Ever felt guilty for having 'more dolls' than someone else?

No but that's only because after she kept swiping one of my other dolls and leaving him where I couldn't find him easily (including swiping him off my desk and then refusing to give him back to me when I was sewing an outfit for said doll) I told her she couldn't touch them anymore unless she's had permission. She's held him a few times but he's heavy so she avoids touching him.

My mom says that I shouldn't let it bother me especially when (and here's the part that pisses me off) "She has so little and you have so much." (Why is it parents always pull this one out when someone's being a jerk like it's a perfect excuse? I gave her (and she's stolen) a lot of my crap before including books she has plenty) Or: "Well think about how stressful her life is, is it really so bad?"

Yes.Yes it is...It goes beyond bugging me about my doll hobby to her actually trying to hit me and thinking it's hilarious...

EDIT 2: For that matter she knows I won't notice so quickly if my 1/6th's disappear or if my tiny turns up missing because their small.

My MSD? I'll notice. In seconds.

 

Sometimes I feel guilty about the number of dolls that I have. I have a considerable amount, and a large percentage of them are limited or otherwise very expensive. I've spoiled them with expensive custom costumes to get them the way I want them looking. I don't even have to really save up for them, I have a modest lifestyle and a good job, and I'm married. My regular income is enough to cover my doll hobby. I do have to actively remind myself that my doll acquisition doesn't exist in a vacuum. Even though I don't have to scrimp and save for my dolls, I did have to work extremely hard for a very long time to get the lifestyle I have now, and its that lifestyle that allows me to buy these things.

Still, the number of them gives me plenty of "first world guilt" when I think of how much clean drinking water my doll collection could have paid to countries that live day to day with famine, disease, warfare, ethnic cleansing... Even in our own country--starvation, homelessness, children that die of perfectly treatable disease but don't have health insurance to cover it. Just a couple months ago a homeless man was crushed to death in an elevator shaft because he was sleeping in there during the cold weather snap that came through San Francisco. It's easy to get so weighed down with first world guilt that the things you love become a source of insecurity and stress!

Appreciating what I have and acknowledging the work I've done to get where I am is a constant exercise.

On such a smaller scale of one collector coveting the size of another collection just feels completely petty and pointless to worry about. I have plenty of other reason to feel guilt! I don't need more!

 

@Stabbington lol It is a lot to bring, but I've become quite adept at stuffing as many dolls as I can into two rolling craft totes and a couple of duffle bags (large rolling suitcases work well, too). It helped that the majority of the ones I brought were MSD and smaller. The most difficult one was my Soom Zinc. His big horse body needs a tote of its own (this is the first meetup I brought him to). I just put the tinies' pillows in around him to cushion him and hold him steady during transport. It does take quite awhile to unpack them and pack them back up, though. I'm always looking for ways to improve the process. This is why I never bring my ENTIRE collection with me anymore. I'd never get them all in! XD

Edit: Most of my dolls are also on the "higher end", too. And I can't sew for crap so I do spend money on pretty outfits for them (although I buy clothes mostly from Dollmore). That might be part of why I felt like someone might think I was showing off. I had three Sooms with me, and most of my non-limited collection consists of Fairyland and Luts. But it was Luts that got me into this hobby, and when CP moved to Fairyland, I followed. I just happen to adore their sculpts, and I LOVE the jointing/posing abilities of Fairyland's bodies. Plus, they're pretty to look at. So, yeah, they're expensive but as far as I'm concerned the cost is worth it. If someone thinks that isn't fair or something, well, they're more than welcome to start busting ass to earn money to buy more dolls of their own. *shrugs*

 

I honestly think it is and that drives me crazy. She thinks it's perfectly fine and that she was in the right when I had to stop her from rubbing her hand over one of my dolls face up....

I especially hate it when she thinks I'm uptight about money unless I put it to her this way: "I'm thinking about how much this could get me in my hobby. Could I buy a head with this? Eyes? A body if I keep saving up?"

It's even worse when she claims she's jealous of how well I can sew...It took me fours years to learn and get to a point where I can churn out an MSD outfit in a few hours.

Y'know what she said when I tried to show her? "Can't you just sew clothes for my doll instead?" Or "Oh that's too hard I can't do that."

I don't know why people like my friend or your sister get jealous. >_> Especially of dolls. My friend HAS dolls (she takes crappy care of them but she has 'em) they're not resin but she doesn't care. I wouldn't let it get to you...She doesn't HAVE to be in the hobby either and she chose to.

