Are companies running out of steam?

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?

I would be sad if they stopped producing the models I love, but that would make me take better care of my doll all the more--I would assume if it was a big well-known company like Luts or Volks, the doll value would skyrocket and the second-hand doll market would probably explode.

If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?

I'm the kind of person that only prefers to have one doll to concentrate on, but I don't think it would stop me from collecting BJD's or accessories if my favorite company went under. In fact, I think it would make their value double

What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?

I love love love Dream of Doll's events, but they don't do them so often...maybe once or twice a year, which actually makes it all the better because you can anticipate what sort of goodies you can get. Right now, they are having a spring event where if you purchase a larger doll, you get a free head and one free faceup. That's at least $300 you don't have to spend! But I was a little disappointed in the dream heads this year...if they're going to make events rare, I would hope that they would try to go with a limited edition of an already popular doll. It seems more business-oriented that way. Code 02 was an excellent choice for a black model, but Tahlia...not so much. I don't think she was that popular to begin with for them to create a Black version of her. They should've gone back to Black Shall or even Black Ony. :l

 

Hm, I think Soom really jumpstarted the drive for companies to do releases in quick succession because their MD were so hugely successful. Other companies really started to follow suit. In the past, I don't think it was really uncommon, or unexpected for there to be lulls between releases. So it's a balance now. It is fun to see all the dolls pouring out of companies, but I also think it is difficult to really create completely different ideas so fast. I know when I create things I mull over them and it just takes me time to think things through until I'm happy with the whole idea. Hehe. So in some ways, I wouldn't mind it if companies left themselves time for breathing room.

 

Come over to Iplehouse. They're releasing so many new dolls that they can't seem to keep up with orders :P


What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?
If I didn't have the sculpt yet, and it was one I intended to get eventually, I would probably try to get the money together to buy it. There are a few dolls I can think of that this would apply to.


If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?
Nah, I'd probably still collect. There are multiple companies I am interested in, and I doubt they'd all stop production.


What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?
New sculpts primarily, and events after that. Even though I rarely buy brand new sculpts, it's still so much fun to plan what I might end up getting.

 

I think Soom is still playing catch-up with their orders, so I'm not going to fault them for dealing with their current orders before offering another doll. There were a lot of problems with the last batch they shipped; they need to fix that first.

My wallet is certainly happier when companies slow down with dolls I like.

 

Fairyland was actually quite clear that the two new boys are in fact the same sculpt, but being distinguished by their different makeup styles. Their A La Carte system doesn't allow for selection between different styles of faceup, so the sculpts received different names in order to have both faceups available through the A La Carte order system.

I haven't been keeping up with Soom, myself, lately, but if they're taking a little time to catch up to prior orders, that's not an indication of "running out of steam" at all; honestly, I wish FairyLand would do the same thing and take a little break from all the events, as there's stacks of overdue orders in the Waiting Room right now (mine now among them). Taking a break from releases to make sure all outstanding orders are fulfilled correctly (and I have heard there's been some issues with that recently) is not some "failing" of the company, it's responsible of them, and I would certainly encourage any company that needs a break to take it.

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?
Do you mean discontinuation? I'd be a little sad about that, but could likely still find the one I wanted on the marketplace, if I really did want it. If, on the other hand, it's just a slow-down (to catch up with orders or to work on other things), I wouldn't have a problem with that at all. I recently stalked one company's order page to wait for their break to end, in fact (they've returned to break) so I could place an order. That company opens for order periods only every few months, and spends the rest of the time on order fulfilment and developing of new products, and I don't think that's a bad way to go, if that's what works for them.


If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?
Why would I stop? There's aftermarket sales, and there's literally scores of companies innovating and developing new sculpts, so one company, even if it were a favorite of mine, dropping out of the picture is no reason at all to just throw up my hands and say "I'm done!"


What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?
While I'm not necessarily going to buy them, I love seeing new sculpts that push the limits of what people might buy (supported by more conventional sculpts that likely sell in greater numbers). Having a few of those really unique dolls out there, like DC's spider girl or DZ's thorn-armed girl, really makes those stand out, and helps draw attention to the company itself and some of the other sculpts they carry. And I just really love seeing what these companies can come up with!

 

I'm neither a soom or an FL fan but honestly that boy that they (FL) just released might be the nicest sculpt from them I've ever seen. Maybe they're seeking to change their demographic or broaden their clientele.

I'll just use spiritdoll as my favorite company and I would be pretty sad if they stopped making their dolls but I wouldn't stop collecting.
I guess what I would like to see more out of popular companies is to make things consistently interesting instead of sporadically releasing cool but limited and expensive dolls. In fact that's actually what turned me off from some popular companies because all of these limited/one time only releases just aren't for me.

 

If my favorite companies slowed down, that would give me more time to save up between releases. If they stopped releasing new dolls, I would still enjoy the hobby as a whole. Just because most of the dolls I find that I like are Soom dolls, does not mean I do not like other dolls too!

I like seeing a company make a sculpt that happens to look very similar to one of my OCs. I also like pretty fantasy parts, but they aren't necessary for me.

 

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?

