Anyone else feel like their collection is a revolving door?

I went through a similar phase, where I was collecting dolls I thought looked beautiful but had no plans for them once they came home! You seem to not have trouble coming up with plans, but maybe imagining the final result is satisfying enough to you? Do you buy your dolls on first impulse, or after considering the purchase for some time? Although impulse buying isn't the only thing that causes this behavior, it definitely doesn't help slow that revolving door down, speaking from my own experience

Well, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with collecting in that way, as long as you are enjoying yourself and not going broke! It's nice in a way to be able to get your hands on a bunch of different dolls, and you are able to recoup some costs when you sell them. But you should also consider that you can take as much time as you want putting your doll together, even if it takes you months or a year or more! Since they're plastic, they can't complain or run away from home

 

I've only sold 3, and have bought many more, but I also have attachment issues... As in, I have bought it and am now emotionally attached.
Is there a common theme with the dolls you buy, or reasons you sell?

 

I was like that for a quite a while early in the hobby, there were so many dolls I absolutely loved in photos but could not force myself to be interested in in person. Eventually, after selling so many, I realized that the ones that stuck around were the more stylized ones, even kinda cartoon sometimes, big head big eyes types. And I just don't connect with more realistic proportioned dolls, I still love looking at the amazing pictures of super detailed realistic dolls, but I know they aren't for me. And for several years now I've pretty much kept all the dolls I buy, only sold a couple that just didn't fit in with my collection.

 

Oh, absolutely! I'd say on average, my dolls tend to stay maybe 6 months to a year. Some much longer, some much shorter. Currently, I've kept my first for 15 years for sentimental value. After him, the one I've had longest has been....maybe 3 years? Four? I get very bored with things staying the same too long, I need constant change in my life. I can also be impulsive, so something that feels new and exciting today might be completely uninteresting 3 months from now. Not good for the wallet, but I also don't think it's a bad thing. Not everyone is a collector. Some of us are creators. Once the doll is "complete", it's just time to move on to the next thing. Everyone experiences the hobby differently. There really isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to do it.

 

All three I sold were an unnatural skin color, so I get that! Have you ever considered hybridizing a head sculpt you've liked when the body was disappointing? Not because I'm against selling dolls you don't connect with as much as you expected (I have benefitted from that in both directions, haha), but because if you miss them later it might be something that lets you get a little more enjoyment from them before it's time to move them along. I'm a big hybrid fan because I too love Fairyland, especially the Alan sculpt, and I seem to end up with heads more often than full dolls.

 

Pouty sculpts do that to me. One doll came with a faceup I adored but then I realized over time it made her look cross & out of sorts ..so I had the artist redo her faceup with a different eyebrow angle & still she had a mouth shape that looked unhappy. So finally she went away. And since then I've fallen in love with a few dolls at the promo photo stage but realized they were going to look out of sorts due to the shape of their mouth & talked myself out of buying them. There's not enough room for the dolls who make me happy as I haven't had your minimalist skills but at least those that stayed have to look like they're enjoying it. ;}

 

Kind of. I have the problem of liking to create characters. I have a few I feel close to for a long time but some of them go out the door too. Either sit around, I have problems finding the right parts to match or they aren’t connected to the main group in chat and don’t get enough love or attention and then you get ideas for more. And get the concept of “I’ll trade or sell several for one” and then it repeats!

 

I’m a revolving door too!! And planned versus impulse means nothing here lol. Planned dolls get booted out. Impulse heads get cherished, important characters. It’s all topsy turvy. Shrike, who is now the last doll I’d part with, and a character I’ve had for 18 years, was a doll I bought in insta cause I was sad in 2020.

when I started the hobby in 2015, I swore I was never going to sell a doll—I can’t estimate how many dolls I’ve sold, but it’s enough that PayPal confirmed my identity because of the amount of doll funds coming in once in 2020.

it all started when, in 2015 I started shelling my now-ex’s characters, and characters from a roleplay I had with her. Now, she’ll be allowed to talk to me the minute she can comp me for the therapy I’ll be in for probably the rest of my life due to our relationship, and she’s never had a job. But I was left with ~12-15 dolls that all felt like they were hers. Even though the split happened in 2019, I didn’t start selling those until mid 2020, and it was like relief. The buyers were happy, cause they were cool dolls, and I had tons of doll-money, and less bad memories, so I was happy.

