How I got into BJDs.

     When I was in 8th grade (and my older brother was in 11th) I was really set on being an illustrator or artist of some sort. I liked to draw, mostly, and occasionally put together some jewelry (and even though I've tried to pick up sculpting since then, it still hasn't happened). My brother was in an art class, and just suddenly one day he came from school and was talking about some dolls one of his friends was telling him about. Whether it was to use them for artist models or customizing, I'm not really sure anymore.

     All I remember is when he powered up our clunky laptop and opened up that first page I saw a little pixie doll with a wild white mohair wig. I'm not sure on what the sculpt was anymore, but I feel like it looked a lot like Realpuki Soso. In fact, I'm almost convinced it was that specific picture that was the first BJD I ever saw. That was more than seven years ago, though, so I'm not sure I'd memory on that. I just remember he kept scrolling through a few pictures and it was really exciting. Then he decided it was time to go do his homework or draw or something, so he went ahead and left me to scroll through on my own for a while.

     We talked about them a bit more, seeing as we spent a lot of our childhood trying to make our own toys (the biggest quest was to make something that would move like an action figure) and it was really exciting. We buzzed about them together for a while until other things got in the way and he just seemed to drift away from them again.

     I secretly kept coming back to them.

     I would sneak in Google image searches for "BJD" or "Fairy BJD" and, for some reason, didn't do any research for a long time. He even moved to Arizona for a couple of years, and I just quietly stalked these expensive dolls that I thought I'd never be able to buy.

     Then, soon after he came back, he got a 23 or 25cm Volks Dollfie because the line was being discontinued. He was a cool little guy, my brother rooted the hair and painted his face all on his own. I remember it taking so long for him to just get the hair set in! I really wanted one, too, but to be honest I suck at drawing or painting eyes that match each other. Really, if you were to see any of my drawings you would probably note how few of them actually feature both eyes. There is a reason.

     I waited a while, experimenting along with him different ways to set rooted hair (we used some of my old Barbies as guinea pigs) and kind of looked around the Volks USA site and eventually came across the EB Beauty line. Those dolls, at the time, were the best things. They had eye holes, so I could switch the eyes. They could wear wigs. They were the same size as Barbies, so I could just buy Barbie clothes instead of sewing everything. I had no idea how to do a faceup, and therefore thought I was the most greatest ever because I'd painted her face and made her a wig.

      Looking back, my attempts with her weren't exactly the greatest nor the most well thought-out, in fact a lot of things I did with her is what I'd normally delete from my Deviantart page and never mention ever again. (like this)

     Though to be honest, I'm actually quite glad that I went with her as a first BJD-type doll. She was small and easy to dress, and the fact that she could switch eyes and wigs like the more "genuine" BJDs was a big draw for me. I wanted to see if these dolls were really something I could stick to. And I did. I stuck like glue. Later that year, my brother took the plunge and got his Bobobie Apollo, which then gave me the courage to save up and get my own first "true" BJD, my Resinsoul Li. It took a lot of time to actually get started in the hobby after I learned about it, but it really feels worth the wait. I've expanded my skills, my knowledge, and I've found something that actually makes me really happy.

     All of this because one of my brother's friends in art class nervously mentioned wanting a doll.

~~Aronzo~~