a Dollfie Dream in person until two Ohayocons ago in which I was in love. Like, seeing them in person versus the internet is a whole new story. They are super gorgeous and I lovelovelove 60cm dolls so it was great that they're available in that size! This past Ohayocon, I saw more Dollfie Dreams and that was when I knew I was for sure in love and decided on my next doll to be a DD!

 

I seriously can't believe how gorgeous and stunning these dolls are in person.

 

Also, to the owner(s) of the Dollfie Dreams at the Sunday Ohayocon meet up this year, your dollfies totally convinced me that it was time to buy one!

I'm just getting started, but it doesn't hurt to post.

 

I've been exposed to BJDs for quite a while, through friends who were into them, and people in the anime convention scene in general who had them. I never had any interest in owning one until I saw my first DD, though, which was an Asuka owned by a friend of a friend. I liked it, although I wasn't quite sold enough to pay the price of one.

 

Flash forward a few years, and Danny Choo got his DDs, and as he kept posting new stuff, the wall preventing me from getting one kept crumbling. Figure.fm came around, I became active there, and that was it. The day after my GF and I finally gave in and decided we'd get one (which quickly turned from "one" to "some"), the first shots of Beatrice leaked out, and I was sold, having already been a big fan of her character.

 

Anyway, with Beatrice, we'll already have three, and if I can scrape more money together we'll get Neris, too, although I'm not sure how likely that will be. That's getting off to a running start, I guess.

Anyway, with Beatrice, we'll already have three, and if I can scrape more money together we'll get Neris, too, although I'm not sure how likely that will be. That's getting off to a running start, I guess.

 

 

Yeah, once you start then you really acbleepulate girls quickly! It's hard to stop when Volks has something gorgeous coming out every 3-4 months. ^^

Anyway, with Beatrice, we'll already have three, and if I can scrape more money together we'll get Neris, too, although I'm not sure how likely that will be. That's getting off to a running start, I guess.

 

 

Yeah, once you start then you really acbleepulate girls quickly! It's hard to stop when Volks has something gorgeous coming out every 3-4 months. ^^

 

 

Y-yea... I never planed on having 4 let lone 5 daughters... I swear! She's gonna be the last... Well maybe if I can figure out how to create the Dark Magician Girl....

 

Oh! One more day till my order from Volks comes!

I wanted some nice Fate Stay/Night items and since there are no cels I for the series I had to look for something else. I came across the Azone 1/6 scale Saber doll but was disappointed by it when I finally got it. I saw pictures of DD Saber on the net and decided she looked a lot better than the Azone doll so I waited for one at a reasonable price.

 

Fortunately one with a broken sword appeared shortly thereafter and I ordered her. The break was a clean break at the junction of blade and hilt, so it was a very easy fix. No sign of the break as the post that broke is completely hidden. I was much happier with DD Saber compared to the Azone Saber so I decided to pick up her extra outfits and that I had to have a Rin. Rin was the real dam breaker as she looked so much better in person than the Volks official photos.

 

I enjoyed seeing people's photo stories on figure.fm so that inspired me to pick up more outfits and accessories and post my own stories as well.

After seeing Danny's Saber and Aoi, and the many other lovely Dollfies on Figure.FM, I decided to get one of my very own. I happened to get a bonus check at work (my last one, my position no longer gets bonuses...) which just covered the costs of adopting Aoi and her katana. Aoi-chan has always been a well-equiped girl!

 

After Aoi first arrived, I didn't do much with her for the first week or so. It wasn't til the clothes I ordered her from HLJ/Azone showed up that I really started to play with Aoi-chan, and take her picture. This lead to buyimg more outfits, and adopting my second girl, Louise! Eventually, I actually stopped lurking and joined Figure.FM to share my girls with the world!

I've always wanted a dollfie since the first time I saw it in Danny Choo's website. But the price is really a put off. Long after that, I didn't dare browse or find out more about dollfies.Then early March this year, at one night, I was sick, so I took some panadol. Since I couldn't sleep, and I was bored, I did some browsing, then I stumbled on Dollfie again. I kept browsing, and then I came to Volks international site, and found out that they ship to my country.

 

Maybe because it was really late, and I was under influence of the panadol, I put aoi in the shopping cart, then proceded with the order. After anxiously waiting for 1 week, I picked her up at the post office.

Since It was during work hour, I cannot open the package, and I have to wait till I get home to open the package. It felt like it was one of my longest day lol.

 

After I got home, I opened the box, and there she is. My beautiful Aoi

 

Now I have Beatrice coming in around 1 week ( I just got an email saying she's being shipped ), and a L shapely bust coming soon ( last time I checked it's already in custom office) I have a blank head to work on, so she'll be my first custom face up girl. I hope I can do a half decent face up hehehehehehe.

Great post!!! Now for my story:

 

Where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery.....

WAIT - wrong story.

 

My first encounter with Dollfie Dreams was on Danny Choo's website as well. For me it wasn't love at first sight though. I was already collecting PVC figures as well as building scale resin figures and the idea of visible joints didn't appeal to me.

 

It didn't take long though to see their appeal and how cute they could be before I started searching Danny's site for all his DD posts. It was around the time when DD Mio and Yui from the anime K-On! came out. I loved the show and thought about maybe getting one - till I heard they were about $600 each!

