When does a large collection become hoarding?

this is tangential to the subject but i just wanted to respond to this statement...

i agree that there's a wave of over-psycho-analyzing, but i think there is a grain of truth within it. however, that grain of truth does not necessarily apply to BJDs. it can apply to any form of material collecting/hoarding/hobbyism (is that even a real word?)

most people i have met who collect dolls seem to have varying degrees of psychological issues. but guess what? almost everybody on this planet does, and there is a difference between being a normal human being dealing with your own issues and being what people insultingly call 'crazy' or 'unbalanced'. some BJD collectors are 'unbalanced', but guess what? the amount of 'unbalanced' people in the world who don't even know what a BJD is, let alone collect them, is much greater.

in short, mental issues exist and manifest independent of how they are expressed.

however, some people may express them through a hobby. such as collecting dolls. i'd also like to note that 'expressing' your mental problems isn't necessarily a bad thing. would you prefer to be around a person who has to deal with [X, X being whatever their issue is] and does so by collecting dolls (or comics. or yarn), or would you rather they expressed those issues through violence and harming others (i point to the increasingly alarming incidents of seemingly unprovoked/random shootings over the past decades, for example).

there has always been a stigma against people who collect things. just think about all the stereotypes regarding people (primarily adult men) who collect comic books or Legos. i know there are plenty of men who like dolls and BJDs too - i'm pretty sure the world's largest Barbie collection is owned by a man. BJD collectors (who i consider to be primarily female, even if we do acknowledge the male collectors) are not the only martyrs here.

excessive collecting can be a sign of mental instability. but it is usually a completely benign one (and i'll grant there are some extreme exceptions- i've seen "Hoarders"), and if it helps the person, then it could even be considered a positive outlet for something that might otherwise have negative repercussions. for the record, i grew up in a household where both my parents had psychological issues, and both of them are 'collectors' - one parent in particular i would go so far as to say is bordering on being a hoarder - they just don't collect dolls.

not everyone who collects dolls is like this, and having 'mental issues' does not mean you cannot be a perfectly coherent, functioning member of society depending on the severity or lack thereof. however, to say there is no correlation at all is simply untrue.

 

That is a great quote and really makes me think that perhaps I have stepped into the hoarding camp with my Blythes. The other side is that a lot of my dolls are hidden away because my husband hates them so vehemently that I daren't have them all on display.
I can remember all the ones I have in boxes, and I only get to play with them when he is out of the house (about once a week) as he makes me feel so dirty about having more than one.

So with all that going on, I am undecided as to whether I am a hoarder, or just ashamed into hiding what I have.

 

I very recently saw an owner picture of all 71 of their dolls in one photo. They said they had more dolls on the way, too. It scared me. It really made me think of how many dolls I ultimately want to have, and how many I can actually manage\afford\pay proper attention to. It so scared me that my list of dolls, (including my wishlist AND dolls and floating heads I already own), a mere 24 in total, seemed like too much. I have since narrowed it down to 16, and I think that's a much more manageable number.

 

Hoarding dolls would be when you can't live your life reasonably. If it hinders your life in any way, or they are ALL you spend your money on.

But I would like to say that if ANYONE wants to remove some dolls from their large doll collection, I will gladly adopt one as my first doll.

 

I had a bunch of MSD and a couple of tinies along with 11 SD dolls at one point. Now I kind of know exactly what I want and how many dolls I can handle, and limited my collection accordingly. I think a large collection becomes hoarding when a collector is collecting only for collection's sake, when not every doll gets the love and attention they deserve. I really am attached to all of my present dolls and I love them to bits!!!!

 

understand the feeling behind having a lot of BJD as what's not to love! I live in a 35ft 5th wheel RV so I have to be very careful in my buying of any doll. I love the dolls I have and would probably have a lot more if there was space. As other have said here when it's to the point that one does not even know what one has I think that's when one might have a proplem.

 

I believe it's hoarding when the dolls have literally taken over your life. If one has so many dolls that they can't even function and live their life like a average person would,then I think there may be a problem. Yes some people express their mental disorders this way,but at the same time, a lot of people who are 100% normal have this issue too. Some people's obsession and downfall of dollies can occur just because they have only a few. If you have a lot of dolls,but they aren't taking over your entire house,they're not just a number to you and you actually love them, then I think having a lot of them doesn't matter and can't exactly define you as a hoarder.

Then again, what does one define as "a lot or too many"? For some folks, 10 is waaaay too much and for some it's simply not enough. I think the hoarding label can't easily be slapped onto people. There are a lot of factors that go into being one and I think being a hoarder in general is something that's unique to the individual in question.

