BlytheLife.com opened in July 2010 and is a blog and resource hub for all things Blythe!
QOTW: Selling your dolls?
Written on May 16, 2016 at 1:30 pm by MichelleFiled under: Question of the Week
I had a discussion recently with a friend, who declined to be identified, in the doll hobby about how she often sold dolls to afford new ones. She called it “cycling” as in, one doll out, a new doll in. She has what she considers to be a “core group” and a “fluctuating group”, which I thought was interesting. Her core group consists of a Kenner, her first Blythe, and her first custom (that she did herself). Her fluctuating group is usually 3-4 dolls that changes every one to two years. She says its her way of not pouring even more money into the doll hobby, while always keeping her collection “fresh and exciting”. At one time, her fluctuating group was a group of one – she had a custom doll who was created by a sought after customizer at the time. Then she traded that doll for two dolls, and then she sold one of the customs and bought two other dolls with the proceeds. In her words, there are (surprisingly) more important things to spend money on than dolls, but she still wants to have the excitement of a new addition to her collection.
And then there’s me. I have only sold one doll before (a Fancy Pansy that never even made it out of her box – and to add insult to injury, I stripped her of her stock before shipping her off to her new home), the rest of my dolls enter into the family and here they will stay forever (barring unforeseen circumstances). And I know there are collectors out there like me – minimal selling, none of this “cycling” of money business, but I also know that this is not completely the norm. Some people sell, some people don’t – but it’s not a hard or fast rule that anyone should adhere too. What if I wake up one morning and decide that I need to sell a doll to afford something? Anyone who read this post would think that I’m a hypocrite and that’s okay – because presumably I’d either fallen out of love with a certain doll, or I really need the cash for something necessary in life – and that does not include doll clothes or shoes.
Do you “cycle” through dolls? Do you keep all your dolls? Or do you fall somewhere between the two extremes?
I’m the kind of girl who keeps all of her dolls, in fact, I keep everything I collect and will actually feel insulted when someone suggests I should downsize my collection. Every doll in my collection has a story behind her, meaning there’s a reason why I wanted to purchase a particular doll in the first place. So if I worked hard to get her, I don’t see the point of even considering to sell it.
I keep all my girls (Currently 4 Neos and 1 Middie). They all have different personalities and styles to me, so I could never see myself getting rid of them. If I’m lucky, I find LPS petites at the thrift store. But, I sell them if I can’t bond with them, and feel that they should go to a more loving home.
I cycle through dolls… I love, and buy, a lot of Azone Pure Neemos… but I find that once I get them, it’s really the outfit that attracted me to them, and not particularly that doll in that hair/eye combo… so, I sell the doll and keep the outfit! XD
I also cycle through all of my dolls though.
I’ve got a core base, just like your friend, but it’s taken me a very long time to get to it, and I’ve made a lot of purchases only to realize I felt “meh” about the doll, or, even though the doll was beautiful… it just wasn’t for me.
I have held on to all of my dolls! I just have four Neos and a Middie, and I feel like maaaaaybe one more Neo and I’ll be all set (we’ll see how I feel then though, haha). I can’t imagine how I’d even choose which of mine to part with if I had to!
I’ve kept all of my Blythes! I sometimes get rid of dolls from my other collections (mostly Barbie, as I used to buy just anything I vaguely liked and Monster High as I’m not into them as much anymore). But I don’t think I could bear to part with any of my Blythe family.