Dolls you SWORE you’d never sell…….and then DID

I have, several times, but the ones that stand out most are my second doll Dollzone Mo, and my grails, Soom Ender hybrid and Volks F16.

I was so attached to my Mo for years, but then upgraded him to SD Mo, though kept both for a long time. Eventually, I felt since he was reshelled, I didn't need the MSD Mo. He was a favorite for a long time, but eventually, some real life things happened that affected his story a lot, and I moved on to other characters. In time, I felt I didn't really need to keep him shelled as he became a very minor side character in my RP. So I sold him. Sometimes, I regret selling the MSD Mo, just because he's the best friend of my very first doll, and I kind of wish I had kept them together. I haven't rebought him though, since it wouldn't be the same since it (most likely) wouldn't be *my* Mo. He is still part of my roleplay as a side character. He owns the skatepark where my younger crew like to play and is currently coaching Brendan to get him ready to go pro.

On both grails, I think I built up my expectations too much, and they couldn't live up to what I imagined. On the Soom Ender, I ran into problems every step of the way--the hybrid I researched so much and should have worked perfectly didn't, I couldn't get his faceup right, I couldn't find artists to make the very specific outfits he needed, and once I did get him a faceup that was close enough, I was afraid of touching him and messing him up. On the Volks F16, I did enjoy him for awhile, but made the mistake of tying him into a very specific storyline, and once it ended, he didn't really have anywhere to go from there, and it fizzled. I still love both sculpts, but feel no need to rebuy them, and don't really miss them all that much. I've let both characters go, and neither has been mentioned since in my stories.

 

My first real grail was a Fairyland Tan F60 Karsh. As far as I know, the one I had was the only one ever produced, and I swore he would be pried out of my cold, dead hands. I don’t really know what happened; one day I looked at him and saw the money I could get out of selling him to buy a doll that was more to my changed tastes instead of what I could do with him, and after a lot of deliberating I put him up for sale.

I look back at some of his pictures and smile, because I remember him being so important to me at the time and how much fun I had with him. But we had our time together, and I don’t regret moving him on. I’m just not able to keep up with fifty dolls at once, so if I’m not actively engaging with one they tend to be sold on to make space for someone new.

 

I wanted a Fairyland ChicLine Rou for many years, and a doll friend offered to sell me one of theirs, so I jumped at the chance. I really, really liked that doll! I also fell for the ‘he’s kind of rare, and I could get quite a bit if I sold him’ trap. I really thought I was OK with selling him as I’ve always had trouble finding clothes, wigs, etc. for him. Nothing has ever looked right, so I listed him. When he did sell, I started to realize my mistake and soon regretted it. It really was a bad decision and I thought I would eventually get over it. I didn’t, so thankfully, I was able to find another Rou. Still haven’t found his look, but he’s staying, lol.

 

My first BJD and my second Narae60.
I loved my first doll and used to take him everywhere. I think at some point I had some issues with him regarding his dye job and I basically just gave up. There were probably other factors I've forgotten about, but it was so long ago I forgot. I also moved away from 1/4 scale, but I would have made an exception for him. I remember that I found him so easy to love! I struggled a lot with "clicking" with my dolls at the time, but I just loved him instantly and for several years. I don't regret him at this point because his old shell is not really my style anymore, but I'd like to bring back the character though.
and my second Narae60 because I always regretted selling the first one, and she's so rare. Fiding a second one was a blessing so I thought I would never let her go, but money got tight so I did. It wasn't really enough money, all things considered, it only alleviated some guilt about having this big expensive lump while we wondered if we could afford to pay the rest of our lease .____. I will never sell a BJD under those circumstances again. Not worth it!!!

 

I owned a pukipuki Cupid and sold it. It was a grail of mine when I first started the hobby but as I explored more of what I liked, I came to realize that she was just too small. She was great to carry around and as a desk buddy, but after a while I just couldn't bring myself to do anything with her because of her size and her posing just wasn't as good as my larger dolls.

And like others have said, I'll still look back at old pictures fondly however if I were to be given the opportunity, I don't think I would get her again.

 

Anna-Queen Laya v2 was my grail and I also got lucky finding a tan junior delf body for it after the junior delf bodies were discontinued, but I dunno. The character I used them for kind of fell out of use and the spark was gone.

I was definitely a bit hesitant to let them go since Anna-Queen is a smaller artist and again the body was discontinued so it would be very difficult if I regretted selling them. But I feel okay about it.

 

Nabarro's Wally, Har & Cyril. Gloydoll Lucy twins and a Tendres Chimeres rabbit. Oh, and Kaye Wiggs Anabella.
I knew as I was dropping the Glorydoll girls off, that I wanted to run after the van I watched drive off them and get them back. Their bodies were also irreplaceable very early DT.

