BJD worth $5000: have you seen one?

Hm..I remember for a bit, Reisners were wildly popular, and on Y!Japan, especially depending on the artist, the heads would go for at least $2000. That's not including the SD17 body, which generally goes for over $1500. I've seen Bermanns go for over $8000, especially if they were tan skin (which is even more rare). I even remember a time where unoas went for over $1000, at the very least (when there hadn't been a pre-order in a few years). After a pre-order period, they generally go for around $600-$800 (kits go for about $500). Really, the price is dictated by what people are willing to pay. Certainly, I was in the boat of "No more than $600" on a doll. Now I own three dolls, each worth over $1000, and, personally, I believe I got a pretty good deal on each of them. It's all determined by what you deem its value is. For example, the LE Latidoll Aida (only 80 made), originally sold for $800. For a brief time, he went for over $1000 on the second hand market, I think. Now, you can buy him second-hand for around $600 - $200 less than the original selling price; there's less demand, and despite the fact that he's a limited, the price he's worth is even less than his original price. It's all market value. What seems crazy to you or me, might seem perfectly reasonable to someone else. If they have the money, I say go for it.

 

I've seen dolls for $5K, usually its Volks Shinku or a Bermann. Other than that it' repaints by certain artists. Though I've seen Sugintou go for $3000+ and other popular limiteds hovering around $2000-2500. For other dolls Enchanted dolls seem to have a $3000ish base price and OOAK Sybarite can fetch a pretty penny.

Personally I wouldn't spend that much on a doll, I have an upper limit. If you can afford it well then I don't see why not. Not many people can nor will but there are those who feel that its worth it or able to puchase it. I think it's all relative to the person. I did say I wouldn't spend more than $1000 for a single blank doll in one go but I had with one of my newer dolls, he was even a hybrid to cut down some of the cost too o.o To me it was money well spent. Everyone has their upper limit to what they are willing to spend. To me, there is always another doll I want equally as much for a fraction of the price. Even my 'grail' doll I have an upper limit.

 

I will -never- spend more than $1500 for a doll. NEVER. I don't care how "awesome" or "limited" or "amazing" it is. Unless it can pay my mortgage, cook meals and clean my house, it's just a doll, it's just a material possession. Honestly, for $5k, I can get some mega awesome jewelery, or, you know, put it in my savings account. @_@

 

At the moment, I was looking through Y!J and was randomly looking for Williams. SD17 Williams to be exact. I saw some of the prices went to around 330k yen (3.5k USD plus). That is with the fullset with clothes, face-up and all.

If converting the prices of the dolls I have, the most expensive would be my Hound, which is around RM 2.7k (750 USD to be exact), but I guess it depends on location as the money conversion. I really hope for SD17 Williams, but to have him, he would be around RM 12k plus for me. Urgh.

 

I have definitely seen a few go past $5000; most of which (if not all that I've seen) have already been mentioned. The one in particular that stuck out in my head when I started reading the thread was the $20k head that was already mentioned. I think my initial response was my jaw dropping.
I do also know of one of the Volks Rosens being sold for like $13k or something like that at like a charity event or something; the details escape me because it was someone else on here who told me about it.

At the moment I (being poor and all) obviously couldn't fork out $5k for a doll, considering that I have things that I *should* be saving for (car, wedding, essential stuff, you know), but when all of that is out of the way, if funds allowed, I wouldn't bat an eye at dropping $5k or even $10k on a doll that just meant that much to me. But, luckily, so far it seems that the most expensive dollies that have caught my attention seem to be no more than $2k at max, even with *super duper* famous people doing their faceups. I guess I just have slightly cheaper taste. Some of my favorite faceup artists generally only charge in the $50 bucks range for an SD sized faceup.

 

I sold a Bermann in the MP (at auction, he was started off at a relatively reasonable $1,500 I think) for $6,000 i wonder if that is the one you are remembering. a Mr. Fogg version? Anyway, he did pay off 1/2 of my new car and the person that got him was very happy to get him so i guess that person felt that he was worth it.

Personally, the doll that is "worth" the most to me is my Sia which probably wouldn't sell in the MP for over $350 if i was lucky (she is old and a little yellowed), but she is worth to *me* more than any of my $1,000 and over dolls.

 

I don't think I could ever justify paying over 2k$ for a resin bjd (maybe.. just maybe I could pay something like that for my dream Soom Beryl, if she'd be in great condition and with hooves).

Enchanted Doll is annother matter for me though (although not the LE ones that go for 40k$.. lol...) because I appreciate the durability of porcelain, the fact that it will not change color nor will the make-up chip off. I am considering getting one of those at some point (not telling my hubby yet tho ^^ he'd kill me).

 

Volks Shinku is the only specific doll that came to mind for me. Maybe Suigintou in a few more years; I haven't checked secondhand prices recently though. Other than that, a "fresh" Volks One-Off maybe? Not that much in this price range (thankfully).

 

All Bermann dolls are sold out everywhere and will not be brought out again in reproduction. So, the only way to get one is on the secondary market. Over the past four years or so, they have regularly gone for 2k and up into the 6K range. I haven't seen one available for a very long time, but given that they are ever more limited I wouldn't be surprised if the prices climb even higher than what we have previously seen.

 

I wonder how much the Black Ducan would go for... (Am I naming him correctly?) The doll there is only one of which travels around the world....

