Doll Collecting Habits: Large Family or Constantly Swapping?

Much like other owners I started with the mentality of just having one since you can swap out their eyes, wig, clothes, etc... but as others have stated- they just take on a personality. Once my first girl had the look I wanted I couldn't bare the thought of switching her up. So instead I just bought more dolls to fill the clothes and use the accessories I had purchased for my "one" doll!

 

After a year of just having one I now own four. At this point I don't think I can ever swap out anyone/anything I have purchased so mark me down for the "large family".

I started back with BJD in 2007, and knew from the start that I was not a fan of "only one." This was quickly made a fact when I managed another within 6 months, and then after I became employed was bringing them in like crazy, but this came with a side effect it seemed: They were leaving at the same rate.

 

I am not paid too much (Enough to survive and fund my hobby to a point), but in the end found I had to generally shuffle the funds in order to afford anything. I like this because I'm also not all that social (no shame in being introverted!), so I found this way I can see a lot of molds and not require the general contact necessary.

 

I think the record amount of dolls I've had at once was 10, and that was for a very short period of time. I have since then generally stayed around the number 4~5 at max.

 

But, there is something different within my family right now which I find quite curious. I have 3 dolls I have tried to sell and found myself backing down from doing so because I simply didn't like the idea of parting with them. Maybe things are changing, but seeing as I just sold 2 doll within a month of them being at home...that is questionable.

Couldn't imagine selling any of our kids. Neither of us are ones for just "collecting" dolls, or grabbing one simply because it's popular. We only pick up dolls that really seem to call out to us, however, there seem to be a lot more voices out there than I had first expected. When we first got into the hobby, I was thinking we'd have 2-3 maybe 4 on the outside.... Well, now we have 4 completed, at least 3 more in progress, and two more on pre-order, and SK still has ideas for others. But every one is far too special to simply part with, even those that are currently no ore than a blank floating head with a wig and eyes. I do think that many of the girls themselves enjoy large families, but I'm sure there are exceptions. I simply can't wrap my head around the concept of constantly swapping girls.

A family after my own heart.

I'm in the minority here with a smaller-sized doll family, but I also don't do any swapping. This is almost entirely due to the fact that I just don't fall in love with many dolls (Dollfie Dream or otherwise), so I don't make many purchases. I also have no qualms about selling if a doll isn't what I wanted or I'm losing interest rapidly.

 

I think the big doll families that some people have are very, very neat to see pictures of, but I'm not inspired to aim for something similar for myself. n_n I'm happy with what I have. ♥

We have certainly never set out to have a big family, and I'm pretty sure ours will never be as large as some people's on here, but with SK being a writer and always having new characters pop up in her head, who knows. Then there are the girls like Kos-Mos and MOMO who one, the other, or both of us simply fall in love with at first sight, but that doesn't happen often at all. Every one of our kids is unique and has a very specific reason for being there, though, and they are each somebody we love. The closest we come to swapping, is trading bodies between heads. We seem to be able to gather heads much faster than we can bodies, so fr a while, a few could only come out when they "Borrowed" from their siblings.

I tend toward large family, but that is quite expensive so I've started swapping. This year was a "freebie" since most casualties were resin girls, but that won't be true next year as I would run out of those. We'll see what happens then.

I've found that there are very few Dollfie Dreams that I truly desire, which my contribute to why I have two DDs. That and I'm a student who only works during breaks, so money is mostly saved. I also find that once I get a new doll, I sort of grow out of the old ones.

Interesting discussion!

Hmm... I have a rather large family of resin ball-jointed dolls. I never really intended to, but it just sort of happened to steadily grow over the years~ XD In the past I've been a bit impulsive on buying dolls, and that shiny "LE" sticker is usually what pushes me over the edge. I'm not one to sell or swap one doll for another, mostly because it's just a giant rigmarole and I can't be bothered; I have sold a couple of dolls that weren't what I was expecting them to be; but I'd rather buy dolls I /really/ like than just kinda want. I'm hoping I'll be content with just one DD for a while~<3

i'd love to be large family

and only afraid hard to maintain them all at once

 

i wonder how they with big families treat their families

i'd love to be large family

and only afraid hard to maintain them all at once

 

i wonder how they with big families treat their families

 

I know people who sell dolls because they are afraid when their family gets too big it's too hard to take care of them.

