What Dolly Rules Do You Set For Yourself?

LOL
Each of my dolls fits a certain anime or other character (for cosplay purposes) - if I love a doll but just can't figure out what the cosplay would be, doll doesn't come home.
I outlined a storyline/setting for these characters - a cosplay group. Once I got that set, I decided I won't buy a doll outside that character chart.
All the dolls interact so no (permanent) fantasy characters or odd scale dolls - my rule of thumb is 1 centimeter = 1 dollie foot (really rough) so no mature minis or Idealian 51s...
So far so good....LOL

 

So far, I only have 3 really--
1. I like to keep an odd number of dolls (I know, weird, and I don't have a reason for it)
2. I only allow myself to buy a doll or doll parts with money I earn from dolly-related sales (my paypal balance), not any of my money "to live on."
3. I can't have any 2 dolls that look too much alike, as a way to help keep the numbers down.

I really liked the idea of keeping the resin dolls in a chest or something out of the sun-- I think I'll look for a "treasure chest" to line and keep my pirate Lea in.

 

Most of my rules have now been broken, such as stick to just the one, stick to MSD and below, and girls only. The ones still in place:
- no layaway. Doesn't count for credit card, but if I start with layaway there will be no end to the number of temptations
- no anthro or fantasy dolls. Loeki is the one exception, his mnm cat head painted to look like my own pretty kitty was a gift! Now a custom body is being made for which I'll pay myself, but I'm still going with gift but really no other exceptions. Not even elf ears, I just can't bond with them
- no tan skin. I just don't like it
- only buy dolls I am completely smitten with. Owner pics aren't always necessary, a lot of my dolls were bought based on company pics. Impulse buys usually turn out great too, but we'll see if I can still say this after Kyoya comes in

 

1.No layaways.
2.No anthros.
3.No floating heads (unless it is a sleeping head or similar and comes as extra).
4.No identical sculpts. Ever. (twins can be twins without sharing the same sculpt.)
5.No kids (under age of 13) allowed to come near and/or touch my dollies. Same rule apply if I know you can't handle my doll(s) safely.
6.No buying dolls smaller than 20cm. (I'm not into tinies but we'll see...)

Hmm... I think that was all for now. Lots of rules despite the fact I have only one doll at the moment But I will have a second one soon so ^^

Edit: Rule number 7.No superhappysmile-sculpts, they're so not my thing x)

 

A rule I made for myself for my girl is she cannot wear pants. Shorts are find but no jeans.
I don't think I'll break that rule because that's how I am myself.
I only wear pants when I need to. <_<

 

Hmm let's see.... I have some pretty strange rules for myself I think. Mostly my "rules" center around my OCD-like obsessions with "sets" and "collections" ...

1. Only girl dolls - this is also partly because I don't know what I'd do with a boy or how I'd dress it. This might change someday, but I'm afraid the obsessions would change the rule to "equal numbers of boys and girls" which frightens me with the potential cost of such an investment, since I have 4 girls now and 2 more planned XD

2. Only complete dolls, no floating heads. Incomplete things drive me nuts... exception is my floating event head I got for free, it was not planned on my part. I feel the irrational need to buy her a body just so she won't be incomplete. But then ordering just a body drives me nuts because it's also incomplete (never mind the two parts would make a whole). So I think, oh, well maybe I'll order a full doll and use the body for the event head. But then what do I do with the head I ordered with the body? It's a vicious circle!

3. Dolls must look like they belong together. This pretty much means I order from one company, and one company only. Also means one size only. I don't see this changing, it's more convenient for wig/eye/shoe/clothing sharing.

4. All eyes/wigs etc. must be of equal quality/same material. So if one doll gets expensive custom ED eyes, they all do. And they do >_>
They all also wear the same brand of wig at the same time. No mixing fibers on my watch!

5. Equal numbers of dolls. That way it seems that everyone has a partner or friend and no one will be lonely. Again, darn event head is throwing off my balance! XD

And now some of my more rational rules...

6. Always pay in full, with cash. No credit, no layaway, no impulse purchases. This means that hopefully my purchases are well thought out and won't be regretted. Also means money spent is money that can be spent and not needed on important life things like rent and tuition and food and gas etc

7. Do my own faceups and clothing. This is mostly just because I like to, and not really a rule I guess. The faceups help me bond with the doll and get a feel for her character. The sewing is fun and a way of expressing the character discovered while faceup-ing. The creative aspects also make it seem like a "real hobby" and justifies it to my friends and family who are always over-dramatically impressed (I love them for it) by my skills.

8. No Limiteds! May seem to be a financially reasonable rule, and that's part of it. But then my irrational side kicks in and worries that I'd treat the limited doll differently than the non-limiteds, as if she were some how more fragile. Or that I'd want to spoil her more with more clothes or more expensive eyes and wigs, as if the more expensive price tag and/or rarity of the doll means she requires more money spent on accessories. And then my other dolls would get jealous and start a rebellion. (ok, that last part is mostly untrue)

I swear I'm not crazy, I'm just very particular about what I like and find pleasing!

