Regretting Getting Involved in BJDs?

Yes, I regret it an awful lot...mostly because I've bought so many dolls and doll stuff over the past several years that I haven't ended up keeping and it has become a constant disappointment. I've lost too much money on resales as well. And as other people have mentioned, I've noticed the focus on dolls has come at a detriment to my other hobbies. I think I've drawn two pictures so far this year and I can't remember when I last wrote something.

I'm honestly not sure why I'm still buying dolls at this point. I know that the last three I bought (on impulse) will just be resold when they arrive.

I'm thinking my next doll purchase should be very carefully considered, and also my last.

 

For a while, I regretted the hobby. I was unable to find a job and just in a general down area, so I felt very disconnected with my dolls. I even toyed with the thought of selling them. The money I have spent is ridiculous. I'm only 20 and have a part time job, but I make decent money for my age. But I think of all the things I could have bought (a new car, for example) but instead, my money had gone to dolls.

Then again, I have always lived in excess. I really love to spoil myself and like expensive things. I was this way even as an early teen, saving my money for a small designer bag. So whenever I start to worry over my money, I just think that it would have gone to something else anyway. I used to buy purses and shoes before I discovered BJDs. I barely even have room for my current ones, so I'm a bit glad I found something else to spend my money on!

Plus, my girls make me so happy. They are almost extensions of myself. I view them as art and my stylizing them as an artistic outlet. They have brought me back my creativity in hair styling and crafting. I am doing my best not to impulse buy anymore, so I will have more spare money for things I want, as where earlier this year I didn't even have spare money for a cup of coffee. That's what I regret! But now I am learning control as I have aqquired most of my dream dolls, so I can focus on loving them, rather than needing the newest thing.

So when I really think about it, no. I have never and will never truly regret my dolls.

 

In all honesty, I don't regret getting into this hobby at all. Yeah, I often look at the amount I'm spending on them and cringe a bit, but I do not necessarily regret it. These dolls have brought me so much happiness, happiness I haven't felt in a long time. I know they're material objects, but wow, the doors they opened up for me.

I've had depression ever since I was a child and have been in therapy since I was nine. I had trouble opening up to people, attaching to people, and so forth. I was quite the recluse. Creative outlets were my only form of letting out my feelings, since I did not know how to verbally express myself. Then eventually I got depressed to the point I couldn't bring myself to do that anymore. However, I got my first BJD when I was sixteen, and according to my mother, I've been a happier person since then. Yeah, I've had ups and downs, but that comes with clinical depression, but since becoming involved in this hobby, I've seen improvements in myself. Through these dolls, I've allowed myself to feel safe enough to form bonds with them, which is beginning to extend to, you know, people. I opened up socially, and my creative muses have returned.

And as for the people in my life who don't understand it, oh well. I'm not gonna let that get me down. (Hey look, that's another thing they've helped me with!)

 

I regret everything eventually. It is, apparently, my natural reaction to life. But it's usually true that the regretting what I didn't do is worse than the regretting what I did, yeah.

 

No regrets yet, for I've only just started collecting BJDs.

However, from my collecting figurative art pieces, OOAK artist baby dolls and teddy bears, I have no illusions that some regret/doubt will come in due course, probably due to having poured a substantial amount of money into a doll that doesn't hold its price on the secondary market.

The occasional disappointment and the lack of understanding from my entourage has not yet stopped me from buying new dolls. I know now that collecting them will be a lifelong passion - or addiction as the sceptics would rather call it.

 

This sums up nicely what I am feeling right now in regards to the hobby. I need to get out, but when I made the last ditch effort to sell most of what I had, something new was released and I caved in.

 

I think sometimes I do feel some regret. but it's mostly at all the drama. (malvinas is gonna smack me for saying that... XD) normally I love drama, but drama that I create with my dolls. not the drama created by other people being jerks. Especially from people taking other people's doll ideas. It just irks me. it's sad. but then I look at my girls and i'm fine again. a lot of the time, I find it hard to justify spending so much money on them. I mean, other than my daughter (who's clothes are really super inexpensive and easy to replace) I don't spend much on clothing for myself, but then I really want to get my girls some jeans that actually fit them well. I make clothes for them, but I'm not exactly perfect or great at it. lol. however, if I won't spend over 10 bucks on my pants, how can I justify 40-70 bucks on jeans for just 1 of them??? but that's just my lot. like I said, I just look at my girls and I'm fine again.

 

I dont regret getting into the hobby, but i hate the feeling when you miss out on a limited sculpt
other than that- its the best hobby ever!!!

 

Vengez&Pinkplushii - I can relate to you guys on so many levels..its scary....

 

Riven - Sounds like we need a support group! I am sure we will all learn to control ourselves and live without regret in this hobby.

