Cataloging Your Collection? (Warning - Extreme Data Nerdery Ahead!)

I mean... this sounds like a service you could offer in MP. Just sayin'...

Fellow spreadsheet lovers and data nerds, unite! Would anyone be willing to share a template for the rest of us?

 

Even though I love this kind of stuff, it not even once occurred me to do that for my dolls. Most of that info is either stuff I know anyway, like I'm not going to forget what dolls I have, or stuff I truly do not wish to see written down...like how much they cost me over my hobby time

But I did think about cataloging what Pokémon cards I have, simply to avoid purchasing doubles or to know which ones are in a state I'd like to replace them in at some point...but they're in the thousands

 

At the risk of boring everyone, I will repeat a story I've told before about the importance of estate planning for your dolls.

Back when I was on the Book of Face, I was contacted by a mod of a group I was very active in. There was a family who was looking to sell their grandmother's doll molds (for ceramic dolls?), and would I be interested? Grandma was a prolific doll maker, and the family had no idea what to do with all of her stuff.

I started talking with the daughter, I think. I told her I was absolutely interested (they lived a couple states away, but I was totally willing to drive there for the molds). When she told me Grandma had been making dolls for years, I asked if she had reached out to any doll collector groups or appraisers to find out if Grandma's collection was worth anything. Editing to add: I gave her the contact info for a local doll museum, a doll group, and a few appraisers.

I never heard from the daughter again, but about a month later, I saw an advertisement for an estate sale for a very famous dollmaker. (Do I remember who? Of course not. ) It drew a LOT of interest. There was chatter in all the doll collector groups about how sad people were that this dollmaker had recently passed away, and the prices of the dolls skyrocketed because no one could purchase a hand-painted doll from this artist anymore.

I don't know if the two situations are related, but imagine if they were? The family was willing to sell all of these dolls, as well as the molds to make them, for pennies on the dollar.

 

Double posting to add: if you are a part of any hobby (dolls, models, collecting cards or vinyl or whatever) that is kinda niche and at risk of being treated as "just toys/cards/old stuff," please please please have a plan for your collections. Tomorrow isn't promised, and you know your stuff has value.

 

I got my spreadsheet done in a few hours but took forever to get motivated and find the time to label all the boxes and dolls but it’s a relief to have it done. To keep track of what I paid I keep screenshots of the invoices or PayPal transactions but I wish I would have kept the original print outs in the boxes.

A few lines from mine showing what I document. I organized them by order date and if it was second hand I just add * next to the source and note on the bottom stating what * means.

 

I do keep a track, both for myself and the fact I know I'm prone to selling dolls means the info is very handy! I use this list to keep track-
Company:
Sculpt:
Skin:
Parts:
Faceup:
Cost:
Ordered:
Arrived:

I fill it out when I order a doll, then when the doll arrives I add the arrival date and copy the info over to a permanent text document. I have a text document for each size category as I collect a range of sizes. If I sell a doll then the info gets moved over to a 'sold' document in case a buyer wants a reminder of the doll they've bought.

I don't normally keep a track of things like wigs, shoes, individual clothes etc. I only keep a record for doll parts, accessories, full outfits etc and it's more brief (item, company, colour, cost, date purchased)

Currently it's all digital but I need to print something out in case of my sudden death. I've not shared this hobby with anyone and I know whoever clears out my stuff will probably want to dispose of everything quickly and it would be a shame if my BJDs ended up in the bin, dumped in a charity shop or given to young children to trash.

 

{L.M.A.O.} I want to have time to play with my dolls too. Plus I spend my entire working week cataloguing library stock for other people (my employers) I don't want to devote the lion's share of my "spare" time doing more cataloguing.

Teddy

 

I started to catalogue my dolls back in 2017, when I had considerably less than now… but anyway! I keep a google spreadsheet of my dolls and the info that is important to me.


they are listed in order of arrival, and if they have a year in parenthesis in the sculpt name of secondhand dolls means that that’s the production year of that doll part.

 

@IzabethS - Not me drooling over your Eve Studio kitty...
That's a fantastic set-up!
@Teddy - fair enough!

 

Being a bit of a Luddite, my list isn't a computer program. Instead, I inherited some doll log books about the same time I discovered bjds. I've filled two books so far with the basic company, sculpt, description, dates, sources & prices along with a printed closeup photo & any related paperwork. I figured it would help me remember and also give my family useful info if needed since this is the only hobby I've invested so heavily in... And I keep reminding them the books exist.

