BJDs in amongst the Walmart Generation

Price often has got nothing to do with quality though, I think rather than looking at the price, people should go for what they like.
For example, I've heard people spending over 50€ at some shoes or pants, only to have them last just a couple of days, I buy the cheapest stuff made in china and it usually lasts me for years. Yet I just go for what I like, and if I can buy something cheaper that will probably have the same effect as an expensive one, I will go for the cheapest, specially because I can just get more of the same.

I wouldn't EVER get a barbie instead of a BJD, mostly because. Barbies are ugly (they get worse with the years) and they all look the same, you can buy a limited edition, change it's hair, color it's face, make it's cloths, but in the end, they all look the exact same.
BJDs on the other hand are like people, you can have the same sculpt on several dolls but they will all look different, unique. And this goes to the most expensive or the cheapest BJD.
Also, I don't know yet much about bjd to talk about quality, but what I know is beauty that I see on photos, and I find Apollo from bbb or Long to be as beautiful or more beautiful than several much more expensive dolls of the same size or smaller. (Actually, I have my eye on one of the two )

 

I love the BBB dolls, and even though they are cheaper they are not cheapo - they're still good sculpts that are cast by hand just like the more expensive Soom dolls.

In fact, I seriously cannot see how Obitsu can justify the prices of their larger dolls being the same as hand cast resin BJDs, but that's just me. It is funny how their 27cm dolls are of a comparable price to Barbies though. Probably because they do have competition from Barbie for that size doll...

In the meantime I will buy the dolls I like regardless of price, knowing that all the handcast BJDs are artisan dolls and not mass produced toys.

Phil.

 

Unfortunately, this is a sad fact. We're living in a day and age where if you want something, you expect to get it quickly. Because of such a high demand, the old, more qualitative ways of creating something has been replaced by machinery. It's such a pity that most people are blinded by the price tag of the dolls.

 

Wow. That is really sad that an entire generation of people is named for a corporation that has taken unfair labor practice and policy to a new high in low, and is responsible for the death of small business and the perpetuation of an absolutely vile chapter in the homogenisation of the landscape and actuality of the makeup and the reality of our American society.
Bleh. That left a bad taste in my mouth.
I think the OP has a valid point, but I don't think it is indicative of one generation or another. There are always those that value quality over quantity, and also those who are just smart consumers. The difficulty is always finding the balance in each circumstance. Sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes not so much.
Some people can't see the difference in something of quality, that's called not having good taste. However as long as they are happy, I say go in peace. I think it depends on how you were raised. I teach my kids not to shop at Walmart. When they ask me about why I don't go to Walmart I tell them that it is against my values to support that level of pure evil with my money. I am thankful that I live in a place that so far has not allowed a Walmart to be opened within 20 miles of my home. But that's just me.

 

Price might not always have to do with quality, but a quality item is almost always expensive.
Of course we all know that sometimes an item is only expensive because of the brand name, but let's be honest: There's a reason the cliché price=quality exists. There's a truth in it.
My more expensive clothes last much longer than my cheap stuff. My combat boots will still be here in ten years whereas my $10 pumps will not.

 

I don't think it really matters either way. Everyone's perception of value varies. It just sort of depends on how much importance you place on money in your life. Some people are willing to spend any sum of money imaginable on their hobbies and items they enjoy, while others simply can't rationalize this behavior no matter their income or the item at hand.

That being said, I don't think this is an argument of quality at all. Price is not a measurement of quality. It's typically a measurement of either status or scarcity, sometimes both. This often doesn't apply in the world of art, so I can see how BJDs would be an exception. That's beside the point, though. I don't think that when people ask questions such as "Why pay so much for a doll?", they have quality in mind. More often than not, it's simply someone's inability to rationalize spending hefty sums of money on hobbies and leisure activities. The majority of people in the world fall under the societal implications that working their lifetimes away to earn/save as much money as possible is more important than actually spending that money on things that make you happy, so it is easy to see why someone like that would question purchasing a BJD with the reasoning that it's not a practical buy.

It's really just left up to personal opinions and taste.^^

 

Some are, some are not. Artisan crafts are an entirely different ball of wax. I can, for instance, guarantee you that none of the crafters I know sell their work for a premium at their art tables, then to the mall for substantially less.

