The first time I encounted a large bjd was when my pixel-dolling sister showed me her new boy, a Happy Doll. I didn't really like him that much, and thought she was totally insane for paying that amount just for a doll. It slipped from my mind, until about a year later when another online friend mentioned she had a bjd too - this time it was a CH Ai Bin. I was more interested because I found him very cute, and toddled off to the Volks website. Staring me right in the face at the entrance of the Super Dollfie site was Shirou, and I don't think I ever recovered. XP He's still my dream doll - I've loved him since I first set eyes on him. From there, I found some other personal sites, and after drooling all over Cassiel's beautiful boys and finding that there was at least one person in Australia that was insane enough to get one (er, four), I sort of fell headlong into obsession. When Cassiel invited me to join her newly formed Aussie BJD ML, it hit hyper-drive, and upon having my first encounter with a (bunch of) SDs at my first Sydney 'dolpa', I knew I must have one.

I'd been contemplating a FCS boy, F29 head... although I was basically going to wait until Domuya got in the new system, so it would be an F17. Anyway, so I was biding my time with that, but then I saw El. He really caught my eye, I'd been looking at Chiwoo with a bit of interest, but like El much more. And then I found out I could get a LE Elf El. *_* I slept on it, and decided yep, I wanted one. So I jumped in an ordered one from Liria, with one set of makeup. I rationalised it to myself that he was a Limited, and came with a bunch of extra stuff (two heads! and vampire teeth! *swoon*), plus was cheaper then a Volks. I had a vague idea for both their personalities - I knew each head would be a totally different boy. I didn't pick any names, although I did some research just looking at various options. I was too scared of picking a name and really wanting to use it only to find it didn't fit either of them at all. Under two weeks later, a large box arrived at the post office, and my mother picked it up, wondering what the hell it was and why people were sending us dolls from Korea (remember I was never into dolls). I'd been worried that I wouldn't actually like him in RL as much, but after unpacking my first BJD, and him introducing himself as Kitori, I fell in love completely. ^_^

After that whole 'cheaper then Volks' idea, I basically just had to, by Murphey's law, go out and get myself one of the most expensive Volks dolls, right? heh. I missed out on the Int'l Dollpa 11 sales of Isao because I basically thought it might turn out like Tsukasa, of whom I loved in official pictures but didn't like so much otherwise (except for Uno. Who I'm now stalking. Aiden has become his wanna-be roadie). But after seeing him on Y!J, I still liked him a lot. So when the AfterParty sales came around (all 3 days after Kitori had arrived), I dithered and hummed and ahhed, debating with myself. I decided to go for it, not really believing that I'd get through with an order. I got through the first bits though, but then hit a snag right near the end of the ordering process. I found I couldn't get the confirmation/send order page to load. 20 minutes later, it went through and I found I'd secured myself a Isao Nanjou and just spent a whole crapload of money. o_o I was very very excited though! Aiden arrived again, about 2 weeks later, and I now found that I'd spent more money in a month then I had for the last two years, but that I had two gorgeous boys to show for it!

update:
After stalking Y!J for months, bookmarking every single Shirou that went for sale, I managed to find one. Not there however, but at Den of Angels, from a very lovely girl who sold him not to the highest bidder, but to the person she wanted. I was so, so suprised that she picked me, because it wasn't a very high offer, and I'm sure she had many candidates - but I can't tell you how greatful I am to her! He came only with his body and head in his LE box, no eyes/wig/clothes, but I really didn't care. He is the best Christmas present I've ever gotten, even if it was from myself. ^_^ I never thought I'd be able to get Hale his 'perfect' body, but I'm ever so glad I could!

My fourth boy was a complete and utter suprise. Kakyuu had been raffling off tickets for her BW F20 FCS boy for some time, and I'd debated back and forth about buying one. Finally, getting down to like, the last 7, I decided to just bite the bullet and get one, if only to help get rid of the last few tickets. I only got one ticket though. I can say that I've never really 'won' anything in my life, so reading that number on the winners page was like... @_@ I think I went into complete shock there for a while! But not long after, my unanounced F20 boy arrived. It took quite some time for him to 'talk' to me... and I think some tweeking of his faceup is definatly in order!

update 2:

So. While I suceeded in getting Hale home, there was one more boy that had been talking to me for a while, wanting to get a body himself. He was another one of Hale and Aiden's friends, and while he knew he wanted to come, he wasn't sure what body he wanted. We both pottered about looking at options, and then we saw the picture of a Shiwoo face-upped by Dolkot... and he was perfect. So it was quickly decided he would be a Shiwoo, and I made the request to eLuts for the face up to be like that of this Dolkot boy. Over a month later, Sass came home, and his face up was perfect. He's settled in well and by far the most easy going of my boys.

