Dolls and "diminishing marginal utility"

Yes and no? I guess there was more excited nervousness when I opened my very first doll box - I'm just more dollie-experienced now. But no two dolls in my crew are the same, and I have felt excited about exploring every new arrival. They all handle differently, and I am interested in the different ways in which they have been made.

I also get a particular kick of excitement out of seeing my crew - who are a family - together. As a group, they have something extra. I can visualise more relationships in photos or posing dolls together.

I also enjoy experimenting with different styles for my existing dolls. It makes me look at them in news ways. Even when I have stopped buying new dolls, I'm not afraid that I will get bored. I don't think I will. That does not mean I am constantly occupied with my dolls. But I wasn't constantly occupied with them when there was only one, or two, or three. I pick them up to work with them when I am inspired. Apart from that, I am perfectly content to have them sit around being beautiful.

I appreciate my dolls more and more, and my first is still my darling .

 

After as many years in the hobby and many a doll come and gone as I've now experienced, yes receiving a new doll does feel...different. The arrival in the mail and box opening is still exciting but the whole process is much more, relaxed, I guess than in the beginning. I no longer do things like check my order status every day or stress so much over if they will look the way I want them to or not once they arrive. The enjoyment I think is still the same but there is a feeling of being settled in , already knowing how that size doll is going to feel, pose, etc. that takes some of the anxiety of an arrival away.

 

Great question! For me, the novelty and excitement did wear off over time to a point. I don't need to look at them every day like when they are first opened. I miss looking through the gallery when I had no idea which sculpt I was looking at, almost every doll was new to me. With my own dolls, I get more enjoyment once they are complete then when I am waiting on parts/outfits/eyes/wigs/bodies/face-ups/etc. For my first box opening, I was nervous and really excited because I didn't know what to expect and she was my grail. After that, my 2nd to most recent box openings have brought the same level of excitement. One thing that has increased my excitement is seeing a doll on a company website and being able to know exactly what to do with it to make it exactly what I want

 

Of course it was the most amazing thing ever to open my very first doll! But even though I have opened lots of dolls after her I'm still super excited when a new doll arrives. I can't imagine loosing this enthusiasm for dolls. I collect My Little Ponies for over 20 years and I'm still thrilled everytime I get a new one in the mail. Collecting is my favourite hobby and I enjoy it more and more the more I own

 

Me neither. I check my order status at least FIVE times a day, even though I know that nothing will change after the first time.

 

Me, too^^ I know that my Lati doll won't ship before March and my Zuzu Delf won't ship before then end of the month but I check their status all the time. Just in case I won't miss anything And I'm sure I will still do so next year and the year after and...

 

I have to say...yes, my enjoyment has diminished as my collection has grown. As Raiisu was saying, I've reached that point where additional dolls feel like a burden. I still love the dolls that I have, I still love to look at new dolls, I have even purchased a doll recently...but overall, the collection feels a little overwhelming. I also think of selling dolls sometimes, which is something I have never done before.

I am not done with the hobby, but I may be done with the acquisition portion of the hobby. I find I'm more interested in working on what I have than starting a new doll, but the general tension of feeling like I have too many dolls made it somewhat difficult to choose projects. Is it worth it to pour a large amount of time and effort into a doll and then find that it is one that I should let go of? I really struggled with that for a while. I'm just starting to move out of that idea. It made me afraid to try out the full concepts for each doll. What if I did a modification that effected the possible re-sale value? Hehe, it was a circular line of thought, because not being able to finish the doll also made me enjoy it less. Hehe. Now I've decided that I have this beautiful thing (because I do find them all beautiful) so I should do my best to make it all it can be! That is where I am finding enjoyment now...so hm, I do still enjoy the hobby and my dolls, but in a different way.

 

I was more excited when I first got the doll. Getting a new doll is always exciting. But excitement does not equate happiness. I'm just as happy now with my dolls as I was when I got them

 

I haven't experienced this yet, but I do think it is possible. How much is too much depends on the person, but I feel at a certain point you can have too many. At that point, you can't enjoy what you have. You have gotten so many that getting the next one is no longer special and owning it can be straining because of money/space, ect.

For me though, there is such a large gap between each time I got a doll and the circumstances that they all had their own excitement. My first one I bought in person and it did not have a box. The second one I purchased online and was able to do a box opening. The third and fourth dolls came together, but the one was a doll I had been wanting for years, so getting him was exciting in a different way than the first two. I also do not have so many that it has become troublesome to own them.

 

The rush of excitement from getting a new one fades faster now that I have a lot of dolls, but my overall enjoyment of them increases as I figure out how they relate to and interact with each other.

 

I do believe diminishing marginal utility exists for doll ownership, and everyone's number peak is different.

I think I'm nearing my limit! I admit, feelings of great excitement with my first few dolls have relaxed into feelings of deep satisfaction with the last few. The emotions are not as intense, but I'm still very happy with what I have. I'm getting to a point where more dolls may start to become more of a burden than a pleasure, however, so I'm capping myself at 13. More than 13 and I feel like I'd be spreading myself too thin among them, if that makes sense.

 

I was thinking about this, and I do think there can be a point where one's collection reaches whatever number that hits your "too many!" point. I think that would mimic the market saturation point where the acquisition of more dolls would end up being overwhelming and therefore more stressful, less fun, and so on.

