Buying backup parts for your dolls?

While I don't plan on buying any spare parts for my dolls, I do hang onto the extra hands that come with some of them in case of breakage. However, I don't think of my dolls as investments even though they're quite pricey. As you said, you never know what will happen & my experience with the doll market in general has been that contemporary dolls don't hold their value in the long term. I just buy with love in my heart & play value in my mind so even if they turn yellow & fall apart years down the road, I won't care too much because I'll have enjoyed them while they lasted.

 

I don't buy spare parts so much as I get extra option parts for my dolls. ABJD as an overall hobby has only really come about relatively recently compared to many other collectible dolls (ie. Barbies) and it's still unknown whether they will become mainstream in the world of collectibles, or if they will fizzle out and become obscure in the long run.

That being the case and knowing that there's a chance I might decide to get out of the hobby 1, 5 or 10 years down the line, I can only think of my dolls as short term investments. Even then only some dolls are an actual investment since not all the sculpts increase in value over time.

I tend to change preferences REALLY fast though. In the year and a half I've been interested in ABJD, I've gone thru 16 dolls (some sold at various points and a couple I'm still waiting for/paying off), so it doesn't make too much sense for me to collect extra parts for most of my dolls, since if I end up changing my hoard again, there's no telling if I'll buy from the same companies again and if any extra parts would be a match.

If I do end up staying in the BJD world for a long long time, the most important part of the doll to me is the head. It's always the face and expressions I fall for, so since it's impossible to buy "replacement parts" for a head, even if the bodies become dust, if I still have the head of my favourite doll(s), I will be content. =3

In any case, I doubt I will ever part with ALL of my dolls. Unless there is a time when I absolutely need to sell them all for basic living expenses, I will probably keep at least one of my dolls by my side as a memento of how much fun I had and all the great people I met because of this hobby. ^^

 

Well, as Zarr is my preferred of the two I own (well, one and a half- poor Mural is a floating head still xD), I would love to have a "backup" head for him. Or hell, even an extra just to do different face-ups on, so I can go absolutely nuts without worrying about "losing" him.

And I'd kill for replacement hands. He's an Abio Angel, and they have SUCH long fingers that everytime he takes a fall or knocks a hand against something (rare, but...), I'm genuinely surprised to discover all ten digits still in place. XD Kind of funny, I'd planned to replace the hands first when I got him, but now...I love his weird little alien fingers. X'D

Unfortunately, spare head/hands aren't an option for Zarr, as they're not available. :C If they were, I'd be all over them.

 

No, I don't think I would do that...Buying extra hands or S hooks in case one breaks is fine but I would never buy an extra head or body...Too much money. And the 'extra' would probably end up with a life of it's own ha ha.

 

I hadn't really thought much about it in those terms, though your point is well taken; I plan on having my resin kids a long, long time. If CP resin is hard to match now, what'll it be like in 10 years? Crap, now I'm depressed...

My issue with spare parts has been that I'd love for Kiyoshi to be able to wear zori (Delf boy big toes are halfway separated anyway), but Luts, for whatever reason, doesn't sell option feet, and I don't want to risk mucking up his real feet by working on them myself. So I occasionally look at the Marketplace and all the Type 2 bodies for sale and think about it. The cost and of course the resin-matching issues are what's holding me back. Fortunately, he doesn't mind going barefoot, even with kimono

 

This is where a forum is great. Check and see if other people who have your doll have had problems, one of one of my dolls has a slight design flaw that causes a part to break so I know to be careful. Luckily the company is still here and that part is cheap.

If you chip fingers or toes a lot then spare hands and feet would be a good idea. I'm always careful with my heads because anything else I feel is easier to replace.

 

I have an extra pair of Hound hands (just in case) which look a different color, so if I ever have to use them I may need to set them in the sun for awhile to "age" them. I also have a backup wig for my Hound, which looks quite a bit like his hair, which is not easy to find, so I'm keeping it put away until this wig is in such bad shape I can't use it. Hopefully it will last awhile. When Narindolls starts selling hands, I will invest in a pair or two...again, just in case.

