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Are YOU a doll collector?

Oct 29, 2009

    1. Nope, I'm not a ball-jointed doll collector. I usually just say that I have an interest in ball-jointed dolls, if anyone asks. Not that anyone has! XD
       
    2. Hmmm... collector.... Well, my first is still hasn't been shipped yet. I plan on getting another doll after him, once money permits of course, but I don't think that I'll be calling myself a collector. They are just too expensive for me to want a lot of them. I want to stick to having a couple that are really special and focus on creating things for them. Like Yuu-chan who will be coming, he's my dream doll. I don't think I would want another doll if I felt less about it than the one that is on the way. So I think I'll stick to hobbyist.
       
    3. What do you think? lol

      BJD family

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      and 500 others(not all shown here)

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    4. I only have two so I don't really consider myself a collector. Although I only really play with one of them...
       
    5. I'm not quite up to morriscode's level but i am indeed a doll collector, and have been for 20 years. I think dolls are either the second or third most collected items, coming after stamps and maybe coins, so the general hobby is more wide spread than you might realise! the great thing about the bjd aspect is the forums. I was never one for going to the monthly meetings with the antique doll collectors.........
       
    6. No, I wouldn't per say that I collect dolls. In the hobby? Yes. I guess it's all based on personal preference. I do have "collections" and my definition of a collection could encompass my dolls. But in my mind, I do not feel as if my dolls can quite fit in with the rest of my collections. So I haven't included them.
       
    7. I'm a doll collector. I've only been buying BJDs for a couple of years and they are definitely the pride and joy of collection. However, I collected Barbie for many many many years and I now have over 450 of them. All in storage, alas, but I hope one day to have room to display them.
       
    8. I think of myself as a doll hobbyist. When I buy a doll I buy it nude and dress it myself from the ground up. This involves my other hobbies of sewing, knitting, etc. I'm particularly fussy about shoes, ordering from Asia and waiting a long time just to get the perfect look. I suppose you could call me a collector, with a very small collection!
       
    9. I'm a doll collector (all kinds) and doll artist (porcelain, fabric, and working on my first BJD!), and I dress like a doll, so I guess you could call me a doll LIFESTYLE-ist! Haha! XD

      I love dolls and everything doll related! My friends and I have doll making tea parties. ;D
       
    10. Yes, I am a Collector... anybody faced with the collection in my home would be hard-pressed to come up with another word for it. Roget's Thesaurus would be hard-pressed to come up with another word for it. ^^

      But I don't think Collector is a limiting term, not at all. Am also a Hobbyist. And an Enthusiast. And a Geek. And all the other subsets people're coming up with here.

      And it doesn't matter if you've only got 1 doll. You can still be a collector. The eyeballs, the wigs, the shoes, the clamps & paints & putties & elastics & special imported sealant sprays, all the supplies that come with the territory-- that counts towards Collectorism. Collect the dolls, you collect the gear that they require. I think any 'money-sink' hobby is like that, though! Like vintage car collectors; every time I meet an Old Car person, they're also Old Car Parts collectors.

      But you've still got a collection. Everybody's collecting criteria is subtly different, but it doesn't mean there's a new word for it!

      "Collecting" does NOT mean "no limits". For example, somebody might set out to collect every single Nightmare Before Christmas promotional wristwatch that was ever sold at Burger King (mid-90s ^^)-- or, say, somebody might set out to collect only all of the Volks Tokyo Boys series-- and that sort of collection is finite. When you're done, you're done.
       
    11. I wouldn't say I'm a doll collector, because I don't just collect them dozens and dozens. I'd like to own 5 or 6 dolls, because, after all, BJDs are expensive and I'm supposed to live on my own in a couple of years. :3

      Dolls are just a hobby for me, that's all.
       
    12. For me they are a hobby too... A collection must have something to do with series, I mean not considering dolls in an individual way, but like a whole thing.
      For example, to buy all the models of one brand, to not play with them, and to be focused only on the news of this brand in particular.
      I think that when you imagine a world around your dolls, when you craft things, take pictures, etc. this is realy more alive than to just collect them.
      Sometimes it makes me sad when I see owners keep their dolls in boxes all the time.
      My dolls are always outside their boxes, and if they have a little scratch it doesn't matter for me, simply because it's a part of their history.

