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

Is any doll worth [thousands of dollars] from your point of view?
This is a subjective question. I suppose so, if the doll is "OOAK" or many additional supplies/accessories are included in the sale. However, I personally am not interested in the acquisition of a doll that exorbitant in price (to me, it seems that a doll with that gratuitous a price tag might be a tad ostentatious, but that's a highly opinionated statement...). I prefer simple, elegant dolls that are easily customizable and ready to be modified. I'd not feel inclined at all to modify or otherwise customize a doll with that extraneous a price, though that wouldn't deter me from purchasing the doll secondhand.
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?
Inapplicable, regarding me. However, were I to procure a limited or expensive doll via a secondhand marketplace, I'd hope the price would be exponentially lower than a doll I'd preorder. This is not always the case, but... Were the price reduced due to passage from owner-to-owner, and the time elapsed from the creation of the doll, I believe that'd be considered a pro. Another pro would be the increased likelihood that the doll had been modded/customized, thus rendering it "OOAK" (assuming a doll that expensive is likely already limited/considered OOAK), and it is also likely certain small items either condusive to BJD maintenance or intended for BJD use (i.e. eyes, clothing, wigs...) would be included in a secondhand sale. A con: yellowing, regardless of uniformity. Moreover, it is considerably more likely the item in question may be damaged. Damage may be minor; it may also be moderate to extensive. Regardless, the sale value of the doll will be reduced. As far as popularity is concerned, does it really matter? If you're committed to spending thousands of dollars to attain a doll, its "popularity" as a sculpt is probably not an influencing factor. Nor should it be. If you truly have an affinity for the sculpt and have the fiscal means required to obtain it, go for it if you feel compelled. It's a lucrative exchange for the purveyor of the secondhand item, and worth it to the buyer. And, since I have never felt the inclination to reserve or accrue funds to purchase such a doll, I can't honestly answer the last increment of the question, because my answer wouldn't be considered relevant or valid.
To those who would pay this amount but haven't/can't: What makes a doll worth this amount to you?
Inapplicable. However, let's say there is a hypothetical doll I am interested in acquiring. Let's assume it's, oh, say, one-thousand-eighty or so. I'd spend much time simply analyzing the doll, researching the company who promulgated and is thus selling the sculpt. I'm frugal (which makes BJDs kinda a hard interest to sustain, fiscally), so I'd really have to be swayed by the doll/company to even entertain the notion of allocating such massive funds for this. If the sale included a full-set (clothes, eyes, face-up, shoes, and generally one or two other accessories of varying size and use), that'd be a plus in my book. Oh, and this should seem apparent--the sculpt would have to be pretty dang appealing to me. Like, drop-dead gorgeous. And it'd help if the default face-up was high in quality (though I'd probably wipe it anyway--not a default face-up person. This creates a juxtaposition if you read my aforementioned posit regarding customization/modification of a limited or really expensive BJD). In addition, the company's customer service and BJD quality would have to be outstanding. If this doll was not meticulously, ingeniously, and ornately casted and adorned, I'd feel pretty ripped-off. Hopefully, the doll would assume a very high position in my favorite-dolly hierarchy. I certainly wouldn't want such a pricey doll to become erroneous. That'd really piss me off. I hope I don't seem too pretentious or anything--I'm just not interested in the acquisition of something so... highly priced.

 

I'm sure the dolls that sell for a few thousand dollars are "worth" that much to some people because of their rareness or the materials their made out of, but personally I would never spend that much money on a doll. It's not worth it to me because of the time and effort it would take to raise that amount of money when you can get a different doll for a much lower price and you can still enjoy them just as much.

 

I personally do not think that any doll could truly be worth thousands of dollars. I would never spend that.

 

Yes I do think that a doll can be worth that much and even more.
Would I spend that much no, well at least not on the doll alone.
If painting and sculptures can go for millions of USD, £, or € then
BJDs especially limited and rare dolls with a say only 50 pieces released
can definitely sell for at least $1000 usd, at auction. Its really the customer
that sets the price tag.

 

If you really want it, and there's one way to get it, the thousands can rack up fast. I just paid off the bills for last month's jaunt onto Y!J, after having to airlift a Dolpa-event-only SD17 Shiro out of Japan by way of a shopping service.... Once you pay off the fees, commissions, and extra shipping, that doll's already-high base-price starts to sound like a bargain! Even though the price I paid was high, it was reasonable compared to the rest of the market. (And this isn't a doll who's going to get any cheaper any time soon. The last one of these guys I saw on eBay was up to $3300.)

 

So...I've already answered this thread, but that was last year and my answer has changed. At the time, I said I'd NEVER pay thousands for a doll and that I regretted the $500 I did spend once....

