BJD worth $5000: have you seen one?

Could these be the artist dolls rather than a company doll? Such as Yoshida etc?

 

Some Bermanns have gone up that high in bidding wars either here or (more likely) on eBay, if I recall correctly.

 

Yes. Limited dolls done up by famous artists can fetch pretty pennies. I believe semi-recently a Sch A painted by a famous customiser in Japan was sold on Y!J for about that much... and it was only the head, at that.

Bermanns were also that expensive. They sold for somewhere between $1000 and $2000 retail, and were incredibly limited and desired, so you bet your behind when they came up secondhand they would cause desperate buyers to pay extravagant amounts. I'm sure some old, old dolls (thinking along the lines of Unoss) were also that valuable.

 

I was just thinking of this one, nanlady, and had gone to hunt down the link -- the DoA thread about this head can be found here for anyone interested

 

Ahh Bermanns. If only *dream*.
A head for that much though, wow. Its amazing to think!

 

I think Volks charges about that much for their dream FCS, where you can get any of their sculpts in any skin tone painted by any of their faceup artists (and which you have to go to an owner appreciation event to get a chance at). And I'm pretty sure Shinku can sell for near that (or at least that kind of price has been asked, I don't know if they're selling or not), as well as the occasional doll or head with a well-known artist's faceup...

But it's pretty uncommon for a BJD to reach a price that high, really. Personally I don't think it's worth the price, and while I've considered dolls in the $1000 range I think even that's too much for me, though it's not an uncommon price for certain limiteds.

 

When I was having a browse for a DD Airi today I found one for somewhat more than I expected, and keeping some very expensive company.

Certainly more than I could afford... and seemingly quite inflated prices?

 

Incredibly inflated. I cannot see any collector, no matter how desperate, paying that much for a doll.


Xi-feng - thanks! That was the exact one I was thinking of (not that there were many Y!J $6K doll heads to get confused with).

 

I don't think I would ever spend that much money on something that wasn't strictly necessary, even if I had the money. I know I'd feel guilty about it. I think I have a hair-shirt complex- I'd be thinking that I should have given the money to charity or used to better the world around me or something like that. So, for me, no doll could ever be worth so much money, simply because dolls are luxuries, and I'd feel guilty for owning such an extravagant one.
Of course, if other people do, then it's fine with me. I'm just saying that I personally couldn't do it because my conscience wouldn't allow it.

 

Wikipedia has never been a favorite of mine for reliable information...

As far as a $5,000 bjd? I've seen plenty of modified and customized bjd's go for much more than original retail price because the artisit/customizer spent a lot of time and effort into making it one of a kind.

I could see someone paying a few grand on a one of a kind doll from a well respected customizer. Especially one from an artist in great demand and popularity.

 

Those prices are so far over even second hand inflation that it's laughable. That ebay shop is definitely not a good indicator of what a default doll is likely to go for. >_<;


There have been some pretty pricey customs by famous Y!J artists on auction, though. And yes, it is usually only the head, but since all the bodies are the same, that's not really all that unusual. The most recent really high price was for a custom old F28 by Caress of Venus in February last year. He went for over 2 million yen, which was somewhere near $22,000 at the time. However, that was both due to the popularity of the customizer, and the fanbase for that particular doll, since he was a personal doll of hers that many of the fans loved a lot. Caress of Venus is exceedingly popular, though, and even some of the other "big" name customizers like Avvelenato, Robin's Egg, Musee Noir, Violet Poem, etc. don't get near that price, and usually sell their heads somewhere between $2000-$4000 max.

Whether or not the heads are worth those prices is totally up to the buyer, of course. I myself have bought an expensive custom head from Y!J, and think he's worth every penny I paid. I don't keep him in a glass case or never play with him, either. XD;

As for the Bermann craze, the earliest sold for ~$900 retail, and the later ones were upwards of $2000. I've seen one auction for the most at about $7000-$9000? I used to own a Bermann also, and they are very lovely dolls, and very, very limited, so that drives the price up quite a lot, especially since they're not being made anymore.

 

Tensiya stopped working with Dollshe, and Bermanns are not made anymore I dont think.

 

LOL those are outrageously priced, I can find them half that price at other stores.

I know at Dollpas some people bid a lot and most of the time it is not more than 4000$

At Dollism at Hong Kong, their limited Ducans got the highest bid and even that was around 2000-2500$ no more.

 

Closest I've seen is when I saw the number of 0s on the auction totals for the Tokyo Boys auctions at the Tokyo Dolpa last spring. I think they went for around $4000 or something like that. I don't remember exactly. It was a lot.

 

The Volks Rozen Maiden Shinku's usually go for no less than $3000-$4000 when ever I seen them on YJ. I have seen them for $5000-$6000 sometimes as well.

 

My gosh, I saw that doll when she had just been released for a whopping $5,000 at the start of the auction. That's incredible!


On the topic of specially customized dolls, I'm not in the market for that kind of thing at all. As beatiful as some of those dolls are, the moment OOAK comes out of someone's mouth, I want nothing to do with it. I'm so glad that DollShe and Volks dolls do nothing for me!

 

I sold a Soom MD (blank Vesuvia) for $1500, and have seen other MDs go for $1800 (fullset Sards and Beryls) but no $5000 yet

 

.............I paid 700+USD for my AS Claudia, which is about 1000 dollars in my local currency, so yes, in a way, I have spent 1000 on a doll before, but 5000? if I had that much money, I'd be putting it in my joint savings account...
Then again, it's all a question of how much you can afford, I guess.