Your dolls after your death...

My daughters know very well how much these dolls are worth, and I expect there will be quibbling over who gets which ones - mostly to sell of course LOL I've 2 brothers who are lawyers, and a nephew in law school - all of them say it's much better to give things away BEFORE one dies due to taxes & costs etc - so I will be attempting to do that as I get ancient...
My younger brother is my executor, tho (lawyer) and does understand the value of the dolls. No one will be sending them to thrift shops LOL

 

My husband is very unsentimental and I realize some sort of letter will be necessary just to prevent him throwing everything in a dumpster. (Pretty certain his way of dealing with the grief would be to simply make it look like I never existed, ASAP.) I started writing all the dolls’ information down, but I really should follow through with photos of everything and make sure this info is in an obvious place.

I would want one certain doll to go to a friend of mine, since he is cousins with her guy. If she badly wanted some of the others who belong to that story, I guess I’m fine with that, but I would prefer some money went to offsetting the costs for my husband.

I feel weird about my favourite doll though. I feel as if I’ve put too much energy into him, in a way. He might not feel quite right to anyone after my death. I guess I would want him wiped and dismantled and sold as parts, so his character is released from this plane along with me. That is my first thought, anyway.

 

Everything I have is being devided among my four godchildren. The dolls are specifically mentioned in my will and all of them (except the youngest, who is currently six years old) are are aware of how much BJDs cost. They will probably have a job on their hands identifying the make and sculpt of each (especially as I have a lot fo hybrids) if they want to sell them because I am simply not organised enough to keep track of that sort of stuff myself let alone keep records. Periodic attempts at that sort of record keeping have all crashed and burned, I've accepted that it's just not going to happen.

Teddy

 

I would give them to my children/daughter if I ever have any

 

I've thought of such situation before.. I thought of getting my parents or my future husband to pass all my dolls to my good friend who is into BJD too. But after some years had passed, my good friend might move oversea after marrying her boyfriend. Passing all my dolls to her will be difficult or costly.

After reading some other's plan, I think it's more practical to list down all my dolls' sales info and have my future husband sell them. He can keep all the money from it and spend them in anyway he wants. Be it on his marine hobby or for our future kids.

But if my future husband or future kids wants to keep them as memories, okay, sure.. But I really doubt my boyfriend will lol. He is not a doll person. XD

 

I've often thought about this for a while and the only conclusions I can come up with is passing them on to someone else in my family that would appreciate/take care of them as much as I did. If I have children in the future they could have them and do whatever with them. Other than that I'd be okay with them or someone I trust selling them after.

 

I've always thought about that, I probably should write my dolls info somewhere and keep it just in case.

 

This is one of the harder questions in our hobby but I'm always glad to see people openly discussing it. I don't have a legal will, which is something I need to fix but I have made up a Google document with all of my wishes which my husband also has access to.
He's not into dolls, but one of my best friends out if state is. About a year or do ago we agreed that if one of us passed first we would adopt their collection.
So my guys have a happy home should something happen. I've also been keeping meticulous record of all my dolls, when they were purchased, from whom for how much and I've also recorded modifications and commissioned face ups. I've even gone so far to list where I've gotten clothes and props from. Never know what might be needed so just put it all down.

 

For all I watch Ask a Mortician and feel about the "good death" I really haven't thought it out my death plans

But unless I acquire close friends who really like dolls between now and my eventual death, probably have them sold off. No one in my family shares my affection for them. I don't have any plans to have kids or marry so my dolly legacy will most likely be spread to the winds, but hopefully for a decent amount of money.

 

I'm not that sentimental with regards to my death. Since the value of dolls is not obvious to those outside the hobby, I'll probably write that down somewhere --but I'd have to do that for half my inventory anyway. Given the particulars around selling secondhand dolls, some instructions might be useful as well.
I don't much care who gets them or where they go, since I won't be around to care. But it'd be nice if the people I leave behind make a few cents out of it, presuming they won't want to keep them.

