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

For me, the worst part of being a BJD collector must be...
1.) Customs and shipping fee to where I live - When there both are together, it was almost the price of a new small doll.
2.) Waiting time... I have waited for a doll for 8 months because of company and dealer's error and average of my doll waiting is about 4-5 months...Luts is the shortest waiting time one.
3.) Place to display/keep them - I have so many books and paper works for my study, and then my dolls... So I don't have much place left for myself Especially that I love to get large doll home, so the place problem grows bigger.

 

My husband is kinda creeped out by my doll. It's funny, I have many porcelain dolls sitting on a shelf in my bedroom and he's not creeped out by them. Only my BJD. Also many of my male friends on Facebook say my doll gives them the hebie gebies. I've decided to embrace the comments and make fun of the guys who are creeped out by a doll.

 

In no particular order:

1. Costs. All the costs.
2. Having to explain said costs to anyone.
3. Selling.
4. Not being able to sew or paint (good enough).
5. Travelling with them.
6. Storage of not only dolls, but also all their boxes and accessoires.
7. Waiting.
8. Restringing.
9. Gluing eyelashes.
10. Having a mod go wrong...

 

The cost of dolls and all things associated with them, the space they take up (i hate clutter!) but I just look at my doll and realize it is all gonna be worth it. I'm very new and all of this and this are all concerns of mine so far. I can accept the cost and it will hopefully keep me from buying to many but the rest...

 

Not having enough time with my dolls.

Not having any good friends in the hobby.




~Bambi

 

The cost and people thinking you are a weirdo. I got a second hand doll from AWA and random people were not shy about telling me my doll was creepy and they thought the hobby was stupid and expensive. All the while holding/wearing hundreds of dollars worth of crud mind you.

 

Cost, waiting, and personally I loathe the day I will have to restring a doll...

 

Oh boy, about every nail has been hit on the head here. I've been a collector for the last 15 years, and a BJD collector for maybe 5. I have a ton of dolls from my early days. I got so sick of myself and how much stuff I have that when I retired I started (started I say) to organize and inventory what I actually had. OMG...stuff I never use. I began to list modern dolls on eBay and baby dolls and my very big dolls. More than for $$$ I want my space back. Also while my things have some value I'd like them to move on to someone who'd love them. I also sew and OMG (twice) I have bins of things, nice things. And people pay big $$ for what I can make myself. I'm on layer two now of prepping for a large eBay Fall sale. I've ordered 3 more Yo-Sd sized dolls, different companies and cannot wait for them to arrive. Restringing is something I don't want to think about but know I can learn...like anything. People have always been strange about me collecting, sewing, internet friendships etc. But man, what a gift. This hobby as given me hours of pleasure others wish they could buy. I've been retired almost 3 yrs now and can play all day long. I do a lot of research and watch many YouTube videos...how interesting that is. I listen to no one about cost or reasons why I love dolls....I just do. They like what they like and many times I've thought-whoa! you are gonna buy what???? To each his own. But I am so glad that God made me a very creative person and instilled in me the love of dolls. There is so much more to dolls than just buying...and you all know what I mean. Go with your gut and do what you want. If it's not illegal or immoral it's not anyone's business. My 2 cents.

 

Echoing costs! Spend two weeks' worth of pay on a doll, then you need clothes, maybe a face-up, possibly mods ... before you know it that $500 doll became a $1,000 doll.

Limited availability of stuff for certain dolls. One of my dolls has been home since January and he still doesn't have any clothes because NO ONE makes what I need for him in his size! I still prefer all the different builds and sizes, but sometimes I think it would be easier if sizes were more standard. Oh well.

People staring at me. Didn't your momma tell you it's impolite to stare?

Events. I hate hate hate limited events. I barely bring in enough cashflow to cover a 6-month layaway for a basic doll. When limited events drop, I'm eyeballing my savings account and wondering if I can get away with it. The panic is ridiculous and I've had to pass on so many limiteds that I desperately wanted but could not afford. All the sad.

Not having a good yard for photos. I live in a residential area outside of a major city. I have a small side yard, but it's overgrown and ugly and it's a rental so I refuse to put money into it. If I want to find good photo spots, I have to drive somewhere. On my days off, I just want to chill at home and do nothing so a lot of the time I bypass dolly time for couch time. I would love to have more immediate access to great photo spots.

 

I forgot I hated limited dolls too! I was lucky this one time where I had money and was somewhat prepared because of an ad for the doll I'm getting now. Usually I'm already committed to a layaway and a limited doll I absolutely love pops up and I can't do anything about it.

 

For me the worst part is costs of the dolls and things. I'm kind of a stingy person, and sometimes I really would like to cry when I think about all that money I have spend on dolls. Next doll I want to buy is Iplehouse's YID, and even though I'm not going to buy her at least in few months, I'm already rolling in agony because I know it's going to cost me a lot! O_O But I try not to think about that too much, since I enjoy my dolls when I really have them.

The other hard thing with dolls is that they're probably never complete. Always want some new clothes or new faceups. And bonding problems, they are horrible! It's awful feeling when I have a doll but I'm not sure if I really like it or not, and still I wouldn't want to try to sell it...

 

The worst thing for me so far is that extra 1-2 weeks of waiting for a doll to clear customs.

 

The worst part is also the best: There is always something new out there to want and to buy. Haha~ XD;

Honestly, trying to sell small items and being offered uninteresting trades. :S

 

For me the worst things are:
1. Forever looking for wigs that fit because the nice one you bought does not fit. Color matching is also a problem because sandy brown does not look as brown in person as it did on my computer screen.
2. The mental conflict of buying a cute 1/6 or 1/4 bjd that costs the same amount as an 1/3 bjd.
3. Finding a 1/3 doll bag from an official company that is nether sold out, or looks like a expensive duffle bag. Especially the double 1/3 SD bags.

 

The most obvious ones are cost and waiting times. Similarly I think there's usually some element of nerves involved until the doll you've ordered arrives. "Will it be damaged" or "is this dealer trustworthy?", the latter being a less common problem if you're ordering from established dealers. But the cost for me is the biggest drawback because I'm too afraid of them breaking in some way and essentially spending all that money for nothing...I suppose I'm just extra careful with mine now :3 which is a good thing.

 

The worst part for me is the isolation. I love my dolls but other than people online I really don't have anyone to talk to about them. The doll collectors in my driving distance community are either very mean spirited or just not into the same kind of dolls I like. It's a very lonely hobby.

 

Other doll collectors who take advantage of you. Don't EVER do a pricing favor for somebody just because you think you are doing a very nice thing, selling a doll they seem to really really want for WAY WAY LESS than you would normally get for it. 3 months later you will see that doll in the MP for 3x what you charged THEM for it. People are greedy and people do not do the right thing.

"No good deed goes unpunished" is my new motto. This person made me realize that there's nothing in it for me to be nice to someone else. Which was a very, very sad and hard lesson to learn.

 

The cost, the waiting, but mostly the frustration. It is hard to learn to let several beautiful sculpts escaping because you can't afford them. When you love dolls and can't save, it is very frustrating.

 

For me it's
-Never having enough money when I want it
-The wait
-Knowing my dolls will never be %100 done, even when I think that's all they need, something else always comes up!
-I don't have any doll friends except online, so loneliness makes the hobby hard sometimes

 

The worst part would be a tie between waiting for the doll you've been dreaming of and spending a fortune to get him ;-;