"But I want them all!" - aka How do YOU choose?

Wow, I wrote this a year ago. How much has changed since then...

Right now, 9 of 10 dolls on my "may-be-interested-in-buying" waiting list never make it to my actual "will-bring-home-one-day" wishlist because my desire for the doll is entirely satisfied by looking at other owners' photos. But for that 1 sculpt, if I keep thinking "I don't just want to look at photos, I want this doll for myself!" -- then it goes on the real wishlist. And even then, that doll has to stand the test of time and not be replaced by another sculpt, or fall off because I lost interest in it. My wishlist is still a handful of dolls, but those dolls have been there for about a year. If they're still there by the time I have money and motivation to buy more resin -- well, they will come home eventually! If a doll has fallen off the wishlist, I won't spare any tears for it and just bring someone else home!

Thinking of an imaginary character for the sculpt helps, but it's not as important anymore. Now my love for the sculpt takes precedence -- if I like the doll enough, it will develop its own character eventually.

 

It is really hard >~<
I hunt around, checking out as many different sculpts and the like until I find the ones that I just can't stop looking at. It's how I ended up splurging on my girl. If I notice that it's one I love in any pic I see from the owners and the company, and it's in stock, I'll most likely jump for that one.
Otherwise I'll be more money conscious and browse the cheaper and similar styled dolls. I hope that made sense. It did in my head @~@

 

I go around looking, but I only really sit down and plan if I feel a connection with the doll ^^ Even if it does cost alot, I wont give up till the doll goes out of production. Its just that special to me ~

 

It is such a hard choice for me - who is next? My husband ask which doll I am saving for and I give him a run down of the top 10 current choices. There are so many great dolls out their right now. The way I narrow my top ten down to the top one is by deciding which doll catches my heart and which one would I rescue if my house was on fire. If I can decide that then that is the right one for me.

 

I'm having that very issue right now. I don't have any BJDs yet, but I've got an ever-growing list of potential candidates and it's so hard not to want them all!

Right now I've got it a bit easier since one of them is limited; once I make my mind up for sure, she'll be the top priority. After that, I'm leaning toward saving money and waiting for an event/sale before I buy the other one I most want. The hard part is knowing that it could be months before that happens, but having that qualification in mind helps enforce my patience. At this point, all the others fall in between those two ends of the spectrum in priority, which makes it a bit hard to decide.

 

I have a wishlist which contains the characters in my story and they're grouped up in their relationships so I have a loose order already sorted. For me the problem is that I have a lot of characters and therefore a lot of dolls on my wishlist making me go wantwantwant. I'm broke though so I have to avoid limiteds (which is okay) and that helps.

 

So for those of you who can't have just one...when you're browsing, planning, what have you, how do to keep from demolishing your bank account?

Well, the biggest factor that spares my budget is the fact that most of the dolls I want are old LEs. It's rare for multiple dolls I want to be available for sale a once, which means not needing to really restrict myself from buying them.

Now, when there are multiple dolls I want available (like big re-release events where suddenly 3+ LE sculpts I want might all be available at once for a limited time), I tend to splurge as much as I can justify. I still only spend 'hobby money' on them, though. I don't dip into money for bills/food/socialising or anything like that. I know what it's like to have no spare money for comfortable living, and it sucks, so I'm never tempted to dip into my general fund for doll money.

 

I definitely look at price first, and if I happen to love the sculpt even better! Then I look around and find the best bargains!

 

I look at every little detail. I pick out the things I like/dislike about each sculpt. Usually picking out the dislikes really narrows it down ^_^

 

I have some very strict rules about size and scale. First, NO SDs. They are too big and too expensive. I like certain MSDs but don't currently have the space for them. So that means adults are 28-30 cm, and children are in scale to that. That narrows down who's allowed to go on the wishlist. I go back and look at pictures occasionaly, and if my feeling towards the doll has changed from LOVE to "eh" then off the list it goes. I decide who's next by who yells "Bring me home NOW!" the loudest or might become unavailable. Then companies have to go and make LEs. But ideas for characters and prices help me decide who I MUST HAVE and who I can let go with a sigh. Current (and first) example, Luts made LE a double lion anthro-centaur doll that is really amazing, but I do not love the price and Fairyland is having a limited opportunity for tan puki puki's. I have had a tan puki puki on my Wishlist for since I joined the hobby, and I can get two for the price of the Luts LE. And I figured out a way to make own griffon. Problem of which to get solved.

