How often do you buy a new doll?

Mines has grown rapidly lol! I am a newbie who started a month and a half ago. I now have 7 dolls and 4 dolls on order. Not even counting the pets I got too. Ummm, I need help! hahahah

 

I tend to get a new doll every 3-6 months on average, but I also tend to sell or trade at a similar rate, so after ten years in the hobby, I'm currently at 16 dolls and two heads (plus four tiny pet/anthro/cryptids). I don't have much disposable income, so to buy new dolls, I usually have to sell old dolls.

 

I've only been in the hobby for less than a year, but I already have acquired... a lot of dolls. I have 11 so far, with 2 on the way. So that's at least one a month, sometimes more. Of course this is not a sustainable rate, I consider it sort of a newbie mania and I'm slowing down.

I tend to buy a doll when I have the funds, and when my somewhat rare wishlist dolls are actually available for a good price. I think I might focus on getting new dolls (fresh from the company, not secondhand) from now on, since it's fun to wait and knowing I have dolls on the way curbs my buying. I think the ideal doll-buying rate for me is a new doll every 2 months.

 

For me it often just depends on the availability of sculpts I like. I've had years where I bought none and years where I've acquired 5+. Epic waits of 8 months to a year+ for some dolls factor into the equation too.
Surprise releases, events with time or number limits( or both), companies announcing discontinuation with just 15 days or so to order...sometimes best laid plans are disrupted, wishlist priorities juggled. The ‘maybe someday’ doll becomes the ‘buy now or miss your chance’ doll if I want it enough.
I think I'm almost finished hunting older dolls, which is a turning point in my collecting story. There is one difficult boy left to find...but I no longer feel like I'm 'behind'...silly feeling, I know but when are feelings logical? I looked on in the hobby for quite a few years before I was able to actually join in/buy my first resin doll and so I liked and wanted several older dolls from the start! I bought some of those just 'when I found them' and DollShe's last chance sale last year put the Saint I wanted at under $500, how could I not? And SOOM finally released another Sard in Cream White after a decade...you get the idea...those 2 boys were less expensive new than older ones had been on the second-hand market! But those re-release situations are a fluke and it doesn't usually happen, much less twice in a year so I was lucky! But part of the 'being lucky' equation in my doll life is to know to save in advance and be ready to jump.
If your collecting story is anything like mine, the mad money cache is a MUST!

With newly released dolls, I'm struggling to be VERY honest with myself and to try to determine how much I want each one, because it's often better for my budget (and my nerves) to buy new, especially if it's limited. But that sometimes means buying several within a short time frame, maybe not in my wishlist order and with long periods of not buying any in between.

 

Like you, I joined the hobby around a year ago when I ordered my first doll. I now have 5 complete dolls (including one free event doll), and two floating heads (plus a set of lower limbs/claws for one of the heads). Am finding myself wanting to slow down now though and spend some quality time working on the dolls I already have. I get overwhelmed if I have too many unfinished projects lying around and wouldn't want a massive collection! I have a few dolls in mind that I would love in the future, one in particular that I would probably buy if she were re-released at any time, but I want to restrict purchases to dolls who will fit OCs of mine to keep numbers in check. I am also thinking of selling my event doll, as pretty as she is, depending on whether I'm struck by inspiration for her at some point soon!

 

Before, I thought I could buy at least one doll a year but circumstances have changed and it's been 2 years now but I still haven't bought another doll yet. I'll have to try again next year. ; u ;

 

I'm an impulse-buyer I confess. Every time I feel very sad or super-stressed about life, I buy more BJD, even if it puts me in debt - because inevitably this hobby makes me feel better! I guess it distracts me and gives me a creative outlet, which is always empowering when you're feeling vulnerable. Although the resulting debt is of course crippling It's a terrible addiction but I reason it's healthier than alcohol - I only wish BJD were the same price as a bottle of vodka!

 

How fast? Too fast! Only a year into the hobby and I'm at 12+ dolls (or a doll a month!!!!) because I'm allergic to money and wealth and I hate my wallet.

 

I'm still a student so I just save up money whenever I can and when I have enough funds I go on the lookout.
I can usually buy one doll a year. But I also like spoiling the dolls I already have with new clothes, wigs etc. So this definitely slows down the saving process.

