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

Jan 11, 2013

    1. I have 29 BJDs and over 400 Barbie dolls. The Barbies are what I'd like to massively thin out, but the sheer overwhelming job of doing it scares me, so I just block it from my mind. Not to mention the majority of my collection are unboxed and nude dolls and there's just no market for them. I'm not paying eBay fees for them to just sit there gathering more dust.

      My BJDs...sometimes I think I'd like to start over. Sell all but a few and really plan out my collection rather than buy what catches my eye. But then I look at them and they all mean something to me. They sit there with their sweet faces and I just can't do it. It was hard enough to sell off my floating heads!
       
    2. I, too, have fashion dolls which I would really like to get rid of - maybe 50 or 60 Fashion Royalty and Tonner Dolls, unfortunately mostly deboxed and now worth a fraction of what I paid for them. Like Krissy, the overwhelming job of getting rid of them is so depressing, I prefer not to think about it! So instead they are just taking up space. I have a recurring dream about finding a secret room in my house and going, "Woo-hoo! More space!!!"

      But I don't have very many bjds yet, my bjd collection is just starting.:aheartbea
       
    3. The ONLY reason I'd ever downsize in the future will be when I get so ancient I've got to go to a nursing home LOL & even then, my Renji (an IH Bichun) gets pried from my cold dead hands....
      Now, I feel certain I'll have to do for my dolls what I do for myself - go thru their STUFF from time to time to weed out things that don't fit, didn't work out, etc. I manage a couple of bags to Goodwill every season LOL With the dollies, I'll be able to put it up for sale or trade at least :D
       
    4. This is just a gentle reminder to watch your wording in this thread.

      I am sure nobody intends to cross the line in to advertising for their sales threads but in a topic like this one it is more likely to happen. So please be aware and be careful! :chocoberry


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      On the topic~


      To those who haven't downsized: would you, could you, should you feel the need to?

      I think about it sometimes because I don't like having so many things in my apartment but I'd rather part with things other than my dolls. I was feeling overwhelmed by the 40 big dolls at one point but I seem to be over that. I've realized dissatisfaction with their number usually means I need to change their clothes, or give someone a new faceup or repose the group. Apparently my brain likes to turn little issues into general uneasiness, so I have to look hard for the source of the "bug".

      I think if I had to scale back I could, I am mentally semi-prepared for the day I decide I want fewer around. I don't really believe in "shoulds" in any hobby, that is so up to personal choice.
       
    5. I am currently in the process of downsizing. This time last year, I had around 28 dolls and floating heads. Now, I am down to around 18 and thinking of further reducing (doll signature = not an accurate count at this time). My collection felt too big for me, and even though I loved all my dolls and they were beautiful things I liked to look at, I needed the money their sales would bring more than I needed for them to sit on my shelf and be pretty. Cutting the first couple was easier than I thought it would be. Lately, though, it is getting more and more difficult, as I am finding myself more attached to the remaining sculpts than I thought I was.

      But, at the end of the day, they are still sitting on my shelf, doing nothing, and I feel like they should be doing more to earn their keep, so to speak. I used to photograph them pretty regularly, but that has taken a backseat to work and other real-life commitments. So I am sure that when the time comes, I will be able to tell myself they're just sitting there not doing anything, and I don't really need them, and I will be able to make another cut or two. But I also hope that day won't come soon.
       
    6. I honestly can't imagine selling my 3 finished dolls. I know maybe in the future I'll probably need to downsize at some point but all of them are important to me in different ways. I don't think I'd be able to enjoy the hobby as much without all three of them.
       
    7. I've downsized in a slightly different way...getting rid of all my SDs for about a year with the intention of keeping things to MSD size and below...but it seems a year was the longest I could keep that resolution :P

      Other than that, the only reason I have sold dolls is either for the fact they haven't quite fit IRL what I had hoped for them or for financial reasons.
       
    8. You could sell your barbies in lots on ebay. Repainters might go for that. especially if you state ' for repaint' in the auction. :)
       
    9. I haven't downsized, and I don't feel that I would ever downsize. I'm just too attached to my girls. It doesn't matter if I don't spend very much time playing with them. They mean too much to me to leave my home.

      In fact, I just picked up a doll that I haven't played with in three or four years today, and I was so happy that I still had her. She was so much fun! If I sold her, I wouldn't have had the fun I had today.
       
    10. Best of luck with your decision. It is a tough one, but I am confident when you know which choice to make everything will fall into place.

      As for my situation, I have downsized with other doll types before and really hated it. As a result, I try really hard to limit the dolls that enter my collection. If I accumulate "too many" I could see myself simply keeping them up on a shelf, to be honest. I do not think I could sell them as they have all been customised to my personal preference. That said, if I were to downsize I would probably part with the most easily replaced doll. But, in all honesty, I would be more inclined to part with clothes than with dolls since most of my collection is clothes and stuff.
       
