Are you tired of new companies every week?

I find that I'm not as into the new companies or the dolls they're making. I feel like a lot of the artistry has been put aside to make a quick buck, and many of the newer companies are purely creating a "product." In general, I have found that when I am interested in a new doll, it is either from an established company or an independent artist.

I'm not "tired" of seeing new companies... I guess I'm just usually not interested. Half of the time, I don't even look at the News announcements for new companies except to see if they're on topic.

There may be a wide base of people looking for a cheap doll, but there is also a wide base of companies offering them. Those companies are fighting for the bottom and are making less of a profit by driving their own prices lower and lower.... and because there is now so much competition at this price break, while there may be a profusion of dolls being purchased, they probably aren't all being purchased from the same company. The "cheap doll" market may be thriving, but the individual companies may still be having just as hard of a time as the big baddies.

Several companies have not lowered their prices. Soom and Volks come to mind. If you check the gallery, you will see a million Soom Monthlies (which are at a minimim $700 without faceup or the LE trappings)... and a ton of Volks dolls from each new release. Both companies make a high proportion of LEs, but those are certainly selling... so it doesn't seem to be a poor business choice for them.

People are still spending on things that they want most.... not everyone, but there are still people fueling the upper end of the hobby. Last week, a Volks head by a popular customizer on Y!J sold for over $20,000. (And yes, there are the correct number of 0's there!)

It also depends on the collector. If I sell the dolls that I have, it won't be to replace them with cheaper alternatives... it will be because I am leaving the hobby. If I can't afford to buy the dolls I want, I just won't buy any dolls. But that's just me.... and really, only time will tell. I wouldn't count anyone, cheap or pricey, out of the game yet.

 

There is a lot of artistry and talent involved in this hobby. That typically comes with a higher price tag. It does not seem to me that these smaller companies invest a lot in the sculpting and resin of their dolls, which is sad to me.
I am not tired of seeing new companies. I am tired of seeing new dolls from new companies that I don't like. Most of the time they are less expensive than the dolls I like.
To be able to offer a doll in the $200 range, these new companies must focus solely in manufacturing and marketing dolls. I believe that artists that create a sculpture that is unique while flexible for customization is hard to find and are likely expensive. Proof of that is the modded head that sold for $20k, as mentioned by Armeleia.

~Gus

 

Nope, not tired. Every new company means new opportunity to find new doll,
even if it might take some time to stumble on something fresh.

 

haha yeah, sorry! That was a typo

 

unless you take into consideration that many of the BJD's that are 600 dollars and up are severly overpriced. (And i'm not saying that this is the case, it's more of a 'what if')Then it's percievable that some of these smaller companies are just simply making a more realistic price. I've worked with resin before, when i was in art school, and while i know there is overhead, and employees to pay etc, i also know that many of these companies are simply charging that much per doll because they CAN. Once the casting process is completed, and employees are paid/bills are paid each month the rest is pur profit. I clearly know that one casted doll is not going to do this...but let's look at luts, where there are god-only-knows how many non-limited dolls to choose from. If they are making 400 dollars per SD sized doll, 300 dollars per MSD sized doll, and 200 dollars per Yo sized doll, they are BOOMING. As long as people keep buying. I just think that some of these newer companies are more willing to take in less profit, out of knowledge that if they try charging those prices, they will go belly up. First of all they are new, secondly, again, people are just NOT buying like they did, due to the economy.


And the fact that soom, Luts and Volks are in the marketplace more than ever, being sold by people only fuels the idea that people are realizing that they have no room for such a luxury, that costs so much.

And ONE individual having the money to spend 20,000 dollars on a doll head (On yahoo JAPAN no doubt) hardly proves that people within the US are spending like that. Unless you know the individual who bought the head? That's sort of like saying "Well, Janet Jackson just bought a new 10,000 dollar dress, so the people MUST be spending on what they want!" I'm talking about the general public. And the marketplace speaks for itself. Go look at just how many people are getting rid of their treasured dolls. not just 'cheapies, but volks, tons of luts, and tons of Soom.

