Minimalism in the BJD Hobby

1. Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?

It depends on whether the doll is still available new, and what kind of deals I can find for it used. If it's not a limited edition, I often go for a secondhand doll.

2. Do you immediately order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?

Nope! The only doll I have with a sleeping face is my Pukipuki (because they came with one), and the only dolls I have extra hands for are my OT dolls that came with them automatically.

3. If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?

I don't use them much, but they're nice to have for photoshoots.

4. Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?

Honestly, no. But if there are multiple items I was already going to get anyway, and there's a bonus on the website when you spend $X, I might just go for it.

5. Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".

There is a reason I bought the barest-bones Ehecatl instead of one of the gorgeous $1000+ full sets, lol.

6. If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?

Oh, I don't think I could! I love all my resin babies too much! (But then, I also only have 8 resin dolls, and most of them are on the small side.)

7. Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?

I was happy with just my Lucrezia (Soom Teenie Gem Han/Asronn) for a long time. It was 4-5 years, I think, before I got my second resin BJD.

8. Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?

I don't care as much about popularity or rarity as I do about whether I "vibe" with a particular sculpt. I've done the "gotta get this limited-edition doll" song and dance with playline dolls, and I try to avoid doing it with BJDs, because they're so much more expensive.

9. If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?

Oh lordy, if I'd had unlimited resources, my Teenage Dream Leilia would have the deer parts and every single doll would be a fullset. That, and I'd probably have a Hatsune Miku Dollfie Dream. Those girlies are super expensive whenever they turn up on the secondhand market though--even more than they were new, in most cases.

10. Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?

I have spent about $3k on my dolls so far. I keep track of it for insurance reasons, so I know how much my babies are worth.

 

1. Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?
second hand first absolutely, why? because im cheap, i am always looking for the best deal
2. Do you immediately order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?
i dont like sleeping faces so i dont buy them, but i do look for extra hands, i think hands hold a lot of expression in a doll
3. If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?
i like to change hands with outfits so they get plenty of use
4. Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?
all the time, i know its marketing but it also feels like its a quid pro quo, instead of paying shipping i get an physical item
5. Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".
all the time, i know my financial status and i need to be wise with how i spend my money
6. If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?
yes and i feel like its a sweet story, i would keep my first dollfie dream yuri, they got me through a huge trauma & my appendectomy, they were the first thing i asked for when i woke up & they were with me in the hospital & at my bedside recovering at home, i love them
7. Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?
no probably not, one of many reasons is that i like the way my dolls interact with eachother
8. Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?
i like what i like, popularity isnt a factor
9. If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?
the Mana Sama dollfie, i dont even know how much he goes for when he does pop up but i know its in the thousands
10. Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?
not in a formal way, but if asked i could say about how much each item in my collection cost

 

1. Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?
Yes. I like independent artist's sculpts and I miss their releases pretty often.

2. Do you immediately order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?
I don't.

3. If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?

4. Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?
No, I don't add items to my cart I don't like or won't use.

5. Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".
Yes, or the shipping/tariffs have stopped me.

6. If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?
If I needed to, yes. It would be my DoD Homme Kirill doll. He's a hard sculpt to find, compared to my other dolls.

7. Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?
My grail doll was always a DoD Homme Kirill. Just having him makes me happy.

8. Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?
I purchase whatever doll or sculpt I like, rare or not. I really don't concern myself with what other people are doing in the hobby.

9. If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?
I have been lamenting over never finding a Dream of Doll Dustin. Not sure what price he'd be sold at now.

10. Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?
I keep track of all my finances because I have a strict leisure budget. I've definitely had rude people comment negatively about BJDs, but they didn't stay in my life.

 

Minimalism update
-seperated BJD items from other hobby stuff
-reorganized BJD items (still not satisfied)
-removed unwanted BJD items
-wrote out progress and plans
-put away 2 dolls

 

1. I went straight to the company for my dolls since the sculpts weren't available secondhand anyway, and I always prefer my things brand new.

