Only allowing yourself to buy "cheaper" dolls?

I fell in love with my first doll, Dollstown Sola 7, and, saving for her combined with a contribution from my husband for Christmas, was able to buy her. She was expensive, but she gives me so much joy. That's not to say that my Bobobie Erin will give me less joy when she arrives. I will say that price factored in on her purchase, but I wanted her because she was cute, and other members seemed to think that her resin was of good quality. It really can't be about the money,it's about the love. Therefore, I keep saving!

 

For me, no matter how heads over heels I fell in love with an expensive doll, I couldn't get it. I wouldn't enjoy having something that expensive around me, because I know all my thoughts would be about oh god what if I ruin it.

It's not logical but there it is. Having a very expensive doll would take all the fun out of owning a doll.

My doll was $216. That's a fair sum of money, but not much compared to other prices. And I look at her and I think, if she gets badly damaged, I can afford to have her fixed!

I can maintain her, play with her, and enjoy her, without fear of ruining something.

Also, maybe I have cheap tastes or something, but I really genuinely love a whole bunch of the cheap scuplts. That makes everything a lot easier. The scared money spending part of me is breathing a sigh of relief, and the giddy doll owner in me is overjoyed that I have naturally affordable tastes.

 

I think it's fine so long as they're happy with their choice. There's no point in getting a cheaper doll if it's going to sit and rot!

I considered getting a cheaper doll on my wishlist for my first, but I thought that wasn't a good idea. I'm going to get my favourite so I'll know how serious I am with this obsession.

 

It's completely logical, though. I've found that I'm very nervous handling or transporting my $850 girl, but the rest of mine (ranging from $100 to $330) I have no problem at all dragging off to a convention or a meetup, or just a gathering of friends where someone wants to see and play with them. The two that travel with me the most cost me $130 and $250, and I have little to no anxiety about "playing" with them, making them more fun than the expensive girl.

 

That is logical to me too. I am conscious that my SDC Kurt is LE and would be almost impossible for me to replace if I damaged him, so I am more careful with him...but at the same time, he's the only boy doll that has really appealed to me enough to want him, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity. For a while he lived in his box all the time because I was so nervous about playing with him, but now he sits on my book shelf and I can admire him and play with him no problem! The next challenge is graduating myself to feeling comfortable with playing with him out of the house but I'll get there bit by bit.

 

I don't really understand that. A $1000 doll isn't any more fragile than a $150 doll. If you don't damage/break your less expensive doll you're not going to damage/break your expensive doll. Even if your doll does get damaged, there are so many good methods of fixing them. (boiling to pop out dents, epoxy, sanding, etc...) so your doll can look like new again. BJDs aren't going to shatter beyond repair like a porcelin doll would. So basically I don't think you should be afraid of handling any doll you own. It's not like you're throwing them out a 3rd story window ^_^

 

I don't think they're more fragile it's just the thought of accidentaly damaging a $1000 doll gives me heart palpatations where as the thought of accidentaly damaging a $200 doll just makes me want to kick myself and then work out some way to fix it after I finish crying

So that's a bad thing knew I was doing something wrong

 

It's remarkable how soon you can get used to handling a doll that price. I don't treat my Williams any different than my Elfdoll K-ss (who 'only' cost $400).
To me, it doesn't matter if a doll is $200, $600 or more: If you ruin it, you ruin a lot of money and in all cases it takes time before you have saved enough to buy that doll again. A 'cheaper' doll might perhaps be easier but still... if you did it once, you can do it again.

 

Considering most people in this hobby have to save up for the dolls (myself included), you should really get the doll you adore the most. I had been looking at BJDs for more than a year before I found one I absolutely fell in love with. Oddly enough it was the Bobobie Jun doll. It was never about what I could justify spending on the doll. Because no matter what I would have to save up for them. If that was the only reason I bought a doll I'd never get into the hobby period. I almost didn't. Until I went to a panel run by this site at Acen and got to see everyone's dolls -And carry one around! - that I finally decided I absolutely had to have one someday. While i may not have much interest in other people's anime character dolls, that is their preference and not mine. Overall i am of the mind that what you do with your doll is up to you. And if I happen to like what you did I might ask for help in doing my own thing.

