Dollieh Sanctuary

Ever look at your dolls and know you have to have a discussion about where you're going? Why do you have the dolls you do? Are there too many? Need more of a certain kind? How much of your life do you want them to take up?

I'm there. I feel I'm done with comparisons and motion tests. It doesn't have the same fun any more. Got to get down to why I have the little plastic people I have and where we're going. I'm not giving up on my dolls I just need to find the reasons I'm so heavily in to them again.

For me, mine is for art. I like Sculptures and unique items, I don't spend a lot on my hobby many were received via trades, gifts, or I bought a damaged one to repair as a project and a test of my own skill and it was inexpensive. Some have slight flaws but it makes them unique many are discontinued as well. I have only traded one doll ever and another in the process as she is cute but just the wrong scale for my dolls and I would rather trade her for one I can properly display. I have also sold a few heads on ebay as well that I bought painted and sold. but they were bought for that reason so I don't count those.

Why do you have the dolls you do? Are there too many?

When I start asking myself that about anything I collect, I know it's time to scale down what I have, and decide what I really like. If I try to ignore that nagging voice to cut out the excess, I find that I start hating the whole lot of whatever it is. I've completely turned my back on hobbies I loved when I ignored the warning signs that I was getting burned out.

It sounds like maybe you just need a break from them for a bit. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Everyone gets burned out on things that we spend too much time with, even when they are things we love to be involved with.
Perhaps step back for awhile and concentrate on another hobby that you've neglected for awhile. When you come back you may find the fun has returned, or you may find a new form of fun in it.

I know I need to change something when my dolls don't make me smile. Sometimes, I just need to change my focus of play, from crochet to sewing or building or photography. Right now, I am learning to use my camera again-with my tiniest dolls as subjects. The settings I use with bigger dolls just doesn't work for them.

I've been on a hiatus for some of 2012 and most of 2013 where dolls were concerned with the exception of monster high. I have boxed up a few bjds and am still assessing how I feel about re-homing them. So far the one's that are boxed up have stayed that way for going on nine months now so I'll probably be posting them for sale sooner rather than later.
I almost didn't even reup my Barbie Club membership this year. Almost. I think every collector goes through a reassessing phase or loses interest for a while. I don't think I'll ever be at a point when I don't have any dolls. I've always had them around in one form or another.
So yeah, if you're done with size comparisons just wait and see where you find joy from them next even if it means doing something else for a while and then seeing how your interest grows organically.

I think I know what you mean---when we collected Barbie dolls into the hundreds, after awhile, we still enjoyed them, but they weren't so much fun and it seemed more like a 'chore' to buy the new release each time a new one came out. ^^;;

That hasn't happened again, I think, because now ALL our dolls are character dolls of our favorite anime/game/book/movie/actors/etc. None are just a generic 'doll'. Maybe if you stick to your favorite series, like Doctor Who, Monster High, 60s music groups, and focus on those characters you enjoy, that might help keep your interest. I know that's what worked/clicked with us for a LOOONG time now. ^^

From your posts, it seems you really enjoy the customizing aspect of portrait/character dolls. I love seeing your Doctor Who incarnations and your music group dolls! (Bee Gees' fan here--I'm really in awe of those!)

Maybe you're tired of the 'generic' dolls, sort of like what happened to us. We kept our Barbies but in a storage case/box and none are displayed nor ever played with any more. I have one or two still in box that I have on a shelf, but for the most part, our non-character dolls are non-existent in our doll 'life.'

Having 'character' dolls keeps them special, interesting, and they always bring a smile when we look at them, seeing them come 'alive' in 3D doll form. I know I wouldn't have the same feeling from a non-chara doll, and maybe that's what's happening with you, too? It seems most of your posts levitate towards your character dolls, so maybe that means that's where your heart really lies and the other dolls have become a 'chore' to keep up with. That's exactly what happened to us. We felt like it was a race to keep up with buying each new Barbie doll release! We gave each a name and personality but still, that didn't help after their 'newness' wore off.

With the chara dolls, they always seem to be a friend because they're a small representative of your favorite characters/singers/actors.

Anyway, just a thought! I'm sure you'll figure out what you have to do, DollyKim-san! You're always very thoughtful and level-headed!! :hugs:

Right now it's a narrowing down of those who have only been around for the website or I haven't done anything with them but to move or dust them. It's not the buying new dolls, it's just Monsters and Power Team Elite which I like, it's the feeling that I have to do all these pictures and stuff when I get a new type. Heck, I didn't even know a couple of Mattel girls weren't a common kind of body for years because I never changed their clothes.

I'm going to look at all the projects I wanted to do for them. The dollhouse hasn't been repainted, they don't have an art studio, I haven't actively looked for a trunk to fit Holmes and Watson and the clothes I want to make them. The Dollzone twins are still in their boxes. There are little people to make, I still haven't managed locking joints.

I want to remember why I bought and made the dolls in the first place.

My dolls are OCs and character dolls(custom or manufactured). The characters are mostly favorite characters while the OCs are well loved plushie based.

I'm not actively getting more 1/6ers since I get the feeling I'm recycling personalities. Its a good thing that my dolls cosplay since that just mean that they aren't there to sit around and do nothing for me.

At current point I work with the 1/3 dolls since they are building their portfolio and play differently from 1/6. But the 1/6ers still jump in for some projects I can't do with 1/3.

Maybe you could put away your dolls and rest a bit until it hits you that you want to work with certain dolls.

I do periodically thin the horde, but I am a collector/packrat by nature, so...

My next immediate plans are to get back in to doll making and trying to get working joints and redoing Holmes and Watson's heads again. Those who have stayed still need to be cataloged for my own good. That will help me make more decisions. Already I'm feeling a new outlook on them.

They can spiritually go away for awhile but physically there's a big house and shelving that takes up a whole wall, two holders on a door, and less and less room for me...