What is holding you back from having your dream collection?

As with most people, the answer is mostly money and a dash of luck.

We're not impoverished by any stretch of the imagination, but dolls are still a pretty steep purchase in terms of our available "fun money," so I have to plan my purchases carefully and often months in advance. If we had more disposable income, it would be much easier to snag things I like/need as they come up rather than holding out and hoping they'll still be available by the time I get funds together.

I also have a couple of dolls on my wishlist that are more difficult to obtain for one reason or another. Some are old and discontinued, some rarely come up secondhand, some come up more regularly but are astronomically priced, some require purchase through proxies or representatives, so on and so forth. Actually owning those dolls would require me to get lucky at just the right time.

 

Finances. That has and will always be the only thing holding me back from perfecting my doll family. If I had that I could send out the remaining blank dolls I have to get faceups or mods done and I could get bodies and shoes for everyone...and even start tricking everyone out with accessories! Oh the luxury of accessories..

In general though, I'm very happy with my doll horde, and I have most of what I wanted. I even managed to snag every doll that was my grail. I feel very blessed. It's all about the finishing touches now. Since I'm low on money, I'm saving for the last few bodies I need and I'm going to just power through and do all faceups and mods myself. It will be slow but, I can do it. And It's nice to have a project and something to plan for and work towards.

 

Space. I live in a tiny apartment and don't even have room to display the dolls I have.

 

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Hm... I'd say money was the biggest factor. Space being a second one. And... let's go with availability as a third.

 

Money, and the fact that I don't have a lot of space and time to care for each doll.

 

Definitely money - if I had unlimited funds they'd all be finished by now.

I suppose availability of services, too. I'd love to get some professional face-ups done but many of my dolls are very old and have some staining or yellowing which face-ups artists have declined to work on in the past. I'd also like to find a local artist that I could drop the heads off with in person, as most of my dolls are now discontinued and I couldn't replace them if they got lost in the post.

 

To be completely honest, I’m about 5 bodies off my dream collection. All the big hard to find graily type dolls have long since come home: Twigling ingenieuse, a bunch of OG ingenues, two Eloy’s, and every other Twigling sculpt to exist, including Ylissande. All the hard to find stuff is done. Now I just need bodies for a bunch of floating heads, and to gradually sell off all the excess I’ve accumulated.

the big thing stopping me right now is that I just bought a house. And as a homeowner, I just also bought myself 25 years of debt. So almost all my money goes to the mortgage, at the moment. It’s an adjustment for sure, but a positive one, being able to buy a future instead of just buying more dolls.

 

1. Space
I'm working towards solving this issue. I currently keep my dolls in a large cabinet in seated positions. I could fit WAY more if I have everyone standing up. Preferably with stands to reduce the domino potential. Stands for minis and tinies are not an issue, I can get those easy. I'm spending some time researching stands for my larger dolls, as they're mostly older Iplehouse chonkers.

2. Energy
I wish I had more of it to complete my doll projects. My 9-5 wears me out. Not sure how I can remedy that, I really like my job and I likely won't be able to find another I like as much that offers the benefits and security that I currently have. 'Time' used to be a factor, but I think I've broken myself from the thought of "this needs to be done! NOW!!1!! ". Because where tf were those deadlines coming from and why? lol This collection is for me and no one else, so self-imposed completion deadlines and the resulting stress made no sense after thinking about it for awhile. I get enough completion deadlines with my work projects.

Now I just complete what I can, when I can. I'm finally coming to terms with that it's okay to move at a slower pace and I should just enjoy the journey. Because I'll be at a loss at what to do once I complete all the dolls on my wishlist. So why should I rush?

 

I work way too slowly. It partly keeps me from buying new dolls as same as starting new projects. This offers one debatable adventage -- lack of funds really isn't my problem. I have a lot of time to save the money.

Discontinued sculpts. I prefer to buy new dolls right from the company or artist or dealers, but many sculpt I wanted are descontinued now. It's a disadventage of being to slow. I suppose, I will have to change my oppinion on buying second-hand dolls.

Space, or rathe the lack of it.

I wish you the best luck with getting your dream collection!

 

Short and simple. Money.

 

Time/energy. I started working full time last year, so I'll be taking my dollie progress far slower now. I'm currently waiting for some parts in order to complete an upcoming hybrid project. I'll have four dolls that all are in need of varying degrees of attention once those parts arrive. One is 'complete' but needs some modifications, another is nearing completion but it will still take a lot of time to get him to dream status. The remaining dolls are blank and will require the most work. Once the weather improves I would like to get started on the faceups for one of my blank dolls, complete the body blushing for my nearly completed doll, and then spend the rest of the year getting my hybrid girl together. I'd like to try to do as much as I can myself, so I don't expect to complete my dolls any time soon. It'll likely take years when factoring in all the outfits I wish to make I'm looking forward to making that journey, however long it takes

 

Nowadays? Money!

When I had expendable income it was perfectionism, impulsivity and indecisiveness holding me back. The way I used to view my collection wasn't very healthy. Not being able to buy anything made me reevaluate what a lot of my hobbies mean to me.

I actually have my dream head with custom faceup done. It's deciding on a body that keeps them unfinished. Being a funny size means I can go with 40-60 cm depending on the proportions. Leaning toward the larger end because clothes options.

Unfortunately I'm not as familiar with 1/3 resin. Since money is very tight I'm afraid to make experimental purchases right now.

 

I could list a bunch of reasons, but what holds me back the most is what happened in our local community.

We had a huge split in our community around 2016 and most people don't talk to each other anymore. I still have friends from the hobby, most of them are my besties to this day, but I miss sharing with new people because for me BJDs have always been a social hobby. So... yeah, it kinda killed the vibe for me. I'm coming back slowly, but it still makes me sad.

 

Most of my grails are hard to find because I have a thing for retro sculpts and artist dolls
Money is a factor but layaways make it so much easier

 

Obviously finances are an issue, especially with being on disability.

Another issue though is that most of the dolls I've fallen in love with are dolls that are no longer available. As much as I don't mind second-hand dolls, it's sometimes discouraging trying to find the one you want that way.

 

Hmmm, money and space for me.

I am saving towards a first home and prioritising the mortgage over my funbucks.

Also the my own home will allow me to set a specific space for my collection of 4. And then ensure they are intentionally stored.

 

I've got a pretty darn good collection of dolls, but of course, there are always the wanty wants. There are dolls that I still "need." I think it's partly money, but mainly opportunity. And space. Lordy, I have pushed the small amount of space that is available to me to the point that I really do not think I can fit many more. At least, big dolls. The littles can sit in bigger dolls laps until that is no longer an option.

But in order for my collection to be my dream collection, my dolls need to be finished. They need face ups, clothing, wigs and eyes that are truly them. And that is a matter of time and energy. Since I prefer to make and do things for my dolls myself, it's a matter of being patient until I can do the things that I want to do for them.

 

A mixture of money and being unable to find the sculpt I'm looking for (my grail doll is not available anywhere...) Ah, space is also an issue... I don't have a lot of room. I've been thinking I should try and pair down on things on my bookshelf to free up more space but I'm both sentimental and a bit of a crow when it comes to keeping things LOL I'm very bad at getting rid of stuff and love to keep all sorts of random junk!