Long distance moving! …with lots of dolls.

Forget the doll boxes, buy one or two big plastic stacking crates and layer the dolls in there with padding. You can get quite lot of dolls in a smaller space. Or buy a set of smaller ones if you prefer fewer dolls per box (might be easier to lift since resin is so heavy)

I transport mine to meets and events layered in wheelie suitcases (one time a Lusion, and a bunch of SD size and several smaller dolls) or several of them tightly layered in a single doll-carrier type bag. So packing like that for moving should save space and be perfectly fine.

Teddy

 

I moved states with my collection. For the ones without boxes/or boxes I didn't care about I used the plastic crate idea that @Teddy suggested. For the doll with boxes I wanted to keep, I put them in those tall "wardrobe" packing boxes. Depending on the size of your doll boxes you can fit a surprising amount in them.

In both cases, my dolls arrived undamaged. Good luck with your move!

 

Moved across the Irish Sea with 20 odd dolls. Waterproofing is vital! I used mattress bags (super waterproof) to hold the boxes with the dolls bubble wrapped inside. Best decision I made - my clothes got soaked but my dolls remained dry thank goodness

 

I moved in August of last year, and found that the best thing to do was to pack the dolls in their original boxes (if you still have them) and bubble wrap everything. I did a small layer around each of the limbs, around the head before putting a face protector on, etc. When packing them into a moving box, I stuffed any loose areas with newspapers so they wouldn't shift around. Also depending on where you are, be mindful of heat and sunlight. I tried to minimize my dolls' exposure to the heat as much as possible, as well as soon, even though they were essentially double boxed. Good luck!

 

How do you minimize the heat during a move? I remember when I moved States before my stuff was really hot from the heat. I think I moved in the summer time I can't exactly recall.

 

When I loaded up the moving truck, I put the doll boxes in last so that they would be in the truck the least amount of time compared to the boxes I loaded in first. (It took me about an hour to load up the moving truck, if not longer) When I arrived at the new house, I took the doll boxes out first.

Obviously there's only so much you can do when you're dealing with a moving truck (or in your case, it was a pod I believe?), but I do think it helped. My clothes boxes, which I loaded up first, were definitely much hotter than the doll boxes when I was unloading. Hope this helps!

 

Thanks, I tend to do the opposite because everything is hectic. I put all the stuff I want in front always in the back or stuff that should be at top on the bottom. The movers in mY experience have been no help.

 

Just be careful not to be robbed. I think when I wasn't looking someone took a few items out of the moving truck. I heard too someone got robbed the moment they moved in because they left all the blinds open and left the house with everything easily seen.

 

moved literally across the continent with close to 35 dolls at the time (my collection has shrunk a little since), I sent my three most priceless dolls ahead of me with a friend that happened to visit Greece at the time, but as for the rest, the way i did it was this. I first removed the heads of every doll and secured them in my carry on bag with bubblewrap to make sure that faceups remain intact and I can keep them on me in the odd case suitcases go missing. Then the bodies were layered with pillows inside an additional suitcase that would go with the rest of the baggage in the plane after wrapping some delicate parts like their hands in bubblewrap. Granted it was a big and heavy suitcase, but still much better than paying the post office to ship them. Just make sure you cushion all sides of the suitcase because other things can and will go on top of yours, and people might throw them around a bit.

 

I'd be anxious to leave them unattended I think. Definitely put the ones you care about the most in your bag or close to you anyway. If you don't have the original boxes, I always find that a bunch of t-shirts or soft towels do the trick perfectly (careful to wrap limbs and hands/feet with some bubble wrap or some extra fabric so they don't rub against the body too much).
Other than that...just be careful and it will go great! They're a lot sturdier than we give them credit for (face up excluded)!

 

I shipped my Minifee in an ocean container. I had her in her original box with the foam packing. I then wrapped it in foam wrap and put it in a plastic case surrounded by clothes. They should be ok as long as you pack them with enough gap fill so they don’t move in transit.

 

I moved across the country this year with about 15 dolls. I put all of the dolls in a large under bed storage container with 3 dolls per row and then a towel between each layer. All of my dolls fit into one of the containers (mainly SD size, a few MSD.) I then had another container of 90% of their clothes with me in the car as well.
I put the doll boxes in my moving container/pod since they take up much more room. I decided to move my dolls/faceup supplies/doll clothes with me in the car since they're my most expensive items. You can put them in the pod, but keep in mind pods trap cold and heat, which is why my dolls where in a storage container in my car and the boxes were in the pod. The boxes did get a bit of scuffs on them as well, so keep that in mind.

 

I will have to move out in a few month.
This came spontaneously so... I'm asking myself the same question.
I think driving two times with a car is the best method. I'm too afraid they get damaged in a car with too many other things in it. But my hope is that the new home won't be too far away from the former

 

I'm moving to another country soon... Taking my dolls with me, ofc. Don't know how I'm going to manage Given that there're no direct flights and I don't drive.

 

I've moved with my dolls, and if I didn't have the box, I (unorthodoxly) wrapped the head, arms and legs in thin bubble wrap or foam wrap, and then the doll in fabric (like pillow cases, or old tshirts), and THEN again the whole thing in bubble/foam wrap. That works great for me. If they have difficult parts like wings that don't come off, I would wrap them the same way, but since they're more delicate, maybe try putting them in a soft place, like a suitcase that only has clothes in it maybe...I guess with the magnet it's hard to just have them in your bag? Not sure about the restrictions.
If they do have the original box, considering how far they travel to get to us in the first place usually, I just carefully wrap them and put them in there how they were when I got them. If it works when they were being thrown around in a box, it will be just fine.

 

@maple.honey thank you for your suggestions! I think I will wrap them in bubble wrap and my clothes (can't take any old t-shirts with me; I'll be lucky if I can take all the new ones!)
Some of them do have the original boxes, but most probably I won't be able to take the boxes since I'll have to somehow move around with all my luggage so the dolls will have to travel in the suitcase. Don't know how much space it leaves for my other stuff given that I have 5 sd dolls and a couple of smaller ones (one of them with WINGS AND TAIL; she'll probably stay with my mom for a while...)

 

Np! I hope it all goes well. Btw, I was looking at shipping prices, and the cheapest rate I found (for a doll-sized box) was USPS First Class International at 56 dollars. They also have other international services starting from 65 to 80-something dollars (or more), but they could hold more than one doll box for the size. It's a little expensive maybe, but it could work if there are some that you can't carry and would rather ship them (just check if it's insured and whatever other details).