Do you think limited dolls should be rereleased/restocked by their companies?

In response to the people who think they should be restocked just because they were only recently introduced to BJD: I was in the same boat but then, a couple of months ago found a more gorgeous limited doll that I wanted more than the one I was never going to get so... Hey you never know if you wait you might find one you'll like more.
To answer the question of the thread, no I don't think that limiteds should be restocked. The company choses to make that doll limited, then the doll is limited. If you want the doll so badly after its released go to the marketplace or ebay and wait. There are a couple I would like to have but I'll deal with waiting and if I never get them, oh well. I tried. Maybe I'll get to at least see one irl.

 

Ok, I was proven wrong about limited owners not selling their dolls, and NO, I wasn't whining about not yet having the oportunity to by a pre-sold out limited. I was only stating my opinion, just as the rest of you have done in this thread.

I see your point. Sadly, I must confess that I too, would be beyond aggrevated if that happened to me.

When it comes to buying previously sold-out limited dolls second-hand, what causes the owners to give others the oportunity to buy them? I was so certain that the owners like the dolls too much to sell them...

 

well, it might be they couldn't bond with them as they thought, they could have been to big for the small family the owner was use to, many reason really

 

Any reason you like, from not being able to bond with the doll, the doll being the wrong size, not aesthetically fitting with the other dolls...to serious cash-flow issues and needing one less doll and a lot more money. As much as I adore my limited SDC Kurt, if it was a choice between me losing my house and keeping my limited, he would have to go!

I don't see it so much as 'an opportunity for others to buy [sold-out LEs]', I wouldn't sell my limited edition just so someone else who wanted him badly could have him, I would be selling him because things had got so dire for me that I needed the funds. It's more like an opportunity for the seller than the buyer...because if demand is there, sellers can command whatever they like and the buyers will stump up the money somehow.

 

Also, a lot of people buy limiteds based only on the company photos and only have a very short time to make up their minds on whether or not they like the doll since if they think about it for too long they'll miss out (if they're buying it directly from the company). They take a risk that they'll like the doll, since buying it later on would cost a lot more, and if they don't end up liking the doll as much in person, at least they can sell it for a good price.

Of course the other reasons people have mentioned are also common- needing emergency money, not fitting in with the other dolls, etc. There are also some people who buy limiteds solely to flip them and make a profit. It's not encouraged on DoA but it does happen. And sometimes people just get out of the doll hobby in general and sell all or most of their collection. There are all sorts of reasons why limiteds get resold, though older limited dolls or those in very small editions DO become very difficult to find for sale, and often after a few years they are only settled in with people who know they want to keep the doll permanently.

 

I agree with the OP. They're limited because people pay good money for them and they're rare. I know if I spent a ton of money on a doll last year, and they restocked it for cheaper, I'd be pretty pissed. It'd be wasted money, in my opinion.
I mean, if you really really want a limited doll, there is always going to be someone willing to do a trade or re-sell it, so it's really not too big of a deal. I mean, Unoa Lusis dolls aren't technically 'limited', but it is pretty hard to get one. Especially since I've missed the last like..three pre-orders. -_-;

 

I definitely think that all limited items (not only dolls) should not be re-released or produced regularly.

 

hm... If i'd fall in love for a limited doll, i would love if it was restocked. But this way the doll shouldn't be called a limited.
Maybe they could restock the doll with a different faceup and style or something...

 

Fortunately, I've been in love with a limited doll only once and quite a while ago, but I still can understand how painful it can be. But if company once said that the doll will not be released again, and then still releasing it, it looks like some kind of cheating on those, who paid money for the limited edition. In that case, what's the use of the word "limited"?

 

hum...what I think is as BJD really cannot be kept for a very very long time because of their materials, it is okay to restock them.

 

HUH? I'm confussed. What materials in BJDs make them so they can't be kept long?

 

Maybe dolls like the first coloured Bambicronies which faded dramatically? : /

On a side note, right now if you go into the Dolpa 20 thread you'll see so many people who are just overjoyed to have a chance at Kurumi/Miruku and Kohya/Tohya in their re-released versions. I think you'd have to be a bit of a grinch to see how happy a re-release can make people and still shoot down the idea totally!

