Just For Fun Do you feel the need to downsize your BJDs and BJD items?

I don't feel the need to downsize as I only have two doll at the moment (msd size) and 1 SD on the way. I do however feel the need to restrict how many dolls I own and how many things I buy for them. I don't like having spare wigs, shoes or eyes as it makes me more desperate to have another doll to wear those things. I like the idea of keeping my collection basic .

 

After one last purge I’m hoping to not need to downsize again. Meaning that my collection will be dolls I absolutely adore, so keeping it basic is what I’m striving for.

 

I only have one doll right now so downsizing isn't an issue, but I do try to keep things pretty basic! I don't like having extra eyes or wigs around, but clothes may be a different story in the future.

 

I'm currently feeling the need to downsize right now for the second time in this hobby. I have two 70cm boys and I'm a little overwhelmed by their size, so I'm going to try to trade one for something smaller. I also have another doll that I don't feel as attached to as all my other dolls, which I feel bad about, so he will probably get rehomed as well. Don't even get me started on the clothes. TOO MUCH!

 

I have downsized my doll collection a few times in the past. I'd say actual "downsizing" as in "feeling overwhelmed by the number of dolls I have" just once, but i've parted with more than half of my dolls on more than one occasion for other reasons.
The one time I did downsize because I felt overwhelmed by the amount of dolls I had I was near 15, but I've yet to ever go over that number since then. If I do, I think its possible that I may feel overwhelmed and get the urge to downsize again, but generally speaking I don't feel the urge to do so. When I was new to the hobby I always thought it would be so much fun to have like, 50 dolls, but after being in the hobby for many years i've learned that I like to spend a lot of time with/spoil every single one of my dolls as often as I can so me ever having 15+ dolls all at once is pretty unlikely... unless I win the lottery I guess haha~

As far as keeping bjd items "basic"...yeah, I definitely don't do that haha~
I love having two or three wigs for each of my dolls and literally as much clothes/shoes for each one as possible!
Pretty much the only time I ever feel like downsizing my doll's clothes/accessories/etc. is if I sell a doll. Generally speaking, I don't like repeating the same clothing/hair styles, colors, etc. between my dolls/characters so if I decide to sell a doll its very likely that most of their items will not suit my other dolls/characters so I don't see the point in keeping them.
Doll eyes are the one and only thing that I do not like having any extras of and feel the need to purge frequently when they build up. I loathe just about everything to do with the process of buying/trying/positioning doll eyes. When I find the perfect pair for each individual doll I typically will not change them so I have little need for extras lying around.

 

I have tried downsizing my collection several times. I sell off some, but then....I start buying again.

I don't sell any of the doll items any more. Only dolls. I always end up regretting it if I sell off an outfit.

 

I have no need to downsize, since I have only one finished doll. On another hand, I am not planning on getting more than five dolls.

 

I am a little worried with how my collection has unexpectedly expanded this year. I started off getting four dolls in quick succession in my first 6 months in the hobby (two big, two tiny), then added only one more in the following two years... until this year, when I suddenly find that I've bought/received two more full dolls (albeit very tiny ones), one body, and two floating heads/faceplates.

The reason I worry is because I don't want to get to a point where I don't really enjoy and appreciate each doll. I like having a sense of attachment with my dolls, and a feeling that each one really brings something special and unique to my collection--otherwise it doesn't have a "purpose," it's just a thing that doesn't bring enough joy for the amount of space and resources it takes up. If I get to a point where it feels like one or more of my dolls wouldn't really be missed, then I'll look into downsizing. For now, I'll wait and see how I feel about this new batch once I've finished customizing them.

 

Well … my collection seemed complete and well organized until only a few weeks ago. I try not to keep too many things that I don't use, and I want my dolls to look well cared for. Then I suddenly had to adopt a friend's whole collection of BJDs and their numerous possessions. So yeah, I do need to downsize and I am right now. I gave things away, sold dolls and outfits and I also threw away the first outfits I had sewn for my first BJD.
However, I don't really like to part with dolls. Some of my friend's dolls are very very oldschool and well-loved too, and even though they are not the dolls I would have bought myself, I feel it wouldn't do them justice to sell them cheap.