 

I am in my 50s, I will start to put up some of my BJDs for sale. Trying to re-home my dolls before I become too frail to do so. I will find the earlier opportunity to speak with Volks to see if I can return dolls to them should I not be able to care for them and they remain unsold. Selling is a long stressful and unpleasant process for me but choosing to keep them is not being responsible. My mom and I are growing old, if I’m gone, there is nobody to take over the dolls, we decided that’s in the best interest to start selling. I cannot let my BJDs fall into the wrong hands or into the hands of people who does not know anything about the dolls. There are 10 dolls, 9 boys and 1 girl. All Volks except the girl. If I cannot return the unsold dolls to Volks at my death, I put a will in place to incinerate remaining dolls. This is how blunt and clear I can get regarding this matter.

 

I too am in my 50s, but I have a kid and three grandkids, two of which may be interested in "Grampy's dolls." Right now, they are a bit too young to have the ones I would leave to them, but that's okay. I hope to get the oldest girl her very own BJD in a few years, that way she becomes familiar with them.

Also, my partner knows that they're getting all of my Gravitation Crew dolls after I'm gone.

Whatever dolls no one wants, I'm hoping that my partner will rehome them to good homes.

I know that resin is poisonous when burned, so I could never take any of them with me when I am cremated.

Ryu

 

I'd love to give this entire collection of mine to a doll or toy museum when I'm no longer able to keep up with them, just as examples of their type... 'Not sure any of those would actually WANT the gang, though, even as unusual as some of them are... There's still a bit of clucking and snobbery among vintage doll collectors about these modern resin minions of ours, and no matter how much we may value them, those traditionalists may not.

So... odds are, I'll eventually end up just giving them away to people who are interested in Old School sculpts.

Given that most of them predate the recast issue, and so don't necessarily have the COAs, boxes, purchase receipts and iron-clad documentation that people expect of any doll put up for sale these days, I can't imagine putting them on the market would be at all successful. As far as resale value goes? My gang likely won't be worth the time it would take for Granny!Me (Or my nieces and nephews, if I put it off too long!) to list them for sale.

 

My sister and cousin are collectors (not of bjds though) so they have an idea of how expensive things generally are. If anything, they might be able to sell them but I've never thought about it in the long run. Definitely going to make a doc on all of them now.

 

I survived a clinical death and a coma three years ago, and I could never predict the incident to happen to me. I did not think about my things, nor, especially, about dolls. I hope that no such thing will happen to me before I have children, and I would like all my things, including dolls, to go to my inheritors. I think they will be capable enough to dispose of my property responsively. And if I pass away in solitude, well, I hope someone will auction my stuff off. I keep all the original boxes and paperwork, so it's pretty easy to identify my dolls.

 

My family knows exactly how expensive my dolls are and wouldn't let them go for cheap. However if something happened to me prematurely, I have a dear friend who loves dolls too that I would give mine too. Even if she ended up selling them one day I'd rather they go to her first. If for whatever reason she didn't want them I have the names of the sculpts and original prices written down so a family member can sell them. I want whoever ends up with them after I pass to know what they're worth so they don't let them go for $10. I won't have a lot of money to leave my family if I pass this soon, so at least I can leave them a few hundred in resin.

 

I don't think about what will happen to my dolls after I'm gone. I should really give it some thought but I'm too busy to even bother! I know my family are aware of the money I've put into the hobby so they wouldn't just bin them or sell them on for cheap. My husband is the one who would have to pick up the pieces ultimately so they would probably just stay boxed up until he passes tbh.

 

If it is a terminal illness, then I will attempt to on my own - or with my family's assistance - sell the dolls I have. My family will have no idea what to do with them. They aren't the type of play-things my niece and nephew can enjoy currently due to their ages. I'd rather they have the money to use as they wish, and I can die knowing my dolls are going to people who will enjoy them. Unless the illness comes in maturity and the next generation are old enough to take/want them.

