Only allowing yourself to buy "cheaper" dolls? Part II

reading this threads makes me realize...how i've spent so much for dolls!!!!!! omg!
im not rich....the reason why i bought my dolls is a friend told me...YOLO! yup... you only lived once...so i makes myself happy and bought the dolls!!!
i only bought the dolls i love, and not so many company could give me sculpt and beautiful dolls i want
so eventhough i dont have much money...im spend my save for $500 doll

 

I only buy the supposed: "cheaper" ones because they fit my aesthetics and I like the companies I buy them from. They're affordable and I love the service. I love Resisnoul sculpts so I have two RS dolls (one still on layaway. XD; ) I love Obitsu so I have an Obitsu SD head hybrided to an MSD body...It's my tastes seriously. If I could I'd get my dream dolls (DC Bella head on Magical Angel body) (Dollzone Brant) (Soom Heliot) but for now...I'll get the ones I really love and can afford.

I know most people are like: "If you really want it, save up for it." but for me...That's just really hard to do.

 

Ahhh first congrats for your wedding, I think cheaper dolls can look amazing with the right styling and face up etc. The dolls I would love are the Resin Soul Mei, Bobobie Sprite, Hujoo Sara, Island doll Amber and Angel of Dream Huxiang. These are the ones I could realistically save up for (me being a poor student with hardly any money). Sometimes, putting the work into making a cheaper doll look a million dollars is often more rewarding! Don't be disheartened by the more expensive dolls!

 

Recently, I have realized that many companies have affordable dolls, as long as they are on the smaller scale. I'm aiming for smaller dolls, and I'm happy that they are all "cheaper" dolls and still from great companies!

 

I'm still looking for my first doll and the price of all of them means that I won't be buying any for I think at least a few months, maybe even more. But I don't want to buy a sculpt that I won't really, really love, and that's why I'm still doll-less. The dolls I really love are about 500 dollars and I just can't justify that right now. But I also think if I bought cheaper ones then I'd convince myself that I was saving money by buying a cheaper one which would allow me to buy more stuff for it if you get me, and I think it woulkd probably work out the same :S But I do tend to also prefer the smaller dolls for aesthetic rather than financial reasons

 

After I bought my first doll (LTF Bonnie) I was very devastaded of the money loss... She cost me near 500 euros including custom fees.
That is damn much money for a tiny (1/6) sized doll! >_< After I bought her I decided to buy cheaper dolls in the future.
It's very expensive to be in this hobby when you live somewhere where custom fees are gigantic!
The cheaper the doll the less you need to pay custom fees.
I will try cheaper companies for sure. I'm sure I will keep buying tiny (1/6) sized dolls - I like them a lot!

 

I've got two dolls at the moment, due to the description they are "cheap" dolls since they are both Hujoo dolls.
But I'm actually in love with them, I prefer the 1/4 and smaller ones over the 1/3 since I usually find them to big (which my wallet really enjoys)
I think you should just buy a doll you fall in love with, and if it is either an expensive doll or a cheaper one it doesn't matter, as long as you love him/her!

 

When I started this hobby I was ready to buy a cheaper doll, just because these dolls are (all of them) expensive more or less. Then I decided to buy my first doll Fairyland Littlefee DES as limited fullset because I love the doll, its' make up and clothes so much. Then the price wasnt the most important thing anymore... :P With that price what I paid it is possible to buy 1 or 2 cheaper MSD-sized doll, but I decided to buy that one I loved. After my first doll I have bought 1 cheaper MSD and 1 more expensive MSD. I think the first criterion is the whole doll (face, body, make up, etc...) when someone is looking for a doll to buy. If the price is too high there is always the second way to find a doll by looking for the cheaper ones and think if could find a cheaper that is very similar than the more expensive one.

 

I think that the cheap dolls can be loved and loo just as great as the $1000+ dolls, it all depends on wig/eyes/face up and such. (It's lie taking Eliza Doolittle and maing her a lady, even though she's a street urchin.) For me, I try to limit myself to the more expensive dolls--like Iplehouse. Their product is beautiful but when I have bills it's hard to justify spending that much. For me, it's if the doll fits the character. If I find a less exensive doll, and it's right for the character, I'll get it.

 

I am in love with my Mirodoll girls, and if anything the amount I spent has made me feel more comfortable.. if they were $700 I might not have felt as comfortable customizing and getting comfortable with them as I have. There are a few higher price head sculpts floating around that I may ogle, but at the end of the day I feel satisfied with my current family.

 

I am definitely more likely to buy a cheaper doll, in the long run -- they are easier to save for, and easier to convince myself they are worth it. However, a stronger force is how much I am in love with a doll. If I see it and absolutely fall in love with it, I am willing to save up the money to buy it. I just put a $145 BJD companion who is only 2-inches tall on layaway, even though I thought I'd never spend that much on such a tiny thing, just because I saw him and couldn't stop thinking about him.

