Balancing your collections

That is a great question, especially because most of my hobbies are all rather expensive when you get into the swing of things (Booze, Dolls, Warhammer, for example). Fortunately for me, there isn't really a need to balance beyond keeping things from exploding. I set aside money each month and that is my 'hobby funds'. Those funds can be used for whatever it is I desire as it pertains to my hobbies. I try to prioritize things that are limited or hard to find over things I can get easily by merely ordering them. I've also told myself I won't buy things if I can make them, simple outfits? No, I'm certain if I actually sat in front of my sewing machine I could make those. I won't pay for something I'm not 'in love' with. If I feel iffy about a face up, or a wig, I won't get it.

 

I'm similar, besides dolls I also have a small collection of corsets, paintings (most of which were made by either my family or myself), books (not rare ones, just ones I want to own rather than borrow from the library) and another little collection of shoes.

I'm disabled, and the corsets and shoes actually serve a practical purpose and I've curated my collection pretty well as they're not cheap items, but everything else I've just... accumulated. I have a ton of now-rare play dolls (apparently my monster high collection is worth quite a bit, which shocks me), thrifted designer clothes, and signed books (my mom's an author and my sister's and avid reader with very good people skills, so I have gotten a lot of books signed), gorgeous art I've made... and all of it's worth kind-of a lot of money, so now that I'm more invested in the BJD hobby, I'm planning to sell off items from my other collections that I don’t use often (and that wasn’t a gift, like art made by my family) to save up for the dolls I like. If I ever slip into a new collection phase, I'm sure I'll sell some dolls.

I try to make sure I don't have too much stuff in general because I'm afraid I'll slip into hoarding territory, so whenever I get an interest in a new collection, I try to rid myself of my other collections first so the sheer amount of money I've spent and the amount of space dedicated to storage doesn't overwhelm me (I live in a one-room apartment so space is scarce).

 

I tend to be obsessive about one thing at a time but considering that I have giant collections of stuffed animals, figurines, manga, on top of bjds, I have learned to control my obsessions a bit. My main rule is no impulse buying new stuff. When it comes to small stuff like clothes and wigs, I have to wait a couple days and balance whether or not it’s “needed” to complete a dolls looks.
Actual dolls though have a much longer wait period, I try not to buy new dolls unless they’ve held my interest for 4-6 months or longer. The one only exceptions being ltes. If I don’t 6 months later love it, I don’t 500 dollars love it.
With price caps, I don’t really have any - as long as I can comfortably afford the doll (or save up for it). My main thought process is that it’s a waste of money for me to buy things that I don’t absolutely love because I liked the price tag. I much rather buy things I adore less often than buy stuff I’m okay with more frequently.

 

I hoard a lot of dolls and toys, but unlike most people who love BJD, I rather expend most of my hobby funds on other kinds of toys than in BJD. I have been "collecting" BJD for a long time now, I own only six complete ones and eight floating heads, but I stopped wanting to purchase more over a decade ago.

I rather purchase toys I know I'll hate myself for if I don't purchase when they are released, because second market prices tend to be ludicrous for Japanese anime/video-game toys after just a while of being sold out. I lost interest in purchasing BJD, but I am also a germophobe; because BJD don't come sealed in plastic, even if I could get the ones I missed I wouldn't get them second hand either. Unlike MISB anime/video-game figures, which I can still feel comfortable getting second market.

I think the best way to handle hording everything you see, is to purchase only what you truly love, like the above commenter suggested. I love too may dolls and too many licensed characters, but I still try to only purchase the ones I love.