Meanwhile, the most useful info on each doll is included in a list on my profile here on DoA. That's the source I consult when out & about & a name or specific info disappears from my brain. It's been super handy as a backup memory base for me.

 

Y'all I have just spent 2.5 hours starting a spreadsheet of my doll history, and I've only made it through 2006-2010. Here's the information I decided to catalogue:

Doll's name
Company
Sculpt
Color
Date purchased
Date arrived
Year casted
New/Used
Doll's cost
Shipping
Total cost
Previous owners
Mods/Damage
Date sold
Buyer
Selling price

Some of this information is definitely lost to the ages. It's been pretty fun digging through my email and DoA feedback thread to find things! 90% of the time I would write in the Paypal comment what I was buying- which was incredibly helpful to track down my secondhand DoA purchases from the time before "finished" MP threads were preserved. Unfortunately since those threads are gone, I'm not sure if I'll ever know when some of my old dolls were casted (as opposed to when I bought them). It doesn't matter much since I don't have most of those dolls anymore. But there is one I have that I bought secondhand in 2008 and I'm not sure when it was casted, and probably never will! So that's a bummer. Though it's possible the sale thread didn't even say when the doll was made, because back then you didn't fill out a form to make a MP listing, you just wrote the post from scratch so there was no prompt to disclose the year of manufacture.

Some stuff is kinda silly to track, like shipping costs. I'm doing it mostly because I can, but it's also hilarious to see how shipping costs have skyrocketed in recent years! Shipping a SD size doll from Korea used to cost only $60! Flash forward to 2021 when I paid $70 to ship three wigs from Korea.

Anyway, it's been fun to dig up all this stuff, and go through some of my box opening pics (which helped a lot with arrival dates, heh). Mostly nostalgic with just a liiiiittle bit of regret.

 

I've had a google doc of mine for some time now, and it does help in keeping things organized.

Mine lists:
Number (in order of joining my collection. These are actually included in my doll list on my profile page)
Name
Sex
Brand
Sculpt
Color (of resin)
Class (SSD, SD, MSD, YO SD, Micro)
Height (in cm)
Material (Resin or other)
Year (of acquisition)
Model/Body
Hybrid?
Hybrid parts
new/used?
Modifications

 

^ That list is great as well!

 

I catalogue mine by the character’s name, head, head company, body, body company, provenance for each, resin colour, who did the faceup and eventually I’m going to hyperlink my CoAs and a picture of the doll, and add on a current estimated price so I can insure my collection.

 

Nice thought with the insurance!
Some years ago I catalogized my Björk music collection (rarities, limited editions, promos, box sets...) for my insurance company in case of theft or other circumstances that could damage my collection.
Definitely need to look into that regarding the dolls.

 

My collection is insured, but I'm not the one who set it up so I don't know much about how to claim on the insurance in the event something happens. I always assumed you could only claim what you paid for the doll, not its current value?

 

Yes, it´s what you paid for (at least in Germany).

 

OK. This can be fairly specific, depending upon where you live. I live in the U.S., so I'll tell you what I know about U.S. insurance for homeowners and renters.

In the U.S., insurance companies offer two types of asset valuations, and they generally default to present value, which is almost always less than what you paid. They will want to reduce or depreciate the value due to age, wear, and tear.

The other valuation method that you must specifically request is replacement cost. That is the cost to replace your item with a new one on the market today. Generally, if an item can't be easily replaced, they will pay you the value and let you shop on your own.

The other important thing to realize is that U.S. homeowners and renters insurance generally cap (set a limit on how much they will pay) the value of your personal items. If you have a doll collection that is worth more than $2,000 to $3,000 U.S.D. (and if you have close to ten dolls, a limited outfit or two, and some can't be replaced, you can get to that amount very quickly), you need to add a rider to your insurance policy. A rider is an addition to your insurance policy that increases the cap on the value of those specific items.

 

Thanks for the info @MaleficentMrsofEvil. All I know is that my collection is insured beyond the standard renters insurance, but I'd feel better if I knew the valuation method was replacement cost So I'll have to look into that!

But even with that valuation method, I'm not sure it would be worth cataloging each doll's replacement cost in a spreadsheet, since the numbers would change all the time. Unless those numbers are used by the insurance company to determine how much you're insuring the collection for...