 

Most everyone has said the points I would have contributed... so I don't really have much more to say.

However, something autumnrain said got me thinking.

Much of the time, quality is in the owner's head.

To be honest, I think this is mostly true. Obviously, there are companies who have better quality, but a lot of the time, they are very similar in quality, and on occasions Person A might say Company A is better quality than Company B, while Person B thinks the exact opposite.

It might also be worth noting that price can enhance perceived quality.
I remember when I was little, I saved for months to buy my first Barbie because my mom refused to get me something so frivolous. All of my friends had lots of Barbies, but in general they were poorly cared for and often had tattered hair and pen marks on faces and the like, while to this day the one I bought myself looks almost exactly the same as the day I took it out of the box, even though I played with it almost daily.

I think a similar mindset may be shown through the BJD community. People who have a wide range of dolls may not take as good care of their cheaper dolls because they are cheaper. If someone's Bobobie falls on the ground and gets a crack in their face. no big deal - just buy another one. Someone's (basic) Jessica... or Roda... or El gets a crack in her face, all hell breaks loose, even though I know of a few collectors with a huge range of expensive dolls say that some of the time, their Bobobie is of better quality (to them?) than some of their more coveted, expensive sculpts.

In addition, some collectors won't even go near a Bobobie, simply because of their perceived quality.

Finally, as some people have said Barbies can be customized nearly to the same extent as BJDs (obviously without the posability, but w/e), same with MLP etc, and some people are more than willing to pay thousands for a customized Barbie. Much like people in the BJD hobby are willing to pay thousands for a limited, even if it's a basic sculpt that they could get for significantly cheaper, because it's different and special.

Personally, I buy really cheap clothing, but they've always lasted me years and years, often times longer than the brand-name stuff my friends buy. So again I guess, quality can be in the eye of the beholder. :T It can all depend on what it's worth to you.

In a way, we are also paying for 'mass-produced' dolls. When we get dolls from the company, either blank or with a default face-up, they are essentially the same in my mind as the mass-produced Barbies you can find at Wal-Mart. They were created by a sculptor (as are the first Barbies in a line) and then copied to be distributed to their customers.
I've seen a lot of BJDs (of the same sculpt) that are kept default, and a lot of the time, even with different eyes etc., they look the same to me and I couldn't tell them apart if you'd asked me to.

It is what you do with the doll after that matters.

5 blank Els are all exactly the same. 5 default Barbies: exactly the same.
In the hands of a skilled or loving owner/customizer, their perceived quality (and price) can dramatically increase.

I think I got a little bit off-topic there, but it's still something to consider.

Maybe, it's not always the so-called 'Walmart Generation' that should be considered, but also the reverse?

Anyway, after saying that, I think in the case of the OP, with the "Why can't you settle?" it's always going to be 'in the eye of the beholder' so to speak. :/ Some people will spend money on jeans, purses, cars etc. and will (almost) always balk at the idea of someone spending a lot on something they don't really understand or care about.

** please not that I am fully aware that some things especially hand-made items (furniture, artwork, BJDs etc.) can (most) often be of obviously better quality than mass-produced items... but still the above is something I think but be good to consider.

ETA: Wow... I didn't realize this was so long when I posted it. Sorry.

 

I have nothing to add to this thread, other than every post on it has good points and bad points~

... I just wanted to say/ask if anyone else finds it even slightly ironic when you picture someone taking their BJD /to/ a Walmart? (What I pictured when I read the title to this thread)

~Irony~ |D

 

I don't have any friends or family among the 'Walmart generation'. In my friends and family's eyes, quality is worth paying for. I guess that's just the sort of company I keep. We don't get a less safe car because it's cheaper and looks just as good, we get a more expensive car because it's safer. Quality like that is worth paying for in such a case, the safety of yours and your children's lives is certainly no place to be cheap. Our family can find a way to relate that to everything in one way or another.

There have been a few times when in Walmart that my mom has actually begged me not to buy something. I saw a cardigan I kind of liked and my mom goes "Please don't! The quality of those is so horrible, look how thin that material is! It's just going to rip once you put it in the washer, I'll buy you a better one at *Name's my favorite clothing company*", all my clothes and things are of the higher quality variety too, but I pay for all of these things myself. If I can't afford it I just do without.

