Age, Income and social responsiability?

I love this hobby. When I am around other owners I feel like a kid again sharing our favorite toys. This little reverie is something I would never want to disturb by weighing my mind down with boring real world concerns such as "who has money?"or "how old are they?"and "are they entitled to X dolls?"

I want to focus on the fun of sharing dolls.

"Social responsibility" you ask? If we want our little luxury doll item it's up to us to go after it ourselves. Pouting over an expectation that others should give us a free shot at a limited is immature. Also, pondering over better ways (charities) that fellow collectors should spend their money other than on dolls is shabby. I don't trouble myself over these matters.

Maybe I would think about "responsibilities" if someone I knew very VERY well was in real financial trouble. Other than that it's best to just enjoy dolly land.

 

Do you make assumptions in regards to someone's age when it comes to their collection?
I don't really care either way, so I don't normally make assumptions on it.

What is your assumption in regards to Income and quantity/quality of dolls?
It's pretty basic math, to know that someone with a lot of dolls has a lot of disposable income if they have been in the same amount of time as someone with a few. At least that's the nice assumption, or they are irresponsible with their money, complain about not paying bills but buying a lot of dolls.

Do you think there is some sort of 'social' responsibility that a collector with a more 'expensive' collection has to you or the community?
No one owes anyone anything. If they have more money or not. They worked for it and they deserve the right to spend it however they want.

Do you ever have people not understand where your funds for the collection comes from?
It doesn't matter if they understand or not. I work for my money like everyone else. Because I work for my parents company people feel I don't work for my money, this is everywhere not just in a hobby. But I work just as hard because of that or more.

What do you say/tell people who seem to not understand or appreciate where your funds come from? Oh well you don't have to. I have it cause I worked for it and earned it.

What sort of social responsibility do you have towards your local BJD community (or community in general)? NONE, I owe no one anything. I work hard for my funds and I pay my bills. My only responsibility is to myself. However I have on occasion chosen to do things for my close FRIENDS, out of my personal choice.

 

First of all , I have to say , my collection is not big but not small either. I have 9 dolls rangring from 120$ to 600$. I`m not a newbie , but not a senior colector either. I`ve been in the hobby since 2009 , so I know a thing or two , but definatly not a veteran. So I`ll try to answer most of these questions.


Do you make assumptions in regards to someone's age when it comes to their collection?
Well , It`s nothing negative, just that when I see someone that has many expensive bjds , I do assume they are older and have the income to support this.
I also make assumptions based on the way people write.If they use alot of message text/abreviations , then I would assume they are younger.
Or if someone has been collecting bjds since 2004 or 2005 , then againe I would assume they aren't teenagers anymore.
What is your assumption in regards to Income and quantity/quality of dolls?
With this , i can never know fore sure ,so I tend not to make assumptions , since one can save every single spare penny they have and buy a SOOM MD if they whant , regardless of age or income. I for example don`t buy anything new for myself(like clothes/ accesories/shoes) , for a while if I really whant a doll.
I also sell old clothes I don`t need to get dolly funds.
What assumptions do you have in regards to an 'expensive' collection/collector?
I assume they have the spare money to buy those.
1) They have a job that pays decently . That is my first assumption.
Or 2) They don`t have financial responsebilityes like rent , and/or live with parents / partner.
Do you think there is some sort of 'social' responsibility that a collector with a more 'expensive' collection has to you or the community?
None what so ever! I mean their only obligation , in my opinion is to be nice and polite to other members. It would be nice of them to teach junior members / newbies a thing or two if they can , but there`s nothing that implies they have to do so.

Do you ever have people not understand where your funds for the collection comes from?
Yes.
What do you say/tell people who seem to not understand or appreciate where your funds come from?
I tell them I save my spare money as long as needed , and don`t spend them on other "superficial" things like movies, video games etc.
What sort of social responsibility do you have towards your local BJD community (or community in general)?
I try to help anyone I can help , because I whant to.​

 

Do you make assumptions in regards to someone's age when it comes to their collection?
No. Collection size/content/style does not always correlate with age, therefore, making such assumptions is futile and a waste of time. However, I do make assumptions about age based on how the person communicates (text speak, grammar, sentence structure, etc.), though these assumptions are not always correct, either.

What is your assumption in regards to Income and quantity/quality of dolls?
I make no assumptions about income based on quantity/quality of dolls. There are a multitude of reasons why income does not necessarily correlate to collection size/quality; examples:

For large/expensive collections:
- could be gifts from family on birthdays/holidays
- could be due to good money management on a limited income
- could be due to prioritizing extra cash towards dolls vs. things such as eating out, other hobbies, etc. etc.

