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When do you consider it a collection?

Dec 11, 2011

    1. Mods, I checked around the forums for this topic but it hasn't seemed to come up. If I am mistaken, feel free to delete!

      In the car the other night I started thinking about how I planned on telling on of my friends that I collect BJDs now. Then the idea struck me that I only have one, can I say that I collect them? I plan on getting more but exactly how much makes a collection?

      So that is my question, how many dolls constitutes a collection? Does number not matter, does it have to do more with what you do with it? For anyone that only has one doll and only plans on having one doll, do you consider yourself to be a BJD collector?


       
    2. A collector for me is someone who does what the name implies: collect. I think of stamps or the like. You get a new one, you put it into a book to sometimes look at them and marvel at their beauty or something and then you don't look at them for some time, because the next rare stamp is on sale on Ebay. That's a collector for me.
      It's a hobby where I don't think the thing collected matters but more the wish, that the collection gets bigger and bigger until it is either complete or the wish to collect is safisfied. Then it only matters what the person collects. Be it LE dolls, dolls from only one company, certain sizes, etc.
      So for me it depends on size and on the wish to get more and the person does it for collecting mostly and not so much for anything else.
       
    3. I think it's still a collection, albeit more of a "collection-in-progress" if you want to get specific. I think as long as you have at least one BJD, it can be considered a collection, especially if you are planning on growing that collection. I suppose it also depends on how immersed you are in the hobby. If you just bought one doll just to see what it was like, I wouldn't consider that a collection or the purchaser a collector, merely someone testing the waters, so to speak.
       
    4. I think the act of actively collecting defines a collector. Even if you happens to have 100 dolls but are no longer actively seeking to add new dolls, I would call you a former collector. Therefore, for me a person who has no intention of owning more than one doll, and actually succeed in that intent, would not be a collector.
       
    5. a collection, as far as i'm concerned, is any group of object that are more than a pair; in other words three or more dolls constitute a collection. a small collection, but a collection none the less.

      and if said collector stops at three, he/she is still a collector. just one that has found what they seeked.
      they are a former collector when they cease looking for new items, no longer engage at all with what they have and dispose of what they own.
      there is more to being a collector than looking to add to the collection, and no the buying new items does not take that away.
       
    6. In my mind, I think I agree with Laoky and Zeodyte: Collecting is more defined by the attitude that surrounds it than the number of dolls. Or stamps, or Beanie Babies, or little virtual dragons on a webpage. It's defined by that desire for acquisition, regardless of what you already have, so a large number is more a symptom than the disease. While someone with a large number is probably more likely to be a collector (being that they exhibit the most glaring "symptom" of collecting), it is possible that they have a certain limit that will cause them to stop wanting to acquire and phase into the former collector category. By extension, someone with only one doll could be a collector that just currently doesn't have the resources to show it.

      As for whether I'm a collector or not, I think that for dolls I'm either borderline or not, since I only want a few and want to have a strong bond with each. But for doll STUFF. . . heheheh, dolly props are one of my weaknesses. Having little money or space has kept that in check, but I can totally see me being a die-hard 1/3 scale prop collector.
       
    7. If I have three of something, I consider it a collection. Acquiring three resin dolls happened so fast for me that I had a collection before I even considered where it might lead. My first doll was already in a collection of dolls as I have collected dolls of various sorts all my life. I think some people are born collectors and I also believe it has to do with the intense desire for acquisition. I have many collections, big and small, of various objects. It's both fun and a curse. *sigh*
       
    8. Answer is simple. More than one is a couple. More than a couple changes to few. More than ten is a collection. More than a collection is the start of being a collector.
       
    9. 5 or more, to me. 4 is having two couples. I can't imagine having more than 4, so I know if I ever get to 5 I'll consider myself a collector.
       
    10. I consider it a collection if I have 2 or more dolls..currently I have 5 dolls, 2 MSDs, 2 SDs and 1 YoSD..so I already consider it a collection..If you already have 1 doll, and you want to add more, I think you could call yourself a BJD collector..
       
    11. I see myself as a BJD owner/collector... sort of all rolled into one? Just because my collection is small doesn't mean it isn't a collection. It just means I am that much pickier about what I choose and what I add to my group. Saying that you have to have a certain number of dolls to call yourself a collector is rather silly. So people who have those nasty houses like you see in Clean My House and have hundreds of old newspapers from 20 years ago are newspaper collectors? Nope, they are just pack-rats. I dunno... there is so much grey area when trying to define it. What about people who keep their dolls boxed up in closets? Do your intentions of how you want to use the doll/s define if you are a owner or collector? It isn't easy to define.
       
    12. At least three.

      <3 ali
       
    13. I would consider more than two dolls a collection. But a person who is actively looking and shopping for more dolls, even thought they may not yet have purchased a new one, is preforming the act of collecting prior to acquiring.

      But here's a twist: does a person have to have a certain number of complete dolls to be a collector? I consider my floating heads and extra hands part of my collection, too. BJDs are, by their very nature, changable, so wigs, eyes, shoes, and other accessories are also a part of my doll collection because without those things they aren't dolls, they're posable figurines. So if a person has only one complete doll, a couple of floating heads, five pairs of shoes, seven wigs, and four pairs of eyes that sounds like a collection to me. :)
       
    14. As others have already said, I think you're a collector if you are continually searching for new dolls and sometimes conducting doll transactions. If you only have two dolls due to finances, but are planning for three more dolls if you had the money, I think that makes you a collector because the collecting mindset is there.
       
    15. A collection depends on the individual. It can be complete or a work in progress.
       
    16. I think of it more in terms of active participation in the hobby than numbers.

      For example, if someone had only a doll or two and was satisfied with that, but was working on building a "world" for them with clothing, props, furniture, or etc., I would definitely consider that a collection too. I think a collection can be doll-centred without necessarily having a lot of different dolls. A collection, for me, can be focused on enjoying a small number of dolls rather than focusing exclusively on new doll acquisition.

      Basically, if someone considers themselves a collector, I probably agree with them, because it's a description of a mindset and an interest for me rather than a numbers quota.
       
    17. It depends on the person, but for me, anything over 3 and still wanting to expand would be considered a collection. If you stopped expanding, you could be considered a "former" collector.
       
    18. So that is my question, how many dolls constitutes a collection? Does number not matter, does it have to do more with what you do with it? For anyone that only has one doll and only plans on having one doll, do you consider yourself to be a BJD collector?

      For my own situation, I like to consider at least 5 dolls a 'collection'. Right now, I call myself an owner since I only have two. Sometimes, I wonder if I'll find it difficult - if I ever get 5+ dolls - to classify them as a collection being that these dolls are very customizable, and everything else I've collected was not. Sometimes I wonder if I'll only be able to call to call them a collection if I never changed a single thing about them.
       
    19. Ummm that is a good question. I think the simple act of having one with the implication of getting more means u are collecting and have a collection. I mean u could collect doll clothing too and have one doll but that would still be collecting. I don't think the number matters I think it depends on what u yourself consider a collection. I mean I have a collective personality I tend to collect lots of things, books, cherished teddies, BJD's, rocks, teddy bears, American girl dolls (well i used to when i was child). So I think the term collection depends entirely on if u have at least one and plan on getting more or more accessories to go with said item.
       
    20. 5+. That seems a good, decent number. Anything above five seems to whisper that it will soon creep up into the double digits, and by that time you know that you have fallen prey to the potato chip syndrome that BJDs tend to have.