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

Aww, I don't think you should worry about it too much! Of course, I only have one boy and I've only had him since last summer, so I guess I'm not really qualified to give too much advice... but I did have to take kind of a hiatus from the hobby while I was still in school, and I just had my boy sit on my shelf while I enjoyed how he looked. I didn't do faceups or take pictures much during that time, but it still made me happy to have him around, even though I wasn't really motivated to do much with him! If that's how you feel, then there's a good chance you'll regain some interest when you have more time, I think. And if you really feel you have too many dolls... I don't think you should rush into selling any of them, but think about it for a while, maybe put up some feeler threads/posts? Maybe that would help you figure it out.

 

I drifted out of the hobby for almost four years. First I was too busy, then I moved into an apartment that reeked of the previous tenant's cats (we could not get rid of the smell) so I kept my dolls stored at my parents' house. When we moved into our new apartment, I wanted to bring them home, but I just didn't for a while. After spending a couple months doing odds and ends to keep afloat (quit my job in the fall and wanted to try to do something from home), my mom talked me into reselling vintage dolls on eBay to earn a living. Spending time with those dolls made me miss my BJDs, so I brought them all home & got involved again.

While I was out of the hobby I sold 5 dolls. I hadn't bonded with them, so I don't miss them for that reason, but had I known I would be coming back, I might have tried harder to make them work. I have a general cast of characters I want dolls of (very general, like a "badass girl" and a "silly dude" among others) and it's kinda frustrating that I've been in the hobby for over 6 years and haven't assembled that cast yet. That's just how it goes sometimes, though, and now I can try to eventually bring dolls home that will fit the roles better :3

I would really hold off on selling others, because you don't want to regret it down the line. Yeah, you can probably buy another doll of the same sculpt, but you likely won't be able to get your doll back.

 

It's not so much that I lose interest as I tend to drift from collecting one kind of doll for a while to another and leave projects unfinished for a while. Right now I've got several projects going that I started with non-BJD dolls that I put on hold to work on my BJD's. Eventually it will be their turn again. It all cycles around at some point. Right now I'm more into the BJD's than anything else, but that doesn't mean I don't still love my other dolls. It's just that I'm in a different phase of collecting and working with resin dolls instead of with the plastic or vinyl ones. Even with being so absorbed with resin I've not completely forgone collecting other dolls. I still buy the odd Mattel doll once in a while. What has really suffered is my collecting 16" fashion dolls. Resin has almost completely replaced buying anything new from Tonner and the like. I just don't have money for both and my BJD's are far more important right now. I rarely fall completely out of collecting any doll. If I like a doll enough to collect it in the first place I generally will retain interest and keep on collecting it at least until I consider a collection complete.

 

I lost interest a few years ago, but now I'm interested again.

 

I had a 3year break from dolls because real life became too busy and I just didn't have time for them anymore.
I gotta say that break did me good as I now have everything to rediscover
Taking a break and focus on other interests is not a bad thing, it can help you reignite your love for dolls.

 

I got into the hobby a few years back and then i lost interest when i got too busy with school and work. I did have points where i thought i should sell them, one of my doll collecting friends also lost interest and was selling hers. But i could not bring myself to sell my boys so i figured i'd keep them but i did not do anything with them. I recently graduated from school and i had more time to look at my dolls and play with them a bit.. i came back to DOA and i slowly got back into the hobby. I have since added 3 more dolls to my collection. I am still not completely into the hobby compared to other people, but i do enjoy them. its hard not to buy more dolls as you see some cute sculpts get released. xD

 

For some it may be a loss of interest in wading through such a massive hobby, which for myself feels overcrowded with interests so removed from my own. But that is neither here nor there, and simply the way the market has turned.

I still have my dolls, I simply take things a lot slower with them.

 

I've been around since 2004 and I've seen many people come and go. Some lose interest for a short time, then come back. Some stay away for a long time and sort of come back and dabble, but don't get as involved as much as before. Some leave for good.

I think it all depends on the person and what they are doing in life at the time. Sometimes they just get too busy with other things and can't spare the time. Sometimes they just grow tired of bjds.

People DO come back. Some people drift in and out a lot! It really depends!

But if a person doesn't want to give up entirely, they probably will come back.

 

I come back to the hobby every few months; I have many other hobbies as well, so I just naturally rotate them depending on what I'm excited about.

 

I get unintrested for a while but then I get back into it, lately I think I just want to keep just one, However I do love to RP with them, lately however thats been dull. But to each their own.

