What Dolly Rules Do You Set For Yourself?

Do you do something that some might think is odd, quirky, or whatever?
No tinies or mature minis. No BJDs taller than 62cm, I was afraid they'd be too big for me. And no super realistic sculpts, because my BJDs are mostly anime styled and must look good together. No elves or fantastical beings who don't live in the modern world.

What is it, and why do you do it?
My BJDs' world is 1/3 sized, this is my only fixed rule. The dolls have to fit in it. I didn't consciously make strict rules, but had some firm ideas for what I wanted.

Do you follow your rules, or have you broken them. If you've broken them, what did it for you?
Oh yes, I totally broke two of the four "rules". After the first 70cm boy came in, he left the door open for his friends. I now have eight BJDs over 62cm. The first elf did the same, but I have kept the elf population down to four (plus one human who sometimes thinks he's an elf).

But fortunately, my 70cm boys all fit in the 1/3 sized world, and the elves have adapted to live in the modern world and not in the past. So they still fit my parameters pretty well. And I still have no tinies or mature minis (only two MSD boys who are children around 8 years old), and have brought no realistic sculpts into the house who would not fit the look I like.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

1. I must love the sculpt. As in I think about it all the time - right before I go to bed, when I wake up. And never, never buy the day I see it.
2. Never buy unless I have the full, or a substantial amount, of the total cost on hand.

 

Rules? I have more rules than the average person. I guess I like them a little too much.

1. Never buy BJD on impulse.
2. Wait 3 months to purchase a BJD to see if I will still like it after that period. Mostly to prevent impulse purchases.
3. No limited editions shall be bought from a company unless the sculpt already exists in a basic doll.
4. Limited editions that do not follow the rule above can be purchased from the marketplace after a period of 3 months.
5. Don't buy anything unless you have the money on hand - no layaway!
6. Prioritize other purchases than BJD or BJD-related items.
7. Sell unwanted items (BJD or non-BJD) to help fund new purchases. Limit the money used from salary.
8. Don't cut corners! (Example: purchasing a grail BJD without sleeping head just to regret it later - save for the whole deal and then decide if you want to leave something out - never decide based on cost)
9. Always purchase BJD with a face-up. I want to be able to play with them right out of the box.
10. Look second-hand first before purchasing new.
11. DIY if you can. Practice makes perfect.
12. Buy extra hands/faces if possible. Important to bring the sculpt to life for me.
13. Don't buy hand sets that look too similar to each other.
14. Buy complete dolls until you know how to string and suede properly.
15. No floating heads - either you shell the character or you sell it.
16. No hybrids.
17. No fantasy dolls - minor fantasy parts like removable animal ears/tails are fine.
18. No BJD over 60cm tall.
19. No BJD smaller than 15cm unless they're a companion doll or pet.
20. No naming BJD or writing a backstory before they arrive if they're not based on an OC.
21. Only buy BJD with bodies that can pose properly and look natural on camera.
22. No hoarding BJD - if one is not being played with and living in a box it should be put on the marketplace.
23. No more than 5 BJD at the same time - one has to go before another can move in.
24. No french resin.
25. No tan or fantasy colored dolls.
26. No identical sculpts.
27. No freckles/moles on my BJD.
28. No MSD-sized dolls if there are still SD-sized dolls in the house.
29. Only one BJD per year may be purchased.
30. BJD can't share the same name or a name starting with the same letter.
31. BJD must have a different wig/eye combination unless they're very closely related.
32. BJD must have names that make sense. (Example: giving a Japanese name to a French-inspired OC just because it sounds nice)
33. Choose a clothing style for a BJD that suits their story and stick with it.
34. Don't create the same character in different sizes.
35. Don't mimic other people just to fit in. Create a BJD you absolutely love, it doesn't have to be accepted by others.
36. Don't care about whether a sculpt is popular or not.
37. Try something new once in a while. (Example: try learning to sew, restringing, suede, make a wig if you haven't done it before)
38. Don't hesitate to dislike something you bought. If the purchase was a mistake then just sell it and move on.
39. No pre-existing/fandom characters.
40. No BJD that creep out the people living in the same house.
41. No swearing or death threats aimed at customs, no matter how rude or evil they are.
42. Complain if the BJD received is not up to par to what was promised. (Example: Thin resin, bubbles, pocks, ...)
43. Play with your BJD. I need to get over my fear of damaging my current BJD before purchasing any new ones.
44. Keep your BJD close where you can see them 90% of the time. I didn't spend a lot of money to have them hiding in boxes.
45. No selling dolls given to you as a gift without permission from the person you received it from.
46. Be grateful for the fact that you can actually afford a BJD.
47. Don't get greedy.
48. Be nice but honest to other people, especially those sharing the BJD hobby.
49. No touching my BJD unless you have my permission. I'm quite strict on this one, even the partner knows.
50. No spending limit as long as I'm abiding to the rules above.