2. No sleeping sculpts available yet, but I have bought a pair of long-nailed holding hands for one doll.

3. Only slightly regret the purchase of the extra hands since I ended up loving the default hands a lot. But I could still use the long nails for the vibe.

4. Never thrown any random extras into my shopping cart. Doll stuff is expensive and I need to buy with intention.

5. "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass" is every time I stop to think about how much I would still need to invest in clothes, wig, eyes, faceup, shelf space, and emotional care for that doll in addition to the large base price.

6. My entire collection is just two dolls and they are a married couple -- I won't separate them.

7. See above.

8. If people enjoy collecting limited and rare dolls, who am I to complain about what brings them joy? Just don't be an ass.

9. There is not a doll that I badly wish to have unlimited resources to purchase yet.

10. I don't keep track of how much I spent on the hobby so far, but I have glimpsed the sum of year to date purchases on the company site I got my dolls from. Spoiler alert: more than five grand in CAD excluding 3rd party purchases.

 

1. Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?
I might glance around on the second hand market, but it really depends on the doll. There are some companies that I will only get the doll directly from because I do not trust the second hand market at all when it comes to certain dolls. If the box and CoA comes with the doll, I'll get it second hand a lot of the times, but not always. There was an eBay listing awhile back and the used doll was going for about company price. I debated getting it, but ended up going for the company and waiting for it new. The reason is the listing showed the company picture, but no clear owner picture, and while the listing said 'boy' in the title, 'girl' was written further down in the description. I didn't want to go though the effort of cross examining the eBay seller, for a better description and full pictures, so I ordered the same doll from the company. Another time I went for the company over the second hand market the seller wanted to ship the doll in one box and the full set outfit in another. I know some companies do this, but when buying second hand one tracking number will count, not both of them. I just don't trust that much. I do buy second hand a lot, but if something looks even a little off for me, I go for waiting and ordering from the company.

2. Do you immediately order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?
I'm not into sleeping faces, but I have ordered extra hands. I do not do it for every doll that I purchase. On some dolls I might not like the default hands, and I want to switch them out when the doll gets to me. On other dolls I've went for the jointed hands. Honestly, my dolls with jointed hands did get switched back recently as I got tired of the jointed hands on them.

3. If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?
I've never regretted getting the extras. I'm not into sleeping faces. I feel that I used the jointed hands quite a bit, before switching back. I think if companies offered various hand poses for dolls, I would buy hands more often. Switching hands is simple enough.

4. Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?
I did this twice. Once I threw in a whole other doll to reach the level of price I needed to get a bonus doll, and once I tossed in a bunch of clothing to hit a free shipping. I don't normally do this, but it was back when I had first started the hobby, maybe a year into it. I was just starting with the SD dolls and the clothing seemed important. I don't regret the clothing but I now sew a lot more for my dolls, so they barely wear the extra clothing I bought at that time.

5. Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".
No. When I first started I had price limits. I might have passed in the beginning. I'm sure I did, I just don't remember what dolls I might have passed on? I don't anymore. If I want the doll. I will save up for it if I truly want it. I am honestly not sure if I have a hard limit anymore. If I feel that I honesty want a doll, I'll save for it to get it.

6. If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?
I can't. I love all of them. I am very attached to my dolls. Once they come home to me, whether new or second hand they are mine for life. I know I have a few favourites, but even then I couldn't choose between them to limit it to a single doll. I would sell of my other doll collections before selling my BJD's.

7. Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?
I always admire people that can do this. They seem to have such a sweet relationship with that single doll that they pour all their love into. I can see it in their pictures and I always think it is awesome. I've thought about if I could do this. But, I really use my dolls mostly for my BJD Webcomic and I couldn't do that with just a single doll. I have stories to tell and I need characters to tell those stories.

8. Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?
I don't think about it? If I like a doll I don't worry if it is popular or not. A lot of my dolls are limited, discontinued, and rare. I don't do it on purpose. It's usually because I either bought the doll when it was out and it never got popular, or I found it second hand.

9. If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?
I already bought my grail. He was about 1k. I don't have a current hard to get doll that I want, so would just get a doll on my list.

10. Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?
My family jokes about how much I spent on BJD's and dolls in general. I don't want to know how much I spent to far. It's a lot. I know that. As I have no plans to ever sell my dolls. I don't worry about it.

 

1. Do you bother to look for the doll you want on the secondhand market or do you go straight to the company? Why?
Only if the doll is discontinued or limited ^^; I tend to prioritize supporting a a maker directly, if I can, and only secondhand for instock items once I'm sure it's legitimate and not at "full company new price".

2. Do you immediately order sleeping faces and extra hands for your doll through the company? If so, do you do this for every doll you purchase?
I change hands often, so I do like to get alternate hands for my dolls. I also collect tan dolls primarily, so as a new collector I do opt to buy the alt hands with the doll for best matching, but I hope to get better at dye matching so I don't have to. I've never felt the need to have an alt face for my dolls, so the sleeping face isn't for me.

3. If you have dolls with sleeping faces and extra hands: do you actually use them enough to justify the purchase? If not, do you regret getting them? If you don't have the above, do you regret not getting them?
I like to switch up the hands on my dolls often, so I've never felt like they were a wasted purchase.

4. Have you ever found yourself looking for extra items to throw in your shopping cart just so you could reach the necessary minimum amount to qualify for an event or free shipping? Do you realize this is a merchandising trick? If so, do you mind being seduced by this?
I have, knowing it is a trick. I don't think I've ever minded as most of the times, I tend to bulk purchase everything I want in one go. I don't usually purchase items I haven't considered buying (and chose not to for other reasons) at least once before- I sorta treat the minimum as an excuse to finally buy it aha

5. Did the cost of a doll ever stop you from actually purchasing it when you had the necessary amount of money? Have you ever thought, "This doll is too expensive, I'll pass".
I still feel like buying most bjds are too expensive, for my specific circumstances. Even if I save up, it's a particularly hefty sum of money that could be used in more sensible ways and I have to go back and forth negotiating to myself before any purchase to make sure that what I'm spending won't make me more financially anxious than the joy having it would bring. I don't think it's a bad thing specifically, as the specific cost worry does curtail most impulsivity.

6. If for some reason you had to sell your whole collection except for one doll, would you be able to do it? Would you know who to pick? Why choose that one?
I don't think I have a specific doll yet that I would keep in a situation that required selling the entire collection. There are things I like from each of them, that isnt unique to the doll and can be found elsewhere. But I do adore the my narae's posability, and she is my go to fidget doll, so maybe her.

7. Do you think you could be happy with just one doll? Why?
I don't think I could. My minimum would be two, cause any doll I have would need a friend. It feels too lonely to see a single doll by itself.

8. Do you dislike purchasing popular sculpts? Do you prefer limited and rare dolls above others? If so, why? If not, are you bothered by people with this attitude?
I'm not, in the know on what is limited, rare, popular or hot, nor do I care to be. I just know what I like, and what Im willing to spend to ensure that. I'm not responsible for how others hobby their interest in bjd's so it doesn't bother me inherently. As long as someone isnt rude, doesnt try to make how I collect an issue or make THEIR collecting MY issue, I'm pretty apathic.

9. If you had unlimited resources which doll would you purchase? How much does he/she/it cost?
Hmmm, maybe a chocolat roze chae? I love the body look, and she goes from anywhere between 900-1200usd that I've seen. But she also isnt the best poser, and at that price range, I've had to pass her up on my list for better posing dolls.

10. Do you keep track of how much you spent on the hobby so far? Why (not)? Does anyone else ever comment on the financial side of your hobby?
I've kept track cause I'm a little neurotic lmao and seeing how much I've spent on the hobby helps me make decisions on how to budget going forward (like, my initial goal was to buy my first dolls, so now, my doll money is for outfitting them. Outfits cost less than the doll, so I can reallocate doll money on other treats like eating out more). I've also been made aware about insurances(?) in case of disasters from other folks in the hobby, so that's also, low key been on my mind