Tendres Chimeres little rabbit, I still would like but I have never seen one for sale. The Nabarro's I sold for purely urgent financial needs at the time. Huge remorse until I very recently bought back Wally and discovered I did not feel the need to hunt
Anabella, Well that was just awful. I had no intention of selling her or trading her. Someone really hassled me, her grail, dream. A huge sob story. I was in such a bad financial place at the time yet I still traded because I felt so sorry for the person. It was pretty distressing to see her on eBay within days of arriving at her new home and being sold for a huge amount of money, no face-up credit either, She had a gorgeous face up . My lesson in trust learned I suppose. I am now very careful with impulse selling, even if money is tight, I would rather find another way to raise funds than regretting the decision. Still hunting the sceond Glorydoll Lucy head. I was able to find one head.

 

YouplaDolls Zopa, who was a grail to me at the time. He was the most money I'd ever spent on a doll, and I genuinely took financial risk to get him, I wanted him that bad. I've never been so happy with a doll before or since (not as negative as that sounds!), when I unboxed him he was the best thing I'd ever owned.

Eventually though, little things about him started to burst the bubble. Well, more like my tastes and skills started shifting away from him. I started reaching a point where I felt like sculpting my own head to look exactly how I wanted was looking fathomable, and BJD companies started bringing out mature male tiny bodies that worked better for me. One day I realised that it was time to part with Zopa, since he no longer lined up with anything I wanted from that particular doll at all.

But... I think that's a happy ending! I sold him - to someone who very much wanted a Zopa given their extremely limited run and how they've never been available since, so I'm glad I could help them have one - and I've never once looked back. I had a lovely time with that doll, and then we naturally parted ways.

 

Soom Chrom, Bane of Wood. I was but 14 when he released, and very new to the hobby. When Soom out out the promo photos for the May release, I became OBSESSED. I thought he was the coolest thing I had ever seen in my life! I printed out tons of photos of him and put them up all around my room

I worked from May until November doing some odd jobs, landscaping for neighbors, saved birthday money and sold some old toys. I managed to come up with like $450 or so, which was a lot of money for me at the time! Impressed with my hard work, my gracious mother offered to pay for part of the doll as a Christmas gift. I found someone on DoA doing a split and managed to get the human body and fire lord head!

He was blank, nude, with no eyes and no hair. That Christmas morning photo is hilarious. I was so excited, my eyes are like popping out of my head.

I went through a rather traumatic faceup experience with him though, and it took away some of my joy. Over the years, I still treasured him and he was very sentimental to me. I always kept him close and he moved with me 3 times. I never thought I was going to let him go! He yellowed very unevenly though, which also broke my heart. In early 2020 I ended up finally letting him go as my tastes had changed so much and I wanted to fund other dolls.

If you would have told me at 16 I would sell him, I would have thought you had lost your mind! But one thing this hobby has definitely taught me is "never say never"

 

As far as owning for years and swearing he would be with me until I died was my Shigure a Dollstown Hue in Oriental skin. Still have tons of photos of him on travels and such, but I sold him to a good friend so it's all good. Plus now I have Kyo another DT Hue. I have also said on several others they were to be with me until my dying day, but my tastes changed or arthritis in hands said no they have to go. Fact is I never have been a good for life in any hobby or interest. This hobby has lasted the longest for me because I never have to truly commit to the dolls, I can change and try others. I learn, I grow and I am happier.

 

I sold my Volks DDdy 2B and DD 9S recently. When I first saw the announcement for them, I was totally in love and knew that I had to have them. But, as soon as I got them in, I wasn't as excited as I thought I would be. I don't really know why, though.
They are both great but something was missing. Sometimes you just have to have something right in front of you to determine whether or not it lives up to your expectations. My friends couldn't really understand why I sold them right away but I think there's no point in keeping something you don't appreciate that much any more. Especially when it's something that expensive. So far I have no regrets.

 

My modded delf Woosoo (actually, all of my woosoos), my Juri 08 and my modded unoa l-Bi/minifee boy hybrid. I was DONE with the hobby - so I thought. Came back about 4 years later with a lot of regrets. Ended up finding another Juri 08, the original artist behind my unoa boy had re-shelled the character into a similar unoa mod and decided it wasn't working again and sold him - I was able to snatch him up so it was like having him back, and my exact modded woosoo head came back up for sale a few months ago by the person I sold him to, so I bought him back. My luck is not typical. I have a "no sell" list now - where I show my husband the dolls and tell him to memorize this face and if he sees me trying to sell it, to take it from me and put it away until I am over it. My close doll friends also know my no sale list. I'm coming to terms with just because I'm not feeling them at the moment, I don't need to sell them - I can put them away for a while and come back.

