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Way TOO real, right??? 😂

@@MarchPaynesMidlifeDollyCrisis 😂🤦🏻‍♀🤣

It sounds like you've been pretty selective and also getting dolls which you want rather than following the trends of what everyone else is getting. I totally feel your pain in the shipping for anything coming abroad - when I see the prices of postage from the US to Europe (particularly on eBay and Etsy) I don't even bother looking any further half the time. I have also been known to go into toy stores and come out empty handed (well, it's happened at least once or twice this year).

Thank you! Tbf I still have a LOT of dolls from the last few years which I need to get unboxed, but yes, on the whole, I am pretty proud of my spending for this year so far. Also it's not just the money but he quality of dolls too - Ellowyne, Neema and Blythe dolls are not cheap, but they are quality dolls and definitely feel worth the money. As opposed to buying some playline brands and getting them open and just being disappointed on the quality of them.

Thank you. And congratulations on only buying two dolls this year - although I'm sure neither of them were cheap, they are doll brands that you love and will cherish for many years in your collection. I also have the Anniversary Sindy on her way to me, but I actually purchased her last year when she was on pre-order so she wasn't included in this video.

I'm looking forward to opening her, I might do a double unboxing with her and series 1 Snow White inspired ily doll.

@@MarchPaynesMidlifeDollyCrisis Oh that would be a very cool video!!

Thank you 🥰 I definitely want to do more of that in the future and hopefully be able to get outside again and take pictures there too.

I think feeling that dolls need friends is what has gotten me into this mess to begin with 🤣

Yes, I'm really interested in opening those too, I want to see the difference between them and the younger style of Licca chan.

In the last few years I have had wishlists on various websites with a lot of different dolls in them - this year I haven't got that at all. I think it's a change of mindset, realising that you can still be collector even when you are not adding to that collection, it doesn't diminish what you already have, it just makes it more special.

Thank you so much 🥰 I'm really happy with what I purchased this year so far, hopefully I can keep it up for the rest of the year too.

Thank you. I am really happy with what I've managed to buy this year and also what I've managed not to buy this year too. I really like the ily dolls but don't feel that I need the entire collection of them - despite the rock bottom prices here. I think focusing on special dolls, like the silkstones etc is a great way forward.

It's definitely a change in mentality, like you said. And it the idea of replacing "want want want" with a more mindfulness when it comes to doll buying. There is definitely a rush or addictive quality to the hunt for dolls, but when the hunt is the best part and you have boxes of boxes of dolls piling up it really shows that actually you don't need that many and if you aren't eager to unbox them straight away do you even need them? I would rather have a smaller collection of dolls that I absolutely adore to a huge collection of dolls with half of them beings ones that I can no longer remember why I bought them or why I even kept them.

You hit the nail on the head. It's sad that having too many dolls means that the appreciation gets lost in the mix of dolls. Less really is more.

It's nice to have a low buy year without even trying to do one, and that you feel quite satisfied with what you have in your collection. That is definitely the position that I would like to be in. I don't think there will be a time when I won't be buying dolls, but I can see it becoming more of an occasional thing rather than every single month etc.

My purchases tend to come in waves. A doll I have to have will come up and suddenly one or two more appear. Then a dry spell for a while which gives me time to enjoy the dolls. I do a lot of window shopping in between so lots of temptation! 😄 Have a great weekend!

Yeah, it's annoying when real life and things like broken plumbing or heating bills seek to interfere in your doll acquisitioning, isn't it?

From what I could see there is series based on foods and another based on animals? I still haven't opened her up. Let me know if there is anyone you think would be a good companion doll for her from the lines you have.

I haven't really touched on the idea of space when it comes to my collection. As it is at the moment part of my collection are currently boxed and put away. Originally I wanted to only have a selection of my collection on display and keep swapping them out every once in a while so I could enjoy all the dolls through the year at different times. Unfortunately because of the deluge of dolls they now either just get shoved onto a shelf which is already teeming with dolls or put away in a box. As for hobbies and how expensive they are, I don't think that there are many which are inexpensive anymore - gaming is pricey, but equally so is knitting and crafting and pottery and dress making. I guess if we enjoy doing something we've got to be willing to pay out for it.