Saying that, if it is old age and my niece, nephew, or any children that I may yet have garner interest in my hobby in the meantime, the dolls will go to them. If they want them. If they don't, the dolls will be sold accordingly. If the hobby still exists as widely as it does at present. My niece has only seen my dolls once when she was still very small [she's four now]. She doesn't remember them, as she never asks to see those "big dolls" or anything similar. My nephew has never seen them. I would kind of love it if he became interested. Just because it's a stereotype that boys can't like dolls. It's like saying I can't enjoy Resident Evil and Devil May Cry because I'm a girl. I've always been something of a tomboy at heart and enjoyed the boyish things a little more than pink dresses and unicorns. Give me an armoured charger over a sparkling twinkling pegasus any day of the week!

Getting back on topic; if I was to die suddenly, I'd want my family to make the most [either monetary or sentimentality] out of my dolls. I might, one day when the mood takes me, write out some sort of "plan" or "guide" that I can print out and keep with the dolls' stuff. Prices upon purchase, dates of receipt, receipts and invoices, measurements, sculpts, companies, care-instructions [especially for the ones that aren't resin], etc., etc. So that if my family ever come to the point of needing to sell and I'm not there, they can do so appropriately without being scammed or being accused of scamming. Or they know how to look after them in my stead if they want to keep them as memories of me. Cleaning and stringing instructions, how to keep stains from happening on certain types. The useful stuff. I mean, it's fun for me to do all the research, but I doubt it'd be all that fun in my absence for my family.

Well, to say I've never actually thought it through, this is fairly comprehensive.

 

If I were to die soon, I’d want some of my friends to have their picks to have something to remember me by, especially my friend who got me into this hobby.

If I die old and I still have them, I guess they’d just go to whoever in my family would ant them.

Whatever the scenario, I kind of like the thought of the dolls that aren’t being kept by someone close being “released” into the world to a thrift shop or something, then someone could find them and like them, and maybe not even know what they are or what they are worth and do whatever they want with them.

 

Honestly, I already have some of the basics written out in a notebook. I started writing things out before I had two major surgeries, which I (obviously) survived. I should probably research how much I paid for them originally, but with the market for discontinued sculpts, sculpts from discontinued companies, LEs and one-offs being what it is, I'm a bit hesitant to write down how much I think they are currently worth. I should also think about printing out pics of them and adding them to the notebook, so my family will know what doll is who.

My partner also has BJDs, and is familiar with my Crew, so they know the approximate prices and definitely know about the care instructions.

I'll eventually get around to doing the rest of the things needed "just in case." I might even get insurance on them, after all, they are valuable.

Ryu

 

Hello, hope that everything's going better. (Cause this post is two years old.)
Well, I will probably live alone, so, I won't be sure what will happen to them (if I got one) when I die. If a close friend wants to keep them It would be really ... cool. If they're in need and they have to sell them I won't find that bad.

 

Insurance is worth considering. You'll probably need a "rider" on your home owner's or renter's insurance since most policies have (low) limits on what they'll pay for collectibles. Your insurance company might require photos and proof of worth/receipts to write the policy/rider. The value of your collection tends to grow over time and it can be surprising how much your bjds would cost to replace. Let's hope no one loses their collection during their lifetime.

 

We were talking about my death once with my man, and contrary to what I had expected, he said he would keep the dolls, at least a couple that I spend most time with, as they have almost everything made by me, from faceup to clothes. However legally that is not possible for him as I have not made a will, and therefore according to law if I pass, my belongings will be passed to my parents and if they no longer live, my siblings, as me and my spouse are not married. I have brought it up to my spouse that we should make a mutual will. If I suddenly pass before I get that done, I hope my parents don't fight over the dolls and that they can keep close to my spouse during the grief time and be generous if my spouse wants to have them.

It's ironic that I work at a law office and always tell people that in their place I would be worried that I do not have a will, but in reality I haven't made said will for myself. Of course they wouldn't know

As for insurance, luckily my home insurance covers my doll collection, and I have even gotten a doll replaced by them when I dropped it accidentally.

 

My friend who got me into the hobby would likely get all of my dolls. She would be the only person I know who would a) know how to take care of them, and b) wouldn't just leave them in a box to never see the light of day again. There's one friend who has had an interest in joining the hobby and could get one, but I don't think I' ever have the heart to let my group get split up.

