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"Retiring" a doll....respectful or overly emotional?

Jan 18, 2012

    1. My first doll will never retire. He is 7 years old, my favorite and it's not a matter of character because he is unique and special to me and his character was born after getting the doll so without this specific doll there is no character. His body retired though lol I got him a new body 3 years a go and I will get him a new face up in a few months. Can't stand the thought of selling my kyoshi or putting away in a box. After all the dolls I've had (many have been sold) he is the only one that feels real to me and the only one who evokes feelings of love from me. <3
       
    2. I really think this is up to the owner. Some people are sentimental and some are not. I would think of keeping an old doll the same way I would think of someone keeping a tattered teddy bear from childhood. If it brings good memories, why not? Though, I would/will try to make my old dolls look as nice as possible or as close to their original look as possible then incase them in glass. XD
       
    3. This has to be the sweetest thing I have read thus far on DoA, or even this week in general. I think its cute to retire a doll that you love so much that you can't part with him or her. I might just end up doing that, too, someday. It really does depend on how attached you are and what your views on your dolls are.
       
    4. I would have to keep a couple even if I got rid of all the rest. They mean so SO much to me. They were there before this hobby existed. One "is" my best friend when I have no one else to turn too, and the other "is" me, just in male form. (And a bit cooler, lol) Those two will never go.
       
    5. I can relate to this entirely! My VERY first doll is a minifee woosoo on an older b-line body, in normal skin, named Arcanis, and even though there are way better minifee bodies out now, I just could never sell him, or even reshell him. There are a lot of good memories that I have with him, and still to this day I have to admit he is my favorite. That face of his.... it's just too cute. I don't think I ever could sell him either. I got him back in late 2008, so he's going on four years now. And since then many dolls have came and gone, but not him. I don't think selling him as ever even crossed my mind.. haha. But he is in really good condition, as I like to look at my dolls more than handle them. But when I first got him he was definitely the one I handled the most. He hasn't yellowed or anything much either, at least compared to my newer minifee chloe. So that's a plus. He is ALWAYS the doll that is chosen first to go with me to meets and stuff. Arcanis definitely has a very special place in my heart, and when the time came, I think I would just sort of sit him on a shelf somewhere and admire him from afar, than ever sell him. He is also sort of an experiment for me, because he s my oldest doll, and I can see how age takes a toll on them. But, he has aged well...lol

      Has anyone else ever "retired" a doll?
      I have sold dolls I haven't had any need or use for, but as for retiring one, I haven't had to yet...

      If you upgraded or reshelled a much loved doll, what did you do with the old doll? Did you keep it or sell it? Do you regret it or are you okay with it?

      I have once reshelled a character from a Luts Delf Soony, to a minifee Chloe, and yeah, the Soony did end up being quickly sold. I did regret selling her for a while, as I still really love the Soony sculpt, but over time I got over it because the size just wasn't for me. And honestly, she looks pretty comical with those HUGE eyes next to other dolls, that are more realistic looking... haha.

      Is it a respectful rite of transition to keep a bond or is it being overly sentimental and emotional to want to keep an old doll (that obviously has no feelings on the matter) you don't use anymore?

      I think of it more as a respectful rite, then being overly sentimental, but then again, I still have one of my childhood plushies, a stuffed duck, named "Luck Ducky." And the little guy has been through it too. He's not called lucky for nothing! I must have lost him 100 times as a kid. And recovered him each time. He even had a bad outing with a dog, when I was like 6, and had to get some "stitches." But he is retired in a cedar chest, and I bring him out now and then just for nostalgia's sake. I imagine with how sentimental I am, that Arcanis will one day get the same treatment.
       
    6. The only way I see myself retiring a doll is if I decide to no longer be active in the hobby. There are a couple dolls I intend to keep regardless, because I've always regretted not keeping at least a few of my childhood toys, so I think I'd regret it if I didn't keep a couple of my BJD later in life, too.

      To date, though, I've re-homed every doll with which I no longer feel any connection. In my current living situation, I have limited storage space and a very damp basement, so the dolls that I want to keep stay out.
       
    7. This. I was so touched to hear this story today I sat in front of my monitor teary eyed. And I am NOT an emotional person. I just have very heavy attachments to things that I love and that have served me and brought me so much joy. I think when my first boys begins to wear, I'll probably do something similar as I could NEVER sell him. He'll always hold special place in my heart and so in turn, I don't feel
      that you are being over emotional, but someone who really deserved your dolls and appreciate the joy
      they brought to you :).
       
    8. Wow! I never thought I'd see you retire Amir! That is quite shocking to me!

      I suppose it would depend on the doll, really. For example, I had no qualms with just disassembling and storing away my one-armed Obitsu 11 or Dollzone Nono. However, it has been far more difficult for me to do the same with my DZ Fei. I put him up for sale, took him down, and then stored him away for a few months. I was pretty content with just leaving him there, but soon, I realized that wasn't really fair to him. So, I traded him off (well, I ship him off tomorrow). So, I guess I know now that if I am not going to use them it is best for them if I give them up. Though, I doubt anyone will want the Nono and Obitsu... @_@
       
    9. I've been thinning out my crew so that I can rebuild my doll family in a way that is more reflective of my current tastes. That has meant needing to make some difficult decisions about some dolls that I genuinely really like. I have sold a few, and the rest are boxed up waiting to be sold. Once I've made the decision that I no longer want them in my doll family, I really want to move them on to a new home where they can be enjoyed by someone else.
       
