Do you like the idea of "limited" dolls?

Exactly. And considering basically all companies have limiteds at one time or another, it seems to be a pretty powerful subset of the market. Me, I like it both ways. Standards are nice in that they sit there patiently waiting for you, and are easily replaced if worse comes to worst. Limiteds are exciting and often have features standards don't. I like my BJD world to have both.

 

Limited dolls are nice because they are usually unique or unusual. As far as fairness, it isn't a moral issue, don't be upset if you cant afford the doll at the time, hopefully another doll will come out when you do have money.

 

As others state before, one must really separate the prices for a LE item in the secondary market from the company who actually sold the doll (or whatever commodity you are interested it).

I am pretty sure you do not think that the thousand of dollars that a super rare mint condition vintage baseball card may sell for at an auction or a collector store was the doing of TOPPS.

I have been in this hobby for 4 years now, I must have I have never really seen a LE Dolls being marked at ridiculous super mark up price from the company that actually made the doll. Yes, full sets dolls are more expensive than a nude blank dolls, but full set has more items and thus more value. Often if you add up the (retail) values of each items (when sold separately) such as wig, outfit, shoes etc to the price of the doll you will see that the full sets are not always more expensive than if you were to buy each item separately. (Some companies even use higher quality item for their Full Set LE dolls - example Bambicorny LE and Blufairy(special) LE comes with urethane eyes rather than acrylic eyes thus the eyes by themselves are more expensive)

The perceived value of the dolls vs what the companies charge for the doll has been debated in other thread, but I just want to point out that what each company must calculate in as their cost of goods sold is NOT just resin along. There are many other expenses which are related to running, maintaining and operating a business.

There are many things in life (not doll or hobby related) that are sold at prices over 3 or 20 times its original warehouse price and that is because not that many people buy them and thus for the store to keep open for 365 days or 312 days an year (paying rent and electricity etc) to keep that store in that location so you have a store to walk into and buy the thing that you need once an year; they have to add that OPERATION cost into the item you buy.

We are social animals who like to do things together. As an incentive, companies (again not limited to just dolls or hobby) will always do event only items. This way you have something to remember the event by. I mean, Twilight movies can watched in your local movie theaters after its general releases but there are many willing people who will travel miles (some across the country) to come to the LA world premier and the company will pass out and sell Event Only items to those who are willing to make the effort. I see nothing wrong with that. It is a marketing techniques used by companies across the spectrum of industries, this is not unique to BJD.

I, for one, like this hobby for more than just the dolls. I like the experience (either at meet up or doll conventions), the sense of completion when I go thru many things to get a doll, get the right face up, get the right wig etc to make the doll work out. And if I can buy a LE only doll at the event which I am traveling across the country for to attend with friends, I am more than happy to. Because at the end of 4 years out of the more than a handful of dolls who came and gone from this hobby, it is much easier to keep a doll with memories.

 

Not really, I was always the kind of person ho say "if they have the molds to replicate the doll, why should they do just 300 or just open an ordering period???, If I have a business and I want it to work I will be selling as much as I can.".

So no, I'm not in favor of limited dolls, but I understand it's a strategic move of the factories to aply pression to the buyers ("sell your house if you have to but buy it now or you wouldn't be able to buy it later!!!" kinda' of thing...), overall I think it's abusive, but unfortunately it's not like it doesn't have any commercial sense...

:/

 

I like the idea of Limited cause its something even more special in a world of special things. But I also like how Iplehouse handle it. Yes they have Limited, but you can get customs with the same base (or they have the basic doll) I mainly mention this because one of my dream dolls is a Bichun with the tanned skin and yeah he'll hurt my pocket but he'll be worth it.. (although I would have loved a chance at the original Limited. XD)

 

You do realize that many times the molds for BJDs can't be used 300 times before the molds themselves need to be remade, right? Some might last that long, but many, from the estimates I've heard, don't come close to that. They aren't like hard metal molds used for vinyl casting (which still wear out over time, just after many more uses).

 

I like the idea of limited dolls, and like anavel said the cost of purchasing a limited is roughly the same as purchasing a standard with all the trimmings, shoes, eyes, wigs, outfits, etc.
However as a big do-it-yourselfer, I don't really want own any limited fullsets. I'de rather buy the base doll, with or without the faceup depending, and sell off the clothing. Mostly because limited fullsets just seem to have a standard personality when I look at pictures of them, whereas a standard doll can have a lot of personalities from one picture. But that's just my opinion...