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    11. More than often I feel like downsizing my doll collection, mainly due to the fact that there are some that I don't really touch. Particularly my male dolls. However, I also find my self resisting to selling them off thinking "what if I will miss them after I do sell them" I could see myself resenting to sell them especially if they were difficult to get again in the future. However, if I was selling everything of that "size" including all their clothes and shoes. It may help me to move on easier.

      One day when I have no more space to keep my dolls, I may feel incline to downsize so I can keep the ones that I play with very often and the ones that I absolutely must have.
       
    12. I haven't, although lately I've been thinking that I ought to.

      Right now I have 2.5 dolls that I bought more because I liked the potential that they had rather than because I liked them/the way they looked. So while I still look at them and think "wouldn't it be interesting to do XYZ with that one?" I don't actually feel as much of a drive to do much with those ones. Right now I'm having a hard time getting past "I probably won't, but I could!" into the pure "I won't be doing anything else with this doll in the future" zone, at which point I think I'd be happy to thin the herd a little. At some point soon I'm sure I'll get there (or start working on them).
       
    13. To those who haven't downsized: would you, could you, should you feel the need to?

      The moment the size of my collection no longer makes me feel comfortable, is the moment I'm going to downsize. I haven't yet come to that point, and I think I know at what number of dolls I'm reaching the limit, but this hobby is for my enjoyment, and when I no longer like to look at my bunch, it's time to take action. If downsizing helps with the issue, so be it.
       
    14. I've considered the thought on multiple occasions, mostly due to the fantastic headaches I've gotten in my 3-year dolly history... I actually -did- just recently downsize- sortof. I traded/gifted away 3 SDs and a YO to be replaced with another MSD.

      That didn't last long of course, as now I've got one MSD on layaway, a 70cm in the works and two Zuzu's with an MSD event head on-the-way. u__u; I think now in particular it would be very hard for me to 'just pick one' (or two) of my dolls... but I also know that if push came to shove in the end, and I absoloutely -had- to downsize the collection with no other possible options, I could do so- even if I didn't feel particularly pleased about it.
       
    15. I'm not sure how I would handle the issue of downsizing. I feel that I have already, in some sense, by getting rid of all dolls not related to one particular story line. But that leaves five with one more incoming. Six may not seem like a large collection to some people but from the mostly minimalist sort of way I have tried to deal with my possessions over the last few years six large dolls does seem a bit excessive. While I would like to think I could downside the dolls a bit, I'm very attached to all of them.
       
    16. My kids get my dolls, I'm never getting rid of them.
       
    17. As I only have one doll, have only ever had this one doll, I haven't down sized yet.
      Would I? only if I needed to. But this one doll is never leaving me. Ever. I love my baby too much. I have a feeling I'd have trouble parting with any future dolls...
       
    18. I've downsized my collection as part of a greater attempt to reduce my possessions and simplify my life as a whole. All of the dolls I sold were LEs that would cost me an arm and a leg on the secondhand market, but I have zero regrets. There's a temptation to hold onto things because they're rare, or because you got a good deal on them, or because you put time and money into them, but to me there's no point of keeping something around if it doesn't make you happy (or if selling it could bring you greater happiness). I'm very happy with the dolls I have, and am content to look at photos of other people's dolls in lieu of bringing more home. And if something comes along that I like better than what I have now, then I'll sell what I've got to buy what I want.
       
    19. One reason why I downsized my dolls is because I'm more happy with other activities. I started losing interest and be less active with my friends(in this hobby). I'm not feeling regret or sad, actually I have been with my only 1 doll for one year now and quite happy about it. I just keep the one I like the most. In my opinion the best way is to trust yourself when you feel you're ready to do it. ^^
       
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    20. It took me a few years to decide what I really liked so have managed to rehome all but two of the one that don't fit my cat anthro theme. Then I have two other SD sized ones that I dearly love and would not want to rehome. So I can more or less safely say I am at a comfortable point and will probably not downsize any further. Though I am nearing 60 years old and so need to make sure I have left them to a cherished relative for when the time comes I can no longer drag around a 6 pound chunk of resin. I LOVE having the dresses and wigs though so maybe I'll have them buried with me. :)

      Well, a quick thought. One thing has occured that may make me change my mind one day and that is I DEARLY want a porcelain Enchanted Doll by the wonderful Marina Bychkova. IF I could ever swing that I would sell them all to raise funds though at as much as $27,000 I am not sure if I could even come close to raising enough money without mortgaging my home.