 

I've been loving this hobby for a dozen years now and have amassed a collection of 33, each carefully curated with complete wardrobes and elaborate displays. But I'm finally out of space in my home and I refuse to over-crowd my darlings, so it's time to stop buying. I'm paying off my final two layaways now and that will complete my collection. It's a place I always wanted to get to eventually, but sometimes thought I'd never achieve. I'm so thrilled with my accomplishment and I absolutely adore every member of my crew, so I'm finally done with the inevitable selling process of this hobby as well. Looking back on the entire journey now, I realize that it works out to roughly 2-3 dolls per year, which isn't too bad. It enabled me to complete an amazing collection on a fairly small budget and still have a ton of creative fun along the way. Now that I'm done with my collecting phase, it's time to ease into just enjoying, playing and story-telling rather than constantly being "on the hunt".

 

I’ve been in the hobby 12 years & bought 1 doll per year on average.

The first 8 were SDs some of whom came and went. I stopped buying for awhile from 2011 onwards, then finally decided to switch to an all tiny crew this year so I’ve been slowly rehoming the big boys to fund my small but growing herd of yosds.

So far I’ve bought 3 tinies this year & planned for at least 1 more by the end of the year.

I’m not fussed about space or number since they’re all so little, they barely take up any space compared to SDs!

 

I bought my first doll three years ago, and I haven't bought anymore since lol. I've always had her on display on my desk, but I kinda forgot about her and the hobby anyway... However, I've recently gotten back into it and have been eyeing a handful of dolls But there's more pressing things that I feel I should be saving for, like school, and I also want to commission a face up and body blushing for my girl so I feel like I can't really justify buying more dolls right now. Hopefully I will sooner than later, though!

 

The last doll I purchased was over a year and a half ago! That was my preorder for IoS' Grell Sutcliff. I only have one other doll I'd like to buy, but that's only if Soom makes one similar enough to the one I'm envisioning. Nothing quite like it yet, so I'll just wait and see

 

I am still new in the hobby (about 4 months) and I have two girls home and one on layaway with a fourth ready to be ordered as soon as I can get my finances together :’) my family is growing so quickly... but none of them where bought on a whim and I did think about their characters and plan them all

 

In another thread I mentioned that I have this silent rule of only buying one doll a year. In the end it has resulted in me owning 10 dolls (2 floating heads and a puki puki included) and with one on the way. It's less than the number of years I've been in this hobby, but I learned that owning more than 10/11 isn't for me.

As for how I choose my dolls: Well..... I have this habit of falling for the ridiculously hard to get dolls. Case in point, the doll I currently have on layaway. It took me 13 years to find one, and to be honest, I was terribly lucky when I finally did, as the only person I knew who owned one, decided to sell him. I'm more of a collector than anything else, so this is probably why I like going for the impossible sculpts.
So, finding that doll I want to buy, for me, means that I save up what I think the doll might sell for and how much I want to spend on it max. Then I search the marketplace over and over (every day), until I find one.

Sometimes I'm lucky and the sculpt is in my price range. Other times I have to let it go and wait for another one to pop up, although with some sculpts I really didn't have much of a choice. If it's a once in a lifetime chance, you don't wait for another to come up. You either buy it, or you'll miss out. But in the case of more available dolls, it often takes a while for me to buy one, because I'm looking for one in my price range.

It's a waiting game and a stressfull one at that. But I like it .

 

I have no self control, on average i bought 1 doll every month! Its really bad! So far i only have 1 brand new dollfie, the rest of my kids are preloved so they wasnt too expensive! Now i am trying to stop and save up for my japan trip.

 

I'll buy the dolls I like. So I've had four dolls this year.

 

My first 5 years in the hobby i bought err. 5 I guess? so about 1 a year, I sold two that didnt work, then a few years later I bought two more, and ended up selling them because I didnt have time/space/money leaving me at 3. Now that im back from hiatus...I plan on buying one back (i made a mistake selling him, oaf.) and have plans for about 3 more. The way I save/spend it will proably be about 1 per year, like I originaly started.

 

My first doll is on the way right now and I'm already considering buying another. I now understand why people say this hobby is so addictive lol.

 

pre-owned dolls whenever,but not often. New ones I always buy in pairs from the same place and I'll prolly do that once every 2 or 3 years. Then they just sit in boxes forever because it takes a long time for me to get everything I need for them.