I took a really long break. I started buying quite a few tinies this year. I went a bit overboard and felt trapped. So I sold all but one of them and feel much happier with her. Sometimes a nice long break is all you need to feel better.
It's nice to read all this, because this is how I'm feeling. I've been in the hobby since 2006, and never had a break. I love all my dolls and can't imagine selling any of them, but I am feeling guilt about just leaving them in their case. But! I feel like that is what I have to do right now, so I will. Funny enough though, at the moment I'm more obsessed with Barbie so that is what I am collecting at the moment. Though I'll try to not let that get out of hand lol, literally only seven dolls and that's that. Last thing I need is having as many barbie dolls as I do BJDS lol.
Having been in this hobby since 2009, I’ve absolutely experienced burn out. I took a long break and when I came back I started to thin down my crew. I took some time and reevaluated what dolls I really wanted to keep, let go of, and acquire in the future. Taking short breaks helps too. Some months I’m more active, others...not so much. I’ve also found getting away from the hobby can refresh the mind and open it up to other sources of inspiration.
Taking a break is absolutely no shame. Sometimes, you ignite the fire just by leaving it aside for a while. Instead of selling all your dolls, store them away in their boxes or drawers. Keep as much distance from them as you want. Deciding to take a break does not mean you’re held back from touching them at all. If you feel like changing them, posing them or maybe you are inspired to take a photo, just go for it instead of putting pressure on you by thinking your love might have stopped burning. I for myself did that with drawing. When I was still very active on Instagram as an artist, things became to feel like a job and that I needed to post frequently to feed my followers. Now, I keep my distance from drawing as much as I want. Sometimes I just feel like drawing, sometimes not. And slowly my love begins to bloom again. Sometimes, distance is showing us how close we really are to something. Don’t stress yourself.
As someone who is on disability herself (well, the Dutch version), I wholeheartedly agree. Ofcourse there will always be sourpusses who are going to condemn you for spending even one cent on something that isn't the barest necessity, but to be honest: They have no idea what they're talking about. I have a pretty lowkey approach to this hobby. Most of the time, I just like looking at the dolls and that's it. Sometimes I'm more active and I make a new outfit, take pictures, or do a face-up. But since I have very little energy, I need to be careful with my time, and that means that my dolls usually lose out on things like sculpting. But that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy them; I just don't think that they are the end-all in life. Since you don't have a doll you're head over heels for, it's only natural that interest is waning. But then, when you DO find a sculpt you love so much, suddenly you'll find yourself in a position where you want to spend much more time on this hobby. It's a natural ebb and flow.
I've recently returned to active status in the hobby after a five year break when life got in the way. The dolls waited for me.
That's why I don't claim to be falling out of love with the dolls themselves -- they will always wait, and they don't demand anything in return. Falling out of love with "the hobby" and many of the people in it, sure: it's easy for me to get frustrated with the drama and the repetitiveness of online interactions, and then I need to back away from engaging with "the hobby" for a while. But "the hobby" isn't MY hobby; my hobby is the dolls themselves, and my private enjoyment of them even while my tastes change, my activity with them goes up and down, etc., etc. OP, this is just a guess, but maybe the question you're really wrestling with is whether you enjoy your doll(s) for themselves, or whether you were attracted to (and are now losing interest in) "the hobby" rather than the actual resin creatures. The answer will be different for each of us! @[email protected] already said this better than I can, earlier in this thread . . .
@Cynthia in FlintHills makes a good point-- it's important to remember that "the hobby", as in the hobby community and interacting with it, is not actually the same thing as the personal hobby of owning and enjoying your doll. I have lots of times when I'm just not interested in online sharing and interaction, but I'm still enjoying my dolls on my own. I also have other creative pursuits that I rotate through as I'm inspired; sometimes I won't do anything with my dolls for a good long while because I'm busy working on painting or drawing or sculpting or trying to learn how to crochet or what have you. But it's okay-- they are always there on my shelves when I feel like doing stuff with them again, and in the meantime I always enjoy just seeing them displayed there when I'm busy with other stuff. It's okay to not have a constant feeling of strong emotion towards a hobby; our emotional states naturally fluctuate about everything in life.
Whenever I feel like that, I just put my dolls away In a closet or something where I don’t see them, and leave them there until I start wanting to play with them. Breaks are healthy, sometimes you just gotta step away a lil
Honestly with my hobbies they come in waves besides art. I think just stepping back and doing something else with your time is healthy and normal to be honest.
Been in the hobby for almost 14 years and I have lost interest in BJDs many, many times. To be honest, I have never been inspired by BJDs as I have been by other dolls, but I really appreciate all of the hard work and artistry that goes into making them. I acquired two dolls last year and was surprised that I actually bought them since I never expected to buy another BJD again. As predicted, I love the girls I bought, but after they arrived, the interest in them tapered down while I pursued other hobbies. Do I regret purchasing them or the hobby in general? Nah. For me, it's almost expected that I have interest and then little to none until it picks up again. I found two dolls I wanted to purchase this year, which actually surprised me again lol. So I'm back to being interested in BJDs again. Like @Cynthia in FlintHills where I enjoy my dolls "in private," I rarely post or talk about BJDs online (and have very, very few BJD friends compared to other dolly friends), and that's fine by me. I love my dolls for what they are, and I don't need an online outlet or friends to enjoy my dolls. (But I'm also someone who has no background stories for my dolls and doesn't care for that aspect of the hobby.)