 

Sometimes I definitely feel like I buy dolls on impulse, but never a BJD (always cheapy ones).

I would say sometimes I feel like a hoarder after an ill thought out purchase, but my instinct to keep things in order is always stronger than the one to amass. If I start to feel overwhelmed by anything in my house, including dolls, I sell/donate/give to my niece/nephews. If I don't have space, its gone.

Also for me it would be impossible to hoard BJD's - they are far too $$$.

 

I think any collection becomes hoarding when:

1. That person forgets they even had the doll they bought (forgetting they bought it).
2. They constantly spend money for new dolls when they don't really have the funds or the space for them.
3. Even if the doll is collecting dust and spider webs on it, they still keep it around just for the sake of having something there instead of selling it to someone who would enjoy having them.

But as long as you have the motivation to keep buying more dolls, I don't see why they can't. I just think it's silly to buy something for the sake of having it and then hoarding more of the same thing.

 

To me it's hoarding when you don't even know what dolls you have floating around, have a lot of dolls you never even look at or know where they are and buy dolls just to have them and put them on the shelf to collect dust as soon as they arrive and don't care about them at all.

 

Egads...everytime I look at that tv program (Hoaders) I have to clean something! It creeps me out that people save empty cans and bottles and form attachments to them. But does that really make it a form of mental illness like so many claim?
That being said, I have a bunch of bjds, an entire 15 foot long storage building neatly filled with my former porcelain doll making supplies (wigs, eyes, molds, my kiln, etc), and 16 special needs rescued cats and 2 dogs to boot. So am I am hoarder or just having fun? Since I am a senior citizen with a comfortable income, no dependents other than the cats and dogs and a very compulsive neat freak I really don't care whether I am called a hoader or "quirky". I love having my stuff.

 

Adding in my two cents from something a friend in psychology told me...

Most mental disorders are on a spectrum. Everyone's somewhere on the spectrum, and the line at which it turns into a "disorder" is really difficult to figure out for anyone. So there are a few questions-

Is the collection causing me to be uncomfortable or upset?
Do I spend time worrying about the collection?
Can I not remember what is in the collection, or do I find myself buying doubles of things I have?
Does the thought of getting rid of some of the collection upset me excessively- not just I'd miss that doll feelings, but actual panic?
Is the collection causing me financial or legal trouble?
Is the collection damaging my home or causing pest problems?
Is the collection causing me problems with family or friends?
Is the thought of someone seeing the collection (in part or entirety) embarrassing or upsetting?
Have others expressed great concern over the collection and the role it plays in my life?

I think you would have to be able to say yes to at least a few of these questions for things to be hoarding. It isn't just having a large collection, as some people can manage that just fine. I prefer just a few myself, as it keeps me more comfortable.

@lostkitten.... Hoarders is the worst show... my roommate plays it on tv whenever she wants me to clean the bathroom

 

I get called a hoarder a lot, because I don't like to get rid of things. I don't hoard BJD dolls though. I may hoard other dolls. I do have a pile of barbies and monster high and disney dolls on my desk, without real purpose, but they're not EVERYWHERE. I do hoard Alice in Wonderland things, though. I like to think of my room as an Alice in Wonderland museum. It started as a collection. But got too big. I have bookcases full of trinkets and dolls and snow globes and figures. I lost count of my copies of Alice and related texts after 50 something (I would guess it's only in the 70's though). I have another room with a bookshelf and the top is covered in layers of my collectable dolls, with some in the actual cubbies, and making a line around the room. It does scare me sometimes. Especially when I find something and have forgotten I had it. Or buying a copy at a bookstore and getting home to find 2 copies of it on the bookshelf O_O. Or the random stacks of Alice things that have started in my room. I do have a hoarding personality. I hate throwing things. But I think my Alice is right on that edge between hoard and collection, and my BJDs are definitely only a collection. Although I do get nervous about that whenever I find several at one that I like :/

 

That was me. Why do so many scare you? not enough time to play with them all? I can play with them, and I do. They get attention.

 

I currently have 24 and they range from my puki as smallest to the 90 cm.
I do have folks who express concern over my doll collection however it's mostly my business partner and she's often just teasing me, I use them to sew off of and they get played with as well.
I think there is a line between collecting and hoarding and so long as the person is responsible with bills and family, house is clean (not orderly as there is a difference between dirty and cluttered and a lot of crafters I know often get cluttered houses lol), and they are not just stacking the dolls up like wood then I think your fine.
I know a friend who has 90 and a room devoted to them in her house another lady in Vegas has over 90 and that was years ago that I met her neither would I call a hoarder.

