Do dolls mean more to you when new or older?

While there is that initial "rush" of getting a new doll, my love for them depends much more on the doll itself. I love my old dolls & haven't bought a new one in several years. Meanwhile I've been selling off a large part of y collection & it's very hard to decide who to let go. I'm almost down to my very favorites & they take up all the room I have. I keep them on display in my darkened bedroom & even though I don't give them near enough attention, they give me a little thrill each morning & night as I see them. Sometimes I just sit on my bed & look at them & get excited all over again.

They all have characters that have evolved over the years. Sometimes I'll get a surprise when they "tell" me something new about themselves. It makes my relationship with them even deeper.

Lately I've been thinking about buying a new doll but I'm not sure if I'll be able to love her as much as my old ones. It's sort of like making a new friend; you're all excited about the new relationship but your old friends are the ones who have been with you thru thick & thin & you love them deeply.

As for resale, I never buy a doll thinking about it's value. I do end up selling a number of dolls but never make money or mostly even break even with the sale. I've been downsizing since I sold my house & that's the main reason I let them go. It's seldom because I simply tire of them. Usually if that happens I give them a new face-up & it's like having an updated version of an old friend.

 

The longer I have them, the more I love them because they spend time with me. I disliked my F38 Christiàn when he first arrived, I wanted to send him back to Volks in Kyoto without a return address. My mom had to convince me that Chris is very beautiful, there's nothing wrong with him, she has never seen a doll more beautiful, she was distressed I could not appreciate his beauty. She made sure I dressed him in smart boy's clothing, took him out for walks, traveled with him and spend time with him. Now, Chris has been with me for 4 years, I love him to bits. I won't exchange him for anything.

 

Currently my older dolls are pretty important to me, but so are the newer ones that have stuck around. I've had three of them for seven years this year, and my only boy to stick around is five years old this year, and then the rest are up to 3 years old but all have their special reasons for being here. I didn't think anyone would be as important as my first three, but my core has definitely grown.

 

I tend to like my new dolls just like I do with most other new stuff. But then I go back and make something for them or give them tats or even just buying them something and it kinda brings back the joy I felt when they were new.

 

Good question! I love them both ways.

I love them as soon as they're out of the box & I get to go through the fun of dressing him up and restyling him to be my own character (or, the fun of trying random things on him & seeing who his character turns into).... And I love them when they've been sitting on my shelves for 7-8 years, just looking fabulous and radiating their own personal mojo at me.

I do fall in love easily, and I only buy for True Love! So, most of the time, I was in love with the doll as soon as I saw his sales pics, before purchase; nevermind waiting to fall in love after getting the bubblewrap off the new doll. I am also sentimental & get extremely attached to things, for the long term, so I love them & continue to glory over them when they've become fixtures in my house.

And I think each one is special to me for a different reason. This one took a long struggle/chase to buy, this one has a prized faceup, this one cost painful amounts of money, this one I won at a raffle for free, this one just happened to be sold by a friend & I was first on their adoption-list, this one was my first doll, I got to watch this one being made by hand on the artist's blog, this one fell into my lap when I didn't even know I was looking for him, this one's default fullset was so perfect for my character that I thought the company had been reading my mind... and so on.

(Re resale value: I don't usually think about it, no. But I've taken very good care of these guys, so I am confident that they'll fetch a fair price when/if the time ever comes. Normal yellowing doesn't affect the value much, the faceups are in great shape, the tan dolls have been stored behind drapes so they haven't turned green, and in most cases I have kept every single piece of their fullsets & boxes & paperwork & COAs. None of this affects how much I like each doll, but for a collection of this size/value it's not a bad thing to keep in mind.)

 

I'm one of the majority, who say it is more about the doll. I have settled into few special attachments to any of my dolls. Though I have a huge collection, I love every one for different reasons. I'm probably fairly unique in all the forces behind what might be the most massive exploration stage of anyone, ever. I kind of see myself as a future doll shop in the works, as I have over 100 and have stopped counting, and stopped posting them on my profile page here. Soon I will have to begin a pruning process and at that time I will know the answer to this question. I have an F-01 Nana from Volks, one of the original ones. She is not one of my first owned dolls, but she might be one of the harder ones to sell. I also have a strange old clunker doll, feels almost more like an antique doll, though she is a modern bjd... possibly of suspect origin and I somehow feel sorry for her. It isn't her fault that she might have an illegitimate birth -- though I would not want to support the recast boot-leg sellers. She has not been allowed to show her face on DOA. This one is far from pristine and nothing like the copies being made today. I especially love these 2 because they have been around the world longer, and maybe even lived in many different countries. The older dolls do have special souls to me. NOt to say I am immune to the powerful energy that "new" can produce. It is weird though. After unwrapping and checking everything out, the brand new dolls of mine have mostly all been wrapped up and carefully stored for now. I "play with" my DC girls [Bella and Olivia who I ordered new before any were on the 2nd-hand market yet], and with one of my 5Star Yo new ones. So curiosity for different (mostly new ones) definitely gets me to buy, but not necessarily keep. I see most of my new, new = still pristine ones as possibly just having a lay-over at my house before going on to their true homes. I also see them as future canvases once I begin to explore whether I have a personal style for face up artistry. But that is another topic, and some strange psychology in it unique to me.

 

DaughterofEden You're an inspiration! More than 100 Dolls? BJDs? Wow! I think I'm nuts with 6 resin AsianBJDs (all boys) and 1 Vinyl American BJD a girl. I collect vintage dolls as well. The oldest doll in family has been with us for more than 50 years. It's hard to sell a doll older than myself. When I came home from the hospital for the first time, she and her 2 friends stood on a shelf in front of my crib. She might attend my funeral.