 

I do like the idea of LE, but the overestimation around them annoys me deeply. There are many beautiful standart dolls

 

I just simply wish doll companies made ALL dolls to the beautiful quality and detail as limiteds...ya know? some dolls are pretty sure but once you see a limited doll USUALLLY it cant be compared to the others because well, the others just arent as pretty. luckily fairyland my main brand i stick to, doesnt do that *phew*

 

I don't understand what you're talking about, 'cause in my experience all dolls from the same company, limited and standards are of the same quality and detail.

Unless you mean the outfits you get with a limited? But again, those outfits are not of a higher quality than other outfits you can buy.

 

In companies that offer both LEs and standards that I own, I've seen no difference whatsoever in quality. The outfits or parts or faceup may be more detailed, but the dolls themselves have been the same. And standards don't come with outfits as a rule anyways, beyond maybe undies, so there's nothing to compare to there.

 

A majority of the dolls I've owned or now own are because I loved the sculpt and gave me the feeling that I absolutely want it. It just so happens that the dolls I wanted badly happen to be limited dolls but I didn't buy them because they were limited. I would have bought them whether they were standard or limited. I am not against the idea of limited edition dolls. I think they add a very fun and interesting part to this hobby.

I've had the experience of missing out on several limited edition dolls myself but I shrug my shoulders because I consider that my fault because I didn't have the money saved. I don't shake my fists at the company because it's not their fault, technically its mine for not having the money. I just have to say "oh well" and deal with it. If not, then I'll save up money and buy it second hand on the MP (which I've done for my grail doll).

I feel that if you REALLY want a doll (or whatever), you'll find ways of getting it even if it takes lots of money, time, and patience.

 

I always paid more money on limited dolls cause I missed them - -

 

Right now, I'm not liking the idea of limited dolls. I've discovered a few that were released and became unavailable before I even got interested in the hobby, and now I'm going to have to search high and low to find them on the after-market. /sigh

Not to mention the inflated prices I'll likely have to pay.

I don't mind limiteds that I have time to look at and decide whether or not to order. :P It's the ones that came and went without me noticing that I mourn over.

 

I personally like limiteds in certain aspects, they're 'exclusive' and not many people have it, thats why they have such a strong pull with buying, most people like myself will go "Oh no he's limited edition I better get him now!" its kind of a small unjustified sense of pride owning something thats not mass produced for years, thats one of few. Although most of my limited edition dolls I own, i fell in love with the doll themselves and overlooked the price. Unfortunately the 'exclusiveness' has a downside, that prices go right on up once they sell out because there aren't as many so people will pay exorbitant prices for the doll they cant find anywhere else. I dunno, they don't bother me too much, its both good and bad.

 

Well.... On one side It is nice on the other...
I'd rather say about myself. One of my dream dolls is Que from Angell Studio. She is perfect, really my type. Though I don't think I'll be able to collect the needed amount of money before she would be sold out. On the other hand I would be proud owning a limited, sold out doll, If I'll manage to buy her.
The other problem is non-limited dolls, that become sold after a year or two from the start of release

 

I like limited edition items (and this extends far beyond dolls when I say this). Some items being rarer than others is part of what makes collecting items fun. Look at Pokemon cards for example, do they still sell the original first-print cards in stores anymore? No. They create new editions of the older cards and totally new types of Pokemon and Pokemon cards. Even though they were mass-produced, in some way they are still limited. If every pack of Pokemon cards came with the exact same cards every time and thus none were rarer than others they wouldn't be as fun to collect.

This is true about dolls for me. Say I wanted to collect each of the Volks SDs ever released; If they were all standard edition constantly available dolls it wouldn't be as fun to collect them all. All it would take is clicking the button to add them all to your cart, check out and suddenly you have a full collection, what fun is that? No hunting, no looking for bargains, no real achievement.

 

Think is such a cute question.
I hate it when I miss buying the doll but love it when I do get the doll.

 

I don't mind limiteds so much.. having something rare does in fact give a game/hobby/whatever the case may be a certain 'thrill of the hunt' quality, in addition to bragging rights, something to strive to, get even more excited over, anticipate, and pursue. Despite the annoyances or disappointment that it presents some people, it does add something to the hobby that generally outweighs said disappointment. Of course if you're the sort who does not enjoy 'hunting' things (also not the sort to go about collecting Achievements in WoW, I imagine), you may be out of luck on the subject.. Personally outfits and limited faceups don't do that much to me, I am more sad to see specific sculpts go away 'forever' and sigh woesomely at the surely extravagant prices in the MP.

What I do find extremely aggravating about doll sites is the fact that EVERY OTHER DOLL is sold out on half of them -- sometimes far more than that. Especially if there aren't anymore plans for releases - do I really have to click through all that just to see what I can't have? e.e

 

Limited dolls are smart marketing, so good for the companies that offer them. Eventually I hope I can find the ones I want on the marketplace.