Discussion We're the Mod Team: Ask Us Anything!

30 maybe?

 

Sometimes I look at my doll cabinet and feel like I've gone crazy overboard, but then I come on DoA.

At the moment I have 10. My wife @sephyelysian has another 12, so there's 22 in all in the house. (That's not counting random alternate heads.) We went big dolls only last year, so they're all the same general size.

 

I have another general question for all the mods:
What do you do for a career/job that allows you to save up for dolls?

 

I forgot to add myself to the list of mods accepting direct questions. However I'll answer this general one @Wolfie Pie.

When I first started collecting dolls a few years ago I was working at a hookah lounge. I later became the manager at the hookah lounge. It was a crummy job, definitely not a career. I have been earning below the national poverty line the entire time I've been collecting dolls. I prioritize very carefully how I spend my money to be able to afford them at all. Since there is so little I want to spend money on and I keep my cost of daily living as low as possible I am able to afford new dolls sometimes if I plan carefully.
It has largely been thanks to my excessive penny-pinching, the second hand market and company sales events that I have been able to have so many great dolls that I love so dearly.

 

That's awesome, @AlisonVonderland! I'm glad you found a way to balance your life necessities and still be able to collect BJDs!

 

My day job as a buyer for an independent retailer just manages to pay the bills since cost of living in the City is pretty punishing, so the side job is what pays for dolls. If I don't make anything, we can't buy anything. Most of our dolls were purchased back when there was one artisan working full time on fabrication with no need to stop and do the photography and customer service; it was enough to support the BJD habit of all three of us, but those days are over. We have mostly run out of room anyway, so it's not too much of a problem that our doll purchases have to be a lot less frequent.

 

I'm a teacher! I teach three year old Head Start. Layaway is my friend.

 

So I'm a software engineer. I used to work for a startup, and got paid more in equity than cash (not that that matters once the company dies, haha). I could only buy a few dolls back then, usually with tax refund money. But now I work somewhere that actually pays what my skills are worth and now I have trouble not buying dolls cause money is no longer the issue, space is!

 

I do technical support for a print-on-demand book company. But most of the time I have to sell off something if I want a new doll.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies! I like finding out what people do irl.

@St. James you said "all three of us", and I guess I'm confused now. You're partners with @idrisfynn, so who's the third?

 

Our doll jewelry business was a three person team back when it was orangebabydolly jewels. Sadly @naranjita had to go back to making only human-scaled jewelry due to an injury that caused peripheral neuropathy.

 

I think I might be the worst. Like seriously, but I'll explain. In Sweden you don't have to pay for tuition at Collages and Universities as long as you're a citizen. You do have to pay for food, living expenses and other stuff though so you can take a loan for that. It's a fair loan so it's fine.

Three years ago, before I started my studies I thought it was really bad to use the money you got from the loan on dolls.

Now three years later I've probably bought half of my dolls from that loan. I don't pay that much for my room, and not that much is spent on food and other things, and I never really go out. So I've spent my loan partly on dolls and things for them (and fabric, a lot of fabric!). I figured instead of wasting the money I'd be fine buying dolls with it since I can always sell the dolls and get the money back. My mum calls me a capitalist

But yeah, I have some saved as well since I won't be getting more money from the loan(I'm just about finished with my studies, so I'll be living off what I have until I can find a job or something). In September I'm going to try to find a job. Wish me luck!

 

@St. James Ohhhhhhhhh okay. I just got super confused when you mentioned three people. I'm so sorry they had to leave due to injury.

@Akara I've known a few people here in the US that have used school loan money on dolls. I guess as long as you can pay it back it's okay. Good luck with your studies!

 

Saying "no"! I'm not completely an impulse shopper, but I've been known to go on bouts of retail therapy that leave me wondering just how all these dolls/clothes/shoes/eyes/wigs got here. My goal for this year has been to scale back my acquisitions and cull the herd a bit, but my eyes do get drawn by the new and shiny.