Just because a company is offering dolls at a cheaper price does not automatically mean that the quality of resin is less. (Unless you actually HAVE one of these new company's dolls and can prove that) I've seen plenty of dolls that fall in the 100-300 price range, (60cm) and even have a couple of them. And can tell you the quality is just as good as a Luts. So that theory doesn't really hold water, IMO. And while there are several new companies out, there are alot more companies offering expensive dolls, than the 'cheapie' dolls. I'm just glad that these companies are starting to realize that not everyone can afford 600 - 1000 dollars for a doll. The prices of these dolls needs to be as varied as the designs should be. Not everyone likes a Volks Pearl, and not everyone can afford one either. I know many people who've been kept from the hobby, simply because of the price tag. And being someone that has NOT been upset by the idea of more people joining in on the fun, it saddens me that so many would avoid the hobby for that reason. However, the newer companies are giving diversity both in price, and in style of doll. It's a breath of fresh air. Nothing could make me happier. The only time i'm going to be upset about it, is if they start literally copying each other, and duplicating stuff that is already in existence, and calling it their own.

I don't want to see ANY company of BJD's go under. I hope that they all stay afloat, and keep offering dolls, and clothes, and eyes, and wigs and such. Unfortunately, i just don't think it's going to be realistic.

 

I am not tired of new comapanies. They don't really matter for me-- there can be 5 000 new companies every week... I just don't care about them. I won't consider buying from a new company with no feedback etc. Those without a lot of positive feedback don't exist for me.

 

I wasn't here back then either , but there are pictures. But it seems that even Volks and Luts went through a "we're just starting out period" where their molds were pretty simple and (to me) not really extravagant or giving a WOW factor. It's a starting point, and as they continued to grow and gain popularity, both companies began to produce a variety of dolls and their sculpts (imo) got better too. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big fan of Volks and I kind of only want two or three dolls from Luts but I don't see how the new company dolls resemble Volks or Luts.

I like to think of it like this: Not all of the new doll companies popping up will be successful. Some of them will continue trying to sell the same things without making changes or adjustments to their styles and they will fall behind. The companies that actually start to improve on their styles, better their face-up quality and their product range will be the ones who come through. I think the simplicity of the sculpts is a factor of simply being new and still getting a feel of what the consumers want.

 

I don't mean to snip your post to death but this sentence sums up exactly how I feel. I would love to see new companies that are on scale in quality with art dolls, but I understand that the new companies are making what the mass majority will go for because they want to make profit, that product is just not what I go for. It makes me wonder if a lot of these new companies are learning to sculpt for the first time and just selling whatever they make.

Imagine the marketplace clothing section has few selection but everything is made with quality, then all the sudden you get a boom in threads you think "Hooray more to choose from" then you notice that every other thread is filled with hot glued sock dresses

 

In the case of Volks, as well, Super Dollfies aren't their only source of income... so they probably don't need to consider lowering prices.

I'm not sure if other companies are like Volks and have a large business of garage kit anime figures and barbie sized Dollfie as well... but I've always viewed Volks Super Dollfies as kind of the companies pet project.

 

I do check out the news section but most of these new companies do nothing for me. They may be at a lower price but they often look off to me and lack the artistry in their sculpts that I've come to expect especially in their facial sculpts. So I usually click, look at them and then just forget about them, no matter what the price.

 

I wouldn't say I'm tired of them as I like looking at new dolls and having my selection widen, but I admit I prefer seeing higher quality. Less of that 'quick buck' doll, and more of that 'more potential over time' doll- sadly, most of the new companies don't seem to have that higher quality, and spit out sculpts that aren't anything new. -shrugs- Most of the time I glance through the news, and leave it at that.

I do think it's wonderful to have more choices though. Every now and then a new company settles down and offers us something great, so it's fair to try and give them a chance to go from bud to bloom.

 

There have been only two of the zodiac Soom monthly's that were modifications of an existing sculpt. The Aquarius MA Vega Last Song which was an male adaptation of the Vega sculpt and Sard who was a modified Dia. The rest have been new sculpts and Soom has said they won't used again. Since they have been sculpted by the same team, there is a familial similarity but they are different sculpts.

Even the latest hooved dolls, Heliot and Amber hooved parts are different from Sard and Beryl. Heiliot has longer legs and Amber's hooved parts are constructed quite differently.

