What if you lost interest in your dolls or the hobby???

I take breaks every once and a while, usually when I'm busy or wrapped up in other things (like moving, or making a quilt, or school or getting married or what have you). I've always just packed up my dolls carefully and put them up in the closet until I have a chance to bring them down again. Sometimes they are packed away for a few weeks, sometimes for a few months, but I always bring them out again. I can't see the future so I don't know if things will change for me but right now this is what works. I have no plans to sell off my collection any time soon.

 

I, too, have lost interest in some of my dolls. I've just sold them to get better shells for the characters I have, and that's basically it. ^^ But if I were to lose interest in dolls in general, well, then I'd lose all interest, and I'd just sell them away. I know it sounds harsh, but I wouldn't want to hold on to them if there was no possibility of me continuing the hobby. Someone else might find use for the dolls that I wouldn't need anymore. ^^

 

Sell them sooo fast!! When things I collect no longer make me happy they are SOLD SOLD SOLD! lol

 

I would most likely to keep my dolls, and wait to interest to them spark once more. I have history (from other hobbies) about that: longish perioids, when the hobby feels just not interesting, but after a some time it will get better. And it would be sad to get re-sparkerd interest in dolls just to find that I have sold them away.

 

So... I did a search and couldn't find anything about this, but I'm pretty sure it didn't bring up all the related results, so if it's a copy, mods please delete and redirect me...

Lately I've been debating whether or not I should leave the hobby in pursuit of a minimalist lifestyle. Sometimes it just gets really hard for me to justify having $600+ pieces of plastic. Although I like them... I feel like they might not bring me enough happiness to keep them, and I'm beginning to dislike the idea of being attached to material items, despite that being the way our culture raises us. It's difficult, though, because my thought process has changed sort of suddenly and it was just about a month ago that I was buying tons of new clothes and dolls.

I often see the "leaving the hobby sale" posts in the marketplace and always wonder what those sellers' reasons are behind permanently abandoning their dolls completely. So my questions are:

Have you ever considered leaving the hobby?
What was your reasoning behind it, and why did you end up deciding against it?
Do you think you ever would leave the hobby? Why/why not?
How do you, personally, morally justify having such expensive items?

Thanks guys

 

Honestly, I had a similar conversation with myself before I got involved in the hobby.
I had my fist doll, and I thought "I definitely should not buy any more of these. They are ridiculously expensive, and even though I really like them, I know that I will lose interest eventually, and that I will probably bakrupt myself in the process." I'm a preschool teacher and a theater director, and neither of those two jobs makes enough money to justify an expensive hobby.
Honestly, though, in the end, I decided to stick with it, because I discovered that I really use my dolls for a number of the things that bring me joy. I write stories about them, which I love. I take photographs of them, and this helps me to improve my photographic skilll. Both of my jobs require me to take and post regular photos, so that's actually helping me out a lot in that respect. I also occasionally sew for my dolls, which gets me practice, um, sewing, and again, people in theater have to know how to sew and create costume pieces.
in the end, I discovered a number of ways that I used my dolls to actual improve my overal lifestyle, or to practice skills. It's more than likely that I stretched it a little and am working very hard to justify this hobby, but I'm comfortable and satisfied with the choices I've made.

That said, take care of yourself. If you need to leave the hobby in order to help you manage funds, please do what is best and healthiest for you. After all, if you win the lottery one day, or make it big and want to come back, there's no reason why you can't, right? You could always just take a hiatus for financial reasons.

 

I have been contemplating leaving the bjd hobby lately. I really enjoy owning the dolls, dressing them, changing their wigs and eyes, but I don't really do anything else with them. I like taking photos of them, but when I post photos, nobody really responds, except for a couple of people who I know well and who know I get upset when nobody bothers with the photos I've taken. I've put a couple of my dolls up for sale, and think I plan on a bjd hiatus. Lately my eyes have been drawn to another kind of doll, so I may just give them a chance. As has been said, there's nothing saying I can't jump right back into the hobby if I want.

 

Have you ever considered leaving the hobby?
yes... well, I actually somewhat did for 4 years, but during that time i often heavily considered selling all of my dolls and all of their stuff and leaving for good...

What was your reasoning behind it, and why did you end up deciding against it?
I was doing absolutely nothing with them and felt no interest them and I thought i was completely done with it and I'd get so sad when I thought about them sitting in their boxes after i spent so much money, time, and effort on them... and the closer I got to graduating highschool I got really scared about money and being able to afford college, and it got even worse when my previous college plans went belly up during clutch time for figuring that stuff out. I guess I just ended up not doing it because I never got around to it... thankfully everything worked out and now I've fallen back in love with the hobby and I've gotten myself a full ride to college and i don't have to pawn off all my dolls for college money, so I'm glad I waited it out.