 

I've done a lot of downsizing of my BJD collection. My collection grew so fast, I think maybe I overwhelmed myself a bit. I have a bad habit of doing that with all of my collections, though, but I think the BJDs got more out of hand than my other collections. I started off with one doll in 2016, and if I had kept all of the dolls I had gotten between that time and now, I would have 17 dolls right now. But I don't like to just have dolls sitting around if I'm not doing anything with them, so whenever I realized that I was pretty much ignoring certain dolls in favor of others, I would sell them off. And then buy new ones. Now, I've reigned myself in and put some serious thought into my collection so hopefully I won't be needing to downsize again.

When it comes to BJD clothing and props and stuff, I do downsize once in a while. Mainly, I sell certain stuff off with dolls I am selling. Since, all of my dolls have their own fashion styles so I only keep the items that fit the style of my current BJDs, and any I plan to get later on. I had a ton of MSD sized clothing that I got in 2016, but I ended up selling 3 of my MSD dolls and most of the clothing was divided up among them when I sold them since they didn't fit the styles of my other 2 MSDs that I had kept and I didn't want any more MSDs so I wouldn't be needing the clothes anyway.

 

I'm just starting my collection, but I know I need to be careful or I WILL need to downsize and this will be a painful day ><

 

I can't keep things basic. I envision the things my dolls have, and the workd they inhabit as well as who the dollsare and how they dress.

For a while I had a barrier at 30 dolls because over that number they tended to sit there and not get played with and (for me) the whole point of having dolls is to play with them.

Then I realized that I was counting the Teenie-Tinies in that 30 - and I play with the Teenie-Tinies in a whole different way to the bigger sizes, so they're like a seperate collection... Then, with that realization, came the seperating out of the unusual sizes (like Lusion) and the breaking up of the numbers into different groups, which each get treated/played-with in different ways.

Fourteen of my SD* sized kids (and a couple of the MSD size) are members of one big, extended, Victorian family, so form one group.

The remaining two SD size are my only based-on-book characters, are 1920s/30s and a re pretty much a group of their own -with the addition of a MSD size 1930's "younger child".

The In-betweenies (Narsha and Unoa Chibi size) & Slim-Minis overlap to some extent as a group, and the the In-Betweenies and Tinies overlap as a group.

Ten of the twelve Teenie-Tinies are a group with the remaining two somewhat out on a limb through being a scale that doesn't work with the others.

Each of the groups has their own clothes, furnishings, props, and accessories so it all add's up to quite large amout of... stuff. It probably could do with downsizing from that point fo view - except that would leave some of them short of things and not able to share with the other groups becuase of period/style/size differences.

What I intend to do (should I ever get to that stage) is downsize each size group's stuff once I get to the point where I think I've covered the basics of what they need individually and as a group so can safely weed-out all the duplicates and bits that were the closest I could get at the time and didn't-quite-work** or have since been superceded by something that works better.

EDITED TO ADD: It doesn't help that I've been a doll collector all my life so the house is full of other dolls (some of who can share clothes/surniture/props with the BJD's, some who can't) so the collection of furniture/props/clotjs/accessories for use with dolls is HUGE, and likely to remain so.

Teddy

* The reason I don't use 1/3 and 1/4 as size descriptions is that they don't work if your dolls of that size are children rather than adults - My "SD-size" dolls are children, so scaled up to full size they'd be around 4ft rather than the 6ft adult height assumed by the "1/3" size descriptor. This also causes problems finding props and furnishings that are the right scale for them.

**Many of the 1/3 size furnishings that were bought for my SD size gang ended up being better suited, size wise, to the slim-mini size dolls.

 

All the time. I actually do, I go through my clothes and shoes and wigs at least once a year and put them in the sales pile (I only really sell in person rather than on line tho). As far as the dolls go, I've done the downsizing thing multiple times, usually it nearly wipes out an entire size of my collection, especially in the last several years. I've sold almost all my minis in the past (they managed to double in size then and I had to do it again), moved on everything smaller than a YO size doll (that stuck)...I recently pulled about 10 dolls out that are getting cut, almost all of them in 60cm range. Some of them aren't getting sold, just reworked...like the head is going in the head box and the body is being used for something else. But everything else must go.

