Can you love them all?

Not really， when you own too much doll it‘s hard to love them all.

 

I have 10 in my collection,and that's too many for me. I don't love them all and wish I only had one,the one in my avatar (Simone). She's the one I love crafting and sewing for,taking pictures of her. It just feels like work and obligation when I do something with the other dolls.
The dolls I'm unhappy with were all impulse buys and dolls I got to shell characters I'm not interested in anymore,and simply don't like the sculpts anymore. It's different when people have 10+ dolls that were not just impulse buys,and dolls they really wanted.

 

I completely agree, if I cant actually spend time with my whole collection then I feel like its just... too many dolls. I personally have 11 dolls and I REALLY don't want to add more unless it's a grail at this point.

 

I don't see why it's not possible to love every doll in a huge collection. In fact, I love every single one of mine - both as an individual, or as part of a group. I'm a collector. Which means I like the idea of being surrounded by a *collection* of dolls. And there isn't a single one among them that I don't love or at least like very much.

Having said that, 'loving' a doll is like loving any other inanimate object in my house. Not at all comparable to the way I feel about my pets, for instance.

Some of my dolls have been nude for over a year, but I don't feel guilty about it - it's not like they'll be traumatized.
I have dolls that I haven't dressed yet, craft supplies that I haven't done anything with yet, craft projects that I've been working on for a dozen or more years... I don't mind that - I enjoy the process of needlework, the process of finishing a doll, the possibilities of untouched yarn.

The best thing (for me) about dolls is that they're never finished. You can always wipe them clean and start over. I love the endless possibilities.

 

I love all my dolls, but not equally. Some are more special than others.

 

I have over 50 dolls, I do have a love and fondness for all of them, but I have to admit I do my a favorites. I don't use the smaller ¼ dolls a lot. They kind of just sit on a shelf, but I still very much enjoy looking at them everyday. I do have a couple favorites among them as well.

My larger dolls are my favorites. I spend a lot more time with them, doing stuff with them, making stuff for them, writing stories for them they I do with the smaller dolls. I really do love all my dolls, and if I am doing an overhaul, like washing them all down, touching up faceups, changing outfits. I don't just do it to one doll, but for all of them.

I think what makes some of them more special is the circumstances around when or how I got them that endear them to me. Like Dollzone Carter was the first doll I ordered, so he is always going to be a favorite. When I wanted my Dorian fullset, my mother put money toward me getting him.

With Raven (Ringdoll MoYu) he got stuck in the mail, we were trying to get the house tented, and we had to wait for the box to arrive but it got lost for over a month! The whole family was put on hold waiting for this box. When it got here, I didn't have time to open it before we left for the mini beach vacation while the house was being tented, when I came back and opened the box his leg was all broken, Ringdoll replaced it. Every time I see the doll I think of all that happened to get him.

Or my family cheering me on to get Tristan, or winning one on an auction, or even a nice seller will bring back fond memories and endear a doll more to me over the ones that I just bought, they got here and huzzah new doll. It's the memories around the dolls that makes me more fond of them a lot of the time. Or if it's a doll I wanted for a long time and finally got it, that can make a doll extra special as well.

 

I’ve been happily collecting BJD for a long time, and once the last of my preorders finally arrive home, I’ll have upwards of 60 dolls. What can I say? I’m a collector at heart. But yes, I can also honestly say that in spite of that number, I love each and every one of them. They are all on display, scattered throughout my home in artistic groupings that I consider like art. And each one is carefully and thoughtfully curated and complete. I’m always doing things with them, sewing wardrobes, imagining their stories, and refining their displays. I’ve created my own fantasy world with them, and walking through my home is like walking through an enchanted village or forest, visiting with various groups of friends along the way. It’s a lovely way to live.

 

What's your ideal doll family size? My ideal doll family size is about 5-6 dolls, which is exactly what I have right now.

Do you really love them? Like each and everyone of them? Even with only those 5-6 dolls, I sadly don't think I love them all the same or spend the same amount of time with each of them.
I have two crews from two different worlds and I probably really spend time posing and photographing weekly the dolls from one of them, mainly because I don't have much time in general and I direct my attention to the ones that bring me the most joy in this moment.
The other dolls I still have in display and like looking at, but I won't interact with them at the same level. I still love them, though, and I want to keep them, but they bring me enough joy just being in view and being cute.

 

What's your ideal doll family size? Until I run out of space. Until there is nary a flat surface that can display a doll, that is empty. If my house looks like a doll store or museum - I win.

Do you really love them? Like each and everyone of them? Maybe this is the height of hubris, but yes. I love every single one. Note that I already have over 100 dolls. Moving them from room to room is a slow, meticulous, and joyful process. I restring. I wash their bodies. I admire the sculpting and different engineering styles. I glue eyelashes and magnets back in. I clean and change outfits. I wipe down pleather with vinyl restorer. I repair shoes and re-glue sequins and other design pieces. I make notes for future projects - mods I am considering, outfits I want to make, wigs I want to style. I re-organize. This process is everything to me. Instead of being overwhelmed, I am overjoyed at all the work I am doing and planning to do.