 

Each doll needs to fit a character that is already pre-existing in my head. I often base their looks on characters from video games or mangas so that really narrows things down for me. Often I see something that is gorgeous but if they don't fit any of my characters, I don't consider them, simple.

 

I don't know how to do this. I'm still not fully able to distinguish my infatuates from dolls actaully needed. Right now i'm trying hard to figure this out 'cause wishlist dolls are taking over and since i'm not a billionare i have to make the right choices, take the right decisions... For now i only know for sure that my last and 4th doll was the right choice. I still have the other 3 and they're doing fine and i love them too and not gonna sell them, but you know what i'm talking about...

 

I wish I was the planner type..but no, I fall in love with a certain doll and there goes my money, as I want more and more versions of that one!

I hear this...as I am the same. If I put her on favorites and go there everyday, I know that is the one for me!

 

I'm definitely helped by having existing characters I want to shell, rather than creating characters as I acquire dolls. It helps me stick with "admiring from afar" with dolls that don't necessarily fit the characters, and narrows down the list to just those that are close. Plus, once one makes the list and is purchased, it generally knocks a few others off that were potential molds for the same character, which also keeps the list down. Though I still seem to keep ending up with new dolls, for the most part they've got pretty solid ideas bringing them home.

 

I buy the ones that take over my brain and make me sit up half the night planning a wardrobe and storyline for them. If they're not saying, "Here's what needs to be ready when I arrive ...", they aren't allowed here.

I don't care about expensive since I will figure a way to pay for it. I avoid cheap dolls for quality issues -- but may buy if they're right for the character (I'll just invent more new swear words over resin and jointing issues).

Any new dolls have to fit aesthetically with the current dolls -- which means most new dolls will be from Soom. I don't buy human dolls, so they need to have good fantasy parts. I prefer not to get dolls with huge wings due to space issues but might buy them anyway if the character demands it.

 

I don't really know how I choose. My wishlist is ridiculously long and there is no way I'm going to own all of them any time soon. Recently I've been buying the dolls I want when I see them on the marketplace, so I haven't been choosing them so much as stumbling upon them. I'm an impulse buyer so I don't tend to plan on getting one particular doll. I just buy the dolls I want when I have the money.

The exception to this is my nYID Rexy that I have on layaway. I actively chose her because she was number 1 on my wishlist, and because she is the older sister to my favourite doll. I also sometimes choose dolls because of their size. I like my dolls to have friends that are the same size.

 

I'm specifically building an unseelie court, and so dolls have to be fairly unusual (usually with some nonhuman elements) for me to be interested in the first place. At this juncture I have basically zero interest in a fully human doll and that narrows down my options considerably. My wishlist is usually fairly short.

I can't really pin it down except that some dolls immediately have possibilities in my head, I can see their character and they fit into the world I'm building surrounding my dolls and I can picture the way they interact with my existing characters. Other dolls don't have that potential.

I tend not to go for hybrids because I'm not concerned with the particulars of specific faces and I don't want to place them on generic bodies. I look at dolls like an art piece and everything (face + body) has to be worthwhile for me to want it. Because of this I've also avoided housing floating heads.

 

I have yet to choose ... I see many sculpts I think are perfect and would be very wonderful to own! But I remember the price tag & it kind of makes me second guess my choices. It's not that the price is too much, it simply just makes me be cautious. I don't want to spend the money & then change my mind. I feel like I do that too much in my life with my fashion choices. I don't want to be so indecisive when it comes to dolls.

I guess when I am trying to choose one, I usually see what other people have done with them & try to learn how different they can look! Also I want a complete doll...I don't want to find a floating head a body, or vice versa. Too much work for me, especially if the match doesn't work. I don't think I have a specific type of 'face' I look for...if I find a doll to be beautiful, it's just a feeling I get when I look at it.

 

Most of my dolls are LE and I usually only buy fantasy or anthro dolls. I know a doll is the one if I am constantly going to the webpage throughout the day because I can't get enough of looking at it and if I am constantly thinking about the doll during the day.

 

I look at a lot of companies, and it's usually a lot of times a day/week...which drives me a bit insane, yet I still do it. I look at the price and and then the mold a lot of times, if it's really calling out to me, and there's already a character that it'd match, then I start to look at the bank account, or how I could pay it all. I pick by price, character and aesthetics. If I look at owner photos and decide it's not the right mold, I move along. And then find my next victim.