 

Constantly! But...something...always happens.

At one time, I had 39 dolls. It was madness. It was overwhelming. They all looked terrible because I didn’t have the time and money to devote to making them all look nice. I did downsize a lot and now I have 16 dolls and one head. It’s much more manageable, but ideally I’d like to have 13 or fewer. I have cut back on a lot of clothes, shoes, accessories and props.

The problem is that it’s so hard to decide who to sell/trade! All of my dolls fit into my role play, so once I stop playing them in favor of others, it’s time to go. I’m at a point right now where all of the ones I currently have are active characters, so I just can’t sell any at this moment. In a few months, who knows? It’s a revolving door around here. Which also means once a few leave, I have money again (or trade offers), and here come new doll characters!

TL;DR: I want to downsize but I fail every time. XD

 

No. While I have sold dolls that didn't work out for the character I intended them for, I can't see myself getting rid of any of the ones that are working. Nor do I intend to sell any of my off-topic dolls. I have about 50 barbies, 5 cabbage patch, 15 porcelain, and a lot of odd little dolls. Add those to the bjds (I have about 30 now), and yeah, I guess I have a lot of dolls. The barbies and cabbage patch are displayed in the bedroom, while the bjd's and porcelain dolls hang out in my office. Both rooms have doors that can be closed when people visit.

I've worked hard to collect them all, and can't imagine giving them up!

 

I definitely feel the need to downsize. My collection is currently at twelve dolls, and I feel like ten is more or less my upper limit. Problem is that I love all my dolls too much!

I'll probably end up narrowing my collection down in the near future, it's just a matter of choosing who I can and can't part with. That's always a difficult decision for me!

 

I'm working on downsizing. I feel overwhelmed and stressed by the quantity I have now, like I can never catch up on their projects and sewing and faceups etc. I'd like to have fewer dolls that I can pay more attention to. It's hard to make the cuts, though! They look at you with those sad eyes...

 

I don't want to downsize but I do want to tighten up my collection and replace dolls that aren't really doing it for me anymore with ones I love.

 

Having a really large collection can get overwhelming..so I've totally thought about downsizing some dolls and doll items, but then I see a new doll and that all goes out the window..lol. I would like to get back to my original plans and get characters that were intended for my photostories, so there are a few dolls that don't fit into my stories that I may decide to let go and those that are sitting around not getting much attention. I wouldn't say I feel like I need to downsize just to downsize..I've always had dolls and I probably will always have dolls.

 

I'm still fairly new in the hobby and just trying to figure out what i like (size-wise, project intensity-wise, etc) so i haven't felt the need to downsize yet. I am starting to reach maximum capacity for my tiny bedroom, though, so i need to start thinking about limiting doll purchases.

As for clothing etc. I like having the option to dress up or down my dolls so i like to have at least one fancy and one casual outfit for each doll... my doll clothing/accessory storage isn't bursting at the seams yet, so i'm not overly worried about that.

 

Space is getting tight, so I try to adopt a "one doll in, one doll out" policy unless it happens to be a doll head that I want. if the head can share another doll's body I'm all for that!

 

Some days I want to down size because I have all of these ideas and feel like I have no time or funds. Then I remember why I bought these specific dolls in the first place and reconsider. Right now I'm happy with the dolls I have, but would like a bigger wardrobe for them...always something.

 

I have not been in the hobby that long, but man did I go hard. I have 15 right now and 2 floating heads. I do have 4 that I'm waiting on to come in...Which is wayyy more than i ever intended to have. It stresses me out thinking of getting rid of some because they are all unique in their own way and some are hybrids, so i'm unsure if I would get rid of just the head or the whole doll and whether I would regret it later. So I guess for now I'm holding onto them and waiting for the ones I ordered to come in to make any decisions. When everyone is here, I plan to take a harder look.

 

Yes, I want to downsize! Dolls, their items! I really want to just have a few treasured dolls. Sometimes I just feel so overwhelmed with stuff. This isn’t going to happen though, I like my dolls too much to get rid of anymore. I am not going to add any.

