Looking for doll no-buy buddies

New I took a forced hiatus, then when I felt better I became jealous of pictures of all of the dolls [out there]. Between that shock and the nightmare I had prior to wondering back, I just stayed quiet. I am unclear if the nightmare was telling me to sell 5 more dolls or slim down my collection to be just 5 bjds. I don't know.
I saw a new doll that looked just like Uma, and it has cute fangs. They would make cute sisters OR I can just re-shell Uma. But, after 1 year, I still have minor hiccups with Uma's development. I'm lukewarm on the current body [that needs lots of sanding and I want extra parts], her story is too complicated/real, and I have feelings of getting her character perfect. I have been thinking about refusing to continue with her. I'm just not sure if this will be a deal breaker for keeping her.
I am also experiencing the opposite with a couple of other dolls. There's something about them that feels underwhelming. I don't think that it will be possible to find new homes for them either. I don't know what to do.

I did a fail. I bought some horns for one of my dolls. I still did not buy any doll heads, though. Especially that one I've been looking at for over a year. So, instead of buying a large doll head, I cleaned some of my mini doll heads for face ups.
I don't have tickets to the doll-con. Feel confused in general.

 

New I finally have no other dolls to look forward to - I generally take a look at what's new and upcoming, but this time I'm just stalking for pictures of the ones coming home. There's nothing I feel missing from my current crew and all my wants are satisfied. I don't even have to talk myself out of anything.

I had in mind to rush the bodies for the 3 floating heads coming this year but I decided to delay things a bit and place an order to get everyone an outfit, and two wigs for dolls who needed one. Later this year I'll have to replace Leona's wig and get stuff for Rayne whose body I still have to decide, but the two dolls who are coming in the earliest will have things by the time they arrive.

I'm also going to make some side money, so I'm pretty relaxed about my budget. Pretty happy with all the pieces falling in place.

 

New Extra parts don't count. Different face plates are cheaper and take up less space than a new doll. I'm not telling my teeny tinies they can't have extra hands, feet, and ears.

Over the years I've half wondered about upgrading or reshelling my Xavier, then without realizing it he was turning beauty green, the slight bump on his back that kept him sitting upright was wearing away from being held, and our time together was in double digits. Now there's nothing I would change.

 

New So....that one little limited doll that I really want is up for sale again and usually when he appears, then a LOT of stuff I like tends to appear. So, I made the mistake of looking at my limited avenues of second hand buying and found stuff.

Spoiler: Things I should not be looking at

1. Tiny limited doll. I assume no one owns it in the wild.
2. Lots of mini dolls that I would like to own.
3. Mini anime doll head that I bought at the last minute, but the dealer canceled the sale. It'll be hard to find second hand. (I have to be tough about anime dolls because it can be harder to make anime dolls unique.)
4. Mini doll head that has a similar smile to previously mentioned, but costs at least twice as much as the average blank sculpt.
5. Wanting to buy ANOTHER pair of horns for a bjd. (The ones I bought are pretty, but at the cost of your average bjd head, let's forget that those exist for now....)
6. Various tall large bjd lady bodies. I've seen very few second hand.

Spoiler: Doll that I wasn't looking for, but I was looking for? It makes sense for me to possibly consider this, right?

I also saw a doll that made me feel a bit confused. It's a hybrid. Tall girl body that I would like to try and a head sculpt that I already own. The doll has the artist's face up, but it's the one I didn't like and the seller isn't charging for the it.
Resin's a different color, so I can't swap the heads, but it's white resin. So, I would always see if the tan floating head could use the body, too.
I've been seeing that getting a normal resin color body would put me out the same amount of money. (costs wr full doll = costs nr full doll, therefore shrug) But, also I've been on the fence about keeping this head sculpt, anyway.

I was trying to avoid buying a body for a few reasons, including possibly going to the doll con and wishing to scale back the collection. Wait..is doll con a bad thing for me???

One of my problems is that I feel like I've done enough with Hestia, Uma, and "Little Guy" all together. I just want to move on, to the next project. I don't know if this means that I should re-home Hestia or Uma or both.

I own a few bjds where "the dedication" needed too make them work is too much plus having too many [to build from the ground up] and that's why re-homing a few might be better. I wish I had a friend to help me decide who really needs to go. Because I do not understand why I still feel sad about things like "I decided to get rid of a floating head because I could be unhappy maintaining an 80cm doll, yet I STILL miss owning the sculpt". (I still miss my Jia floating head.)

