How did you know it wasn't a phase?

I've been in the hobby... two-and-a-half, almost three years... and I still don't know if it's a phase or not. Maybe someday I will fall out of it. I might sell some of my dolls, though I'm sure there's one or two I'll keep forever, even if they end up just sitting on a shelf. But even if I eventually leave the hobby, I'll always know these were some of the happiest times ever. I'll always be able to look back and say "that was fun."

But then again, it's going on three years, and not slowing down, so if I get out of it, I don't see it being any time soon. .^_^

 

I've never been into dolls before BJD'd, and if mine is a phase it's gone on now for two years!
Even if it is a phase and you want to leave the hobby you can always sell up, and know that you won't lose much money if any.But while it lasts enjoy them and be creative!

 

I think i realised it wasn't just a phase this summer when I realised I'd wanted a BJD since I was fourteen which is a whole four years.
I think my biggest turning point was around January when I said I wanted money towards one for my 18th birthday and my mum said no but that if I got a job I could buy one with that money so I went and looked for a job.

 

I suppose you could say my 'obsession' started with the porcelain dolls my Grandmother bought me, but I wouldn't consider that completely true. I was a tomboy when I was younger, and treated my Jurassic Park dinosaurs like my children more than my barbies (In fact, the barbies often became dino chow)...

But, as I grew older, (around high school to be exact), I learned through art to appreciate the more delicate things. And I saw my first BJD at a convention. I looked back at my old dolls and realized. "Holy crap. What have I been missing?" And my last convention is what inspired me to get my own. So, I dunno whether it's just a phase or not... But I'm leaning more toward the 'not'. Just something about those dolls..

 

I never thought of it as "oh this will be a phase!" I don't think many people get into something with the intention of it turning out to be such. That's just how it happens.

I got my first doll a few years ago and have absolutely loved him since day 1. Now I'm not saying I've done something spectacular with him every single day, but I at least look at him, touch him, dress him or something else once a day. My other four dolls get just as much attention.

This isn't the kind of hobby to get into if you already have the notion that it will end up being a phase but, at the same time, if you start off small and work your way up you might change your mind about that original thought, you know?

I knew it wasn't a phase when I started giving them stories and a thought process. To me, I've made them real, living, bodies.... and life isn't much a phase. That's just my personal opinion, however.

 

Once I figured out fully what I was going to do I didn't worry about it being a phase etc anymore. There is a million and one things I could do, and I'm all eager to try and get it done.
My last 'phase' as sad as it sounds was hello kitty and that lasted a good 8/9 years, and the stuff just sits there and can't do anything, so for BJDs I think I'm good for now. ^^

 

I totally thought it would be a phase, although I knew the dolls would always hold a sentimental value to me, and I ended up sticking with this hobby for eight months and counting.

 

Even if I'm waiting for my first girl to arrive, I'm still anxious... yes, it's 460$CAN put in a single doll... and sometimes I'm asking myself "Did I made the right choice?" I started to check BJDs since last April so I waited like 6 months to order my first doll... and I had the chance to think about it for a long time.
Still I'm a bit unsure... may be, like you said, it'll be clear when you get your first one, like me. The part that make me really anxious is that I never saw a BJD in my whole life, so I hope I'll not be scared (because I'm REALLY scared of porcelain dolls and clowns and stuff like that..) But I think that if I don't like her, I'll sell her and end of the story. If I love her, than ta-dah, I'm doomed

[Sorry for my really bad English >.<]

 

I have been into dolls forever, when i was a kid i loved taking pictures of my american girl dolls, but something always fell short. there was only so much you could do with that little mobility, so when i found a BJD at an anime con it was love at first sight. it was exactly what i wanted and i knew i needed one, just less than a year later mogi's home with me now and he is just a ball of love, if it was a phase it would be over by now, thats just how i work after i try i figure it out, and my dolls will stay with me for a long time.

 

For me, as soon as I took an interest I knew it wasn't a phase because I love dolls, and have collected different sorts my entire life. The thing that drew me AWAY from my porcelain dolls and my barbies was that they didn't pose like people, like I wanted them to, and they couldn't be easily customized. And with the BJDs, BOTH of those issues are solved. I can pose them much more easily, and a much wider variety of poses, and I can customize them into being the characters I want them to be easily.

 

Never crossed my mind. I just knew from the get -go that they were here to stay... and you know what? 3 years later they are still here.

 

I'm still not sure nearly 6 dolls down the line...! At the moment I'm happy with my dolls and pleased with the hobby, which is all anyone can expect from a hobby really. I feel like I'm getting out the right kind of enjoyment from the amount of effort I put in, which suits me just fine.