That is why I lost interest in BJD; I stopped loving the idea of settling for (potentially super expensive) bodies, that are not that proportionate or ideal to the head sculpts I own. (:

 

I personally tend to have phases. For me, there are three to four main hobbies I spend money on:
- BJDs
- Blythe
- Art Commissions
- Videogames (but I rarely buy new games and play the ones I have for long times, so it's not that much of a financial burden)

My Blythe crew had been a WIP for several years now, and just now I finally get around to taking care of them. The base dolls I mostly got as a gift or was able to snag for "cheap" on Mandarake or Yahoo Japan, but the customizing bit was difficult. It took years until all of them were carved (i.e. got their facial features carved in), because I can't do it myself and most Blythe artists don't offer commissions just for that. Now that all of them are finally ready to be painted and finished, I am currently spending a lot of money on getting them eye chips, wigs, outfits etc.
Where I am trying to go with that story, is that as a consequence my BJDs are currently on standby. Which is okay, because my last phase was me finally buying some things for them that they needed (like custom wigs), after I had spent quite some time just buying art commissions.
These hobbies are all very slow. Would I wish for things to be done faster? Yeah. But it gives me more time to budget, and in the end these dolls don't run away. Some have waited years for their perfect wig, and that's okay.

However, I also prefer to own few things that look really good VS a lot of stuff that is just "okay". My doll collection after all these years is somewhat modest, at least compared to a lot of other people who have been in the hobby that long, but that's because I preferred putting money into my dolls vs just buying a lot of dolls. I also realized quickly that I get little satisfaction out of just "owning" a lot of things.
That's why I never started buying Gundam kits. I love the idea of building, airbrushing and photographing them...but afterwards they would just stand around. Same for any statues or other figures.
Anyway, it's just a lot easier to buy an outfit here and there, buy a game, buy a wig (even if they are higher priced) than it is to manage a budget for several hobbies when you are enchanted by a lot of expensive doll releases
Also highly agree with Dezarii there, looking at other people's dolls is free. And more often than not I realized that while I like looking at a thing on pictures, I might not actually enjoy having this thing stand around in my home.

 

I’m in the same boat as some of the above. I budget, but also put in extra work for big purchases. I’m a digital artist, and I have a few high-paying repeat clients, so when I decided I was ready to get back into BJD, I discussed a project with my main client that would give me enough money to shell out for my little Dollzone guy. I’m actually glad I went with him instead of Dollshe like I’d planned... I feel like I would have regretted that with how long it takes and the amount of work I’d have to put in.

But now that I’m expanding with clothes and accessories and maintenance materials, I’m on a monthly budget. This is the hard part. I’ve never allowed myself to have nice things for fun or spent a lot of money on a hobby. At the moment I’m doing well financially but that’s unusual, so I’m not used to it. But my husband has been a big help because he’s a comic book collector, and I have to keep remembering that if I spent as much as he does on comic books, I’d have ten dolls by now. I actually just recently unsubscribed to some comics and switched to manga tankobons cuz I finally feel ready to collect again after being forced to sell my collection of 400+ volumes I had as a teen. (For pennies, sadly)

So right now I have a monthly budget of $50 and if I need to make a larger purchase, I talk about it with my partner. From now on, if I want a full doll, I’ll take a big commission or two extra to pay for him. But I’ve already decided that (and I’m probably an outlier in this) I will never own more than three or four dolls at a time. If I want another one after that, I’ll assess and see if I can let go one of my completed projects, because I think when I’ve created something I’m happy with, it’ll be worth it to their next owner. I also just don’t want to own more than that. I don’t have the space or the time to maintain them properly.

 

As someone else who has a habit of collecting, (my main being dolls, breyer horses, leather journal covers and fabric) I'd either go with what someone else recommended and having a sort of 'saving bank' where money JUST for hobbies goes, and then you can spend it in the areas you see fit. OR, what I personally do, is the 'one in, one out' method. This works just by assessing how much space I actually have - yes, I may want my grail doll, but can I physically keep it in my room?
Then I find something else and I sell it to make space and free up some extra spending money.
You'd be surprised how well this has worked to stop me impulse buying, as most of the time, I'm unwilling to sell something else with a high value in order to get something new I've just stumbled across, and, it keeps me on top of collecting things I only have room for!

 

I like other kinds of dolls as well, so I have a soft limit in mind of only collecting 2-3 dolls from each line that I'm interested in to keep it under control but still have small groupings to do cute poses together
BJD is kinda the same deal but I might have closer to 5 or 6 eventually because of different scales I'm interested in

 

-Metaphorically looks at my collections of art supplies, books, and supplies for various crafts-

My collection is limited by budget and physical space, but also mental space. I thinned out my art & craft supplies a few years ago and donated things from hobbies that I still like, but were more "past me" than "now me". If that makes sense?