Do you think you ever would leave the hobby? Why/why not?
well now that I've refound my interest in it of course I feel like I'm gonna be in it forever, just like i felt last time, but who can say for sure I won't lose interest again... now that i'm older and have experienced more and been through that hiatus I feel like I can commit to it better, though, and pace myself better and just take it easy with the hobby, as opposed to the first-love rush I was experiencing when I first got into it which fizzled out so easily...

How do you, personally, morally justify having such expensive items?
I can honestly say I don't feel the need to justify it to myself or anyone, at least not in terms of money... I think they're a great creative outlet and the community is fun, and they've always been really therapeutic to me for some reason, but at the end of the day I just like them... I can be impulsive, but I do have limits and I trust myself to not spend money I don't have or money that I do have but need for necessities... as long as you're spending your own money and not putting your dolls before your needs or other peoples needs, then there's nothing wrong with buying and owning luxury items.

I do like what arimoriarty said, that if you need to leave the hobby to get to a more comfortable place financially or if you just need to put it aside for other reasons, then it's ok to do so, because you can always come back if you want.

 

1. Hmm, I haven't contemplated on leaving the BJD hobby because I'm pretty new to this, but I've contemplated to leave the hobby for this other doll type.
2. Usually it's because I haven't been spending too much time with them and they're kinda just sitting there on my table.. but when I do play with them again, I'd change my mind about leaving again ^^;;;;
3. Not completely, at most I think I'm just going to slow things down a whole lot more (most likely I won't get new dolls but I will still buy clothes occasionally for the ones I already have) - and it's because the dolls have their own sentimental value ! I mean didn't we pick them out ourselves ? x)
4. I justify myself by cutting down on the other stuff I could've bought with the money, and that they make me happy !

 

Have you ever considered leaving the hobby?
Yes and I actually did for about four years.

What was your reasoning behind it, and why did you end up deciding against it?
At first it was because I got busy. I was at university, living at the dorms, and my dolls were at home. I never really wanted to come home because I was enjoying college life and when that faded and (for very many reasons) I dropped out, I just wasn't interested anymore. During that time, I also began a long, gradual process of purging my possessions in pursuit of a more minimalist lifestyle. I sold off all of the dolls I had never bonded well with (going from 6 to 2) and I never thought I would come back. Then I quit my call center job in November to try to make a living doing things from home. After spending a few months trying different things that didn't work out, I followed my mom's advice and started focusing my efforts on selling on eBay. My mom makes a modest income flipping vintage Barbies, and she taught me how to do the same. Working with Barbies revived my love of dolls, so here I am. I'm still pursuing a somewhat minimalist lifestyle, but I definitely don't have plans of going hardcore at it. My dream is an open, airy place where I can display the things that bring me joy (dolls, plants, art), while having little of the things that don't (meaningless clutter).

Do you think you ever would leave the hobby? Why/why not?
I don't know; I've learned that I can't really predict how I'll change. I used to think I'd be super into anime forever, but now I just watch a little here and there. I used to think I would never, ever sell any of my dolls (there are actually old posts on here where I say that, haha!) and here I am, 4 dolls short of where I used to be. I don't know what will happen, but I accept that I'll do whatever makes me happiest at the time.

How do you, personally, morally justify having such expensive items?
They bring me joy. I can't justify the heaps of stuff I have (still in the long downsizing process) that doesn't and that's what I have a problem with.

Minimalism has its levels. Other than the most hardcore people in the lifestyle, most will agree that minimalism looks different for everyone. Downsize the areas of your life that don't mean as much to you and hang onto the parts that do. I would really wait before selling your dolls, though. It took me a while to part with mine because I wanted to be sure that I was making the right decision. Of course I can go buy another Puki again if I want one, but I will probably never get a chance to get my Puki back, you know? I'm comfortable with the decision to part with her, but it took me a while before I was sure of it. If you decide that parting with them is the right path for you, then go for it, but know that things change.

 

i have, or kind of, i dont follow it as much as i did or i dont feel the urge to continually shop for new items or look for new stuff.

for me its mostly a financial decision, cant justify $700 for a piece of plastic, although there is still dolls i would like to own one day.

i feel a lot of attachment to my DD's because of my love for anime and one day i want to take them to an anime con, i'd never sell them.

 

Have you ever considered leaving the hobby?
Yes, and I did for two years.

What was your reasoning behind it, and why did you end up deciding against it?
Mostly I was just losing interest. I went on a bit of a buying spree and had a lot of dolls at one point. I didn't even have names or wigs for all of them. It's funner when you can focus on one and having so many unfinished dolls just made it seem like a hassle. I don't think I really decided against it. I moved a lot near the end and after college and my dolls stayed packed away. It was a hassle to have them out and I had stopped going on Flickr and forums at that point. I came back after 2 years because I wandered back onto Flickr and looking at pictures made me want to get out my dolls again.

