Pick A Side Lady!!!

Image By Ggmossgirl

Warning, this is going to mostly be a sounding board post to get my thoughts out, so please don't mind my mindless chatter. LOL! So I was thinking about my doll collection and the many dolls in my collection, and something hit me. I've got a lot of dolls. LOL! More than when I was a child, which I think is the norm for most doll collectors. But when I look at other doll collectors I see they all have a preference of doll they stay around. If you like fashion dolls, you tend to have a lot of fashion dolls. If you like bjds, you tend to have a lot of bjds. I don't tend to see many people with a ton of different types of dolls in their collection. It's usually one type, or one scale size. Now that's not to say no one has varying dolls, but it just seems to me that most collectors “pick a side”. Me, on the other hand, I just can't seem to “pick one”. I like so many types of dolls and I just want to own as many as I can.

I guess there isn't anything wrong with owning several dolls, except that you can't really become fully knowledgeable about one particular one if you are constantly hopping from doll to doll. Like when it comes to crafting, I know a little bit about a lot of different types of crafts, but I don't know a whole lot about one type. Because I find so many of them interesting. That's also bothered me about myself, that I can't just pick one hobby to focus on. But I like that I can use other hobbies I've learned some about to add on to other hobbies. For example, I see so many times in forums, usually the sewing sections, how doll owners wish the knew how to knit because they only know how to sew. I on the other hand know a tiny bit of both and if I wanted to mix the two I could. What I don't know about knitting or sewing I can look up and get the outcome I want. So perhaps liking more than one thing a little is a benefit in the end.

But I think with dolls it's a little harder to find that benefit. For example, I am finding it hard to bond with Midori, because I wasn't aware of the very slow process building a doll can be. I knew slightly of it because I've done my research, but being in the middle of it makes me truly see how bjds are very different from fashion dolls.

Perhaps that is why fashion dolls always appealed to me, because they are instant gratification and satisfaction. You can easily find things for them in any store and even things not made for them. You can get really creative with them in a short amount of time. But with bjds, that process is much slower. It's not as easy to find things for them in stores unless they are around 27 cm or smaller.

You can sometimes find things fitting to bigger dolls, but for the most part you have to shop online. You can do a lot of handmade stuff, but once again that can be time-consuming, especially with bigger dolls. I really think that is why I like the smaller dolls because they can still fit into the “fashion doll” ease for me. But I still find myself wanting bigger bjds, so maybe I will work past this issue and find a way to enjoy the hobby more. I just think not being in the hobby more where I spend all day everyday on DOA bonding with others waiting for this or that is something I am missing to help with that. But there are so many other dollie places I want to be that I just don't do that.

For example, I like to pop into the Blythe boards, various 1/6^th doll boards, Monster High boards, etc. I just think not having one doll “genre” I prefer is causing such a lapse in me enjoying the hobby. So does it mean I have to “pick a side” in order to enjoy the doll hobby? Or perhaps I can enjoy various dolls, but I have to pick one or two as my serious focus. Now the benefit to dolls is that a lot of their care and customizing techniques overlap with other dolls. So maybe my focus should be on two that closely overlap. I like fashion dolls, but I don't tend to want to customize them much. I was highly interested in customizing Blythe, bjds, and Monster High dolls.

The reason I was interested in Monster High dolls was to see if I could create a new character and then sell them on to a new owner. I don't want to personally start collecting them because there aren't many fashions packs and if you want to dress your doll you end up having to actually hunt down and buy a new doll or make the clothing yourself. I'd honestly rather sew for my fashion dolls, Blythes, or bjds for clothes I plan to keep, so I just don't have room for Monster High in my collection. I might sew for them so they don't go to new owner nude, but that's about the extent of it. I just don't think I can be as creative with their clothing like other dolls because they have a personality already and I don't like staying within the boundaries of any certain thing while being creative. So customizing them and selling them let's me enjoy that part of the doll hobby without committing to it. I've seen some people customize Blythe dolls and not own any, so it's really not as weird as it sounds. LOL! So maybe my focus should be on Blythe and bjds for actually collecting, fashion dolls for my stories and webcomic, and Monster High to customize and be artistic with. I'll eventually want to try selling other customized dolls but I think I'll start with Monster High for now.

So have I picked a side? Yes and no. Right now I want to focus on my fashion dolls to get their story started and over with so I can move on to the webcomic I want to work on. But after the past few posts I have reignited my love of Blythe dolls and I want to explore bjds again. So I guess it's fashions dolls and Monster High for now, with a slight bit of Blythe, and then after the story is over, I'll reevaluate. And now you can see what goes on in my mind at any given moment. LOL! I just wasn't really sure where I wanted to be in the hobby. I love having my hand in everywhere to just see what everyone is up to and what is new coming out. It's also the best way to find great items that can be used on other dolls, for example if a new Bratz doll is coming out that has some cool clothes I can snag her up for taking the clothes for Blythe or my Lain doll. So it helps to keep you nose in with other groups. I just have been feeling the need to bond a little more to at least one or two groups, and needed to talk it out. Now I have, and now I feel better...for now. LOL! Ok, I will talk to you lovelies later. Thank you if you read all this chaos. LOL! Bye for now.

Mentally exhausted from all this thinking,
Michelle