From your point of view, is any BJD worth thousands of dollars?

Holy cats!! Did I read the number of zeroes right one that?

How much did that doll retail for?

 

Saber Alter was about 580-ish when orignally released XD

 

wow...that's one lucky collector. It's like buying a Picasso at the turn of the century.

 

It's hard to say because I initially though all BJDs were too expensive and that I would never own one, now I have.... well, let's just say more than one and I don't regret the expense. I don't care about the resale value to be honest because I buy what I love rather than as an investment.

I think the cost tends to be relative to your financial status perhaps? Right now $1,000s for a doll seems obscene but if I earned a lot more maybe it would seem fine. If everyone clubs together and makes me a millionaire I will do some research and get back to you

 

I was trying to think of it from the same perspective--if disposable income wasn't an issue, would I still think a $12,000 doll was obscene? I'm not sure if I would ever like a doll that much to pay that kind of money for it. At that point you can underwrite a grant for a major public works project. Also, right now my disposable income is pretty high, but I don't think there is another doll over $1k in my future after Cuprit.

 

I am amazed by the fact that when a friend first introduced me to the world of ABJD, I was fascinated by the gorgeous pictures, but even more fascinated by the prices. My initial reaction was, "There is NO WAY I'd pay $600 - $800 for a DOLL, no matter how cool it is."

Um . . . and now I have five. :-\

Today I saw an older LE Volks on ebay going for $5K and I thought, "There is NO WAY I'd pay $5K for a DOLL, no matter how priceless it is."

But, as the above example shows, I've learned to never say never. I still can't imagine paying that much, but only because I don't have that much disposable income. It's easy for me right now to spend, say, $600 to $1,000 on additions to my collection if I pace myself, mainly because $1K on my credit card doesn't look as threatening - if anything, I can pay it off in three monthly payments of $350. But $5K -- wooooo! -- I just don't think I could be at peace with that.

And see, I'm looking at this question purely from a perspective of finances. If money weren't an issue and the doll really resonated with me or there was something really intriguing about it, yes, I might consider it worthy of a multi-thousand dollar investment. (Not too multi though.) I have two nieces. I'd love to pass my collection on one day.

 

Nope. The fact of the matter is that bjds are technically still a popular thing to have and so there is really no such thing as an "antique" or "rare" doll as such. If the doll is hand sculpted perfectly and is 3 feet tall with hand crafted diamond clothes then sure. But there is no reason for a highly produced doll to be over maybe 2000 dollars. Ive noticed on various sites that the Nanoha and Rozen Maiden dollfies are selling for a minimum of about 2500 grand a piece. At the same time, the fact that this is still fairly new hobby and people are still becoming part of it which means that sellers (usually individual) do this because they know some dolls are limited and they know that someone who is new to the hobby that happens to love Souseiseki (or whoeverXD) will shell out the money for the doll because that person must have it.
This reminds me when I saw a kimono on YJA for 180,000 dollars because it was made by Itchiku kubota. It was honestly no where near pretty to me and I realized that even though it wasnt that pretty, someone would pay the money just to say "I own a kimono made by Itchiku Kubota" and nothing more, so it could be a brand issue for the buyer, but always money on the sellers part no question.
My real question is this; would someone who pays that kind of money make it worth what they paid? For instance, is someone going to just buy it and take it around or are they going to let it sit in a case for 20 years to gawk at. The thing is, you wouldnt want to carry that kind of a dollfie around, but it wouldnt do it justice to sit either, so what would one do??
Onto the buying aspect:
One could buy a new car with some of the prices Ive seen dollfies go for and I dont think it wise or right even to ask someone to pay that kind of money for something like this. Even if I were rich I wouldnt personally pay that much because I see people who shell out thousands of dollars on stuff like this continuously as arrogant and show-offish. That doesnt sit well with me. If someone finds a dollfie that they want that they know they will never find again and they have saved for it or it is the one dollfie they must have, that is fine because it shows dedication to one thing and really appreciating it. I know dollfies are expensive and I also know that people have multiple which is cool, their worth the hundreds sometimes. I just wouldnt suggest to go unwisely buying 10 of them at $8,000 a piece
...btw, there was no offense meant to be here. This is my own personal feeling about the matter

 

-Is any doll worth that amount from your point of view?
Well, I guess it depends on the situation.. If there was a doll that I really, truly loved, I think I could manage to make the money to make the purchase... But as of now there is none that to me, are worth it.

-To those who would pay this amount but haven't/can't: What makes a doll worth this amount to you?
For me, As long as I truly cared for, or loved the doll it would be worth it.