 

We have currently 25 dolls in the household, two incoming, and some floating heads and a floating body.

There are of course some dolls I re-dress more often, take pictures of nearly weekly etc., while I have dolls that just sit here and are admired silently. I love each and every one of them, my own and the one my girlfriend ChocolateDecadence owns, no matter how often I play with them.

Some of my favourites are actually the dolls I do barely something with, they are so perfect I don't need to do anything with them. They are standing in their glass cabinet and just looking at them makes me feel happy

 

However, it might sound funny, but after you reach a certain point it actually gets easier because you also own more stuff.

I remember when I had two dolls I also had barely any clothes, now we have so many and also so many clothes it's easy to swap between them, and when a new doll comes into the household it already has a big wardrobe to choose from

With more dolls you also can do more things, like more complicated photos, group shots etc.

With more dolls you also can do more things, like more complicated photos, group shots etc.

 

This is one aspect of a bigger DD family that I love. Having girls in the background or on the sidelines makes the photos seem more active and alive. I can't wait to do more setups like this once our DD room is freed up. Plus with bigger families you can have better group hugs.

 

~Sister Kyoya

Plus with bigger families you can have better group hugs.

 

 

HA HA! That is way too funny..... and true.

 

 

 

Billy

Or in your case Billy, a ginormous dogpile instigated by Manami. Oh man, that just reminded me of the first pics I saw of you with two of your girls in the park and Yukino(?) was laying on you. Those pics have dangerous levels of moe in them. I'll have to look them up again.

 

As for the manageability of larger families, personality and independence have a lot to do with what makes it possible for me to consider adopting a lot of DD. If they were all as clingy and needing attention as much as Tamayuki, I think 3 would be very hard and 4 would be the death of me. Fortunately all the others so far are exceedingly independent and like to have some time with me, but they are perfectly okay to hang out with other family members a lot of the time. I also write for a pastime and have for many years, learning to juggle many characters and how they interact uniquely with each other is a major part of the fun. One day I sat down and started listing the characters in my head that held a significant purpose in my story, and in about 3 minutes I had named over 100 of them and why they mattered. Before DD came into my life I had been a die hard fan of the Sims games, so DD are like my real-world Sims. I was constantly making new families because I had so many I wanted to play with. I still have my Gothic themed town where the Sims are dressed in black and white with one single accent color. It is so awesome to see, its such a dramatic and theatrical looking town that I'm sure Naiomi would be in 7th heaven getting her hands on those clothes, especially the ballgowns.

 

I know that Billy has said before that at least some of his girls are aspects of his personality. I'm the same way too with each of my DD kids. It makes it easier to understand my weird self but also lets me express all those sides of who I am without people getting angry at me for acting differently than they would expect, or assume I should. Much of this is why it really isn't optional for me to have a small family, I literally need them to feel normal. Some of the girls scare me a bit because they epitomize extreme aspects that I generally try to keep hidden away, but letting those girls be who they are makes me happy nonetheless.

 

Sorry for the ramble, sometimes the big family issue is more complicated to me than just pure numbers.

 

~Sister Kyoya

Or in your case Billy, a ginormous dogpile instigated by Manami. Oh man, that just reminded me of the first pics I saw of you with two of your girls in the park and Yukino(?) was laying on you. Those pics have dangerous levels of moe in them. I'll have to look them up again.

 

Ha ha! I have seen a LOT of dogpiles in my house for sure. Too funny.

 

As for those pics you mentioned, it was Mamimi and Mai who were on top of me. Here's the pics:

 

http://www.figure.fm/en/post/27550/Omake+behind+the+scenes+at+Garden+Photoshoot.html

 

That was a really great trip.

 

 

I know that Billy has said before that at least some of his girls are aspects of his personality.

 

Oh yes definitely. Albeit they are amped up and very over the top versions of personality traits I have. But yes, they are a part of me in one way or another and as you mention, this makes it easier to know who is who by personality and how to have them portrayed in photostories.

 

 

Billy

 

I know people who sell dolls because they are afraid when their family gets too big it's too hard to take care of them.

 

We have currently 25 dolls in the household, two incoming, and some floating heads and a floating body.

There are of course some dolls I re-dress more often, take pictures of nearly weekly etc., while I have dolls that just sit here and are admired silently. I love each and every one of them, my own and the one my girlfriend ChocolateDecadence owns, no matter how often I play with them.

