Company Loyalty

I like dolls from a lot of different companies although I definitely am loyal to Migidoll. I love their style and service, and any new 1/3-sized sculpt that's not a variant of a pre-existing doll (like adding fangs, pointy ears, or closed/half-closed eyes) is almost a guaranteed buy for me.

 

I definitely have some company loyalty; the first doll that I fell in love with was a Fairyland Minifee Ruth. From there I wanted to get him friends and relations, so it just made sense as far as scale and variety of sculpts went to buy more Minifees. Though I'm not opposed to MSDs from other companies, I feel like I've been quite spoiled by the Minifee posing, so I normally don't consider other ones unless they really grab my attention. It does help that since I got my first Minifee in 2009, it's become incredibly easy to find Fairyland dolls and items for them in the marketplace.

One company that I actually love but only have one doll from is Spiritdoll. I fell in love with their Abies sculpt about a year after they discontinued it and emailed them to see if they had any left or would be willing to make me one. The response I got was amazing; they only had one left, the very first one they made that's in the promo pictures and actually the first sculpt they released, so he was the first of the first. They were happy to sell him to me, said they were all happy he found a home, and sent me all kinds of goodies with him. I ended up selling his body as it was too cumbersome, but I've kept his head and plan to get him a newer body in the future. Even though I concentrate more on my MSDs, he's incredibly special to me, and I have a great deal or respect and affection for Spiritdoll.

 

It's a little of each here. I currently have 44 on-topic dolls, from a total of 22 companies; 18 of them (plus two floating heads) are fully or partially from the same company, with the next highest count for company representation at 5.

Part of it is that the higher-represented company fits the aesthetics I'm after, but another part is being thoroughly impressed with the first couple of dolls I got from them, and therefore being more inclined to go back to that same well, as it were. Particularly with my tinies, when I decided to add an additional group of them, I wanted a solid visual cohesion between them all; because I had hands-on experience with owning some tinies already from that company, even though I spent time looking at other sculpts, I kept going back to the ones offered by them, until I decided I'd just get the full set through that company and stop shopping around for others.

That only explains one company out of 22, though. Because I do also like variety, and because there are a lot of companies who can aesthetically fit together. I also have several dolls that are hybrids of more than one company, due to having particular interests in their aesthetics (for instance, one needs to be a little taller or shorter than default). And in the case of one group, I deliberately set myself a rule that would force multiple companies into it, to reflect the varying origins of the characters represented there.

I also have 9 companies out of the 22 where I own more than one doll or part from them, with two more on the list from whom I plan to order again, and more from whom I would place additional orders. The reason there is that, after receiving the first order from that company, I get to have hands-on experience with that company's products. It's a lot easier to know how you'll feel about that company's resin quality, coloring, engineering, sculpting, service, and so on when you're handling the doll extensively, than by looking at photoshopped photos or reading other people's experiences. If my experience with the company is positive, and I'm happy with the doll or parts I've received, I'm much more likely, when I'm looking for a new sculpt to add to my collection, to go back to that company's site and see if they have something that fits what I'm after.

Dolls are expensive, so it's an easier bet, so to speak, to spend money on something that you have solid expectations for than for the unknown of a new-to-you company. That safety is what can ultimately lead to either the appearance or existence of "brand loyalty" from certain collectors.

 

Oh I definitely have a bad case of brand loyalty. My loyalty to Souldoll has lasted years despite only being able to purchase dolls recently. I first fell in love with BJDs almost a decade ago but kind of forgot about them after realizing it would be years until I could get a doll. When I recently rediscovered the hobby Souldoll was the only company name that I could remember from when I first started window shopping and they are still my favorite company.

I like Souldoll for the aesthetics of their sculpts and I want almost all of my dolls to be from Souldoll. That being said, I enjoy variety too and will probably be doing a lot of hybridizing with heads from Souldoll and bodies from various sources.

 

If I had to name one company I am most in favour of, that would be Souldoll. This is partially for sentimental reasons (my first doll was from them) and aesthetic reasons. Having said that, I like to keep my collection eclectic, so I would never decide just to get dolls from one company. Why limit yourself this way?

 

I like the idea of trying as many companies as possible! That way, I can find a favourite

 

I do not have many dolls - only 10. They are from 7 different companies.

Though yes, I am particular to one company - Impldoll. Not only have they really beautiful dolls, but also outstanding engineering of particularly their male Idol bodies. I also love just to look at them. That is one side. And they are affordable. Not cheap, but you get a lot of doll for your money.

But they also offer outstanding customer service. They even redesigned an element of a newly issued body due to the request of people from this forum. During their event, when they offered free dolls when you reach a certain amount of money, I asked them if I could get something else from their range instead. That also was no problem. So I did not get a doll I did not really want, but things I could really use. That, for me is only a part of their outstanding customer service.

 

I think I have some sort of brand loyalty with Volks, as I really like the style and quality of its dolls. My six dolls are all from Volks.

 

I have a good deal of brand loyalty. Over the years I've had dolls from numberous makers but as time passed I was drawn to one company again and again and after re hauling my collection several years ago, I focused on just one brand/company as I like the style and look of their dolls. And that was great.....but now that company is gone. So at the moment I'm focused on finishing all my current dolls from that company (faceups for floating heads, combing the second hand market for bodies or the occasional full doll I might be looking for). Once that's completed I'll move on to my second favorite company and slowly collect those I like from there. I no longer prefer to have a bunch from a bunch of different companies. I'll stick to my top favorite one or two and not venture much further.