 

I currently have a nearly $700 Volks FCS sitting next to a $150 Bobobie Ariel. Do I love him more because he cost nearly five times as much as she did? No. Is he better quality? Not necessarily but she has needed to be restrung since the moment I took her out of the box. He, on the other hand, is perfectly strung, but resin wise I feel no difference between them. Most of my early dolls were DZ, back when they were under $200 a doll, now however their prices have gone up. I didn't buy them because they were inexpensive. I bought them because their sculpts spoke to me. I do not buy based on price but based on the sculpt. I, at times, happen to like less expensive sculpts. No doll is cheap, but yes there are those that cost less than others, but once you start figuring in things like faceups, eyes, wigs, clothing, no doll is cheap. Even the most inexpensive ones can run you into the thousands if you are not careful.

What I am finding most interesting in reading through this thread is that many people commenting about not buying SDs because they cost more. Lately however in looking at the sales threads for Yos and even minis I have seen dolls selling for nearly twice what I just spent buying two SDs. Granted I got lucky that both were selling for what I call way under market value. Truth is though just because a doll is smaller does not always mean it is less expensive, especially in the after market.

 

Well, I like to buy least expensive doll cause it won't bug my mind that I spend lot of $$$ for a doll, especially if my family knew it, it would be doom...
But then, the cheapest SD doll is something you can't call rwally cheap too. If normal people hear that you buy a $200 ++ doll, they might think it is outrageous price, so yeah, I'm sticking with least expensive doll, but a beautiful one too

 

The concept of 'cheap' varies because when I started in the hobby the only doll you could buy for $150 was a tiny. A $400/$500 SD for me is considered cheap.

My 1st doll was 600usd with faceup and clothes and shipping (I used to ear my student loan in british pounds so that helped a little), so quite a bargain. I said to myself then I would only ever buy dolls around 500. My 2nd doll a few months later was my dream doll, a Dollshe SA Saint, and he was 700 :/ It really didn't last long for me to break my own rule. For the following years I kept my dolls around 500usd, until maybe 2 years ago when they went up to 800, then 1500. u_u;;;

My cheapest doll is a Mystic Kids Milo, $350, i bought last year and I got him because I love the sculpt not because he was cheap (but cheap helps!). I dunno... to me having many cheap dolls but none being your dream doll is quite sad. If I could not afford my dream doll, I would save until I could, buy on layaway... anything.

There are many dolls I like out there, but not enough for me to part with $800. If they were $400 I would definitely get them, so I suppose a high price is a deterrent for me.

 

i also thought about buying a cheap doll to practise face up. Mirodoll wind maybe?

 

When I decided to take the bjd plunge, I told myself I'd save for my "perfect" doll, no matter how long it took. I wanted a 1/6 girl, with a face that was not sad, but not happy, more wistful. So I spent months looking at sculpts, ignoring prices, by saving all the pics of dolls I loved with only the company names. As a newbie, the names didn't really hint at prices for me.

When I picked my sculpt, I was quite shocked to discover that she (being a 5Star Doll) was comparatively cheap. I was worried about quality and tried to talk myself into a couple of other pricier sculpts, but I was in love.

When she arrived, all my fears were laid to rest. I know I have nothing to compare her with, but nothing about her looked or felt "cheap". Beautiful face-up, tight, perfectly posing body, not a flaw or seam line in the resin. And the price meant I could afford my next doll right away instead of waiting a year.

I do have an Iplehouse dream doll, but I'm enjoying my two less expensive kids so much right now that I've kind of lost interest in her a bit.

 

I know what you mean. One year into the hobby and I still feel guilty buying dolls when I have three children. I started off with Lati's and thought wow that's so much for one doll and felt relieved I wasn't enamored with bigger ones. Then I got a Littlefee and thought that's the biggest I'll go. I now have a Volks Kun on layaway and keep having second thoughts because of the price. I'm not sure if its the guilt that the money could be used for things for my children although they are all teenagers and have everything they need. If money were no object I would probably get the dolls I really want as opposed to the ones that are less expensive.

 

Most of my dolls are the cheaper end of the market bought second hand or hybrids.
I love the SD size but I only buy dolls whose face I like.
I too have a family and my daughter loves my dolls, if they were the expensive end of the market I would not handle them as much or let her near them.
I am learning how to do face ups to give my dolls individuality and clothes and wigs can make all the difference.
There are beautiful expensive dolls out there who I would love, but I would be too afraid to get them out the box.

 

I fell in love with the doll, not the price. I know ResinSoul has a bit of a cheaper rep, but I absolutely fell head over heels for their Mei sculpt. The other doll I truly want is a Doll in Mind, also relatively cheap.

I think it's about the ones you fall for, not the price point.

 

personally I try to go with the cheaper dolls and if I just can't get over the look of an expensive doll I'll get just the head and find a cheap body that matches close enough... because the face is what I find most important. In fact the only time I'll spend out a lot of money on a doll is if I can't get just the head and the face is too perfect for a specific character (like the pluto I got from luts) that's the most I've spent on a doll, thus far. (though with the luts I benefited a bit more because the event head just happened to be perfect for another character who I then got a cheap body for from one of mint on cards "we're not selling this brand any more" sales :3 )