1. It has come to the attention of forum staff that Dollshe Craft has ceased communications with dealers and customers, has failed to provide promised refunds for the excessive waits, and now has wait times surpassing 5 years in some cases. Forum staff are also concerned as there are claims being put forth that Dollshe plans to close down their doll making company. Due to the instability of the company, the lack of communication, the lack of promised refunds, and the wait times now surpassing 5 years, we strongly urge members to research the current state of this company very carefully and thoroughly before deciding to place an order. For more information please see the Dollshe waiting room. Do not assume this cannot happen to you or that your order will be different.
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  2. Dollshe Craft and all dolls created by Dollshe, including any dolls created under his new or future companies, including Club Coco BJD are now banned from Den of Angels. Dollshe and the sculptor may not advertise his products on this forum. Sales may not be discussed, no news threads may be posted regarding new releases. This ban does not impact any dolls by Dollshe ordered by November 8, 2023. Any dolls ordered after November 8, 2023, regardless of the date the sculpt was released, are banned from this forum as are any dolls released under his new or future companies including but not limited to Club Coco BJD. This ban does not apply to other company dolls cast by Dollshe as part of a casting agreement between him and the actual sculpt or company and those dolls may still be discussed on the forum. Please come to Ask the Moderators if you have any questions.
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People leaving the hobby?

May 3, 2018

    1. Welcome to the hobby! I know a few people in Australia that also collect that are super awesome. If you want their IG names, I’ll give them to you via PM.
       
      • x 1
    2. Instagram definitely became pretty heavy on dolls, but i feel that for information people are still going to DoA.
      You also have to remember that there's plenty of quiet "lurkers" that just read threads, but don't write much. I was one of them for a while ))
      Sharing photos on IG is easy, putting yourself out there is sometimes scary hahah
       
      • x 3
    3. I would love that, thankyou!
       
      • x 1
    4. This is where I am right now. I have been collecting for a while now and I have had many life changes. I went back to college and changed careers. I survived the majority of my neighborhood burning down. Our house was fine. We had exterior smoke damage but everything inside was undamaged. My dolls are kept in a light controlled room, inside glass cases.
      Since graduating college two years ago and starting a very time consuming job I find I don't have time like I did before going back to school. I keep going back and forth. Part of my issue is I would have lost all my dolls during the fires. I didn't have them insured and most are rare and almost impossible to replace. After the fires, I am having an internal struggle of wanting to downsize all my personal items and only keep items that are essential to living.
      I have currently have 16 doll and tons of outfits/eye/wigs/shoes. The thought of having to deal with posting and selling everything is daunting and very distressing. I also really love my dolls but I have no doll friends where I live and if I told people what I paid for my collection they would be disgusted. My current plan is to photograph and document all my doll items and have them insured just in case of another fire or theft. I feel like I could use that money to pay my student loans or for otheIr items. But at the same time I spent so many years and hours planning, buying, saving and paying for my dolls. I feel I have an amazing collection. I also thought I'll just keep the rarest one but I have lots of rare molds. I really only have two I could part with and not regret it but I have 16 so what is the difference?
      I am so torn. I honestly am not sure what to do, so I just keep procrastinating on doing anything because I'm stressed I'll regret my decision and once I sell it all it will be totally over.
       
      • x 2
    5. Perhaps I've missed something, but DoA's activity—at least from my perspective—has more or less remained the same over the past several years.

      This is an expensive, niche, time consuming hobby. It's not easily accessible, nor can it be binged upon without significant financial privilege. Most probably fall into my category: someone with numerous interests and finite income, available only as time allows.

      That's not to say I've given up just because I'm not necessarily active. My dolls are incredibly important to me, full of sentimental value that cannot be replaced. It's very rare that I even go one night without at least one of them watching from my nightstand (Taylor is my little guardian ❤︎).

      On the subject of social networking: I will admit to preferring Instagram for sharing photos, simply because I'm usually not interested in a full shoot; one good photo of my sweeties in their latest attire is more than enough for me. Single shot threads on DoA don't exactly tend to get noticed. Facebook I bailed on several months ago after being a long term user that's watched it decline into a disaster. My mental health is definitely better for it. I don't recall there being tons of doll groups outside of local ones, which, if you're interested in meetups, is probably the best option. I unfortunately didn't have much in common with mine. Nice people, though.

      Tumblr is... a disorganized mess to say the least, and as of a month ago, a disorganized mess that also polices content. No thank you.

      Personally I like it here over most other options. There's a wealth of information, it's active, but not too active, and just generally pleasant all around. I do wish it were easier to network with others, however; I am a very lonely collector in all honesty. :(
       
      • x 4
    6. There are so many platforms that you can use for this hobby I can see this point of view.

      My FB local group discussed something similar to this, a lot of the veterans remember when DOA was invitation only or only had certain periods where it accepted new members which had the potential to shut out newbies if they didn't know much about the hobby (I'm talking over a decade ago mind you).

      Forums are pretty "old school" considering everything.

      Are they a great place to be? Absolutely, but I also had to teach my own sister how to navigate online forums for school even though she's only 4 years my junior.