 

Both my younger sisters are in the hobby, so my dolls are the one thing I'm not worried about-- they might sell off most of my collection, but they could also integrate their favorites from my collection into their own.

 

A very good question to think about and take care of everything in advance. Life won't last forever.
However... this thought sometimes makes me paranoid. What if I shouldn't buy a one more doll?
It is unknown how many months it will take for her to arrive. This is another of many dolls that someone will have to deal with,
If something happens to me, sooner or later. Anxious feeling.
I think the dolls will go to my friend. He likes dolls. And for my family, selling them will be an unnecessary trouble. Don't know if they get more money or hassle out of it.
But to be honest, I'm not really worried about what will happen, the main thing is that the dolls are not thrown away, that's it.

 

I have a few friends that know what my dolls are worth and they can help my husband sell them. Right now I don't have enough dolls to make it stressful for him anyway. I try to keep my collection small. I have to say though, since I will be dead I am not really worried about it

 

I have a friend picked out for both of my dolls, and for the rest of my collections each item has a person I'd like to have the item when I die. I don't really care what they do with the items, but I picked based on who would appreciate them the most. For my dolls it's based on one friend who would have sentimental value and another who could always use the money. I plan on writing the list out when I make my advance directive, but since my only living family member won't try and pursue anything I own, I doubt I'll make an actual will.

 

If I die with no children or before my brother, then they're definitely going to my brother. He also collects things as a hobby and I'm confident he can take care of my dolls and he'll know where to sell them if he needs to.

 

This thought came across my mind all the time. I think if I ever passed in any kind of accidental deaths, I would probably send all the dolls to one of my friend, whom I know will care for my doll family and understand the importance of it. If I manage to grow old and have enough means in life, I actually dream of opening a little store/museum/coffee shop of the sort that feature the dolls, and after I'm gone I guess I can let some other people manage it? Like a museum of dolls, and all those dolls out there that people once cherished can be send over there to be displayed. Just an idea though, but it'd be really nice if it can actually happen!

 

I have thought about this a lot since I work in Hospice and often see different amounts of preparedness. I personally have an Excel spreadsheet that lays out all of the sculpt names, where/who they were purchased from, what I paid for them and what you could expect to sell them for.

I continue to keep up with the sheet and I have shared it with my parents on the off chance that something happens to me and the extra funds are needed.

I would love to say that my dolls would go to my family, but sometimes that isn't feasible.

 

Resurrecting this thread because I was thinking about this and it’s the most recent one on this topic I could find. I’m thinking about adding a small colored dot, maybe a sticker, the size of pencil eraser to my dolls somehow and color coding their approximate value in $50 increments. Another option would be to give them each a number and make a simple catalog which can be kept in the filing cabinet. I have a lot of ot dolls so I will do this for my entire collection. Then maybe my husband, if we are together at the time, or my kids can find a place to auction them. My daughter might keep a few but her style is a lot different from mine.

 

Just be aware that you'll have to update it often. Values can change wildly over the years.

 

I've recorded what I paid at purchase in a google doc for the friend I'm leaving my dolls to. I'm not going to even bother tracking their values.

 

I plan to put their original purchase price and a current value with a $50 range, maybe I’ll update it once a year. I don’t have anything super rare that the values really fluctuate a lot on. Also my family won’t be looking for making money back that I paid just sell them for fair prices.

 

I'm likely far too young to be thinking about making a will, but I'm honestly not sure what I'd do with any of my possessions post-death, let alone my dolls, BJD and otherwise.

None of my immediate nor extended family have any of the same interests as me, and none of my friends like BJD much at all. One of my friends likes dolls in general, so if I ever have a large number of dolls I might dedicate some to her in the case of my passing, but we're the same age, so if I passed of old-age, that wouldn't really make a lot of sense to do. I wouldn't trust my family to understand the value of anything I own or to sell them accordingly; they'd sooner throw everything into a landfill since I don't really own anything "of value" to them. Though I suppose that's why we make wills!

