A Small Collection or a Big One?

Well I hope to have a fairly big collection someday, but not so big that I can't care for all of them properly. For me I see the size of a collection by space needed to store them. All of my dolls can easily fit on a small shelf with room to spare so I'd say it's pretty small. Big will probably end up being a full bookcase.

 

I want to keep my collection small; they seem more special that way. I consider under 5 a small collection, and over 10 a large one.

 

When I got my first ABJD in 2004, I really thought I'd be satisfied with just one. But one look at my profile will show anyone how foolish that idea was for me. Every now and again, I think of parting with a few of them, but I never follow through. I didn't plan to have as many ABJDs as I now have, but I look at them, and the few left on my wishlist, and I'm pretty content at this point.

 

Depends on what your definition of big is. By the end of the year minus the dolls I am selling and have given to my daughter I should have around 87 ball joint dolls. I would like to think that eventually I will hit critical mass but I'm not counting on it just yet.

I did however start out with the intention of getting just 1 SD doll. One of my major problems I think is that when I got my dolls I settled for cheaper ones to begin with. I liked Dollzone Celine and Soom Kyrie but I got AOD Sara and Xi Yuan and an obitsu. I liked the Soom fantasy dolls but I got Resinsoul and Impldoll ones instead. In the end though I ended up getting the ones that I wanted originally and just ended up with twice as many

 

I personally know several owners who have 50+ dolls. I'd consider that a large collection. 10 dolls or fewer is a small collection. From what I've seen in various polls over the years, about 15-20 dolls is the average. I currently have 15 dolls; my collection's been stable at this figure for a couple of years now, so I think it's reached its natural limit, barring unforeseen circumstances. I may get one or two more if finances permit at some point, but on the whole I doubt I'll go above 20.

 

No mater how hard you keep them apart the dolls will get together, especially if you leave them in a dark space, and you'll end up with more. I started with certain dolls for certain characters and they had to fit in to a certain story, then I got the rule breaker. Now I've lost count.

It's good to have guide lines, only certain skin tones or brands or no doll over a certain price, but be a bit flexible because you never know which doll will steal your heart. But the smaller they are the more you have room for!

 

I think I want to keep my collection fairly small, just because I'm always on the move and my house isn't too spacious. But...that's just my hopes for now, who knows, I might end up with a very large collection!

I would consider more than 5 to be a non-small collection, for big...I don't know

 

The thing about a persons perception of collection size, is that a lot of times, it changes constantly throughout their stay in the hobby. Before I ever owned a doll, I was sure I'd only ever have one. Any more than that was totally inconceivable to me. The amount of money spent on a toy was insane and to do it more than once...Yeah, no. Then I got my first doll and instantly started planning the next two. Then my second doll was an unplanned impulse-but-still-ok-because-he-was-a-character buy, so that meant I should have 4 total. But my fourth doll was not planned either, and then I needed more of my OCs shelled and before I knew it I was at 5.

At one point I held steady at 13 thinking that was way too many, and would sell some off if I got more, just to stay there, but then I had 15 and that was ok...and suddenly 20 but I really liked them so 20 was fine. 21 was my next 13 - I was afraid to go over that many for a while...but again, once I did it was easy to keep going.

I don't look at my collection and think "OMG TOO MANY!!", possibly because so many are tinies, and in total take up about as much room as 3 SDs, so it really doesn't seem like I have as many as I do. I still like to try and sell a few if I'm planning new ones, but there will come a point when I don't want to get rid of any more so I'll be stuck and the number will grow again.

Right now I've decided that 100 dolls is too many for me! That way I have a lot of room to grow!
Though I would have to move out of my apt if that ever happened because there would be no room for me lol

And for the people who will no doubt come on here and claim that if you can't remember the names and sculpts of all their dolls they have too many (as it happens in every thread pertaining to collection size)...I can rattle off the names, sculpts, in most cases arrival dates, what I was doing when they arrived, and all the names and sculpts of some of my friends dolls as well....while I have friends with a small handful of dolls who ask me to remember their names for them because they forget. Some people can just do that, others can't...memory tricks should have nothing to do with the number of dolls one should own. Or again, I'll be up to 100 and buried in resin.

 

Do you plan to keep your BJD collection small or big?

At this time I plan on keeping my collection smallish. I discovered in my early doll collecting days (non-BJD) that the more I had, the less time there was to enjoy each piece individually. Therefore, over the years I've learned that smaller collections are much better for me.