    10. I am too new to BJD-owning to say anything really sensible (I mean, two months ago I said I was doubting that I'd ever get a fourth doll, and two days ago I ordered my fifth, so...) about retiring dolls, but I have very hard time imagining that if I gave a character another shell, I'd do away with the old one. I'm someone who has trouble parting with junk, let alone things that need replacing because they are old and worn and got to be that way because they were used intensively (thinking of a favourite pair of shoes here - they are irrepairable, but I can't throw them away). The idea of "retiring" a doll is a very lovely and understandable thing to me. After all, whereas I do choose my dolls in function of my characters, I find that the sculpts do influence the way I picture the characters, so they really become a part of them.

      Oh gosh. Of course, at this point I can't even imagining that any other doll than their current sculpts could be Gwalchmei, Morgana or Gawain XD.
       
    11. So far when reshelling I have not had problems selling the old sculpt rather than holding onto it. The way I see it the character "moves" into the new doll and my connection moves with it. There are a few dolls that could never be reshelled and if I ever got out of the hobby I would not sell them. I'd keep them like other old sentimental possessions. I would retire them and keep them carefully. I call them my "Top Three" dolls though really it's more like my top six.
       
    12. I could definitely see myself doing this. There was an unfortunate point in my life where I lost most of my possessions, including some dolls and precious things from my childhood. With that looming over my head, I've become quite attached to certain things lately. I don't think I could ever sell my dolls. Retire them, yes.
       
    13. Well...the character Amir is still very much alive and well! He's just in a bigger doll now. :) I think I'd have to totally lose it before giving up the character. He's been through too much. :P Same with Loki.
       
    14. I don't know if I would term my original dolls 'retired', because they represent (for me) the younger versions of two particular characters, who then 'grew' to their larger forms. All of them still get played with, so I can't really think of them as retired, just parallel incarnations. (Clearly, reading Marvel comics as a kid taught me that timelines and ages are fluid things. :D)
       
    15. hmmm well i have never upgraded or reshelled any of my characters. and I do not see myself doing either in the foreseeable future.

      But I could imagine wanting to hold on to the original doll.
       
    16. I've reshelled a couple of characters. One of the older dolls I passed along to someone else; but I kept the head of the second doll -- an old Lahoo. Even though he's no longer "the character", I have a lot of affection for that doll and I may someday put him on a body and just enjoy him as a doll, rather than the embodiment of a particular character.
       
    17. At first I thought this was a silly idea, as I try not to keep anything I can get rid of since I live in an apartment and space is limited, and I could sell any doll that isn't getting enough attention to make keeping it worthwhile.
      Then I realized that for some people with more space, yes, this is an option. I guess if I were to do it, I'd get a big glass cabinet and turn the doll into a "shelf baby", dressed in a body stocking and its very nicest clothes in a nice shady corner of the room to be admired as home decor instead of handled and played with as a doll. That way it would still serve a lovely purpose even if I wasn't exactly using it in my hobby play anymore.
       
    18. I'm planning on eventually retiring my tinies into some interesting new character that can stay weenie forever, like a fairy, a gnome, something like that. I think that it's sort of like keeping your favorite, treasured cuddle toy or blanket from childhood. It's a little of both really. It's respectful and emotional but being overly emotional isn't a bad thing, imho. As long as the doll is taken care of and it makes you happy to have it around, go for it.
       
    19. Has anyone else ever "retired" a doll?
      I haven't. I hadn't even heard about such thing before. But now that I HAVE heard about it... I can understand it.

      If you upgraded or reshelled a much loved doll, what did you do with the old doll? Did you keep it or sell it? Do you regret it or are you okay with it?
      I don't have such strong characters for my dolls, so I haven't re-shelled a doll... So I suppose in my case this scenario won't happen. But it's close when an older doll isn't quite as loved and played with as before--but is still loved too much to just sell. It hasn't happened to me yet! I still try and keep most of my dolls played with... but I can see how it might happen...

      Is it a respectful rite of transition to keep a bond or is it being overly sentimental and emotional to want to keep an old doll (that obviously has no feelings on the matter) you don't use anymore?
      Hey, they are your dolls! You must do what makes you most happy.

      I think it's rather sweet (or a bit bitter-sweet), really. I don't think it's extreme at all.
       
    20. About a year ago I re-shelled my first SD size doll. His original form was fairly heavily modded. Well, the head I just gave elf ears but the body I modded to have a three piece instead of two piece torso and I gave it swivel joints in the thighs. I can't imagine it would sell well on the secondary market and even if it could I don't know if I'd go for it. So he's sort of semi-retired, sitting around on a shelf in spare clothes, eyes, and a wig. I kept him in a drawer for a long time after the whole re-shelling deal, but I found that I missed being able to occasionally look at him.. and since I was keeping him anyway, I figured I might as well let him get some air.