I constantly agonize over how many I have, and I am frequently asking myself - do I really love this doll? Can I part with it? 99 times out of 100, the answer is yes, and NO. I have also learned that before I sell a doll, first I change the outfit, wig, eyes, and face-up. If I fall in love with the doll all over again - it stays.

Because I have so many (on topic) dolls, if there is a single doll or part of a doll that does not spark joy, it goes. Either it is sold (rarely), traded (sometimes), or gifted to a new collector (more frequently). Maybe I'm crazy, but as much money as I've spent already - I can afford to gift a thing or two.

 

well there are people who see their collections as family/company and there are people who see their collection well as collections , I like dolls cause they are pretty and I love the artistry that is put on bjd's but I don't love them as I love people or even pets. Still I have some favorites but I wouldn't go back to a burning building to grab my favorite doll I would do this for a real person.
I admit I have many dolls it worked for a time I was young and without family obligations but with children the space gets more limited the time to tidy up more limited and smaller collections and more manageable become more enjoyable in my case.
So my target after reducing my collection is to stay at 7-8 dolls max , but it's not exatly a matter of "love" more about utility.

 

!00 dolls that must be an awesome collection!!! And "spark joy" exactly what I was looking to say thank you to me it's not about love but about sparking joy!!

 

I own many dolls.....a lot! To me dolls are forms of art. I get enjoyment from looking at them. No. I do not love them like my children or family. They are dolls. In animated objects that I like to collect. Even the ones kept in boxes due to limited space. I still open a box from time to time to view them. I swap different dolls from the display case to the box. So they get rotated when I want to see something different.

 

I have a couple dolls(bjd and non bjd)
And I do have my favorites. And I have some that rotate in my mind to sell.
So no I dont love them equally, but seeing them brings me joy even if they just sit on display since I'm more of a collector

 

@Pizzazz when people say they "love" their dolls, they don't necessarily mean they love them like family. Any more than when people say "I love this painting" or "I love pizza"... The question is: do you like all your dolls equally? If half of your dolls disappeared, would you miss them?

 

I love all of my dolls because they're particular. They're individuals that stand out in my eyes and in my imagination, and it's this individuality that makes each lovable in a distinctive way. I do rotate them in and out of my attention, but yes I love each and love all of them.

I should say that I shell OCs with my dolls, so my interest and enjoyment of the doll is strongly linked to my interest in their character being alive and active in my imagination.

ETA - oh yeah, ideal doll collection size. I'm pretty much there with 9 dolls home or on order. The cast feels very coherent, every character/doll is significant, no one is missing (although a couple are on order), no one is superfluous, and my imagination is very occupied with their story. Not to say that the doll collection won't keep growing - because creativity is like that - but now I'm very pleased with it and hope it'll stay single digit for a long while!

 

If I really really had to, I could probably pick the ones I would part with from my crew of 5, but I do love them all in different ways! If anything, I'd rather look into upgrading parts of them (like getting better bodies or hands) to keep them. I usually go through cycles of handling one or the other doll more but they all end up getting enough attention to not doubt keeping them.

 

I don't know if it's love, but I would miss them. Each one fulfills a little slot in my head. It also seems a little amiss to say not playing constantly with a doll means it isn't loved. Most of the things I handle constantly get dirty and worn. Even when I was a child, I tried to keep the touching of the things I love the most to a minimum. I save the cuddling for my pets and humans.

 

I have I think just over 15, and I suspect I'll eventually settle around 20. I don't really have an ideal family size, it's just what space and money allows and which ones bring joy.

This hobby for me is probably 80% collection/display and 20% actually doing anything with them. I'm not much of a photographer so I pull them down to make clothes occasionally or re-arrange the display and that's about it. I work from home so I can look at them very often, and I do plan to re-arrange to get them closer to my work desk but that's still just display. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that! They bring me a lot of joy and at the end of the day that's what a hobby is for.

As for loving them; as a collector/displayer I do still love them, I do have favorites, and I do occasionally fall out of love with one and have to make to decision to move them on or try to find a way to bring that love back.

 

The ideal doll family size is probably always less than what I have, but I've made peace with that. I have a lot of dolls. Good luck counting if you peak at my profile or my flickr lol....but yes, I do love them all. None are packed away and I look at and often talk to them all daily. There are a few exceptions for those who are a WIP and in pieces or awaiting bodies or customizing of some sort, but the vast majority are lining the shelves and furniture in my room and I love it.

I do absolutely play favorites, and the current fav (or favs) will come out and sit with me at my desk as a buddy. I take candid awful photos of them oh my phone that I don't share outside of my closest friend group, but it's just for me capturing a moment...or I'll sit one on my lap, hold their hand while watching vids, or just gaze at them and contemplate their character. Each and every doll I have brings me so much joy...and if I find myself falling out of love with them or their character, then I start thinking of rehoming them.