What is the worst part about being a BJD collector/owner?

Okay, yes, I agree. I have a doll sitting on a table naked and headless while I TRY to bring my vision of her to life. And she's being REALLY picky about everything and I'm finding I hard to create it. In fact, it was so aggravating that that's WHY she's sitting naked and headless, I just had to give up for a minute and regroup. Crafting, apparently, is not my strong suit. But trying to explain my vision to anyone else to create would be hard and probably not yield the results I want. *sigh*

 

I don't usually tell people about the dolls. I hate getting that look.

 

I would have to say the cost and the wait. For me, I don't think that the dolls cost too much, but I have a hard time justifying a purchase past 100 dollars that's not for a 'functional' items. So for example, I don't feel like I'm buying a useless item if I spend 400 on a new laptop. But if I spend 400 on a doll, even if I love it, in the back of my mind I'm feeling; wow that's a lot to spend on a doll.

The other is waiting. I'm the sort of person who when I decide I want something, I want it right then. Not in two weeks or two months, that minute. So the shipping killed me on my first boy.

 

The cost. I know that every hobby is a luxury, but there are times where I really feel you can't do much with this hobby unless you have money to spend. I've had to learn to get creative with what little materials I have in order to keep being active with the doll hobby.

 

Just like a lot of others who answered... for me, it's the cash. I have SUCH a big list of dolls I want, but only ONE I've been working really hard to buy. But the money always ends up going to more important things and I've been empty handed all year. Makes me a sad panda.

 

If I could actually afford to buy more dolls, this might not be such a big deal, but the flexibility is actually a problem for me. I think of a character I want to “do,” and then I put in different eyes or a different wig and wham, I think of something else I would like to do. I only have a couple of on topic dolls, so I never seem to get farther than the next character. so my problem is I never seem to be able to focus on one look, and thus never get very far towards completion. I have also purchased clothes that didn’t actually fit(too small.) Some actually fit, but seem a little large.

 

I have come to accept the cost of the hobby, and even the time all our related projects take (from a doll order, to a costume commission to a faceup) but I am *VERY* frustrated that companies cap their dolls in fluffy wigs, cover their faces in elaborate faceups, and surround their heads in ruffles and lace (looking at YOU Souldoll) making it almost impossible to tell what the sculpt *actually looks like* without brave owner's photos showing up first here on Den of Angels.

Very, very frustrating. And pointless. I'm spending over a thousand dollars on a doll, I want to see what it actually looks like. Blank eyeless, wigless photos from several angels of all doll sculpts becoming standard practice across all doll companies would be a huge benefit to the hobby.

 

Oooh I second this! And I'm adding companies that only show the doll in dark, barely-there photos, or from only one angle without important things like profiles so you have no idea what the head really looks like.

 

I third this and also add that I with they would take a photo of a doll with a ruler lying next to it so you could see the exact size of the doll. I just got one home last month with a really tiny head in relationship with the rest of his body. With a poufy wig on, he looked ok on their website, but in person, it just didn't work for me.

 

ok so I rethought about it more...

1) clothes. price as much as finding the right style in the right size <.<
2) making your doll just like you imagined it. my dolls always end up looking like crap! can't find the right wig, never have money for clothes and definitely can't paint them properly! (but I am way to stubborn and proud to send them to a faceup artist)

 

For me, it is the lack of easy accessibility to dolls and dolly items. The items I want are often located so far away from me that shipping is so expensive and then I have to wait for a long time. Sometimes I just wish that I could pick something up in the store without having to calculate shipping and plan out the time it takes to get here.

Another thing I hate is not being able to find good photos of a doll I'm interested in. This pertains to the less-popular sculpts I can't easily find owner-photos of. -_-

 

cost is the biggest thing that gets me. I'm kinda a tightwad... thankful I have someone that can sew in my house and I can do face-ups...

 

Like many others have already stated, the cost of being in the hobby is high. But then again, all hobbies cost money, and as the dolls give me an outlet to be creative and have fun, the cost is more than worth it. Of course, you wouldn't hear me complain if the dolls suddenly came with a lower price tag...