The next one... well, I gave in to the mini urge, didn't I? heh. From the decision to get a mini was the decision of which mini to get - there are so many options these days! I really, really liked the idea of the SDC kids though - not so 'child' like, and with all the fabulous new joints... so Arashi it was. And Doll & Hobby announced they'd be doing an order... so, having a fit, I quickly PMed Zevchan, begging her for a favour - to be my US picker-upper for a D&H order since they don't ship outside the US. I then stayed up til stupid hours to ring through my order. Nearly 5 months after the order, a big box arrived, and Arashi, who was to be Hale's little brother, stepped into the world and the family.

update 3:

After I finished my undergraduate degree, I went over to Japan for a year teaching English. I was lucky enough to get placed near Tokyo, working about 5 minutes walk from Harajuku Volks. XD So. Being that I was IN JAPAN, I took the opportunity to go to Sato, and do my very first FCS. Times 2. Yes, I got two dolls - an SD13 boy and and SD13 girl.

About a month and a bit later, a huuuuge box turned up to my door, containing my newest additions. Beautiful, just beautiful! Volks is getting better and better at doing the faceups I think, and both of mine turned out perfect. It was an unbelievable experience, and I'm so glad I was able to do it myself in Sato. ^_^

School Head A boy on SD13 body
Sakaki
Dollmore UriRich model boy
Unoa Sist/Lusis
Volks MSD Enn
Ocean Moon Shou-Ryu
Minimee Youngwoong Jaejoong & Uknow Yunho

^_^

CP & liria - bjd (korea)
I have to say I've had the most wonderful experience dealing with CP. I ordered Kitori before the English Luts site opened, and put in my order with Liria. I have only the highest regard for both parties. Liria was great, and answered all my stupid questions with grace, plus obviously put in the order and corresponded with CP promptly. On the CP side of things, while I had no actual direct dealings with them, Kitori came stunningly fast. He was well packaged, along with all his extra bits. And when I told Liria that one of his hands had broken in transit, she got right back to me with the reply that CP would replace it for me at no cost. I didn't even have to send back the broken hand. Very very impressed. CP also very nicely kept me from getting slammed by customs - and I didn't even have to ask. ^__^ Kitori's face-up is lovely (although I did ask for a specific face up and got the default instead - I understand they were very busy at the time though!), and all the sanding of his body was really well done for a free service. I think I'm also so pleased with CP because of the fact that they seem very generous and obviously look after their customers. Along with the extra head, one set of glass eyes and a wig that are in the advertised Elf El package, I also recieved two extra sets of hands, and also a pair of mock-converse shoes. A 'gift' I guess, from them. :D So I have nothing but praise for Liria & CP.

volks - bjd (japan)
I ordered Aiden staight off the international site on their first-round After Party Dollpa 11 sales. I had a lot of trouble loading the pages, but it got though in the end, so I don't really mind. I think it also had to do with the vast amounts of people trying to place an order at the same time. >_< Once my order went through, and I got the conformation page and email, I had no word from them at all. However, under two weeks later (he was actually shipped only 7 days after my order went through) Aiden had arrived in the country. He was not as well wrapped as Kitori, but still well protected. I especially like the face protector thingie. All his clothes are of extreamly good make, and fit wonderfully. The wig I'm especially impressed with - it's gloriously soft and sits beautifully. Aiden was neither coated (appart fromm his face) nor sanded, but there were minimal seams on him anyway. His face-up is of course gorgeous but I don't much like how he has extrodinarily short eyelashes. Kitori's are beautifully long. I guess that's just personal taste however. In regards to further contact from Volks, I recieved confirmation of my credit card being charged 3 days after I picked Aiden up from Customs, along with an e-mail giving me his EMS tracking number. *rolls eyes* No harm done, but a little funny. Also, I got a rather nice hand-written note on my invoice enclosed with Aiden saying 'Thank you' in English. Plus they obviously took the time to make a special offer for the international buyers for that extra wig for Isao. Except at a horribly inflated price. For Australian, Candadian and US buyers, it was about 2000 Yen more expensive then for Japanese buyers. Also, I have to say his Shipping/Handling fee was absolutely outrageous. Other then that however, shipping was fast, Aiden well presented and well made. ^_^
Edit: After living in Japan for a year, and visiting a number of Volks stores, Sato and attending 4 dolpas, I have to say the Japanese staff as so very friendly, accomodating and helpful. They really made an effort to help me out, even when we had major communication barriers! XD They're very nice people, and ordering my FCS was such fun and pleasurable - the guy didn't speak any English, but he was enthusiastic and friendly and very helpful - he made the whole thing a great experience. Also buying things at stores was easy and always fun to check out the new displays, one offs and other goodies in the store!

