Maintaining your other collections

I think the best thing to do in this situation if there is little resale value, is maybe to join a specific barbie collector group somewhere (Facebook, Reddit, discord) and find a way to gift or trade the clothes to people who will actually enjoy them

I think that will definitely make you feel better than chucking them out somewhere they might just get destroyed by children haha.

Another option I can think of is antique and vintage stores. There sometimes vendors who carry vintage Barbies, and maybe you’ll be able to get in contact with them? Perhaps you can sell the lot of clothes to them (even if they aren’t necessarily vintage it can be worth a shot since they are handmade, and artisan goods may fall into their audience)

 

You may not be connected to the barbies the same way you are to the BJDS, but from what I'm reading it seems you have an emotinal attachment to your barbies. Something holding you back from letting them go. I think you should keep the barbies because if you are torn on how to lessen your Barbie collection it may come to haunt you years later and you will want them back. Sometimes i think about a toy I had years ago that I lost or something happened to it. I forget about that toy for several years, but every so often I find myself thinking of that toy and longing for that toy. I might spend hours to days searching for it because I had an emotional attachment to it something about it connected me to that point in time. Something made me clung to that memory.

from what i am understanding (i could be misunderstanding i had to read several times to understand the post) it seems what might be bothering you is you see no use in keeping your Barbie collection because the outfits don't resell for a good value and you don't have a reason to keep your them unless they are worth cluttering up your home.

I think if you feel an attachment to your Barbies you will come to regret letting them go, so take your time to think about whether you really would be okay letting them go.

If you can't get the resale value back for the outfits you've made for the barbies perhaps instead of using up your time, materials, and hard work into making an outfit that may not sell for a price you would like you can have people commission you for a custom outfit. If it's commissioned exactly how someone wants the Barbie outfit maybe they would be willing to pay a higher price for your outfits.

Another suggestion (it's I think not so good of an idea) is if the clothes take up space being in boxes maybe you can use the outfits to display them like on a doll clothes rack sort of like a shopping mall clothes rack. That might help with space or you can display the outfits on the wall like photos surrounding your 6 barbies. Maybe these ideas are terrible... I think I misunderstood what you were trying to say.

Edit: I collect BJDS, BTS, and plush toys. It takes up space and i have a hard time letting go, so I think my advice wasn't helpful. If I were you I would just keep the collection for several years until I wanted something more that could replace my collection with a stronger emotional attachment. My problem is I don't think to declutter. I've tried a few times letting go of some items unrelated to BJDS and BTS, but my sister stops me each time because she thinks I will regret letting those items go. In the end, I end up liking those items again in a 3 to 5 year cycle again...

 

Maybe you can pack them up nice and put them in a closet or storage for now? If I'm on the fence about letting something go, I box it up and put it away somewhere hard to reach. If I don't go for them in a year I reevaluate.

 

That's the way I generally go about it especially for anything collectible. The last thing you want is to be on the fence then regret tossing it later.

@CutieKitty If you find after a bit you're still just itching to throw it away I would definitely consider what @nekkous mentioned and find a barbie group that'd be able to appreciate them as well!

 

As a collector of MANY things, not all of my collections are out on display. My teacups are packed away in the attic, as are some of my mugs. I like them but I don't want them being used at the moment. So instead of being in the kitchen, they're packed away.

I have collector's Barbies too - some of which I don't like anymore - but I have to figure out how to sell them because as a young child, I took them out of the box and played with them. A few I still really like but they're not on display.

However, I have a LOT of Barbie clothes specifically for my Soom Mini Gem and Myou 27cm dolls. So in the BJD community, there are what we call mature minis that can WEAR clothes made for Barbie. You could market your hand made Barbie clothes to those collectors. I have I think 2 handmade dresses that look great on my girls.

So, if you're trying to downsize the clothing aspect of your Barbies, market them for Mature Mini BJD AND Barbie. They might sell better that way. I can't really say what price is right but hand made clothing buyers can be very subjective. They want a certain look/fabric/color. So it just might be a matter of finding the right buyers - I looked through your flickr and Instagram and you have a certain aesthetic that may gather the gothic/historical doll owners but some of the prints on the Barbie sized clothing were very common looking so they might be harder to sell. By common, it feels like I have seen them before, either for sale by Mattel or somewhere else, like an aunt made it for my own doll or something. For example, the polka dots or flower prints. I think your beadwork and layering of fabrics in like the tier skirts/dresses is very unique though!