 

I've had this happen already. I've had my Hound for less than two years. The ridges on his right knee wore away and he was no longer able to stand. Fortunately I was able to buy a replacement knee, but it taught me that they do wear out eventually. I took a look at his left knee and although it's a long way from loosing the ridges it is getting worn.

When I can afford it I plan to buy two sets to keep on hand. That will probably get him through the next 10 years. I'll also buy a spare pair of hands.

Other than that I'll hold my breath and hope he dosen't meet with an accident!

 

I don't have a doll, but I don't think I would bother. I mean, if you buy another doll head for ten years later, you will probably just end up buying one for the next ten years after that, and after that, and after that.... And I really see the actual doll (not clothes) as a one-time, long-term investment.

Also, if I felt like handing my doll down through the family, I would probably take precautions such as not letting young children/clumsy people handle it. I think most doll owners seem to be extremely careful with their dolls anyway, so as long as you keep up this level of caution, and teach it to the people around you, I can only imagine them breaking through very bad luck.

 

I don't really see any point in buying backup parts, though I save any extras that come with the dolls. If the resin gets brittle with time and falls apart, the replacement parts would get brittle, too, wouldn't they?

As to actual breakage by accident, I assume I'll deal whit that if/when it happens (I would probably just try to glue the parts back together or something)

 

That far in the future, I'd be thinking about fixing dolls rather than replacing them.

Even for dolls where I haven't made any choices as to what they look like, like my LE fullsets, even if I got another fullset exactly the same it wouldn't be MY doll. I'd love another Elf Ducan, with his outfit and everything would be even better, but he would never be Rowan.

 

I have extra hands around in case of finger breaks... and I have "back-up" wigs for a few of the guys who have specific hair styles/colors that are difficult to replace (Amber's Magical Michael wig from Volks, fr'ex-)... but I don't think I'll ever have spare parts as extensive as whole bodies, or spare heads for the crew.

 

Like so many, I only really have back-up sets of hands and eyes and various etceteras... I can't really see ever having a backup body, say - I would probably end up using it and it wouldn't really be 'backup' any longer.
I can see the value of keeping maybe one extra body, though... for any floating heads that may come into the family. It just isn't something that I personally find as feasible.
-Vega

 

I have several back up sets of Dollshe hands ( I have 4 Dollshe boys) and several sets of back up Model girl hands (4 of those dolls too). I'd love to have a reserve body of each of those body types, but it probably isn't necessary, and fairly low on my priority list.

I have doubles and triples of back-up wigs for all of them as many times, wigs sell out, or they stop being made in certain colors, and my dolls wear very specific wigs.

Oh, and I have a spare set of ears for my Curo, but he came with those so they probably don't count as I didn't go buy them specifically as backup.

 

I actually started thinking about purchasing the exact same wig that my doll is sporting now because an Auntie of mine accidentally messed the wig up and it hasn't been the same since. As for the rest of the body, I do fear that ultimately it will break, but I would rather keep all the original parts (with extra wig) than replace any part of her. I'm hoping she'll last as long as my future descendants exist, and if they are anything like me, she'll be well taken care of. So, here's to crossing fingers and delicate care of my doll. Ha-ha-ha.

 

I won't buy a backup head, because even if it's the same mold, it's a different head which to me equals a different doll (what makes them them exists in their heads for me). Is something bad happened to someone's body to the point it wasn't fixable (I'd try and fix it first), I'd just buy a new body--those are replaceable to me. I don't keep spare parts on hand, but I do need to order an extra Obitsu torso piece, since that's where breakages tend to occur on them (the part's only like 8 bucks anyway).

 

I've recently started thinking about buying an extra head for my DES. And I'll probably get it soon. She's the most important doll to me and I'd like to have a back-up. I'm gonna keep it unpainted in the box.

 

Part of the joy of BJDs is how they age, I'd say. While you could, technically, get the same basic doll painted the same way and reuse the same items.. it might not feel the same.

Option parts, however. Line me up! XD I want fist hands for everyone!