Finish one doll? Or complete your doll collection? What comes first?

I mean...I kind of work along both lines. I get their faceups done whilst buying my new bjd.
Its a list I have. So far I have two of the main characters down, and a few more to go.
A head is on hold for me until someone buys the body. The boys head was returned from faceup, the girl's is coming back. The girls clothes have been bought, the boys is being made. Those two are taken care of. It may seem impossible first, but I do both. Check off the list as I go down X'3

 

I have exactly the same problem!!
I always seem to end up getting new heads or full dolls for the characters I want (and I have a long list, believe me! xD) but sometimes I have difficulty finishing the dolls that I already have (especially when they require a lot of complicated mods/face-ups etc.)

So for now, I've promised myself that I won't get any more new dolls until I have completed at least two from my existing collection, and I feel as though they don't need anything else. Since that way, I'll be able to have lots of fun photoshoots with them and work on my camera skills too.

It's going to be quite a challenge.

 

I don't have any dolls yet, but the dolls I plan on buying aren't based off of existing characters, so there's nothing to really "complete". What I plan to do when/if I get a job is put half of the money towards new doll savings, and the other half of the money towards clothing, wigs, face ups, etc. So that way, I can kind of do both at the same time. ^^

And luckily I don't even want that many dolls. xD I just want three: Two SD boys and an MSD girl. Of course, we'll see how long that'll last!

 

I always have so much to work on with each doll that I'm not sure I'll ever truly "finish" any of them... I do try to work on only one at a time, at least, but at the moment I've got one on the worktable getting faceupped/blushed/color matched... after she's done, the next body goes on it to get heavily modified and blushed, hopefully before his head arrives... in the meantime I've got two that need to be blushed (one also needs his eyes replaced now that I have a better set for him). I've also got one who needs redone faceups, mods, and blushing. Two more who lack wigs and are totally blank. One who's blushed and faceupped, bt needs his wig finished and clothes. And one that I might consider done, except she needs touchups... and two more on the way.

But for me, I get a lot more enjoyment out of working on them than the photoshoot aspect, currently... when I get more of them done to my liking, I may do some photoshoots, but for now, this is where I'm having fun so, even though I've officially swamped myself, I'll enjoy it, but I'll try to not bring in any more dolls until I make a dent in that list (yeah right).

 

Like PokerFaceBjd, I kind of work along both lines as well. But like Kurr also, I've been very caught up in completing my collection. After being into BJDs for about 2 1/2 years, I began completely re-vamping my collection at the beginning of this year...with all my experience, I now had a very firm direction and very determined want list. Because of this, and because so many of the dolls I wanted had to be minimee heads (all of which came up very rapidly in the marketplace...yikes!!!) I've been completely caught up in getting the heads only. There just hasn't been anyway else to do it. I've sometimes felt badly about that, but what else could I do? I've just joined the final GO for the last head of my collection. Then, one by one, over the next year or two, I'll save up for their bodies one at a time and everything else that goes along with each individual character. Now that I've ordered the very last one, I realize I'm actually very proud of how quickly I've been able to get all my heads and I know I've done the right thing. I'll just order everything else they need one doll at a time now and do their faceup as I wait for their body and items to be shipped.

 

I'm constantly picking up bits and pieces for my dolls...even for doll's I don't actually own yet. part of buying a doll for me is makeing things for them.
so even before the doll arrives I usually have an outfit and a few odds and ends for them to put on when they arrive.
and the first thing I do with them is do thier faceups... I'm not particuly brilliant at them but 'm getting better and for me my doll's are a long term investment, I'm going to be constantly building things for them and re-doing thier face ups and body blushing.
thier a non-stop process.
I could never just have a doll sitting around without any personality it would feel like a waste of money.
and if I make all of thier stuff myself it means my doll's will grow with me and mean ever so much more to me than if I just bought all thier things.
Right now I'm trying to get all of my boy's sorted out rather than buying more as it's much more exciting to me to see them fully realised than when I slowly forget how much I loved them and just keep buying more T.T that makes me sad.

 

Luckily I don't have a group of characters that I absolutely must turn into resin en masse. I just go along as availability, mood and budget dictate and try not to worry too much about it all. Sometimes I'll really wish a certain doll was available and it just isn't. Then later several of them will turn up at decent prices and I either don't have the extra funds or my attention is elsewhere. :-P But oh well, it's all good.

I've been looking for certain clothing items, though, and not having luck which can be frustrating, but eventually the right thing will turn up.

Raven

 

Hummm, I've just started out collecting and I find myself in the middle of buying and having naked dolls. Since the intent is to have the dolls historicaly dressed, I have to make all the garments, hats, shoes, etc., so I get a bit daunted just thinking about what is needed for each doll. I only have three dolls so far and one on the way. Two are SDs and two are MSD's. The Male SD came first and I left him naked and in the box till the female was delivered. The first MSD is still naked and in her box. To date I started sewing for the female SD the others are still waiting for clothing. Same for the new female MSD. The wish list I have for more dolls is not large, but getting the dolls I presently have dressed is more important. I do agree with some, that getting what you have in order before getting more "stuff", or dolls. Since I get my dolls face-up when I purchase them I don't seem to have the character problem to deal with, but if I did, I would get the face-up done first to start the ball rolling to getting the doll completed.

 

I have a group of characters planned, yes. But I don't have anything to complete. My dolls aren't supposed to have one "finished" look, they (and their characters) are changing, so after getting one "right" wig, pair of eyes and set of clothing I deem them as "finished" as they ever will be and go on. All other versions of hairstyles, dress and make-up I'm doing/buying when see a good opportunity to (like a group order for a special site or good secondhand offer).

