How many dolls are enough?

No limit for mee but well yes I prefer fewer dolls because they take too many space at my house lel

 

I've pretty much set my hard limit at 25. If I'm counting incomplete full dolls and not floating heads or ones I plan to part with, I'm currently at 18. Since pretty much most of my crew is either OCs or favorite existing characters, there are only so many of them I can create and then develop in physical resin form. I've maybe got ideas for four more? But beyond that, I think I'm reaching my limit.

 

My friend bought like 5 more instantly when I talked to him about bjd.
And I'm like still waiting for mine.

 

For me my absolute limit would be 24. Because I want to base my crew of 12 zodiacs 12 female, 12 male ideally. I'm at 3 so far. About to get a 4th and a body for 5th.

 

Haha! I'll let you know if I get there!

 

Hmm, I don't think that I'm the type of person that sets a hard limit, really it all comes down to what I find manageable at the time. For a long time, I had no more than 4 dolls and that was the upper range. If I wanted a new doll, I sold an old one. That worked for me then and I enjoyed having that amount of dolls. Now though, I just want to be sure that I love every doll that I have and that they inspire me to do more art. My collection might end with 6 or it might end with 60 (funds permitting of course). I just want every doll in my collection to have a place and mean something to me. I think it'll only be too much when I'm collecting them just to collect them.

 

For me personally, I think that the perfect amount of dolls would be 2-3. I have two MSD, I kinda wanted one smaller, preferably odd and chubby, but never got one. But for my budget two were good, so I could get items and clothes I wanted for them without spending too much.

 

Well, in January, I said my limit was four. I am currently at four, managed to find space for six. ...So of course I have a fifth ordered, and a sixth on layaway.
This is a dangerous hobby. XD

 

I thought I had no limit, but I (hand)sew for all my dolls and I want them all to look nice on the shelf with a similar like outfit, for example all eastern style or all chique or all in pajama... And I have 14 dolls now and I just feel I reached a limit. I would like 1 more that won't be a part from my current crew and will be anime styled. But she's not urgent and at the moment I have my hands full with my current dolls. Because sewing for 14 and a lot of different sizes is... well it's not easy breasy lemon squeesy!

My first goal btw, was 8. Because my dolls are based on the 5 elements, yin and yang and qi. But a couple of eventdolls later, which I got with them, and two Soom dolls I wanted to make into a specific kind of humanoid dog breed... and suddenly I ended up with 14.

 

*whoops, double post*

 

I don't think setting a hard number is a good way of limiting myself for me personally. I'd rather set the limit on how often I'm allowed to get a new doll - that would assure me that I will have plenty of time with the "new" doll being the latest and the center of my attention - I do not want to get the next one until the one I have has been properly customized.
So for now I'm forbidding myself from ordering a new doll until I have the one I ordered with me, considering the waiting times I expect I'll have several month to sower my undivided attention at the newcomer
My only exception to the rule are Dollshe dolls - considering THAT wait time I'm keeping them "outside the line", so I'll figure out what to do with them when I get them - wile I have two on order I highly doubt that they will show up at once anyway or anytime in the next two years
So the amount of dolls I have is going to be dictated by how long I stay interested in the hobby - the longer I'm in the more dolls I'm allowed to have

 

Definitely fewer than I currently have. I'm on another minimalism kick at the moment and seeing all of them all crowded in their cabinet is giving me desire-to-declutter vibes. I think two or three would be good. That way I could, like, dress them all up for the holiday and stuff. There's too many of them right now for that.

 

If you asked my family, they would say that - ideally - a person should only have one or two dolls and be satisfied with them. For me, I like collecting, and I think I probably won't really be satisfied until I shell all my OCs, (meaning at least 5 more for my main story) and even then there's a few extra dolls that I just like the look of, lol. I think it's largely dependent on the person, but I would say that there is a cutoff point. At some point, I feel that a person would stop appreciating the dolls as dolls. I've seen a few videos of people with literally hundreds of dolls - almost all of them in boxes in closets - and they had forgotten they owned many of the dolls and couldn't recall anything about them. It is up to the person buying them, but I personally feel that if one comes to the point where they have so many dolls that they can't 'play' with them all (if that's their thing), have their closets bursting full (provided they don't live in a small or shared space with no other room for them), or forget they own them...then they have too many. At that point, I feel as though they might as well just own pictures of the dolls and would get the same use out of them.

In my opinion, 'enough' dolls is when you can get enjoyment out of each individual doll without being overwhelmed. That being said, everybody takes part in the hobby differently, and for one hobbyist, that might be one doll, and for another, that might be in the hundreds.

 

Fewer than I have now. The right amount is still TBD and will depend on the space I ultimately decide on and how much I want to rotate the display. Once upon a time I wanted a doll room. That changed so now I want fewer dolls!
The right number for me is: however many can be styled beautifully and then displayed nicely in 1-2 groupings - or stored conveniently when not on display. I am attached to many of mine but if I was starting from scratch I’d say no more than 15, honestly...and display no more than half at a time most likely.
I do think it’s a very personal preference though because some people are well content with 1-2 and others are really so happy with a whole room full.

 

I used to want like 20 dolls in total. I have about 15 or so now and that’s just way to many. Most of them are incomplete. Some just heads and others have been waiting years for faceups. I now want to really cut it down to 6-10. 10 Max. I would prefer to have less dolls that I spoil rather then more. I just can’t decide who stays or who goes

 

I think several of us are at that point this year so you are definitely not the only one feeling this way. I have some of my dolls put away (but still accessible), and I think what I’m going to do is put most of my dolls away and bring each one back out as I miss them and want to do things for/with them. I have a core crew of certain dolls that I know I’ll keep regardless so I’ll start with them and then see how many of the others I also wish to continue with. For me it was realizing that I can be just as much ‘into the hobby’ with fewer numbers and as you aptly put it, have fewer dolls and spoil them more. Having an overwhelming number (for me) has actually put me off from doing creative doll hobby things sometimes. Seems a bit silly because they are just resin lumps and do not ‘demand’ anything...but still. Having too many who still need too much is not a good feeling for me so reducing the numbers and concentrating my efforts feels like the right thing.

 

Enough is enough when I don't have characters I want to shell, and too many is too many when. I get overwhelmed. I don't really have numbers for that! I've found everyone has to be faceupped as soon as they can be, because having too many blank dolls for some reason makes me feel bad--probably because faces aren't something I'm able to do for mine (especially now that I've seen how pretty the faceups other people do on my dolls are!) Too many mod projects doesn't bother me though, so that's a helpful thing to be aware of for me.

12 was too many earlier in the year, when I had so many dolls that didn't mean anything--or worse, were a part of negative experiences. One I sold at a huge loss, just to not see him anymore. He'd have been too much if he was my only doll. 24 with me, and 1 in transit, plus 3 full dolls on order isn't overwhelming, because almost none are blank, and they're all dolls/characters I like.

 

Three is the sweet spot for me.... three of each type, that is! But I get what ya mean about wanting to give them all attention. I currently have six dolls... They keep each other company, and I make clothes for all of them/they double as models for my store so that's how I give them all attention ^^ They all have their own style and attitude so they all model different types of clothes.

Edit: I realized I didn't count my American Girl dolls.... that would be nine dolls in my household in total, with a resin girl on the way. But I plan to sell the dolls that I currently give zero attention to (I have two in mind)

 

I don't really have a limit as long as all my dolls are complete and get enough attention (in theory, I've only ordered two dolls thus far).

 

I don't have a limit, aside from the limited space of a small apartment and limited finances. Which has currently balanced out at five dolls -- three MSDs and two tinies -- and way, way, WAY too many play dolls.