What rules do you follow to curate your BJD collection?

Gosh, same here on the MSD size- I'm just getting back into the hobby after totally burning out with my Iplehouse EID years and years ago. He's too big and clothing is such a chore lol. (Not to mention the huge price bump if I ever wanted him to have some same-sized companions) The MSD size dolls are just so wonderful to pose and handle. I will never buy a big doll again. I'm actually looking forward to curating my doll collection in the future so that they can all wear the same size clothing. When I was younger, I definitely thought that the bigger the better when it came to dolls. (Which is definitely a worse outlook to have when you are a teenager with a much smaller amount of disposable income!)

A personal rule for me going forward is that I don't want to have any dolls with over the top faceups any longer. I used to have some pretty wild ones with facepaint and crazy tattoos, and I just felt like I could never match them properly with clothing. Plus I feel like the sculpts really get swallowed by intense makeup. I always gravitate toward ones other people own with simple makeup- to me it makes them feel more alive and makes them more versatile. I tend to be too heavy handed in adding details and I'm making it law around here that less is more!

 

I don’t have a size limitation, though I’ve been gravitating more towards SD sized dolls lately. I really enjoy my MSDs though, and definitely want at least one more yosd, but 3 is probably my max for them. So i basically just go for whatever size i think will fit the character i’m shelling best

but! to keep myself from just going hog wild and having dolls that i have no inspiration for, i do only let myself get a particular sculpt/full doll if i have a character or plan beforehand for them. sometimes, i’ll have some strays (usually event heads) that didn’t have a character in mind and developed organically once the head was in hand, but they’re usually floaters who fit on more than one body so they can thankfully borrow if need be. I also try not to get full sets - so far about three have caught my eye, but overwhelmingly i try not to get full sets for price and space. Usually i don’t want the extras since the character the doll will be won’t fit with them.

i’m pretty loose with my rules though. thankfully i don’t tend to just order anything that catches my eye (even if there’s SO many pretties out there LOL), i also remind myself “do you have the upcoming time to do faceups, wigs, and sew for them?”

if the answer is no to usually all three, i move on!

 

I don't have any hard rules, just kind of parameters that can have an exception or two. For instance, I have plans for a collection of vampire dolls and generally, I'm only interested in vamps with visible fangs in the sculpt since modding possibilities could lead to borderline hoarding. But one of the sculpts on my list for the "coven" (a Studio Naiko Duke M) doesn't seem to have fangs, but he looks too much like a Dracula otherwise for me to pass up (plus, he has another facial feature I like, one partially closed eye, so that's a bonus in his favor).

I also know now through experience that I prefer large dolls to most small ones. I started the hobby with slim MSDs and there's only one of them I'm going to be keeping and it's mainly because he's an oddball in the face and I like that (a Dollzone Benjamin, that nose is die for!). In general, I'm realizing it's the "weirdo" sculpts (I use the term lovingly, promise!) that not only draw, but more importantly KEEP my ADHD attention.

I also don't want to have a doll that's by themself. They need to have at least one friend in the same part of my collection, or it feels like they're lonely. So, the DZ boy is going to have another oddball MSD, a Dream Valley Bethel, as his lone companion. It just feels more complete that way.

I tried to set hard rules for myself, like only MSD and smaller or only dolls under a certain price point, but I found it just stressed me out more and I was missing out on plans/ideas for dolls that I kept thinking about or even obsessed over. I almost gave up on the hobby entirely cause I felt burnt out by the rules I set. So now I'm more open in general with options for my collection(s) but have loose guidelines to abide by so I don't go overboard. I have a peace with my plans/ideas now that I didn't before, and it's nice

 

My first rule is SD sized only. I like having a group of dolls that maybe could exist in the same world together. But since they're big, that leads into rule number two: only getting another doll if there's reasonable space to do so. With the number I have now I'm totally fine, it's more a rule for the future. I kind of like to decorate around my dolls and I want to make sure I could still do that in the way I want.

I'm also the type of person that likes to really think about whether to get a certain doll. So I don't allow myself impulse purchases unless it's a secondhand doll that I wanted already. I think it really minimizes me potentially not liking something I spent a ton of money on.

