"Downsizing" the hobby -- c/would you?

I am downsizing right now. However it is only due to quite a few dolls bought within a short period of time. I do find that each time I downsize I tend to have more creep in though. So there has to be the ability to resist!!

 

I've definitely been downsizing! I sold my Charlotte, Lieselotte, Suiseiseki, Romantic Sweet Dream & Winter Smile Nonos, Gretel, and Lorina head in the past year! Most in the past few months!
Having so many was overwhelming (too many dolls to finish! ) so I downsized to finally finish the few that I've chosen to keep. I'd say the only one I miss is Lieselotte!

 

I felt the need to downsize when I was poor... I feel that way about all expensive things I own when I'm poor though. I feel extreme guilt for having things worth a lot when I barely have money for food... so for several years I stepped back from the hobby ... I didn't participate in the forum, had my dolls kept in their boxes and tried to sell one of them. Now that I'm in a stable financial and living environment, I'm participating in the forums again, taking my dolls out to show people, working on their faces and clothes etc.

So yes, I've considered and tried selling a doll... never did happen I love my collection!

 

Even though it was something I thought I'd never do, I actually drastically downsized and have lived to tell the tale! It all started with a display space for BJDs I decommissioned (because the room it was in needed to be re-purposed.) Initially I thought I could move that bunch into another display area in a different room...but unfortunately they just didn't work with my other dolls. So I felt I had no choice but to sell them and that's how it all got started. This initiated a domino effect and great sell-off. Everything sold so fast that the next thing I knew, I'd managed to go from 14 down to only 1!!! Once I got over the initial shock of all this, it dawned on me that the deeper subconscious reason I'd done it is that my one remaining doll had such a varied and fascinating character, she had actually eclipsed all the rest and made them redundant. So after 7 years in the hobby, I actually managed to do what I'd initially dreamed of from the very beginning...have just one very perfect and very spoiled doll who can do it all. It's been months now and I'm still deliriously happy with this outcome!

 

I'm actually downsizing in the hobby right now! I have been pretty inactive in the hobby for the past few months as I slowly thin down my collection. I have two big reasons for doing this. The first is that I used to impulse buy things ALL the time. I have never had more than five dolls at a time, but on top of that I had maybe 6 floating heads! I had so many unfinished dolls I couldn't keep track of them. Even the ones that had bodies were missing things like wigs and clothes that fit. After buying so much resin I didn't have the money to afford all the customizations too. Eventually, not being able to afford to finish my dolls brought some of the fun out of the hobby and I decided that I definitely needed to sell my floating heads and eventually I sold some dolls too. Besides that, I have also had a major change in interest as far as what type of dolls I like. I used to have all boy dolls and now I have all girls with the exception of one! Some sculpts that I previously adored I ended up selling to better homes because I found that I preferred other ones. So, I guess I have just evolved a lot since I started collecting I needed a bit of a do over to keep the hobby exciting! Not being able to complete any of my dolls was really making it hard to enjoy collecting, now I'm excited to go a little slower and build my collection over time ^^

 

I feel like I want to just keep buying more and more dolls. At the moment I have one minifee, plus another minifee and a feeple 65 on order. I think I am going to just stop buying anymore doll after my two girls get here. That way I wont get to the state where I have down size or part with any of them. If I had to pick one- right now I couldn't really say cos I havn't met the other two yet.

 

I wish to downsize, I look at my crew though and I so love them all it's very hard for me to do so. There is a part in me though that wants to downsize drastically. I wish I could do what you did PoeticSoul (I LOVE your doll) sadly though, no one wants to buy my dolls, their not popular anymore it seems

 

I would never ever be able to downsize (for Reasons), which is why I'd like to make very sure that my number of BJDs remains manageable (I couldn't imagine having dozens of dolls!) and that I only get sculpts that I have definitely loved for a while and know that I absolutely want. Just today I've been seriously thinking that I may get only two more BJDs, and then that would be it for me.

 

I could downsize if I had to.

I just don't want to.

 

I just did downsize a lot.

I've sold off all but a few favourites of my non-bjd dolls. Most of the remaining dolls now fit on a single tiny shelf.

I also sold off all but two of my 60cm dolls -- one I bought as a cosplay doll (in progress) and one body I particularly liked that now needs a head. Once that doll gets re-headed, she and her kimono wardrobe are going to go hang out with my Ichimatsu dolls.

No other dolls are allowed in that don't fit in the existing fantasy universe. That should keep random acquisitions down to a minimum.

 

Oh goodness! Tough question indeed!!
If I absolutely had to, I could probably narrow my collection down to 3-5 dolls, but even that would be SO hard! DX
I typically only buy a doll if I truly want to own it, so I don't make the decision to buy very lightly. If I ever sell, it is usually because the first attempt to shell a character didn't turn out well. So selling to downsize is kinda sad..for me. XD;

 

Yes, undoubtedly, I would and could if I had to downsize! There are things that are more important than dolls and I know if I was ever in a bind, I'd sell some of them. If something really horrendous occurred and I had get rid of the bulk of my collection, there's really two I think I would probably be devastated without and would never sell. I do love and treasure all my dolls though, and I don't have any plans to downsize unless tragedy strikes.