 

What do you try and do first? Collect a vast amount of the dolls you really want and desire to "complete" your collection? Or work on one individual doll until everything about him/her is perfect and "complete"?

It's a little bit of both for me. All of my dolls are at this point at a certain level of completion but there's plenty of refining I want to do in the mean time. Now, I technically only have two more dolls left before I feel like I've completed my plans so it's more a reflection on the past but it's never stopped me from enjoying each doll as they come. My taking photos and doing faceups isn't totally reliant on having a complimentary doll/character. I'm not really interested in photostories, though, even if I do enjoy having character dolls and posing them together as such.

I always try to make sure that I have some suitable, nice clothes for each doll before it arrives or as it arrives and I'm always trying to make sure that if I have a specific wig and eye look in mind that I do what I can to have that ready as well. It's almost always never perfect, but that's just expected for me. Faceups, outfits, wigs, eyes... it's all something that improves and refines over time.

Completion is also a lengthy process. It took me over two years to find the perfect eyes for one of my dolls. It can take years to find the perfect wig and even then it's a constant trial and error process. I don't think I could wait for each doll to get into a fully satisfactory state since these dolls are such works in process and working on them as new dolls come in helps bring cohesion. I do know that when I finally get those last two dolls I'm definitely going to sit back and focus more on refining my dolls.

 

I never plan to get one than go straight to the next, but somehow it turns into that or I'm rushin to finish one while save and buy the next. I have 4 dolls one that came factory face up, a mini which is almost done she's out getting a faceup and the two large boys I have are naked and faceless while bane my soon md chrom. I'm excited for bane nut I feel sad since my boys are naked and faceless. at the same time though aiden seems to have so much personality without all the odds and ends.

 

I think I can understand. I found myself struggling to get everything together for one of my dolls, specifically, finding clothes for him, and was starting to feel really depressed about it, particularly when I realized I had another doll on the way and couldn't really afford items for both of them at the moment. I decided to sell my doll and keep the incoming one. There aren't really many dolls that I want, so I plan to have just the one for a while, though I'm already dreaming up who I want next. I just have to use my self control and keep it down to one for now, because I really can't afford it.

The temptation of new dolls is hard to resist, but the idea of having neglected dolls with no personality lying around bothers me a lot. I would much rather bond with one than neglect several. That's why I'm trying my hardest to avoid this situation.

 

I do some of both. It partly depends on how bad I want/need a particular person to have a body, and what kind of things I've put off doing for the one already here. Sometimes I'll put my money into a doll, but then later do an order for clothes/wigs etc. I do have people that need stuff, but as my income is more limited at the moment, I have to make some careful decisions about what I do now and what gets put on the back burner. When I do buy a new doll, I also try and take into account what stuff I'll need for it--some I can make an outfit for and they can use one of my extra wigs while others would need me to actually buy wig, eyes, outfit, shoes.

 

I am putting the same text I added to a different thread but similar topic as I think it fits here too and you may find it interesting. I want to add that I have a large doll family and once three arrived in the same week! I prefer dolls to arrived one by one and then send them out for makeup. Once a doll has the faceup by my selected artist then I feel the doll is complete and the eyes and hair are next clothing is the final topping. However like I have written below I think slowing down and enjoying each doll at each stage is very important. Sometimes I take months before I send out the head for makeup and I just enjoy the blank mold I find this is now one of the most enjoyable times as I feel I can't mess the doll up (without attention) and can actually touch the face I think sometimes when people let dolls build up they find they only bond to one doll out of the group and end up selling others who they just didn't take the time with.

My reply to a different thread but relevent:
One way to get over this is to see the life of a doll as an unfolding story which you are keeping track up. So take pictures from start onward to break that feeling. The doll with no clothing on or eyes in. The doll with eyes in the doll with no faceup then with faceup. Pictures of the dolls hands and feet next to the hands and feet of its brother that kind of thing. See the whole thing as an exploration of the now rather than always looking to the future. Because when the doll is complete there may be another cycle where it changes even the whole look can change again as much as we might like to not think that will happen money wise!

I think sometimes we put off being happy now and save it for some future time. Its a great practice to just be with your doll as a sculpt as a creation with no extras added and helps greatly with bonding.

 

Here I thought I was strange for being one who desired to get all the dolls in the house before getting all their clothes and things. I have probably four dolls complete, tops, yet have over 20 dolls/heads in my possession. Most are missing faceups, some shoes, some bodies. Six of them are only a faceup away from completion, one of them at least is just in a wig and boxers. This is why my pile of waiting for dollies is usually very large, because I desire to have them all here first of all and work on the finishing touches for them after that. Might not be the best way to go about things in some ways, and I'm sure it would be easier if I could sew or do faceups, but I can only embroider, so I am not much help to my poor dolls.

 

Since none of my dolls are bought to represent pre-existing characters, I don't really have this problem. I do keep a wishlist of dolls I'd like to have & when I get enough cash together I'll buy one or put one on layaway. But in the meantime I like the dolls I have to be well-dressed, have good face-ups, changes of wigs & eyes & such. I want to play with my dolls, not just accumulate them.

When I get a new doll, especially of a size I don't have, I spend money getting clothes & shoes & wigs for him/her before going on to the next doll. None of my dolls is ever "finished" as the chameleon-like nature of the dolls is one of their big draws for me. I like to change them around so all the extras are nearly as important to me as the actual doll.

If you're finding that the dolls you already own are just sitting around waiting & gathering dust, I'd highly recommend that you work towards getting them completed before accumulating more. What good is having dolls if you can't play with them & enjoy them? They'll always be lots of dolls out there to buy.

 

I make sure there complete mostly. They may lack a weapon there supposed to have or something like that. But they will mostly have there look down and everything that is important will be there.