I have more rules but I figured this would be more than enough for this thread. I actually need them to prevent stuffing my house full of expensive items that I don't have a use for...

 

I only have one rule and thats when you buy a doll i wont sell it i may trade it but not sell

 

I used to be a no-rules kind of girl, but knowing myself a little better when it comes to the hobby now (having made like 600 mistakes) I do have a few:

--Favor is given to SDs. 65cm is max, anything over that is too tall, anything lower has to be a special exception. PukiPuki sized is right out.
--No impulse buys, only dolls I have admired for a long time and have a solid character for (Nearly every doll I've sold I've sold because I bought it for looks on a whim and shelled characters that were nonmatching/not properly developed with them)
--Doll spending remains cyclical except for special cases
--Additionally, population remains steady and below 10, optimally around 8
--Everyone is to have a nice regular outfit
--No X-Treme HardXcorE mods
--All SDs get urethanes, being the central crew
--At least two weeks of in-depth research required before purchasing a new doll
--No more than two additions in a year

 

Lets see..

1) There will be only one....yeah, right....

2) No girls...I just ordered my fourth and they are now in the majority.

3) No blondes. I hate Barbie. I have stuck to this one.

4) No pink , girly, uber cutesie woootsie stuff....er, lace and hair ribbons don't count, right?

5) Nothing smaller than an SD13, I would loose them or the animals would use them as a chew toy.... I now have 2 tinies and just ordered an MSD.

6) No white skinned dolls. Too pale and ghosty. I have stuck to this one.

7) All dolls shall be ancient Egyptian god-kings......er, except for the Pipos Cheshire cats , um, a pirate queen.... and my new steam punk girl?

Sigh, rules are just made to be broken...

 

This was my rule from almost three years ago. I sort of broke it in that I do own a mature MSD, but she's part of a second, separate group of fantasy dolls that I want. There are still no mature MSDs allowed in my main 1/3 group.

A couple of new rules I have now:

1.) No more white skin dolls (except maybe as part of my fantasy group). My one white skin girl took so long to bond with because she is too pale in most lighting, like ghost pale.

2.) No super fancy frou frou outfits. Anything too fancy, particularly dresses, just remind me of my grandma's shelf dolls- pretty, but with no life to them.

3.) No more new dolls until all my floating heads have a body. I hate having to behead and strip another doll so they can come out to play.

 

My current rule is... just get what I like and worry less about anything and everything else. ^ ^|||

 

So far...no real rules...I'm sticking to nothing bigger then YOSD's since I don't have a lot of space right now...and if they can't fit into the cupboard away from cats...then they can't be in my house.
Other then that...TRY to stick to just buying full sets if I can afford them...no blank dolls...no nudes...if it is just a blank doll...nothing over $200 (shipping not included with this pricing).
If I see something I want, WISHLIST IT and come back to it later. It might be cute/neat at first viewing but if I come back to it and I'm not as stoked about it, then it's not worth it.

 

I wrote this 4 years ago. My, how things change!

So Hansel is gone now, Amir and Loki are at the bottom of the list, and everything now revolves around Parker (Amir's son), but the dolls only have to fit in his story if they're RP characters. I have 3 dolls who are not in his story at all. I no longer care what Amir 'thinks' about new dolls. >.>

Couples must be in the SD range, unless I'm pairing mine with someone else's. In my own collection, anything in the SD range is teen/adult, MSD is child/preteen, YoSD is toddler. Short adults still have to be at least 50cm and proportions have to look right with other SDs.

new rules:
1. I must want a doll and work on their character for at least 6 months before buying. NO impulse buys!
2. No reusing wigs or clothes from old dolls. Every new doll must have their own things. Hand-me-downs are okay, but a new doll must feel like a new doll and at least have the wig, one outfit and shoes bought just for them.
3. No settling. I only want to buy the dolls I REALLY want, not settle for something that isn't quite right because it's cheaper, easier to find, or offered to me. Every time I've settled, I've been unhappy and usually sold at a loss. No more!


