Does anyone else plan far ahead?

I'm completely new to the hobby but I'm absolutely smitten with the concept and already planning all kinds of characters !! I want a minifee active line female and male body and another doll. But I don't even have them yet and I already started buying clothes and two pairs of eyes :'))) and more is to come. At this point I gotta seriously stop-- cause probably with the money I already spent on clothing and other doll stoll I could have had a good chunk of an a la carte doll.

 

I usually only do six months out. Dolls have a way of ruining all my plans so I have a hard time accurately planning further than that. I try to get limited dolls first but I also try to put my mind to getting dolls that I really want that aren’t limited. One day I hope that I only want limited dolls haha... it’s easier just to save and wait. But for now? Six months is my max.

 

I don't really have plans for my doll or future dolls to have stories so I'm in no hurry to buy dolls on my wishlist! I do have a wishlist, but for now, I'll focus on my only doll I have at the moment because he is too much to handle already (space wise and time wise)! I'm not really good at keeping plans for most of my hobbies because they tend to overlap and I don't have time or money to accommodate them all successfully into my life equally.

 

I try to plan for the next year, and have a wishlist I prioritize on. However, most of my dolls are a less popular scale, so when limited dolls that fit my group are made my priority doll list can get re-arranged.

 

Yes... ish. There are a couple of small dolls that I hope to acquire someday, and my plans for getting them are based loosely on when they will be available from the artist. One in particular isn't likely to come my way for a year or more, so I'm tentatively thinking I may be getting her next year. However, so much of it is dependent upon finances, and whatever my feelings are about my collection when the time comes.

 

Since I only Plan to end up with 8 BJDs (and a few heads) I do plan far ahead.
This is sort of my plan:
Heads:
Snowborn(Doll chateau)(SD17)
Fergus (Doll chataeau)(SD17)
Luts delf cerberus project LE Jack-O-lantern Harang

Bodys/Full dolls
Full dolls:Bobobie apollo
April story male
RingDoll Norman 2.0(SD17)
Ariadoll male sleeping head with body.Normal skin. Old style
Daniel-Style B Ringdoll SD 13

 

I have a doll wishlist that helps me plan (plus a budget...). I try to only spend a certain amount of money on new dolls per year, which helps me budget for things I actually need to spend money on. I use my wishlist to help me determine which dolls I want first and what the estimated year I will be able to get them is (unless a 'freak-limited' doll appears that I absolutely must have shows up and I only have a limited time to get it. . . looking at you Tauros). For example, I think I will get my MaskCat her body in along with Dream Valley Vine in 2020; Ring Doll Hui and my Outsider bjd will probably be 2021. It can definately be hard sometimes to wait, but being financially stable is important too.

 

I always plan ahead! Last March I had three characters planned out! They were going to be siblings! I was thinking of what sculpts to buy at that time. I bought one floating head so far, but I'm still working on getting him a body and then getting my other two! Sometimes it takes a while to work on my dolls characters and stuff! Things going on in my personal life has been slowing me down a lot, but soon they'll be complete!

 

I tried to actually plan and everything got way out of hand... That and I never seem to be able to stick to plans. So I don't think I'll be actually planning anything in the future, doll-wise.

 

I plan way ahead, but a lot of long-term plans end up getting dropped because I change my mind a lot. But I still find it fun to do!
I've recently fallen in love with Dollshe Diana. I know I won't be able to order soon, maybe not even this year, but I decided which skin tone I want and I'm thinking of nail polish colour for her, and figuring her faceups (I want different styles on her extra heads)
And she's definitely not the only one!

 

I must admit, I’ve never even thought about long term doll plans. I see a doll I like, and if I can afford it, I get it. Then I figure out how to dress it, etc. I think having a well thought out plan is a great thing. I envy those who do.

 

I love planning ahead because it keeps me sane and financially secure, even if I end up changing it around in the end. The planning is more fun than the actual doll for me, really - I only have a couple months I can do faceups during the year anyway. I have plans for mods/eyes/etc for dolls I probably won't have for another year or two.

If I didn't love planning, I'd probably get pretty bored with dolls. I just don't have the funds to get all the dolls I want right away.

It helps that I have a relatively short wishlist and they're all basics, so I have a couple years to figure it out.

When the DC discontinuation happened, I decided not to let doll companies control when I spend my money. It is exhausting to feel pressured into buying dolls ASAP by sudden discontinuations/sales. I have a rule this year to not buy new resin unless I sell someone because the constant "gotta" feeling has been messing with me a lot. Hard to enjoy dolls I have when I'm always worried about dolls I want disappearing. Might as well go with the flow.

 

My goal is to shell two characters and get a centaur if one comes up. I have no firm dates or sculpts for any of them but I'm setting aside some money per pay check so when something that fits comes up I might be in the position to pounce. I'm hoping I can achieve this in the next couple of years.

 

I think it's totally normal to plan ahead.
I plan anywhere from 6 months-years ahead for everything in my life. As far as BJDs go I usually plan them years in advance to give me plenty of time to save up and something to go horribly wrong, take my savings and start over again while I keep an eye out for the specific doll/doll-related thing(s) that I'm looking for.
Granted, I almost never fall for currently available LE models so this method would not work for those who do but if you've planned ahead for nothing in particular then you'd be prepared when that LE does pop up so...

 

I do plan ahead as these kinds of dolls are expensive and I have to save. Also some of the Iplehouse sculpts are discounted around the end of the year (at least they were in the past) and that's a good time to purchase them.

 

I’m a big planner for sure! I find that I truly enjoy the research and planning process, so having goals a year or more out is nothing to me. One of the ways I deal with this is to set up extended layaways for my expensive dolls. That way the monthly payments fit well within my budget, and at the end of it I’ll be sure to have my doll without question. Another way I plan longterm is to always take part in the yearly goals thread here on DoA. I work hard on my list, and I am constantly referring to it and updating it throughout the entire year. It really helps me stay on track and makes sure I get everything done.