Are you tired of new companies every week?

That's difficult for me to say. Sometimes I get very overhwhelmed with the new load of dolls coming out from even older companies such as Soom. I begin to doubt the dolls on my wishlist and hold off on saving for them as I become paranoid that something new and better and more suiting for the character in mind is just right around the corner, and that for me is very nerve-wracking. So in that sense I would like it if some companies would slow down in how many new dolls they are always putting out there.

However, I can't say too much as sometimes it is a blessing for new companies with different styles always being produced. Personally, when I sold my MNF El I practically tore my hair out as I couldn't find a single, larger sculpt that I liked to replace him with and had all but given up the search that his sculpt was out there. But then, not very long ago the company Little Monica introduced their Kliff and I couldn't have fallen for him harder. He's absolutely perfect for my character and if Little Monica hadn't come out with this slew of newer companies, I probably would have settled for a doll I didn't like half as much or just not gotten that beloved character at all.

 

Nah, Beryl and Vesuvia are different. However, Sard is basically the same headmold as Dia, except with pointy elf ears. Also, Heliot looked a hell of a lot like Onyx in my opinion. I will agree with you that some of them have looked very similar to other ones, and some others just generally have not appealed to me. I think they're newest one, Amber, is really beautiful though.

 

Uh, I have no idea what you are getting at here. Saying that it's a giant pain in the posterior to pick through a million new companies, which is what I said, doesn't equate to being "afraid" of finding a good one. Maybe you meant to direct that comment at someone else's post. In any event, I think I was pretty clear. I've bought from many, many companies of all price levels, but that does not reduce the annoyance of having to plow through news releases about a bunch more I'm not interested in, and that seem to me to be doing unoriginal, uninteresting stuff.

It doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of my dolls. It DOES interfere with my enjoyment of the forum and the parts of the hobby that have to do with seeking out new dolls. And yes, I am in it to keep track of different face sculpts. That's what I happen to enjoy about the hobby, and I don't think it's that unusual of an enjoyment.

What this all boils down to is, I and some other people say "Yes, this bothers me" and you trying to tell me we shouldn't be bothered. Um, OK. Whatever.

 

It's easy to misinterpret people's meanings on forums. Seems to happen a lot here. I'm not trying to tell you that you shouldn't be bothered. In the context of enjoying the actual dolls, rather than the forums, that's what I meant. If keeping track of sculpts and companies is something you enjoy, power to you. I'm not saying you're weird or that it's unusual. Perhaps it should be clarified that from a prospective of keeping on top of things within the forums, getting to know an influx of new companies and sculpts can be dizzying. You and anyone else are more than welcome to be annoyed with that. My point was simply that the bare essential, which is your (and I'm using the collective "your") personal collection, should be enjoyed regardless of how large the marketplace is. If you don't feel that way, that's fine! It's just my opinion. That's all that's here, after all.

 

Hear Hear!!!! A realistic BROAD shouldered male!

More to the OP, more companies, more competition for business=lower prices. That's a win win to me!

 

Volks has been offering sunlight skin for their FCS dolls for years, and most definitely before Iplehouse started with their tan dolls.

 

I have to say that I am tired of seeing the glut of new, cheap companies, but beyond perhaps passing annoyance at them and the changes I've seen in the doll fandom thanks to their influx, they don't personally affect me or my doll buying.

I'm uninterested in the lower end doll companies that have been popping up the most rapidly so I just ignore their news threads and sites. I have yet to see one offer the sort of quality and attention to detail required to part me from my money, so I focus on the companies and dolls that do. Makes life so much easier.

 

Its true that there are now tons of different companies... but that makes it better for the hobby, some people dont like certain ways doll companies make their dolls, so they have more to choose from.
Im glad that there were so many companies when I started the hobby, because personally, I dislike Luts and Volks... which are considered the main doll companies. So it was better for me that SOOM and DOD etc etc existed...