Smart Dolls are quite an investment, and not one that I feel able to justify myself. I get an attack of the guilts spending on Ellowyne or Blythe dolls, and they are a fraction of the price of a Smart Doll. I don't want to get to the stage where I am comparing my buying from year to year, I just want to be more mindful with what I'm buying now, although I have never bought dolls which I didn't like, I probably should have waited to get dolls which I loved.

It hasn't been hard for me to not buy any Barbies this year so far, although I have been tempted by a few of the collector editions. Mattel just aren't producing Barbies that I want to buy, and when I do see the odd Fashionista who I like the look of, when I actually see her in a store her face is so pixelated that I just don't want to buy them no matter how cheaply priced they are. At least with the new RH dolls they don't seem to be releasing them at the pace that they were doing in the past, so hopefully you can keep up with getting the ones that you want.

@@MarchPaynesMidlifeDollyCrisis totally agree, Barbies are really not great quality at all. Yes, I think I can definitely keep up with RH. They aren't releasing as many dolls per series anymore.

I never wanted to have an overwhelming quantity of dolls, but they seem to have quickly mounted up in the last couple of years and now feel a bit out of control! It's as if my doll collection has become a runaway train. I know that if I went through my collection that the chances of getting rid of dolls would be minimal, and those that I did want to get rid of would probably just end up going to a charity shop rather than me trying to resell them on as they would more than likely be the cheaper dolls in my collection. Dolls still very much give me joy and obviously I am still buying dolls but I think I need to have a serious look at the ones that I already have and decide who I want to keep and who I might want to move on.

@@MarchPaynesMidlifeDollyCrisis I hear you. I am pretty much out of room to add more dolls. If my office/art studio/doll room was bigger I know I’d keep buying but because it’s so small it’s really curbing my collecting. 😁🤗

Mindful is definitely the way forward imo. I would rather have a more cutback collection of dolls who I love than a large collection of dolls which I feel overwhelmed by and which don't make me feel love but more anxiety.

@@MarchPaynesMidlifeDollyCrisis Well put!

Don't worry, I still have a LOT of dolls that you have not yet seen me unbox! 😉

@@MarchPaynesMidlifeDollyCrisis 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I think the idea of buying quality rather than quantity is definitely the way to go. To have fewer dolls, but have those dolls be more special, feels like a real step in the right direction. I admit that at the end of last year I did probably end up panic buying a few of the Rainbow and Shadow High dolls, mainly because I presumed that once the slime dolls came out that it would harder and harder to find them. I didn't buy any dolls that I wouldn't have wanted to get but with the soft reboot I was more compelled to get them at the time I suppose. I just don't know how people can buy all of some doll ranges - the idea of buying all the Monster High releases would also make me throw my hands in the air, it definitely feels like Mattel are releasing more and more every month and there are so many of the SAME characters getting released time and time again!

Thank you. I think we did talk a bit about doll buying and collecting. The idea of being more mindful about what we're buying is really important, also the idea of buying so many dolls that the ones that you find most special just get lost in the mix is really sad. We should love everything that we buy, and we should show that by spending time with that doll and playing and having fun with that doll. And that doesn't happen when you are too fixated on what you're going to purchase next that you literally are just filming unboxing and then shoving the dolls onto already overcrowded shelves. Also just because you don't buy dolls constantly doesn't make you any less of a doll collector, I would never say that I'm not buying more dolls because you just never know what will be coming out next and catching your eye etc, but I am happy to let weeks and even months pass without feeling the need to buy one, or going to the toy store and looking around and leaving without buying anything too. It's okay, we can normalise this, we can just be happy with what we have without feeling fidgety because we don't have the next big doll craze etc.

