Just when we thought 'this' BJD brand is expensive

I remember being sweaty-palmed and my heart pounding when I spent 60,000 yen on my first . . . and buying my second was even more, with the added stress of having to remove an overseas lock on my cc at an after event

Now I don't think much of spending on a doll. They have to clear 100,000 yen for me to even think of them as expensive! Last year was my buy-a-million-dolls year, so I'm trying to be much more restrained now. I've discovered layaway, which does keep dolls more manageable. I suspect, though, that it's the urethane eyes and higher quality wigs that I keep buying that are really sucking away my money . . .

 

Definitely I'm finished saving for the doll I want that's $374 with the shipping and now I see different dolls but I think they're really cheap. Probably cause I've been looking at way to many SD sized ones and limited editions. XD But those limited ones are way beyond my reach

 

I always wanted a Volks SD13 Syo, but thought he was far too expensive for my tiny paycheck, then I came across Dollshe Bernard, and ended up getting him, and he was almost as expensive as the Syo. I now own an FCS SD13 and wonder how I ever thought Bernard or Syo were so expensive.

 

Cost is relative. Before I found resin dolls, I collected antique dolls and spent far more for them than I have for any of my resin crew, so they seem reasonable to me. The fact that I can play with them, unlike the antique dolls, makes them even more of a bargain.

 

Ah.. to be honest, my family has never had money, and spending on "frivolous" things was always discouraged. My mother even objected to my getting an iPod when I was in college. So... I thought the highest I would ever pay for a doll was my $200 Angel of Dream MSD girl.

And um... I just bought (or well, had bought for me, graduation presents FTW) two Dollzone MSDs at $290 each, and this Christmas I'm asking for money to help me buy a $600 Dollzone fullset SD girl. xX; My family thinks I'm completely insane, but... I love the dolls too much. I just put it in perspective for them... and show them the cost of some Soom monthlies or Volks dolls. XD

 

Oh yes I do..when I saw Pocketfairy for the first time..they cost around 300$..it's the first time I saw BJD and tought..God..how can I have that money..but NOW..I'm saving for a doll that cost 6 TIMES MORE than Pocketfairy..and yes yes I know I'm crazy..

 

Lol that happened a lot when I was shopping for the dolls, so I always look at the price AND what was included along with it, especially wig and eyes. But sometimes those are random, so I ended up calculating in the prices for extra wig and eyes and they ended up costing as expensive as some other dolls, sometimes dolls that is of a larger size. >_<

 

i've felt that too often and it annoys me i never have the money for them

 

My DM Kid Flocke was only a little less expensive than a Volks MSD. And a big reason that I didn't go through Volks was because I thought $350+ was too much- but then I discovered a little thing called EMS shipping fees... quite an eye-opener. She was my first doll, so I had no idea how much shipping tended to be with BJDs.

 

Before I knew anything about the BJD hobby, my daughter fell in love with Halo (Luts Delf Kid Ani) at a doll show. In my ignorance, I though $169 was crazy expensive

 

My first doll was a Volks FCS SD13 Boy. Which means it`s price tag was REALLY up high compared to most other companies at that time. I really didn`t think any other companies were expensive- until I met the Kinoko-Juice Kiki who costs a little too much in my opinionl. She`s a Yo-sd Size, and she costs 90000yen. Now THAT`s the only brand I consider "expensive" at this time, and my main reason being I have never seen a Yo-sd that expensive NEW. But I think that`s about it- I find other companies to be relatively well-priced.

 

Yeah... I just got my Williams boy home the other day. I bought him second hand, and just his head. And he was four digits. O.O It's all good, and I love him and have wanted a Williams ever since I got into the hobby, but -good gravy-... I unpacked him, held the head in my hands and was suddenly terrified of -breathing- on him given what he cost me.

I dunno if anyone else is the same, but for me the cut off is always "Oh HELL no, I am not paying more for something resin sized than I'd buy for myself... that's like, how much less fabric? C'mon now!" I do of course understand the difficulty of sewing the tiny things and therefore the price tag, but man it still hurts.

This has actually frightened me from time to time... see above Williams example. I can't quite believe that a part of brain has said that spending that much on resin is ok. It's not that I couldn't afford it, I even sold a heap of stuff to help pay for him... but dude, it was over $1000... o.o How is that ok?

