Moving Dolls Across Country?

Your idea to wrap the pieces in bubble wrap individually to fit them into a smaller box or two would most likely work better, and keep delicate parts safer tbh

You CAN also wrap them in bubblewrap and put them in a empty dresser if you have one moving with you to your new place, it would mean less boxes and space taken up. Another option is to use your clothes to pack the dolls, those tend to offer decent padding when moving house. Wrap them up with clothes and put them in the dresser drawer, close and tape the drawer shut and you’ll have a great moving box that’s almost guarantee to keep your dolls safe.

 

Probably not helpful, but i just moved from washington state to michigan. I only have one doll, but i just kept her in the cab of the truck with me. I like the idea of packing yours in bubble wrap. I think that will be nice and safe.

 

The dresser drawer is a super smart idea for space saving and safety (wood will always protect better than cardboard), and I cant offer anything better. The main thing with moving dolls and shipping dolls (or any fragile items) is to prevent shifting. So one full drawer where none of the pieces can slide around is better than a few emptier ones where they can.
On a tangent though! What part of Colorado? It's my home state, and is absolutely lovely, what an exciting move for you! I'm on the western slope by the stunning San Juan and Cimmaron mountains, and always crossing my fingers to find other doll people in the area.

 

I've carried my dolls between continents twice. The really tiny ones just pile in their shoe-sized carrier together, but for the big ones I:
-take them apart
-[if they have faceups] put a face protector over the head (with tissues/paper towels bands wrapped around the forehead and jaw to prevent the face protector from sliding and scratching
-wrap each part in tissue or light bubble wrap (more padding for fingers and other fragile parts, but torsos and limbs just need a light layer to prevent scratching)
-pack everything into a gallon-size plastic zipper baggie (or possibly smaller for a mini, or severalsandwich bags if that's all you have.) The important thing is the pieces should be snug, with no rattle room.
-Each doll is now in their own convenient baggie(s)
-pack the baggies in your suitcase (or a box or drawer) padded on all sides by clothes (or other soft material)

This minimizes gangly limbs twisting and snapping during travel (if they can't rattle around, they're much less likely to break). and also saves a lot of space

 

I don't have much to add, but I will be doing a move from Hawaii to Maryland later this year. When I didn't have many, I used to wrap the dolls individually with a face mask to move in my suitcase. I think taking them apart helps a lot. But I have no idea about the best way to move the boxes.

 

Could you maybe get something like this?

When I moved away for college, I had one of these and kept all of my valuable stuff and more fragile stuff in it, and I think it would be plenty big for several large dolls, unstrung and packed safely. Mine didn't have wheels on it, but that would be extremely helpful, I'd think.

 

I can get up to 30 BJD's (ranging in size from tinies to SD) into a largish suitcase to transport them to and from doll meets without dismantling them, so you could probably do similar, fewer if you want to wrap the whole doll in bubblewrap (and depending on how many layers of bubblewrap you use).

Teddy

 

Drat! Opposite end of the state from me lol. Ah well.
Hopefully your move goes smoothly, dont forget sunscreen. I hope you love living here

 

I recommend collapsing their boxes and put the actual dolls (and maybe CoA's) in a different compartment. I've seen people mod hard instrument cases to make them fit their dolls in it so maybe try that, so you don't have to worry about them being smushed? So you can save your boxes while also making sure your dolls have the best protection possible (that I know of anyways).

 

My husband just picked up some gigantic Pelican cases for his guitars and gaming equipment most come with built in, customizable foam inserts, unfortunately in black/dark gray though. They make a some really large cases that would fit the dolls, I think. I'll get one in within the next few days to see how it would work. It might not even require unstringing the dolls if it's large enough. As long as the dolls are wrapped in a protective pouch or pillows and the face covered with a mask, we should be good.

 

You could just get a big Really Useful Box and pack them in that layered in cushions, blankets, and/or bubblewrap.

Teddy

 

I would just pack the dolls in their original boxes and then pack those boxes into larger shipping boxes. I understand the temptation to be more careful with each individual doll, but in my experience the shipping boxes are good enough.

I've done four long distance moves (more than 3,000km each time and twice crossing borders) with my dolls, and have never had any break in transit. I had one doll get scratched the last time I moved, and that was because he was the only one I didn't have a box for and so ended up travelling in suitcase (which I thought was well-padded, but apparently not well-padded enough!).

 

I put all of mine in their original boxes or similar boxes and transported them in the cab of my vehicle - I did NOT send them with my bulk furniture, in part since I had professional movers deal with the big stuff. I wanted to keep my dolls in my own control the entire time.

 

Jumping in here - I'm moving in about a week and a half, just from CA to WA and we are driving. I was thinking of taking my dolls out of their boxes, but keeping them in their zipper cushions (3 Soom Super Gem girls) and putting those in a large duffel bag to keep in the car with us. Then I can also have them in the hotel rooms at night. Any thoughts on this method?

 

That's more or less how I did it - I kept them in the car with me, safely tucked away behind the truck seat.

 

When I moved from Alaska to Florida I had to abandon most of my doll boxes I did do the thing where I disassembled some of them and put them in one container and did the pillow mummy with others, packing them into the same carrier like sardines. I had them in the trunk of my car and took them into my hotel room each night.

 

Thanks for the information ya'll! I am planning to pack my doll boxes into a large plastic container and let the movers take that, so hopefully I can fit all my dolls together snugly in a large duffel bag.

 

I would never let movers touch anything like dolls, ever. I have seen too many things crushed and broken by movers in the past, and if any of your dolls are discontinued or OOAK then even having insurance on them won't get them replaced if they get broken.