How many dolls would you determine as a little or a lot?

Perfect size collection for me would be 2-3 dolls in each size grouping. One would be too little because I would consider the doll lonely and 6+ would be getting into the "can't find time to appreciate them individually" area.

Having said all of the above, I do have two daughters who collect with me and it could be end up having a very large family of dolls. But for right now, I'm hoping I remember to keep it small!

 

Do you plan to keep your BJD collection small or big?
for a short time, I thought 1 would be enough. the next consideration is space, as I find I really prefer the SD size dolls. now that the girls have talked me into adding some boys, the doll display table is full & time to play has been limited lately. So for me,my collection is just big enough...too big for my table but smaller than many that I've seen! 24SD's, 5MSD's. I've only just begun to feel that some of them are a collection. Instead of dolls I love there's also a style I prefer that I see in the dolls here now. And when I consider a new doll I think of them in groupings with my other dolls rather than just loving the idea of the new doll for its self. SO having more dolls has changed my collecting perspective in a couple of ways.

How many dolls would you determine as little or a lot?
Originally, 1 felt like a lot. And now, 30 can feel like just enough or too many depending on the moment. I have a friend with literally a house full of Barbie's on display...& THAT feels like too many!!

 

Do you plan to keep your BJD collection small or big?
For now, it will stay medium sized, but I plan for it to be big after I am settled in a larger space (house or massive apartment)

How many dolls would you determine as little or a lot?
Well, I used to consider five to be a decent sized collection, and ten to be a lot. Then I passed up ten in my own collection... I call a collection of five or less small. I call a collection nearing twenty big.

 

Do you plan to keep your BJD collection small or big?
For now, I really want to keep the collection at a rather small to medium size (with "medium" being on the lower end of the medium spectrum, whatever that is), for reasons such as (but not really limited to) cost and space issues. I think with a large collection I'd eventually start to feel overwhelmed, and being able to really focus on a smaller group would make me much happier in the long run.

How many dolls would you determine as little or a lot?
Around 5 is "a little" in my terms, what I determine as a lot probably isn't what other people see it as, I think around 20+ is starting to push into "bigness", but that's just what I would feel personally if I found myself with 20 dolls.

 

I found that "planning" is completely ineffective in this hobby.
Before I got my first doll the "plan" was to have no more than about 7. Now I'm at 21 and nowhere near done yet.

 

Do you plan to keep your BJD collection small or big?

I don't make plans anymore because I never follow my plans XD right now I have a small collection and I don't want to have more than 10, I broke that mark and I felt overwhelmed. I will probably have more than 10 in a few years when I have more space and a secure career.

How many dolls would you determine as little or a lot?

More than 20 is a lot for me, but that could change in a few years and less than 5 is too little...

 

well, right now they're 2... and they'll be just the 2 for, I think, a while...

and having 1 is so much little, having 2 is little. 3, 4 and 5 is some. 6 are a lot, more than 10 is a big lot.
more than 20 is too many.

 

I started out honestly believing that my first pair (Harumatsu & Tien Jen, a set of Shiwoo/Dreaming Shiwoo twins-) would be my only dolls. I didn't come into the hobby wanting a "collection" or expecting to assemble an entire small tribe...

Looking at the list in my profile, you can see how far from THAT plan I've ended up.

That said, I have no regrets. If, if few years or more down the line, you eventually end up with a bigger collection than you ever thought you would too, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It'll just mean that you changed your mind, and people are allowed to do that.

As for what I consider "large" and "small" collections... I don't really draw those kinds of lines. It's far too subjective to make a call on, and it doesn't really matter as long as the owner is happy with it.

 

I thought I'd have a handful, maybe 6 at the most. After all, the ones I had were averaging $500 a piece! So I never thought I'd end up with over 70! Yes, I have a massive crew, but I adore each and every one of them. They're all different and beautiful.

 

I really doubt most people begin this hobby with the idea of having 'a lot' of dolls. Many probably consider that their first doll actually may end up being their last. I mean, when you think about the price for each doll, doesn't one seem like enough? But then, as one begins to see more and more sculpts, the idea of having just one seems more and more outlandish. Buying just one doll would be like going to a chocolate buffet and only eating a single piece. It just wouldn't feel right.
As for my opinion on how many dolls I'll be getting; I would like to say that the two dolls that I've bought will be it. At the same time though, I know that that's probably not going to happen.