 

Yessss, but it's all on me. I'm the kind of person that wants my friends to have as much as I do if it is something we both like. My bestie has one doll. She never is jealous of my dolls and is excited to see my new ones.

 

I don't feel guilty about having more dolls than other people - people are different ages and have different income streams.

I do occassionally feel guilty about the sheer amount of money that I have spent though - there's a really nice car sitting on my shelves (a really nice, expensive brand new car).

My way of dealing with this is to only keep the ones that I REALLY love.

If you have a friend that is doing that kind of crap then you need to cut her out of your life NOW. I'm a Mum and I wouldn't let my kids hang around that kind of person. It's draining, it pulls you down and it makes you feel like crap when they're around. She may have problems in her house but that's no excuse to bring them to yours. I was raised in a shitty house and didn't have much either and wouldn't pull the stuff she is doing.

 

Ehh, no, I have not felt guilty for the quantity of dolls I own in relation to someone else, whether that's more or less. Jealous of someone else's luck if they won a lottery for a particular sculpt that I lost, sure, but guilty? It seems such a strange concept to feel bad for something that you DO have rather than something you don't. At least to me.

 

It's not worth the lecture I'd get if I tried to cut her loose....She's still my best friend despite all her negatives...She's going through a tough time but my life's already stressful enough so she drives me insane...My mom listens thankfully but she also tends to put it into perspective a lot...>A< My mom didn't look pleased though to hear how she treats me...Thankfully it's a friend free weekend since it's mothers day and that means me and my mom and just me and my mom.

My friend's normally a really nice person just as of late she's kinda just...Flipped...

 

This. If someone has an issue with my collection, that is their problem to get over. Not mine.

I don't feel guilty enjoying the things I enjoy and buying myself things I like. I don't really see the point of it.

 

I don't feel guilty about the size of my collection. I have scrimped and saved for most of them. But I sorta feel like I am showing off when I bring a bunch of my brood to meets. Maybe because I am not so careful? Cautious? with how I handle them. I play with my dolls, and I admit that shows sometimes in the roughness of the wigs, or how I haul them from the car in a laundry basket to the meeting place. Most of the folks I meet treat their dolls like the valuable things they are, and I treat mine like toy dolls. I guess I feel a bit guilty at that aspect.

Does that make sense?

 

^This. I don't mind when someone has more dolls than me and I don't mind when I have more than others. We have what whe have.

 

Someone is always going to have a larger or smaller collection (and if not in numbers, than in some other form of accounting), so I don't see a reason to worry about it.

 

Sometimes but usually my collection really isn't all that big.... and I guess sometimes I feel like I'm showing off when I bring them all out to show everyone to someone just joining the hobby... but in all actuality I spoil the HECK out of my dolls... Each doll gets regular attention, restrung/ cleaned, and when needed I redo their face-ups myself.... so I guess sometimes I feel almost worse for people who have a bigger collection... only because they might not be able to spend as much time with each doll because they have so many... (No offense to bigger doll collections I just happen to know a person that juggles so many that half her dolls are all blank because she doesn't have the time to do anything with them because she's busy with her other dolls, and ends up selling them...)

 

No, why should I? I worked hard to earn the $$ to buy my dolls. I've had people comment about how 'rich' I must be to afford so many dolls, and I used to try to explain how I saved and all. Now I'm just like, "yep, that's me, the rich doll lady" and shrug it off.

 

No, no, and still no. Why should something I enjoy make me feel guilty? I'm spending my nonexistent children's would-be college money and it feels wonderful!

 

Yes, I do feel guilty sometimes about the amount of dolls that I have. But, I have saved or worked for each one.

 

I've got a ton of LE dolls. I do not feel guilty. If others want a doll, then they can just save up for one. Or not get one if they can't afford it. What they do has nothing to do with me. I'm not buying or not buying dolls because of other people!

I only feel bad about having a bunch of dolls because I really need to stop spending so much money on dolls. So it's a personal thing.

A person is responsible for themselves, not for everyone else, particularly when it comes to a luxury item like dolls!

If it were between me feasting and totally pigging out and there's a ton of people around me who are starving and they have no chance of getting food, that's a different story.

Dolls are not necessary for living (even though it feels that way).

 

No, why would I? I work very hard for my money and can buy whatever I want from it. And I am lucky enough to have the best ever boyfriend who also buys me dolls