Hello. Completely new to the hobby and seeking guidance.

[kiki-chan78]

Great to meet you too! ^___^

*snickers* You're going to find that more and more often, other hobbies are now going to come in second to your new girl. I'd look into commissioning Zirconmermaid for some spiffy clothes. She has a 50cm and will be able to make *really* nice clothes that will fit.

I've been drawing all my life, and went to college at MCAD. Unfortunately, life has made me unable to update the comic in a while. The 'project from heck' is sucking up all my time.

As for the difference between vinyl and resin. Some people claim there is a huge difference, but I don't think so. It's all in how you handle the doll and what is expected. Vinyl is more stain-prone and need special chemical cleaners to remove the stain, but they don't discolor when left in extreme conditions like a resin. Obitsus can pose like a dream, but a resin is easier to cuddle. A resin tends to be heavier than vinyl, normally a 1:3 resin is about 3-4lbs, while the corresponding obitsu will be 2lbs. Visually, well, you tell me, which of these two is vinyl, and which resin? ^.~



*Neither doll is mine, they belong to friends.




Believe it or not, there is dramahs on the dollieh forums. We try to keep it to a minimum here. On other forums, some people tend to equate the doll's value AS a doll, based solely on how much was spent on it, what company made it plus what material it's made of. Meaning, the dolls in the first picture are cheap and ugly, while the one in the second is highly desirable. Dumb, but true. Granted, I'm not saying that any of these aren't all great dolls and not totally loved and adored or that one is better than the other. ^.~









Shall I give kudos to Grey now for making such an awesome forum where *all* dolls are welcome? ^____^

<3

-Kiki-chan78.

[Gift_in_Edge]

Hello and welcome!

[AlmySidaKay]

Hiya and welcome! I'm glad to see you are finding your way around so far. I actually just bought my first doll in January of last year, and I'm *only* sitting at 8 now? They are fun.. and dangerous!

I'm sure you have already started to think some of these things but here is a lovely silly video for people into dolls and the things they think (like shopping for them and not yourself) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9epJJrSoWfM

[Stormlight]

@Stormlight Thank you for the welcome! Is there a lot of drama in other BJD forums? I mean, how can you even have drama with BJDs? It's all about getting cool looking BJDs and making them look good. It's not exactly a competitive hobby! Though I guess there's always the potential. While lurking around DOA I did notice they were very specific as to what was okay and what wasn't.
I'll see if I can eventually work up the courage for pics. I'll probably wait until after I move though.
And I see you're another corporate grunt! Yes, the wheels of fate keep turning.
I saw that you have an LJ and you're working on writing. Was the BJD on your pic inspired by your writing or the other way around? How long have you been writing?

Hmmm, you'd be surprised. This is the internet. If drama is to be had, they will find a way. (*coughDenofDemonscough*)

I've been seriously writing since high school. Finished my first novel as my senior project. That novel will never see the light of publishing, though. lol

The BJD on my avatar is my Shadow King, who is the main character of a novel I've been working on for about ten years now (and am actually close to completing. Finally!) I've only been collecting BJDs for about six years, so in this instance, the doll was inspired by my writing.

Although, his original appearance changed drastically, after I saw this doll and thought THAT'S the Shadow King. Then I went back and altered his appearance accordingly in the novel.

And I'm also working on a second novel, that was inspired solely by another one of my dolls. He's the only one out of the whole lot who demanded an entire novel just for himself (and now he demands his fellow characters to join him, too. My poor wallet!).

So ... I guess you could say the writing and the dolls inspire each other? That's what's so great about this hobby, though, innit?

[Yanagi-sen]

@Yanagi-sen Yeah, I really love Anime too. What characters do you have? Babylon 5 is one of my favorite sci-fi series. I just love how it's basically one continuous story, and while the first season is kind of weak, seasons 3 and 4 are nothing but pure payoff.
I saw on your profile that you're a teacher! As I mentioned to Evalien, I'm currently in the process of trying to become a teacher (in Texas though). What do you teach?