For small/less expensive collections:
- BJDs are a secondary hobby to something else
- enjoyment of a smaller/less expensive collection vs. a large/expensive one
- prioritizing extra cash for other things (eating out, traveling, etc.)

And, finally, why would I waste my time guessing how the person comes about their collection? Unless the person chooses to engage me in conversation about their disposable income, it's none of my business.


For collectors with a 'smaller amount' of money put into their collection...
This is all relative, so I will answer both sets of questions.

What assumptions do you have in regards to an 'expensive' collection/collector?
I assume that the collector likes the dolls he/she has.

Do you think there is some sort of 'social' responsibility that a collector with a more 'expensive' collection has to you or the community?
The only responsibility the collector has to the doll community applies to everyone, regardless of the content of their collections. It is to be a decent human being in his/her social interactions with others.


For collectors with a 'fair amount' of money put into their collection....
Do you ever have people not understand where your funds for the collection comes from?
Thankfully, I haven't met anyone who questions me about the source of my income. I would find it extremely rude, if a random person on the internet would question me about such a personal matter. Heck, even good friends would not pose such questions, unless I volunteer to talk about my finances myself.

What do you say/tell people who seem to not understand or appreciate where your funds come from?
If I ever run into such a situation, I would politely change the subject. I am not obligated to justify my collection or other possessions to anybody but myself and my immediate family.

What sort of social responsibility do you have towards your local BJD community (or community in general)?
Like I mentioned above, the only social responsibility I have towards the BJD community is to be a decent person. I'm not going to go into the "community in general" aspect, as this is a doll forum and would be OT.
However, even though I don't feel that I'm obligated to anything but being polite to others, I do like to contribute the knowledge I accumulated over the years about this hobby whenever I have time and inclination to do so. I like posting comparison pictures, write company reviews, answering questions from newer members, etc., because I enjoy and appreciate the amount of knowledge and information shared on DoA and want to do my part contributing to it, if I can.

 

Do you make assumptions in regards to someone's age when it comes to their collection?
No. It hasn't even crossed my mind, but it might in the future since I've read this.

What is your assumption in regards to Income and quantity/quality of dolls?
I do believe someone with many dolls has a lot of money, but if someone has few dolls that doesn't say much about their financial situation unless they specifically say so. Some people don't want many dolls. Some people aren't as into the hobby etc.

What assumptions do you have in regards to an 'expensive' collection/collector?
None. I can only think they're so blessed!

Do you think there is some sort of 'social' responsibility that a collector with a more 'expensive' collection has to you or the community?
Not at all. It's nice if they help others with the knowledge they have accumulated, but this is a hobby for pleasure. Placing expectations on others to do for the community in a voluntary hobby seems strange.

Do you ever have people not understand where your funds for the collection comes from?
No one has ever asked me about money even after seeing the webpage they're being sold on. Thank goodness.

What sort of social responsibility do you have towards your local BJD community (or community in general)?
N/A

 

Do you make assumptions in regards to someone's age when it comes to their collection?

No xD I really never thought about this.

What is your assumption in regards to Income and quantity/quality of dolls?

Nothing in particular. I don't link quantity/quality of dolls to income.

What assumptions do you have in regards to an 'expensive' collection/collector?

If someone has a very large collection I sometimes wonder if they can manage to take care of all those dolls.

Do you think there is some sort of 'social' responsibility that a collector with a more 'expensive' collection has to you or the community?

No, I don't really expect anything like this.

What sort of social responsibility do you have towards your local BJD community (or community in general)?

I don't really understand this question, anyways, there is not a local BJD community where I live.

 

Younger and lots of dolls, it's perfectly safe to assume that their parents bought them for them or they were given the money. Most likely a younger person (depending on their age) would not be able to have an income that was great enough to support such an expensive hobby.

However, older and only a few (in my opinion) does not mean that they are new. Maybe some would say that I am new to the hobby because I haven't even had dolls for over a year yet... But I don't really want that many dolls. At the moment I am only interested in Dollfie Dreams and there are not many of them that I want. So I can fully understand an older person with fewer dolls, even if they've been in the hobby for years. I personally would much rather have a few dolls that I love than many dolls that I just like.

I only have three dolls, but one of my dolls cost me $2,800 because she was an old LE doll. People do not seem to always understand how I got the money for it because I'm a full-time college student with no job. The way I make my money is through my online doll store, and by selling non-doll related things on eBay. It's hard work, and I hardly charge anything for the items at my store because I want to be fairly priced.

All of the time people tell me of the other things I could have bought with the money I spent on my doll, but they fail to realize that if I wanted those other things then I gladly would have bought them... I chose that doll because I loved her, and I paid that price because there was nothing else that I wanted.