 

I'll play the part then, because if i spent a lot of time hunting in the market for a limited, and finally found one, only to get it being re-release it make all my hard work pointless.

it also defeat the point of it being limited also.

 

Oh, am I wrong? As far as I know, the resin will become more and more yellow as the years pass by, even if we never expose them under sunshine or store in a place too warm for resin to keep its color. Well, we can sand the skin to make it white again, but then the resin skin will get thinner and thinner. To me, it means that we actually cannot keep them as same as they were just created. Am I right?

 

Normal yellowing is just part of the hobby though, and can be avoided to a degree if you're careful to keep your dolls out of the sun and if you coat them with a UV protection sealant (like MSC UV-cut for example). Even if they made new dolls to replace yellowed ones, those will eventually yellow too so they'd have to go on making them forever. : /

 

Well, resin won't last forever, but it really depends on the company you purchase the dolls from. If you buy a cheaper doll made from lower quality resin, it has a greater chance of yellowing and degrading than a doll made from higher quality resin. But as far as I know, the way the dolls are made and the type of resin used in their manufacture would make them last far longer than a few years.

On topic, though, I don't personally get offended when a company re-releases a limited edition. It makes a doll "less limited" or "less unique," to be sure, but you still have an original run LE. If they make a completely new line of dolls based on the limited, you still have a limited original--they new dolls aren't always exactly the same as the original LE. I don't feel like a LE would be any less special or unique for me, but I can understand where other people would feel like they'd worked hard for nothing buying a "limited" doll that turned out to not be limited after all.

 

I feel that if a doll is limited then well.... that's what it ought to be. xD;;; There are a few limited edition dolls I want that are completely out of stock, but hey--- that's my loss. The dolls were limited edition, and obviously sold quickly. And I'm sure the owners of those limited dolls are both happy and a little proud they own a rare doll, and who am I to deny them that honor just because I want the same doll they have? No, as much as I may want a discontinued limited doll, its limited for a reason.
Besides, even if you have a 'common' doll, you can customize them endlessly and make them as unique as any limited. ^o^

 

Why is it pointless? You still have that doll that you worked so hard to get, & it's still just as beautiful as it always was. Do you really stop loving your own doll as soon as you see another version of it?

This reminds me of gadget-freaks, like my best friend-- they have to have everything that's brand-new cutting-edge first-release, right now. As soon as there's a newer version of it, the old one is suddenly worthless, and they have to replace it. On the other hand, you have non-gadget-freak people ilke me, who buy an answering-machine in 1995 and keep using it, no matter what else comes out afterwards, because I still like it & it still works for me. Both of us are right. But we each think the other is crazy. ^^

Perhaps it all boils down to each person's tendency to regret. Or to not regret. In general. I never regret money/love/energy I've spent, even after I've stopped enjoying the object or even if it turns out to be a total waste... because it once made me happy, when I needed it, and that makes it worth every penny. :} I hang onto my limiteds, but I don't care if they get re-released-- it's an opportunity for me to have both versions, which is always a good thing.

 

I find it incredible that in a hobby that is supposed to be (at least in my eyes) about having fun and enjoying pretty dolls that so many people are against these pretty dolls being made available to others. The "NO MINE!" mentality of a lot of people, or the majority of people according to the poll baffles me.

If I shelled out the money for a limited and then it was released, well hey, the money's already been spent so there's no use crying about it. Instead why not be happy that other people are going to get the chance to own a doll that has made me so happy? It seems that there are a whole lot of people here who are subtley screaming "me me me, I don't care about anyone else's happiness" and I just find that sad.

 

I have to agree with Onnawufei on this one.

I bought a Volks School Head A about 6 months before Volks started doing American Dolpas and paid a couple hundred dollars more than they started going for. Did I care? Not really. I was happy that one of my favorite sculpts was made availible to everyone.

I just purchased another Limited doll, and was worried that Volks more re-release him again. My only angst was trying to decide between the version that I ended up purchasing, or a newer version - which one did I think I would like better? Of course they didn't end up releasing that limited again, but.. I don't think that it's a bad thing with limiteds are re-released. Sometimes that's the only way someone may get their hands on a particular rare sculpt.

/ramble. Thanks for reading my opinion if you read it all the way through.