My dolls (in order of appearance at my home... MSDs unless otherwise noted): Naoe Nagi from Weiss Kreuz (DZ Shoyo head on AoD boy body), Sohma Momiji from Fruits Basket (Luts KDelf Ani), Touda shikigami from Yami no Matsuei (tiny DZ Leo), Hyou Riou jr from Saiunkoku Monogatari (BBB Espree boy), Ichinomiya Kantarou from Tactics (tiny Obitsu 11 cm), and newst arrival Hitsugaya Toushiro from Bleach (Luts KDelf).

Bab5 is awesome because it is a true story with a beginning, middle, and end; and was written that way. It didn't drag out long after it should have died. I agree on seasons 3 and 4.

I am an art teacher, currently at a very tiny Catholic school in NYS. I have everyone preK-8th grade and three high school classes. At my previous school I did middle school classes and high school computer graphics. I also spent a year in Japan as an exchange teacher.

[Evelien]

@Okami, that Simon Pegg quote is wonderful and so very true!!

Thanks everyone! It's very nice to pseudo-meet you all.

@Evelien Thank you for the link! It took me a while to figure out what was going on. When I first saw the name of that subcategory, I just thought it was another company brand I hadn't heard about. D'OH. It looks pretty awesome! I'm going to have to read that whole thing in-depth, though it might take me a while since things are a bit crazy.
I saw from your profile that you're a teacher. That's awesome! I'm actually going through a bit of a career change. I'm currently a computer programmer, but I kind of like people so I'm moving to teaching myself - though secondary.
I also browsed through your LJ - I'm envious that you're at the point of making clothes and doing faceups yourself! I hope to get there eventually.

Thanks so much! I'm an amateur but I enjoy it so much, I couldn't let someone else do my dolls' faceups, it's such an important part of the doll for me, it makes the doll very personal. Awesome career change by the way!

And yes, MADh Vinyl IS awesome. When I first found it, I kept reading and reading until well into the night to finish everything I had missed up to that point XD

[zirconmermaid]

Welcome to a great outlet for creativity! I think you will like it here! I used to be corporate, and many other things, so I feel your pain about sharing this hobby. I'm still into role playing games, and painting miniatures was something I fell into as a child along with model railroads. It's the details! I still collect them and promise faithfully I will paint them someday. I am fortunate that my husband shares most of my hobbies and understands about my love of dolls, Obitsu and resin in particular! I make custom doll clothing, doll prototype clothing, and costumes for people now. And if you think shopping for clothing for your new girl is bad now, wait until you see how detailed and amazing the shoes are!

[Trethowan]

Hey there, welcome to the Sanctuary. It's always great to have more dudes online! Christmas 2009 I bought one doll thinking, "Yes, just one, to be an action figure of my novel character." I now have 16 counting the bitty-bitsus. hahaha... they tend to explode on you.

At first nobody knew I had them. My friends are professionals save for 3 art/geek types. They didn't know I cosplayed either.

You might be interested in Danny Choo's "Culture Japan" website. I don't have a link, but he has action figures, dolls, a wife, and a kid. Really interesting guy. He does a lot of cool videos and sometimes his dolls are with him.

[Iwa_Hoshi]

Welcome to the board.
Kuroneko is really cute.
50cm Obitsu bodies are a wonderful little bunch, You can stuff them inside a shoebag and take them for shoots. If you're not comfortable enough to do so, just lug her around town in her bag until you're use to the weight and then takze her to a nice park for a pic or two. and once you're really comfortable try out some fancier shoots.zzzzzz

If you want clothing for them you gotta shop around a bit, some stores sells stuff that cheaper and won't cost and arm and a leg. Some folks learn to sew/make simple stuff for their dolls. Dozn't be afzraid to try and faceup your own dolls, you faceup the way you draw so the style is your own.

Oh and these dolls have a habit of merging your other hobbies for their own use.

I treat my 50cm and other 1/6 dolls like an action figures.

