Leaving the Hobby...SAY WHAT!?

Have you ever known someone who left the hobby and what did you think?
My friend who got me into the hobby left the hobby, purely down to financial reasons, we still talk about dolls. Her continued interest in dolls hasnt changed, it doesnt really change much!

Have you ever thought of leaving the hobby and why?
Yes, because of the same reasons, but I cant imagine myself without a doll. I would never lose interest in the hobby even if I didnt have dolls, I wouldnt just disappear from the forum. I understand if someone has had a life change or found something much more interesting to get involved with

Have you ever sold all your dolls, left the hobby, then eventually made your way back into it and bought another doll?
No I havent.

 

Uhm, actually I have been out of the hobby for nearly three years it feels like? I'm not exactly how long it's been but I never sold any of my dolls, I just didn't do anything with them. I couldn't bear to let go, but yet I didn't have the money nor friends within the hobby to keep on going.

I'd say within the last month I picked up and handled my kids and I really want to get back into it; but to be honest I don't even know where to start. I don't know who all the new sculpts are and every time I get on the forum it seems all consuming. I get kind of freaked out and overwhelmed, uhg. I miss having my faceup shop, sewing for them having fun. I'm trying to ease myself back into the hobby slowly by looking for wigs or shoes I might want to get; I have a newer doll under my roof (newer for me, she's a Volks Megu) whom I'd like to pretty up a bunch while she's with me. Hopefully I can get back into it! I just know the transition right now is so hard.

 

I've been out of the hobby for 2 years now, and I sold all of my bjd things.

I mainly got out of the hobby, because at the time I didn't have the funds and was about to enter college. Now that I've been in college for a bit and have a job/funds I'm looking back into getting into the hobby ^-^. Hoping to buy my first doll (again) sometime in the next few months. c:

 

I get like this with crafts, too. I don't even get particularly skilled at it, sometimes. I tend to get it to look pretty ok, and then I get bored with it, somehow. I got really interested in knitting earlier this month. I watched a few really good tutorials on the basic way of knitting, I bought some yarn and a pair of needles, and I went at it. I have four or five different balls of yarn now - and after being in the process of knitting a human-sized scarf - I just sort of stopped. I had getting better at it, skill-wise, and my stitches looked good, but... I don't know what happened, to be honest. I think other things required my attention.

 

Have you ever known someone who left the hobby and what did you think?
I've ever known some people left, I felt so sad because I love their works so much. When they gave up the hobby means that I cant talk the doll's topics with them and they will not share the doll's photos for sure. It makes me so sad.

Have you ever thought of leaving the hobby and why?
I never think about of leaving the hobby till now and I think I will keep going on the hobby even in future. It is so hard to say or even think about leaving the hobby now..... ;P
Have you ever sold all your dolls, left the hobby, then eventually made your way back into it and bought another doll?
Probably I will sell my first doll later but I do not think to leave the hobby now... I think my dolls are still imporatant for me now and even in the future. However, I will not say "I will NEVER sell my doll and leave the hobby" because I cant predict the future....

 

Have you ever known someone who left the hobby and what did you think?
Nobody I know personally, but I have seen many theads on the marketplace about leaving the hobby sales. I think everyone has their reason and even though bjd ownders accept the price, they are expensive and it's hard to hold on to something that valuable when you're not emotionally invested in it anymore.

Have you ever thought of leaving the hobby and why?
I'm prone to anxiety, so when I think about all the work I have to put in my babies I can get worked up and a little depressed. I have never seriously considered leaving though, I'm just getting started

Have you ever sold all your dolls, left the hobby, then eventually made your way back into it and bought another doll?
Nope, but I imagine if I ever quit that would be the case after a while.

 

i see so many people that i follow on dA just up and leave this hobby, i dont have a doll yet but im trying very hard to get one. but to see them just sell them off is what i consider a tragedy

 

Have you ever known someone who left the hobby and what did you think?
I just figure everyone has their reasons. I don't judge.