 

Honestly I do not regret it. I have been collecting for four and a half years and I only have 3 dolls (no floating heads). I am certainly not saying that I do not want more dolls...I do, but I know that I cannot be financially stable if I buy too many. So I think I do not regret anything because I limit my spending habits. If I want something I wait until it goes on sale or if I know I have made some extra money. That does not mean my dolls have crappy things but they do not have everything either. I like to sew and I sew often so it is beneficial to me (though I find sewing doll clothes much harder, of course). Also I am happy because it is something my husband and I share. He likes dolls too, so we enjoy it together. And as a side note it helps me with my photography.
I think I would regret it if I did not watch what I spent and bought a lot of things all the time. I would feel miserable because I could not do anything for myself but my inanimate dolls would have everything. It is just not practical.
All in all, I love the hobby and I have not regretted anything about it to this point.

 

More than I think, I quite regret to entered in the hobby. A little employed, with a little salary, so what the hell I'm doing with a Beryl, Amber and others ?! I'm feeling bad for my colleagues who finish very bad the months. Also, I've got some problems with BJD meetings, because yes it's true, I'm not a super cultured person/awesome BJD customer. I think I don't fit to BJD hobby. I've stop to go at meetings and now, I post less and less in my original forum. Since two years, I tried to make-up and... it's always horrible, erf. Quite frustrating. >_<

 

I love my dolls and don't regret the hobby, but sometimes I do feel guilty. Even some of friends tell me that they're a waste of time and money and I shouldn't be buying them. Sometimes I start to wonder if I should be spending my money and time on something else. But I figure that it's my money to do what I want, and if it's a hobby that I truly enjoy then there's nothing wrong with being happy. If I didn't buy dolls, then the money would probably go to video games just as quickly. Most people have their "thing they spend money on", and mine just happens to be dolls. I'm not asking everyone I meet to agree with me, just to respect my opinion.

 

I have a love for my dolls and I think I always will. I probably made a few bad decisions here and there and had a few mishaps...But I can't just say "Oh let's start over!" and sell every one of my dolls to buy others. I would probably miss my dolls if I sold them. People who aren't in this hobby probably doesn't understand why I would spend so much money on them...But I don't understand why they spend so much money on hockey memorabilia. It works out, and no one can make me regret my dolls. In fact I often wonder what I'd be into if I didn't have this artistic outlet.

 

I don't ever regret my dolls, but I do dislike and regret some aspects of the hobby. Every hobby has its nasty people, but nasty doll-people seem to be more noisy and vitriolic than most. I'm a neurotic Libra and tend to get very upset by conflict and aggravation, so this doesn't sit very well with me. When I'm doing something fun and beautiful and creative, such as my dolls, I don't want to associate it with these nasty people! Also, the amount of doll people whose characters are crazy Mary Sues is just completely out of whack. God-modding, Mary Sue-age, stupid dramarama... these are all negative parts of the hobby, or rather, interacting with some other people in the hobby.
It comes down to being able to seperate the bad bits of THE hobby in general (people you don't want to meet or talk to) and YOUR personal hobby. When you can do that, then you end up much stronger and in control of yourself and your hobby.
At the end of the day, I adore my dolls. I keep my spending under control and can afford what I have. I love my dolls, their characters and everything about them, so the only thing I regret is down to flesh and blood people, not resin.

 

Wow, I didn't know that having a Mary Sue or mini-me sort of doll was such a crime in this scene. Seems to me like it's a more common than uncommon modification and/or character choice. What's wrong with it, per se?

 

I regret not having the time I wanted to have to spend working with/on them. This isn't really regretting the dolls, though, or getting involved with them in the first place -- certain aspects of my life changed dramatically between the first I bought and now. I don't regret those changes, either, but they certainly have had an impact on my time.

There are things that irritate me about the hobby, and plenty of them, but they don't lead to regret. I tend to find that's the case with everything in life, though -- that you have to take the good with the bad or you end up with a whole lot of nothin'.

 

I also have to quote this and question what you mean.
I had never heard of Mary Sue character before since it is not a term we use in Sweden. After a quick Google search, if I understood it correctly, a Mary Sue is an over idealised character who is simply too good to be true?
So people who dream up too good to be true characters and attach them to their dolls are doing something negative? Isn't that one of the good things about this hobby? That you can fantasize and forget about the real world for a while?
Also... what does God-modding mean?

To answer the OP's question, no I have never regretted getting in to this hobby.
I have made some mistakes within the hobby though. Sold or bought some dolls that I regretted or getting clothes and wigs that did not fit etc but that is not something I lose sleep over. I just try to learn from those mistakes and move on.
I have had way too much fun with my dolls and their characters, met wonderful people and learned new ways to express myself creatively too ever regret getting in to this hobby.

 

Oh, I see!
Thank you for explaining that! I know very little about roleplaying.