I'm not sure if broadening my horizons (finding places where people sell dolls) to help de-clutter is the right move. I don't know of any websites of where to go to achieve this. (One of the reasons for limited avenues is so I can avoid trying to buy all of the dolls.) I'm scared to count how many dolls I have, but I keep getting a feeling that some need to go. Or maybe someone could share a check list for "You really shouldn't buy this one" and "maybe don't hold onto that one"? My brain feels exhausted from all of this.

BTW - I haven't bought anything this week. I did not even pre-order that Myou doll that looks just like my Uma. (That Myou doll DOES have cute fangs.) And, I have been considering letting go another 2 bjds. Also, ANOTHER floating head is feeling like a fail aka I'm warming back up to it and might decide to keep it. Ugh.

 

New Tempted to break one of my collection rules again and make one of my partner’s characters. In my defence, I’ve literally bought an engagement ring for this girl, so my normal reasons for not shelling other people’s characters don’t apply.

I’m telling myself instead that the character isn’t possible without modding (and probably dyeing a pastel shade that would be a total PITA to dye over a modded body)

 

New I've been doing reasonably well with not wanting to buy doll stuff that much but unfortunately I've been hit with... wiglemmas. Are all my dolls wigged? Yes. Do they have multiple options, even? Yes. Do they somehow still need more wigs? Rationally speaking no...? I feel like I'm in this Elijah Wood interview. I think all this wigxiety is coming from the fact that I forgot to send 1 (one) item with my last proxy order so now it's sitting in the warehouse and isn't worth sending alone and imagination of course goes brrrr right away. It's also problematic that there are so many options, because, well, I can't choose! I think I'll just need to trick myself into just getting wig hair again and then not proceeding to go through with my DIY plans

 

New For me looking at things and figuring out where they fit on the sunk cost fallacy scale has been very helpful recently. So helpful that I've found past me already took care of some of them. The best example I can give is deciding where my physical limits are hobby wise along with little project kits or starters I've had for years but only touched them to move them.

I also believe that if the cost to have someone else do it or buy it already made seems reasonable to be then I can save myself the trouble. Not only does the cheap come out expensive I know there are things I literally cannot do and it wouldn't be any benefit to myself to learn how and/or past attempts did not work out. (looking at you, stuffed peppers) Rerrooting I can do, wig making unless it's already wefts nope.

And speaking of wefts is there a human size wig at a costume shop you could harvest? I did that for my centaur, who someone else dyed, and as good as they are at it she still needed a touch up for a boo boo.

 

New I said that I haven't been tempted by new dolls, but my long-term yearnings flared up again. This time it was the grey doll: a Good Secondhand Deal triggered this flareup and so I went down a road of thought ... did a bit of research ... imagined the exact configuration of doll that I want ... did some secondhand browsing and daydreaming ... made a plan ... and put the idea on the shelf, next to my other yearning (another 1/4 doll).

The itch is settling down again, so maybe making a plan and window-shopping without serious intent helped? But in some ways it didn't help, because I now have a specific doll sculpt on the wishlist, instead of a "maybe nice to have someday" idea that is too nebulous to act on. On the other hand, the configuration I want doesn't exist -- most of the secondhand dolls out there (including the Good Deal) are close but no cigar. So I'll either have to wait until the dollmaker makes that config, who knows if they ever will; or create it myself, which involves effort I don't want to invest. Maybe if I make very convoluted plans, my yearning will die out from too much complexity? We'll see

In the meantime, I'm going to the hardware store and art supply shop this weekend, to source materials for faceups, props and backdrops. Best put some tangible effort toward my 2026 Doll Plans, it should keep the yearnings at bay.

 

New March Update from me :
- Successfully brought my doll outside, very happy with the result!
- fail and bought 3more eyes...
- and shoes
- Successfully prevent Taobao shopping this month.
- Still no new doll
- I doll Tokyo will happen next week... Totally fearful hahaha
- and there will be a Dolpa Tokyo in April

... Sigh... I guess temptation is unavoidable if you live in Tokyo

And yeah, I have no choice to 'not going' I have to... That even make it harder... I will allow myself to buy 1-2 items I guess, being too strict to yourself isn't a good idea sometime.