 

I'm sort of like that right now, but not really? I'm very attached to some of my favorites, but others...not so much, but I was at one time. I feel like I have too many and want to sell off a few, but I can't decide who to let go. It really would be easier to just focus on a few I really love instead of a lot I'm not so sure about, but I'm afraid if I sell, I'll regret it, and some were limited or discontinued and I might not be able to get them back later.

 

I lost interest for a few years, in part because I was dealing with some major changes in my life due to having fibromyalgia. However last year I started to become involved again. After so long a break I still feel out of the loop in regards to companies, but it was lovely to go to a local meet again and feel like I'd never left.

 

I'd gotten busy in the past and packed my dolls away for about two years. I did feel guilty about keeping something so expensive and not enjoying it, and considered selling them on and off. In the end I'm glad I didn't, because I ended up getting back into the hobby even moreso than before. So really, different strokes for different folks! If you're apprehensive you could just wait it out and see if you still feel the same way in a few months.

 

I took a break back in 2008-09; didn’t get rid of my dolls just packed them away. I picked it back up in 2010, and have felt pretty good about it. I'm trying to focus on completing one doll at a time. I have a better balance now time wise, and can enjoy it.

 

I think it's natural to have ebbs and flows in a hobby as we do in life. We evolve as humans based on our life experience so I think our hobbies will evolve as well. So for me loosing interest per se…no; but my attention and involvement certainly has changed. Some periods I am very focused and involved and others I'm disconnected. I think there are many ways to enjoy this hobby and for some just walking by a glass case full of dolls is enough.

 

Ah yes. In fact I just came back from two years of not doing much with my BJD's at all. Study put a huge strain on both my finances and time, but I kept 3 out of 4 of my dolls. Now that things are more quiet I can once again enjoy my dolls - and I notice it's quite different now! I feel more like I can take my time to craft for them and became less hasty in general. My style preferences went from kiddy to a bit more adult. I think I grew quite a lot during my absence from the dolls and now I can once again dive into it but from another perspective.

 

Honestly for me it was more so of feeling Meh when it came to my doll Kazumi after I got my newest addition Noah. Kazumi being without faceup manages quite a few expressions easily and ever since getting Noah she looked royally pissed off perpetually, even when posed with her boyfriend (My RS Song) I even contemplated selling her but I felt guilty immedietly I'm owner number THREE for her...So I gave her some 'us' time, made her a few new outfits, styled her wig and she looks muc happier and at peace with herself now...So for me it was more so just losing interest in one vs all.

 

I basically left the hobby for 2 full years due to real life. I sold a number of my dolls - some I know I will be buying back and some that are not missed. Things happen and it's ok!

I'm very fortunate to have close friends in the hobby, and they knew my absence was only temporary.

In regards to selling dolls - don't rush into it if you are not sure. There are dolls I will be buying back - some I sold with that intent, but many I did not. And the ones I want to buy back are not necessarily the easiest to find.

 

For the most part, my interest hits me in waves. I got into the hobby just before I started college, and at the time when I decided I was finally going to save up, I wanted to get a doll in my impatient little hands as fast as I could. Don't get me wrong, I still picked one I liked, but either my tastes have changed significantly (which I'm pretty sure they have), or I just convinced myself that I really liked the doll out of a desire for it to be there faster. Could be a little bit of both. Either way, the plans I had for her fell through (wig didn't look good, didn't want to redo the company faceup, etc..) and I didn't touch her for awhile (aka a couple of years).

But now I'm out of college and have a full time job, which means I have money and free time to invest in whatever I feel like instead of homework, so my interest has been a steady stream recently. I'm confident enough to sand seams and do faceups, which means I can fulfill my artistic side with something that was originally only for collecting purposes. I've considered selling my first doll, but I only have a handful so far so it's not a matter of sharing the attention. I don't think I'd feel bad if I did, though.

 

You're not the only one, I first got into the hobby before I even got into high school. I had finally convinced my parents that the doll was going to help me with my drawing abilities, and within a few months he was home. I was so ecstatic, he was my everything for about a year and a half, then I started high school and drifted waaay out of the hobby.. My poor boy sat in his box for 4 years. o.o Since then, I've graduated, and have happily obtained two (soon to be three) other dolls. ^^ Anyways, life happens and other things get in the way of the hobby sometimes. But I wouldn't decide to sell your dolls until you get back into the hobby (if you do), you may want to sell them now, but that's because they don't interest you like they used to. Put them in their boxes and go on with life for awhile and when you feel ready, get them back out again. If you still have the itch to sell, then sell them. I know i'd rather make sure I want to sell them when I did. I'd hate to sell, then regret it down the road just because I had a creative block! I don't think you should feel hopeless! Just give it some time! Things will turn around! ^^