Some of my favourites are actually the dolls I do barely something with, they are so perfect I don't need to do anything with them. They are standing in their glass cabinet and just looking at them makes me feel happy

 

However, it might sound funny, but after you reach a certain point it actually gets easier because you also own more stuff.

I remember when I had two dolls I also had barely any clothes, now we have so many and also so many clothes it's easy to swap between them, and when a new doll comes into the household it already has a big wardrobe to choose from

With more dolls you also can do more things, like more complicated photos, group shots etc.

 

ooh

i hope i won't take my time too long to take my turns

Such an interesting discussion...

 

Some of my favourites are actually the dolls I do barely something with, they are so perfect I don't need to do anything with them. They are standing in their glass cabinet and just looking at them makes me feel happy

You said it perfectly. I feel exactly the same way about some of them. I had only recently changed Lily's outfit from her default for the very same reason. She looked absolutely perfect in her outfit and sword, I just loved how she looked. Even now that she's in a Kimono, I haven't changed it since I just likes how it looks on her. I know that seems kinda unfair to Lil but I'm sure she knows and appreciates the sentiment behind it.

 

However, it might sound funny, but after you reach a certain point it actually gets easier because you also own more stuff.

I remember when I had two dolls I also had barely any clothes, now we have so many and also so many clothes it's easy to swap between them, and when a new doll comes into the household it already has a big wardrobe to choose from

 

Ditto. The wardrobe is bigger and you can mix and match clothes as well which makes it easier to get a look you're happy with.

 

I know that Billy has said before that at least some of his girls are aspects of his personality.

 

Quite an interesting idea. Now that I look at it, I realise that this is somewhat true for me as well. I find that there are aspects of my personality that is personified in some of the girls, that or how they represent aspects of me that I would like to be. Like in Lily's case, I wish I could be so cool and stoic or be like Beato in being confident or be like Millie, sweet and naive. Or something to that effect.

 

I never started out thinking I'd have a big DD family but I'm happy I do. Now if I can only make sure I have enough space since that is starting to become a premium with my ever growing doll family.

Edited December 12, 2012 by Guest

Hrm...

 

I've actually found I seem to have a built in "quota" of x number of each type of doll. So, right now my mind is actually making me vaguely anxious because of the number of dollfie dreams I have. It's not that I don't feel I can't take care of them, it's more that I feel like I can't display them.

It's not that I don't feel I can't take care of them, it's more that I feel like I can't display them.

 

That is absolutely me right now.

I lack space for all the dolls we own (they are all in my room), and I also can't properly display them all the way I'd like, namely in glass cabinets. Not to mention that even our two doll-clothes wardrobes are not enough and I need a third one.

 

But we still have dolls incoming and two still need to be ordered. Maybe I need to throw my books out and make place for even more dolls

Maybe I need to throw my books out and make place for even more dolls

 

Somewhere deep inside I just shuddered. I can't even bear the thought of throwing away books. Gifting, selling, even donating, possibly (although I don't like those options either) but tossing?

Maybe I need to throw my books out and make place for even more dolls

 

Somewhere deep inside I just shuddered. I can't even bear the thought of throwing away books. Gifting, selling, even donating, possibly (although I don't like those options either) but tossing?

 

With "throwing" I meant "throwing out of my room", not like "throwing into the garbage"

I would never just throw away book into the garbage, except when they are heavily damaged and in a state I would feel ashamed to even gift them to someone.

then you dun want to know what i do with them after im done with it

With "throwing" I meant "throwing out of my room", not like "throwing into the garbage"

I would never just throw away book into the garbage, except when they are heavily damaged and in a state I would feel ashamed to even gift them to someone.

 

*wipes sweat from forehead*

 

Oh, thank the goddess for that one. xD

Growing family here, currently at 9 with an ever present wandering eye looking for more. I've never sold one, and have zero plans to at this point. Moe's the only one who I've really had trouble getting super-attached to, but that's even changing with her recent Miku-isation .

 

Still growing it seems, Saber Extra followed me home from Tokyo .

Growing family here, currently at 9 with an ever present wandering eye looking for more. I've never sold one, and have zero plans to at this point. Moe's the only one who I've really had trouble getting super-attached to, but that's even changing with her recent Miku-isation .

 

Still growing it seems, Saber Extra followed me home from Tokyo .

 

Congrats, she's a beautiful girl XD