So I don't settle for anything less than exactly what I want, cheap imitations won't do. That's my decision and even if my family and friends didn't agree, it's not their money, it's mine. It certainly wasn't easy saving up $1,500+ for my two MSD girls, and I know I could have gotten at least 5 dolls if I'd bought from Fairyland or somewhere else, but those aren't what I wanted. Just as I don't want Barbie or Bratz, I have 2 special edition Barbies 5 feet away from me right now, still mint in their boxes. Clearly I don't want to play with those, hence why they're still in boxes, I want to play with BJDs.

 

The car analogy is great, too bad it still doesn't work on my husband. XD He thinks I'm crazy for dreaming about a new Mustang, he says I should go buy a 1980s Subaru station wagon and be happy with that, because a more expensive car is a 'waste.' There are some people that I don't think you'll ever convince. :\

And really is true, paying for quality makes a huge difference in the end. I bought a pair of Diesel jeans brand new for $5 as an enormous fluke, they were running $200+ for that cut and color at the time. I never understood why someone would want to pay that much for a pair of jeans until I had them. Almost five years later, there is still not a single hint of wear on those jeans. They look brand new.

I doubt a Barbie lasts very long any more. I've seen my mother's collection, now so greened and yellowed and fragile that touching them wrong will break one. And I don't mean her childhood Barbies, either. I mean the ones she received as a gift 20 years ago. I'd like to think that these resin babies, if properly cared for, will make a wonderful heirloom for me to pass on to my children in the distant future.

One triumph was my father, who is very much a part of the Walmart generation. My mom was the one who told him I was after the doll - She showed him pictures, showed him my plans for it, showed him the clothes I'd already started sewing. He was astonished when he saw the price, but my Mom fixed it quite easily. She asked him how much his time was worth. Then asked him how long he thought it would take if he sculpted the doll for me, piece by piece, all on his own. He thought it over for a day or so, and when he realized that if someone was being paid how much HE gets paid by the hour, it would have cost a lot more than the $660 Iple was asking!
He ended up being such a supporter of the doll and its cost after that that he even paid for it. XD

 

Autumnrain: I definitely know the point you're on about, which is why I'm not inclined to pay super high prices for things, nor super low prices on certain objects/areas. The middle price range is what I feel most comfortable in

It's definitely true that sometimes, quality is just in people's heads. But I've tasted those supermarket beans, and the taste was truly awful to me.

 

A couple more things...

It also depends on the situation. Not all of us have the money to buy $500 LE outfits. And not all of us have a constant use for such things. I have a wonderful OOAK outfit for one of my dolls that cost much more than your average outfit. However, I'm more likely to take her out for photoshoots in her regular jeans. Why? Because if I ruin that OOAK outfit there won't be another one like it. I can always buy another pair of doll jeans.

I'm not saying all jeans are cheap/worthless, that I'm careless with my stuff, or that I'll never take her out in the expensive outfit. I'm just saying I try to tailor what they're wearing with what I'm doing.

And please, let's not get into the whole "why X doll company is/isn't cheap" argument. It's been done to death.

IMHO it's not worth arguing with such people. They'll tell you to go pick up a cheap glass from McDonald's if you want to get a beautiful historic vase. The whole "how it's made/where it's from/why it's pricey" rant will only make them think you're a nut for doing all this. Why bother? Just smile and nod and change the conversation.

 

The only good response to "Why did you pay so much for a doll?," is, in my experience: "Because I love it. Why are you rude?"

 

BJD owners shouldn't really have to justify why they spent a massive amount of money on a doll. Other people should realize that even within the "Walmart Generation", there's still various outlets that people spend their money on. For example, one of my cousin in laws spends most of her paychecks on genuine Louis Vuitton and Coach (I used to think they were bootlegs ones from south of the border until I actually went shopping with her one day ). Of course, since she isn't Paris-Hilton-with-the-party-all-you-want lifestyle, she'll end up taking her expensive purses with her on grocery store trips, Walmart trips, etc.