eluts - bjd (korea)
I ordered after Doogie had left, but Sean was lovely. I got an auto-conformation, and also one from Sean saying he'd got my order, and confirming the special face up request I'd put in. Sass had been ordered during a busy period, when eLuts was known to take up to about 7 weeks for a doll with a face up. So I was expecting the wait... however, he came quite a bit sooner then I had expected, shipped after only 4 weeks. I ordered only extra hands along with him. He came with the same green-grey glass eyes Kitori came with (I'd made no request), and he also for some reason came fully coated. His seems were not extreamly visible either, the same as Kitori. His resin is only a little different in colour. The face up was fantastic... I had been worried about them getting it right, but it was spot on what I asked for. The detail was amazing, and I'm very very happy. Going through eLuts was a completely smooth, painless experience, and the staff there are fabulous and obviously love what they do. ^_^

cancan / j-series - wigs (hong kong)
Her english site is very easy to navigate, and she has great photos of all the available wigs. The wig styles are fab, and come in fantastic colours and often different colour combinations. The wigs themselves are of very high quality, lovely and thick. She also uses uhm, skin-caps at the top of the wigs. I'm pretty ambivalent towards them, myself, although I know some people really prefer wigs to have them. Instructions on buying/paying are easy, accepts paypal, which is always a plus, and I found the transaction to have good communication. Once I'd e-mailed her my order, she got back to me by the following day confirming my order and stock availability. After paying, she shipped them out fast and notified me of their shipping along with a tracking number. Plus, there was a bit of a discount for the combined shipping, and she registers orders if there is more then one wig. I liked that the shipping/handling fee was all included in the prices.
extra note: 2nd transaction was just as good. Only buying one wig this time, but again quick shipping, wonderful quality, gorgeous wig!

leeke - wigs (korea) - updated again
I've never dealt directly with her of course, as Cassiel has been everyone's go-between (and we all love her for it! ^_^), but the Leeke wigs are all gorgeous. They're silky and shiny, and soft, and of course come in a great range of styles and colours - can't be beaten on value for money. From what Cassiel says, she sounds totally lovely as a person, and also very accomodating to deal with on a business level. There was a lot of problems with the shipping however. We had quite a big order, and they weren't shipped for a long time, and then some wigs were missing. They all got to us eventually - it just took a long time. She did send a random wig to appologise for the problems though!
extra note: Another group order organised by Annie saw us go through Leeke Asia as an agent, allowing us to order older styles. The Leeke Asia has a cool feature that shows how far along orders are, but unfortunatly it doesn't work to well given that it's not updated much.
second note: I finally made an order direct to Leeke, for one of their in-stock wigs via the English site. The shipping is very pricey, but the wig arrived within days of ordering. ^_^ I also bought two pairs of the acrylic eyes they stock - they're not bad, although the purple ones I got were a little oddly shaped. Nice colours though!

minoru world - shoes (korea)
I was the organiser for a small group order of shoes for the Australian bjd owners. It took a long time to figure out that they could take secure CC payments - thanks to CathyL over at DoA we were saved paying bank transfer fees. They have Paygate security. Anyway, they're really lovely people, although their english is not fabulous they communicated very well with me. Just a tip however - if you're going to order from them, don't just trust the 'sold out' signs. If there is a sold out sign, that means there are no shoe types of that available. However, the ones not marked as sold out may have sold out in a certain size. What you need to do is go through the site and try to put all the shoes in the sized you want into the shopping basket. If, when you try to add it to your shopping cart, you get a pop-up alert, that means they're out of that size. If it goes through into the cart, then they have the size. Don't send the cart order through obviously, but you can then be sure when you e-mail them that you'll be able to get what you want. Shipping was fantastically fast - they came within a week of paying. They all come in individual bags, and Minoru also sent us free tiny little shoe-shiner things! >_<

posh dolls - wigs (hong kong)
Only one wig so far, bought via e-bay. I paid just after the auction ended and Elaine got back to me very quickly saying the wig would be with me within the week. True to her word, it arrived only 5 days later. Gorgeous wig - I love the gradient effect. Lovely soft hair, really cool style. Also, I'm very pleased with the whole shipping deal - that once having paid shipping for one wig, you don't need to pay for any other orders. I'm sure I'll take advantage of this in the future! ^_^