JennyNemesis I also have different memories of how i acquired each of my BJDs. Took me 5 years to find Reisner. I woke up at 6am during IDEX in Florida to stand in line for him, then I paid an insane amount of money and had to hand carry him home on a plane along with SD16 Yukinojo! Do I love Reisner? I love Isao best, he's my first BJD, the first I fell in love with. I won't exchange F38 Christiàn for anything and SD16 Yukinojo is still the most beautiful doll in my collection. Sphaler is unique and fearfully made. Faceups and appearances are important but it's not my criteria for a favorite doll. I am keeping Reisner for the long haul, he will be treasured and loved as years go by. For now, he's warming up to everyone here, settling in. At least he told me his name. Henry Victor Reisner. From his name, I can sort of tell his personality type that will affect my wallet! My mom wants me to donate all unsold dolls to charity if my life expires. All my resin dolls are in full set and in company sealed makeup although this might change in future.

 

For me it's when they're older, definitely, because if they're new I don't know if I'll end up keeping them or not. I think what I love most about my current dolls is they're all complete and perfect and I don't have to mess with or buy anything more for them. Yay~!

 

My children worry about resale value of my dolls. They are the ones who will be dealing with that LOL I plan on keeping them all as long as I'm around. I love getting new dolls cause I get to figure out what they look great in & what they can do, but I love ALL my dolls. Of course none of my BJDs are old (got my first one about 2 years ago) but a couple that I got second-hand are around 5 years old. I actually have 2 dolls that are 70+ years old & one that's 50 years old, so that keeps things in perspective!

 

For me, new dolls (from 1 day to 1 week) and old dolls (2 years and over) are the best. When they're new, they are so obscure, every thing about them surprises you, that's nice
Old dolls are even better. I like all things which I got when they were new and which became old with me. It is important. Toy, necklace, computer, BJD... They become kinda alive and got more and more soul as time passes by. When you look at them, you can remember a lot of nice moments.
When I look at my doll, which is 2,5 years old, I think a lot of thoughts. Her nose is yellow because we were walking down the streets under the strong sun with her and my friends in St. Petersburg 2 years ago. What a nice time that was... Some hairs on her wig are injured, because one day my friend was combing it carelessly. We are not even friends anymore, but I look at my doll's hair, remember and smile... We went through so much things together. Meeting with bjd-loving friends, making photosets, hugging my doll when I felt lonely, funny dressing-ups and so on. So much to remember!
That's what I appreciate in a doll. Priceless moments of a simple happiness. If your doll is old, you got more of them. That's why old dolls mean more to me

 

I only buy a doll if I absolutely love it because I can't really afford one I feel iffy about. My most loved doll is also my least costly, Adoni (Fantasy Doll Glen), cost less than a hundred before tax and shipping. He was my second doll if you include my Volks dolfie (who, by the criteria here doesn't really count). He isn't likely to go up in value much if at all and he wasn't anything really spectacular as far as appearance before I altered him. He just spoke to me and I had to have him in spite of my apprehensions about ordering anything from overseas. I still take him to all of the doll meets and he likely always will be with me.

 

It is a very interesting question. All my dolls are new, but I think that it doesn't matter. If I really want the doll or It the character is very important to me, the doll will be very important. In my opinion, it's more about the doll itself

 

Older. I have no problem getting rid of new dolls but my older dolls are my babies.

 

I personally am not too concerned with the financial value. I love my girls like they're my daughters. So, how can I say I would love them more after a certain time as opposed to just arrived and vice versa. Though I do admit I tend to get sentimentally attached to stuff...

 

As others have noted there's a rush you get when receiving a new doll.. However, since I have a tendency to form bonds and attachments, I think the older my dolls get and the more we have been through together, the more they mean to me? Sentimental value over financial really, but along the same note I doubt I could sell any of them! Again because I'm too sentimental, haha~

 

When I buy a doll from the previous owner, yellowing and other small defects are not the problems. And I will love a new doll too. The main thing that I liked the doll.

 

I love my dolls from new to old, it doesn't matter to me.
This might seem crazy, but I see my dolls as my children (I don't have any children of my own and probably won't be having any for a while). You wouldn't love your childre any less when they got older would you?

 

At the moment, I had my AOD doll for almost three years and she tan so I don't see her "yellowing" yet. But know I won't consider her lest because of her age. I like making up character and if something was to happen it adds more to her story. I wouldn't mind getting a yellow doll, the skin coloration does not bother me that much.

 

Generally the longer I've had them and played with them, the more attached I am to them because its like forming memories with a person. Also I tend to swap out nearly everything to give them the look I had in mind in the first place, and that is a gradual and incremental process in itself, so Definitely when I've had them for a while they mean more to me. When I first get them, most of their meaning is more rooted in the (probably) ridiculous price I paid for them, and how cute they are, amplified by the idea that its a new face, so its a fresh look.

As much as I know I can sell most of mine for 100% or more of the price I paid, I never buy my girls with the intention of them having resale value...I give them personalities and stuff, unlike figures.

 

I find as I am in the process of actively saving up for a new doll, I'm making more opportunities to bond with my oldest doll. I feel a little bit silly, like I'm projecting onto him (I'm the oldest child and so I know what it's like when a shiny new one comes home, haha), but it's nice to make him some new clothes while I budget out saving for the new guy, and to just have cuddle time.

But I care also about the characters that are assigned to the dolls, and that has less to do with how long I've owned a piece of resin and more with how much I've invested in imagining/writing about someone. Vince is different in that respect, since he wasn't a previous OC or a straight up fan doll, but I bonded with him and the character that he developed very quickly.