This happens to me with all of my collecting hobbies. Usually taking a break invigorates me all over again later. I'll go years before getting drawn back into something but it'll be like I never left.
wow everyone's being so positive and helpful (i admit it was lot to fully read) but everyone is right. sometimes you just need a break and maybe down the road, you'll come back. i just got into this hobby but with other interests of mine, i've taken breaks (am still on a break) for some but i come back later as it makes me happy. maybe at that point it didn't while i had to worry over other stuff and things but if i truly love it, it'll always be there waiting for me (this might sound a bit insensitive saying if i truly love something >.<) so take your time, if you don't come back, it's fine. it's still a point in your life you can hopefully look back on with fondness but if you do come back, there are plenty of people who'd love to talk ok, sorry i don't think this response makes much sense. i kind of lost my train of thought a little but i hope you can understand what i'm trying to say. i'm just practically repeating what others have already said
I lost my interest for a while now I'm just kind of revisiting sometimes you just gotta take a break ya know?
I'm seriously thinking about selling most if not all of my BJDs. I feel like as I'm doing very little with them it seems like a shame and sometimes just clutter in my home... but then I think, "well I have them now and I do like looking at them so why not just hang onto them". Anyone else gone through times like this? What did you do in the end? I feel like I've moved away from BJDs since discovering and buying a couple of Smart Dolls. While I think they aren't as diverse as BJDs, the posing and care of them is just so much easier so I'm much more likely to take them out for photoshoots etc. I have 6 BJDs to potentially sell and the thought of going through the selling process for them fills me with dread. It all seems very long winded and sometimes risky... alongside the fact that I have no idea what I should be selling them for... anyone got any friendly advice for me? Thanks in advance!
I felt this way a while ago too, so I can definitely sympathize... My dolls spent 99% of time stored in their boxes because I had no room for them and it was pretty depressing...but every time i did take them out, i remembered how much fun they were! In the end I just cleared off my dresser top and thanks to a lucky find at a thrift shop, got two glass cases that most of my yosds can fit in, like a little diorama. My msds just kind of sit on my side table, not really protected but still in sight. >>; It's incredible how much just seeing my dolls every day makes me happy..and they're easy to access! Sometimes I'll just pull one out and sit her next to me while i watch streams. I did consider selling a couple of mine, but after spending time with them I couldn't bear to. My advice would be to make a dedicated spot for them in your room/house if you can! I noticed lately there's been like a "productivity guilt" thing--people feel bad when they're not creating things for their dolls. You don't have to be making things to enjoy your lovelies! The worth comes in how happy they make you every day! This got long but I hope it helped!
The best way to know if you are ready to sell is to put the dolls in their boxes. Undress them, wrap them up nice, and get them out of view. If you find yourself missing them after a month or so, you aren't ready to sell. As far as pricing them goes, you want to look at their age, any professional work (faceups, body blushing, ect), skintone (some resin colors are at a premium), condition (yellowed? Do they need a new faceup/restringing?), and you have to be patient. The easiest place to sell is here, and it may take awhile. Maybe look in the sold dolls archive to see what dolls like yours have sold for, or around the marketplace for their current market value. It is okay to fall out of love with dolls c: Just try to not stress.
I have gotten some Smart Dolls too and know how you feel. But I like both a lot. I have my SD Smartdolls and the other sizes all as resin (save one MDD). I can only suggest, try putting them in their boxes almost as if you already sold them. Do you miss them? Don't sell. Maybe do as Baroque suggested, make a dedicated spot just for them. Do you not miss them? Then sell. For prices, just browse the secondhand market and base your prices on that.
I’m in my fifties, collected different doll types over my lifetime, I inherited some of my mom’s dolls from the 60s and still maintain them. I sold some dolls over the years, kept some. My advice to you is as far as possible, don’t sell. Sell some, downsize, sell their accessories like clothes, shoes etc but keep the full dolls and if applicable, keep also their original outfit, box and accessories. Downsize rather than sell all. The reason being that we do not always stick to the same hobby, you may have new priorities, new hobbies etc but in the future, you will come back to the BJDs, and when that time comes, the dolls you keep today will be patiently waiting for you. They’ll wait for you, just keep them clean and safe. I keep many of dolls both BJDs and others types of dolls boxed up and stored over the years, they’re not always on display or played with or worked on. BJDs are harder to resell than vintage and antique dolls. It’s dreadful having to sell, so, I avoid buying unless I know that’s what I really want in my collection,
when I get a doll I let go of its money value so that I can love and play with it without worry of spoiling that value. I would buy lots of 2nd hand dolls if they were half priced from original cost, but in my limited experience it seems to me that people ask nearly as much as new price. I have gifted dolls to people which makes me feel wonderful...
