if dolls were less expensive...

I'd love my dolls the same and would probably them the same way I do now. (Which is hesitating on every purchase because I question if I truly want the doll. But since I do this with everything, even $2 paint, this is normal for me in general).

I do feel like if bjds were cheaper, more people would be in the community. And hopefully with all the blind boxes that are coming out, maybe more people will join.

 

Im kinda glad that they are not affordable like barbies because I would have thousands. I would be unstopable, to the point where it would get overwhelming. I like to have a small collection because I can give each doll the attention they deserve. Their price also makes them more valuable (not just in the money sense but in the sentimental sense) because I have to save money to buy a ball jointed doll, it feels more like a commitment than a quick impulse buy. There are numerous things I've bought impulsively that I regret getting, but my BJD's have never been bought impulsively and I cherish them.

 

Well it's not only that the dolls got cheaper it's also the fact that now there are collectors who collect for two decades, when it was new collectors were new too the ones who had five back then in the beginning of the hobby now had 20 more years to reach the not unheard 50+, I highly doubt one can reach 50+ in 2-3 years.

 

I wouldn't have more, but I wouldn't love them any less! Would make my life easier, for sure.

 

I think this coundurum is easier to imagine now that there's been the explosion of affordable blind box bjds - I bought three blind box Bonnies and I don't really want more, so I don't think I'd also have tons more traditional bjds even if they were more affordable. I'd probably have started collecting much earlier, though, and perhaps also own some bigger dolls, or swap them out more often, but who knows. The hobby has become more accessible, though, and it's nice to see people getting into it still, and getting crafty with customisations and backstories and what not.

 

Yeah, I think that a special part of the bjd hobby is the uniqueness and rarity of the dolls. They aren’t nearly as common or mass-produced in the same way as barbies. Don’t get me wrong, I love those kinds of collectable dolls too… But I think it would miss the same excitement that we get when we open the box for a doll we’ve waited months for. I also think the wait makes me love the dolls even more. I get to spend a lot more time thinking about them and looking at pictures from other people who own them, which makes me more excited.

 

I think my situation wouldn't change too much, because I'd still want to have few dolls. The elephant in the room is clothes, anyway. There's some real artistry going into good doll clothes, but that's such crazy money sometimes (a sweater I like is $60 and I'll buy it ). Dressing up 4-5 dolls in good clothes obliterates your wallet. Also a ton of waiting cause everything is preorder now.
I need to learn to sew.

 

It wouldn't change much for me now that I know what I like. I purposely got my doll a cheaper body so that I wouldn't be afraid of stains or damage and mods. I love him more on this body than I did on the expensive body because I actually get to play with him now. I feel more comfortable saying how much he cost at this price point than I did when he had the body that cost several hundreds more.

If dolls were cheaper, I would still have just one to spoil. Now, if the clothes were cheaper and more readily available that would be a whole different story...

 

There used to be a few toy and doll shops around here that sold delicate and/or expensive dolls — dolls “for grown ups.” When I was a kid I was so fascinated by the concept of dolls “for grown ups” that I decided that when I grew up, I would have expensive dolls

There are lots of dolls I like of all sorts of different price levels, but part of the draw towards AJBDs were the combination of aesthetic and general price range. They’re harder to get, you can’t really just buy them off the shelf. It feels special knowing that a doll was either made specifically for me and my order, or if purchased second hand, that it’s rare somehow.

That said, I do love the customization of BJDs, and that’s another major draw towards them. For that I think I would still very much enjoy them if they were cheap, but if they were cheap, I don’t think they would have satisfied that desire as much to have dolls that were meant for adults.

 

Assuming resin BJDs cost the same as a Barbie doll, but everything else about them stayed unchanged (no dip in production quality, same preorder times)...

I'm sure consumerism would get the better of me: I'm usually pretty frugal, but I'd likely be tempted to be more impulsive and less reflective when buying dolls, especially if the doll cost, say, $50 but took 3-6 months to make. It's easier for me to go "oh, why not, let's try this one out", and shovel $50 mindlessly into continual preorders without stopping to wonder about it; I won't be so carefree if the doll costs $500! Then when I have them in my hands, I'd probably treat them as disposable and expendable and not value them as much, and might end up going into a revolving door buy-and-sell cycle to find the dolls I want (instead of thinking about it before buying). In the end, I'd probably leave the hobby. I'm not into the "collecting" aspect of any hobby, if I got sucked into it I usually end up frustrated and will react by completely cashing out and swearing to never to return. Because I didn't invest much of myself into the dolls, it won't cost much for me to drop them.
Also, if such cheaper dolls got damaged, I'd be more likely to source a replacement part, even replace the entire doll, instead of focus on repairing and upkeeping what I have.