I think that's probably separate from (although obviously still related to) the excitment at ordering/opening a new doll though. I imagine that's a bit of a different thing, because plenty of people aren't as excited during the process of buying their 2nd, 5th, 100th doll, but are still very happy to have the doll when it comes.

 

I think that's definitely something that's the case. A large doll collection looks impressive, but at the same time... it's hard to properly display and devote time to your dolls if you have too many of them! I think there's a point at which owning more and having to clothe and care for them would just be more troublesome than fun.

 

What an insightful question and cool article! It actually got me thinking real hard.

I have several dolls, and I think the opposite is true in some respects. When I got my first couple of dolls, after the first week or so of getting them, I kind of ignored them, but then after seeing and meeting other doll people, it inspired me to spend time with my bunch. Nowadays I think I spend most of my free time playing with or doing something with them. I am without a doubt much happier now with the small dolltropolis I have than I did when I just had one or two. In all honesty, I was kind of bored when I had one doll, but then again, I never bought her any clothes or things, but when I got 2 more, I started buying them things by the stockpile. Sometimes I think it's just dependent of the situation.

 

I only have one doll, and I think for sure it was the most frustrating and exciting experience. A second doll will come with much awaited excitement and I think I'd defiantly love the second just as much but I don't think it will ever compare to the first doll. I say this because thinking about getting a second doll I already know the ropes and what to expect. With my first it was the satisfaction of all my hard work when I finally held him in my hands and the rush of the unknown. Did I order him correctly, did I say the right things, will the company send him in one piece or will I have to string him myself, what does resin smell like, what does it feel like, will he be creepy looking in person...? I second guess myself a lot during this proses even down to hoping and checking multiple times to make sure I had given the company the correct address... because it would suck if my doll ended up in Germany with my Aunt. There are a lot of emotions tied into my first doll, but I don't think my enjoyment of having multiple dolls would diminish with size. I think that it would increase, however the emotions would be different from having only that one doll might hold.

I'd relate it to having Original Characters. I have like a bazillion and love them all... but my first Character is probably the most special because she's gown the most with me. However the desire and love for continually creating Characters like getting new dolls would never fade.

 

I collected Fashion Royalty and Tonner dolls like a crack addict before I got into bjds. My first bjd didn't have a proper wig or clothes that fit, so I didn't fall in love with him immediately. He slept neglected in a drawer for about 3 years. Then I bought my second bjd, totally loved him, got my first bjd back out and - lo and behold, with a wig and some clothes, he was possibly better than the new one! Now I have converted from fashion dolls, and I have this burning urge to divest myself of all of them. (But I haven't sold one yet - selling a doll seems daunting, even if it's just a plastic Fashion Royalty doll.)

 

Great question and it really mirrors how I've been feeling towards my dolls lately.

I've been quiet on the doll hobby front lately. I live with my elderly parents and my dad has terminal cancer. I work full time, but I also help provide caretaking responsibilities for my dad. Hospice is now in the picture and that had freed up my time a little. Right now, hobbies should be an escape, but I have a lot of dolls and they're more of a source of stress than not. I'm still trying to puzzle out why.

When I got my Minifee Lishe in 2007, I was absolutely beside myself with joy. She was my first doll and I just adore her. For a while, the next few dolls brought me the same feeling. But as I moved into the more affordable Pukipukis, I had this drive to buy them all. Hey, they're small! Take a dozen! But, it became a kind of routine. Order the newest Puki, open the box, coo over the cuteness, put it on a shelf, and start saving for the next one. The more I bought, the less special they became. They started to all look alike. I don't even remember their names.

I love all my dolls, but the larger my collection became, the more impersonal and unsatisfying it became. I know I need to thin the herd, but I'm not quite to that point. The thing is, I can't pinpoint why I feel so dissatisfied. Is it really the dolls or the atmosphere in which I've been collecting them?

 

Variety is the spice of my life - having multiple dolls as a cosplay/tiny theatre group means not only plenty of 'actors' to choose from when casting my little photo stories (in the future, since I CHOSE all my dolls based on how they can cosplay certain characters) - anyway, it also means no matter what my mood I've a doll than will fit it or at least a doll that I can do something for (whether dress up differently, make something for them, repose or redisplay - whatever!) I'd be MUCH more likely to get bored if I only had a couple dolls.

 

Yes and no! For me personally, I like having more than one doll but I would never want more than say , about 15? I have four dolls now with a fifth on the way, I think I'm right around the bench mark of how many I would want. I could maybe see having 10 or so, but it sounds intimidating XD The fact that I have five dolls with only two completed, however, is important to point out. Customizing my dolls and buying things for them keeps me very active in the hobby. If all of my dolls were finished I could easily see myself getting bored with them. On the contrary, though, I also get irritated that they are not finished XD It's the never ending BJD circle!

 

When I had one doll, I put in plenty of effort making clothes and wigs, and planning shoots. When I got my second doll, I was still making stuff, and doing proper shoots. By now, though, when a doll comes in, it gets tossed into the cupboard with the others, because I have no time for it. OTL I am constantly thinking of selling off my dolls, except that the market is so soft that the money doesn't justify the effort. =_= And I still want to buy more dolls?

But I don't know whether my decreasing enjoyment of my dolls is a result of buying too many/too fast, or simply because I had more time 7 years ago as a student than I have now as a working adult?