Have you ever thought of leaving the hobby and why?
Yes, for purely selfish reasons. I'm a perfectionist. I quit drawing because after ten years of struggle and effort, I am not pleased with my results. I put it all aside and I doubt I will draw again. I've been sewing and quilting off and on since I was ten (that's a good fourteen years)- I go through phases where I try for awhile and then give up;it's a terrible nasty thing, I know. This bjd thing has been horrible for me. I'm usually a pretty okay photographer, but I can't photograph dolls worth a darn and can't get hardly any positive attention to my dolls (so there goes one aspect of the hobby I entered it for), the quality of my dolls and their accouterments (clothes, shoes, wigs, face ups, props, etc- the second reason I entered the hobby), is never as good as many of the attention hogging dolls and owners, and I don't have the energy to engage in what I feel is a competition (this is probably a one-sided view, and I recognize this is all my perspective). It's purely selfish- because I'm not good enough for myself and because that is reflected in how others relate to my dolls, they've lost their spark. I tried again the other day- nothing. Virtual silence I guess. So, because the dolls don't bring me joy and only stress any more (and this is increased by the online community) and I don't love them anymore. So I'm giving it another six months or so and if I still feel the same, out they go.

Have you ever sold all your dolls, left the hobby, then eventually made your way back into it and bought another doll?

Nope, and in my opinion, if I do go through with it and sell them all I won't be buying anymore.

 

Have you ever known someone who left the hobby and what did you think?
I haven't known anyone personally who has done so, but I've followed people on DA who have given up, or taken breaks from the hobby. I was disappointed not to see their photos anymore but at the same time I understood that they had their reasons.
Have you ever thought of leaving the hobby and why?
I have thought about it a lot, actually. I'm at an age when I don't have much money and the money I do have I need to spend on other things, like food, bills, rent and having fun with my friends. I have many interests other than BJDs which I consider more important, so if it came to a point where I have to decide between spending money on dolls or spending money on living/going out, I would almost certainly choose to leave the hobby.
Have you ever sold all your dolls, left the hobby, then eventually made your way back into it and bought another doll?
I haven't done yet. I could imagine myself doing this in the next few years and then coming back to the hobby when I have more money and have settled down a bit (my dolls don't get much attention when I'm at university, sadly)

 

Have you ever known someone who left the hobby and what did you think? I don't actually know anyone *in* this hobby. I don't know the people I very briefly interact with on DoA at all, I don't have any friends that I've made in it. I suppose if someone wants to leave, that's completely their decison of course, and I've never felt anything one way or another.

Have you ever thought of leaving the hobby and why? I have- fairly often, when it feels like it's just too much trouble, people think I'm just too weird, or when I feel lonely because I haven't got a soul I can actually talk to about what I like. I also consider it when I think of how much money I could otherwise have if I sold all my dolls and doll stuff.

Have you ever sold all your dolls, left the hobby, then eventually made your way back into it and bought another doll?
No, I don't think I could sell *all* of my dolls, some of them are quite rare now and there'd be no chance of getting them again, so the LE's will stay until I desperately need money. The rest however, could easily be sold to make up funds for various emergencies, and it might be nice to start my collection over again some day... you never know, so I just try to keep an open mind.

 

Have you ever known someone who left the hobby and what did you think?
No, personally I don't know anyone who left the hobby and when, they got their reasons and I think no one should judge them, Iit's their own decision to do so.
Have you ever thought of leaving the hobby and why?
I never really thought about leaving, for me is leaving the hobby to sell all your dolls and all the stuff of them. I was "absence" from the hobby for 2 years, beacause I got some diffrent things that I'm interested in, but still kept my dolls and never really thought of leaving, I was always hoping to return and that's what I done this year and I couldn't be happier.
Have you ever sold all your dolls, left the hobby, then eventually made your way back into it and bought another doll?
I wanted to sell my CP EL, Ginger, that really hurt me, but I thought he would get a better home, where someone always cares about him. There were some peoples that were interested in him, but (happily) hadn't the money that I wanted for him. So I looked up the galleries in the forum and felt in love again with this hobby. I'm sooo happy that I haven't sold him =) For me, I could never imagine to leave the hobby and then come back and bought another doll... I would feel akward, hard to describe :\

 

Some of my friends are quited BJD especially in this 1-2 years. Be honest, I will not question them why quiting this hobby because this actually spending much. (As we knew their outfit are somtimes more expensive than ours). I believe everyone has their own value towards anything. Most possibility is, they have made girl / boy friend.
I've not considered to quite yet even selling my dolls. When the time goes by, I may quit or I will keep them till the end of life. Simply to say, currently I will keep it & no one knows what the future will be. hah~

 

I totally forgot about a friend of mine (unless I posted this already). She showed me the Volks site which eventually made me really want to get a BJD, which led me to DoA, which led me to everything I'll ever know about BJDs.