This is all here-say Ive been told... so I dont know the validity of it

I have a few of the SOOM Monthly dolls... and they were a pretty penny (not $5k though)

 

I've never seen a doll worth that much. Heck, I only buy MSD's. But I'm sure there are rich people who wouldn't blink at dropping that much for a doll, because to them it's pocket change.

 

Dolpa charity auction dolls do go over that amount sometimes; I was at Dolpa 20 where the Tachibana Jun went for well over that. And the Dream FCS is about that amount, as others have mentioned. Other than that, I haven't seen many prices like that even on Y!J - or even if I do, it doesn't always mean that anyone bids!

I wouldn't rule out paying that much for a truly impossible-to-get grail doll; my grail doll is Williams, though, and while he is definitely expensive on the aftermarket . . . he's a common enough One-Off that I shouldn't ever have to pay $5000 for him.

 

Like many have said Bermanns are popular and have sold for more then that in the past. I have seen several Bermanns in person. I've always been fond of the mold myself but I couldn't justify spending that.

Besides him I have seen many Volks dolls sell for several thousand. Personally I capped myself at about $1000. So while there are some molds I love that go for more then that I will probably never buy them...well maybe an SD17 boy

 

They certainly can go for that much, and with LEs people should expect a big jump in price for the rare popular ones--that's the way collectibles are. As to what dolls are actually worth...that's completely an individual thing, and how much money seem like a lot is also relative. I do think some dolls are worth the price, however that kind of money is out of the question for me and things would have to change very drastically for me to feel like I could spend that much.

 

This was extremely laughable to me. I almost cried. I sent the seller a message telling them that their prices were inflated and we both knew that; and that if they ever hoped to sell them they should consider lowering their prices. Nicely, of course. But seriously, none of us are going to fall for that.

Back OT...
I've never personally seen a doll sell for 5k. But I know where a few of them are and are available. So if I ever won the lottery I know where to go xD. I understand the charity auction thing, because if there are people that can afford it at least it's going to a good cause, you know? I don't think it's a bad thing or a good thing...just...interesting....

 

For those of us who don't give a crap about diamond jewelry & are thus never gonna spend our money on it, $5k for a couture doll is considered normal! It is Collector World up in here, just like any other hobby-- surely you've all watched "Antiques Roadshow" and seen a single creased cardboard baseball-card be valued at $5,000? Or a Stratocaster be valued at $90,000 because it was once touched by Hendrix?

Repaints by Caress of Venus, Evenstar, Avvelenato, Satoko Ohno, et al. used to routinely pull in $1-5k (or higher) at auction, even here in the Western hemisphere... in the past few years, demand for such has since dropped off in this half of the world, but I still see 'em going strong on YJ and other Asian sites. I dropped some ~$3700 on an Ohno SchoolHead A repaint in 2005 (fullset doll, though, not just the head!) and have never regretted a single penny I spent on him. He is unearthly exquisite, definitely one of the jewels in my crown.

One-offs, yes, always have & always will fetch crazy prices. Depending on the luck of the auction that day, who was present, the current market, etc. of course. The Volks Dolpa one-off charity auctions have hit some truly insane numbers before, & they will again. The Bermanns have fetched insane auction prices for the past couple of years, & now that they're all gone, I'm sure their prices will only go up & up. Ditto the Volks Tokyo Boys, or the Volks Rozen Maiden girls, or the DOT Black Luke & Black Ducan.... All these dolls cannot be had for love nor money, because they're no longer in production. When they do appear, they can be had for money, but MAJOR money.

So if you like the rarities but $5000 scares you now, go find a cheaper hobby or else start doing some endurance excercises. Stare daily at YJ end-of-auction pages & sit there with a calculator, and just work on grasping those prices. Your brain will bend around them soon enough.

His current owner paid somewhere around $3000-3500 for him! And most people I know, once they lay eyes on him, seem to think that this price is a bargain, a mere drop in the ocean compared to how stunning that doll is...

Hahaaa... "You should lower your prices, & I'm telling you this for your own good" rarely flies too far in that market. This person clearly knows their target audience. If people will spend $5,000 on a handbag, why not $12k on a doll? I bet SOMEbody out there has been wanting those Rozen Maidens enough to pay those prices.... Those girls are legendary.

 

You don't by any chance have the seller's ebay ID?

I'm curious, because I noticed the winning bidder has only 17 feedbacks. Very low feedbacks bidding on a very high priced item is a warning sign of shill bidding, either by the seller himself or a partner.

 

17 feedbacks isn't *that* low and considering how many Bermanns have sold for several thousands of dollars I wouldn't necessarily jump to conclusions such as shill bidding.

The only BJDs I've ever heard of go for over $5000 would be Bermanns and Volks BJDs. I'm not keen on Bermanns but I love to see some rare limited Volks!

 

I usually respond with "His price is 10k" when someone enquires about purchasing a doll that I don't want to sell. If anyone ever takes me up on it, I will gladly let go any of my dolls for that!

 

I could definitely see that happening...I probably wouldn't pay over $1500 for a doll (if I ever had that kind of expendable income)

I'm not sure whether I'm surprised or not. I used to be really involved in the model horse hobby and Breyers OOAK charity auction models hit prices that are pretty up there, and they're only plastic. Those you don't exactly play with though.