my first doll was a soom gem dimo! at the time, i had actually wanted godo but was really waffling between the two. ultimately, i went for dimo because i couldn't convince myself over to get godo. i literally regret this decision to this day, mainly because this doll (and the one i got, as well) isn't made anymore! i'm going to have to be especially lucky to find him at this point in time. at this time, soom was actually known for their speed. i bought my dimo firsthand and it was a month from order to door! maybe even something like three weeks. i remember it being something intensely fast, especially by todays standards. shortly after i ordered my first doll, soom started becoming more popular and then practically known for their fantasy dolls that would release on a monthly basis. if you want to hear something tragic, i was unsuccessful at selling my soom dimo on DoA directly to another collector, so i had him listed on ebay through a service where ultimately i only got around $200 and some for him. the consequences of being in such a hobby while too young.

i don't know when the first time i saw a dollshe was; but it was probably a bermann or hound since those were the ones i sought out photostories or gallery posts of. the two look very similar except one has a frown (bermann) and the other has a curved sort-of smirk (hound) .... they're equally pretty to me with the right faceup. my favorite thing about them was the body and proportions. sort of reminds me of CLAMP... i had a ns hound years ago, but ultimately sold him too in pursuit of other things. in the future, i'd love to have a bermann-any type, just open eyes.

this is probably the oldest and most active forum for the overall international community. it's nowhere near as active as it used to be, nor is the breadth of the community on there. it is still nice to have an account on there if you're considering 'getting into' BJD, as the resources and collective experiences, posts, and knowledge on there is invaluable. it's also BJD history! this is where a majority of my experience in the hobby occured, and i still don't have that many overall posts on there. at the time and for years following, DoA was known as strict and highly moderated. i've always been afraid of posting the wrong thing! the one time i got told i posted about an off-topic doll (in a wishlist thread) i wanted to bury myself alive lol..

a popular thing to do with BJD, on any platform that accepted images. people would essentially set up and act out entire stories, sometimes complete with sets. frame-by-frame they would write script-style what was happening underneath. some would edit the script directly onto the images, so it functioned like a BJD webcomic. at different periods of time there were users on den of angels that would be known for their photostories. one that i was personally a huge fan on had a cast that was almost or was, entirely dream of doll. the faceups and clothes they dressed their characters in were so fun and creative. at some point, though, they left the hobby and sold almost all of these character dolls that they had created-clothes, faceups, body blushing, tattoos, and all. i think i remember them keeping one or two special ones though! i was lucky at the time and able to purchase a tender too from them, although i sold him on shortly later because it was an impulse decision. developing ocs and making photostories was a huge reason for my attraction to the bjd hobby, as i was drawn towards anything that let you create your own characters.