Only allowing yourself to buy "cheaper" dolls?

Quoting this for truth--at the end of the day, we are just people playing with dolls, and no doll is better than any doll, be they a Bermann or an El or a Bobobie Erin. I'm just posting here again to state my stance as firmly in the "Save for the one you want or you will never be happy" camp. (Despite what my previous post might have implied), I think that the only thing leading to the deterioration of this hobby are the people who do say things like, "Ew, a dollzone. You must be cheap and your dolls are all ugly," or "Ew. A Volks. You must be an elitist and hate me because my dolls come from Korea/China/whatever." Because, hey, a doll doesn't have to be expensive to be beautiful--there are some drop-dead gorgeous Barbie repaints that have only cost a few dollars at yard sales and the like.

 

While I strongly agree with the fact that, really, it's about what the person spending the money thinks about the doll, I do have to disagree with the "no doll is better than any doll" statement.

I think this is a main point in this discussion/debate, the fact that sometimes these "cheaper" dolls are cheaper for a reason. The quality is sub-standard when it comes to resin, body sculpt, etc.

With the "I WANT IT NOW" mentality that flows through this doll community, often there is a rush to get something as fast as possible, regardless of the quality. There is a lot of impatience on this board and it's opened up the market for companies that are willing to make so-so sculpts (I'm talking dolls that have bodies that are very obviously improperly proportioned, but also obviously NOT as an artistic expression) that have been cast in a so-so manner to sell their products.

Limiting yourself to only buying cheap dolls is ridiculous when you're talking about cheap starting at $100. You're already making a substantial investment, so why not invest in quality? It's very easy to say, "Well, because I want a doll that I won't be afraid to play with, or take out" but honestly, cheaper dolls are cheaper for a reason. Lower quality in production will lead to a doll that is easier to ruin later on.

(btw, I speaking specifically on resin dolls, and am not discussing vinyl)

 

I think you should only buy dolls you truly LOVE LOVE and can't live without.

 

well i personally would have to disagree with the overall matter. Known in my friends to always be the one buying for Quality and not price. I just want to clarify one thing. No examples used.

Seriously no one can say something that is 'cheaper' is actually a less quality than an expensive one.

Say one buys a plain blue polo top from Walmart/Primark. Said shirt costs $10. Now in FCUK the very same shirt with the extra 'FCUK' letters seawn onto the collar is selling for $30. Both shirts are made in China. I wash shirt A from Walmart in the washing machine and shirt B from FCUK in the washining machine.

After 3 washes, the shirt from FCUK started to have the 'fluff' quality and the shirt from Walmart looks as good as new. (this actually happened to me... but the prices were higher than the example and i washed by hand not machine)

All i'm saying is not about the 'brand' it's that many things are considered 'cheap' because of a lower price. We can buy one top from one country, the same top is a different price in another country. A lot of times i would have to say the quality isn't miles off. maybe a percent or two but not miles or as large as people think.

I'm sorry but i have to say, although i have to admit not all products from china are brilliantly made, many of those times the products are AS GOOD AS things produced like say here in England. Just because the product is 'made in China' many people jump on the bangwagon that 'oh it's cheap so it must be less quality' But with the amount of taxation, worker's payment varying in different countries. In China the wage and taxation is lower than many neighbouring countries. Why is it so odd that it costs less to buy?

Now if say Abio Angel started selling their dolls for $500 instead of $240 would that make a difference in people's view? Like 'oh they cost the same as Korea, the quality must be the same' or even 'why would i pay $500 for a doll made in CHINA opposed to i can pay $500 for a doll made in KOREA' there are others but i let you all to think and i'm off from this discussion.

 

I say buy what you want. But this is coming from a very picky girl who is in love with the CP dolls, price has no price... For me if it is something that I really want.

My dream doll at first site was a Homme Ducan a doll a year ago I thought to unobtainable, but thanks to the power of lay-away, and DOA, I am able to have that doll.

This reminds me of the "DZ vs Volks" cheap VS Expensive, the battles are a little harsh because it really just comes down to, what do YOU THINK?

I have a cp Shiwoo, and a Chiwoo, which are very popular. But I don't care, I love them to death. I also just ordered Shine, and Soo Dark Human, I have many lut's dolls all of which are popular and in the "average" price range (except my shiwoo, which was limited)

I don't really care what people think about my dolls, because they are my boys (and girls) and I take care of them and love them to death.

Everyone of course is going to have their own oppinion and to each is own I suppose. ^_^

Now, just to be specific, I guess. If it came down to buying a DZ doll instead of a Volks doll, I would jump on a DZ doll and NOT because of the price, but because I prefer the DZ over most volks sculpts.

I tried volks, I had a shirou tachibana that I was in love with and out of love with very fast. My cp boys stay with me always, and I should have a DZ MO and Felian soon.