But now, I want a grail doll. Very few were ever produced and he has been out of production for 4 years. It was a handcast doll....the mold, as it was, does not even exist anymore. (It has been modded to a current sculpt, which I own)

I know the chances of me finding one of these dolls is almost zero. I've only found one owner of this doll, ever. I think I WOULD pay $1000 to own this doll....completed, that is. He would have to be a hybrid, as the company only made heads at the time and their resin has since changed. No body was ever made by the company for this doll.

So...I retract my earlier statements >.>

 

For ME personally, no. I wouldn't spend over 500$ for a doll, honestly. It's just me. But if somebody else does, I don't see an issue with it =)

 

Yes an item is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it, and a thousand dollars or two, or three is really not that much money in this day and age where other luxury items easily cost the same and much more. I actually spent close to $1000 on my very first doll and didn't regret it. As far as 'investment value', well I'm looking for a new computer and to get what I want will cost me $2000.. to get what I really want would cost $5000, and the resale value of those will drop drastically over a year or two, But it's still worth it to me. If I really love it the same is true for a doll that might not be valued at as much money in the future.

 

This! In my eyes no doll is worth thousands of dollars and I would never spend that, even if I could. But I have absolutely no problem with people who spend that much on dolls

 

After paying $1000.00 plus for a doll in my words I can say no. I don't think they are worth that kind of money. The only reason that they get so high in the first place is because people like us who will pay that money to have it. Don't get me wrong I love my dolls, but that is all that they are is just dolls a toy. I am the person that I am because I like many different dolls, not just BJD. And yes I have a limit on how much I will pay for one of them too.

 

I don't think it should be worth that much money. I dislike the concept of money (But so does everyone) and I can say whole heartedly, no doll should be worth that much. People put high prices on things due to quantity, brand, and demand, but if you look at it from a logical point of view, it's pretty much just resin. And that better be some damn high quality resin to be worth at least a thousand dollars mixed with diamonds or something.

 

You forget the time put in to make that doll. I think someone is allowed to get paid for working hard, don't you?

 

I'm going to agree with Silk that people should be paid properly for their time - It can take a few hundred hours to sculpt the master of a doll, then a working day or so to make the junk moulds (Discounting the number of re-tries it might take, due to bubbles or other problems), then a day or so to make a cast in the junk mould, then anywhere from a few hours to a few days to refine the copy, then a couple of days to make the "good" mould (again, keep adding days every time you make a mistake in the mouldmaking process), then about a day for every individual doll you want to make (again, not mentioning the times that you mess up when pouring the resin, wasting expensive and non-recyclable materials and losing time), and another mould-making session every few casts since the moulds DO wear out quite quickly... It takes a lot of time to get a doll from idea to production.

And all of thoe materials cost money as well - Silicone is expensive and not reusable, so every mistake is money down the drain. Likewise resin, and they're both fairly toxic in their uncured forms, so you might want to invest in a ventilation system, or at least a good respirator. They also both go out of date quickly, so if you don't get them used up, they're just dead money. And disposing of them in large quantities, legally, is an OSHA nightmare. Also expensive.

On top of that, by this point, all you've got is a stack of dolls in a naked pile on your kitchen floor. After this, you need a webmaster, hosting, a supplier for wigs. clothes and eyes if you want to sell fullsets, maybe someone to do face-ups for you, boxes, advertising, dealers to find and pay... There's a lot of work that you don't really see.

Even if you paid everyone involved only minimum wage (In a country that has decent wage provisions and a cost of living comparable to the UK or Japan, which are the places I'm most familiar with) that's a lot of hours of work that you'll have to compensate people for. When you consider that even the most popular dolls probably don't sell very many units (does anyone release figures for how many of each doll they've sold? Can any dealers chip in on this one?) the cost of each unit is probably still going to be influenced by the cost of sculpting the thing in the first place for a very long time. (And this assumes that the sculptor is an employee who loses all rights to the sculpt, rather than a contractor who sells reproduction rights on a unit-by-unit basis).

And finally;

I actually really like the concept of money - I like not having to find a baker who wants English lessons every time I want a loaf of bread. These little tokens to let me defer getting things in exchange for my services are really useful!

**

EDIT: To answer the original question - Yes, I think that a doll could be worth thousands of dollars. I'd not be able to pay that (as much as I think that a doll could be worth that much, I could never justify to myself spending a non-negligible amount of my money on toys, when I've got financial commitments elsewhere) but I wouldn't look at a ten-thousand dollar BJD and sniff and say "Well, that can't be worth more than a few quid because it's just resin!"

 

You're not just paying for the resin, are you You're paying for the expertise of the artist and you're paying for the time it took them to physically create the doll. Everyone deserves to be paid for their work.

No artist is going to sell a BJD purely at the cost price of the materials. There wouldn't even be a BJD to buy if the artist hadn't spent hours making the doll then more time refining it and even more time creating the master, moulds and starting junk casts.