I'll check back in 4 years, see if any of that changed. XD

 

I must make my latest doll look exactly the way I want before I get a new one. (No point in buying a new doll when I still have an unfinished one lying around.)

 

That's really true But I want to get a MNF but I need to get this before thinking about any other

 

I'm the same way. I will go back to the site where I saw a certain doll many times before I decide. Usually I even copy and paste a pic of the doll onto my desk top and look at the pic many times trying to decide if I rally want to spend the money.
I have bought dolls on layaway, but only a 2 month layaway. I will pay for the doll in 2 payments but never longer.


Rules for the dolls themselves:
Nothing bigger than 62 cm. That is actually my favorite size and it is so perfect. I have smaller dolls which I love, but I would never have anything bigger than the dolls I now have.
No white resin.
Small bust only (no big boobs)
No huge round eyes.
Only realistic looking wigs and wig colors

 

No dolls bigger than a MSD or smaller than a YoSD!

 

I can only buy things I really love:doll, wig, clothes and accessories. They can't be just nice or cute, I must really think they are the perfect ones.
That is the only rule, that way I will get things I will truly enjoy without spending money on things I will grow off later.

 

Don't buy the doll if you can't afford it. (Or keep up with the layaway.)

It's really difficult for me to save funds nowadays and I have to be very careful and patient and wait for sellers who would be willing to give me a long layaway.

 

I'm not sure if I posted in this yet but I'm pretty sure my rules have changed anyways so...
So far..

1.Try to have items available for the new dolls when they arrive.

2.Don't try a new size doll until you have items available for them (wigs, eyes, shoes, clothes) or
you have the means to get them soon. I don't want any naked dolls as I feel bad for not being able
to play with them when they arrive. D:

3. Don't buy an odd size that lack clothing and shoes options unless you can make them. I say this since stylizing
my dolls is very import to me and I don't want to have just one item for them personally. (Hence why I'm not too
adamant on getting my Infernale head a body yet. At least until after I can sew him things other than suits)

4. I can't keep a doll factory default and I actually don't really even like factory face ups as I want to personalize my dolls
as much as possible. I might keep the hair color at most, but it's never on purpose. And the face up only if I think if fits the
doll perfectly.

5.No girls. I say this as I really have no interest in girl dolls and I'm afraid I won't keep up with her as much as I keep up with my boys even if I do like her sculpt.
If I do get a girl it will only be to shell a beloved female character of mine but that's it. (which has actually been quite difficult ^^;

6. Don't buy a doll/item on layaway if I don't have a good cushion if something goes wrong or you really can't afford it.

7. Don't buy a doll without seeing the head blank. Company pics are heavily edited and owners pics with special face ups
only go so far. I need to see the potential for myself.

8. Search the reference thread more. I have this weird ordeal with eventually really liking things I didn't consider or give
the time of day before and seeing those different options really helps to make decisions.

9. Have a limit for one doll's item then move on to the next. While I don't have a problem with buying dolls before I finish another or
alternating between needs, I do as a means to make up for it wan to limit the resources for one doll before I end up buying one
doll seven pairs of shoes when another on has like two ^^; My dolls have different styles so it makes it very easy to be tempted
by a certain outfit or wig and buy,buy,buy for one doll and not enough for another. T^T Though if I catch up it and let's say have three outfits
for them each I can work on getting more again

10.Make sure your dolls look at least decent next to one another. Try to avoid dolls that look extremely different and don't fit in. Same with
face ups, try to keep the looks uniform.

11. No fan based dolls. While I enjoy seeing them brought to life and enjoy plenty of anime/game based characters, I think a cosplay
is about as far as I can go for myself. Plus other people have them so I look at theirs instead

12. I really like to avoid dolls with unattractive hands :/ It's a small pet peeve of mine.

13. And my most current is to not buy a head for a doll when the company offers them a body unless:

a) I dislike the body being offered or just plain like a better one from another company
b)I want a bigger/smaller size
c)I can only afford the head and plan to get the body later when I have more money. That's only the case for SUPER limiteds though.
Otherwise I prefer the nostalgia of receiving a full doll

14. Lastly DO NOT settle! That includes getting a sculpt you really didn't like just to shell a character. Taking a unfair offer
on a MP sale for convenience sake(I've sadly done this before :'( . Or buying an alternative to something you really like for money/convenience sake.

