How many dolls are enough?

I just recently started collecting and I told myself I'd only purchase one doll and then spoil them with a bunch of clothes, accessories, wigs, and etc.. The plan went quite well for a few months but then I ended up going down the BJD rabbit hole and found so many other brands and began researching, which led me into buying more than I first intended.

So now, I have more doll heads than I can count bodies, and only have three full dolls out of the many. I cannot say I am proud of myself for splurging as this is very expensive hobby, but at the same time, I do not regret my purchases. I was lucky enough to find my holy grails, which has definitely slowed down my doll purchasing power. So I'd say, there's really no limit on "how many dolls is enough", as it differs for each person. For me, it's the satisfactory feeling of owning something I like and so long as it makes me happy.

 

SO!! You ALSO wants all of the dolls [like me]?

 

For years I only had 1 bjd, but eventually I found him too heavy and large and couldn't lift him anymore, so I got rid of him. In turn I bought 3 bjd, and then now have 10 plus some blind box and resin printed ones.

I'm rather happy with my current collection but I really miss having a boy... so at least hoping to get one more bjd for my collection so I can have a boy again.

 

Most dolls that catch my eye—yeah, I’d love to have them, as long as they’re within my budget . I’ve definitely dialed back on collecting more floating heads, but with these upcoming releases… my willpower’s about to be seriously tested

 

I was just talking about this with my friends. I didn't realize I still had 15, but most have been in storage for a long time since life happened. But now that I'm selling a lot except my absolute favorites I'm happier. I like having less. Also, 15 isn't the most I've had at one time. I think I was closer to 25 at one point. My ideal is five at most and just have self control when the new and shiny comes out. Working at doll stores long ago did NOT help my self control at all.

 

Well, I bought a glass cabinet to store them in. At that time, I had about 6... which somehow became 10

My cabinet doesn't fit all of them!! I will need to make some new arrangements. I think I am happy where I'm at now, I will probably only buy from the secondhand market.

 

We're now 34 in number, and that's just the 1:3 and 1:4 scale. It's excellent brain training remembering all their names.

I think we have a good number for a doll family now. I'm pretty sure we've acquired most of the back catalogue we ever want to own. But going forward who knows how many awesome new dolls will be released.

 

Great post and question. My collection has fluctuated in the past, thinking as you that the smaller my collection, the more I would appreciate each piece. My attitude now is to acquire what I really like and not worry about the numbers. My only worries now are managing my cc and figuring out where to store things!

 

I start getting anxious if a collection grows too big so I think I'm safely in the camp of having just a few (though I'm sure to someone else even more than one would be a lot ^^")

 

I’ve always told myself not to have more than 10 at one time. That was almost 2 years ago and now I have 9 completed dolls with 5 more on the way (1 full set pre-order and 4 floating heads waiting for their hybrid bodies to come in the mail).

There are still grail dolls that I don’t have my hands on Dollfie Dream Luka, any smart doll guy, and 1 dream project I’ve been thinking of for all long time). I’ve also recently really gotten into smart dolls. I’m sure I’ll want more of them SIGH.

I used to see people with like 30+ dolls and think how the heck do you get that many?! Well now I know

Honestly the thought of how many dolls is too many makes me anxious too (like the previous person said)…. I have a decent amount of space at home, but I have a lot of other collectibles (figures, cards, art) that I display too so now it’s a challenge of what matters more. I’m even contemplating getting rid of dozens of books and selling/boxing up figures so that my dolls can get more standing/sitting space.

 

I don’t really know what is the threshold of too many for me.

Very large collections would be definitely be overwhelming for me, though I’m not sure if this has more to do with the space I’ve tended to have. I really love seeing rooms that some people have that they dedicate to doll collections but I have never really wanted this for myself. My dolls are usually posed on bookshelves or other spaces to make them have a sort of “lived in” vibe and I’ve always kind of preferred this.

Right now I consider my collection to be 5, because one wasn’t ever completed and another I keep meaning to sell. Those 5 that are permanent in my collection were enough to handle. With the space I have now, 10 seems like too many. In another space, 10 would be fine. It’s more when I think of collections that are 30-50+ dolls that I feel like I know I wouldn’t be able to enjoy each of them as much regardless of how much space I have.

 

I haven't set a hard limit yet on the number of dolls I'll own. I didn't think I would need to, because I figured the price would make them somewhat self-limiting. Little did I know how many amazing and unique designs were out there, and how much more approachable the prices are when split into payments!

The biggest factor is ultimately going to be space, and even if I can fit a ton of dolls into a space, I don't necessarily want to, if it means that the quality of the display suffers/becomes too "noisy" and keeps individual dolls from standing out. It's too early in my BJD collector's journey to be able to place a restriction on how many I can have, I'll have to wait and see how much real estate each one takes up and make adjustments once it starts getting too crowded.

 

The key things that I think limit the amount of dolls in my collection are how much space i have, my budget, and whether or not I’m giving enough love to each of them. I don’t want to get too much and end up bored with one of them, so when I’m thinking of purchasing a new doll, I really have to think about how much I’ll enjoy it once it’s a part of my collection.

 

I am getting close to this right now with my collection. I have space for more dolls, but I’m beginning to not feel happy as I used to be once I display a new doll. Once the high of the new addition is over, I feel like it’s hard to appreciate each one when there are so many of them. I’m working on organizing my items right now so things don’t feel so cluttered and noisy. Maybe that will make me feel better about things, but only time will tell.

 

I'm going through a moment where I just want all.the.dolls. Not every doll, but all the dolls that I want, I WANT, you know? At the same time I'm also wanting to get all my dolls outfitted with faceups and clothing...oof! Really trying to stick to the dolls that I know will really make me happy, but it's not always easy.

 

I understand how you feel.

 

@tinyflame perennial problem of the hobby for sure! Right now I'm feeling that I'd want to end up at 25-30 total dolls to get everything on my wishlist...so I gotta slow down so there's more projects/fun stuff to acquire in the future.

 

I’ve given up trying to limit myself to a certain number of dolls! My brain works in terms of characters, and if a new one shows up when I see a doll, then that’s that LOL

 

Realistically speaking, I would say that it depends on the person - their financial stability, comfortability, and preference. Personally though, I don't think one can never have too many dolls.

 

I guess really it depends on the collector. Sometimes, so many dolls can be overwhelming, but having fewer dolls, you are envious of large collections.