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

I can imagine myself doing this to a couple of dolls in my collection. If I no longer wanted to play with my resinsoul girl or with my brownie then perhaps they would be retired to be only looked upon occasionally. None of the two would sell for much more than 100 USD and then to me the occasional enjoyment I have of them outweighs the monetary gain if I could eventually get them sold.

My first doll however, if she were to ever be retired, would end up in her own display cabinet somewhere... she was a present from my parents and the doll and I have gone through a lot of identity crises together... so putting her in her box would feel wrong somehow.

So to summarize, to me retiring has to do mostly with the resale value of the doll... I would be more hesitant to retire a doll worth 400 USD than one worth 100 USD.

 

I'm in the process of reshelling one of my girls. Her old body is my first doll, though not my favorite. It's yellowed quite a bit and has white patches of apoxy where I had to repair her knees. I wiped her and gave her a face up for the new character, but have temporarily "retired" her into her box for a few months while I wait on the previous character to arrive in her new shell . She's likely to stay in her box until I get a second one of her size and/or I feel like working on her again.
I think i'm more inclined to temp retire a doll, as it was, I felt having three different sized dolls and a floating head or two was just too much while waiting on the character's new shell. So I put away the old shell and the heads, leaving one tiny anthro and the incoming character's partner out for more focused time. I suppose years out from now I could permanently retire them, but at least three (the pair in particular) would be staying as display dolls.

 

Has anyone else ever "retired" a doll?
--I have one. Though his character has been re-shelled, I know that I got the initial doll because I was in love with the sculpt, and that will never change. So his name managed to change, even though I still refer to him as Keijo all the time XD

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?
--Perfectly fine with it, he's sitting on the shelf with everyone else and when his new shell ever gets here I'll definitely do an awkward photoshoot between the two, because one looks more mature than the other :3

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 don't think it's something that needs to be so hyped with words as a "respectful rite of transition" so much as it's that you're attached to that doll and you don't want to part with it, thus you put it away. I don't practice "entombing" but I do put away neatly those that I want to keep, but don't want out and on display.

 

My dolls do not have preconceived 'characters' that they represent, so I've never felt the need to 'reshell' anything. If a new doll is released that has an aesthetic pleasing to me, I can safely buy it without endangering the place of any other dolls in my home. ^^ As such, I've never had the need to retire a doll, either.

I have had dolls that no longer fit in with the current running 'theme' of my newer ones, but instead of selling them, or otherwise hiding them away (I like my boys to be on display), I will either change their appearance to something more fitting (through and change of face-up, wig, etc) or will relocate them to another cabinet so that they don't clash.

Because of the time, effort and money spent on each of my boys, I do find that I do have an emotional investment in them and it is that very investment which stops me from wanting to set these dolls from my sight. 'Retiring' any of my boys is not even a consideration. That's my sentimentality. ^^

 

I have my dolls set up much like kirika. I buy dolls that I find beautiful, and once I get them home the character building starts. I have never retired a doll, and all of the dolls I have right now are here to stay. I have sold one tiny and an SD head because I just didn't bond with the dolls. Funny enough they were the only two dolls I had a character in mind before I bought them.

 

for me, retiring a doll is if i havent played with it in a couple of years, or just not "feeling the luv" anymore. They either get made into someone else, or gifted to a friend that wants them.

 

I haven't yet had any of my BJDs long enough for this to come up - but I still have my Baby Kathy from my childhood & have NO intentions of selling her (which I could.) For years she resided in a plastic box w/other childhood toys (at my mom's). I did give her to my little girls to play w/when they were little, but then put her up again w/their toys & some of my own, now they are grown.
I foresee most of my dolls being sold at some point (like when I'm sent to that nursing home LOL), but there will be some that I keep & bequeath Especially ones I love that I know will never sell well.

 

I don't intend to ever 'retire' a doll at all myself, but if you still love your doll, there's no reason to part with him.

 

I only have one doll that I feel the way you do about your Amir. My Kid delf ani, which I purchased on the MP second hand, originally only for her body for another kid delf head I had. However, I just...bonded with her when she came in. My step mother had just recently passed very, very, unexpectantly and even though she wasnt my biological mother, I lived with her and grew up with her since I was only a kid, she was family. My ani, Ra, was an unexpectant gift in one of the hardest times of my life. I would just hold her as I cried or if i felt like the grief was overwhelming. She just unexpectantly calmed me. She was and is a very special friend to me, even though she is only resin & not living at all. I could never sell her. I couldn't ever forget that. I've sold many dolls and own many limited and expensive dolls, and Ra being the cheapest is actually the most priceless to me. If she was to break, get lost, or stolen, I could never replace her. It wouldn't ever be the same.
I think this is sweet to see how others can be sentimental.
Living or not, we invest emotions and attachments into things and they became sometimes special part of our hearts.

 

I would definitely retire a doll... I've actually been thinking of doing it with my first doll, since he's in a poor condition and I'd like to reshell his character, but I'm too attached to him to sell him. I, for one, get very emotionally attached to all of my possessions and would probably do this with other things as well...

 

Has anyone else ever "retired" a doll?
I have re-shelled a character but sold the original doll so it's not really the same thing. BUT if I were to re-shell either of my first two dolls, I would totally keep them, I really couldn't bear to lose them. I would too box them up and put them away somewhere.

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 sold them both on, I was sad too see her go, but she was a lovely thing and deserved the attention I just couldn't give her. She now has that. I also had a little relief and excitement that I was starting her from scratch again.
the second was again a shell for the same character, I didn't feel at all sad to see her go, she just wasn't right and I had no emotional attachment to her, it's the character that's important and I needed to get her perfect.
I did keep the original while I made the new version. It's was only when I sold them both that i bought and finished the third and final version.

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 it's up to the owner, I will always care for the first doll I sold, she was with me a long time but I have memories of her and pictures so I don't miss her at all, I don't see her now but when I see pictures of the mould I think fondly of her.

 

This is such a wonderful thread to read .

The reason I have such a huge collection of dolls at this point is that it takes a lot for me to retire them. They get worked on/played with as the mood strikes and if not they are displayed here in what the younger daughter used to call the "Dungeon of Anime" -- I can't bear having them boxed up. And Yuki, here since 2006, says "thank you very much" for that

 

I am thinking of retiring my oldest doll. He'll be 4 years with me come Sept. He has traveled to many places with me, but my last trip I didn't take him to excessive heat on trip and fear he'd be damaged. But if I retire him I also retire his wife, daughters and whole story. So big question do I retire him, then have his family find new homes, new lives or do I just let them all sit on a shelf and ignore them. Hard choice, but with less allowance, meaning more depends on hobby with sales, maybe it would be best so he can be protected and when I decide not to be in hobby anymore he & I can just remember the good old days.

 

Has anyone else ever "retired" a doll?
I never have, but I might consider it only as far as placing it under glass so to speak. I wouldn't sell them.

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 would regret selling them forever! So, I'd buy them a nice outfit, and find a place for them in a nice cabinet when they get too... (old?) for photography.

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?
Depends on the doll I guess. It's a nice thing to do if you've had it for a while, don't want to ruin it, or HAVE to sell it.

 

I actually think that's a very sweet thing to do! I know most of us get attached to our dolls in some way or another, and I think something like this is a wonderful way to remember the fun you had with the old doll! I haven't retired any dolls myself yet, but I definitely would in a case like this.

 

I don't think I could retire a doll. I love mine too much. If I ever found a better mold, I would probably keep the old one.