 

I didn't understand who in the world would be crazy enough to spend that much money on a doll. I soon found I was obsessed with seeing all the posts on Danny's site as well as figure.fm and realized I had to have one. Thankfully a decent year end bonus at work let me take part in DolPa 23 and I got the chance to adopt Sakura Matou.

 

 

Now I'm very happy that I was crazy enough to get Sakura as well as Yukino and my most recent one, Saber Lily. I'm very closely looking at the upcoming Aerie and Neris and trying to figure out how crazy I'd have to be to go for both of them. ?????

That's hilarious, Dr. Evil - I mean - OtakuDepot. I can identify with your craziness. I have a lot of twin released DDs (Mirai and Candy, Kyoko and Yumi, Yuki and Rina, Aoi and Yukino, Femi and Cheryl, Natsuki and Moe). If I don't get one of the set, I will end up getting her later. It is less expensive to get them both at the normal price.

It is less expensive to get them both at the normal price.

 

Exactly, this is what my evil subconscious is telling me. It's also telling me that what I paid for Lily would be the same as getting both Airy and Neris. "How could I pass up such a deal?"

 

**James

It is less expensive to get them both at the normal price.

 

Exactly, this is what my evil subconscious is telling me. It's also telling me that what I paid for Lily would be the same as getting both Airy and Neris. "How could I pass up such a deal?"

 

**James

 

That's not evil, that's thinking smart! Heh, granted I think I should stop at five girls...before we all end up in the poor house...

I agree with both of you guys. OtakuDepot is both smart and evil! I am just kidding. That is the same reasoning I use to buy two girls at the same time. This is also why I don't mind losing Saber Lily in the lottery. I can get two of girls instead. Fate was telling me that there was someone else out there I am supposed to adopt.

Fate was telling me that there was someone else out there I am supposed to adopt.

 

Aint that the truth? It sure seems to me that fate has a huge hand in the Dollfie world. Mitsuki, you have seen how fate has treated me firsthand with Mai and that Kanu dress. I still can't beleive how that all worked out. I know you were amazed by it. And that wasn't the first time things like that have happened to me.

 

I also think that karma is a huge player in the DD realm. Mitsuki has always been a huge part of the DD hobby for me and she has more karma points than anyone I know. That's why I try and do everything I can to pay that back to others. I've been lucky and blessed in this hobby and I like it when others get it too. So if I can have a small hand in that, I'm happy.

 

I'll step off the soap box now.

 

 

Billy

That's really nice of you to say all that. I am glad there are lots of great people in this hobby.

In my case it started from watching a Youtube video where a Japanese Engineer living happily ever after with her candy girls. Yes, candy girl from Orient Industry, the love doll.

From these my browsing was derived into Dollfie Dream. It was back when they still using the strung body. I did really plan to get her but the plan was buried when I went into college.

 

After graduating from college, I met a friend who owned a Dollfie Dream Mashiro and I was very impressed on how they evolved. I don't really watch Kiss of My Deity but I like the DD Mashiro. So I decide to adopt a DD myself.

 

I can't afford to get a limited edition character DD, actually not even Yukino or Aoi. But I want it so what do I do? I can't use my pocket money. I can't save because where will the source? I try to sell my used item but it's not enough. I do some freelancing works setting up websites for other people, there's some money. But then one day my friend Jon was complaining how expensive DD dress could be. Then I do market research. Wow, yes they're expensive! Well, because they were sold in complete set. How if people just want a simple set in cheaper price? So, I borrow my mom's sewing machine and trial and error. I manage to gain back my sewing skills which I left during high school.

From very simple and lousy dress, I can proudly say my sewing got a little bit better on every dress I make. And these dress which fund mostly of my DD adopting project.

Thanks to the people who are supporting me, especially Zakuro (Mitsuki) my first buyer.

I'm still doing DD dress for sale, but the process have been slow down... because the motivation is already achieved.

I kind of talked about this before but Yoko and Nia caught my eye when they were first announced. I stared at the button to put them in my cart (during the entry period) but backed away since financially I was already stretched thin from my figures. Later I got into Pullips and I admit I think I dove into that hobby too fast and at full throttle, before I knew it I had more girls than I had time to play with. Since then I re-homed most of the gang and am currently at two Pullips that have a large wardrobe and get all of my attention. When Beato was announced my reaction was as strong with her as it was with Yoko. When I was thinking over getting her it wasn't me debating if I actually liked her, it was me debating if I should step into another (expensive) hobby lol. Also I think I was a bit over worried about the risks of staining. In the end I felt I'd really regret passing on her. I'm going to try and take it slow with adopting more DD gals, I'll try and restrain myself to only adopting girls that make me react immediately/strongly at their preview photos.

 

Even though I'm an active member on this forum and I've spent $700+ on Beato and extras...I actually don't have any Dollfie Dream items in my hands at the moment. I probably won't have any photos to share until June at the earliest (when Beato arrives).

 

As much as I love a lot of the previous DD releases I'm really going to try and force myself to keep my eyes on future releases, and try to win them only through VolksUSA. Even if that means missing out on someone I really want :/ we'll see how well I stick to this if I lose a lottery for a character I REALLY WANT though