Most of the dolls I plan to buy and customize (and the one I currently have) are based on personal characters that mean a lot to me, so selling them to strangers feels a bit, I don't know...odd? Granted I wouldn't be around to know, but still. I'd definitely have most of my doll clothes and props sold, however, as I'd like those things to cycle back into the community.

Is being buried with your possessions also a thing we can do? I think being buried alongside one or two of my most personal dolls would be a nice sentiment. I suppose they'd place them in the coffin, but I wonder if that might look a bit strange at a funeral.

 

We lost my grandmother from a sudden heart attack last year...and we are still dealing with it all (emotionally and the physical stuff/probate). She collected sooo many dolls (not BJDs) and unfortunately what she thought would have some value...just wasn't. Prior to passing, she did mention some things that she'd like done and that's what we've done. We kept many dolls, given them to other family, and donated the last to a thrift store that directly benefited the children's hospital she had originally wanted to donate them too (they aren't accepting physical toys due to the pandemic so this was the next best thing).

It's not weird at all to place things in the casket/coffin. We did that for both of my grandparents. So you certainly could request it!

For me, I've made it clear to my family that these dolls have value, and they're welcome to keep any or sell if needed. I've got a little list going (with pictures) to help with identification. If they end up using that list (to hopefully get near their full value) then great. If not, at least they know that they shouldn't just toss them into the donation box or trash.

 

Oh, it's a really good idea to include pictures! I think I should update my list. I have someone who they are meant to go to but gods only know who will have to work with them when I'm gone. Pictures would make it much easier.

 

I had a serious health scare this past year and it made me consider everything. I have left a list of my dolls, what I paid and what they could "be worth". Like others have said, these dolls have value and I want my family to have that.

 

Now, I'm in a better position to answer this question. I am at least 90% certain my resin dolls will be incinerated after my death should they still be in my possession. I had wanted to arrange for them to sent back to Volks in the USA but that would be expensive. I need a will in any case. The executor of my will must be able to carry out the task.

I will NOT allow my immediate family members in Canada to take over my dolls. They will sell the dolls in China online websites as illegal copies at rock bottom prices. In short, they will make money out of the dolls in any way they know how to do so. They won't spend money to send the dolls back to Volks even if I wrote that in my will. This is a very serious matter. I'm heart broken by the fact that I don't have anyone to take over the dolls safely.

Given my situation, you can see why I am no longer buying new dolls, I'm trying to sell whatever and whoever can be sold when I am alive.

 

I'm sorry that your family is so untrustworthy. It's sad to think these dolls you love so much will have to be destroyed to keep them out of the wrong hands.
I wonder if maybe a toy museum would take them on, as part of early 21st century toys and collectibles and how adults got more into the collecting hobbies? Just spitballing.

 

My dolls (bjd and otherwise) would be left to my friends who also collect. I know what types of dolls they like or collect so I’d have it drawn up in a will which collections go to who.

 

Sadly no one in my family would want to take the time and effort to sell my dolls. But this thread reminded me that I do need to keep records of all my dolls. I would need to put the info with the individual doll, because I doubt very much that my family would bother to look for the info among my papers or on my computer.

 

Would you be able to set aside the money for them to be shipped?

Also, do you have somewhere or someone that will incinerate the dolls specifically in mind? You'll need it in most places unless junkyard disposal is ok.

Crematoriums can't burn everything.
Cleaning up melted plastic in the retort is difficult. Sometimes it damages the chamber and is expensive to replace. The smokestack created by incinerating plastics over a threshold isn't allowed in some places.

People bring in blankets and toys to be cremated with the body but at most a piece is included for sentimentality where I've worked. The rest thrown out unless the family wants to keep it. Plush isn't as much of an issue but something as substantial as a resin doll could run into trouble. You will want to contact the crematorium of choice if you're preplanning to see if it's doable.

I see a sentiment of "my collection will burn with me" in a lot of hobbies when it isn't as doable via cremation as it seems. If you already know this you can disregard my reply, but maybe it can help inform someone else.

