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Only allowing yourself to buy "cheaper" dolls?

Sep 30, 2007

    1. If you buy a 'cheaper' doll because that's the one that appeals to you most, I think it's a good desission. But if the only reason you buy it is because it's cheap, I think you just wasted a lot of money on a very expensive luxury item.

      Personally I think that if you can afford to buy a $200-doll, you can also afford to buy a $450+ -doll, you'll just have to wait a little longer and save more money before you can push the 'buy it now'-button. And if you like the second, more expensive doll, more, than I would suggest to keep saving for a little while, until you can afford it. Seriously, there is no such thing as cheap in this hobby.

      It's all about the motivation, just like everything else that you buy.
       
    2. I actually think an inexpensive starter doll may not be a good idea for someone who is trying out this hobby. For an artist wanting something to practice on it's a great, but I could think of several reasons why it may not be as great for others.

      For many people, it's not easy to see these dolls in real life. An inexpensive doll may have issues other dolls do not have. The owner could be turned away from this hobby because of that.

      No bjd is really cheap, I guess I don't understand the starter doll idea because it would be buying something with the idea of trading up later. It would be intentionally buying something you know you don't love as well as something else you plan on getting later.

      As for getting a doll so you can get a better feel of the things related to this hobby, I'll probably be really unpopular for saying this, but a lot of things you do with bjds could be done with other dolls (things like wig making, doing faceups, making outfits/jewelry, picture taking, etc).

      I have noticed that Volks have been mentions a few times as the expensive doll company, but some of the standard dolls from Volks are less expensive when compared to other companies.
       
    3. I think you may have misunderstood. It's not that she doesn't like certain dolls (everyone has their own likes and dislikes and that's ok). What is unfortunate, is that she made a very big assumption about a lot of doll owners based on the fact that she personally doesn't like those particular dolls.

      Just because a person does not like a sculpt doesn't mean that no one else does. There are many different motivations for choosing a particular doll, several of which may come into play at once (or not): that sculpt looks like my character, that sculpt looks beautiful, that doll is more affordable, I want to mod a doll and this one is a likely candidate etc. etc. etc.

      I have several friends that own DZs because they love DZs. They have several sculpts that I would like to own just for no other reason than I find them attractive.

      This thread has a big similarity to the debate thread on younger members--in both threads people blame a group (young people, less expensive dolls) for what they see as negative changes in the community. The community is getting bigger and that means change and growing pains. I would say that maybe there are some growing pains going on now. I don't think anyone can really point fingers and say for sure that inexpensive dolls are the main reason for lower standards, younger less mature owners, or the downfall of the Western world (ok, just kidding on that last one heh heh).

      If the less expensive Chinese companies did not come about, would the changes people are seeing in the gallery not happen? I see that the bjd hobby is becoming more widely known thanks to the internet, non-bjd specific doll magazines, events, and word of mouth. While the more averaged price $500 dolls may have scared some people off, there's a very good chance that a new person scrabbled to save $500 with out having money for clothes and stuck their doll in a sock dress. If people want something bad enough, they'll often find a way to get it. Inexpensive is reletive to what the other offerings are at the time. If the less expensive Chinese companies hadn't come about, then $500 would be the cheaper option (for an SD, anyway). Or people would still say "people buy minis, because they're cheap, and they don't want to save for their dream doll."

      Also, the prevelance of less professional quality faceups, photography, sewing skills seen in the forum could be a by product of so many new people. We all started somewhere, and no one was born knowing how to do faceups or sew. We had to learn by practicing. A new owner maybe comfortable showing their doll with a less than stellar faceup, because it's their personal best. As they get more practice they will improve, and what they did before won't be good enough for them. Same goes for any skill such as sewing or photography. This is a hobby that stresses creativity and making the doll your own, so it will attract people that are going to go ahead, jump in and give these things a try themselves to sometimes mixed results.

      This isn't to say that there aren't people who tried to go as cheap as possible or have a more attention seeking mindset. However, with as big and varied a population as this board has, I don't think anyone for sure can point to any one thing and say "that's the reason".
       
    4. I can never remember how much a doll is worth, I always have to go to the seller's site to check. So if you love a $200 doll, who cares what everybody else thinks? It's the mold, not the price, that should matter. Likewise, you shouldn't invest in an $800 doll just because nose-uppers think you're "too cheap/want too badly to be a cool kid without the real investment" if you don't spend at least that much. That you somehow aren't worthy of being in the hobby if you can't plunk down $80 for a pair of jeans or $150 for a dress. Arnold is actually wearing a sweater I made out of a sock - is that wrong?

