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Too many dolls?

Sep 8, 2009

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    1. Hi there! I was just browsing the forums this morning as usual when I saw several signatures with a LOT of dolls pictured/listed/etc. It made me wonder, how many is too many? Can a person have too many dolls? How do you feel when you see someone who has "too many" dolls?

      Amalia


      ((P.S. I did a search for something like this, of course, and I didn't see anything. If I missed it, please merge/delete my thread and point me in that direction. Thanks!))
       
      #1 angelkitty, Sep 8, 2009
    2. This thread in GD is somewhat similar:

      http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126402

      Though I'll admit, it was a bit tricky to find considering that words like "how" and "many" are too common to be searchable! :sweat I knew there was a thread like it, but it took me a bit of digging to find it.
       
      #2 TheFontBandit, Sep 8, 2009
    3. The main reason I have more dolls than pets right now is BECAUSE I don't have to play with them every day. They are patient, they don't mind waiting until I have free time to myself.

      This "proper love and attention necessary" can be open to wide interpretation. These aren't children or living pets, no matter how much affection we put into them. Is what's necessary only to make sure they're not environmentally damaged, i.e., heat, dust, etc.? They're not zoo specimens that must have an enriched environment or they go stircrazy. It's only in my photostories that they exist in a fuller realm, but the vessels are fine with waiting until I create that augmented, mentally envisoned existence for them.

      Even if you want to equate them with living children (dependent on you, need to be entertained, need stuff all the time, look reproachfully at you when they want stuff), then like many a parent, you have to examine your attitude toward quantity of time vs. quality of time.

      I see the biggest factor in "too much" is a financial one, and that's regularly gone over and thrashed about here as we each face our own desires fighting our own financial abilities. Otherwise, when my dolls get my attention, they get my FULL attention, and that seems to be enough for all of us.
       
      #3 hobbywhelmed, Sep 8, 2009
    4. All my dolls are unique individuals to me and even though I have a bunch, I play with them and don't just consider them collectibles, but more as interactive art. I think each person has to decide for herself how many dolls feels about right. I still have quite a few dolls on my wishlist and will continue to buy them as long as they make me feel happy. They're not my children; I enjoy looking at them even when I'm too busy to play. I don't carry them about with me as companions and their lives are purely in my imagination. I don't think anything about people who have more or less dolls than myself because almost everyone has different reasons for buying them.
       
      #4 linakauno, Sep 8, 2009
    5. linakauno summed it up very well for what my experience is as well.

      I also agree with hobbywhelmed that what constitutes 'proper time and attention' is quite open to debate.

      For instance, I don't feel the need to put my dolls to bed nightly -- and don't have PJs for all of them to do it even if I was so inclined. Or space to do so for even one 'properly' as I see it -- but I do have space for plenty to sit or stand on the shelf beside my bed, from which they come and go when they get lavished with attention as I see it. A proper bed for a 60cm+? Never gonna fit on those shelves. :( The benches I have for them do, though!
       
      #5 surreality, Sep 8, 2009
    6. Dolls aren't living beings in need of care and attention.
      I don't think there's a cut-and-paste answer for "how many is too many?" when it comes to dolls. Personally, more than 3 or 4 dolls is too many, and I tend to lose interest. However, there are people with 20+ dolls...and so what? As long as somebody isn't neglecting their real life responsibilities to take care of their dolls, I see nothing wrong.
       
      #6 Nymphetish, Sep 8, 2009
    7. I feel I have to add - I have nothing against treating them like little companions, carrying them about after a meet, letting them keep company on the desk or bed, or even apologizing for "making them watch" a gory movie. It's part of the fun, and they really are a unique experience (whoever invents a doll-sized fully-interactive robot or AI will become vastly more rich than Bill Gates), half their own human/antro selves and half our emotional projection and infusion.

      It's just that that experience and doing that should be part of the pleasure of the hobby, if so desired, but is not anything to feel guilt over if you can't do it, don't want to do it, or can't have enough time to do it. You can have 30 dolls and if you can't go one-on-one with them daily, not a single one will wilt, poop on the rug, get sick and die, or even call Resin Protective Services on you.

      So the determination of how many is "too many" is not some external limit, but is something you determine yourself according to the expectations and "responsibilities" you're setting on yourself.

      Edit: I just have to add -- if you're feeling guilty for not giving enough attention and things to your dolls? Your future children are SO going to own you--!
       
      #7 hobbywhelmed, Sep 8, 2009
    8. I agree with all these people. They sumed up everything I could possible say, perfectly, good job guys!

       
      #8 empty_fullmoon, Sep 8, 2009
    9. Hehehe... As my fiancé puts it, I mother and love everyone, but when something needs done, I'm a cruel mistress... :sweat


      I am enjoying the replies, but I don't mean to have given the impression that I am against having a lot of dolls. I've only been in the hobby for a half of a year. :)
       
      #9 angelkitty, Sep 9, 2009
    10. I have a lot, and have gotten them quickly. They're all characters, and each has their place in my stories. I'm getting to the point where I am just about to focus more on the stories and getting everyone outfitted "perfectly" (now that I'm not missing so many characters) and less on getting everyone HERE. I play with them all, some more than others, and really enjoy them all. They do require some maintenance, but none of them are going to die if they sit and wait to be restrung or to get a new faceup for a few weeks. I think it's totally individual as to how many are "too many". It depends totally on personal preference, collecting style, and a number of other variables.
       
