Do you ever feel like giving up on bjd?

I’m recently back on this site after a 5 year break. I’m going to be honest, I pretty much have given up on BJD for the most part. I have three dolls, four if you count a disassembled one, and I sold the previous two that I owned.

For me it was more of an issue of that I was more obsessed with the idea of collecting them than actually doing anything with them. I was an artist so the idea appealed to me creatively, but applying that to the actual doll just never clicked. I managed to grab a holy grail doll, but the doll had some pretty obvious flaws that I ended up compromising on just to have the sculpt. I had the doll I wanted, and I still don’t regret having it, but it’s been a pain in the neck trying to get it to a place where I actually enjoy it.

I guess at this point I mostly hold onto them for sentimental reasons. I personally don’t think dolls hold any value outside of sentimentality, especially when compared to the cost that you buy them at. I’m mostly wanting to finish the ones I have out of pure spite. I don’t know if I would sell or buy again, I don’t think I could a) part with them now or b) get back my money’s worth for them. I actually have moved onto painting D&D minis and applying skills I learned in this hobby elsewhere. So it’s not all bad. I’ve just changed and moved on.

 

So, yes... and no.
Like many, what holds me back is the price...

Since I started the BJDs, I stopped telling myself "no, but what the hell, playing with dolls at your age", not to mention the way other people look at me.
I just tell myself a lot that the money I put in BJDs, I could put in travels, in quality purchases, save, ... but in fact, I am very well in my little cushy life and I realize that I spend in very few other things.

I say that I have stopped worrying about other people's eyes, but this is mostly thanks to my darling, who says "you like it? it's your thing? you like it? Well then don't stop...".
So I'm careful that the BJDs don't go before the rest, but I still have a hard time saving now x)

 

I gave up and then came back. My hobbies kind of cycle. No doubt I'll leave again and I'll probably come back shortly after!

 

Yes. When I first attempted to enter the hobby I got incredibly discouraged when I found that all of the sculpts I liked were out of my price range. I gave up for a while. Then I came back and saw resinsoul's Xun and it was love at first sight. I am adhd however, so my interest in all of my hobbies waxes and wanes. I will be obsessed for weeks and then lose all interest. But I typically circle back. The times I've actually *gotten rid of* whatever said hobby items were, I have seriously regretted it when the itch came back. I'd rather keep something I'm not currently interested in than sell it and have to rebuy it later, but that's me. I'm a pack rat anyway.

 

The first time I entered the hobby, I did lose interest and dropped out of it for several years. Since coming back to it though? My involvement with it grows and wanes in cycles. I've had other interests take priority over my crew from time to time, but I haven't felt the desire to quit the bjd hobby entirely.

Involvement with the social aspects of the hobby, though? There have been plenty of times where I've wanted to quit being involved in it entirely. Got very discouraged with the bjd scene on IG and quit it for quite a while. I'm only mildly involved in it these days (I have an account, I follow a few bjd artists, etc, but don't really post often). Facebook groups...I only really frequent some of the buy/trade/sell groups because it often got frustrating and heated in groups I got involved with. Going to local meets...never felt like I fit in with the local crowd, and thus lost interest in going to meets (that was even before the pandemic; this whole situation just made it easier for me to separate myself from the locals).

About the only place in the hobby where I've remained consistent has been on here. Even with some mild frustrations from time to time, it hasn't been enough to discourage me from coming back.

So....yeah—since coming back I haven't felt like selling all my bjds and moving on. They'll be with me until my last breath—even if it's something I will always only enjoy by myself.

 

I went through a phase where I didn't touch my dolls for years and wasn't active in the hobby, but I still loved my dolls and couldn't fathom selling them. My wonderful husband saw I wasn't enjoying them like I should especially after all the time, effort, (and money) that was put into them, so he set up glass cabinets with LED lights, hung blackout curtains in that room, and helped me turn one area into a doll display. I'm enjoying my dolls more than I ever have now that I have the right space for them. I absolutely love being able to walk into a room and see them without having to go through the work of taking them out of their boxes. My husband even made a comment that he thinks they are cool and rather impressive out on display

 

not for now. But who knows .