 

In the past four years I went from 1 resin, to 13, if my count was correct. I really don't think I could or would sell or downsize. I've already spent the money on them and so in my mind that money is gone for good. I am planning on moving and after I figured out how to get my seven animals from the southern part of the US to the northern, I started thinking about the dolls, resin and otherwise. (that totals more then 30 in about 5 years...yeah) I do know that some might fetch certain profits, not giant ones but still. But I just couldn't. I adore them all far to much, and even if I have trouble bonding with one, I can't risk selling them and then finding their personalities later. Like my DC Bella, Pumpkin. I adored her when I opened her but she just felt...stale. Even when I tried to pair her up with the Pullip I wanted I just couldn't get it to click. Thought about selling her shortly after. Then I sorta exiled myself from the hobby, didn't look or take pictures. Just kinda ignored them for the most part. When I came back I tried again and realized I was just trying to photograph her wrong. I didn't understand her and suddenly she clicked. Love her now that I understand her. And I am so glad I didn't sell her.

I'm not one of the ones who looks at it badly, but for me they are not just objects, pretty things to look at. They are like charecters from a favorite story, or a RP. They are alive in my twisted little brain and they'd be very angry if I tossed them out for money. XD

 

I am currently downsizing out of a combination of resolve and necessity. The resin has broken my wallet, and I have bills to pay! It could be way worse, but I do feel more than a little sad sending out things like floating heads that I never got the chance to work with, or dolls that have been with me since the beginning, but I just don't have the patience to work with anymore. It's not the end of the world, as I've discovered that the only way for me to decide that I like or do not like a doll I've fixated on is to own it. And either way, I get my fun with said doll. I'm able to hold and pose and customize it to my heart's desire, imagine what kind of person it can be without a time restriction or 'no touch' limit that another owner letting me play with theirs might require. Where I live, there is just simply no way to judge dolls in person, because the few BJD lovers are incredibly scattered across this monstrosity of a tundra. But when I don't bond with a doll over a certain period of time (And usually, if I'm going to bond with a doll, I start to do so right out of the box), it's time to move them along. With my budget and space, there is simply no alternative.

When I was a good deal younger, I collected Transformers with a fervent passion to rival the obsessed. I ended up with a couple hundred figures alone, and my abode is filled with related merchandise- Dvds and cassettes, posters, film cells, mugs, sculptures, calendars, clothing, etc. I don't ever want to own that much of anything, except perhaps for music recordings, again, and while I can never see myself with rooms crammed full of resin monstrosities and oddities, I haven't yet found my 'limit' with BJDs, because I have yet to own nothing but dolls I am totally satisfied with. These days though, if I get ten or more of something, it tends to feel like 'too much' and I make plans to downsize. The ideal maximum for BJDs I've vaguely settled on is in the twenties, thirties at the stretch goal (I'm told that one is 'allowed' to have more tinies because they're so small, but I have my objections whenever I peer into my doll cabinet and remind myself how much I'm paying for some of them ), but whether or not I'm able to keep that many and not feel over-materialized remains to be seen. At present, with the floating heads, the collection count is in the teens, and as stated above, I'm already trying to shrink it. Granted, resin that is moved out will be replaced. It's inevitable. But for how long?

 

If I have to downsize my collection because of place's problem, it won't be my BJD. I'm now thinking to downsize my books which take too much place and also my figure collection; some nendoroids which I bought when I was still active in that hobby but never opened them. I should sell them soon, that maybe better than keeping them in box forever. And also I may sell some un-used or my handmade clothing because their numbers are really terrify me. I always keep make new outfit, so I really should downsize them. For my BJD (now I owned 8 dolls, 1 head and wait/find for 2 dolls, 1 body), the number which I plan for, is now almost full. So I won't buy any new one other than my plan. After this, I will just concentrate on making outfit, so no need to downsize them and I don't think I can either...They are just too precious to me.

 

I'm so limited already on how many bjds I can get. I won't need to downsize. I have 5 dolls at the moment. 2 small dolls, 2 under 60 cm and then one 70 cm. I'm getting another tall girl. I want to get a boy and a baby after that.

I can see myself owning 10 dolls ever at most. If I want another I'll have to sell a doll. It's not that I don't like them it's just my husband and I collect so many other things as well. Manga, figurines and he collects Legos and transformers. They take up every flat surface in the house.

We have one boy and about to have another... So well have their toys around the house too. It doesn't leave me much room for a collection.

Right now now I have no stands - so I sit my dolls on my bookcase and have the big dolls hold the little ones.

 

I'm downsizing right now, but only because my tastes are changing. I totally intend to get more dolls but be more careful about which ones I choose to bring home. I think I could get rid of two more and only get a few dolls on my wish list and I could be happy to not buy anymore if I really had to. I hope that never happens, though!

 

Same here, downsizing right now because tastes changed over the years but I'm already planning to replace what I'm selling with other dolls...oops

 

To those who haven't downsized: would you, could you, should you feel the need to? I actually have only 3 BJDs, and I plan to not get more than 10 in total and hopefully never feel the need to downsize. I'm the kind of person that really hates letting things go (unless they are awful books or mangas), and even when the interest in something is lost giving it away will probably be a pain. Anyway, I can't exclude a total change of tastes or a desperate need of space...

 

I could if I had to but I wouldn't really need to if I keep my collection small enough. I'm going to try to avoid getting too many dolls at all costs or if I absolutely must have a new doll then I should let one go.

My husband is a bit of a pack-rat so he would probably allow me to get as many as I like but I do see our limited space as an issue. This also means that I can't really take on too many more hobbies or collections if any since I've taken up BJDs (they take up quite a bit of room). I forgot to mention I also like quilting so that takes up a ton of space as well.