      #10 AmyAngel, Sep 9, 2009
    11. I just got the body for my floating head yesterday. That makes my fifth doll in about a year, with Beyla on the way hopefully by Christmas. This girl's a regular MSD (she has breasts, unlike Fauna the Flatchested), which was the last thing I needed to pattern with besides a tiny, and I'll probably hold off getting any others for a while. I've got eyes for her, and she can use Fauna's shoes, but she needs clothes and wigs and such. Figure it'll be about a month before I have her sorted out, since she's a 7/8 wig and I don't have any of those. And then I'll have to start again with Beyla.

      I have a very long wish list, but they're mostly big, expensive dolls I'll have to save up for. So my crew will probably hold at this level for quite a while. I want to make sure everyone has a couple of outfits and the like. That's not to say that if I actually win a Soom MD lottery I won't jump at the chance!

      I'm actually still trying to integrate my dolls into my life. They're sitting on my kitchen island at present (my kitchen is actually very dark), but I'm contemplating buying them a bookcase of some kind and I'm revamping my hobby closet to reflect the fact that I'm doing dolly sewing rather than costuming sewing now.
       
      #11 Isabeau, Sep 9, 2009
    12. I guess I'm one of those...I have 45ish? I actually lose count! But even if I don't pick one up and play with it, I do enjoy looking at it. And it's starting to be too many, so the wishlist has narrowed way down. But they're mine and I'll enjoy them how I want too!
       
      #12 Rynn007, Sep 10, 2009
    13. Wow! 45 dolls! That's impressive... I can hardly even imagine it, but I hope one day to have a number of collectible dolls. :) It's amazing! Wow...

      :sweat
      Amalia
       
      #13 angelkitty, Sep 10, 2009
    14. :o 45 DOLLS?!?! that's AMAZING!!! i don't own any yet and i say you can never have too many. but atm i'm just trying to get my little boy home :...(
       
      #14 kawaiicoyote, Sep 10, 2009
    15. I don't feel the need to play with my dolls ALL the time... or even within a set time frame. Sometimes a doll will sit on the shelf for a month or so, while I play with the others for a time. I tend to "rotate" around the group in photos and playing.

      So as long as I enjoy each of my dolls, and I have enough room for them... I think the collection will keep growing (despite the fact that I keep saying "Oh, just one or two more then I'm done"). I thought I would be happy with one... then I got another, and another, and they just kept multiplying! But as long as new dolls come out that I want, and I can afford them, I'll probably keep buying them until I run out of room to store/display them all!
       
      #15 TheFontBandit, Sep 10, 2009
    16. Different people have different numbers [:

      If there's a doll I really like and I can come up with a background story or tie it in with the others, then it's going on my wish list. I don't pay attention to them 24/7. I don't pick them up every week. But I have them on my shelf, and I like being able to see them even when I'm not in a photographing mood. The only problem I can see myself having once the count gets into the higher number is paranoia. I'm already paranoid about my group (amongst other things) and make myself worry all the time about all the awful things that could happen (and that are out of my control); fires, thieves, and such.
      ​
       
      #16 Savaille, Sep 11, 2009
    17. I think it's really easy to get "doll lust" -- so many new and beautiful molds coming out, new companies with wonderful characters. And the animal/anthros are really starting to be done well and done more often.

      They are all so beautiful, the scary part is worrying that the value will drop and we'll be left having spent a small fortune on dolls we were counting on to appreciate in value. (Kind of like my 401K)

      If they give you pleasure and make you feel great, I think the dolls are fabulous.

      But if they're keeping food off the table or you're buying them with rent money, you may have a problem...

      :aheartbea
       
      #17 Catrita, Sep 11, 2009
    18. No, I don't think a person can have too many-- if "too many" is being defined by somebody else. If you're really judging people by the size of their collections (i.e. in signatures), you're only seeing 1 facet of them. You have no idea how they regard their dolls, what their collecting style is, what the owner's life is like, what part the dolls play in it, how much free time & energy the owner has/wants to devote to each doll, how they feel about each doll, etc.

      For me PERSONALLY: "Too many" will be the day that I have to start keeping dolls in the bedroom. They took over the living room, which is fine and dandy... but the bedroom is mine. :lol:
       
      #18 JennyNemesis, Sep 11, 2009
    19. Hmm, for me, 'too many' dolls would be when you look around a room and decide that you have 'too many'. It's very personal. For me, the dolls are not only something to be played with (I am very tactile with dolls) but are also used to further my other creative ventures. Because they serve multiple purposes, I never feel that 'too many' is a concern. I think for me it would be a matter more of whether I'm spending more time with the doll/s than I am doing things that I feel I should be doing instead. If I reach that point, that would be when I have 'too many' dolls, even if it's just one.

      Awtan
       
      #19 Awtan, Sep 11, 2009
    20. my dolls are not jealous and don't mind sitting in a laundry basket until i am ready to pick one to play with. when i try on a new outfit and they really look good in it, a like to leave it on for a few days until i am ready to try something else. and i don't have any pj's for them but they don't seem to mind.
       
      #20 bookdreamer22, Sep 11, 2009
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