A questionaire!

[takahirokumiko]

1. How long have you been diggin' dolliehs?
Not counting childhood, a little over five years.

2. What dolls have you been into?
BJDs, Barbies, My Scene, Porcelain, and Littlest Pet Shop Girl Dolls
3. What aspects of dolly-awesomeness do you like? Collecting? Hand-making things? Taking pictures?
Taking Photos and sewing clothes (even if I’m not that great at either)

4. How has the dolly community affected your social life?
I’ve met some very interesting people in this hobby. I’m not really close to many people, but I do enjoy being part of the community.

5. Do you go through phases of which dollies are your favorite? Who is your favorite currently?
No, but I think it would be difficult to choose between Akane and Kharis as my favorite dollieh.

6. How does your family/housemates/significant other handle your dolly obsession?
My mother is just as obsessed as I am. She has three of her own. My mother’s husband’s opinion is worth nothing, so I ignore him. My sister’s opinion depends on the day. She loves Akane, but the other three haven’t really been accepted by her as much. My brother makes comments in a negative way, but he rarely means them.

7. What advice would you give dollieh newbies?
Do your research, and keep your options open. A cheap doll does NOT mean an inferior doll. A $200 doll can be just as lovely as $700. Be careful when buying a doll second hand. Any number of things including recasts and scammers can happen.

[werepuppy]

1. How long have you been diggin' dolliehs?
Oh, um, I'm ... not actually sure. I would say a while, I think I've been actively collecting since... 2009/2010? Not really that long. Well, dolls at least. Action figures we're saying from at least Lord of the Rings. I was about ... 15/16 when I got the items I would count as the start of my adult collecting days so ... we'll say 8 years as a collector. I may not have been buying dolliehs for 8 years, but I have had interest.

2. What dolls have you been into?
Monster High, Ever After High, Disney, Bleeding Edge Goths, Makies, Disney, ... I basically am a bit of a playline collector. If I like the look of it enough, I add it to a possible list and see where it goes from there. Also have some porcelain dolls from childhood, and I would love to find a way of getting some of my childhood Cardcaptor Sakura dolls again.

3. What aspects of dolly-awesomeness do you like? Collecting? Hand-making things? Taking pictures?
I really like picture taking, even though my skills are not the greatest. I also like the thrill of the hunt, so to speak. I like being able to find that rare thing at an awesome price.

4. How has the dolly community affected your social life?
It... hasn't. Well, I don't think it has? I have got this lovely place to come and talk to all you lovely people, but otherwise it's sort of a ... non influence?

5. Do you go through phases of which dollies are your favorite? Who is your favorite currently?
Oh, there are always phases. Out of my customs, my favourite is probably (still) Wednesday Addams, though little Matilda is a close run second.

6. How does your family/housemates/significant other handle your dolly obsession?
The Brother doesn't care. The extended family ... it can be mixed. My parentals.. They worry occasionally that I might be overspending on dolls and whatnot, but at the same time, they see that it makes me happy, and that I am very picky with what I pick up so... I guess mixed all round?

7. What advice would you give dollieh newbies?
Go for what you like, don't let your tastes be dictated by others.

[bitterdarjeeling]

It's been such a long time since I posted here, this'll be good to get me back in the swing of things

1. How long have you been diggin' dolliehs?
I played with barbies, bratz, etc. when I was little, and I first discovered bjds in middle school or high school. I got my first bjd for christmas last year

2. What dolls have you been into?
I was big into barbies for a looong time. I loved dressing them up and just playing around. I have a Resinsoul Mai and a Doll Chateau Elizabeth on the way.

3. What aspects of dolly-awesomeness do you like? Collecting? Hand-making things? Taking pictures?
I love taking pictures of Quinn and sewing him new clothes, and I'm excited to do that with my Elizabeth when she arrives I really want to touch up his faceup and suede his joints to make him pose better, but I keep getting intimidated each time I think about doing it.

4. How has the dolly community affected your social life?
Not too much, to be honest. I'm part of a dolly group on facebook, but I don't have any real friends that are into bjds too. I went to a doll meetup at JAFAX over the summer though, and it was really nice.

5. Do you go through phases of which dollies are your favorite? Who is your favorite currently?
Quinn's been my favorite for a long time, since he's my only doll, but I'm obsessing over my new doll and I'm anxious for her to arrive!

6. How does your family/housemates/significant other handle your dolly obsession?
My parents don't mind and leave me to my own devices with my doll. My best friend thinks my love of bjds is weird, which means I can't really talk to him about it. However, one of my college friends is always happy to talk about the dolls, even though she doesn't have any. She likes the customizability.

7. What advice would you give dollieh newbies?
Manage your finances carefully. Doll collecting is fun, but it's also super expensive, and buying doll left and right will drain your bank account quickly if you don't plan ahead. You can still have a fun time without constantly being broke if you plan ahead and save up for bigger purchases or do a payment plan.

[richila]

1. How long have you been diggin' dolliehs?
Seven years, I started playing with dolls when a friend taught me to make cloth dolls a month before my 50th birthday.

