In love with a discontinued sculpt

got my hands on a minifee erda finally! (and another on the way gfvdgdf) looks like FL might be adding onto my list with some soon to be discontinued littlefees...i hope lewi doesn't get discontinued...

 

I'm lucky in that if I find a doll out of my range of availability, I wind up losing interest in it. The only way I could get passionate about a sculpt to the point of watching the secondhand market is if there was a limited event I missed. When Dust of Dolls first produced the Meel, I was obsessed. I really wanted her, so I searched the secondhand market, but after years of not having the money for a secondhand sculpt, I eventually lost interest.

After coming back to the hobby, I discovered the Dust of Dolls Roze Chae in choco resin and fell in love. Secondhand she's...very expensive. Too expensive for me. Luckily there's a preorder for the Roze Chae in a different resin color, so I can at least get the Chae, even if it's not the color I originally wanted. We'll have to see if that'll be enough for me, though.

 

Well, I fell for a discontinued sculpt too -- Saiki, by the sculptor Minawadou. An obscure head sculpt, made by an obscure artist who was active for just a few years in the '00s (early in the BJD hobby) before moving to non-BJD interests. I've been in BJDs for over 10 years but only discovered Saiki recently through owner pics - that's how little-known it is.

The bad news is - Saiki is so obscure that I'll have a hard time finding one, since it's a small artist-release sculpt. The good news is - it's so obscure that barely anyone would want it, so if I DO find one I'll probably be able to buy it without issue.

I'll just have to keep an eye on all the Japanese and second markets, and wait...

 

Sadly all the dolls on my wishlist are either discontinued or limited

It's super heartbreaking and some times I don't cope at all, lol, but then a new day arrives and my hopes for finding them secondhand springs to life again.

About half of my current dolls are secondhand actually, so I know it's possible ^-^

 

Dollzone Merlin! He was one of the first dolls I ever wanted and for some reason, I didn't get him even when it was announced he was being discontinued and I kick myself about it a lot >.< He's the sweetest little grump and I love Dollzone bodies

 

For me that would be Dream Valley's Rah Eagle.

I just love the way his legs bend. And his talons are exactly what I am looking for! His eagle head sculpt is just so pretty and well made.

But I unfortunately missed his preorder. On top of that, he apparently wasn't very popular either, so I've had no luck finding him second hand and I have no delusions about Dream Valley rereleasing him either...

But a person can dream, right?

 

I'm right there with you! Not with DV Rah, but some of the older Muhan sculpts make me want to cry in "wow I should have been in this hobby sooner"

 

I forget about them as I spend my energy in other aspects of my life, and also put up a post in the marketplace. Occasionally I recall that there's a doll that I want, so I search for them in secondhand market, and sometimes I receive responses from my post in the marketplace. I was able to get several elfdoll sculpts that were my grail dolls, as well as bodies this way across the time span of about 5 years. I guess the longer you wait, the more likely those discontinued dolls will come up in secondhand market.

 

Volks Ryou and Ryoma...maybe they'll be available again one day through FCS or one-off...

 

My absolute grail doll was already sold out and discontinued by the time I even found out about them... I've never even seen owner photos from people, so my chances of ever finding one second-hand really seems unlikely. I only really cope with it by the fact that they are 1/3 which I personally find too big and heavy for me. If it wasn't for that I dont know how I'd cope. They will always be my true doll love though, the sculpt and company faceup for them was so perfect.

 

I am a glutton for punishment and often find myself coveting a discontinued sculpt that a BJD artist retired or a doll from a company that no longer does business. I can empathize with everyone in this thread that it can be frustrating and dishearting when one has a specific item on ones wishlist that are difficult to find in the secondary market. Sometimes finding discontinued items takes time and perseverance. By not losing hope and always keeping an eye out for opportunities, sometimes that grail doll pops up when one least epxects it. Thus, it is important to build a connection of doll friends and periodically check online listings on a regular bases. I was able to find a first generation Marmite Sue girl through word of mouth. I always remember that the enjoyment of collecting dolls comes not only from acquiring specific items but also from the thrill of the hunt, journey of discovery, and finally anticipation of getting the doll in the mail.

 

I am in love with Migidoll Ryu and I feel so bad for everyone who doesn't own him He is the best!

 

But you can save up for them, just because they are discontinued/not readily available doesn't mean that there's zero chance of you getting one. Sure you can't choose the time when you can bring them home but that just gives you more time (and no time limit) to save up. It can be frustrating when you want them home asap but patience is one of the things this hobby is built on. It may take longer than you anticipated, years even, but one day there's a doll that was meant for you other there and it'll find it's way home sooner or later

But to answer your question, yes this has totally happened to me (and probably the majority of people in this hobby).
I have had long sold-out LEs and discontinued dolls on my wishlist, I still do have some currently but some that I thought would be impossible have found their way to me unexpectedly and so I have to believe that the others will too someday so I simply save up and keep an eye out for them on the second-hand market.
Posting WTBs on here, Discord groups, Instagram, etc is also a really great way to help find discontinued/older dolls as there might be someone who has one they haven't listed but is ok letting go to a new owner who will cherish them. This community is also full of kind people who may come across a listing for whatever doll you're looking for somewhere and tip you off about them too.