 

I remember at first when I noticed the prices of these dolls I thought "I will never have the money to buy any of those". But, a month later I already had one at home

I was looking at the "cheapest" dolls at first, but didn´t find any that I liked. So I thought that I will never get a dolly. Then I found Planetdolls Riz, which was a bit more expensive then Bobobie dolls, but I just had to have her. And when I bought her, I thought that it was a HUGE amount of money. But the more you look at the dolls, the more you want them, and the money doesn't seem so huge amount anymore... So for my first BJD (dollmore lilis liv) I payed double amount compared to Riz. And it didn´t even seem so bad

 

When I was orderring my Iplehouse SID Eva, I though she was very expensive... until I bought Volks Madoka Western Style fullset I'm still paying her off. I bought her second hand but she has never been played with and her original eyes are still glued in. I would never imagine myself buying such an expensive doll!!! But I fell so much for her that I couldn't resist it... I'm sure she'll be the most expensive doll in my collection! I'm not planning to buy another doll for this price

 

I fell in love with Glorydoll's Goth Lucy but absolutely gawked at the $720 fullset price... and then later got a Soom Amphibel....... xD

 

I don't *think* I've been in this situation. When I was first understanding these dolls, I do know that I was a little "immature" about how much these dolls had cost. When I first started looking at these dolls, I only knew about Volks, and I thought they were too expensive (and while they're not the most expensive, the dolls aren't my style).

Like I said before, when I started to get really serious about actually owning a BJD, I got a doll around the same price as a Volks MSD (my doll also was an MSD-sized doll). I've realized that I now wouldn't mind spending the amount ask for a Volks MSD.

And my next doll was even less expensive - and he was taller!

My next doll purchase, I hope to just buy a head which will be even less money.

I guess I'm working backwards, lol!

 

I never thought I'd get a Limited doll (not exaclty a company in itself, but Limiteds are expensive by themselves regardless)
Right now I have two on layaway... one second-hand and one direct from a company.

I also never thought I'd get a fairyland or Luts... costs so much! But I am going to pay for my Luts MSD girl next month, and I already have a Fairyland MNF

Right now, I am under the impression that DOD is too expensive for me.

 

Reading everyone's comments, my dolls seem relatively reasonable. Two under the $500 range (one minifee, one custom hybrid SD that I'm currently putting together) and one limited Soom boy (who I only ordered the wig for, and was a got-my-bachelors self-gift anyways). I rarely buy clothes, and I don't have any eyes, wigs, or shoes I've spent over $20 on (though, if more than the one doll start wearing shoes normally, I may buy more shoes).

For me, it's less the dolls themselves and more the things they've spawned. The first doll I bought with a face-up, which after a year (about the value of it for me) it was cleared and I started doing my own. I don't dare estimate what my face-up box, jewelry-making box, fabric box, prop box, and amazing sculpt all add up to. It's the other BIG things that get me. I have two respirators (one extra I keep cleaned for a friend to use if needed) that together are about $50 plus at least $10 per new filter, I've burnt out a "cheap" sewing machine and ended up investing in one as much as the dolls, and though it would really be for my little company, I'm seriously considering a decent new camera at some point.

The one resin bit that gets me is that a few years ago, when the first jointed hands came out, I thought a minimum of $100 for hands even if they were jointed was crazy. What just arrived yesterday that I keep playing with? Jointed hands.

 

No, I always knew these guys would be expensive right from day one-- the secondhand market was sky-high in the summer of 2005 when I first started shopping-- and I knew the dolls I had my heart set on (the early Volks Tokyo Boys SD13s) were LE, already sold out, and selling for $2000 on the aftermarket. So I had better brace myself!

But before I dove into the SD13s, my first doll was an SDCute Arashi, to get my toes wet with a mere $7-800 secondhand. After you get your toes wet on that kind of money, wading thigh-deep through hot lava is suddenly not such a big deal. I paid a serious couture price for a Satoko Ohno repaint once, and that still made my head spin a bit, even on a two-part layaway... but with something that beautiful, once you see what you get for the money, your soul gives a happy sigh and says "oh yes, every penny".

 

I did find myself dragging my heels at the prices when I was trying to get my yosd Hinata (my current most expensive, and it certainly occured to me that I could by a SD sized doll for the price I paid for her), but I knew from the start that this hobby would be quite the expensive venture. With the actual doll though, you pay it once and that's it. It's the clothing that gets me pulled in expense wise (and then I see threads on here where people state they'd never pay more than double digits on any one outfit and I hang my head in shame haha~).