Time is another downside of the hobby. I spend lots of time waiting for a doll, and then when it gets here, I spend even more time looking for the right things it needs in order for it to be "mine". The right wig, the perfect pair of eyes, a nice face-up. And of course, there are so many things I want to do for the doll--take pretty pictures of it, sew clothes for it, make furniture for it...but there is just not "in real life" time for me to do all those things.

And it would be a dream to have a brick & mortar store nearby where I could walk in and look at the doll in person before actually committing to a purchase. Sometimes I fall in love with the promo photos of a doll and so I buy the doll based on those. However, I've had it happen when I received the doll, it didn't live up to my expectation, and I felt rather lukewarm towards it.

 

Cost... But then, that's a problem in any interest, really. Sure the dolls are very expensive, but as someone else said, it's better to have a limited number so that we don't need a whole house-extension built to hold them. ---or put them in storage units, like some people do with their collections!

I don't think there's a super-huge downside to BJDs, or we wouldn't all be here.

There are lots of little and great frustrations, but we can usually deal well enough with them in order to enjoy our doll(s). I really don't mind things like the wait or doing faceups or having to navigate websites and language difficulties and shipping from overseas, etc.

I AM very glad that the US doesn't have custom fees on dolls. Whew! 'really lucked out on that! But that's not something most of us can control (even though we're supposed to have a say in stuff like that, if we're voting age, anyway).

I do wish I had more money and more space and more time and better organizational skills and better ability with faceups and all that. But none of these things are horrible. They're just stuff we all have to deal with in life...

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Better website photos of dolls-- definitely something that is needed. I don't mod my dolls enough, but even so, it is always helpful to have easy-access shots of the whole naked and unpainted dolls from various angles! It's OK to have all the dressed-up photo-shopped photos--but because we are buying something sight-unseen over the internet, usually, the sharp, basic photos are really important!

 

for me.. the worst part is not finding the one's I want and making hybrids...
cuz the head I like doesn't come on a body I like.. and so on...

 

The waiting! Weather for a doll to ship, to be paid for your selling, or to hear from a seller or buyer. It can be agony as so much hangs in balance on sales as well as dolls you paid for.

 

I definitely think it's the criticism and how people who don't collect these dolls don't seem to 'get it', ie. they think that I'm forever stuck in this childish phase where I still play with dolls, and the fact that they could never, ever justify spending hundreds of dollars on something that has no apparent 'use'. They see it as a form of selfishness - which is amusing to me.

Another hard part is deciding which dolls to buy... there's simply too many that I like! And I really don't plan on owning so many. Sometimes it's also hard bonding with a doll, and finding the right look for it... otherwise you can end up buying and selling... and that can be frustrating. At least for me; I buy dolls with the intention to keep them and it's unfortunate when things don't work out the way you planned.

 

the habit. the expense. the love. the clothes. the shoes. the storage. remembering wht you have. and the enabling.

 

The cost is a little hard but I can't say it's the worst thing. I find that I get really frustrated when people refer to my male doll as a girl constantly even when I say his obviously boy name and refer to him as a he.

 

I was introduced to a conversation today at lunch where a coworker was explaining how she would drop $100 on a bottle of perfume in a heartbeat. It's a very specific kind of perfume (I forget the name, but she said the sales rep at the perfume store said it was 'made specifically for a queen' or something of the sort). Said coworker knows I collect dolls and while she doesn't know how much they cost, told me, "Well your habit is ridiculous. I mean, who would pay whatever you pay for dolls?"

I looked at her and said, "Well, think of it this way - most people would balk at spending $100 for perfume, something you use up and then it's gone. A doll stays with you. But everyone has their 'perfume'." She shut up pretty quickly, but it made me think of this thread and this specific mindset people seem to have. They think a doll is ridiculous, but dropping say $500 on a ring or a pair of shoes is a-okay? Lots of people don't know how to compare what they drop money on to other people. *shrug*

Anyhoo, the worst thing for me about this hobby is the wait, combined with trying to find the perfect thing (eyes, wig, clothing, whatever) for the character. All of my dolls have a character that goes with them, and each has their specific style, but trying to find the right wig seems to be the hardest part. I've also just ordered my very first Soom doll and I'm dying to have him here, even though his order period isn't even up yet. #_# It'll be a rough however-long-it-takes before he arrives, I know that much. UGH. *clings to the nearest person*