Price isn't everything of course, but the fact is, the high cost of resin BJDs matters and does influence my view of them -- because they cost me a lot, I value them more and attach more significance to them. It also means I continually pause and reflect on how I'm spending money and what that says about my values, because so much is at stake -- which is good, I want to personally cultivate this sort of mindful use of money and valuing my possessions. And to be completely honest, I like that resin BJDs are valuable dolls with a high monetary bar of entry, this "luxury" aspect was part of their initial attraction to me.

I think the high price has benefits: it keeps me from falling into consumerist patterns, compels me to be more reflective and thoughtful about my collection, handle them with more care, and focus on life-cycle upkeep instead of treating them as disposable or easily replaced. I don't think I'll view dolls so mindfully if they cost 10% of their current price.

 

I suppose it is natural for us to place higher value on our more expensive possessions. I think part of that could also be attributed to the process before the purchase though. If you’re spending a couple hundred on a doll as opposed to $20. You’re probably going to only get dolls that you completely love. And in the time it takes for you to save up/decide on the purchase, you already start becoming attached to the doll. As for me personally, I would most likely have more dolls than I do now. But I try and be intentional with my purchases, so still probably not more than 3-4.

 

I would definitely have 100+ naked and blank dolls if the price didn't keep me in check. Not a single one would be finished!

 

After thinking about this a lot. I think it would be about the same, maybe about ten or so more because of easier impulse buy, but not as much as I would have first imagined it to be.

The reason I would gravitate toward BJD's regardless of price is their larger size and versatility. My MSD collection is pretty much finished, I have one boy wig and set of clothing in that size, and I will probebly get one more ¼ doll to go on my shelf just to complete the collection of that size. Even if I find one extremely cheap on the market after that, I don't really want anymore dolls that size.

For the YOSD and smaller, I feel that I have all I need. They line up perfectly on the small shelf above my desk, and I have seen quite a few at fairly low prices, and I just pass them up. I think even if the price was to go down to Barbie prices I would not get anymore. Sometimes it's tempting when an instock doll drops to a very low price, but so far I haven't caved in.

I am thinking about he OT Blind Box dolls. They are at a very low affordable cost. The can pretty much be compared to high end fashion doll prices. I bought a couple of the ⅒ ones out of curiously, a boy and a girl, and now I'm done with that, and one impulse cat-tv ⅙ doll, that should be arriving this week. As cute and as affordable as they are, I just don't see myself pouring money into them. Just like how I have Monster High and Barbie on my shelves, but don't actively seek to buy any of those anymore.

Would I have a few more of the SD dolls then I do now? Probably a few, but it wouldn't be a huge amount. I buy them for story purposes and if they were at a low price, I might grab up enough to complete a lot of the character roles in the back of my head that may never come to light, but I don't see that being more then about ten dolls. Then I would probably just stop and use the dolls that I have.

It's a bit like my OT American Girl dolls my goal was all the Historical dolls and their friends (completed), and all the GOTY dolls (almost completed, but on hold for now) and I don't want anymore of those once the collection is complete.

I would like to think that once my character roles are filled, I don't really need to buy anymore, regardless of price, because that would be all the BJD's that I needed to complete the set that I have in my mind.

Of course I have no way of actually knowing this. I guess I'll see how my BJD collection looks in about five years, and if I have more then ten more dolls, I'll know that I was wrong.

 

I have no doubt that they wouldn't be as special to me if they were as cheap as a play line doll, because I've already experienced this with the blind box BJDs/MJDs. I bought bunches of those little dudes, and I'm already sort of regretting it now that I have so many "real" BJDs. Some of that is more related to their size (I'm finding I don't like dolls to be that small) than anything else, but inevitably, anything that can be easily acquired in bulk is going to run the risk of being over-consumed and underappreciated. If it's cheap enough, I can "buy now, think later", and that's not gonna end well for the dolls.

There would be a few that rise to the top of the Favorites List, of course, because I'm sentimental like that, but there would be a large number of them that I don't care for at all. Worse than that, I may start to resent them because of the space they're taking up, and I'll be in the position of having to get rid of them, potentially not very long after acquiring them, and if they're too cheap, I can't be bothered to sell them (whereas with a big expensive art doll, I am definitely going to want to try to sell).