      P.S. Sorry for my english :)
       
    13. I see this world as a hobby.....and it not my only hobby i also like the manga and anime world woth all the merchandaising that this includes.
      I mean i like to buy o do clothes for them, taking pictures; looking for new looks or just making them an story....it´s a really fun hobby but i am not obssesed with having them likethe first day or not touch them never.

      Dolls are a hobby for me....just that.

      PS: Sorry for my bad english too
       
    14. Oh, yes, I am a doll collector. I have over 300 dolls, and I have made rooms for them to live in, complete with tables, chairs, beds, accessories, even food.(but not my 5 BJD's) I f anyone asks I describe myself as a 'doll fanatic.' Guess they are a hobby, too.
       
    15. Oh, heck yes, I'm a collector! To get even weirder, I'm a doll parts collector. Seriously. I have drawers and cabinets and shelves FULL of hands, feet, legs, arms, and bits of torsos, none of which go together, and many of which don't go on any of the full dolls I own.
       
    16. I don't tell people I know that I'm a doll collector unless they happen to see one of my dolls for some reason. I immediately qualify the information with "only a specific type of Asian doll" so they don't start giving me random doll stuff. I have never had any interest in collecting other types of dolls (other than the one Gene doll I bought because I like Mel Odom's illustration work). I consider them more of an ongoing art project than a collection, per se, but I do have a thing about not owning duplicates. I like to have as many different examples of a doll sculptor's work as I can, so I try not to have two dolls with the same body unless there's a specific reason for it.
      Generally, I am definitely a collector. I collect a lot of other stuff: Ribbons and trims, ancient artifacts, beads, two-dimensional artwork, art supplies, and most of all books. The real fight for the prime space in my house is between the art monographs and the dolls. *_* It's really hard not to buy all of the dolls I would like to own, but fortunately I'm not in the financial position to do so.
       
    17. I wouldn't call myself a doll collector; otherwise it would sound like my dolls are just toys. To me, they're not some resin toys that made simply for display but ones that I value as much as my family. So I think I fit into the doll owner category better than the doll collector one.
       
    18. Wow, I understand your pain! I was never one for negative attention or any attention! I am very weary of taking my dolls out to public places for photoshoots, etc. because they draw too much attention. And you do kind of have to explain yourself to them if they approach with questions.

      But to be more to the point and on topic, I think being a collector has to do with items obtained and value of said items. Sure a collector, per se, will accumulate a collection over time but not necessarily right away. I do go back and forth between calling it my hobby and my collection. Most often I refer to it as my collection because I've ALWAYS collected/owned dolls. I always had Barbie dolls and porcelain dolls. Porcelain dolls could not be changed/played with. Then I bought into Franklin Mint's vinyl dolls, which could be changed but still not really played with. THEN I found BJDs, which can be changed AND played with!!! I'm still a doll collector. I collect all sorts of dolls. I didn't initially like the term "hobby" I thought it degraded the value a bit. But that's not necessarily true. A hobby is something you do creatively in your spare time. These dolls are highly customizable, you can do their faceups, modify their bodies, and otherwise take the same doll and give it so many different looks people would think it was a different doll everytime it was presented to them. So yes, it is actually a hobby. So then if it is actually a hobby then is it a collection? Well, they have limited editions, they have dolls that go out of production, they are high in price and value, owners usually end up with more than one, they usually end up with dozens!!! So, yes, I'd say it is a collection of dolls. Every collection starts with one. My collection of BJDs started with three bodyless heads. Now I have 8 full dolls and a headless body!
      When I am not using my spare time to play with my dolls, thus hobbying them, they are sitting beautifully on a shelf in their expensive clothes on their expensive furniture being a part of my collection!
       
    19. I'm a doll collector, and I have been since I was eleven. I would not fall into the category of ball-jointed doll collector yet, but I could very easily.
       
    20. I would say I'm definitely a collector with no hope,of ever finishing my wish list ..... because I keep adding to it. Some of these cute anthros just melt my heart :love