BJDs in amongst the Walmart Generation

omg my bestfriend and I were talking about how stupid it would be if Walmart sold BJD's,, the reason: They would be in HUGE mass production and wouldnt be super special anymore </3

 

What's funny (or sad?) is that my mom isn't like that in general. She is the one who taught me that scrimping and saving for something high-quality is better than settling for something cheap that "will do".

And yet, she keeps trying to convince me not to spend my money on dolls. I can just go pick up Barbie for cheaper, after all. Shouldn't I spend the money on something else I want? Like the Wii or digital camera I was talking about wanting?

In my mother's defense, there are many hobbies I sort of dabble in and lose interest. I buy (or used to buy) tons of art supplies I still (after several years) haven't broken into. I'm sure her thoughts are really on saving me money I can't get back. But with the high value these dolls retain (even basic dolls if they're well cared for), it's not as if I'd be losing a lot of money if I eventually woke up one day and said, "nevermind!"

Considering my dad has only mentioned that the currently-headless doll I have is creepy, and none of my siblings (blood or in-law) have commented on my dollie interest, and I've not shown the doll to anyone else, I have no other IRL experience with the phenomena. I have however had conversations with internet people who don't quite understand my infatuation with them and wonder why I would spend that much money on a doll. But they're not rude about it and Barbie is rarely mentioned.

 

There are some instances where being frugal is better, and not always is the mentality " if it breaks just buy another". Just lumping them into the "walmart generation" isn't really fair in my opinion. Some people cannot afford the luxury of getting expensive things all-though they might like to. Not everyone in the world has this mentality, I guess it gets me a little irked ehhehe ^^'. Any-who being a college student on a budget it pays to buy cheaper things sometimes, with some exceptions of course.
I feel that if there were more craftsmanship out there that everything would just melt into one lump blah if that makes any sense. The cheapo things exist so that the things that are not mass produced seem even more special and original, so it's a balance I suppose. I've always had the belief there are certain things you can cheap out on and certain things that you have to spend a little extra money on. In a mass produced world the little things which we would usually take for granted are more appreciated.

 

I think the Walmart mentality keeps a lot of people from getting into the hobby. I know it kept me out for a while. And the people who do Blythes and Pullips first BEFORE BJDs are a lot of the time are also wanting to get into the full on BJD hobby but see the abs dollies as...more affordable ( I mean, we've all seen more than enough "I sold all my Pullips to get xxxx BJD".)

However, people who actually break into the hobby, they know what's up. And well, normal people I don't think will ever get it. But it's just like how I might not get how someone spends so much on makkeup, or on designer purses or shoes. Or how one of you might not get the hub bub of gaming systems. It's all in what someones passionate about, and willing to not skimp on in terms of money.

 

Uh..since I don't actually have my boy..fully assembled as of yet..no one has seen him. But i just KNOW that those questions are going to pop up, since my parents are the kind who'll go the extra mile to save a few cents. So..how about you just tell them. "I don't tell YOU how to spend YOUR money. So please extend me the same courtesy. Thank you."

 

I love to see eyes get so big when you tell people what these BJD's cost! Just don't say it when they are drinking anything.

 

I agree with this statement a lot. I think that the general populations perception needs to be changed from dolls (like you played with as a kid) to art (which people seem to understand can be very expensive)

 

And this is why, after my first doll, all my other dolls are gonna come with no faceups or body blushing - I wanna do it all myself and really make it an unique item that justifies its price.

And anyway, to me that's half the fun of any creative hobby - doing cool stuff yourself rather than paying someone else to do it.

I think people might appreciate them more if they find out that your doll is totally unique because there is none other exactly like it.

Phil.

 

Some people go crazy over model cars. Some people love comic books. Some people collect very expensive paintings. We collect dolls, they make us happy, they bring us joy. Just tell anyone who gives you trouble that these are your passion, and if they can't understand, then they aren't worth dealing with.

 

I don't usually get those kinds of responses when I've told people about my dolls. My fiance understands the price of the hobby completely as he likes to collect Airsoft Rifles, most of which cost as much if not more than most dolls and we also like to play Warhammer 40k which is also a very expensive modeling hobby.
My mom did give me the "It costs HOW MUCH?! Wow!" response when I told her about my first 1/3 doll (a dollfie dream) but she understands that this is something that I like and makes me happy- I usually compare it to her current hobby of "collecting" laptops (She doesn't really, but she's already looking to buy her third laptop as a back up, and she gave her first one away to her friend who didn't have a compy). I do have to admit though, I lied to her about the price when I brought home my second doll (a limited Iplehouse I) as I was embarassed to tell her the actual price I spent on her- I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps it was because I was brought up with little money and couldn't really afford luxuries when I was little.