 

My husband and I only have six dolls right now from 5 different companies. Dollzone, Luts, Dollmore, Iplehouse and Granado. We have at least 6 more planned to order from Iplehouse, Luts, and Granado. Two from each. And we have at lease four more dolls on wishlists, from four other companies. So while we have some company preference I still like diversity. My husband's list is more diverse then mine, but also we get dolls to match certain characters and those companies match the look for the characters.

We do prefer clothes from Dollmore and Luts. Wigs from Leekworld(They have good shoes too!) and Luts. I will always recommend the customer service of Dollmore. They are super nice and one time we ordered an item sold out, they refunded us and gave us some store credit. Can't beat that!

Brand loyalty is part of this hobby, but I will say that at least everyone in the community seems really nice to each other, even if your doll isn't to their taste. Most people understand that it brings you joy and they can jive with that. That isn't something most hobbies can do when it come to differences in brand loyalty.

 

I buy dolls from a variety of doll companies, though ringdoll seems to have a huge presence in my collection. The one thing I have huge loyalties in is eyes. DollBakery makes the most amazing urethane eyes... i just spent more than one of my favourite dolls cost on an order of eyes from them, cause they’re perfect!

 

I have two dolls from almost every company represented in my collection. Can you call that loyalty? Well, maybe I'm a bit loyal. XD Oh, but I'm only counting heads here, since my dolls are hybrids.

 

I own 17 complete dolls and a BJD parts (heads, bodies, etc) from 36 companies, so I do have some variation in the dolls that I buy.

I guess you could assess my loyalty to a particular company based on the number of things I have purchased from a particular company. The companies I have been most loyal to in this way is Dollshe (3 heads, 1 doll, and a body), Granado (3 heads and a body), and UniverseDoll (3 heads and a body).

However, if I were to choose the variable most predictive of my loyalty to a company, it would be 1) the service I've received by a company and 2) whether I've purchased a complete doll from the company (because I am extremely picky about dolls, and many are hybrided with parts from at least 2 companies).

Companies for which this is true include Impldoll (who let me hybrid their Idol FGB with TGB legs--so an in-company hybrid), Ancient Tales, Dollshe, and PlanetDoll, and perhaps Granado (have a female body and 3 male heads--so not a full doll by hybrid parts) and UniverseDoll (again, 3 heads, but hybrided to other bodies).

However, despite the above being the best example of a type of company loyalty, I don't think I rank very highly on the loyalty scale--I'll buy from any company if I like the doll.

 

'Funny thing... Over the years I've seen a lot of people who started out saying that they only wanted dolls from Brand X, or sculpts that were made by Artist Y, or what-ever. And yet I don't think I know a single person who's been in the hobby long-term who's actually managed to keep a "pure" collection. Everyone eventually seems to fall in love with at least one or two dolls that fall outside of their "I'll Only-" parameters.

I don't think that's a bad thing.

As for my own collection? Twenty-eight companies are represented currently, if you count all of the weird little creatures... Plus about ten more that I've had dolls from at some point then eventually sold on.

 

I am utterly unloyal. My first was a Volks, the second was Angell Studio. And I’m drooling over a Granado. I’m far more interested in looks over company.

At the moment I like the more realistic designs, but someday I’ll get one of my first and truest loves- a dragon.

 

I recently re-established my collection, and now I've had 2 of the new YoSD body of Dollzone. I will have a total of 3 of the same YoSD body when i order again. I have an incoming MSD and looking to order a body from Dollzone to replace the body.

Even if the wait time for Dollzone is ridiculous, their sculpting is just gorgeous, combine that with great pose-ability and unique sculpts. I may order from other companies, but I do find myself wait for their release every time.

 

I definitely have company loyalty to Fairyland for my humans/elves and Luts for my anthros! I just like the consistency while having some differences They are both my favorite companies

 

I have three Resinsoul dolls, one Doll Family, and I'm up to three full Fairyland dolls and two floating Fairyland heads. I want a minifee boy body for my heads to share, but that's not happening for a while. I'd also LOVE a Momoni or Momonita but, again, I don't have the funds right now.
So... No. No particular brand loyalty here although I can't complain about any of the companies I've purchased dolls from over the years.

 

I am pretty loyal to VOLKS, however, it's not as if I'm opposed to other companies. I do check out many other companies' dolls and there are a lot that I like but VOLKS dolls are the only ones that call me to buy them I guess (I'm very partial to their F-01 sculpt if you couldn't tell)　
as many others have said, it's not so much a company loyalty thing as it is an aesthetics thing

I do think that there is a certain level of company loyalty in this hobby and I don't consider it either a good or bad thing, just a thing that people do and that's fine
I think it's great to have dolls from different companies in your collection, I have friends with dolls from lots of different companies and they're all lovely
but that doesn't seem to be the case for my collection (maybe someday though)

 

I don't think that I'm really loyal to one specific company. But I have a tendency to Soom even though I just have two dolls from them. All my other dolls are from different companies, just because I like it colorfull. They all have they're own charm and personallity. So I decide to buy a doll because of it's look and not just because it's from company xy.