Everything will still ok if I can stick to no new doll and complete selling the unused items this year

 

New Sculpts I've had on my wishlist for a long time before settling on my current crew are getting discontinued and it's a bit of a strange and sad feeling. Not because I'm missing out but because, after all that thinking and wondering, they're just sailing off like that.
But one can't have all the pretty dolls. And the fact I'm okay with letting go means I'm happy with the decisions I have made with my crew. I wouldn't trade anyone off for anything else.

 

New

I have talked to someone recently who shared tons of amazing pictures from vendors and companies at a doll convention in Japan and yeah, temptation must be terrible in Tokyo if I had free access to all those doll shops I'd be completely bankrupt. And I think giving yourself a little budget to spend on doll things isn't a bad idea. It would be unbearable to visit Dolpa without buying anything.

 

New I am a little under a month away from my local doll show, a regular mixed bag one, and I will be taking my doll savings without any restrictions or expectations. The biggest point is to go and look at the dolls. I discovered a big part of my money management comes down to having the option if I do or don't want to buy as I did not have financial stability until I was an adult. I control my finances.

As for thinking about dolls and imagining what you'd do with them, that is not wasted time. As long as it's not interfering with your quality of life or that of others trips to Imagination Land are free. If you had some good ones write them down or make artwork.

 

New So far the temptation for new dolls has been non-existant. I'm just waiting for my ANS61 body tail payment (checking ANS's XHS and TB frequently...)

I'm more interested in working on the dolls I have rather than trying to accommodate more new dolls. I have plenty of dolls who could use wiring and sueding, and I've decided I'll have to bite the bullet and wipe a few secondhand dolls' faceups as they're lessening my enjoyment of the dolls. The faceups are nice, but they're not to my taste, and I'm not obliged to keep a previous owner's characters or ideas – if the faceup meant a lot to the previous owner, they wouldn't have sold the doll in the first place.

I've also decided to sell off some bodies and option parts I'm not overly fond of. I'm at the point in the hobby where I know what my preferences are and I don't want to settle for "close enough".

 

New I have an unexpected doll.

I saw Black Ship's 1/4 Oil Painting body and fell in love. Saw the price and fell in love harder. Space Studio opened international pre-orders and I jumped on it. Which meant I had to buy a head as well and have had to consider backup heads if the first one doesn't work

In terms of where she'll fit in my collection, she's probably going to end up in her own little universe as a sort of baroque muse, which means I get to recreate historical fashions.

 

New

I feel you. I bought that body in 1/3. I’ll be putting a spare Twigling head on it probably, but for now I’m just stoked to get it at all. What colour did you get?

 

New It must be the season for obtaining bodies it seems, even by us “low buy” stalwarts. I suppose even during periods of no-buy, the urge to complete a doll can be very strong. I don’t acquire floating heads as a rule. Any “extra” heads I acquire for whatever weird reason get turned into my small collection of sentient hat stands for my SD-sized hat collection (just a homemade wooden stand, decorated, no body required.) But even I succumbed recently to the call of completing a character I thought I’d decommissioned (in order to use her body for another doll.) Turns out I missed her character after all, so when I saw a cheap Resinsoul SD body (and for sale at that!) at DenverDoll, I simply bought it on layaway which made the payments pretty negligible. I’d always wanted this particular doll on a more slight, lithe body anyway so Resinsoul was a good way to go in that circumstance. Because it’s for a pre-existing doll I’d come to miss, I don’t consider it breaking my “no buy”…just a body replacement (and overall improvement) she required. In my mind that makes it more of a doll maintenance issue. But thank goodness I never made the decision to sell her head! It was her beautiful and unique faceup that kept calling me back to her character.

 

New

After a lot of deliberation I went with Mia Pink. I don't think it's an exact match to my Mayak Doll's Ichi head, but the images of the close-to-Volks-Normal looked far too yellow for the head. Also if the head doesn't work, finding another one in a tone closer to Mia Pink is probably going to be easier.

 

New I'm definitely not buying any more dolls for a long time, none of my dolls are even fully clothed yet.. I have three dolls on the way currently but now I feel like I'm getting a diverse enough crew to feel good about focusing on them. Kinda weird thought process but I feel like I can't "settle"? until all the dolls themselves were sorted out. Now I can focus on giving them character and clothes though lol. I did sell a bunch of beloved childhood figures, ps4 and 3ds to afford them....