I would be sad but since most of the dolls I still covet now I can't afford to buy anyway it would not make much difference to me in terms of my future purchases. I've pretty much gotten the dolls I wanted that my budget could afford. Might upgrade a couple of mini heads next year and I still need another white boy body but other than that I'm really done. I have no major plans other than that so what comes later just doesn't really affect me much. I've been collecting dolls for a long time. I've seen doll lines come and seem them go and I can't get as attached as I used to really. Getting BJD's did revive my collecting in a way. I'd almost given up on fashion dolls except for MH and the odd collector's Barbie. But I can't collect BJD's like I collected Barbie or Tonner type dolls. They're just too expensive for me to get that into them. I have a nice collection of mostly inexpensive BJD's. I've had to hybrid to get a couple of them but I knew getting into this that I would not be collecting BJD's like I do other dolls, that there would be a limit and a time to stop. I'm very nearly there so the stuff that's coming down the road? Not something I am all that interested in really. I like looking at all dolls, even the ones I can't afford, but I can't get too excited about upcoming dolls when 99% of what's coming just won't be possible for me to buy anyway.

If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?

I would, yes, because I fully intend to stop shortly here. I really don't like my Miro mini heads but other than that I'm very happy with my little family of dolls. At this point I have both of my grail dolls male and female. There's just no place to go. Nothing more to wish for. Once those mini heads are replaced with something better, and my Kelly has a body again that's it for me. My collection will be complete. I fully intend to kick back and just enjoy making things for the dolls I've got for a long while.

What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?

New colors are nice and the new horror dolls like the ones from Ringdoll, they amuse me, but other than that nothing much.

 

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?

Fine with me. I have too many dolls already. And there are plenty of new companies making dolls that tempt me.

If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?

Wouldn't change anything. I've already seen companies change or slow down. That's just life.

What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?

No favorites. I just enjoy seeing what they come up with. I don't want to buy everything. Sometimes I just like to look at stuff. I like to see things I wouldn't ordinarily like, too. It's interesting.

---
This topic has come up before, I think.

 

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?
If they slowed down, I probably wouldn't mind too much, since that would mean my wallet would finally get a break. XD Though I'd probably be sad if they stopped producing the dolls I love altogether. Even still, there's a lot of companies who's dolls I like, so unless it's a grail doll or something I've been saving up for for a while, I probably wouldn't be TOO upset.

If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?
Pfffffftt probably not. Like I said, I like a lot of different companies so there's bound to still be some with new releases I like.

What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?
New dolls and outfits, usually. It's interesting to see what new pretty things they can create. I could never come up with that many different ideas.

 

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?

Actually my New Years Resolution was to not buy from companies that are trucking out a constant stream of LE's or that have events or make it complicated to buy their dolls. So no Iplehouse, Volks, Soom, etc. I've started looking at smaller companies that are doing more stylized things and looking at whether or not I can buy parts, heads or bodies. My life doesn't completely revolve around dolls so I don't have time for complicated "all or nothing do it now!" nonsense and I definitely see the stress it puts on many people here. Your question here is really two since slowed down is referring to new stuff and the second part is not producing dolls you love. I would be unhappy if say Fairyland quit producing Chloe but until they get the Feeple 60 line back together for my SD ways they pretty much have.


If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?

All these questions seem to revolve around some sort of obsession with the big companies but the truth is that if all the biggies went under there would still be plenty to buy from the smaller companies and from the auteurs like Lillycat, Twigling, Simply Divine etc etc. If you absolutely needed something older you can often find stuff on the MP so that's not going anywhere. If your concept of the hobby revolves completely around collecting for the sake of collecting without any interest in what I consider the values of the community (dolls as imaginative objects we interact with, creative crafts like sewing and painting, characters stories, writing, cosplay, etc etc) then perhaps those people would become less interested without the possible increase in resale value of a Dolfie Dream or a Soom Whatever. But if you are interested in those values than I see absolutely no reason why a constant stream of LE's would lessen the enjoyment of the dolls you have and the dolls that will always be available from someone.


What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?

I mention the auteurs and there are others and there are the off-topic dolls made as small editions that might not conform to DoA standards, so many anthro's out there in that area. In the mainstream I think Doll Chateau is doing a great job keeping things interesting and they let you buy a body and a head separately, they actually support your creativity to hybrid as opposed to companies like Iplehouse that keep you locked up in their system. As Devo once sang, I want Freedom of Choice! Not some lame lottery or complicated spider web to negotiate. I want the time to think about it and not be forced by time constraints. More and more I'm thinking about whether a company is working with me and trying to spend my money with those that are a partner and not dictating what I should want. As a result a lot of the bigger companies are less and less interesting to me. I love the faceup artists, the etsy clothiers, those selling on DoA or wherever with this thing and that to basically be my companion in imaginative play, whether it's a cloak, dress, a hat or a vorpal blade. That action is getting more interesting to me than yet another massive fullset that costs $1500. I think part of that thought process for myself is now that I've gotten a few dolls I start to notice that I can either chase more dolls or start doing things with the ones I have. Why are they here? What do I get out of this? Like most things in consumer capitalism it gets easy to focus on stockpiling possessions without really taking into account what we have them for. And I've got a list of doll wants that I whittle down then I think "just this one more". But really, I don't need it. I need to spend more time in front of a camera or building a set than surfing new stuff on the web or DoA.