With BJD's I'm starting to reach that limit now. The 'savings bank' and 'one in one out' peach-tea talked about sound great for managing money and space, also eldi's 2-3 dolls from each doll line. I suppose a good think about what you want to prioritize is a good way to narrow things down. Good luck!

And good budgeting skills and sturdy shelving to all the collectors! ; )

 

i tend to be very strict with my interest and keep a wishlist for months to know if i really like that doll if a few months pass and i no longer like it or kinda like it but not really i delete it

 

I like collecting things, but for me the stuff I collect tends to get thrown out or donated (without my permission) by my parents or other family members, so that helps with I suppose curbing the collection. However, I always get upset and start collecting other items i get interested in. I had most of my stuff I collected over the years donated that was stored at my aunts home when I was away. Even my winter clothes was given away, so I needed to go purchase clothes for the winter again. I didn't know my parents left my things at my aunts and I thought it was at the storage locker that my parent's would store things, but they decided to leave it at my aunts. When I went back for my belongings they were gone, so that was upsetting. I think that made me collect more dolls and items in the end.

So I haven't really learned to balance my collection yet, since I never got a chance to. I saw a youtuber who has a massive collection of stuffed toys, figures, dolls, etc and she seems to sell her collection if she doesn't have space. That seems like a good way to balance your collection.

I think if my collection gets overwhelming I might sell some of my stuff, but I have a hard time parting with thingd because it might have some sentimental value. It doesn't really help people would throw my belongings away without asking me so I have an even harder time parting with my belongings. I end up wanting to hold onto the item forever. The worse was when they gave away my dog. I cried so much.

I think that's why I spoil my present furbabies so much. During a move several years ago I recall my mom wanted me to give my dog away because she thought paying an airplane ticket for my dog was a waste of money, but I made sure she couldn't give my present dog away. Now my dog is with me and he is old and farty. Anyway back to the topic I keep a list of items I might want to purchase and keep track of the item. If I feel panic when it is low stock or near the deadline then I know I will really regret not getting the item. If i regret I always tell myself I can probably sell the item that makes me feel better, but I tend not to actually sell the item.

If I lose completely lose interest then it is easier to part ways with the item and sell it, donate it, or give it away. I used to collect funkos, but lost interest in them long time ago. I haven't gotten around to getting rid of my collection. I don't feel too much of a connection with the plastic figures, so I don't feel too bad thinking of getting rid of my collection. It's just taking me awhile because some of the figures I have some memories tied to them, so I doubt if I really am done with those figures.

One thing I look for in an item I want is the quality. If I don't like the quality for the cost then I don't buy it. That helps me in not buying some items that I think I really want. I didn't have this rule when I collected those funko figures, but I always hated the quality of those figures. I ended up buying them for some reason. Another thing that helps me is will I get sick of the item after I get it then I know I shouldn't buy it. When I collected funko I thought I wanted a massive collection that was cheap and large in quantity, but it was so overwhelming. I learned I prefer quality over quantity.

I think I was using funko to replace my desire to collect bjds that could go over $1000, but when I learned of layaway I couldn't resist bjds anymore. I loved bjds for so many years and nothing I collected was that satisfying besides BTS and Kdramas. My problem was I was collecting things that youtubers liked because they seemed really happy collecting funko, lego, games, etc, but I didn't really enjoy collecting those things.

I need to now balance my bjds. I ended up collecting more than I expected too. I only planned to collect 3 and stop collecting then, but my collection of bjd kept growing. It's not as massive as others, but bigger than I ever planned it to be.

 

I suppose I am a 'collector' although I've always felt more as if I'm a 'gatherer' I like something and I'll gather myself, or be gifted, about 3-5 of that item and then be ready to move on... Russian Nesting dolls, Russian boxes, Dream Trees, Funko/Mugg figures, etc. I don't have more than 5 of each of those things, and it's rare for any one item in those collections to cost more than $50. If the price is more, I do balance it against the price of a doll on my wishlist and prioritize the 'want' based on that.