Thank you so much 🥰

Thank you. I don't want to say that I feel proud of how little I've bought this year - considering the prices of some of the dolls that I've added to my collection in 2024 - but I feel that going for quality rather than quantity is a big step in the right direction 😘

Thank you. I'm so glad that I got Arledge Timekeeper and am looking forward to unboxing her, eventually! I think because I have so many dolls that I have bought over the last few years, most of which I still have to unbox, I've had time to sit back and reflect on my spending and realised that I don't need to have the quantity to be a collector, I could have 5 dolls and still think of myself as a doll collector (I mean, I don't think for one minute that I will ever have just 5 dolls, but you know what I mean). Maybe going forward we can all be more mindful of what we are buying and adding to our collections.

With Smart dolls you are buying something of quality, you're making a decision to spend a lot of money on a doll, it's not the same as going and buying a bunch of playline dolls from the local bargain store - the decision making it very different. For me, I ended up buying three Ellowyne/Neema dolls - again they are quality dolls, so it feels very different than buying 15 Barbie Fashionistas (for instance). For me the Ellowyne dolls feel very special and whenever I spend time redressing them or posing them I feel that they are special dolls. I want to have dolls in my collection which feel special and which I want to redress and have fun with - that's not to say that I can't feel that way about Barbie Fashionistas or playline dolls generaly, but I think sometimes we can get into the habit of overbuying those type of dolls because of the price of them, rather than how they make us feel. I hope that makes sense and doesn't sound like I'm being snobby about dolls because I certainly don't mean to, I just want to be much more mindful of what I am buying and I want to add dolls from all walks of life to my collection that feel special to me.

@@MarchPaynesMidlifeDollyCrisis Exactly. Yes. And Yes to all you said.

Thank you so much and thank you for the congratulations. Getting to 1K felt like a long time coming but I am delighted to have reached it, and it also (almost) coincided with my channels anniversary too!

I think the strawberry dress is such a great contrast from her original outfit. Thank you for the tip with regards to her "birthmark" too, will have to give it a go, I've been meaning to get a Magic Eraser anyway as they seem to be a staple for most doll collectors.

I really recommend her as she is even more beautiful IRL. She's also a great size to be able to play and redress with.

I'm bit obsessed with Ellowyne/Neema dolls at the moment, they really are stunning dolls and I love the size of them too.

Thank you! I liked this doll more and more as I opened her and by the end I was so pleased that I'd taken the chance and gotten her when I did.

Thank you so much - I am delighted with Neema, she is stunning.

Thank you. I'm glad I got him when I did, the Looks dolls get harder to find after a while, which is a bit scary.

I really love the playsuit, the colours are lovely. Shame it isn't a full length jumpsuit as that would look amazing on her.

I loved her when I saw her online but in person she is even more stunning! 😘

@@MarchPaynesMidlifeDollyCrisis I am so happy for you 🥰Enjoy your Beautiful doll 🤗🤗💘💘

For me, she was definitely a doll that I liked originally but then liked more and more as I was unboxing her. The hair colour is lovely and the face is so pretty, also the clothes and accessories are all wonderfully put together (well, not the shoes so much).

I had loved this Neema doll from seeing her original release at the start of the year but couldn't get both her and Ellowyne Chasing Rainbows at the time. It definitely felt it was meant to be when she was was restocked. Thank you for watching 🥰

Thank you - I literally can't stop looking at her at the moment!

@@MarchPaynesMidlifeDollyCrisis Your welcome!!

These dolls seem huge to me so I would probably not be able to cope with a Smartdoll. I am a bit obsessed with Ellowyne and Neema at the moment, as you can probably tell, but then are such lovely dolls.

Thank you. She is such a lovely doll and I'm delighted to have her.

Thank you. She is so beautiful and I can't stop looking at her!

Thank you. She is such a perfect doll imo.

Thank you, I was super excited to get a Neema - and particularly this one, because I loved her hair so much - but nothing could prepare me for how stunning she would be IRL. I love your Neema in her blonde wig, having a wigged dolls is great for changing up the looks and being able to show different sides of their personalities, similarly to changing their clothes. Really looking forward to redressing my Neema soon but at the moment I'm just enjoyed her as she came.

Thank you. I agree about the profiles. I also really like that although they are different they are still very much "doll family" in their looks. I think this rooted afro Neema has been a big success so hopefully they will produce an afro wig at some stage.