When do you consider it a collection?

I think that having one with the intention of collecting more would make you a collector but for it to actually count as a collection I think that 3+ would be a good number. Something about having three makes it seem as though there is a definite interest in the field.

 

For me personally, I don't consider anything a 'collection' unless I at least plan on having multiples. When I bought my first Pullip doll, I was happy to consider myself a Pullip collector because I knew I wanted to buy more (and now I own 8 character dolls and 5 Rozen Maiden dolls that I keep in their boxes). When I bought my first G3 MLP, I was happy to consider myself an MLP collector, because I knew I wanted to buy more (and now I have a couple of hundred MLPs, not including my original G1 collection). I'm a very collection-oriented person, so it's very rare for me to only want one item if it exists as part of a set. BJDs, to me, are another collection - I own around 30 characters now (though most are heads that share bodies), and still plan on buying more.

So, for me, if you only own one BJD but plan or want to own more, I would describe your as a collector. If you only own one, and only plan or want that one, I would describe you as a doll owner instead.

Of course, if you have different definitions and tell me you consider yourself a BJD collector, I'd respect that and not demand you identify with my definitions

 

For me pretty much anytime I buy something it becomes a collection. I tend to be a little bit obsessive over my hobbies so I know that owning only one or two of something is pretty unlikely. Sometimes I like to try and tell myself it'll only be one, like with Dollfie Dreams most recently, but that never happens. I considered my dolls a collection almost from the start just because I knew sooner or later (it was sooner ) I would be adding to the group.

 

I always considered myself a collector until I read the other comments on this thread xD I have like 8 MSD sized and two SD sized as well as 2 floating MSD heads (one of the SDs and head are for sale but I'm counting them for now) so I would say I'm a collector... but thinking about it, I'm not really a collector of SDs since I don't really have the desire to buy them (okay sometimes I do... a couple are on my wishlist) but I'd say I was an MSD collector because they're my favourite size and I plan on getting more...

Now I am questioning my place in the community... xDD!

 

So that is my question, how many dolls constitutes a collection?

Any number is OK, I think, but one or two is definitely a small collection!

Does number not matter, does it have to do more with what you do with it?

Doesn't matter either way. I think it's up to the person to decide what is a collection or not. I never thought I was collecting bjds... but I guess I have to say it's a collection now that I've got a ton of them! I think that what you do with them doesn't matter. People do all kinds of things, whether they call it a collection or not and whether they have one doll or many.

 

I started considering my crew a collection the minute I looked at that second, dreaming head that came with my first doll and realized that it was more suited to being Harumatsu's brother than it was to being his "spare".

I'm no longer actively hunting any particular sculpt, but I still consider myself a collector... I still have a pretty extensive COLLECTION sitting here, after all. It's not like they all vanished the moment I bought the last thing on my "It would be nice to have"-list. I still tinker with them, I still buy outfits and such for them and even if I never add another new doll to the cabinets I'm still very engaged with the ones that I have.

 

I consider it a collection when you start buying a whole cupboard of clothes and shoes for them even if you only have ONE doll.

 

I never really will consider my guys a collection... They are all special and beloved and i see them as some kind of a persons. They're not a collection, they're just my dolls to me.

 

Having one and wanting more definitely counts as being a collector. I think it becomes a "collection" when there are 3.

 

I agree that if you are planning to buy more dolls but you currently only have one, you are a collector, but I wouldn't call your one doll a collection yet, since "collection" implies that there is a number of them. If you are planning on getting more you are still working on your collection even though it doesn't exist yet, so that's why I would consider you a collector despite not actually owning a collection yet.

I used to tell people that I collected dolls when I only owned one doll just because it was the easiest way of explaining it, to be honest. I would explain to them that the dolls are very expensive so collecting them is a slow process. No-one ever argued the point. I now own 3 complete dolls and have 3 more on the way so I would say that I am definitely, without a doubt, a collector!

I actually don't consider my floating head to be part of my collection. It isn't on display and I only mention or show it to people as an afterthought. My collection is made up of the dolls that I am 100% happy with an have on display. Even if I had a full doll and wasn't happy with it I wouldn't count it as part of my collection, because it wouldn't feel like mine.

 

I don't know I consider myself to be a BJD collector. I'm working on five dolls, so I do have a group, but I do more than just buy them and display them. I feel like that's what collectors do in my mind. But, I get them out and play with them, photograph them, and develop their stories. I take them to meets and I take them to different places to get great photos (Oh, who am I kidding- I take them just to take them!). When I tell people about them, I always say "collect" because I feel like it goes over better. Even when I only had my first, I still said "collect". I wish I could come up with a better word. Sometimes, I also say that I just love BJDs.

 

I have a collection! I got 90 total...so yes...collection!

 

Ever since doll number one. It's not just the doll... it's the wigs, eyes, clothes, shoes... paraphernalia... that stacks up pretty fast too.

 

I think having one bjd doesn't exclude you from collector status, I think it's the intent to collect, and I don't think that has to be collecting more bjds. It could be trying to find the right style for your doll by collecting clothes and things for your doll! A collector with one is still a collector to me

 

Yeah, this is how I feel, too.

 

I only have one doll so far (plus a floating head) But I would consider myself a collector. Because I have so many plans for other dolls I want xD. I'm not sure if I would consider what I have a collection, but when you count all the clothes/eyes/props I have already (with more eyes and wigs on the list!) it's quite a lot of stuff. In that sense someone with one doll could have a collection, not of dolls, but of doll related stuff!

 

I've wondered this about me and my dolls too. I only have two dolls, a yosd and a tiny. And for me two dolls does not make a collection yet. I don't know why but that's just how I feel about my dolls. I wouldn't sharpshoot a person who said something like "hey look at my bdj collection" and there were only two dolls. But for me personally I won't consider my dolls a collection until I have three or four. But I can agree that 5+ is definitely a collection. That being said I *do* think of myself as a BJD collector because I am in the process of collecting BJDs. I would have thought of myself that way before I had any dolls as long as I had a real, active plan for getting some.

 

I feel like it becomes a collection once you have three dolls or more and that being a collector is a active thing, actively buying/planning to buy more dolls to add to your collection. I currently own one doll, so I don't consider myself having a collection yet. Though I do plan on buying more dolls so in a way I am a collector, as I will collect more.

 

I also think collecting is more of an idea/concept and less about numbers.
I don't see myself as a collector, I'm more of a "owner", because I'm not really doing what in other hobbies is considered collecting.
If you for example try to own all Soom MDs? That's collecting in my opinion.

Just look at other hobbies, where you usually have a set goal for your collection (like "all of type x", "all from x year to y year" etc.), and you realize that what we do is usually pretty far away from the normal concept of collecting something.
The dolls I buy are usually supposed to be here for a reason that is less about the actual doll and more about the concept I have for them.
I'm not buying to have a certain collection of BJDs, they are just the medium I decided to use for it

 

Personally, I call my BJDs a collection because I have more than one and I am also actively in the process of saving for more. I can also see if someone only had one doll but collected props/accessories/clothes/etc. to call it a collection, or only had one doll with plans for another. I have been a collector at heart all my life, so it's just natural for me to call BJDs one of my collections. By definition, a collection is the action or process of collecting something, or also a group of objects, so even if I was completely done buying BJDs, I would still consider them to be a collection