This is something that's just generally pretty easy for me. I've been very detail oriented ever since I was a young child. Like even at age 6, I had a binder with character sheets for my dolls and stuffed animals! Nothing too in depth back then, but like their full name, birthdate, what kind of animal they were, their likes and dislikes. Now, I still have a binder of character sheets for my dolls, but they go wayyyyy more in depth, and I do memorize most of it, but a few things I don't think about often do require checking. (But I'm also the person in my 40s who can still name everybody who was in my first grade class by full name and probably birthdays on half of them. And remember that my stuffed seal's full name is Pearson Yomiko Pupp and his birthday is July 7. ) Skin tones...that's kind of a different story. Especially when it comes to darker skin. like I know the doll is the company's version of brown or whatever, but I forget what they call it. Tan? Dark tan? Brown? Dark brown? Mocha? Chocolate? Sunlight? Sunburned? Real skin? Cream brown? Milk brown? Tawny? Peach gold? Ebony? Homme? Latte? SO many names out there for "brown" or "tan" that I tend to forget unless it's a company I buy from a lot. Even lighter skins, with the white, beauty white, snow, milk, Mia white, vampire, sugar, etc. Or normal, natural, meringue beige, apricot, peach. Remembering bodies is pretty easy, as I tend to shop around for specific body types, unless I'm happy with the default. Either way, pretty easy. I'm pretty good at identifying dolls, too. Like I recently came across a super cheap "unidentified" BJD on ebay and could tell from thepics that the body (which I wanted most) was FDoll, but was unsure on the head. He turned out to be a legit Leekeworld Romeo. I was really unsure of the head from pics but as soon as he was in my hand, I was like "hmmm...I think Leekeworld" even though I haven't owned a Leekeworld head in over a decade.
So... counting off-topic dolls, I have well over a hundred dolls, and I know all of their names. Why? Heck if I know. But I have a rule that if I can't remember their name, it must not have been the right name for them and I rename them. Sculpt names, on the other hand... those I have to keep careful track of. Very few of my dolls (other than my Alans), I can remember their sculpt names off the top of my head.
As I entered the hobby I had a profile and description of the dolls I bought in order on Flickr. When Flickr limited the posts on free accounts I downloaded all my photos and deleted them off Flickr. Years later, I realized all the information about them is gone and I’m having to look back and research where I got them, who I got them from and when I got them. I need to make a list but (I have so many)!!!! I highly recommend organizing all this information starting with your very first doll!
I have a doll or two that Ive forgotten the sculpt name for XD in that case its mostly because I bought them second hand at a swap and in the excitement of the moment forgot to write down exactly what they were. I actually need to go reach out to a few folks online and see if I can get some help so that I can make profiles for them here..... and I should probably start keeping a dedicated database. ( im not great a organization)
There are many factors that make remembering my crew being so easy. (Of course I also take note) - I only have a few : 7years in this hobby with only 6full dolls and 1practice head make it's easy to remember and bond with everyone slowly **This only count for the one that stay.. I did sell some dolls, but I'm on the side that can realize quickly if the doll is working for me or not, no one that didn't bond stay longer than 6 Months. The one who stay will stay, and have solid place in the story. - The sculpt name itself are also easy to remember : I coincidentally ended up to have all my girl sculpts name after a character in fairytale and all boy sculpts with only single syllable name But yes, please take note and record everything. I recently also finish making database for all Eyes, Wigs and Shoes I have, hopefully I can finish the clothing database this year.
I have a terrible memeory in general, and it's multiplied by infinity when it comes to anything to do with numbers. Back in the day (aroudn 2005) I fel in love with most of the head sculpts by RML (Real Missing Link) when they were still an active company on the BJD scene, and they only gave their sculpts numbers instead of names. I constantly have to look up old pjhotos of them and check the captions to be sure I'm using the right number when sharing new pictures of my dolls. I have seven of the R20J sculpt (well, several of the R20J and several of the R-01 which are the same sculpt but the R20J has removable ears that can be swapped out for elf ears), and that's the only one i can remember the name/number of with any degree of reliability. On top of that issue, I have htem all on different bodies from a variety of companies and , for the most part, I have no idea what the different skintones are called, and can't reliably rememebr the name of the body or the company when asked. And it also doesn't help that some companies tweak the names of their sculpts so the names they sell under now are slightly different form what they were when I bought the heads (looking at you Ninodoll, listing a head as Juri when it was released butd changing it to Juli some years later!!) Teddy
Yup, that started to become an issue for me, not remembering the names of my sculpts. So, I keep my records (besides my COA box) right here on DoA. If you click my name, it leads to my doll information. Every time I get a new doll, I add their pertinent information to my doll list. A few of my hybrids, I do not know what body they wear, and I need to undress them, post some pics here to DoA and ask some of the extremely doll knowledgeable persons here to help me discover who might have made the bodies, but I have not yet. (I have 2 giant Coleman books to research my many off-topic dolls that I collected pre-bjd when I was younger for my 1930's composites and 1900's bisques.)
I have a near photographic memory, which makes it fairly easy for me to fit all of the various information regarding my dolls inside my one noggin. That said, in the event that something were to happen to me, I have set aside a spreadsheet of my dolls' companies, hybridizations, skin tone, and original price point that I paid. Having an easy reference point is not only nice for me to have, but it also means that my husband or another loved one would be able to sell my dolls posthumously with relative ease. I highly recommend having a spreadsheet of your own if at all possible!