But yeah, if I do get those "shoulda' gotten a barbie" responses I'll simply tell them that I think barbies are ugly, BJD's aren't and then compare it to whatever their hobby is so they'll understand it better. If not, oh well.

 

I totally thought of that scene when I read this thread title! Man, how that cracks me up! Some things are just universal.... but for the language & the ricepaddies, that could be New Jersey...

I've never had anybody ask me that "why not just get a Barbie?" question, myself. Possibly because I live in a big city with a fairly high economic bracket (and 0 WalMarts within the city limits!); possibly because I tend to gravitate towards other people who like their crafted goods on the high end. My parents were kinda hippies in the '70s, Dad's a woodworker & a mechanic, so we got thoroughly schooled in the value of craftsmanship while growing up; they think these dolls are pretty cool, & they fully grasp the relation of the pricetag to the object. If you surround yourself with non-Walmart-mentality-casualties, you don't have to put up with that kind of question, which is nice. :> But if you have to live way out in the country (like poor Momoko), I guess you might not always have so much of a choice in that regard.

I've heard a lot of that too-- folks who will shell out $300 for a doll will balk at paying what it costs to dress the doll in quality garments. I don't get it either, but it probably all comes back to "not understanding the value of the work" once again. Those who don't grasp exactly what it takes to create a dress, will never understand why it costs so much.

So yes, I suppose this mentality does affect our hobby. It brings the expectaction that all things should be had cheaply. That could affect the Marketplace, if craftspeople are regularly pressured to sell their wares for a lot less than they're worth.

 

An acronym I saw once seems appropriate to me regarding the price of quality:

BTBACOO
(Buy The Best And Cry Only Once)

 

That is so true!

Personally I really dislike the wallmart mentality. True sometimes an expensive price tag doesn't allways = better quality. I personally never go into wallmart. As a hairstylist I have a whole other issue with Wallmart and stores like them. Take shampoos: Professionall shampoo is more concentrated and gentler on hair, so yes it cost more and lasts longer because you use less of it. But some people insist on going to wallmart and buying the cheep stuff. Besides the fact you end up spending the same using the low quality cheep shampoo you end up having to buy more of it in the long run, and its to harsh you have to come back in for a haircut more often because you get more split ends.
I rather spend more money on a BJD and have it last longer, they are worth more to me then any barbie.
I would have no problem buying a "cheaper" bjd, but I'm sure most people who are not in this hobby anything over $100 for a doll would seem expensive.

 

I grew up in a pretty low-income environment, and even though things got better after I hit adolescence, the mindset has stuck with me...

...but not the "cheaper is better" school of thought. The "spend more on something that will last a long time" school of thought! You SAVE MONEY in the long run by buying once instead of three or four times.

I've always been the one to take my car into the shop when it makes a funny noise, because I know that if I care for it properly, I'll be able to run it into the ground. In fact, I'm pretty sure that my Volvo will be the car I pass on to my son when he turns 16! (He's still kicking around under my bellybutton, though... how's that for long-term thinking?)

I've never understood the disposable and cheap mentality. I would MUCH rather have a small wardrobe full of quality and durable pieces of clothes, or shoes, or even jewelry. I apply this to my indulgences, too! The only exception there is paperback books, but I figure if I read them until they fall apart, I've gotten my $8 worth. XD

So whether it's spending the extra to get solid wood furniture instead of veneer, getting a higher-quality food processor instead of something junky, better body products instead of the cheap stuff...

...or yes, spending a couple hundred (to several hundred) dollars on a doll that I plan on enjoying for years and years to come? I'd rather wait a little while longer, save up just a bit more, and get the better quality instead of something quick and cheap.

 

Off-topic, I know, ignore the question:

Did Barbie ever cause some mass extermination of human-kind at any point?
I mean, holy god, she has a bad reputation in these here parts.
There's a real Orwell Stalin thing going on here between people and Barbie.

This thread is 95% Barbie bashing. There's some girl out there who loves her barbies as much as you love these dolls.