      Times change and they're ever changing on the internet. Especially with the capability of having it at your literal fingertips (like I am currently because the husband is on the desktop playing FF14).

      DOA is far from a ghost town but I'm still relatively new to DOA forums and am only using knowledge I've gained from other but similar platforms.
       
    7. *Waves*
      Hi! I’m a newbie.
      But it is easier to post and view content on Facebook/Instagram/YouTube.
       
    8. It deffinatly easier to post pictures on instagram. And I was gone for about 6 years! Life got in the way. I do come here often, for research, to hang out in general discussion or to read up on volks news (hi volks discussion thread! lol!) I still see a far amout of old timers around, and im forunate enough that I have a long memory for usernames so when I see people pop up I remmber their dolls and think how nice it is to see them still around. We are still here and this place is still my hobby-home. :)
       
      • x 1
    9. A lot of people share photos on Instagram, I think.
       
    10. I initially started reading this thread from the very beginning but then I admit I just skimmed the last couple pages so I apologize if this has already been stated...

      I've been on the forum since 2006 and I admit I have also complained to friends that it "isn't as active as it used to be" but then I started thinking about it and I think it's actually more active, but the activity is different. More spread out if that makes sense.

      When I first joined DoA there were a lot fewer doll companies so the discussions, and photo sharing, were all much more focused. Anytime anyone posted a "What doll is this?" thread I was most likely going to be able to answer with just a quick glance. Now? I only am able to identify the sculpt maybe 20% of the time because there are just SO SO SOOOO many! There are more companies, the companies have more dolls, so there are more options for people. When I first was researching what doll I wanted it to be my very first (a CP Soony, btw) it was easy to just search for the sculpt and at least a few threads would pop up. Now there is so much variety, most of the dolls I search don't yield the results I want. That plethora of dolls means there are more discussions happening all over, but not everyone can keep up with everything so they probably only look at the discussions that involve dolls they have... or already know about and are considering purchasing.

      My point with this is that the forum is covering a much wider range of dolls so while there are just as many posts happening, they aren't all in response to each other so the threads don't look to get as much activity.

      Also on the "there is just so much!" topic... I took a mini hiatus from the hobby for a few years a couple years ago and when I came back to it I was completely overwhelmed. I felt lost when I saw how many different companies there were, and looking at all the discussion threads going on was completely too much for me at the time. Still though, if I don't know anything about the company I don't tend to look at the discussion threads for dolls they produce. It's a fault of mine and I'm entirely aware of that but because I don't look, I'm missing all of the activity that is happening in that section of the forum so it seems like less activity is going on as a whole.

      What thinking about all of this has taught me is I need to start looking at other threads, even if I don't know much about the dolls being discussed. Maybe I'll learn and get pulled in and find my next perfect doll purchase. I'm also going to start looking at and commenting on gallery threads again. I haven't because I just went "it's not as active as it used to be so why bother?" Well, if everyone is thinking like me it will never be as active as it once was! Time to change that! To the gallery I go...

      (side note: I do love Instagram for browsing doll photos, but there is something special about a well thought out and planned set of photos posted in the gallery.)
       
      • x 4
    11. Well I'm new to DOA and I find the place open my new world. It's so cool!! I just think we need to promote it to our friends. Maybe some social medias like Facebook, Twitter and Ins bring some people leave.
       
    12. I've been a member here since 2005, but I tend to go through phases with online activity. I haven't tried to access my local forum because it was pretty broken the last time I tried, but I always seem to return here at some point. I'm in a couple bjd groups on Facebook, but I haven't had much time to participate in them either (having a baby will do that, I guess). I don't have a measure for activity level, because I fade in and out myself.
       
    13. Hi! I am also a newbie to bjd's...kind of. But not to doll collecting. I've collected fashion dolls for what feels like forever (since 2000!). My collection has gone through change and I added a bjd back in 2006. But then family and work came along and all my dolls got stuck in a closet. So now, after returning to doll collecting, it's face has changed so much. The fashion dolls that I used to collect either no longer interest me (too expensive/ no longer my style), are too hard to get, or the companies have disappeared. So I've turned to my one bjd (yellowed with age, but still wonderful!) and have a couple of new ones on order. So I don't know that people are necessarily disappearing. Maybe interests are changing, some are taking a break and interaction platforms are changing.

      I for one really still love the idea of a forum. I count it as my 'newpaper' on the mornings when I am able to be at home and just relax without any commitments, husbando or children around to interrupt me. DoA has so much information for me to filter through it's like a treasure chest at the end of the rainbow! I really enjoy the pictures, the content and reading what people have to say; I'm so glad this forum still exists (I remember hearing about it back before I took my hiatus in 2006).

      As for pictures, I pretty much suck at posting pictures. Time just is not on my side when it comes to figuring out how to post. I like instagram for that purpose plain and simple. I don't post bjd stuff on Instagram and I don't follow very many bjd people, but the people I do follow provide me with enough enjoyment that I get my happy fix from surfing through their posts.