Edited for clarification, since some objects can be cremated.

 

Bury me with mine. They are a part of me and I want to rot with them.

 

This topic really got me thinking, and I started a spreadsheet that includes purchase prices for my dolls now. Hopefully that will help anyone who ends up with my dolls after I'm gone. I have no preference for what happens to my dolls after I die, but I also know it's really hard to just throw stuff away, especially when you know it "should" be worth something. (currently clearing out late parents' home of antiques...)

 

Knowing my dad, if I kick it before he does he'll just cart everything off to Goodwill. Hopefully my dolls and other beloved material possessions will find their way to someone else who will appreciate them.

I'm mainly just hoping he won't cart my pets off to the pound cause that's exactly what he did with his stepmother's dogs when she went. D:

 

Knowing what my family wanted me to do with my fathers dog when he died (Told me to straight up euthanize him because he, at least to them, was beyond saving, since he was so ill behaved. i REFUSED.) I started training him and then found him a loving home to spoil him rotten again.
But i digress...
I've pondered what to do with them once i died. If it's suddenly, my main worry would be my pets, my family is NOT trustworthy, but a dear friend of mine have been asked to take them, and he said yes. My dolls would likely go to him as well. I don't have a will, but i'll make one during this year (a string of family deaths made me realize that time could suddenly be up) Just to be sure. If i were given an expiration date i'd likely talk to my friend about picking them up along with my cats. He'd know they're expensive and i'd provide him with my DOA logg in and Discord logg in so my lovely dolly friends would be able to either help him sell them or figure out what to do with them.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I did not know that resin is problematic to burn. I can set aside money for the dolls to be shipped but the executor of my will will not do that. I am sure they will pocket the money and sell the dolls as illegal copies in the China market. I am not worried about my vintage and antique dolls because they sell easily and relatives in Singapore are more than happy to take them. It’s the Volks resin dolls that have nowhere to go. If they don’t sell, I can ship them back to Volks before I die but nobody knows the time when this will happen. That’s the problem.

 

Given that I'm an older collector, I had given some thought to this topic in the past but since I have no family or friends in the hobby, I ended putting it in the 'too hard' basket. However, two bouts of cancer in the past five years have made me give this some serious thought.

As much as I'd always thought I'd like to keep my first boy with me when I pass, I've decided to be cremated when the time comes, so sadly he can't come with me after all.

My sister has agreed to take my collection (and this is detailed in my will) but, as mentioned above, she's not in the hobby, so I'm in the process of compiling a folder for her with all the doll details, pictures, certificates, invoices etc to help her if she wants to sell them. Meantime, I will start to sell off some of my MSD boys, who have been in their boxes for a few years now. Whether I'll be able to part with my two tinies of any of my SD dolls, I'm not so sure. Time will tell. But I have more peace of mind knowing that I've made plans for my collection when the inevitable happens.

 

Short answer: It doesn't matter. I won't care when I'm dead.

If I go before my mom, she knows the approximate costs of them and can get in contact with at least one of my friends who will be able to sell them for her. She might keep some of my girls but I know my boys will be the first to go. Turns out no one likes them as much as I do.

Hopefully I make it longer than her, and I hope my future family will care about my hobbies. If they don't and donate all my dolls, that's their problem. 100% their loss. I do try to keep track of all my info and their history, but good luck searching through my hard drives. I don't think I'll be capable of caring when I'm dead.

Unless my feelings change, you'll have to pry them from my cold dead hands because I'll take my collection to my deathbed. None of them will be sold out of fear of death. Technically, I'm already living on borrowed time and I'm sure not selling them this early in life. Yeah, I would prefer they end up with someone who values them as much as I do, but I want them around for as long as I'm alive and I won't let fear of death control my life. I can't take the money with me either so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

As someone who owns a bjd from an estate sale (my Lati Yellow Lumi, with another bjd from a sale on the way), I think I'd feel better knowing my dolls were sold to fellow collectors rather than being buried with me. My collection is small and kinda inexpensive but I still want someone to care for them just as much as I do! Also I feel awful for dolls that have lost their owners so I now have a habit of looking for them, it's silly I know ^^"

 

I bought my daughter's first BJD for her when she was nine, at about the same time that I started collecting for myself. All of my dolls will be left to her, and she knows this. She will love and appreciate them not only as a doll collector, but also for the sentimentality of having actually been there to see them unboxed and adored by her mom. I couldn't leave them in better, more admiring or capable hands.