 

There is nothing wrong with having multiple collections. I know you mentioned being minimalist, but if they bring you joy why worry about getting rid of them? I collect all kinds of things, dolls (various), coins, video games, pins, and watches. As long as there is a mindfulness about collecting then I see nothing wrong with it. In my opinion 6 Barbies and their clothes is not a lot, you can pack those up nice and neat and put them in your closet when not in use. If you want to downsize, then finding a Barbie sales/trades fb group is a good place to start to find interest and decide what you want to do.
I would also second marketing the clothes to mature mini bjds. I have a few mature 1/6 bjds that almost exclusively wear Barbie clothes.
Also, some Barbie clothes might fit the new Disney ily dolls too (have not checked how many of my Barbie outfits fit my ily yet but they seem of similar size. . .)
There is nothing wrong with enjoying stuff though. Do what makes you happy, whatever that is (within reason lol).

 

I'm someone who is also a minimalist at heart but drawn in by this hobby, and it really is a struggle.
Toy collecting for me is a very delicate balance of enjoyment and frustration.
I currently have 5 BJD, 6 Ever After High, and a few other kind of random collectibles.
Even with a relatively small amount of these things, I am often assessing and sorting, thinking about reorganizing, etc. because I have a hang up that I feel like I have to be actively enjoying, and have proper space for anything for me to merit keeping it.
BJD & EAH, while all dolls, I've come to realize that the collections are quite different and separate in my mind as far as how and why I collect them. It has been a literal saga with a lot of back and forth on decision making for me with them as well.

To me it sounds like you might gain some clarity by creating some mental separation between the creating side (making clothes), collecting side (owning, displaying, storing items), and perceived value (worth monetarily vs your time vs emotional/psychological).
You seem to enjoy your Barbies and sewing in itself, but have tied that enjoyment to the monetary worth and are worrying about whether it's worth them taking up space in your home. I'm not a crafter, so the attachment might be different for you, but if it were me I'd probably sell off all the clothing pieces I no longer like as much in a single lot, then focus on nicely displaying and storing the dolls, shoes, and what clothes I liked most. Then, continue to sew purely for the separate hobby of it, regardless of resale value.

 

It sounds like you still like them. I also have multiple doll collections and over the years, have cycled through what I’m currently interested in. Even though I only have a few Barbies and don’t do much with them, there are days I’m happy they’re still around.

 

@CutieKitty You're welcome! While I don't create anything to sell, I am a rabid consumer hahaha. So I was trying to look through what you make and ask myself "why wouldn't I buy this?" and it really came down to "It looks like something I could get for cheaper/already have/don't want." And that is very different per buyer. I already have enough polka dot and flower print items for my dolls. But historical outfits, outfits with dramatic flair, or multiple materials, or a lot of embellishment - that catches my eye and makes me think "Oh would look good in this?" Granted, those were mostly on your BJDs and not on your Barbies. That is also just ME - there are others out there who want polka dots and flowers but maybe they want them in a vintage cut like 1950s or 1940s style clothing. I think you have enough variety in Barbies (by this I mean body type and skin tone) that you could use them to market your unique outfits very well. For any BJD clothes - having one open eye model and one closed eye model is a good idea since some of us collect one or the other or a bit of both. And one male and one female body model too since those bodies tend to be very different in sculpting/proportions. Maybe do some research on what custom clothes are moving in the different communities if you're really trying to use up fabric/sell product. Otherwise, just make stuff for YOU and your friends! Just because you can sew doesn't mean you have to sell your skills! You can just enjoy the process and give your dolls all the clothes they could ever want!

 

It’s been an interest of mine for the past several years and I do strive towards it in many aspects of my life. I think if you look at hobbies as necessary then there can be space for curated collections in a minimalist lifestyle. Everyone seems to have their own definition of minimalism though

 

I have a growing collection of G1 My Little Ponies. They're surprisingly addictive! I really like fixing them up, cleaning them, brushing their hair...

I'm trying to find a balance between them and BJDs, as they both compete for shelf space!

 

Honestly, it sounds like the Barbies bring you joy and that's really what matters. Life should be about pursuing the things that make all the suffering worth it!

Even if the clothes don't have high resale value/demand, if they add worth to your world by sprucing up the dolls you love to own, they're worth putting your time in to.

It's almost a feedback loop- you're frustrated by keeping dolls you can't redress, but you don't want to make clothes to redress them because they lack resale value. But if you keep the clothes, that justifies your dolls AND neutralizes the resale value issue!!

It sucks that we have to operate with money always tainting everything. Capitalism imbues everyone with the pressure to turn hobbies into money, otherwise we're "wasting time" on enjoyable things.

But the funny thing is? When people have enough money, all they do are the things that are enjoyable just for the sake of doing them.

Besides, the time and effort you put into Barbie clothes will only improve your tailoring skills! Which can make your bjd clothes turn out better as well.

 

Minimalism is ironically subjected to how much space you have access to lol. It's easy to appear minimalist when you have plenty of space to spread out & store!!