 

New

I think this is a totally understandable mindset. I was also fixated on collecting the dolls to represent my characters…and this went on for 20 years! Who knew my creative mind would come up with so many characters? Truly, the only thing that saved me was those dreaded wait times. In order to reduce the anxiety of waiting, I would busy myself with hunting down the things they’d need upon arrival, sewing their costumes, and building their displays. It’s kept me very busy, active in the hobby, and allowed me to have a more complete collection.

I’ve sewn almost all my doll’s wardrobes so I can well understand the frustration of it. (And I’m one of those "sew by the seat of my pants" gals, which can be even more frustrating because you’re doing a lot of guesswork and don’t even know if it will work in the end.) The only thing that saved me over the years was the encouragement of taking part in the monthly sewing rounds in the workshop area here on DoA. My doll sizes and individual characters were so varied, there was always something I could do to match the monthly theme. So I just kept going…and going…and going. And it worked! In fact, when the original person left the hobby, I got permission from her to take up the mantle to keep them going. And my very spoiled crew is still getting their specialized outfits to this day.

 

New Sewing lessons? What are these sewing lessons you talk about? I sew most of my BJDs' clothes and learned everything I know about putting them together from trial and error with Barbie outfits and teaching myself how to draft.

For videos see if you can find something from PBS like Sewing With Nancy, for sewing books start at a legit free book site like Project Gutenberg. There's all sorts of old timey books that start with teaching school aged children how to sew for their dolls up to how to make your own clothes. Also check junk stores, I have a generic "sewing with major pattern company" one from the mid 60s that covers a lot of basic stuff.

 

New Having paid for the Oil Painting body and acquired a head for it that I am hopeful will work, I am now being tempted by another body to be the oil painting body's girlfriend.

Current rule is that I cannot buy the body until and unless I find a head for her, which is hard when you have a variety of constraints (1/4 size, mature head, <15.5cm circumference) and the warehouse order for the body ends in April. Also if I want it, I have to learn how to use Superbuy, which is a little bit scary but the price for the body is very good.

 

New @Chameleon @aihre @castironteapot

Good going on resisting. Also, the weather has been interesting. So, I am wondering how everyone's projects are coming along.

I've been stalled at doing some face ups and I will eventually get to sanding a doll and celebrate her gotcha month.
Then, other things started to happen. Recently, I tried to repair a household thing and found out I "failed" at repairing household thing. And, now must decide to try again or get a replacement.
There IS money for the replacement. But, there was a few unplanned break downs in the household that had already happened and that means their life time use has shortened.
So, let's hope a certain limited doll that I've wanted doesn't re-appear for at least another 2 years.

Wednesday Win:
* I'm starting to notice, about 1 year after initially seeing a sculpt, my perception changes. That has been my only consistency. But, it's not just love to meh. It could also go a bit full circle. So, I have to find out how to look closer than that.
* I'm gonna stand by my decision on the current body for Uma. Sanding it will be great practice, but sanding it will not transform it into the body that I want it to be. I still like the head sculpt, I believe.
Wednesday Fail:
* I am unsure if to keep Uma's current body for another doll.
* I am still thinking about keeping the one tiny doll head.
* I bought the "moon lady" head from the one dealer that "shot my doll out of a cannon (I choose to remember it as such)". I've been looking at her for 16 months.... I did ask the doll sculptor if they had any extra before deciding this.
* I am wondering if I should let go of bjd #1. She would make a sweet desk buddy, but I got nothing. When I took her out of the box and tried dressing her, she ended up more than I imagined. She's too much. I haven't settled on any look for her in all of this time. I don't know what to do with her. The reason I bring it up as a fail is...
* Considering all of my dolls and finding reasons why they need to go, has opened the gates of wanting to collect more. (I really do need to take pictures, too.)

 

New I saved myself from buying something g by finding out it had been quietly discontinued, and then rearranging most of my collection to make a character happen with only parts I had.

Did a trade as well and got a very nice new body that sparked a new character. I might even be able to sell a body when one of my preorders comes in.

As for my projects, today I hot glue sueded some heads, and put together some hybrids. I’m gonna be painting some heads probably later today, and I’m excited to get doing that