So, in short. my oppinion: to each is their own.

ps. Sorry if this doesnt make much sense, it is 4:30 am LOL.

 

I figure if you love it, as long as you're aware of any possible badness associated with the cheaper resin (yellowing, fragility etc), get the one you love, regardless of price.

 

I think its up to the individual.
Personally I've got a DZ Yuu bought second hand and a AoD Mo Lan bought thru their website, and incoming Tinybear Moona and Bracken. All of which I bought cause I fell in love with the sculpts, and because I could afford them.

At some point in the future I will be getting a more expensive doll, probably an IH Bernard/Saint or a Unidoll Jace/Ace, but saving up that amount of cash takes time, and I have no will power at all when I see something for my existing 'kids' that I have the money in hand for.

When I see dolls and full sets priced at well over $1000, I look on them as works of art, lovely to look at, but something I can never aspire to own. I certanly dont resent others in being able to buy these dolls and I do like seeing the owners pics in the Gallery.

 

'Cheap' dolls dont always have bad resin. I have a personal experience about this.

I have Mythdoll Leroi Snow, I bought her for 180$ more than a year ago. The resin is lovely and smooth, yes she yellowed a bit, but give me a white doll that doesnt yellow in a year. While I've been modding her, I have found the resin to be extremely hard, no way it would chip or break easily. I also had a Bluefairy MSD, she was around the average price for a MSD when I bought her. Her resin was a lot 'softer'. I found it out when I was drilling the holes for the earrings for her.

On this personal experience I cannot just believe that cheaper dolls are not quality resin. I'm not saying my Bluefairy was bad in any way, only that the resin was very different, and I think she would have broken more easily than my Mythdoll.

 

Issues like you mentioned have not been a problem with the dolls discussed. Poor quality resin is an issue with the cheap bootlegs, but please don't confuse the two! The truth is, many companies across price ranges are new enough that nobody knows exactly how the resin will age. Not to mention that some older companies have changed their resin formulas along the way as well. It also isn't uncommon for even the higher priced companies to have the occasional bad batch of resin (especially during monsoon season). Resin is tricky stuff, and you can't always tell by the price how durable something is going to be.

 

I disagree... I think you can very easily say that some items made cheaper are made so because they've used lower grade materials in their production.

However, sorry, I wasn't actually meaning a blanket case for all cheaper dolls. Some of the less expensive ones are pretty nice in quality. However, quite a few of the ones I've seen do have lower quality sculpts (more air bubbles, a more delicate feel). I was just trying to avoid using specific examples... and it hadn't even occured to me to single out specific countries.

I'm not really sure why you've singled out China, because I wasn't singling out dolls from any specific company or country, and I certainly wasn't thinking only about China when I made the post.

And it's not just an issue of resin. I also brought up an issue of sculpt.

I very specifically mentioned both resin quality AND sculpt quality. Something that I always find endlessly annoying are people who buy cheaper dolls and then don't understand why they pose poorly (which I find happens more, although not exlusively, with cheaper dolls vs. more expensive ones because it seems that the more espensive ones often have more time invested in their sculpt). And of course, this isn't a blanket statement case. Again, there are some cheaper dolls that pose very nicely, but it's not the standard. When it comes to sculpt, however, I'm also including some Japanese companies and Korean companies whose older sculpts now sell for significantly less on the second hand market, qualifying them for "cheaper" status, mainly because they pose poorly.

 

I was rather hoping that 'posing' wouldn't be brought up because that's really hard to quantify. I've heard so much posing problems concerning both expensive and cheaper dolls alike that I don't really think that works very well as an example. I like companies that progress themselves by researching and coming up with even better poseability for dolls. But quite honestly, there are plenty of expensive dolls that pose not so well so I wouldn't say it's a standard for higher priced dolls to have better poseability.

In my opinion, I would say that higher priced dolls have better detailed sculpts. I'm not saying their faces look better because that's a matter of opinion. But I am saying that I find that there are more details on the body or just details that are better sculpted. However, this isn't always important to buyers. It really depends on what you're looking for in a doll.

 

Sorry, when I buy a doll though, the price I pay and the level of poseability/quality of sculpt (which also has to do with paying attention to those details you were mentioning) are directly correlated, so it's something I pay close attention to, because I know I won't be satisfied with mediocrity in those departments.

However, upon further review, I feel that this is something that is going to be more a matter of opinion that people will argue over, because I've seen people argue for the awesome poseability of some cheaper dolls that do pose very poorly, so I'm fine if the topic is dropped.

It's difficult to discuss this topic, mainly because there are higher priced dolls out there that really are complete crap, just like some of the lower priced dolls... so there will always be an arguement in either direction until you really start pointing out specifics. Which I'm not going to do.

 

I do agree with you here. Most of the higher priced dolls have more details in the sculpt than the cheaper ones. Of course we also have to deal with countries that have lower wages and can therefore sell less expensive dolls, but mostly I think less detail is partly the reason that some dolls are cheaper. Because detail in the sculpt means more hours of work, and that means more money.