I think those are the only strong rules I have. Everything else is fair game or case-by-case.

 

no slim msds, no matter how tempting fairly land is I cannot stand dolls of the same scale having differently proportioned heads.
That's my only rule for myself, as long as they look decently proportional to each other its all good.

 

I only have one rule: they must be able to join a preexisting group. I've made too many of those already, so also no more new groups!! I've got Old West Vampires, Fantasy Big (subgroup: The Wizards), Fantasy Small, and Fashion Crew. And the Vampire group is closed for new applications.

There are 2.5 dolls that don't fit in those groups, but I refuse to make new sections. They're the free floating babies (one was my very first doll, so she stays forever, and the 1.5 is a grail+a tiny that mesh well together).

 

The one rule I set now is. to limit my collection, Im into Pasha Pasha now so I try to keep it below 12. and then for SD n up my limit is set at 2. I dont collect MSD. dolls at all. regardless of how cute they are.

 

No rules here. Just chaos.

Well, okay, there is one rule. I need to have a pre-existing character that I've actually written about before a doll comes home to shell it. That keeps me in check - a little.

 

Hmmm.. Other than having had a vague isdea (long since blown out of the water) that I needed to stop at 30, I don' really curate it at all - I have all sizes from little ReafPuki up to a Dollmore Lusion, I don't tend to shell preexisting characters but instead get dolls I like the look of and get to know their character as I get to know them.

On the rare occasion I don't bond with them I move them on (mostly around 8 inches tall is a size that I don't bond with - I dress them, display them, forget about them for months until I redress them, and set them back on the shelf to be forgotten again... enough have moved on that I don't tend to buy that size any longer). Other than that there were a couple of MSD's that didn't stay and that's it.

I am now at the stage where I've run out of display space for them (I'm a lifelong doll collector, so the house was already fairly full of other types of dolls beofre BJD's came ontot eh market and it hasn't got any less ful over the seventeen years of BJDs being added to the stream of incoming dolls) so that has now become a bit of a consideration, especailly if it's a bigger doll I'm considering.

Teddy

 

I think I have two main rules.
1) Is the doll part of my Ultimate Doll Plan?
2) If above is no then these questions have to be answered: 1.Is it on my grail list or favorite list? 2.Do I love it?

I don’t want to get a doll to then sell it. I want each doll to mean the world to me and have a place in my life. These rules help me to not window shop and help prioritize the buying/crafting process.

 

My only real "rules" for my collection are based on my limits: storage & display space, time & mental energy, and budget.

I've already gone past the number of dolls I thought would be the maximum when I first started collecting. : D Once I found out I could add another row to my current display shelf... Yeah. I had different ideas about how my collection would be when I started out, but self-imposed "rules" aren't real to my brain unless they are based on something with concrete limits.

 

What rules?
I mostly kid, I do have a few loose rules for my resin army.

Rule one: no mermaids from Soom, and/or anything else that looks like the sales photos have been Photoshopped to hide flaws or quirks with joints/posing. I do not mind a "quirky" doll or one with a few small flaws. However I want to know just what I am getting, as learned that the hard way.

Rule Two: (Which came from the doll that was the base of rule one.) If for whatever reason I can't bond with and/or I fall out of love with a doll it is to be resold or traded. No hanging on to one and say I hate X Y and Z, but it's so pretty or cool otherwise. If there is any anger frustration or a thing I hate to the point it impacts my liking the whole doll it goes.

Lastly for me there will be no more body blushing from company. (Double so DollZone) I've had too many dolls where it has chipped in shipping and one case where a tan doll was just plan Cheeto orange from the blushing. (Due to rule two I traded the tan boy to a friend with no regrets and we both got dolls we are happy with. She did removed the blushing though.) I have some lovely dolls with fantastic body blushing. However most I've gotten with the default company blushing option, it has either fully chipped off or been a color train wreck and I'm not spending the money for it again.

I am sure I have a couple other looser rules, but they do not spring to mind so.