dollmore - wig & doll bag (korea)
Purchased through ebay (under name lemonday), I bougt an 'Ivory' doll carry bag and a wig. She does combined shipping, but I was rather annoyed that after winning the bag and asking for airmail (as I'd bid with the idea of getting it airmailed to me to save money - one of the reasons I chose Dollmore over say Souldoll to buy a bag), I was told that the flat rate for International shipping was $27US for EMS. Incidently, the auction had cited the shipping to be $22 EMS to Australia (and $7.50 worldwide airmail). I also won a wig off ebay, and she did only charge me shipping for the bag. The stuff arrived just over a week after I bought them, but I hadn't heard anything from her since my request for shipping cost. The quality of both the bag and wig is superb. The wig is beautifully soft and silky, and the bag (made out of ripoff Christine Dior fabric! lmao) is great - padded, with side pockets, and will fit both my boys I think, if a little cramped.

domuya - wigs, shoes, clothes (singapore)
Visiting the physical store in Singapore was amazing! Candy was very nice - she came down to open the shop for me, and was very helpful around the store (I didn't get to meet Jackie). Things are, naturally, more expensive then buying them direct from the source, but part of that is knowing that you're being looked after. It was lovely being able to find so much stuff all in one place, from a variety of different makers too. DUCK - the Doumya exclusive clothing line, is really good quality and I'm happy that I got to get a couple of pieces from it!

souldoll - eyes, shoes, caps (korea)
Ordered via their english website. Fantastically easy and very quick - I placed the order very late Saturday night, paid directly afterwards using Paypal, and the stuff had been shipped by the Wednesday, using EMS. No fuss at all. The stuff arrived, everything accounted for, with a sweet hand-written note from Souldoll (which didn't make all that much sense, but still! XD). Only problem being that one of the pairs of boots ordered came as two left boots rather then a set. *sweatdrop* emailed them about it, and they replied straight away appologising and saying they'd fix it. ^_^ The new boot came like, 3 days later. XD

dollndoll - shoes+wig (korea)
I bought one pair of shoes from Ebay, and then added another pair (for Cassiel!) and a wig from their website, via email. Their english is not the best, but we managed to communicate okay I think, and they were very accomodating. Combined shipping is great - otherwise the EMS price was quite large. Paid by Paypal. ^_^ The boots arrived in about a week, all nicely packaged up. The boots are just GORGEOUS! Fantastically made, and really unique designs.
Edit: I also bought a tiny doll from Dollndoll, a Cherishdoll Chubby demon from the website. In keeping with Cherishdoll's own special of free shiping, I didn't have to pay anything extra over the price of the doll. Plus, he came a lot quicker then advertised on the site (no face up) - he arrived within 2 weeks. ^_^ Easy, quick no catch service.

dollheart - shoes (hong kong)
After browsing some awesome shoes from their ebay shop, I headed over to their webpage to see what other things they had in stock. Ordering was simple as - just a few clicks and paypalled the order through. The shoes are gorgeous - they come in this neat little box of their own, and are really well made. Lots of attention to detail, and just lovely work all round. ^_^ The MSD boots I bought for my SDC are a tight fit, but that's okay. They are advertised as DOD/MSD boots, and I'm not sure of the relatative size of SDC feet.

Denny Kim (DIM affiliation) - Minimee head (Korea)
I ordered my minimee head through Denny via his notices on DoA, during the very first order period in early 2007. Denny replied swiftly to my inquiries, and confirmed my order very quickly too. The wait for a completely made-to-order head was very short, and I soon had progress pictures of the base mould head before it went to casting, to check if I wanted any small alterations. I didn't, so off it went, and a little while later came a shipping notice. The heads (2) came well packed, wrapped in bubble and then put in a pink gift back (Bonbons!! hehe) and put in a box padded with newspaper. The heads are, admittedly, very small, and more realistic then I had thought. This isn't such a problem for me, because my Minimee exists in a vacuum, away from my other BJDs, so it doesn't matter how he looks comparatively. However, along side my other BJD, he does look very strange. Denny has said future heads will be more proportionate however. The resin itself is nice, although it's interesting trying to find a body match. It's quite pale, and the best match in my house is my FCS BW Volks girl. It is a tad more pink then that though. If I had the money/space, I'd definatly be ordering more from Denny!