 

Buy the doll you love. ^_^
I myself would never buy a limited doll who costs over 1000,- that is just to much, it gets the sign 'unreachable' over it.
About cheap dolls, if I fell in love with the mold I would buy it. But I just don't. I like Sunny from B&G, but I love the Luts dolls. And I prefer them above other dolls.
But I will get my future Luts dolls a cheaper body I think, only when it is pretty enough. ^_^

 

Good for you then. Why the 'sorry'? When I used 'you' in that last sentence, it was the general 'you'. I wasn't saying that the quality of sculpt in terms of body detail should be irrelevant to everyone or should be irrelevant to you in particular. I was saying that for some people it is indeed irrelevant. I just talked to someone who actually said that which is why I mentioned it. Didn't mean anything else by it.

 

It was more a "sorry you really didn't want this brought up, but for me it's one of the big issues concerning cheaper vs. more expensive dolls"... but I do see how it can boil down to a debate concerning opinion, and what a sculptor *MIGHT* have meant or been trying to accomplish. It's very easy to take disproportioned dolls and say "Oh, no, that's what the sculptor meant to do" when you're dealing with dolls that, based on the human form, are pretty disproportionate anyways.

lol, I didn't read any of your "you"s as personally directed at me.

 

sorry if i had worded my opinions strongly i was at a heated debate the night before and had just got up. The fun of doing Law ^^ the reason i singled out China is due to the ongoing stating of 'DZ' dolls. Seeing as DollZone was the one mentioned the most as with AoD and Bobobie and Abio Angels. All the companies apart from Volks and CP seem to be Chinese companies and i think a little bit back someone was linking the 'new cheaper dolls from China' this seem to be a ongoing debate throughout different topics.

I have to say, the sculpts from each company is unique in many ways. Say take a look at Dollmore dolls, they look more 'realistic' esethetically to me than CP dolls. Some people prefer the realistic look, i prefer the more 'perfection' and 'anime' look. So varying scuplts happen within the country, company as well as interntaionally.

I used China as an example, due to many people reckoning 'Made in China' = cheap/ lower standard. The whole thing, maybe it's stem from my dad and my discussion on 'the economy of China vs. the rest of the world' and the problem with Mattel earlier on the toys that was taken back. Once a problem was found, automatically the fault lay with China. Saying it was all the production in China that caused the problem and that the people in China are taking parts of the money from making the toys and turing them 'sub-standard.' However when the case was resolved. We find out that the problem did not lie with China but the actual design sent over from Mattle in America, causing a formal international apology from the company.

Linking it back to the matter at hand. Looking at the earlier posts, those that actually point out the lack of quality in some less expensive or some dolls in general. Many always started thinking 'cheap = made in china' therefore i had placed in China as an example. Though admittedly, if we had a 'cheaper' company in Korea, the arguement would be different from if we had a 'cheaper' company in China.

I wasn't saying it was you who stated on the view of 'China' i was saying overal that is the impression i'm getting. Sorry for any hard feelings caused. Next time i would place my point of view in a universal context if possible.

As for posing i do understand. My brother's bobobie flops, during that time i think Dennis was really busy. My El doesn't like to stand and headbutts me, my mo is a perfect little angel and stands wonderfully. The joys of dolls in a tantrum

 

Wee Little Faerie, you keep mentioning issues with resin and posing on less expensive dolls. Could you give us some specific examples including the company names and sorts of issues that you've seen?

I notice you're a Bambicrony collector. What's your take on all of the quality control issues that Bambicrony has experienced lately?

 

Please don't drag us offtopic with you, mosaicwolf.... For the kind of detailed tangent you're asking Faerie to engage in, there is a "Bambicrony's Recent Quality Issues" discussion thread over here: http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155981

Re Posing: I wouldn't correlate posing with price, myself. Or even correlate posing-quality with resin-quality. Or even with brand. Too many variables.

Oldstyle Volks SD13? Horrible posing; high quality resin; very massive pricetag.
Modern Volks SDCute? Incredible posing; exquisite quality resin; big pricetag.
Dollmore? Good posing; medium quality resin; medium pricetag.
CP? I was once kicked in the face by one of those twitchy little bastards while trying to pose him; nice quality resin; medium-big pricetag.
AngelRegion Little Fair? Crappy posing; medium quality resin; medium pricetag.

And other owners of those same doll types often report totally different experiences. (Well, OK, except unmodded Oldstyle Volks; those are pretty unanimously regarded as "ugh, don't try to get him to stand up". ^^) Posing can vary, within a company, from body type to body type... and from year to year... and depending on who strung him at the factory that day.... and so on...

I've seen some little Dollzones balanced standing on their heads at meetups, so clearly some of them are being made right.