I don't think you need to worry about keeping your interest in the hobby. Interests come and go. If you feel bleh over your dolls then don't force yourself to play with them. Display them or pack them away. I pick back up knitting every few years and when I get bored of that I don't go, "Ok, I'm done with knitting for good" and throw away all my needles and yarn away right? I think dolls are the same. I'm not going to sell all my dolls because I've temporarily lost interest.

Do you think you ever would leave the hobby? Why/why not?
I can probably see myself quitting for an extended period if I get married and have kids. This is mostly because I will have other things to focus on and that is ok. But I can see myself picking back up the hobby years down the line.

How do you, personally, morally justify having such expensive items?
If I try to justify it then they just feel like excuses. Mostly I just say to myself that I can afford it and I can resell it for almost the same price if needed. We didn't have much money growing up so the only real justifiable purchases for me are things I actually need. Expensive want based purchases always come with buyers guilt lol.

 

(If there's a similar thread, please direct me to it. I looked, but didn't see one...)

Are any of you losing interest in the hobby? Or did you lose interest but then become more involved again? I'd love to hear your stories!

As for me, I've been losing interest in my dolls lately. It's been a slow process. I really love them and the way they look, but it feels like I have so many that I can't give them all the attention I want to (monetarily or time-wise). Thus, I do nothing with any of them. This inactivity leads me to want to sell some, both to free up the funds and to give me fewer dolls to pamper. But...I can't imagine who I would sell; I worry I'll miss them once they're gone...

Is there hope for me? What do you think?

 

I've gone through this with my other off topic dolls and I've always come back to them later on. Sometimes I move onto a different type of doll for a while bit something will bring me back eventually - maybe a great new release or a new doll book or just looking at my old photos. I wouldn't worry about it :-)

 

One great thing about this hobby is the resale. I've sold all my dolls and only kept my volks. I did lose money on some but I had lots of fun in the process. I'm glad I sold mine. It would have been a shame all that money sitting if I wasn't enjoying them really. Do what's right for you. I'm happy with my one girl. Some people might not be though which is ok too)

 

When it was harder for me to find doll funds, I had a hard time wanting to do anything with my doll. He sat on my dresser not doing anything for ever, but then I started back on DOA and I found one of my favorite sculpts (which they no longer make) on the MP for a really good price. I was so excited that I contacted the seller right away. Since earning money for dolls became easier, I got way more into the hobby. Sometimes, all you need is to spend some time away from the hobby, and then things start going your way.

 

When I first got int the hobby I was only just out of high school. I joined DOA, and my mum bought me my first doll for Christmas. I loved him but I felt so guilty about spending MORE money on getting him wigs and eyes and stuff that I began to drift out of the hobby. My boy mostly just sat in a box for YEARS. I thought about selling him many times, but I just couldn't do it.

I'm older and more settled now, and I can afford this sort of hobby much better and the customization aspect doesn't intimidate me as much as it used to. I'm now waiting on my second doll, and a whole bunch of accessories for my first boy! My dolly tastes has changed a lot since I first found out about these dolls, but I'm still glad I didn't sell him.

 

My interests tend to come and go with my dolls. I have limited space lately, so only the two that I've been playing with are out of their boxes. The others are all put away for now. Though it annoys me to have them put away because of space issues (and because I had JUST invested in nice stands for display before I had to condense space again a few months ago), it doesn't bother me too much. So while the others stay safe I can focus on just the ones that I have out. I have thought about selling and all, but I think I'm just going to wait it out.

Sometimes the hobby either starts to feel overwhelming or consuming, and you have to back out for a while to reinvigorate yourself. I've stepped a good ways back from the community for now as I really just don't have the time to put into things right now. I really miss doll meets but my schedule isn't so conductive to going to them. I'm hoping some things will change soon and I'll be able to freely spend more time again.

 

I left the hobby for 2 years. Not because I was losing interest but just because there was a lot of stuff going on. I had just graduated college and had to move and start a new job. I moved several times and each time it was a hassle to unpack my dolls because I had the feeling I would be moving again. I thought I was over the hobby for good until I wandered back onto Flickr and started looking at pictures again. Really I don't think you can expect to stay interested in any hobby forever. I feel like interests will come and go and there's no need to feel bad or guilty over it. I wouldn't sell any of your dolls unless you really need the funds though. I've seen people who just purge their entire collection stating that they are "over" the hobby and I can't help but wonder if they will regret that 2-3 years down the line.

 

I lose interest and get busy once in a while but I always come back to them. I have sold some vintage dolls but I have been unable to part with any BJD's.