They still haven't made him, but my take-no-prisoners goal is a Volks SD17 Tsukasa Konoe. I hope they haven't abandoned the grown-up Tokyo Boys line. I keep sending in my pitiful requests by email quite often.

I love to travel and go places. I love roller skating, wish I was younger to do roller derby. I like reading and playing Pokemon (one of only about three games I play) and immersing myself in a good anime. I write, I paint somewhat badly, and I spend lots of time with my spouse. Favorite entertainment spots are museums, zoos, live performances, movies, and most anything to do with MST3K/Rifftrax.

I should probably plead the fifth on this. I /believe/ my count is currently somewhere between 90 and 100. That's honestly too many and I'm feeling a little suffocated by my collection at this point.

The short and simple answer is I'm part owner of a consulting firm that audits energy companies on behalf of other energy companies/working interest owners/royalty owners/municipalities. While I know this isn't feasible for many people, another contributing factor towards affording my dolls is that my spouse and I have no children, so we are spending their would-be college money on ourselves.

 

I teach elementary school children with moderate disabilities, mostly on the spectrum. Child care is not lucrative, but honestly I think most people in the hobby just have normal person jobs and prioritize their spending.

 

@Amet I'd like to hope most people are saving accordingly and prioritizing their spending, but over the years there have been some unfortunate tales of people going in over their heads from doll spending. Which is why I'm curious about people's day jobs.

 

Can we ask questions too? XD

If you woke up tomorrow and you were no longer human, what would you be?

 

A raven. It's a human's world anymore so picking which comparatively disadvantaged creature one would be is tough, but at least the hawks vs. ravens war has kind of reached a balance here in the city and they are protected unlike crows. Wouldn't feel safe as a ground or ocean dweller.

 

I would totally be a cat. And then I would have glorious naps with the rest of my cats.

 

Me too! I'm so jealous of the little fluffers when they get to curl up in bed for a nap while I'm slogging half-asleep to work.

I want that t-shirt that says, "I work hard so that my cat can live a better life."

 

I was asleep at the wheel and forgot to sign up for this, too... but it's like a super-cool meme and I'm dying to participate! So here goes...

I've been on DoA for nearly 12 years and I'm on it SO much... I figured I should do something more useful, particularly when I saw I had over 8,000 posts, mosty saying, "I love your doll!" Yikes...

I was curious about what the Mods did and how they did it. It's kind of mind-boggling and I'm still feeling like a total bumbling noob. I really had no clue about any of it aside from maybe deleting old threads with broken images. I'm kind of just sticking to that at the moment, but there's a lot of other stuff to do. Technical things, too, which I have no idea about, like site glitches and errors.

Just the style and variety of dolls that are around now. I first started in 2004 with a CP Elf El--so, your classic SD-sized, large-headed, large-eyed doll. And I thought that's what I'd stop with... after maybe some friends for him who could share clothes. HAHAHA. Now I've got little animals and big huge realistic humans and pretty much the whole gamut. And way, way more dolls than I ever thought I'd have. It's insane! I think it's the variety that keeps me buying more...

Not sure. Probably how hard it is to resist the dang things! (I have no ability that way at all, even though I thought I did during the first 5 years or so.)

I'm pretty sure I have them all. If I don't, then too bad! I don't need more dolls, grail or not.

I used to have some! I still have remnants... Other dolls (Some Pullips, Hot Toys, Japanese gofun, silk and kokeshi), going to concerts (rock and alt-rock and celtic), travel, art, reading, writing, history, archaeology, anime/manga, con-going, gaming... I'm into a lot of stuff, but I've been slowing up a bit over the past few years and just the bjds alone make me need to downsize other things in order to take care of real life...

I have around 70 full bjds. (Doll-hoarder territory, for sure!!! Mostly because I have never sold a full doll, just heads, which is SO hoardery!)