 

At some point I think it won't matter. But for now at this point in my life almost all of my dolls will go to my sister she's younger than me by quite a few years... She's not in the hobby but she knows their value and can either pass them along to other people, or keep some to herself. One doll will go to a friend of mine, it's a LE and she's always admired it and has it on her grail list. My first doll (Pukipuki Sugar) will go to my mother. She helped me pick her out, and through that we bought a Puki for my Aunt which upon her death went to my mother.

I am also going through the motions of documenting for insurance, mostly because I have some limited dolls that go for a lot of money and I do love them. If something happened I'd want to either be able to recover them or buy something new to soothe my soul. It's hard because when I first started collecting I didn't keep a lot of documents or info in terms of purchases >.>

 

I've actually had this set up for a while (thank goodness for law classes in college), but I have a 'living' will set up with specifications for my husband and my brother to carry out. All of my dolls are to be sold (unless my husband wants to keep them) with the exception of a single doll: he is to be given to someone who is new in the hobby, at no cost to the newbie. Currently I am working on a list of what my husband should be expecting to get out of the dolls themselves and the worth of their accessories/etc.

I'm also compiling a list for insurance purposes just because we move every few years and heaven help someone who destroys one of my dolls in transit (this almost happened, I nearly had a heart attack because the box wasn't labeled and it was crushed). It'll be going into the 'oh crap' folder that travels with us that has the important paperwork, plus backups on Google in case of disaster.

 

*snip*

That is such a great idea! I hope you don't mind if I steal that idea from you, its a really nice way to help out someone after you're gone.

*snip*

That too is a great idea! I should do that as well, in case something happens to my notebook. I think I'm going to print out pics of each of them and add them to the notebook anyways.

I've seen that some people actually have spreadsheets on their dolls and their accessories. I have My Crew's accessories labeled in ziplock baggies in a dresser I got specifically for them, so that's something.

Ryu

 

The doll in question was given to me (for free) as a newbie and I've taken great pains to care for him and keep him as pristine as possible. I'd feel bad if my husband sold him, but giving him as a gift to someone who's just starting out seemed like the right thing to do. And...I won't be around anymore, so why just leave him sitting around when he could go to a good home and to someone who would love him just as much?

Feel free to take as many snippets as you'd like.

 

Thank you!

I already told my partner that "any one doll that he chooses is to be given away to a newbie to this hobby." and he said that "I'm going to give away your Alucard (vampire from 'Hellsing' minimee) BJD, along with a bag of blood."


Alucard from Hellsing by Ryuichi Sakuma, on Flickr

He's still very much a WIP.

Ryu

 

A dear friend of mine who was in the hobby passed away very unexpectedly two months ago. It's difficult to even know where to start with their collection, because their husband was only tertiary to the hobby, and I think I was their only in person friend who also collects BJDs.

My plan, as the hobby friend, is to try to both uncover their DoA username if I can (to see what they have listed as their collection, as a starting point-- especially for some of their rarest pieces) and to try to find as much information as I can about their collection once I am actually able to sort through it, as it's not currently an urgent priority for their husband. Then, I'm going to try to sell anything the husband doesn't want to keep, to help offset the costs of my friend's remaining debts, funeral costs, etc, and help their husband make ends meet while he figures out his path moving forward. We do plan to sell to collectors, because we both know my friend would have wanted their dolls to continue to be loved.

Thinking about my own dolls, I plan to put together a spreadsheet of my inventory, cost, and value, and make sure that it's shared with my partner so that someone has access to it in case anything should happen to me. Because the worst thing about digital files is if they're behind a password that died with the owner, they're as good as gone.