 

i think it has good and bad points.. more companies means more clothes.... that way i have more choice since im not good at sewing. Also they have more moulds....so that means that like others said, if one doesnt have something... another might.

all companies had to start from scratch im sure. also i think that some might be cheaper..so ppl can get those first and see if they know what they are doing (unless they want to go with a more expensive one first)

Then again, being as indecisive as i am, the more choice the longer it takes to choose...
(i had another one, but i cant remember it)

 

I can't say that it really particularly bothers me. While the dolls I have and plan for are from companies that have been around for a while (Blue Fairy, Bambicrony, Peaks Woods), I don't own any from the "major" companies like Volks or CP. I think it's nice to have more companies to choose from because each company invariably has one or two styles that are the specialty of that sculptor, and if you don't like that style then you won't generally like that company's dolls.

However, I have noticed that I'll often look at a doll in a photo and have no idea what doll it is, or see the name and company posted and not know anything about them. I generally do click through when a new company is announced on DoA, but I seem to miss out on some anyway (especially the smaller ones that are head-only, have no English webshop, etc). I have noticed that I usually don't like the offerings of the brand new companies, but there are a few that have caught my attention. For example, I've generally been unimpressed by all of the angel/demon/fantasy companies (seriously, almost every new company seems to contain one or more of those words in their name), but I quite like Rosette School of Dolls (though their website gives me some trouble). Or, to look at things from another POV, I wouldn't come back to Honig Doll's website based on the one doll they've released so far, but their outfits are wonderful.

I can understand some of the beefs people have... it IS nearly impossible to keep track of every BJD that's out there now, when in the past it was much easier. And some of the companies do seem to be exploiting a trend, there are a few webshops I've clicked on and thought the dolls looked like they'd been made very quickly and with little care. But inevitably if those dolls look slapped together and people don't buy them in favor of getting something more artistically nuanced, those companies trying to ride the trend will go out of business. But I think that if there are some sculptors who really love making dolls coming out with new companies that have beautiful dolls, it's worth not knowing all of the not-so-great ones which come out.

 

Why is the high-heeled leg option 'silly'? What's silly about it? Is it unattractive or difficult to work with? It seems to work well for the other SD16 owners who absolutely love their girls. Do you have an SD16 girl in your possession or an SD17 boy, by the way?

Yes, there is demand for good quality dolls at a lower price tag, but what you think is good quality and I think is good quality are clearly two different things, this hobby is subjective, and I haven't seen many lower-priced dolls that I'd move heaven and earth to get. The quality of those dolls is not appealing to me no matter what the price is saying. You do get what you pay for and what I'd be paying for with some of the newer dolls would be something I personally wouldn't aesthetically like very much.

And as for the recent spate of 'ugly anthros' I was merely agreeing with a girl who actually does like anthros and has some of her own. Again, this hobby is a subjective one and no one has even mentioned any names! No one has followed someone around and told them specifically that their particular doll is ugly, so if someone is offended by an unnamed doll being called ugly, I think they need to find themselves a thicker skin.

 

I think anytime you come into something like this hobby near the beginning, there's a point where you feel like you might actually might know what's going on...who is who, which mold is made by which company and so on. But once the number of makers grows, and they choose such similar names for their products, it can make one nostalgic for simpler times. Personally I find it impossible to keep all the companies, molds, and doll names straight, so now I don't even try.

Also I think its easy to get discouraged with any dolls a company offers when you feel a standard of quality isn't being met anymore, or wasn't even attempted in the first place.

Over saturation of any product can also be a turn off. I know that when all the new dolls start to look alike to me, its time to step back for a while, as I've already done with fashion dolls...for instance I knew I'd had enough when Fashion Royalty looks like Tonner, and Avant Guard could be confused with with every other multi-posing angry looking doll with a full page ad in both FDQ and Haute Doll. Why do they all look so pissed off anyway? But I digress...the point is when some aspect of the doll hobby turns me off, I focus on only the parts I still enjoy.

