Reducing your doll collection/doll wish list.

I currently have 19 dolls, with one more on order from Dollshe. I've set myself a size limit- all my dolls are mature tinies or smaller. I have my wish list in two sections- with those I'm more sure about in priority above the ones I'm less sure about. I'm still trying to thin down my wish list even further and am feeling a little overwhelmed by the number I currently have.

I'd like them to all go together aesthetically, but I love my Dollzone Wendy as much as my Granado guy.

 

I currently have 13 dolls in my collection and one on my wish list (mayyyybe two). My limit is 19 total.

I decide who to buy and who stays based entirely on my connection to the character. All of my dolls are shelled versions of my RP characters (except for one, who I won in a contest). If I love a character I've been playing for awhile, I want to shell them. If I fall out of love with or lose interest in a character I've had for awhile, I sell the doll. Since I have limited funds and a limit of 19 dolls, that often means selling one or two to get a new one, so I have to decide if I'd rather keep the ones I have, or bring home the one on the wish list. How pretty the doll is means absolutely nothing to me. It's about fitting the character, and since most of my characters are average high school teens, realistically, not all of them are going to be drop dead gorgeous, so sometimes a not too attractive doll fits a character perfectly and makes me buy it.

I think it's a lot easier for me to limit my crew as I've been in the hobby for going on 12 years, and at one time I had almost 40 dolls. I've since realized that I need to really like a doll or it needs to be a perfect fit for a character for me to buy it, and that I prefer an organized, well dressed group with good wigs, eyes and faceups over a big rag-tag group...and I can't afford to properly clothe, faceup and accessorize 40+ dolls!

 

I have about 50 and am pretty satisfied with that number. I don't have a limit for myself or anything, I'm just finding that after 14 years and 50 dolls there isn't too much I feel like I really want to own anymore. There are always a ton of sculpts I will love and admire, but the urge to own them all just isn't present. (Of course, there will always be exceptions.)

 

I just keep adding criteria until I've narrowed my list down to a number that works with whatever my current time/money/space requirements are.

I'll go down my list and ask myself random questions.

"Which of these dolls would I still want to buy in five years?"

"Which of these dolls would look believable together as a group?"

"Which of these dolls have noses real people could breathe out of?"

I have six complete dolls, though I'd have a lot more if I wanted to put all my unattached heads and bodies together (which I don't, because I'm picky).

 

I have just under 20 bjds right now. I’m currently downsizing my collection and focusing more on tiny anthros. I’ve been in the hobby for 8 years, and am not as enthusiastic about collecting bjds as much. Cost and space limits have won out. I’ve not completely giving up buying, yet.

 

I've 17 on-topic dolls, and about as many on my wishlist. I'm pretty happy with both lists, but sometimes I do downsize my wishlist. My questions are usually:

Do I still like this character/universe?
Do I still like this doll?
Would I rather buy this one expensive doll instead of two less expensive ones?
Could this character/character idea be merged with another?
Do I actually want to go through the process of handmaking this entire doll look?

... I don't usually get rid of many dolls on my wishlists...

 

I had a bar set at around 30 BJD because I found that, once I went over that number, it was like an automatic reaction and some dolls just didn't get played with.

But it was more of a self-imposed mental block than anythnig else because, once I realized that I was treating my teenie-tiny BJDs as a different group of dolls entirely, in my head they stopped counting toward the upper-limit, and the overall BJD numbers went up accordingly.

I've been holding steady at around 50 BJDs (including the teeny-tinies) for ome time now. It seems to be a more naturally occurring limit since I didn't decide on it it in any way. These days, I look at new dolls and think things like... "Have I got space?" "Would it fit in with my current families/groups?"... rather than having the urge to buy it regardless. Perhaps I just reached a natural "saturation point", or something.

I don't actually have a wish list now.

Teddy

 

I stopped counting as I put all my dolls mentally in my collection (bjds, Blythes etc), but I must have around 40 bjds.
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by they number, and sort out those that can go on live better lives elsewhere, and I actually never regretted a sale, every new owner was happy with them and that makes me happy, too.
I purchased a lot of dolls during the first 3-4 years of the hobby (newbie frenzy), but it has drastically slowed down. My wishlist is endless, but place and finances slowed down the pace.

 

I have been in this hobby for over 14 years now and I only have 5 complete dolls with one floating head right now. I sell dolls randomly from time to time and downsize as much as possible. Basically it’s due to job planning, I move around quite a lot. So I always remind myself when it comes to new doll temptation tried becoming a minimalist a few years back but it’s too hard. I also have a cat to take care of, I really can’t expand my collection to a large group.

 

I love using various tiers of wishlists to help me filter out dolls that are more of a passing fancy or appreciation versus something that keeps me up at night, hahaha. If it leaves a huge impression and I keep coming back to it, I'll move it into other higher tier lists; complete with pros and cons, faceup examples and owner photos, videos of body reviews, hybrids i may like for it, price range, etc. It's probably way over the top to some, but it's really important to me to have a clear idea of a theme for a doll that I would be passionate about buying/sewing/designing for before jumping into investing in them... so these "stress tests" are good for my anxiety and fear of buyers remorse. I start to consider an actual character for it only if it gets *really* high, but oftentimes by that point an idea has already come to me.