In the end what I want is more imagination both from the companies and from myself.

 

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?

They did! most of my dolls are from Leekeworld who stopped open sales and now do pre-orders of a selected few new/old dolls every few months

If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?

I would still be happy looking for outfits etc and looking at other companies. I'm a Dollshe fan and I was gutted the first time he discontinued Husky but it didn't put me off collecting BJDs altogether

What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?

to be honest I'd like to see more optional parts and outfits for enhancing existing dolls rather than a new face very week.

 

Fairyland has stopped making the Feeple60 line but that's ok for right now. I'm hoping it's not going the way the Feeple 70 line went!

 

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?
There's not a great deal I could do about it. If a company discontinued a doll before I could buy it, if it was enough of a grail for me I'd be searching for it on the aftermarket anyway, so it wouldn't really make it easier to obtain the doll but it wouldn't be impossible.

Companies need to take a break occasionally - remember even the larger companies are not that large, so their employees can only handle so many orders and fulfill those orders well. If quality is going down the best way to slow the pace and allow the company to catch up on orders and put better quality control checks in place is to hold back on releasing new dolls and starting event periods until you're all caught up.

I hate to mention it, but there is also the threat of recasts which is definitely having an influence on how often companies release new dolls. Why put time and money into research and development for a new doll if someone else is going to come along, steal your work and under cut you? At least one company has stopped releasing new sculpts for that reason. I wouldn't be surprised if more companies took that route too.

If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?
My enjoyment of doll collecting as a whole isn't dependent on whether one company continues to produce the same dolls.

What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?
I've really been enjoying seeing what Doll Chateau and Dollzone have been doing the last couple of years. It just goes to show that companies with murky beginnings can still turn that around and become a great innovator. It doesn't excuse what they did originally, but it proves that they were determined enough to be in the market to put effort into designing and producing their own original sculpts.

 

Case in point: Impldoll's Colin (I keep wanting to call it Penis since that IS what the sculpt was originally named) which is a scorpion centaur and DC's Elizabeth which is a spider centaur. Plus more and more people are designing and creating their own BJD's to sell and making a name for themselves. I don't think companies ARE running out of idea's...Just more companies starting to be born.

 

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?
I'd love it if companies would slow down a little. Event after event and LE release after LE release just means horrible backups and insane wait-times because they can't keep up with the demand they created. In the meantime the market is flooded with over-priced dolls because people are buying like crazy on the off-chance they'll regret missing something they might really want - but don't know because there's no time to really think about it - then turn around and sell it so they can buy the next LE or event doll released.


If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?
There are so many doll companies out there willing to take the place of the bigger ones, I would bet something else would be the "next big thing" the second one of the others disappeared.

Personally I like a lot of different styles...I think I'd probably be sad, but I'd be ok. I don't need more dolls anyway lol


What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?
Well, Soom and Iplehouse don't interest me at all, so if they're the companies on the table (since Soom at least was mentioned in the first post), I don't care what they do.

I would love to see Fairyland start selling everything separately -- the hooks to go with the magnet hands, heads, all the parts I'd spend all my money on in a heartbeat. I really think they're missing out on so much by not selling parts. Of course that would back them up even more...but I could have ALL THE HANDS!! And whatever head I felt like getting on a whim.

I want Doll Chateau to keep doing what they're doing -- Pushing all the boundaries in sculpting their dolls. I don't own a lot of them, but if I had all the money, I probably would XD

Same with Dollzone, they're pretty fearless too. Keep at it.

I still want Dollmore to make their WS available as a basic option for all their dolls. I don't care that it would make three of my dolls less LE!! Pleasssssssssssse!

I am in the minority that actually loves open mouths and teeth, so I would love if more companies did that - teeth parts are extra fun.

I'm good with that.

 

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?
This wouldn't bother me. In fact several of my favorite companies don't produce new dolls all that often anyway and have also discontinued models that I own.

If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?
I wouldn't be affected. I have several companies that I favor as my "go to" companies and a whole list of others that I like and hope to own a doll from a some point. With all of the new companies out there and artist dolls - there is plenty to look at. While it would be sad to see any company go under, it wouldn't stop me from enjoying the hobby.

What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?
I like body type options, especially when it comes to breast size. I' m not much of a "hand collector" but I do like to see different hand type options.

 

What would you do if your favorite companies slowed down, or even stopped producing some of the dolls you love?

Hopefully...they slow down first before they stop so I can catch up and get the dolls I want from them.


If they did stop, would you still enjoy the hobby as a whole or would you stop collecting bjds too?

I do have a favourite company but only because more of their sculpts are to my taste. I'll be saddened probably, but I'll look to other companies as well.


What is your favorite kind of thing to see from some of the more popular bjd companies, and why?

Clothes and accessories. Because it makes taking pictures of them all the more interesting.
I do also enjoy seeing new sculpts come out from other companies because I really like variety.