 

I had only one doll like that: Notdoll Andante.
He was very unpopular and retired not long after his release. I remember messaging Notdoll asking about if he will ever come back (the answer was no), and they kindly offered that they could sell an Andante head with faceup they had at the company, the same exact one they used for their promo photos! I was so excited and felt like I'm getting the most special doll in existence.

Since Notdoll never released a male body, I made a hybrid with Dollmore Adam boy body, because it fit the size and aesthetic well. His face was perfect and I adored him for many, many years. I promised myself that I will keep him forever, but after some time something started to feel wrong. I've decided to change his faceup to see him in a new light, but that didn't help for long.

I couldn't bring myself to sell him for at least 10 years, until quite recently. I was holding onto him because he was so rare, unique, and acquiring him felt so special, like a "one in a million" lottery ticket win, but my taste in dolls has changed too much to justify keeping him.

Would I buy him again if I could? Maybe just the head due to sentimental value, but I know I wouldn't do much with this head nowadays. Overall I think selling him was for the best, but I still feel bad for changing my feelings toward this doll.

 

I swore I was never going to sell any of my dolls, insisting at one point that I was "not so inconstant" as to have them fall out of favour--I often think teenage-me would have a heart attack if she saw me now. Some dolls she'd find me particularly audacious for selling include my AS Bing Yi, dark purple: a beautiful doll, based off a beautiful RP character I wrote into my fantasy series. One of the loveliest faceups I've had. Also was written when I was in an emotionally abusive relationship, by my now-ex, thus making all the content around her unusable. No, she was not a character worth saving given that her RP storyline, and the one I wrote 132k on in 2016-17 were a microcosm of what my ex did to me. I tried giving her a new character, but she was always going to be that girl to me. I sold her and her new owner was excited to get her, because she's so beautiful, and so unique, and I felt freed, but also like the doll got a better start. I sold 2 other dolls for the same reason: F60 Lacrima Vampire (forced to be the villain in that same story--needed a fresh start), F60 Erda (sold at a huge loss to just "get him out" because he was her main RP character, and I couldn't look at him.

Some dolls I'm honestly surprised I was willing to sell included: 2 Twigling Ingenues--as an ingenue addict, I have 5 ingenues, and I've had 2 other full dolls and 1 other head. One of them was ooak and the only doll like her in the world, and was painted/tattooed by the artist. I just couldn't justify wiping her and making her work for my character, so she moved on. The other just always felt like a duplicate of Shrike. Like she was on the same body (dollshe fresh, b-bust, short torso/long thigh) and her character didn't take off until I stopped trying to make her with the doll I bought. I can justify it as spreading the joy though. She's hard to find these days, cause the remake doesn't look the same.

 

Lmao I swear I said this to every new doll I got. But turned out they were all sold. I can’t believe myself anymore lol

 

I sold my very first doll (Luts Yder) about a year ago after having him for 15 years. At first it was because I loved him but eventually it was because he was so old and also had modded scars on the face that I thought nobody would want him.

 

My porcelain doll because she will never get yellowed

 

so many beautiful dolls . so many excuses or reasons.
I want my soom hyperon and corun bloody perfum boys, FL roke, iple claud knight .
so many , so many.
since I am an older woman now and the covid thing makes the reality that you are not promised tommor its scary.
I shop thrift stores a lot and you see peoples collections come in. just ginin away by the families that do not want to deal with the stuff that loved ones leave...sadness...my family would certainly just donate my dolls since they are too much trouble for them.
so selling makes me feel a little better. my doll goes to a home that loves him

 

LOL SAME! I still do own my first doll 14 years later... he probably is the one I truly vow to never sell (but who really knows~) but all the rest I have had 'moments' where those selling thoughts cross your mind.

I think when I started this hobby, I coveted these dolls so much and I was very financially unstable as a college student... getting one felt like the ultimate luxury. Now that I am gainfully employed and earn a healthy income, getting a doll feels more like a treat, so I think now I'm more fickle these days when it comes to keeping them around.

One doll I vowed to never sell and still did was my 2005 Delf Breakaway that I bought in the crazy heyday of Delf popularity. I got him via auction for $600 for his head. Then in 08, they rereleased him and I felt like such a stooge for spending so much lol. It was a valuable lesson for me on dolly economics. :P I I think I also realized that while I liked the mold, I think I was collecting him more for the rarity of something, vs. actually LOVING it.