Generally my public wishlist is pretty short because it's my "I have publicly committed to wanting this doll' space, but I have a google doc that I just throw all kinds of wild doll fantasies into, just to get it out of my system. It's honestly massive, and definitely not a foolproof system... but it does sincerely help to write it down somewhere.

 

Currently my core collection consists of 5 full dolls and 1 more that's on the way. But I'm selling one of my bigger dolls right now and I'm thinking about maybe selling my smallest doll... let's see what I think after her face-up is done.
So overall I'm looking forward to owning 4 dolls in total - that's at least my plan for 2020
My wishlist has only 1 doll on it (Volks Date Masamune 2nd version) and tbh I don't think that I'll find him for a decent price anytime soon.

 

My wish list keeps getting longer but so far I have 3 dolls + 1 extra head i just got.... >_< here's hoping i do not start buying more dolls XD eventually i'll move on to 1/3 sized dolls but i think for the next 5 years i should try to keep under 5 msd sized dolls, i might start getting more heads but body wise definitely trying to stay under 5....

 

When I began in the hobby, I had every intention of seriously limiting my numbers and perfectly curating every single doll. But my numbers have seriously grown over the past 13 years, and I’ve learned that if something sparks a creative passion in my collector’s heart then I’m going to make room for it somehow...so I no longer concern myself with number limits. My crew is currently at 37, with 2 more on layaway, and in my defense every single doll is still perfectly curated. It seems like a lot, but they are placed in specific artistic displays throughout my home so nothing seems overly crowded, and my family enjoys them like fine art. As for naturally limiting myself, I never bring home a doll without a pre-planned character, and major doll purchases are limited to one big layaway per year now. That one layaway may contain more than one doll, but this makes me plan ahead and not be tempted to buy elsewhere on impulse. I can do this because I have, after so many years, honed in on my own personal aesthetic so I know what will work...and most importantly, what will likely stay.

 

I have still to figure out how I should aproach buying and collecting dolls. On one hand, I only want dolls that fit to my characters. But on the other, I want every single YoSD Volks ever produced.
I am now trying to "finish" all of my dolls that I own (faceup, eyes, wig and one complete outfit minimum)
but it`s pretty hard for me, because beautiful dolls are released. Also, Mandarake has some good offers at the moment.

 

I want a large collection. I'm currently living in a tiny bedroom with my girlfriend and our cat (and two other roommates and a dog in the same apartment) so I don't have the space for my dream collection right now, but I'm just fine with slowly collecting the dolls and eventually having a special space for them in whatever house we own (my fantasy is that we get a three bedroom house one day-- a bedroom for us, our future baby, and our hobbies )

I currently own one YOSD and one SD. I have an MSD on layaway, and I intend on getting a few more dolls within the next year. I'm a fan of making copious lists, so on my profile I've split my wishlist into three groups: definitely getting, definitely want, and "looking at" (for dolls I'm not totally sure about). My "definitely getting" list has four SDs and an off-topic vinyl doll on it. The "definitely want" list has some varying sizes on it; two MSDs (one head and one full doll), two SD10 heads, and three SDs (two full dolls and one head). The "looking at" list is always changing. All in all I have about 14 dolls on my wishlist, with a few extra I have in mind for adding to the lists.

I'm new in the hobby, only been around since April 2019, but I have an idea of the style of doll I like. Right now I'm very interested in the different types of bodies and levels of posability. I also want a wide range of face styles so I get better at faceups.

 

If you are a large doll collector you'll find the problem quite simple to solve.x) Since the space is limited, you really need to think over and over.
I have two IOS' class80 dolls and one MSD, and adding one more class80 will be my maximum.

 

My current roll call is 15 bjds & 4 heads plus 5 dollfie dreams & 5 heads, in my wishlist there's 2 msds (a head for my floating body and a full doll), and two potential sds to shell characters (that I've never seen the right doll for), in addition I want 2 smartdolls to round out the vinyl crew. So my current wishlist size is a nice 4 (6). I find it easy to keep it small considering I only hunt dolls to shell specific characters and I have most of them as it is.

 

I like having small amount of dolls just because then I know I will be able to play/tend to all of them! I give kudos to those with a larger collection because they always look so beautiful lined up, but I know I'll forget about the ones that aren't my top favorites! (Plus with how expensive the hobby is, I don't think I could afford it)

As for narrowing down my wish list, I have a specific taste for dolls! Male, SD, sleepy face, or very masculine/unique face sculpt (Don't get me wrong I also love the basic bishounen look to) I have about 5 dolls in my wish list and 3 current dolls! Trying to sell/narrow down my wish list has been so hard when I only want about 5 dolls total!

 

I have 17 dolls at the moment, and have been in the hobby for many years. Between those two things, it takes a lot for me to get interested in a doll. At the moment, there are no dolls on my wishlist. As space is limited at the moment, I consider this a good thing.

Most of the dolls I do have I prefer to keep. There was one I was willing to let go of, and I rehomed her earlier in the month to a buddy.

 

Three full dolls and two floating heads. My maximum limit is probably five full dolls, though I am considering of downsizing my collection at the moment. I don't have as much time to take photos of them or play with them, so I feel like they could go to better homes. I've tried using the method of putting them away in their boxes, but never could keep track how many times I've gone to pull them back out. If anyone has a more effective method of trying to figure out who should go, please tell me!!