BJD's are in a separate mental category of collecting for me. They are unique in that they're not a 'buy and done' the costs accrue even after a doll is obtained. Eyes, wigs, clothing, etc so I count them above my other 'collections'.

In terms of balancing cost/amount for BJD's. I keep it within my budget. It's money saved for a doll outside of living expenses. I've been collecting since 2008 and I started with tinies. Well, tinies cost less individually which meant I could buy more. Moving into the larger sizes meant more space and more saving. I've never set a hard cost limit to my dolls. Limiting myself to 'only dolls under x price' would not allow me to get dolls I truly love and appreciate. I make sure that I have the money for it, or am stable enough for a layaway and I go for it. Once you've tasted regret in not going for a doll you deem 'too expensive' then you're open to negotiating with your own reasoning. That said. There are personal boundaries that will emerge as you collect, you'll learn you have thought patterns about certain things. Such as: I judge dolls costs based on size. If a tiny doll is going for the average cost of a SD doll, that's a pass for me, no matter how much I love the doll. I can't justify that given the way I want to interact with my collection (buying clothes wigs eyes, etc for currently owned dolls).

I am reaching a juncture in my collection since I took a break from the hobby, and then returned to it with slightly different preferences than before. I'm realizing that it's ok to curate and tailor it to my liking and specificity. Letting go of some dolls to make funds or space for another is what I've been working on.

 

First I had very tight rules, had to fit in with ___ etc, then that loosened a bit but only if they were 1/6 scale. Then came Monsters and wanting to have one of each character, some of my childhood went into that, and looking for a legit to me reason to stop, they changed the face molds for the uglier. Ultimately it's come down to having space for them.
Fortunately the type I'm in to lends its self to swapping heads so I can just buy those instead of a whole doll.
With the ball joints it became size and weight, the 70cm gift twins don't count, and then aside from my very first on topic and one that was to pretty to pass up, it became pretty easy to stop with the MSD couple and the pre established family for their characters. Or it's a tiny that fits in the palm of my hand.

 

It's really hard for me to find a balance. I'm that person who goes all in, full speed, until I lose interest suddenly and walk away. I think I should start an "one in, one out" policy...

 

I'm a big fan of Marie Kondo/KonMari - I take a "sparks joy" approach not just when downsizing, but for new purchases too. I also try to think of what I would do with it, where I would put it, do I already have something similar? For example, I pruned down my MLP wishlist to make each one unique - only one mint green pony with pink hair, for instance. Although it's not a foolproof method if my brain says, "They're both my favorite! I can't just pick one!"
Video games I think are the easiest to keep a slim collection because I can enjoy other games while I save up if I can't afford a new release right away. I keep mostly physical copies of games which I think helps me curb my spending - I see how many games I already have pretty easily, so I can't trick myself into thinking there's nothing to play!
I like "one in, one out" as mentioned before! I think I'll try that. Budget limits help too, like in OP - I'd probably never spend more than $200 upfront for a non-BJD toy. I don't get premium keyboard stuff either because I prefer modding my boards myself.

 

I usually compare a new thing to a current thing I own. Like would I like this more than my favorite x thing. What about the next favorite thing, and so on. If had to pick one, would I give up my favorite thing for this new thing?
Then it's do I have space, am I willing to make space (sell something for it). Then I sometimes make myself sit on it depending on the price, each $100 in cost = 1 month of waiting.

I usually do one in, one out. Also make myself answer the question do I actually want this or am I just retail therapying (making myself wait helps with this a lot).

For non-bjd I also try to lean toward getting useful things now - I collect Pokemon so instead of getting a plush - I get a mug, or a notebook, a bag, etc.

And when I finally get display shelves again - does this look neat or like a mess. How long will it take me to dust now????

I sold off entire collections since I bought my first house in late 2020, two of them were American girl and monster high / ever after high collections. So I finally let myself look into actually buying a bjd this year.

A lot of the times I end up just watching a youtube video of an unboxing or demo or whatever and live vicariously though them and move on lol

 

It's got to be somewhere between one in one out and spark joy. Ask yourself why did you buy the doll in the first place. I've parted with whole batches that wore out their welcome after a few years or many, and last year I paid for 6 months of storage for plastic people who might be older than half of y'all.