I am a packrat, so I know that these dolls are here to stay which makes me consider it fairly carefully when I want to bring someone new home...but I've been blessed with good fortune this year and I have amassed quite a collection without meaning to. If something was to happen and I did leave the hobby, it is some comfort that I could sell the dolls I have without them losing much in value. Some may actually increase in value because they are quite difficult to find now, which is always nice

I've always loved miniatures and dolls, and once I got Gwenllian (my first doll) I realised that BJD were what I'd always been looking for. My previous dolls (Barbies mostly) were too small and limited for what I wanted to achieve, but I love the 43cm size the most and they are a brilliant scale for my photography, which I am slowly regaining confidence in, through BJD.

 

How did I know... lol I think when I made myslef take breaks from dollies, mostly being over money (one being over a year) and I still kept coming back. I've been on DoA since it was like, a yahoo group or something, and i was into BJDs about a year before that. Unfortunately, I haven't been too financially stable until now, so no dorrie yet.

 

I don't think this will be able to help you with your problem... but I would say that if you are really active in this forum and have done a bunch of research it shouldn't just be a phase.

I am a phase maniac. I have gone through them all my life. When I get them though, they take over my life and how I live. As cheesey and stupid as it my be, 3 years ago a mix between manga and Tamora Pierce's books probably saved my life. Those two are phases I will never get out of. *is rereading the Tamora Pierce books for the 5th time* At this point I am sort of able to tell when it will be a phase or if it will stick with me.
With the ABJDs I was able to tell because I did not just jump right in. I had seen them long before, faved pictures on dA quite a bit but knew very little about them. Then I slowly learned more and more about them. The slow part was the clue for me. This wasn't something I was just popping into.

 

I've only known about the dolls for about a year, but I've always love miniatures, doll houses, dioramas, models . .and besides falling in love with their beautiful faces, when I realized every hobby I've ever loved could be integrated into the BJD world, that did it . .and I jumped in with both feet . .

 

As far as I see it, if I'm willing to look at a picture of a piece of resin and say definitively "I will own that thing!" proceeded by spending $1000 for said thing without so much as a backwards glance when I normally balk at paying the extra 15 cents for name brand peanut butter, then I'm pretty much set for a while. If I'm still peeping at other dolls and waiting for another chance to say "I will own that thing!" then I know that the hobby is going to stick with me for a while. For me, a phase is sort of like "Oh, that looks neat. I'd love to try that." (I'll use skiing as an example) so I rent equipment because it's cheaper that way and then I only end up going on a season of skiing trips before I tire of yard saling myself across the mountain and move on to a more "I-don't-have-good-health-insurance-safe" hobby, whereas a die-hard skier who loves the sport would not worry about the price of good equipment and would gladly pay more for the next model of skiis that come out simply because they're fast and pretty.

 

Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure whether I won't tire of the doll-hobby in a few years. With me, pretty much everything seems to happen in phases, be it me getting into certain fandoms or taking up stuff like knitting, sewing, etc. I still got Luken. Why? Well, first of all, I wanted one of those large expensive BJDs (I could have stuck with those little Neo-Guys I got - I like them a lot, too and they're much cheaper). And as I had to save up for one of those dolls for several years, I had enough time to make up my mind whether I REALLY wanted one. When you want something in 2005 and still want it in 2007, chances are good you won't tire of it easily.

Second, I got those Neo-Guys, too. I bought one, painted his face, started making h8im clothes, then just let him lie around for about a year or two. Then, I came across him again and kinda got back "into" it. He soon was joined by two more. So I can tell from previous experience that even if I lose interest in Luken tomorrow, I'll get back to him eventually.

And third: Well, I'm not the kind of doll-owner who invests a lot of time and money in their dolls. I really like Luken and the little guys but for me, it's just one hobby among many, so it's ok for me when the dolls aren't top priority all the time.

 

Well, after having been staring for two years, and having the money saved and sitting in my account for over a year and a half, and I was still staring, that's when I decided it wasn't going away.

 

I began with MSDs and we didn't click.

But I was so intrigued by the possibilities of this hobby that I persisted! And I honestly have dabbled in many other avenues that I thought would last me forever and.. they didn't. My expectations of this hobby, though, weren't ever let down. While I didn't feel a connection with my MSDs, I still loved playing with them, and I think that's what told me that this wasn't another "Holly being flighty" sort of thing. And once I got Clara, and we bonded instantly, I knew that this is definitely a pursuit I'll keep for a good long time