 

I wish it was easy to downsize. I have a BIG problem with wigs. All my dolls use the same sizeish, but I have near 15 different types of blonde wigs. And I can’t decide what to keep or what to sell...sigh.
And then is the problem of floating heads fever I got this 2018. I got 11 heads without body and only 5 bodies so...

I miss the first two years in the hobby when I only had one 1/3.
And about the offtopic dolls they all meet the basic guidelines, the biggest are the problematic ones and their outfits are expensiver than the rest u.u

 

I'm definitely feeling that right now... I just moved and the effort it took to pack and transport everyone was super overwhelming.
I've only unpacked 4 atm, and I'm remembering my early hobby years when I only had a couple... The problem is, I've grown so attached to all of them that I don't think I could part with any that I have now. The light at the end of the tunnel is that I only have one more core character I'm shelling (whose head is ordered), and then I'm after just one other doll (BW mnf Shiwoo). I think anything else that comes into my collection now would be small pet/event dolls.
As for stuff... yah way too much stuff. And it sucks cause I have all these things but they only work for a few characters and I rarely change outfits, wigs, and eyes...

 

I realized that I needed to downsize a couple of years ago when I realized that having moved 4 times in 5 years (3 of those long-distance and 2 of those internationally) that I wasn't bothering to unpack an ever-growing percentage of my (then) 30 dolls with each move. I wish I'd figured it out before I let the collection get to that size, but it was worth realizing that just because I thought a doll was nice-looking and I could afford it didn't mean I actually needed to make that purchase.

I think the best part of coming to that realization was that it ended up impacting the way I look at non-dolls buying too. I'll never be a minimalist, but I definitely have changed the way I think about collecting-based hobbies.

 

Alewife, you stated my feelings perfectly! If you’ve been collecting for a while you do feel overwhelmed. You feel like you can’t really enjoy or do stuff with your favorite dolls until you’ve resolved what you want to do with the newer ones - or ones you’ve had a while and haven’t really felt you’ve found their potential. And, then there’s so much guilt trying to decide who to sell.

 

No, although I only have one offtopic bjd at the moment. I am unlikely to ever be overwhelmed though because I am extremely picky. I've also developed really good impulse control over the years when it comes to judging what I want to take on. For instance one of my other hobbies is raising up praying mantises. I see so many people burn themselves out amassing large collections only to end up spending all their time doing basic cage cleaning and the like instead of actually being able to enjoy their bugs. I tend to be an anomaly in the mantis hobby because I tend to only have 1-3 at any given time, but the upside is after 15+ years I've never lost my passion. To me a hobby stops being a hobby when it adds more stress than fun. At least with dolls you can easily box them up and store them for a while.

 

A few years back, I downsized my collection a lot once I set guidelines for myself on the size and style I wanted my collection to be. I hate listing and selling so very much!! So, half the battle is setting your mind to it when you do decide you’re downsizing.
And, I’m happy with the group I have now, which is around 30 or so dolls. But, I still have a couple that I’ve always been on the fence about and never get played with. But, some dolls, from the early days when I started collecting bjds, are sentimental! They’re kind of canon to my early bjd years. For example, I have a Domuya Fin that I think is pretty, but I don’t do much with her. Every time I think about selling her, I totally buckle because I remember looking at the company photos for hours when she was first introduced. I finally compromised with her by re-bodying her to make her more fun to handle.
But, overall, I do think I can enjoy my favorites more if I have fewer dolls and more space to display each of them.

 

I am just over a year into the hobby - I already feel overwhelmed as I have a 4 dolls already and I just keep wanting more!! *someone savee meee*

 

There is no salvation here for you, sweet girl. The doll abyss is looking back.

 

Haha! I say that as I keep browsing more and more dolls today oops.

 

I'm around 54 dolls right now, which is WAY more than I ever expected to have! I remember distinctly feeling overwhelmed for the first time when my ninth doll came home. I used to envision characters for my dolls shortly before or after their arrivals, and I would use them right away in photostories, but now I have at least a dozen dolls who have never been in stories and don't even have fully formed characters. I wish I could move some of the dolls on, but I do feel particular attachments to most of the ones remaining. I recently sold two that I wasn't feeling the love for, and though I regretted it a little at the time, I find I don't miss them at all now that they're gone. So that is a good feeling!