When I told her about me getting my own doll, I didn't get a response from her - though that wasn't new, and I didn't exactly know why she didn't... (but that's going way OT).

Last contact we had, she had gotten an OT Dollfie, and had bought the eyes, the head, and the parts needed for it. She had issues with the eye decals, and I never knew if she learned how to apply them or not. But she had been adamant about getting a Volks BJD (because at the time, that's all we knew of), though I don't know if she ever got the money together to buy one.

I am assuming she did, because she is very good at going out and doing what she has to do to get something she really wanted. She had constantly been debating about whether to get a new laptop or a BJD. Hopefully, she found DoA. I hope she got a doll she genuinely liked from Volks, or even found out that Volks wasn't her only option, and ended up finding a doll from another company that she liked.

It would be good to know what happened with that...

 

Have you ever known someone who left the hobby and what did you think?

Not personally, no. I've seen instances in which people say this on the forums, or tuck it into a sig for whatever reason, but I haven't actually seen any of them go.

Have you ever thought of leaving the hobby and why?

I have, but only in the abstract. Generally, 'If I ever decided to give this up, would I sell off the collection, or let them linger on shelves like all the fashion dolls?' and so on. It isn't entirely a matter of money, since the fashion doll collection involves an investment that isn't as high as the BJDs, but probably is about half that (read: still quite the considerable sum) -- and they never got sold off. It may sound odd, but I've thought more about how I'd go about it if I decided to do it than thinking about actually doing it or not. Since this is a pet-having household, and has in the past been a smoking household, I pretty much figure anything that comes in the door is staying unless it's going out in the trash (or for such a low amount it would hardly be worth the effort to sell it in the first place). Unfortunate, but a simple reality I have to consider.

On the plus side, the above generally means I haven't thought about it because I have some reason to think about it beyond idle consideration. Everyone I've met in person from the hobby is interesting and fun, most also insanely talented. Even the people who sometimes get on my nerves a little on the forums for some reason or another are interesting people and usually have interesting things to say. On the people/community front, all's well, though I don't do as much lately as I have in the past, on the forums or in person. (Work, whee... perpetual busy mode, activated!) The dolls themselves? If I didn't think they were awesome I wouldn't have bought them in the first place.

Have you ever sold all your dolls, left the hobby, then eventually made your way back into it and bought another doll?

Nope.

 

Sometimes in life people just decide that something just isn't for them and they move onto something better. Thats somtimes cause by lack of inspiration or maybe there is just something they don't want to put up with any more.

I wouldnt say I ever 'left the hobby' but I have been away from it for well over a year now.
I still have my dolls, I just got caught up in other projects. That and money played a big factor.
I didn't really have the cash to fix my dolls up all nice, so I couldn't do much with them.
But this time it'll be different!

Though it seems like this hobby is dieing down a little bit, the last few years it seemed like this was kinda the place to be. Has anyone else noticed that? D:

 

They will have to make a damn good new type of doll to make me stop this hobby.

Maybe one that can reproduce itself...Instead off making me buy more and more!

 

I left the doll hobby about a year and a half ago. I think it was a mixture of financial reasons, preparing to move away to college, and the fact that my dolls just sat on a shelf for long periods of time. It hurt to sell them because I did love them, but I figured someone else could give them a lot more attention than I was. I came across my box of doll clothes that I'd held onto over the summer and that had me considering getting back into the hobby again.
Also, it turns out that my friend's roommate is a BJD collector, and after swooning over her gorgeous dolls I started searching the Marketplace for my own. My new little one is coming to me next week and I cannot wait.
I think taking a break from the hobby was a little refreshing and I was surprised to see how much my preferences for sculpts have changed after I'd grown up a bit, not to mention how much has changed in the doll community.

 

After all the time and money I have invested in my doll I would never think of leaving the hobby.

 

I almost did but I thought it tougher. My answers is no I will not leave the hobby till I'm not satisfied with the dolls.