2. What dolls have you been into?
I started with handmade cloth mermaids and then other cloth dolls, I wanted joints. All of my dolls I made have been "travel dolls", so that led me to Hitty. I have carved a few dolls out of wood. I have my artist carved Hitty in a place of honor. My husband told me about Asian Ball Jointed Dolls after he saw some at a Convention. That caught my attention and I looked them up. I ordered my first bjd May of 2009.

3. What aspects of dolly-awesomeness do you like? Collecting? Hand-making things? Taking pictures?
I love having a trunk doll. http://www.lawtondolls.com/html/one-of-a-kind.html i love collecting shoes and making clothing for the designated doll. My first trunk doll was Shriara, a 27 cm Planet Doll Mini that I modded to have an adult figure and proceeded to make clothes for. She has Victorian clothes as well as modern clothes and accessories to go with both. My second trunk doll was Cordie, who became a trunk doll when she became an 11 cm obitsu and eventually grew to 14 cm tall. My trunk dolls have gotten progressively smaller. My current trunk doll is Richi. At 5cm tall, she is definitely the smallest doll I have dressed. With the lucky find that Polly Pocket and Littlest Pet Shoppe Blythe shoes fit her she has become my favorite trunk doll of all time. She had a fairly complete wardrobe in size 20 thread, when I moved down to size 40 thread. Hopefully by next year I will be able to work comfortably in size 80 thread. Richi has also led me to an obsession with Legos. Almost any item I could want for her has been made by Lego and they are the perfect size. I love taking pictures of my current trunk doll and tend to change her clothes daily, so she is always ready for new adventures. the picture taking has led to a love of A Doll A Day picture groups on Flickr. I am currently in one group and watching another that is using a different list of prompts.

4. How has the dolly community affected your social life?
I have doll friends locally and around the world that i correspond with on a daily basis through the internet. I attend conventions and visit with the locals at gatherings.


5. Do you go through phases of which dollies are your favorite? Who is your favorite currently?
Richi is my current favorite.

6. How does your family/housemates/significant other handle your dolly obsession?
My husband has expensive hobbies as well. He is happy my dolls make me happy and has gotten used to my always carrying a doll with me. In fact, if my doll isn't in her seat in the car, he asks about her.


7. What advice would you give dollieh newbies?
Have fun and play!

[VirgoVertigo]

1. How long have you been diggin' dolliehs?
i really don't know ... i used to really like stuffed animals, Littlest Pet Shop toys, and Pokemon toys, but i don't remember being that into dolls. my mom bought me a lot of random anime figurines when i was in my weeaboo phase in 2007-2009 (can you tell i'm really young? aaaah. ;_; ). i have NO IDEA how i got into BJDs. like i legitimately cannot recall how i stumbled into it. i really liked Blythes and Pullips, but i can't remembered how it connected.

2. What dolls have you been into?
as i said before, i used to REALLY like LPS dolls and Pokemon figurines. i now give away my gently used Pokemon toys at conventions as freebies. i also liked Pinky Street toys and these little trading figures whose heads and hair and faces could pop off. i had one of Yuki Nagato in The Disappearance, but i don't for the life of me know where she is. i really wanted all the Touhou figures from Griffon Enterprises, but i only ended up getting the Sakuya Izayoi one. i totally ruined her by playing with her, but i still have her. <3

3. What aspects of dolly-awesomeness do you like? Collecting? Hand-making things? Taking pictures?
i have no idea. i feel like my dolls love me. they're friends. they've seen me at my best and my worst ... i love putting their little hands on my fingers, also. that's cute.

4. How has the dolly community affected your social life?
what a funny question! it hasn't really affected me at all, but i think that's because i'm a newb.

5. Do you go through phases of which dollies are your favorite? Who is your favorite currently?
I go through phases with different brands. first i loved Blythe, then Pullip, then Hujoo, then Obitsu ... do you see me workin' my way up, here? right now my favorite is Dollpamm. as far as dolls i actually own, i don't really go through phases. Natalie is always my favorite because she's been through so much, and when i hold her i feel so calmed. she's truly the wise older sister type, and i think if she were alive she'd be a supportive friend who gives lots of advice and packs extra food in her lunch just for friends.

6. How does your family/housemates/significant other handle your dolly obsession?
my whole family is like "it's just a phase" and sometimes they patronize me for it. whether it's a phase or not i don't know and i don't really care! my mom thought dolls were really creepy for a while but she seems to think the smaller ones like Pukifees are cute. she calls Natalie "big alien head" sometimes she generally is supportive of me no matter what "phase" i'm in. my sister generally doesn't say much but obviously hates when i spend any kind of money on my dolls because she regrets doing it during her Blythe phase. my dad doesn't know much about my BJD collecting at all so i have no idea what he thinks of it.
and my dogs ... oh boy, my pitbull has tried to eat poor Nadine on various occasions!

7. What advice would you give dollieh newbies?
be friends with me, i am a newbie!!!!
also, don't let peeps get you down for being new. people that do that are total dingbats and obviously aren't concerned about the growth of their community. i still freak out about being a newbie, but i know it's just nonsense! we all jsut gotta do our thing.