 

I took a very long break after I got tired of dealing with many of the people and drama in the community. Kept my dolls, but stored them away. Then one day I just felt the need to take them out and rekindle that love. Now I don’t really put a lot of importance on interacting with the community. I don’t frequent meets, and I don’t keep that many bjd friends. The hobby as become more about me and my collection rather than interacting with people

 

I did give up on BJDs for a while. It was less the community (I'm actually really bad a forums, even back when they were the big thing) and more of my family. At the time I was a poor college student living at my parents' place, and my dad hated how expensive they were, which combined with Dollzone doing a mass dis-continuation and me panic buying my girl's body, pushed me out of the hobby. I debated about selling my two dolls frequently, but could never bring myself to do so. Now, I'm getting back in to the hobby (with the support of my husband) and trying to figure things out again. It's way different now, and I have more bills than before which limit my purchase abilities, and I have to figure out how I want to express myself with my dolls and share their story(ies). It feels very daunting, especially since I move so slowly with it.

In the end, though, it's a hobby and hobbies are meant to be enjoyed. If we move slowly, or take a break, or need to reevaluate the hobby and see if we still fit into it, that's fine. It balances out the times where everything feels like a mountaintop and we're overjoyed with the hobby. Everything in life is like that, and sometimes, things don't stick around, and that's fine too. Just don't make rash decisions. Those are usually the ones regretted.

 

For me, it is usually financial reasons that makes me want to pull back on the hobby or stop altogether. At times, I have thought about the financial boost selling off my dolls would be and what I could do with it. I’ve also thought about how I could spend more on other interests or whether or not I could find the same enjoyment in something less expensive like repainting cheaper fashion dolls or even just switching to smaller BJDs.
In the end, I never sell all my dolls, but I take breaks. I think breaks can be good, and some people do stop some hobbies, like BJDs or morph them into something else, which could be a good thing and bring more enjoyment.

 

This is my life me when it comes to hobbies.
It's part of my compulsion to clean, declutter, whatever you want to call it.

 

I've taken breaks before but I keep my dolls just sitting there on display or in boxes. I simply don't buy new ones or do anything with my existing ones but they're there when I decide I want to deal with them again. I've never been one to really anthropomorphize my dolls so I don't feel guilty about it. To me they're beautiful art pieces.

 

I've never felt the need to quit completely, but I've taken a seven-year hiatus and I have to say I've found it enjoyable. Even hobbies can sometimes be overwhelming and stressful. When you get to that point, it can really do you good to just take a break.

 

I may just be completely wrong because I just got into smart dolls, however I find that the people in the facebook groups tend to buy multiples of the same doll or have SO many. I feel like some of the owners are more occupied with how many they can get versus actually bonding with the dolls & making them their own. Sometimes it feels overwhelming.

 

It’s not necessarily true, although there are certainly some collectors out there who I’m sure are more focused on procurement. (Everyone collects in their own way.) But you do you, and never be intimidated by the collections of others. Doll collecting is such a highly personalized hobby, and you need to grow yourself in it to figure out how you want to experience it. There’s no right or wrong way. Perhaps you just want one very special doll, and to have everything for that one doll. Feel free to share that and we’ll all love it! Maybe you want to have a ton of them lined up on shelves. Or perhaps you’re like me, and you slowly collect a few every year (with wardrobes you’ve made, faceups you’ve done, characters you’ve created, displays you’ve built) and then you look around after 16 years and realize you’ve collected nearly 50 dolls who are all dearly loved and complete characters in their own right! You just never know. So do it your own way because there’s no right or wrong in this hobby.

 

No, that would be like giving up on life itself!

 

It does get overwhelming now and then. Especially when you want to buy a nice coat for your doll and it costs more than buying one for yourself. That really makes me want to throw in the towel. However, I never wanted to sell my dolls.
Talking about Facebook and Insta communities... Can you suggest good ones? I would love to see more BJD-related things in my feeds, but I have been reluctant to join any groups for exactly the same reasons some of you mentioned here. I am afraid they make me burn out.

 

Nope, never. There was a period (between 2016 and 2018) when I took a break from the hobby. All of my dolls were put away and I didn't engage with them for a while. There are also times when I become frustrated, but in the end I'm not giving up this hobby. It means a lot to me

 

Oh, I feel that. That's the stuff that starts to give me pause, and usually ends with me taking a break. But I always come back

 

Yeah, me too. I get discouraged, I give up on that coat again. Then a newsletter from FreedomTeller... And here we go again. I often unsubscribe from every BJD site to avoid the breakdowns.