So of course, now selling feels like getting my life back on track, and sometimes I do it for control. Mostly though, I do it cause I want to love and enjoy the dolls I have, so when I don’t, I send them to someone who will. I currently have ~40 dolls, but I get a lot of joy out of most of them. I also learned to do my own faceups, which means that now I’m free to buy blank dolls. Which means I no longer have to hold onto heads that don’t suit the character 100%. Which has lead to the current purge situation, again.

 

I’ve been in this hobby for a long time, since 2006 (and here on DoA pretty much every day since) so I’ve seen a lot over the years. Certainly enough to realize that what you’re describing (the revolving door collector) is every bit as valid and enjoyable as any other collection method. I’ve seen it time and time again over the years, utilized by some very fascinating people, and it just seems to be the way they best enjoy their hobby. It’s yet another way of experiencing the collection aspect of it, and while it’s not my cup of tea, I’ve certainly enjoyed seeing this method play out in the collections of others. Certainly it always seems they’re getting a ton of fun out of their collection! After all, there’s always something exciting happening.

I think we all go through a bit of this in the beginning as we learn our personal doll aesthetic through experimentation. I know I certainly did, and occasional sales were entirely necessary at that point. But once I honed in on that, I was able to build my character-driven collection with few mistakes, and I’ve maintained my collection happily for many years now without a need to sell. But we all collect differently. Some people maintain a very small collection happily while others enjoy building towards larger and larger numbers. Some hold onto every doll forever and others adopt an open revolving door policy. It’s all good…you do you!

 

Yes, I’ve sold a lot of my dolls over the last ten years, just to buy a replacement (or two), and then repeat the cycle. I’ve sold dolls to afford the next ‘better’ version, or because I felt guilty for having a large collection, or if the doll was popular I felt I should sell it while it was still ‘valuable’. After many , many years, I finally found what doll type I feel the most connected to, and what ones just to enjoy in pictures.

 

I usually don't do that, myself... I know my own preferences well enough at this point to be able to sort the "keepers" from the "not really" sculpts before it ever gets to the point of hitting the Buy button, and so I haven't sold on a doll in years... But like Poetic said, it's not at all an uncommon thing in the hobby as a whole. Lots of people do it and have good fun with an ever-evolving crew of different dolls. It seems especially common when folks are still fairly early in their collecting journey, sort of feeling out which direction they ultimately want to go.

Sometimes they slow down after awhile, and eventually end up with a more permanent crew and sometimes they don't. Either way? If it's fun, have at it. There's no wrong way to doll.

 

Yes and no. I have sold many dolls over the years, more rapidly during my early years in the hobby (I reshelled one of my girls 13 times!), but I don’t feel bad about it. I have several that I’ve also had for more than a decade, so it balances out. The reality of this hobby is that your tastes are likely to change over time, and if you’re not one of those people with room to store every doll you’ve ever purchased, that means some of the old are going to move out to make room for the new. It’s also really hard to tell how a doll is going to feel in person until it’s actually in your hands, I think, and sometimes you get one you’ve been really looking forward to and just know it’s not going to stay.

 

I relate to this more than I care to admit. I am an overthinker and, in my attempts of ensuring that I'll like a doll, I will study that sculpt and compare them to others intensely before buying them. I have so many collage pictures on my phone of doll heads and resin comparisons as a result. Yet, those tend to be the dolls that I part with. The dolls I dwell on less are the ones I end up loving and keeping. I think what happens with me is that I'll convince myself that X doll fits best for my plans (usually shelling a character), when X doll would not have been on my radar otherwise.

 

Oh yes I often refer to the revolving door. There's only so much shelf space. If I can't display them and see them then I think I should sell to someone who will enjoy that doll. They're expensive obviously, so if I'm not fully enjoying a doll I will sell and recycle my hobby funds. I think not having many physical stores you can go to see and touch them allows curiosity to take over lol.

 

I'm very much a revolving door collector. I tend not to stray too far from my comfort zone though! Many of the dolls I sell are to fund other dolls.

 

I'm definitely not a revolving door. I'm way too stingy and I can just see the money flying out the window.

Revolving doors are probably overall good for the community though because they're helping pay the artists/companies more than the people who have maxed out their collection space. I can't really support the artist if I'm not purchasing more dolls! Plus they could revolve a doll I'm seeking out of their door

 

Mine used to be, for sure! It was definitely a problem. But I've settled pretty well into my current collection.