 

As my first doll, I made sure to get a 'cheaper" doll though in no way do i think it inferior to the other awesome dolls out there.
I got an AoD Chi last week, and coming to only about $220 it was a price i could pay and not worry about breaking the bank XD
I can be kind of a flighty person when it comes to my hobbies and though i am in love with the souldoll Chiron, I could never justify $600 for a doll I may possibly play with for a month and then leave to collect dust on a shelf
So i figured I'd find a cheaper doll that i love as well first, make her some pretty clothing and see how it goes and just save up for Chiron as time goes on. This way I'll know for sure that I'm serious and can give them the love they deserve

 

Definitely!! And as someone with some hard to replace limiteds, who while I treat nicely because it is how I handle my prized possessions, I've owned dolls for 5 years and have yet to have anything significantly damage them. I sometimes wonder what people do in order to break fingers because I handle my dolls and have never come close to breaking something off. Hell, my old Olivia Morgan boy who had a very custom expensive faceup took a nose dive from standing off a table face first into a marble floor because someone whacked into the table. Headcap went skittering across the hotel lobby, people gasped. The fall didn't even scratch his faceup.

Which isn't to say people should be whacking them against things, but these dolls can hold up to regular handling fairly well.

 

This is absolutely true... Expensive or less-so, these little resin minions of ours aren't made of eggshells. They're designed to be handled and posed and tinkered with, so they're made of fairly stern stuff. Don't be afraid to play with them.

 

I have to say I'm exactly the opposite. I play MORE with my "expensive" (because none of my dolls are really that expensive in relation to the hobby) than I do with my less expensive dolls. Mostly because my more expensive dolls feel more substantial to me, and less likely to be accidentally broken/damaged. Its my less expensive dolls that spend most of their time on the shelf just looking pretty.

 

Getting used to handling dolls in itself is a kind of learning-curve. My first doll (an SDC) was home for a few weeks before I got it up to do much more than change his wig! You do get used to it, though. Once you're used to it, you stop being so aware of the price of what you're handling. Your hands just get more experienced & become accustomed to touching certain things a certain way. Most importantly, you start to trust yourself more. After you realize that nice things can be safe in your hands, then you start being cavalier about price.

Especially those Volks guys... they're built like brick houses. Among my collection, anyway, I personally find they're best for meetups and travelling because they have such substantial resin & thick sturdy limbs, and can take a few bumps.

 

I imagine taste in dolls has a lot to do with what you want out of the hobby, too. For me, I only want a few dolls to act as avatars for characters in the novel I'm writing, and my husband and I live on slender wages, so I automatically tend to look for the less expensive, whether it be food, furnishings, or dolls. I'm lucky because I really like the Bobobie and RS dolls, and have found dolls that correspond nicely to my characters within those companies. I know some people might look down their noses at me, but oh well. All that matters is that each of us is happy with our own dollies, right?

 

When you don't have another $1000 to replace your broken doll it's a different story My SDC Kurt has LE hands and forearms that would be impossible to replace if they were broken and severely devalue the doll.

I'm getting better at playing with him, but it'll be a while before he comes to any meet ups. I wouldn't forgive myself for accidentally damaging him, I would not want to hate someone else forever for doing the same thing.

 

You've got a point there Jessica.

 

This!

My Volks girl is the doll that goes everywhere with me because I can shove her in my bag and while I'm aware of her, I don't feel like I have to stress out about it every little second like I would be doing with my Dollzone and Bobobie dolls. She may weight a ton and a half, but I know that with that weight comes strength.

 

So this. People at meets are afraid of touching my Volks-guys, but they are much sturdier than my Elfdoll or Gomidoll. The resin of their heads is as thin as an eggshell . If I had to choose I'd rather have them take my Madoka than my Iru. (not that I mind them handling any of my dolls... the people there are quite responsible)

 

I'm afraid of touching anyones dolls at meets, especially when I hear some of the prices people have paid for them cause with my luck that would be the moment something fell off and broke, I know I'd be careful with it but the thought of breaking something so precious to someone by accident just makes me feel ill it might be diffrent when I finally get my girl and can have a real conversation with her (I know they don't talk but saying having a look see sounds really perverted) cause at the moment I feel like they're maid of spun glass (I know they're not but trying to convince my stomach of that fact is not easy)