I think everyone spends a a bit more money on an interest they have. Even a super thrifty "don't-eat-if-you-can-help-it!" cousin of mine (a different cousin) will go on a crazy spending spree if you leave him in a Fry's Electronics. BJD owners just tend to come under fire from people who don't know about the hobby because 1) it's not a very common hobby, 2) the dolls themselves are pretty unusual compared to most dolls, and 3) the dolls people are most used to are $10-$20 plastic Barbie dolls.

As for paying for quality, I think it truly depends. For example, I think clothes from Abercrombie and Fitch are outrageously overpriced for their shoddy quality and workmanship(if I can read a newspaper from 10 ft. away through a t-shirt, it should not have a $60 price tag). Then again, it does seem that in this day and age, people tend to pay for labels as opposed to quality, like my pursing-toting cousin . For myself, I pay for quality. The best example I can come up with this is that I'm also a gothic lolita. Though spending $100+ on a dress is absolutely crazy to most people, I have come to realize that the quality of most of lolita clothing is a lot better than the stuff I find in American stores. Also, because I prefer to wear lolita clothing, I get more use out of them than clothing I don't like and wouldn't wear at all (thus becoming a sunk cost).

BJD's seem worth their price tag and quality. They certainly aren't made of flimsy plastic, they are customizable, and one can make them whatever one wants.

 

I don't like Sainsbury's Basics beans, I don't like Heinz, and I don't like Asda cheap beans either, but Tesco Value beans are quite nice. Branson Beans are very nice, nicer than Heinz.

Sainsbury's Basics beans are just plain nasty. Really nasty. I would rather go to Tesco for my cheap beans because I know that at least they will be of a decent quality even if they are the cheap ones. I like the Branson beans out of the expensive ones and I hate Heinz.

So what has this got to do with BJDs? Nothing really, but it shows how I choose things like BJDs, beans, clothes, etc. First thing is "do I like them?". Second thing is price.

Phil.

 

That's true for some things, but all the expensive ones I've bought vs Cheaper versions, the cheaper ones last longer most of the time D:
For example, a screen protector for the ds from the store "game" lasts me longer than the one made by "nintendo" sneakers from a brand I never heard of last me longer than "nike" ones... Sometimes it's luck, sometimes you can go by price. But I don't think there's any set rule on this.
Of course some materials will make something more expensive and sturdy boots, even the cheapest kind ever, will always last longer than a pair of even the most expensive pumps. And this is of course, not related to price at all just their built alone would show this.
And of course, when it comes up to tastes, even if the pumps were to last for longer, I would always go for the boots. Just like on the case of this thread, Between barbies and BJD, I would go for a BJD.

 

If Walmart and some other store has the exact same product, same model, etc...and Walmart is cheaper...guess what!? I'm going to buy it there. Not all of us can afford to go to the so called "best stores" I have 5 grocery stores in my town (including 2 small stores and Walmart) and I rarely go to the smaller grocery stores because they are too expensive and its the same stuff. Its a capitalistic society, like most people I have limited money and I'm going to take my money where I want to.

(Including dolls...if one dealer wants more for a doll then another dealer...its a no brainer which dealer I will buy from.)

Oh and by now I have seen and handled most companies of dolls (except Iplehouse and a few chinese brands) and I have to say other then some body sculpts...resin wise there really isn't a difference. In the end it all comes down to looks and price. Like most people I haven't got $500 to plunk down on an outfit or a doll.

Btw- no sign of the small family owned grocery stores in my town shutting down...or other family owned stores...the only stores I've ever seen close were corporate stores. I would never buy clothes at Walmart (due to the poor quality) but for electronics and groceries there is no difference.

 

It depends on how people value certain products.
For example, many people see dolls as dolls. For little girls to play with.
But for collectors, dolls are more than just dolls. They are some forms of art with higher value than the actual cost of the dolls.
I think this apply to BJD as well. Yes, resin cost pretty less. A lot lesser than the price we paid. But BJD are not mass products like Barbie. Most of them are made by hands. Labor and R&D are not cheap for any kind of product. With the amount of time they need to produce one BJD, this is also why BJD are more of rareness compare to Barbie.
Plus the works the owner done to their dolls (mods, make-up, style...etc) all of these added up to a unique doll.
uniqueness is usually pretty pricey. Like one of a kind Barbie can go up to thousands of dollars, so does each unique BJD.