It's highly unlikely I would ever spend more than $1000 on one single doll, but if other people do, that's really none of my business.

I would hazard a guess that dolls priced at $1000+ are mainly on the second-hand market and are mainly LE or discontinued dolls with high desirability. Companies very rarely charge $1000+ for dolls unless they are LE fullsets - if you selected all of the options for an Iplehouse Bibiane she would cost you $1060. If you just wanted the doll by herself she'd be $600.

It's not the company that sets after-market prices, it's the consumer. If everyone refused to buy dolls for $1000 when they originally cost significantly less, pricing trends would start to change. I don't think you could ever expect an artist or company to sell a doll at cost price. They are running a business after all, and should be able to expect some profit.

 

There have been quite a few limiteds I've wanted and still want a lot, but I'd never spend over 1000$ on one doll...limited or not, fullset or not. My personal limit is currently 520$ (which is the cost of my most wanted basic doll) but I'd go up to 600$...maybe. But not more than that. Except if fullset, but still, not over 800$ for that either >.<; And even if I'd get a doll at 800$, I'd probably get it on layaway u3u;

 

They're worth what people are willing to pay for them.

 

I wouldn't pay $1000+ for a doll, but the value is really decided by the market- if people are willing to pay that much, then yes, the doll is worth that much.

 

-Is any doll worth that amount from your point of view?
At the moment, one is, he's a Limited Edition from SOOM and he is my absolute dream doll at the moment. He is just PERFECT for one of my dolls, its exactly how he is in my mind. Just need to give him the right eyes and hair color etc... I guess it's also something else for each person, because one is more involved and 'in love' with one or multiple dolls then another.

-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?
I never bought a sceond hand doll yet so i don't know yet. For the SOOM i mentioned in the last question, it is highly possible that he will be a second hand doll because he is not available anymore on the original website/company. Depending on damage, yellowing, if it's the complete set or just the doll, etc... maybe it will change the price a little, but since i REALLY want this one.

-To those who would pay this amount but haven't/can't: What makes a doll worth this amount to you?
He is THE perfect fit for one of my oldest and most precious OCs, i've been RPin for years and some OCs aren't meant to last long and others go on for years. This one is around 5/6 years old by now i guess and i still RP with him. He is a strange fellow but i love him and even my best friend fell for this guy. I guess it also depends what story or thought lays behind a person for a doll.

-To those who would not pay this amount, even if you did have the money: Let's just pretend that your dream dolly is a limited going for a few thousand, why wouldn't you be willing to pay this amount?
I'm going to answer this anyway...i'm saving up for a drivers license and for possible emergencies. In the past i've had SO much money problems and i'm drowning in bad luck, so that might stop me. My life/world/problems around me. I'm not over reacting what so ever, my best friends and boyfriend will agree to this because they know parts of what happens or happened to me. Though, sincei just live once and i want to live a happy life.I hope someday to have a child that also will fall in love with BJDs, then they will stay in the family and otherwise i hope she or he will find a good new family/house/owner for them when i pass away.

 

as has been said here already weather you buy a doll, plane or train it's worth whatever someone is willing to pay. If I had the money to work with and it was a doll I really loved I might pay what it cost. That's a tough one LOL

 

I'm a little split on the situation.

On one hand: These dolls are made with excellent craftsmanship an have so much time and effort placed into them that it's almost unimaginable. It make take months or even over a year to get everything just perfect, and then again that may only be one doll. If a company has to churn out hundreds of dolls, there leaves a lot more room for error and loss of funds. It seems like an expensive and time consuming process. Anything with that much effort placed into it has to be worth something right? If anyone of you created something that took all of this time/effort/money/ materials etc. you'd probably want your money's worth if you were trying to sell it. It's only fair, although I do wish they were a bit more affordable. Sometimes with affordability, comes a change in quality and diversity among the dolls. If you only charge $20 for a product, it can't cost you more than that to make! If people want fancy dolls with unique sculpts, colors and add-ons, they have to be willing to pay for it.

On the other hand, as a consumer I don't like the high prices, no one does, but if there's a doll that really speaks to you, then you may have to fork out the cash. I've had the feeling of seeing the perfect doll equated to that feeling of elation a girl gets when she finds the perfect wedding dress. You've fallen in love with the doll and you simply must have it! If you can't duplicate that feeling with a less expensive doll and have the money to throw around, then I personally think that it's worth it.

If you're like me and most other folks, who actually has a budget, then you may want to reconsider buying such an expensive doll before your wallet starts to cry. Love of dolls aside,your financial well being comes before dolls. I've heard of people going nearly bankrupt just to get a doll! In that case, I would never spend over $1000 or anything out of my price range. If you don't have it, you don't have it.