I think having an open mind and "never saying never" will also help me to not have too lofty expectations for the hobby and not break my golden rule which
is "Experience, love, try, and have fun"

 

SIZE RULE: Only dolls between MSD and YoSD size. No heads smaller than 5in, feet sizes must have an acceptable amount of available shoes, eyes must not be smaller than 10mm, and at least a few decent clothes must be available for their size. (I'm attracted towards unusual proportions for dolls, and I realized this can lead to many difficulties.)

AESTHETICS RULE: I must like both the face and body. The aesthetics of dolls should match, where it's concept-appropriate, so dolls should ideally be from the same company (BlueFairy) .

POSEABILITY RULE: The looks and tactility are more important than the poseability, but the doll should be able to at least stand and sit comfortably and cutely.

QUANTITY RULE: 10 is my doll cap limit. 6 is the highest I've reached, and I only have 7 dolls in my current plans. Honestly, 10 feels like a high number to me, but there are other doll concepts that I'd love to fulfill one day, so I'm leaving myself that wiggle room.

CONCEPT RULE: Dolls must be compatible together and fit into my fantasy setting. They must be in scale together as would be acceptable within the story world.

CHARACTER DESIGN RULE: Doll's character concepts must have one simple, unifying concept for their aesthetic. For most of my dolls, this is only a color theme concept, to allow for style versatility. Other themes include pink and blue sweet lolita or traditional Korean beauty.

PRIORITIZATION RULE: Make sure a doll gets at least a basic wig, eyes, outfit, and shoes ASAP. Don't let a new doll lay around completely bare for an excessive amount of time. Optimally, have something ready for them before they even arrive. Plan for every doll to at least have two of everything; wigs, eyes, shoes, and outfits. Nothing is boring like having a completely unchanging doll year-round.

SUN/DISPLAY RULE: Never leave the dolls in a place where they will get a lot of light, sun, or heat. However, don't leave the dolls in a closet or where they won't be enjoyed either. Display them safely, like in a bookshelf or protected corner.

CUSTOMIZING RULE: Do your own faceups. No hybrids. No sculpting or carving modifications.

CHARACTER RULE: Every doll must have a name, personality, and basic story concept developed. Eventually. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, and it can be changed and developed over time.



I'm usually pretty good about following my rules, but I'm often tempted to consider breaking them. My mind always goes back to the size question, for example, and asks itself "Really, NEVER EVER?? What about five years from now??" or "But how will you fit all the doll concepts you want into just 10 dolls?! What if you eventually outgrow that number?". But, I'm usually a slow collector, and I don't normally impulse buy dolls at least, so I should be fine for a while.

ali

 

My rules are:
1) It can't be worth more, in canadian dollars, shipped, than my macbook air. Oops, I broke that with my first doll.
2) Nothing huge (60+ is really big!) again, jack broke that rule.
3) I need to have a character for them that is dimensional, that I personally care to write about. that's my only major one. I won't get a doll of obscure minor characters in the stuff I'm writing. they have to be a character I particularly like, and have liked and written fro a while (Cadere came close to breaking that, I only had her character for a couple months before I found her doll.)
4) Don't buy BJD's for other people. My girlfriend is making this rule hard to adhere to, because I know thats what she really wants, and I can afford it and grr. Just Grr.
5) at least try to have a scale. So far, I've broken that (cadere is too small, Jack is too big) But there's usually a solution, and their characters rarely interact in canon
6) One layaway at a time. no more.
7) lizards and dolls don't mix. I don't care how cute the chameleon would look with them.
8) the only rule other than the one about the chameleon that I'm big on, I don't do cute. I don't want a doll that feels younger than teenage. none of my characters are thatt young (out of the three dolls I have ordered, one was around 18 in 1890, one was in his high twenties/low thirties in 1890, and one is an immortal who looks to be in her older teens) I don't have any affinity for kids or kid characters.

I'm only consistent with 3, 6, 7 and particularly with 8.

 

Do you do something that some might think is odd, quirky, or whatever? What is it, and why do you do it?
I've told myself that if I do end up buying a male doll one day, I need to buy him a gorgeous full-set outfit, and a very nice wig. I've made this rule because I really love female dolls, and as much as I want a male one, I'm scared that I'll never bond with him and end up selling the poor guy. So, I've tried to put this "rule" in to my dolly moral code in order to avoid selling a doll.

Do you follow your rules, or have you broken them. If you've broken them, what did it for you?
My only real rule as of right now is an annual budget that I've set for myself. I'm about $200 over my budget for the year, so I'm hoping I can bring that down by selling a few things.