 

The thing I don't understand -- and this holds true for all of these threads, for the 'people think my dolls are creepy' threads, for the 'is it wrong to like cheap dolls' threads -- is...why is it so important that everyone else agree with your (general 'you' is in effect here) perception of our dolls/their worth/their importance?

This is a hobby. It's a niche hobby. Not everyone will enjoy the same niche hobby you will. I can look askance at the person who feels the need to buy a new pair of Manolo Blahniks every season because I can't fathom sinking that kind of money into a pair of shoes -- yet I can justify spending that same amount of money on a doll. It's the same for everyone.

Some people may like and appreciate your dolls for what they are. Some people may not be able to understand why all dolls =/= cheap doll from Wal-mart or your chain store of choice. That's fine. It's human nature. I certainly don't care if someone thinks I'm nuts for investing in pricey dolls. It's my hobby, others have their expensive hobbies, it's all good. Live and let live.

 

That&#8217;s a exaggeration. The thread is not 95% Barbie bashing unless you magnify the text of a few posts to 300% on your screen. A few people are picking on Barbies maybe but nothing more.

I loved Barbie when I was kid! After all she was a doll. The Barbie part of this discussion seems to be revolving around justifying a pricey dress up doll when you could do the same with Barbie? It is hard to convince people that a pile of resin is worth so much more because people are used to having a nice doll that they like for a cheaper price. People out of the hobby are not necessarily focusing on the special details and workmanship involved in making a BJD. On the surface it is just a doll so why pay the price?

I don&#8217;t know if I would even call that a Wal-Mart sensibility really. People in general obsess different things (clocks, shoes, cars) and as a result they start to notice all the little nuances of their obsession. I am perfectly happy with my simple alarm clock but someone who is really really into clocks might never settle for such a thing in their apartment.

But I am concerned that overall we are losing our ability to judge good quality items (this is not a Barbie thing). Having items in different price brackets and at different quality is needed but I become concerned when lower quality becomes the norm and no one seems to care. Chain Super Market bakeries are a better example of what I am driving at. How many of us can still tell the difference between bread made with pre frozen dough and fresh dough that rises over night the old way? I know because I have a baker in the family and he taught me how to tell the difference and trust me....all the big supermarkets driving the small local bakeries out of business make their bread fast and cheap. This is the thing that bugs me. We are forgetting how to tell the difference and in the end we start paying bigger prices for cheap goods because we have lost the ability to distinguish.

 

We're not bashing Barbies at all. We're using them as a price / quality comparison between a mass produced perfectly good product and our unique artisan dolls.

My sister had Sindy dolls as a kid (before Barbie came over to the UK and killed Sindy in the library with the candlestick), and those are massed produced kids toys. Nothing wrong with them, as I know that they also do some special editions that the adults buy and collect. I myself have the Japanese Princess Barbie somewhere, along side my two traditional Japanese dolls in Kimonos.

Barbies are just being used as a comparison with a mass produced product, not as a target for our ire in any way, shape or form. No matter how expensive any particular edition of Barbie is, it is still a massed produced item as opposed to an artisan object. And that is the only comparison we are making.

Phil.

 

Well, I am most certainly not bashing Barbie! It was a fully jointed Barbie that was released more than ten years ago that got me into the right mindset for the fully pose-able and fully customizable BJDs!

I just wished (and still do wish) that I had purchased that Barbie at the time.

Yes, this is a niche hobby, and a completely extraneous expense... but it still drives me nuts when people automatically balk at the expense of a resin BJD and suggest a more commonly found less expensive doll as an "alternative." Barbie just happens to be the household name for what many would consider a valid "substitute" for BJDs.

 

I mentioned Barbie, but not to bash her. I have a (Japanese princess) Barbie sitting only a few feet away from me and a significant portion of my childhood was spent with Barbie in-hand.

But unless you're getting into collectors editions, Barbie generally runs between 10 and 30 dollars. Any resin, ball-jointed doll is going to be (at minimum) 10x that.

When people are telling us to "just buy a Barbie" they are telling us to go for a product that is more difficult to customize, certainly much more difficult to pose, and comes in fewer sizes and body-shapes. And if you are into the little animal-people minis, you have to go to another line of dolls entirely.

It's like telling someone who collects modern artwork to "just go to a kindergarten class and ask them to draw you pictures". The idea is roughly the same, but it's not actually what you're after. And you may adore the artwork of kindergartners and have some hanging on your fridge, but modern art is something you have as much if not more enthusiasm for.