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

From personal experience with other than bjd's in downsizing - be prepared for a huge loss if you downsize - wish now I would have kept many that I let go as what I got for them was so little

 

I'm the sort of person who will probably downsize pretty regularly in this hobby. I just can't handle too many dolls at once; it would stress me out. Ten might be my absolute limit. Even five seems like a lot. Then again, I'm still pretty new, but even now I feel like I have a lot of off-topic dolls hanging around that I want to get rid of to make way for the resin folk

 

Oh absolutely. It's so easy to accumulate things in this sort of hobby. I try to keep no more than 4 dolls around as that's manageable. The nice thing is, if you're responsible and careful with these dolls (and purchase wisely), you can pretty much always get your money back out of them. i've never once taken a loss on a doll. :3

 

Considering how much was involved with downsizing from a 4 bedroom house to a two, I think about downsizing often. It will eventually need to be done, but some of the 400 O.T. dolls go before the 15 BJD's.
If I did start selling the OT's, I would likely reward myself with another couple of SD size lovelies.

 

I have a set limit of only ever having ten. I know I couldnt down size from that. It would hurt to much

 

^This, so much this!

I have downsized this hobby several times. It has been all for the better for me, except for the above sad fact. :P It is frustrating to take loses in the hundreds or thousands, as can sometimes be the case when downsizing your collection, so only do so if you will be alright with that situation and it will give you a fresh breathe to the scenario.

Personally, in the past when I downsized my entire collections (all dolls, all shoes, all wigs, all eyes, etc), it gave me a nice fire to start anew. I took very large losses and even thinking about it years later makes me sad, but still I can smile and look forward because it really was just what I needed at the time and that is priceless. In the end, I've obviously gotten back into the hobby and now everything is renewed in my eyes and it's really rather nice to start from scratch again.

 

Maybe I would downsize clothes, wigs, shoes etc but not dollss

 

I'm downsizing at the moment! Doll boxes stacked everywhere as I try and decide who stays and who goes - I just found 28 dolls too overwhelming to cope with, or even just look at, and I don't like keeping dolls in their boxes either - I like them on display or I can't see the point in having them! I don't care about making a loss financially though - I've enjoyed having them and learnt a lot about what I do and don't like in a bjd - it's been an enjoyable hobby. So many were bought just out of curiosity, as I don't go to meet-ups so had no idea what different dolls were like, or if I'd like them or not. I've gone from 0-28 in just 2 years so I did buy rather indiscriminately, like a kid in a sweet shop! Now down to 7 'must-haves' but still got 4 more on order LOL - I must try and stay away from the 'pay now' button Ideally I want to keep it to 10 dolls or less - it's more fun to pamper a few I think

 

I've done it, and am still feeling sad about it. Can't call it a regret but at some point, I wish I had never bought certain dolls that I later let go... because at times you have to do that - sell the doll - but how hard it is.

 

My collection is currently far larger than I thought I'd ever be comfortable with when I first started in the hobby. I was originally just going to have one, as a clothing model, then fewer than 5, then figured maybe 10 would be a good number... Twenty seemed like a ridiculous number to me back then, something I'd certainly never have, because I'd never have that many I truly wanted.

I'm past that number now, well beyond what I thought was "sane" when I started, and once or twice I've wondered if maybe I have too many, and should sell a couple of them... but there isn't a single doll in my collection that I can imagine packing up and sending away forever. The collection might look large, but I can't imagine downsizing it. I don't think I could do it. Each of the settled characters is dear to me, and having them in that doll form is worth the storage space, extra parts, maintenance, everything. And for the three who don't have settled characters yet, they still inspire something to me that tells me the character will emerge with patience. It's that little something, that stops me from sending them away.

Now, as for accessories? I desperately want to downsize some of that! I just need the time to start sorting through the wigs and eyes, and get them listed up to get out of here and on to new homes. I'm sure some of the clothes will go in the next year or two, too, as I start dialing in on styles for my dolls instead of using the bin of inexpensive stuff I got early on in the hobby. The dolls, however, are all staying, as are the ones yet to come.

 

I've limited my total to 5. I have 3 of the dolls I really want now and I'm searching for the 4th and final doll I must have. The 5th doll is for leeway if I find a particular doll for the right price.

 

I've tried downsizing and I've tried quitting, but neither worked! even right now I'm trying to convince myself to have a maximum of 4 dolls, but instead I've just added a new doll my *serious* wishlist! (for a total of 7-10 dolls... for now.)

 

I have and currently am downsizing from 7 to 2 and a beheaded body. My aesthetic tastes have changed and I fell out of love with a few of my dolls. I kept my first one, sold or are selling the rest, and bought another doll with that money.

Tastes change and evolve, so I have no problems selling dolls. I will always keep my first because of her sentimental value.

 

I have gotten to this point in the hobby. Although I don't have a huge collection... seven dolls. I need to get rid of some stuff to feel better about my collection. The biggest thing for me is getting rid of clothes, shoes, and wigs for doll sizes I don't even collect anymore.

But I still have a SD size doll. I need to sell her. I have slim MSD doll that doesn't match anyone else. Sell her. Why? I am moving more to Yo-SD sized doll. For the dolls themselves I am totally selling them but for things like clothes and wigs I might just give them away. Nothing was super expensive.

 

I only downside if my character I plan for the doll doesn't work out, it like 2 out the door n 3 comes in. Once i get all my boys n girls, i might not collect anymore...might is the keyword here I like my dolls to be mature, so sadly, no downsizing much anytime in the future.

 

How far did you downsize?
Completely.

Are you more content without the hoards?
Yes. I know who I am and what I want now. That narrows down a lot for purchases.

Any regrets?
Taking a sizable loss on the secondhand market.

 

Since I only have one doll at the moment, I have no need of downsizing. In fact, I wish to be able to purchase the other dolls in plans. Should it come to the point wherein I'd have all the dolls in plans... my answer would still be the same. I've no need of downsizing since, at that point, I would have carefully planned my dolls- buuuut if there's an emergency situation and I'm at my wits end, I might consider doing so.

 

I've sold a few dolls, but that is more due to not bonding. If I absolutely had to downsize (moving to a smaller house, some other dire reason), I could do it. I've had to do it with other things in the past. But so long as I have the room to store my collection, I'm keeping them.

 

At this point my collection has grown a lot from my original 12 dolls, but I have not sold a single one because most of the dolls I have, although limited edition, seem to be unpopular in the secondhand market. I buy them knowing that many will take a long time to sell, if they sell at all, and when they do, I will get a lot less than what I paid for.

I have also considered giving some of my dolls to my lovely niece in case I should no longer be interested in the bjd hobby.

 

I once before was certain that I was done with the hobby and when I did, I also sold a lot of my dolls. That being said, what I sold the most was bodies of my dolls. Looking back now, I really really regret selling my bodies. I ended up with heads where I had to find resin matches and ended up with hybrid dolls, all of them costing more than what I got when I sold the bodies.

Right now I don't think I could or would downsize my collection. It would be too painful to let go of any of my dolls and I am vey relieved that the heads that I did sell back then, I have gotten newversions of the same sculpt.