 

Hmmm, this is one I have to think on...

1. All dolls must fit into the same story
So far I'm doing good on that...tho I have bought some dolls where I had to somehow squeeze them into my story ^^;

2. Let there be boys!
All of the dolls I have and all the ones on my mental list (seeing that I haven't updated my actual list) are all guys. None of them are guys but I think they might get lonely...just need to find their go to girl XD

 

1) I will not buy a doll just because it is pretty. They are all pretty. Only dolls that I can see their personality before they make it to the shopping cart.

2) All doll purchases must be paid upfront in full with money I earned. The last part gets bent a little, because I don't make much so sometimes I supplement a bit.

3) Only buy dolls 'in-stock'.

4) Don't take dolls too seriously. I do some things with my dolls that make others uneasy, like photo them painting the walls and letting my three year old play handle them. If they just sat on a shelf I wouldn't enjoy them nearly as much.

 

Unique characters only. I will never base it off of a real person or an already existant character.

Another thing, I will never mix sizes with each other.

 

My biggest rule is that by the end of the year, I should only have purchased a total of 2 dolls. Preferably only 1 or none. So far I think I've done pretty well on that! This includes buying, selling, and buying again as well.

In my 3 years since buying my first, I have at home 4 full dolls and 1 floating head. But a total of 9 dolls have come home at some point or another!

 

No SDs. There are tons of beautiful sculpts out there, but there are several reasons I will never allow myself to have one.

1) Size. My tiny apartment aside, I travel to conventions for a living. My dolls have to be able to sit comfortably on said table without taking up a ton of room. I currently have two, one MSD and one YoSD

2) Cost. This hobby is expensive enough, but SDs are essentially clothing a child. I also refuse to spend more than $300 on a doll, which limits the sizes I can work with. Thankfully, most of the sculpts I like fall within this requirement.

NO SAD/POUTY/HUGE EYED DOLLS

I really, really, *really* don't like the sad/pouty/blank and clueless faced dolls. I look at them and they depress me, knowing they will always look anything less than happy.

Must be compatible with each other.

Obviously I only have two, but I want them to be sculpts that work well together.

 

1) No Males.
The other 2 I had didn't work out! So I thought NONE would!

Me: *Stares at Kristen* What're u doing here?
Kristen: * Smirks*

2) No MSDs!
None worked out! Not even my fav sculpt MNF Chloe!

3) Every item my dolls own must be "Presentable".
In my context, Presentable means, High-Resistant Fibre Wig, Glass Eyes, Clothes that are not "home-sewn". Nothing that looks "cheap".

4) Dolls that are not for photography must remain in box / bag.
Have many a times taken my dolls out and gotten lazy to put them back. haha

 

1. No fan characters. All of them must be original.
2. I must like more than half of the sculpt photos on Flickr before I decide to buy.
3. No two dolls can have the same sculpt.
4. All must be MSD-sized.
5. Don't buy because you think it's cute, dangit! Take some time to make sure you can think of a character first.

I've been able to keep all of these so far with my current wishlist, but who knows... #1 and #3 will always be maintained though.

 

-stares at dolly list.-
Ahm...
It looks like I want[ed] my dolls to all have names that started with the letter 'E.' =w= So far, it works. xD I like names that start with E; I don't see them often. Although, I think, eventually, this rule'll get broken.

At some point, I told myself I wouldn't plan on getting anything bigger than MSD sized... >>;
Aaand then I bought a DZ Yuu head off the Marketplace and bought a Proud Body off of Spiritdoll. According to my calculations, this dude's gonna be a little under half MY HEIGHT!
... but, at the moment, just got a Tiny and a Yo. =w=

The original idea was for all my dolls to live in one Fire Emblem-style world...
... ... The two I have right now? Not sure if they'll fit into that idea.

 

I don't think my doll rules are weird but I do end up breaking some of them.

No dolls on Layaway (but I'm sometimes tempted to look up information about layaways)
They all have to have names-I don't see in the point in keeping them nameless.(Some of my favorites I just can't find a name for so I guess when I get them they'll stay nameless for a long time)
Dolls that are old characters of mine come first (not gonna happen!)
I have to be nuts about them and find their faces appealing in every angle otherwise I won't buy them. (So far that's the only rules I haven't broken yet)


Well another rule might be that it's odd to have a msd bjd with a sd boyfriend/girlfriend because it seems weird because of the size.