 

For me, it’s Rap1993 rabbit girls and Dust of Dolls Appi Jäma, both have been discontinued for a few years…….
(Lately, every single doll on my wishlist is T__T)
Every time I come accross a Mae in second hand market, she’s already sold and it’s so frustrating
Now that she has announced a new preorder, I can finally hope to get one u_u

For Jäma, she’s also very rarely for sale on the second market, buuuuuuut I finally found one and the seller is ok with reserving her a few days until I get my money so yay !!

 

I have fallen in love with many Scholtz and have been lucky enough to own, but the ones I miss most are the following.
On a strictly structural level is the Blue Blood Dolls. They had perfect seamless bodies that posed super well, there resin was so smooth and the joints were almost invisible as the string never showed. They stood solid and although have two of the girls in SD and MSD size I deeply regret selling all the boys.

On a appearance in that I loved the bodies and the faces it would be the pure body Dollshe with the full heads with caps, not the face plate ones as those were a big mistake to create as the faces tended to pop off and that can ruin A face up quick. But the pure bodies were solid standers and pose great.

On a unique level I miss Bishonen House dolls. The MSD boys and girl were wonderful. Various face plates with cool human emotions and bodies that posed well. The hands could be repositioned by putting in hot water, fingers bent carefully and then cold water to set. I bought extra pairs to do positions like holding an object or giving a peace sign. Sadly Covid and the supply of materials ended these to soon.

Dolls are all unique but some to me will stand out and for whatever reason they can only be found second hand but I had my taste of these and so many more. Hopefully some of you will get the chance to have one of these mentioned.

 

It has happened to me. I'm in love with multiple discontinued sculpts.

They are:
- Pipos Rosie
- Pipos Cheshire Basic
- Pipos Star Cheshire Basic
- Hujoo Freya
- Hujoo Freyr
- FallinDoll Force Fox

I have a FallinDoll Force Fox doll in my Ebay cart and am hoping to purchase him soon!

Edit: Now the Pipos Deer Rudy (27cm) and Pipos Deer Rudy (31cm) are sold out.
Edit 2: Pipos Charlotte III 2021 is sold out!

 

Count me in- searching for my first grail again after 16 years, a Luts Dark Elf Soo (the Minifee version looks too childish for me, face-wise). I couldn't bring her home when I first discovered her because I was a teen with pretty much no money to my name, and of course, now that I'm an adult...she's discontinued. Sigh. At least she was a very popular sculpt, so there are more of her out there- but nobody seems to want to let her go as a result!

It's a bit exhausting to feel like I should be doing More, you know? like there must be somewhere I've forgotten to check, some WTB I've forgotten to bump, something I'm missing in general. Because there's only so much you can do besides just. Wait.

 

Possibly the one bad thing I've found about this hobby is that it's really doubling down into the limited release stuff. I understand why and due to the small nature of the market I can justify it more, but this lead me to leave my previous hobby which operated entirely on this system, a situation that is an absolute magnet for scalpers.
I find it very annoying to have my hand forced into a purchase out of FOMO with no time to really think about it. Stalking the 2nd hand market for something specific (or being at the mercy of chance with a WTB) is exhausting, especially when what I'd want is not ancient molds from defunct companies but something released a month before I joined the hobby and up for a small time window for no real reason but enable this. Sorry for the rant but it grinds my gears a little.

 

I think you are being a little bit unfair to the makers. There are plenty of resons for limited sales periods and I'm pretty sure non of them are intended to enable scalpers. A doll maker only makes money of the initial sale and have no incentive to see somone else resell that doll for a big profit shortly after. If this happens and the doll maker has still not raised their prices to get the potential profits themselves, that's a pretty good proof of that.
Perhaps educate yourself a bit on how BJD are made and marketed, the problems with recasts, the narrow profit margins, the urge for an artist to move on to new ideas and all the other more realistic reasons for limited runs before casting blame. I get that it can be frustrating, but put your blame where it's deserved.
The fact is that the way polyurethane resin is cast makes it a very suitable material for small runs and it doesn't scale up as well as some of the more common options for mass production. It is also a very saurated market with hundreds, if not thousands of doll makers operating more or less independantly, meaning that there is a huge varielty of dolls coming out all the time.
No matter what you do you are going to ocationally come across a doll you like that is no longer in production, but there will always be another doll. And very few of them are actually that atractive to scalpers.

 

I meant to enable FOMO buys, not scalpers. Although this kind of business model is without a doubt enabling for scalpers. As I said the market is very small and niche, so I understand it. I also understand that recasts are also responsible... But it's still a bummer to have to make now-or-never choices on such small time frames.