Yesterday, I avidly followed an animated discussion on Facebook in response to someone’s question about how to start collecting dolls. It morphed quickly into the question of collecting vs. hoarding.

I don’t think there is a one of us who can read a list of medical symptoms without mentally checking ourselves. And since hoarding has become such a hot topic in the media, I don’t believe that any collector has not asked themselves the “hoarding question”.

Am I a hoarder? Certainly not!

There is a lot of info online about what constitutes a hoarder and some of the criteria are similar to the definition of a collector. The big question seems to be, “is my collecting becoming a problem?”

We have all known collectors who buy every doll they can find, no matter the quality or value. Most of us started this way.

There are collectors who own only very rare and expensive dolls who have so many that they cannot possibly display them all.

How many of us know someone whose display cases are so packed that it is impossible to see what is in them?

Before I sold many of my dolls to buy my Huret, I was teetering precariously close to this predicament. But I stopped and asked myself, “what am I doing?” and “why do I need so many dolls?”

You know how there are names for groups of animals, like a gaggle of geese or a murder of crows, well I silently call this phenomenon a vomit of dolls. 

Just because we can (or sometimes can’t) afford them, should we keep buying more and more dolls? (Don’t ask a doll dealer this question. Ask yourself.)

I like to mentally examine myself periodically to make sure that I continue to be okay with ME and my choices. I like to think that I have come to a place in my collecting journey where I don’t make impulsive and emotional decisions. And it’s up to me to decide if I’m okay with those decisions. 

I also realize that by writing about my collecting on this blog, I am opening myself up to differing opinions. I’m okay with that, too. I welcome it.

But, back to the Facebook discussion yesterday. The person who disagreed with the majority made me so very happy. She made me, and hopefully some other people, THINK.

I have heard about, but not personally experienced, how vicious social media can be. However, it seems that in the doll universe, anyone who disagrees or criticizes anything is treated as a pariah. Isn’t this just as vicious and unhealthy. In “doll world”, does everyone have to be sweet, friendly and submissive all the time?

Isn’t it childlike/childish to expect everyone to be pretty, happy and sweet all the time? Just because we collect dolls, do we have to be as naive as children?

Let’s face it, there are some quirky, weird, crazy and/or difficult people who collect and/or sell dolls. I’ve written in my blog about some interesting characters I’ve come across. I believe that being SWEET all the time is BORING.

Collecting, like anything else, takes all kinds to keep it interesting. Even a few hoarders.