Juli DC

 

Wait... so saying Volks sd16/17s are "silly/atrocious" is perfectly acceptable but calling anthros ugly is "harsh"? more please.

I just don't see why people need to badmouth Volks (or any other company for that matter). This conversation isn't even about company comparison/prices/whatever.

 

I'd just like to point out that this might not just be because of the economic state of the world. It may also be that, since you list some of the more popular (but still saleable second-hand) companies, the pure fact that there are more people in the hobby means that more dolls are going to be being sold on the marketplace. More people are trying out different companies to see what they like or don't like, and that leads to sales of dolls they didn't bond with or outgrew. I'm not saying nobody is selling dolls because they need the money to pay bills, but you can't say "well there are twice as many Luts dolls in the marketplace, and that's purely because of the economy."

What vintage is your Luts doll? Because I know about two years ago, people were talking about how the company's resin was much lighter and the dolls seemed much "cheaper" than in previous years. Some people would say that Luts dolls are overpriced, while the Volks dolls are not.

Also, it depends on personal preference and what you're trying to do with the doll. I have heard from some people who do mods that they strongly prefer not to work with certain companies, as they have found that the resin is far more likely to crack and chip, or is often thin, making it difficult to mod a doll without breaking it. That might or might not matter to you as an owner, but it does come into the cost of producing a doll, helping set the prices where they are.

Isn't Glorydoll an old company by a new name? I thought the sculptor was the same as Phantomdoll, back in the bad ol' days...!

Is the change in the fandom due to the influx of new, less expensive companies, or is the influx of new companies due to a change in the fandom? I suppose it doesn't really matter, but I sometimes feel like some of the hostility towards new and cheap companies comes from a feeling that they are attracting The Wrong Sort Of Hobbyists, whether that's entitled brats or fashion doll people or people who believe in the great spaghetti monster or what. But I think those people must have already been in the hobby, else there wouldn't have been enough sales from the first few less-expensive companies to make this an attractive industry.

 

I'm on the fence about the whole situation. I still look in the news section and look up new dolls and new companies. But overall I am getting tired of the similar looking dolls being produced, I've only been collecting for 2 years and looking for 3 so I can only imagine those who have been in the hobby longer. There is a overwhelming amount of companies and information out there, be it good or bad.

I know very well my taste in dolls, I know exactly what I want. Alot of the newer companies or newer dolls from older established companies are becoming repetitive. With the newer established companies, I expect those with something to promote them would continue to blossom and become one of the established companies out there, for me I think Crobidoll has made that impression within the newer companies.

Personally, with the release of newer scuplts, I have actually reverted back into collecting the older dolls on my list or ones that have been sitting there for a year or more (with the occasion one or two newer scuplts in the mix.)

 

I am addicted to Volks since 2001 ! The first company since 10 years old ! sometimes, i am looking Korean dolls, but it is rare !

 

I love that there are new companies and a wider variety of dolls. Most of the new company dolls don't appeal to me, but then, most of the older companies' dolls didn't appeal to me either, but I like having a broader base to choose from. I am not concerned with the cost very much, but with the sculpting and quality. Some of the new companies' dolls are really wonderful and I look forward to buying some of them.

 

i would like this if most of the new dolls weren't just boring looking pieces of crap -__-

 

Not everyone is looking for the wow factor though. While it's neat seeing the something like the Soom monthly dolls, I don't have any interest in owning them, or any other fantasy doll really. I'm quite content to just own regular old human dolls, so when a company tries to go for the fantasy route it really doesn't do anything for me. Though, I will admit I won't say no to playing with them. (And it's a good thing that a few local people have them.)

I really don't see how saying a certain company's doll is ugly is going to hurt someone's feelings. No one said anything about a specific person's doll. Right?

But, I'm going to have to say that I feel like I should be able to say something like "Those squirrel anthro dolls are ugly" or "I really don't like dolls with pointy ears" without people jumping all over me for expression an honest opinion.