 

Right now, it's no SDs... which is hard because they come in lots of different beautiful sculpts!...but I'm low on space and short on budget right now. That rabbit hole might get opened once I have a proper doll storage solution LOL.

 

I don't have a rule about style (I like diversity and lots of different looking dolls), but 'only MSD or smaller' is my hard rule. I have only one Slim MSD, and I will not get another one since at this point all my MSDs are within the standard proportions and can share clothes which is very valuable, to me.

I'm reaching the limit of space atm, which has made me a lot pickier overall, as well. I don't want my dolls to look cramped or piled up on shelves.

 

Ahahaha, what is this "curating" you speak of?

tbf I don't have a huge collection. I have avoided getting floating heads, I want a whole doll or nothing. I suppose this has limited me as far as niche artists go, but I haven't seen any sculpts that I utterly adored where it was a head only. Reading threads about people trying to hybrid various heads where the artist doesn't do bodies has scared me off even more.

I've only gotten one nude doll and I focused on him until he had a faceup, clothes, and a wig before I even thought about looking at any other dolls.

 

I keep several rules:

-Stick to 13 or fewer dolls. But sometimes, it does go up to 16. But I know any more than than that, and I'll start feeling overwhelmed and need to let a few go.

-Only SD range, so 52-65cm. I have owned everything from 10 to 73cm, and realized the SD range is best for me, so anything else is probably going to be a waste of money for me.

-Dolls must be completed within a week of arrival. Faceups, wig, eyes, clothes. The only exception is if I ordered something that arrives later than the doll, but then they must have a temporary option until then. Any doll that sits around blank, naked, bald, in pieces....they won't last. It just means I don't have enough interest to complete them.

-Dolls must have a character before buying them. All of my dolls are roleplay characters. I've tried building a character around an impulse doll, and it very rarely ever works. Usually I just end up with a very boring generic character or one that's being pulled in too many directions, since they're not somebody grew to love and "know" before bringing them home. It doesn't even matter if the doll is one I've loved for years. If it doesn't have a strong character, it won't last more than a few months max.

-All doll characters have to be connected. It's very rare that dolls not in the same story as the main crew stick around.

-If I start seeing dollar signs instead of dolls/characters, it's time to sell. Once I start thinking about selling one, it's time.

-A "revolving door" type of collection is perfectly fine. I get bored easily. I lose interest in things and get excited about new stuff easily. Some people keep every doll they ever buy, and that's great for them, but doesn't work for me. In my case, it's better to sell the ones I lose interest in and replace them with something exciting and new.

 

I like dolls to fit in with the aesthetic of my room, they need to be fully fleshed out and put together as soon as I get them. I love playing with dolls of course but I want them as décor that I can interact with in different ways. And if I want a doll I save up to the point where if i wanted to buy two i could, that's how I know I'm committed. Other than that I follow no hard and set rules.

 

The majority of dolls I have now, I bought as impulse purchases (this is how you go from zero to four in only four months!), and I felt a lot of buyer's remorse from buying them so quickly. I love all my dolls now and don't regret them, but the initial feeling of guilt dampened my happiness for a while...

So! My personal rule is first and foremost to sleep on it! Right now, I wait until the company I want to buy from is having a sale before buying anything. Just keep the tabs open on my phone for what I want to buy, then...don't do anything! While waiting for a sale to come along, I can sit and consider if I reeeeally want that doll or not.

For me, that's really it. Sitting on it and waiting lets me decide if I really love the doll or not, and it lets me think, "What will I do with them after I have them?" The idea of having my dolls just sit on the shelves, never changing their hair or outfits or posing them, makes me sad, and sometimes I love how a doll looks, but sitting there in their fullset look looking cute isn't what I want. (So that can be considered another personal rule of mine!)

I don't mind collecting dolls of different sizes or with different looks, but I realized after my second 1/4 arrived...the proportions of the two dolls' faces were totally different!! So I also made it a rule that, if a new doll is supposed to "go with" another doll I have, I need to carefully examine the two head sculpts to make sure they look normal together.

 

No rules allowed here!! Lol I guess my only "rule" is that I have to be able to sleep on it before I buy. It helps me realize which dolls I actually want vs what's new and pretty