[Vycem]

@OkamiKodomo Oooh, I'll definitely be PMing you in the future, once I settled down on all the initial purchases. Talk about intimidating barrier of entry!
And I'm most definitely scoping out the marketplace board!
I think I'll most definitely be wanting an invite to DoA at some point, just to see what other info I can get from there and check out your marketplace. Hopefully I'll be able to snag an invite eventually.
Oh man, my wife's sister went to UCF so I actually visited there once or twice. I'll definitely keep it in mind. June 30th is actually the day after my bday, so who knows, maybe I can twist some arms...
Cons! I haven't really been to many, unfortunately. I went to Jacon at UCF ages ago (my first con...I even tried Cosplaying, because hey, gotta try everything once), and I think down here they tried having a little one 5 years ago but it was a bit disappointing.
I would love to go to Metrocon! Though I'm kind of burning up all my vacation days for the year flying for job interviews and teacher examinations. Ah well. Good to know they're hotbeds for informal meetups though.

@Kiki-chan. Zirconmermaid, duly noted, will most definitely start looking in that direction once I'm more situated!
I actually read all of your comic today at work! Can we say productivity dip? Heh. But I have to ask...how did the doll in the comic end up looking, sans cloud effects?
....wow...yeah, I can't really tell which is which!
Really? People compare dolls and their worth? I mean, wow. You know, in a way I think the closest allegory I can find to doll collecting has to be custom cars. Only except of talking about high end engines and customized bodywork, you get high end components and customized faceups! I kind of hate how the internet finds a way to bring drama.
I completely agree, if someone loves their doll, then you know, it's their doll and it's perfectly fine, regardless of price tag. I know I'm not getting a high end wonder myself, but I don't care, it's the one that got me to pull the trigger into the hobby, I really want it, and it'll be my first. Plus I'm already planning all sorts of coolness like a new head, etc just to make it as awesome as possible.

@Gift_in_Edge Thank you!

@AlmySidaKay Wow, I'm impressed! I know I'll end up with more too, but first I want to learn all I can and make the first as awesome as possible.
The video made me LOL! And yes, I have a feeling my Obitsu will be much better dressed than me. I'm more worried of when my wife picks up on that fact - I'm sure she'll be a bit annoyed. I've coasted this far on the whole premise that as a guy, I don't really care about fashion.

@Stormlight I salute you for being able to finish an entire novel and almost a second! I know that takes a tremendous amount of dedication and work. I keep telling myself that some day I'll do that. Some day. And I have to say, it must be kind of awesome to have the fruits of your admiration realized in 3D!

@Yanagi-sen That's really awesome how you're recreating all your faves! Also, how do you like the Luts dolls? I just recently discovered them, and I have to admit, I'm really drooling after them.
My wife and I dream of teaching in Japan a couple of years. Unfortunately we can't until I get a passport, which means I have to become a citizen first...and I just became a resident, so I have a bit to go. But as soon as that's done, we're so there!
How was the experience? Did you do it through JET or another program?

@Evelien Yeah, I really want to learn to do faceups! I have my eye on an SQLabs head that would be amazing, but I know I'm going to either find someone or bite the bullet and learn the secrets of makeup... did it take you long to learn?
Thanks for the career change props! It's nice not to get the usual shock and horror when I tell them ("But what about the money! Programmers make so much more money!"...but some things are more important than money!)

@zirconmermaid Yeah, I don't understand how people don't have hobbies...I think I have too many! I would make a great millionaire, I just wouldn't get bored.
I'm glad you can share your hobbies with your husband! That's so important.
Do you have a store or gallery of your custom clothing?

@Trethowan Thanks! And believe it or not, Danny Choo was key in getting me here, not only because his forum was filled with pics, but because he was a successful guy and he had one, so I figured...hey...
What did you Cosplay as? I tried it once, when I went to my first con. Sadly it was so long ago it predates digital cameras so all I have is a crappy old pic I need to scan sometime.

@Iwa_Hoshi Thanks! And I love your Chun-li! Yeah, I keep telling my wife that what I bought is a "Hybrid Action Figure", though I think she knows better. Do you have a gallery of fancy shots?