 

At this point I do not know what I am. All I know is that I like what I like, and when I like something I buy it. I don't care at all about the price, or what other people may or may not think of it. I am very blessed in that I can afford these dolls, and that I have a niece who live with me she really don't mind all my toys. Although if she had her way she would give quite a few of them away. But not the BJD she wants them when I am gone. I also have to say that they all do not get played with. I really don't have the time. Between work my four dogs, and my niece that does not leave me with very much time to do anything, but sleep. I also have other thing out side of my toys that I love to do. My dolls are all over my house I really like the idea of seeing them when I walk into a room. At times I do feel like a hoarder when it come to shoes, wig, and cloths for my dolls. I do believe that I have well over 100 wig, and shoes for my dolls. Only when I am setting down like now do I some times feel that it may be to much. But once again I am who I am, and I am not trying to change that.

 

Someone told me once that I was a doll horde because I have a bookshelf that holds my dolls as well as my wives. It looks like a LOT of dolls are on that shelf because both of our doll collections sit on it.

I was shocked and really insulted, actually! I have 8 dolls but my turn-over is really quick, I re-sell most of my dolls at the end of the year. So far I've only kept 4 dolls out of my 8, and then I replace those dolls with different dolls.

As an AVID photographer, it didn't seem unnatural to want different dolls and to sell older dolls to get newer dolls. Seemed like supply and demand, you know? And usually I always get my money out of it, I can't afford not to

It really hurt my feelings and to this day, I worry about someone thinking I'm a "doll hoarder".

In response, I always tell the story of a friend of mine, who lived across the street when I lived at my father's house.

This lady was 65 years old, and her mother collected very VERY old antique porcelain dolls. The lady was a widow, and she inherited her mother's dolls. When her husband passed away, she decided to buy an estate sell of dolls.

She *unabashedly* let me know when I got into BJDs, that I would never be as passionate as she was, fore she had spent upwards of $50,000 on her collection, "including upkeep!"

She recently got re-married. Her husband is VERY pediophobic, to the point where not only dolls, but children, also scare him. She never told him about her dolls, even though she has more than 400 of them.

They've moved now, she's left her house behind and she lives some 45 minutes away in a new house with her new husband. My dad goes over there to dust the spider webs and to water her garden. He tells me that he can't get to parts of her house very well because every wall is covered in display cases and some of the dolls are over 200 years old, and he can't dust them because he's scared they'll break.

He says her house is impassable and you really can't walk around.

She's still paying off the mortgage for that house, too..it's reeeeallly sad... And she doesn't live there, I guess she hasn't lived there for 2 years, because she got re-married? If she sold her dolls, she'd cover her mortgage costs. I guess she spent her nest egg on those dolls, though....

So when this dude told me that I was a doll hoarder I got really sad...especially since I earn the money I spend on my dolls back....:-(

 

If my collection goes as planned, I will have at least 11-12 dolls. That's not counting any newly released dolls that I fall for, so I guess I have the makings of a doll hoarder... what ever shall I do.

People seem too eager to play doctor with the development of medical websites... pretty much turning every man, woman, and child on the internet into a qualified doctor or psychologist. It also turns people into stress freaks, making them fear that something is seriously wrong with them.

It's really sad that someone can have a passion, and then have people say there is something wrong with them because that passion isn't "normal." I can have a lot of dolls and I'm a hoarder, while Judgmental Friend A can have 200 pairs of shoes, Judgmental Friend B can collect expensive purses, and they are perfectly normal...

 

@ Ethra_VII
that's kind of the issue I had with the friend who saw my wife's and my dolls and said I was a horder. He LOVES webMD. He's ALWAYS on it and he diagnosed himself with really crippling skin issues but there's no way he could possibly have that at all...he's never traveled out of the USA to GET these issues.

I felt the same way, when he said I was a hoarder. I told him the same story I told DoA (see previous post,) about a very dear friend of my family's who has over 400 antique dolls and she left her house because she can't live in it anymore because she's married now.

And this dude said I was just like that woman T__T and he said he knew about hoarding because he saw it on TV and said, "I think Jack has that!" and then he went on webMD to look up and see if I did or not. :< It's mean. (I'm Jack, btw.)

 

Web MD is a menace to the modern world, and so are these stupid TV shows making money off of legit psychological problems. If he can "know" hoarding by watching an episode of a TV show, then by that logic I should be able to get into forensics and law based on what I watch...

I wish people would not try to diagnose themselves, much less their friends... especially going so far as to try and evaluate them psychologically. That is invasive and quite rude.