 

Something else I was thinking about:
I think one of the problems with all these new doll companies is that this hobby (and DoA) have gotten so huge, and people are coming to the hobby with different needs and interests. Someone with spare time but who is not going to be buying a lot of dolls may feel very happy just "window shopping" 100 different new companies. Someone else with less time who seriously wants to buy/ collect a number of dolls is going to get frustrated having to look at 50 companies selling bad anthro variations in order to find one good sculpt that they want to work with.

The "News" section encourages company reps and other people to post any new doll they come across that's "on topic" - there's no sort of quality control or minimum number of people who have to vote "yes" on a sculpt to get it into discussion on the board. I'm not saying there should be, but it does promote oversaturation. It seems the only way to avoid this is to join smaller forums that focus on individual companies, such as all Volks, all Dollshe, etc., or smaller forums that just have fewer members so less information is being thrown at you on a daily basis.

 

wow i think this should be in dollie debate!
but back on topic, i really dont care about new new companies or old old ones, just as long as they make the diolls that i like, then there okay!

 

My thoughts are, how does the increase in companies have any impact on individual collectors? Personally, despite the economy, regardless of whether or not the big veteran companies drop their prices, as long as people like their stock, people are going to find ways of buying them. Yes, a lot of people - Americans especially - are changing their buying habits at this time. But from what I've learned on this board, and even personally for myself, if you see something you like that you want badly enough, you're going to find some way of getting it. Maybe you have to wait longer to save the money, perhaps you'll sell some things, etc etc. These companies, both old and new, know this. All you have to do is look at the "waiting room" threads, the "arrivals" threads, and so on.

To say that these new companies offer cheaper quality products is a little premature. Photos are very deceiving. The most gorgeous dolls in photos could be sub-par in person, no matter the company. Folks mentioned the quality of Volks. I've heard just as much negative things about their quality as I have the superior aspects. One of my friends has two Volks; yes, they're made well, but they still tend to have issues.

Frankly, there's no law saying you have to pay attention to these new companies, as many have already commented that they simply don't pay them attention. As for the influx of anthros ... personally, I don't care for them at all, but I don't begrudge anyone for liking them. I think that latest one, fashioned after the bull? ... If you collect those sorts of things, power to ya.

 

Basically, information overload - having to wade through a lot more dolls and companies to find a "good" one.

There are ways of dealing with this, such as doing like armeleia and just ignoring the News section; limiting your buying to the 3-4 companies you know you like and just going to their websites and reading their e-mails; participating more on forums for specific companies, or smaller forums where a majority of members have the dolls you like, and not so much on a big place like DoA.

However, if you previously enjoyed browsing around in News when there wasn't some new company selling what looks like the same ol' dolls every week, then it's going to impact your enjoyment of the hobby to some degree, and just because not everybody is bothered by it doesn't mean that the overload isn't having an effect.

To add an example, I used to like browsing through "category view" on eBay and Etsy when those sites were relatively small. Occasionally I'd hit on something I maybe hadn't been specifically looking for but I saw it and thought it was neat so I bought it or otherwise developed an interest in it. When the sites got popular, it became impossible to browse that way. There was simply too much stuff there. I had to do focused searches and in that way, some items I might have previously "stumbled upon" and thought were neat went by the wayside. And browsing was simply less fun so I spent less time doing it. I barely go on either site now unless it's for a specific purchase.

In the worst case, the plethora of new companies oversaturating the market could discourage the companies that actually have a great new sculpt or idea from pursuing it because their efforts would probably just be ignored in the great rushing stream of info. The counterargument to that is, of course, that a really good sculpt or idea will become popular on its merits and will stand out from the crowd. Only time will tell whether this is actually true.

 

I don't mind the new companies...
However, despite all the new companies springing up, I still find myself looking mostly at a few companies that has already been there for a while such as Luts, Dream of Dolls, Soom, Souldoll, leekeworld and bambicrony.
The only 'new' doll company that I've been interested is Fairyland...

However, I don't know how many of these new doll companies will survive for too long...
At the end of the day, it's a small market

 

I personally like that new companies pop up.

 

Sometimes yes i mind.. cause that mean a 50% chance a new dollie might get added to my wishlist.

other then that.. i dont mind ^^