I like my dolls to have clothes that are specific to them. I prefer them to not share clothes. I sort of wish my dolls were like characters in cartoons or comics, and always wore the same outfits!! I also can't have heads share bodies! I've tried. So I can't save space in those ways.

I try to downsize clothes and props periodically. Sometimes I sell them at local doll conventions and shows, or give them away and donate them.

Forgot to say, I started acquiring Dollfie Dreams and other vinyl BJDs in 2012. It was like starting all over again! They can share props with my resin BJDs, but their clothes can be so different!

Linda S.
galatia9

 

I'd prefer to use the word maintain instead of downsize. I have 9 glass cabinets for my dolls (each with three usable shelves), and I don't keep any dolls outside the cabinets. So if I'm getting a new doll, someone else has to go!

 

I currently have...eight ball-jointed dolls and I feel thoroughly overwhelmed. I really should do some trimming since most of them are just sitting in their boxes naked and bald. My son is usurping all of my spare time. I really find it hard to make a decision on who to cut loose because most of my dolls were a gift...

If anyone found a good method to trim the collection then I'd love to hear it...

 

I believe I'm at 13/14 full dolls and 6 floating floating heads/faceplate currently. But I don't need to downsize. I acquired quite a few in the past year and a half, which I was entirely lucky (and grateful to hubby for the overtime hours)to get. I sold dolls in the past that I was having trouble bonding with or that were just awkward for the characters I had for them. All the dolls I have now, I have them because they are my characters, or those little rays of sunshine that make me happy when I'm having a bad day. As for their stuff, I'm lacking so many things for them. Proper wardrobes and shoes. I don't really have accessories for them, maybe one necklace. So if I downsized that they'd all have bare feet! XD my poor Estelle is barefooted as it is.

 

Not so much before... but in the past few years my doll (and clothing) collection has increased a fair amount. Now finally I'm starting to sell some stuff, mainly because I'm running out of room (the extra cash is nice too).

 

Oh brother! If there was ever a time in my life when I needed to desperately downsize, it would be now! My youngest is moving back in with us and there goes my perfect doll room! But here's the thing...in spite of that (and how on earth do I suddenly fit 33 BJDs into displays in my living room???) no one is going anywhere. Neither are their extensive wardrobes. So while yes, I definitely feel the need to downsize...I just won't be doing it. I cannot and will not give them up!

 

You hang on to those dolls! Your youngest won't be there forever.

 

I truly am a doll hoarder! I haven't ever sold a doll (some freebie heads, yes, but no whole dolls I've bought). Everything comes in and never leaves! It's a big black hole. It could be overwhelming. I never wanted to have so many. But I do enjoy them all. I will probably only downsize if something drastic happens. Otherwise--I'm keeping it all!!!

 

Please explain d-o-w-n-s-i-z-i-n-g ??????

 

It means making your collection smaller (size+down, not up = smaller/less/fewer): selling off dolls and items, or giving away so you have less. It is a term that has recently become popular to use for wishing to have fewer material items. Supposedly it came from businesses who were going to have fewer employees (letting positions go--making a smaller company).

 

Yes! I want to downsize back to one doll all...the...time but then I look at the the faces of those I would sell, and I just can't do it Looks like they're here to stay lol It is the same with the numerous Volks outfits I own, most are never worn by my dolls anymore, but they are just so fantastic, I can't move them on!

 

I kind of worry about the size of my collection. I only have 6 complete dolls with me right now but I have two 70cm bodies with 1 more on the way, plus two 72cm ones, one of whom is ordered and one is going to be in a few months. All told I'm going to have11 dolls. I am very firm with myself that I will not be getting any more. I am toying with the idea of selling one of them because I'm not using her as much as I'd intended and doesn't fit in with my other characters -who are almost all pre-existing characters from a story I've been working on for 15 years - the way I'd hoped. Other than that I don't plan to downsize, I just really don't want to expand, especially since so many of my crew are 70cm+. I also have an unused 60cm body but I hate the process of selling so he just sits in my closet.