When I started buying dolls, I was in-house, full-time (which meant, pretty much 24/7!!! we were like slaves with no over-time), working as a computer game artist/animator. It pulled in a decent income and I was single with no big expenses aside from rent and car. I still wasn't rich, so my doll buying was reasonable, like a couple a year. But every now and then I'd go nuts and buy a LOT--mostly because layaway made that do-able, unlike the olden days when we had to wire-transfer money and PIF!!! This kept going even after I left those jobs and just did free-lance illustration, even though it was a LOT harder to make decent money at that...

I worry that I'd be a giant cockroach... but if it were my choice? How about a wise, immortal, shape-changing (as into whatever I wanted), DRAGON--with my own hoard of dolls and gold!!!!???

 

Post in Ask the Moderators with the details of what you need changed. You can always post in there if you have questions, and then the conversation is private as well, just between you and the mod team.

 

And suddenly, Kafka. That was probably inevitable. Let's be real though, if any of us were dragons our hoard would be dolls. So many dolls! XD

 

I don't know, the dolls are getting some stiff competition from beads and rocks and books around here. Lapadists are even more dangerous enablers than BJD people! I need the XL sized hoard cave, please.

 

A ghost...or does that still count as human?

 

I was a literature major... Metamorphosis--it just loomed large even though it was an unwanted thought! (Dragons: much better! And hoard of dolls, of course.)

Well, I figured there'd be plenty of jewels and other pretty things in amongst the hoard of gold (and other precious metals--silver and platinum)... I am a total magpie when it comes to shiny things. Beads and interesting findings--I have them, even though I'm not a jeweler!

--
Aaaahhh... nothing better than to be a shape-changing dragon with a huge hoard! I'd go out at night and fly around for some exercise. Spend part of my hoard on investments in green energy and other things so I could increase my hoard a bit while making it work, and build a hidden fortress with DOLL ROOMS! *sigh* Yes, that's the life!

edit---
and rooms of books, too... although I'd have most of them on a bursting kindle. I still love art books...

 

@april Haha, you've got this all planned out!

@St. James Fiiiine, I'll have a hoard of dolls and you can have a hoard of hoards! (And aparently April will too!)

 

Well dangit, if "shape-shifting dragons" is on the table I want to change my answer. Then I can still nap with the kitties but also have a hoard (of dolls and craft supplies), and then I can fly too.

I mean obviously with shape-shifting it might not matter, but then I start wondering what sort of dragon I would be... I'm of mixed German/Japanese/Irish ancestry so would I be a classic European dragon with cool whiskers? Or a long snakey Asian dragon with the European hoarding tendencies or what?

 

Empty space is the ultimate luxury.

 

On the topic of dragons; I've never wanted to see a dragon, I've never wanted to be a dragon nor have I ever wanted a dragon as a pet/companion. Hmm..I always felt so weird because everyone seems to love dragons

 

This thread is so funny ! I have a question for all the mods : what is your favorite section on Doa ? ( general discussion, photo sharing, bjd news ...)

 

Workshop!!! I love seeing what people are working on, and there's almost always something new for me to learn!

 

Photo Reference!

I love playing "figure out that sculpt" and I have a lot of dolls from a lot of companies, so I love helping people with comparison requests.

(And oh crap I just realized I promised to do a head swap for someone ages ago and then I got sick with bronchitis and then all the Anniversary events started and I completely forgot! Off to pop some heads off!)

 

As a little girl I wanted to be Maleficent, so I think that's where the shape shifting dragon thing came about for me. Not as much of a priority as winged horses!

The Community Celebrations forum! Who doesn't like a party? And I love seeing what people can do when they bravely tackle a contest prompt.

 

Thank you for answering, it's interesting to see the mods's diversity ! ^^

 

I was absolutely obsessed with fantasy horses as a kid. I remember arguing with someone on the playground that if we just believed enough unicorns would become real! (Obviously we didn't put in enough effort! ) But there was like this whole fantasy animal hierarchy in my head like: unicorns > pegasi > mermaids > fairies > griphons > dragons, so I guess I wasn't that into dragons either. (I just find the idea of giant animal + hoard of shinies hilarious.)