At the "Work of Art" prices BJDs currently command, I'm compelled to treat them exactly as I would a OOAK painting or similar. Not something I buy without seriously considering where it's going to be placed in my home. As much as my wallet screams when companies keep putting out amazing dolls, I'm actually glad to have that barrier to entry, and it's refreshing to not be able to so easily fall into over-consumption. It's too easy to do that in pretty much every other part of my life. Wouldn't want to see it happen here, too.

 

I've bought very slowly over the years, almost always on layaway, to keep my payments manageable. And today I have quite a good sized collection. However I’ve always had a hard and fast rule of “no character, no purchase” and I’ve stuck to that over the years. So no, I don’t think them being cheaper would change my collection. And because all those original characters developed in my mind slowly over time, I don’t think I’d have amassed my collection any faster if they were less expensive either. Creative thinking takes time. Then there’s the aspect of space: I’m just not one of those “line ‘em up on a shelf and call it a day” collectors. While that’s perfectly acceptable of course (and I often wish I could do that) I’ve got to fulfill my character ideas by placing them in artistic displays which takes a lot of space. In fact I’m currently full, so if a new, fascinating character comes along I’ll have to repurpose or sacrifice one of the dolls I already own to make room.

 

I think it would only change for the positive. I look at the little blind box BJD's and I think many of them are cute but I tend to like maybe 1 or 2 per thing and rarely bother buying them unless I know I'm getting that specific one and doing that isn't too annoying. So I own exactly one blind box BJD.

When it comes to proper full resin BJD's I think I'd be much more willing to take a chance on a doll that I might love, than I am currently. Because £50 isn't too bad if it doesn't pan out exactly the way I want, as opposed to £200 or more. I don't think that would change my specific tastes at all, because even now I don't jump on dolls just because they're cheap if they don't fit my particular aesthic.

The other side of that is that I think I'd also be much more open to creative modding if doing that didn't risk mucking up an expensive doll. I mean I'd still have anxiety about it, but chopping up a Monster High doll isn't as nerve-wracking as doing it to even a cheap BJD.

Which is not to say I don't understand why BJD's are expensive, but I got into the hobby despite the expense, not because of it.

 

I think I'd still have just as many, if not more, but be better off financially and worse off mentally. I would be so overwhelmed and in crisis all the time over my numbers and what to do with them all, and it would be too easy to fulfill that high of 'new doll' all the time. Not saying for sure I'd fall into that, but it's a definite possibility. That said, I'd also be more inclined to SELL more often, knowing I could afford to rebuy again if I had regrets.

I also think I'd be more likely to get fullset dolls if the prices were low, as I mostly avoid them due to price and my fear of damaging them and 'ruining' the fullset. But I've learned in general to just not get fullsets or dolls with body blushing because I like to hold and play with my dolls, not display them. Price is only one factor in that.

I would definitely have gotten a Volks Williams waaaay sooner if prices were Barbie low. But overall I'm glad prices are what they are. I think the dolls are worth it, with how they are made and the amount of work and love that goes into them. I would always wonder what the catch was if they were super cheap..

 

This is a tough question for me to think on, and super interesting. I think I might have a few more, if only because I would have been far more likely to impuse buy at conventions and such (well, I already have done that twice anyway).

But I think about the Monster High dolls I have, and the fact I've tried to keep myself from getting way too many because I customize them... and I don't want to overload myself with future projects before I've finished what I've got. I'm similar in some ways with BJDs, because I'm very into the customization side of the hobby. It's not practical to buy more and more and more of them, regardless of cost, if they'll sit around without wigs or clothes or faceups, you know?

I also agree with a lot of comments here that the price adds to my perception of value in a way... Which I have mixed feelings about, but that feels like another conversation entirely! That said, I think for the most part I would love all mine just the same, because I bought the dolls I did because I was absolutely sure I would love them. (Maybe if they were cheaper I'd have a few I didn't love as much?)

 

I would probably have the same amount of doll that I have now, but I would definitely spoil them more with more clothing and accessories / dioramas!

 

Good question, I feel like if the hobby were like Barbie, it might not be as fun since the idea of fewer dolls is kind of the game for all of us collectors to try to find that doll. If it were like Barbie, the hunt would be similar but not as creative as the hobby is now.