And somehow my dolls have made their own rules
All boys must have colorful hair and bangs

 

lol tl;dr time. sorry guys
I don't really have any strict rules for myself, just basic guidelines for my hobby. :3c
I'll be glad I made this list, so I can keep looking back at it to keep myself in check

-No layaways, no buying dolls I can't pay for upfront.
I don't think I'd ever spend more than 500 dollars on a doll (not including extra clothes etc, just the doll). That's kind of my price cap as of now. Mostly why I'm sticking to MSDs for the time being. I do want to own at least ONE SD at some point in the far future though.

-No girls.
I really just dont have any interest in girl dolls. > >; I have a trap character if I need something overtly feminine rofl (still need to find a suitable face sculpt for him, lulz)

-No floating parts.
I really dont want to have a bunch of heads waiting for bodies that I may never have the money for. orz
I'd rather just save up and buy the whole doll. I doubt I'll find a great need to have hybrids of different heads and bodies unless they are adopted (which my first doll was, both adopted and a hybrid : P )

-Dolls must look proportionate together.
Different sized dolls (like MSD vs Tiny) or same size, different company have to look like they can sit next to eachother and look natural. All my dolls will be in the same "dollie universe" of characters so to speak, so they gotta be able to pose together~ Different sizes should accurately portray my characters' ages in doll form.
I was so happy to learn that Bluefairy TFs look really natural next to LUTS KDs :3

-No duckfaces. Ugh.
The big pouty lips thing is cute sometimes, but man, some sculpts take it WAY too far.. The lips really make or break a sculpt for me.
I find a large majority of sculpts (especially SDs) have lips that are too "ducky" for me, which I guess at least keeps me from pining for too many dolls, rofl
I prefer sculpts that have more subtle features. Minimalistic, without being "anime-ish."

-No impulse buying.
If I find a doll I really love and squee over, I'll usually wait a while and go back to it a couple months later and see if I still like it before buying it. I switched between like 3 Bluefairy molds before I finally found the one I really connected with on an aesthetic level. Because I really do adore like 80% of BF's dolls, it took me a while to really find the "right" one for me and the character he would embody, especially considering he would be my first MSD.

-Variety is a must!
All my boys are going to have different personalities. I really refuse to have a bunch of dolls with the same expression. Everyone has a particular emotion they find appealing in a doll, but I'm going to keep myself versatile. This will be another rule that keeps me from buying every doll I find adorbs. :'D

-Quality Control.
I usually try to keep a certain amount of coordination and quality in mind when dressing and buying accessories for my dolls. I prefer to buy higher quality clothing, (nothing blatantly home-made or cheap looking), glass eyes, etc. I do prefer fur wigs if well made, groomed and styled. Outfits absolutely must be color and style coordinated, and have character.

-No reselling!
I'll never resell my dolls. I may resell their clothes or accessories, but never the dollies themselves. I decide very thoroughly before buying a doll, with the intention of keeping them forever. I get really emotionally attached to my possessions (but thankfully not in a delusional sense), so my heart would probably break if I even thought of selling one of my boys. D:

I'm still heavily on the fence about face-ups. I don't know if I feel comfortable just yet commissioning another artist to paint my doll's face, and I really don't know if I want to invest in all the materials needed for myself to do it, so as it stands, I'll stick to dolls that I'm fond of with their company faceups. :3c Maybe down the road when I'm a little more experienced with this hobby, custom face-ups might be an option.

 

For me it's no fantasy dolls. Anthros are fine (like Pipos' anthros) but nothing fantasy. No elves, no vampires, no hooves. My little guy, Aki (DiM Sergei) has kind of elfy-looking ears but he's human. I want to fix them to look more human but he's yellowed by now so he'd look strange if I sanded them.

Also, I love moles on my dolls but I don't want any dolls to have them in the same place. Makoto has one below his left eye in the middle, another above his right eye to the right side, and one to the right side of his right eye. Hiroki has one below his lip to the right. Aki has a ton and same with Wataru. XDDD

 

well my big thing was i always wanted to have only MSDs but ive been searching for YEARS for my OC Gaku in MSD form and while i did find ONE MSD that could pass as gaku... that MSD was the IOS isis which was a limited and is no longer for sale and ive had a WTB thread for him on the marketplace for a long while! so finally i recently gave up and decided that if i REALLED wanted Gaku to join my dollie family he was going to have to be an SD weather i liked it or not... and thats how i wound up buying my Immortality of Soul Garsh head that i plan to have become my Gaku!

and Gaku has also broken my second rule... i always swore i would never spend more than $500 on a doll... but just his head has cost me $150... and the body that im so madly in love with i have to have it for him is the dollstown 18yrs boy body and that body is almost $700 by itself... so yeah there goes that rule...

and the one rule ive stuck to... never selling a dollie once theyre home! i have gifted the one dollie head i got that i couldnt bond with but he was just a floating head and im giving him away for free but i always swore even if i had to come up with a new character just for that doll i would never sell a doll once they were home and once i had given them a name and i name them the moment i take them out of the box... even if their name winds up being something other than what i had bought them planning to name them!