I bounce all over the place, but my secret favorite is project journals. I love watching someone go through the steps of a big project, and the creative ways they solve problems they encounter along the way. It's inspiring.

 

@Akara -- Dragons are popular as fantasy/mythological critters, but plenty of people are huge fans, don't worry. Different opinions on what critter would be fun to wake up as is what makes the world a more interesting place.

Actually, I was a bigger unicorn (and pegai and hippogriffs and hippocampi and horses in general) fan myself, as a kid. But one of my friends is a HUGE dragon fan and now that I'm older, I do kind of gravitate towards something stronger and more powerful... and richer!... than poor, helpless critters that tend to put their heads on virgins' laps and die sad deaths. Of course, dragons don't tend to fare well in tales, either, but they do tend to put up a good fight,at least.

Because I'm hoardery, I used to haunt the News and Marketplace and Group Orders... and Waiting Rooms/Box Openings. I also like Large Doll Discussions. And Meetups/Cons. And Brigadoon. And General Discussion. And love viewing the various anniversary contest entries because they are always so full of talent, skill and creativity.

 

Brigadoon! I like some of the size discussion forums, too.

 

OK I have a question:
If you could sculpt or commission a custom sculpted BJD for yourself what would it be? Is there a particular artist you'd want to make it? Would it be a combination of all the things you like about a bunch of different companies all rolled into a single doll? Would it even be humanoid? Do tell!
*chin hands*

 

A cat. But not at my house because my cat is a jerk.

I like the News because I like to see what's new

I commissioned a couple of minimees back in the day. But if I could have a sculpt of anything I think I'd like a chinese dragon.

 

I just really wanted to give you the opportunity to share your fake banner ad.

 

I kind of always wanted a chia pet... particularly the ram, cuz I'm an Aries... I never got one for Christmas despite the decades of Ch-ch-ch-chia pet commercials. --Thankfully I can now realize my dream vicariously through you, Dezarii!

I worried about the cockroach metamorphosis... perhaps because I fear becoming an emoji?

I am so bad at resisting bjds, I'd probably pay the big bucks for a tardigrades doll. I have too many dolls. That's why I don't have a wish to see any kind of custom sculpt made according to my desire. Just NO. Even if I just start to think about what I might want for purposes of these questions and answers I'd probably get ideas and then start looking around for what I could buy!!!!

 

Probably the workshop. I love looking at everyone's creativity!

Aaaaah! So many ideas but first I'd make a big deer fantasy creature that my pukifees can ride on. In fact that was sort of my plan to work on while I'm currently on vacation at my mum's place. It was/is going to be awesome! However, with all the things we got from my great grandmother's place yesterday that wasn't junk I've appointed myself "Sales Manager" and I'm going to sell..let me count..about 60 items in two weeks. Or at least attempt to.

I always ruin my own vacation Geez...and I wanted to sculpt that deer too..

Totally saw that coming

 

SIGN ME UP! I want a water bear BJD!

 

I have always loved connecting with other owners in the company discussion threads. I really like meeting others with the same sculpt and seeing how our dolls are similar but different. Some discussion threads are just so much fun! There are certain people on this forum that are the life of the party, and it makes me feel happy just to be in their virtual company.

 

I want a Neanderthal, football-shaped head and all, for an actual character of mine whose name is Roger. I keep threatening to lose it and modify something beyond recognition, but then I would also need a custom body. Slapping it on a normal human one would be a crime.

 

>_> I would like to have a Brahmin. Brahmin (Fallout 4) Appropriately scaled for a 65cm-70cm doll, with textured skin, and definitely full-on independently posable necks (obv so I can make them look at each other). I thought about trying to make one once, but I have other projects, and also I lack motivation to take on super-big projects that entail making things largely from scratch. :P

 

Hmm...probably one that looks like 4 year old me. I would have made a pretty doll. If not, a phoenix. Stylized and with graceful lines and curves so it could look like a flame. And then I'd want it blushed and painted all silver, grey, and white like moonlight. XD