How much is too much??

For me more than 2000USD is too much for me

 

I’ve had this conversation with friends and family about the price of anime figures before: they didn’t realize that they’re based on hand-sculpted masters and the paint jobs are usually at least hand-finished if not entirely done by hand. Obviously the casting/molding process for PVC and resin are different but the fact of the matter is that we don’t have machines that can fully automate the many delicate stages in creating very small sculptures (like dolls or action figures…) and that adds to the cost.

 

Ordinarily I would say $1000 for SD and $550 for MSD or smaller is my upper limit, provided I could get a good layaway to fit it comfortably into my budget. But when Dollzone re-released their epic mermaid Sawarieda as a uber-limited with a purple skin option, I went over my usual upper end to obtain her. I just made my layaway extra long to accomplish this feat.

 

I collect only SD, and I would probably not spend over 1000 per doll (faceup included, not including clothes, wig, and shoes, not including shipping fees and taxes). I probably could pay more for one doll, but I feel like past that 1000 point, I would be way too stressed to enjoy the doll.

 

'Too much' would definitely depend on the doll. The most I have ever paid was about 1300 USD for the IOS Gankutsuou fullset. That is my favorite anime and my favorite character from that anime, therefore, he was worth it to me. Someone else would look at the same doll and decide that he's not to them. I personally believe that as long as someone is paying their necessary expenses, what they spend on a hobby and what they consider too much is highly subjective.

 

I collect mostly 1/3 and historically my upper budget limit was about 600 usd. I felt more comfortable at 500 and under and preferred 300-400. The most valuable doll I ever had was worth about 800-900 and was brought home due to a series of trades that kept me from shelling out for it all at once

 

I think everyone probably has their own personal limits when it comes to price. I find it hard to consider spending anything over $1000 on a single doll, though I can't say I'll always feel that way because there are some grails I'd like to get for myself one day.

I think as long as you're comfortable spending whatever the amount is and you're within your needs and can afford any expenses you have then it's really not a problem at all how much you spend.

 

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but... I think Volks are overpriced.
*hides*
I should clarify - I'm not talking about the dolls purchased directly from Volks. I think the resale mark-up is ridiculous. There's a head on Mandarake right now. They want almost two grand - just for a head! Too much. Won't pay it.

 

@MaleficentMrsofEvil Losing the lottery and refusing to pay aftermarket/scalper prices is a way to save money on impulse buys! There are some dirt cheap secondhand Volks dolls out there though but they're not the popular ones.

 

I'm definitely looking at more affordable dolls - next year.
I feel like a Volks is almost required for my collection. I need an OG BJD, you know?

 

I honestly think that if a doll appeals to me and is clearly high quality, no price is too high. I think artists have the right to price their work as they see fit, and if the quality matches the doll then a high price is fair. I probably wouldn’t spend more than $5000 on a doll, but I don’t see an issue with a large price tag.

 

Honestly for some sculpts it's kinda wild how high it can go. But I guess if it's a popular sculpt and it's only released for a limited time and there's only so many on the market, the price would be high

 

I'd probably care a lot more what secondhand prices are if I bought full sets or dolls from companies that are super popular, like Volks or Soom. These are the ones that tend to go over $1k frequently. Personally I wouldn't pay over $1k unless the doll was special in some way and I desperately wanted it. (There are a few Volks sculpts I'm interested in, and they seem to all be expensive.)

I've paid $800 for an MSD before, and I never wanna do it again. I'd say for MSD's I wouldn't go over $600 and for SD's I wouldn't go over $800 or $900. Ideally they'd be in the $600 or less range. For MSD they'd ideally be less than $400.

 

This made me laugh lol! I wholeheartedly agree with this. I’m a huge fan of Volks. They were the first ones I fell in love with when I got into the hobby 7 years ago. But I didn’t buy one until just this year. And even then, I bought a head that was custom modded off here on DOA and a body off the Volks USA site. Still cost me about $500, which may be a lot to some, but not as much as some of these limited dolls I see listed for like $2k. The aftermarket is ridiculous, it really discouraged me from the whole brand for a while.

I don’t think I could ever justify spending that much on some limited sculpt for an anime/ character I’ll probably move on from since anime is so seasonal now. I’m not shaming anyone who does…there are plenty of ride or dies for them. But I’ve always questioned the aftermarket for them wondering “Who is actually buying these?” I’ve seen Volks that don’t move for months, years even. I still don’t understand it, as I’ve always felt the high price dashes new people to the hobby. (It’s also my toxic trait to think I can make the characters myself so).

In a way, the friend who says BJD is not worth the price and it’s not art is both right and wrong. Art is subjective to its viewer. If the viewer gives no value to the piece it is ‘worthless’. And vice versa. The dolls have a realistic value monetarily, just based on facts like actual costs and materials, but personal value is left to interpretation. And this usually drives the aftermarkets.

Take two artists who’s materials cost about the same to produce. A beautiful, talented designer’s work that is incredible in every way may only be valued by a viewer to be something like $500….while a urinal signed “R.Mutt” is claimed to be worth $2 million. (I highly recommend researching Duchamps Fountain, as it addresses this very idea of artistic value and what we perceive to be worthy of such definitions. Just me being an ex-art major nerd ).

 

Personally, I like SDs so I do expect to pay out a fair amount however when the price starts to climb near $1000 that’s when I start to dither and really REALLY think on it. Kinda sleep on it a few days and see how I feel about it after some time has pasted. That’s a lot of money for a lux hobby item, no matter how nice or collectible the item may be.