 

-Is any doll worth that amount from your point of view?
Only Isaos and FCS dolls. XD And I'm not talking $2000+ here, within the $1000 range. I'm usually not a big spender on dolls, but my exception comes with Isaos (whose sculpt I absolutely love) and FCS dolls, which you can customize right down to the eyelashes. I believe my MSD FCS was about $540 or something like that, but when I got that call and picked him up in the Volks' store in Shinjuku, it was absolutely magical, and still is.

-To those who would pay this amount but haven't/can't: What makes a doll worth this amount to you?
It's all a personal thing - I -say- wouldn't pay any more than $1000 for a doll nowadays, but I don't know what the future holds or even how my income will look like. Maybe I will spend $1000 for another doll again (I doubt it) but I'm not closed to the possibility. For now? I wouldn't even think of getting another doll. XD

 

Said all I wanted to say on this!

 

You know what's not worth money? MONEY! Between inflation, general decrease in the quality of living and fading chances of a happy retirement no matter how much you save, buying a resin piece of true happiness suddenly sounds like a solid investment. I think it's simple. Love doll and got money - buy doll!

 

I think though with most people it's not "love doll, got money = buy doll" it's the idea of going into *debt* that makes a doll no longer worth it. With credit cards and layaway options, sometimes one can be tempted to get a doll they can't actually afford. Certainly a $12,000 doll doesn't necessarily come easily out of most people's regular ol' checking account. To your point exactly, debt is even worse than cash, as suddenly you owe more money than that money was worth to begin with. Our friends experiencing the real-estate crash are learning that lesson the hard way at the moment

 

-Is any doll worth that amount from your point of view? I've seen some truly beautiful BJDs and so I'd say yes, there are dolls worth that amount in my opinion.

-If you have ever bought a limited doll from a second hand market for a minimum of a few thousand dollars, what are the pros and cons of this? And do you worry that it may lose value due to popularity (or lack of) or from typical wear over time? What makes that doll worth it to you? 'While I haven't bought any doll worth that amount, I think that collectibles in general are only worth something if you can find a buyer who will pay that price. Sure you might have a $1000 dollar doll sitting in your closet, but if she's just sitting there, all boxed up, it's not like you have $1000. You can't go to the store with your doll and use her to buy stuff.

-To those who would pay this amount but haven't/can't: What makes a doll worth this amount to you? The craftsmanship and condition of the doll, the detail and quality of any accessories/outfits, and if I could safely afford it without negatively impacting those in my household/family

 

Eh... I had the same thing for the Volks Suigintou... I like the doll and set very much, but she's pricey. I think it'd be a bit cheaper to make my own Suigintou character... But it'd be so much easier to get the Volks one, and she would be of far better quality.

I'm not surprised to see such expensive dolls and they are worth it to me, but personally; said dolls, while very nice and tempting, are an unrealistic goal for meyself. It's possible that in the far future, if I'm still as heavily into dolls then as I am now, I may be able to get one...

 

It really depends on demand, I guess. If there was a rare doll I wanted enough for over a thousand dollars (and I had the money), I would definitely go ahead and buy it, because it's unlikely that the price would go down anytime soon. Otherwise, I would probably never pay that much for a doll if it wasn't my "holy grail" doll.

 

Endless money, said Cicero, forms the sinews of war. That must be why we bjd people are essentially a peaceful lot. Look at what people spend their money on - how much of it can be rationized by need and how much stems from the yearning to fulfil wishes? At least dolls truly can fulfill wishes.

If you can't feed your cat (and we're talking good catfood), then you're spending too much.

 

My dolls make me happy, so as long as I could afford it/no pets or people would go unfed/etc I think that if I really wanted a doll, even if it were pricey, I'd have no qualms over buying it. The only potential issues would be not wanting to 'play' with it because of the price tag, orz. Not that I'm not careful with or adore my guys, it's just that bigger price tags are more intimidating.

 

Hahaha! Buy *pure 24k gold instead! Market value for gold doesn't depreciate like it does with dolls. Meh, depends on what you find value in.

Edit: Market* Value

 

I think, every doll is very special and priceless. They could be more precious than thousands of dollars, because I think there is only one of each doll in the world, although he/she may not be limited. Each owner give a different face-up, clothes, etc etc, so they become OOAK. But anyway, those limited dolls with limited beautiful outfits from famous artists are indeed worth thousand dollars. ^^

I don't have a limited doll yet, but I do plan to have a limited doll, because I happen to like them & they are a limited sculpt ... **sobs** I think when I'm able to buy them later, I think they're very valuable and the price won't be a big problem, as long as I still can save money for them. ^^; There are no dolls that will lose value or the value to go down for me, because as I said, each doll is very special to their owners. They are priceless.

 

Beautifully said.