      I do agree that simply picking out the cheapest doll you can find, just so you can have one, is wrong. You should like it, at least. You should care, at least.
       
    5. I have a doll that I would call expensive, but some would call cheaper. I don't see how $450 is cheap by any standard. I also have dolls that I would consider especially expensive.

      I bought the two sculpts because they look like family, but still have very different sculpts. Just like my brothers are related, but are completely different.

      I choose dolls by the style they have. I wouldn't buy an expensive doll that I didn't like the face sculpt of, just like I won't resign myself to buy 'cheap' dolls with faces I don't like.

      The only time I would ever buy a cheap doll simply because it was cheap, is if I was going to make it a lab rat and perform experiments on it.

      I have seen both unique and beautiful 'cheap' dolls, and ugly (by my aesthetic tastes) ones. I can also say that I have seen the same qualities in very expensive dolls. It is all based in aesthetic preference for the sculpts. If you like it, then why care what everybody else thinks.
       
    6. XD I hadn't thought of that...

      See, Volks isn't my favorite company, but I by no means hate them -- I just haven't found a non-limited sculpt that I've been crazy about. Cecile the Scarface, however, is kind of my unnattainable dream doll. :) So I wouldn't trash on Volks or any other expensive company, and frankly, I think people who do are either:

      A.) A bit crazy, or

      B.) Rabidly jealous :3

      On the flip side, I'm more likely to avoid someone with expensive dolls for fear they'll give me an earful for buying an Abio Angel. :(
       
    7. Hmm, there seems to be a correlation between "dream doll" and "expensive". Can't dream dolls be the cheaper dolls, too? My dream girl is my Angel of Dream Zi Yuan, who only cost me $225 (not including the nice outfit/shoes, replaced face-up and wig/eyes I got for her). She poses very well and the camera loves her, which is true to the character she represents. I even have to say I like her much better than my Buddy Doll, which cost me $450 and which I am selling!

      It really shouldn't matter how much the doll costs or where it comes from. Everyone should buy the doll they like most, no matter if it's a cheap Dollzone or an expensive Volks. And if someone can't realistically save up for a doll, they should feel free to get a cheaper one without being harassed by others with an "elitist" attitude.
       
    8. in my opinion if you are buying a doll just because it is say 100$ cheaper you will still want that "expencive doll" if you have that 200$ for the cheap doll you could probably save that extra 100$ here and there and be much happier for the wait however if you want an 800$ doll which is say on a 5 dat acution on ebay you are very limited in your saving time at that point you may want to settle for a cheaper doll its a hard desicion to make if you are time limited but if you are buying from the company save and get the one you are dreaming of :)
       
    9. Firstly, before this rant begins, let me just say how pleased I am that the majority of people seem as perplexed as I am as to why the cost of a doll should affect how much it is adored and loved by the owner or matter at all.

      Despite this, I am really quite shocked at some of the blatant snobbery that has been displayed. I am new here and was so pleased to be welcomed into a place full of people who shared my love for dolls and all of the acoutrements that come with this fascination. Maybe this change of feeling that is apparently going on within the community is due to the fact that some of the snobs have been exposed!

      I despise the way that some dolls are being branded as cheap - NONE OF THESE DOLLS ARE CHEAP! Some companies have lower priced dolls in comparison with the very high prices of others, but that is only relative. BJDs are all very expensive in comparison with the cost of living. When you are paying the cost of a second hand car or a months rent/ mortgage on something like a doll, you have got to thank your lucky stars, regardless of whether or not you had to save up for it. The fact that you could save up that amount of money is remarkable in a world where something like 10% of the population owns 90% of the wealth.

      Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem if you can save up for or buy an expensive doll outright-that doesn't bother me one bit. What bothers me is when people begin to think that this makes their doll better and their interest more acute than others. For me personally, I fell head over heels with my Maud and obsessed about her over all of the others that are out there. And *shock horror* she is an AOD doll, but I still couldn't afford her. For a long time I just could not justify paying that much for such a needless item. It sounds cold saying that, but come on, lets be serious-I really really wanted her, but in no way did I need to buy her. What I needed to do was pay the mortgage, bills, debts, and if there was any money left perhaps buy some damned food to eat. In the end my boyfriend persuaded me to buy her and I am smitten with her. There is no way in hell I could ever afford another AOD let alone a £250 or £700 doll with my current income.

      Lets just put somethings in perspective;

      A Volks Super Dollfie Megu (one that I really like) costs about £300.

      With Oxfam gifts I could buy

      -£100 to pay for essential medicines and medical equipment
      -£72 to pay for safe drinking water for 100 in africa
      -£50 to pay a trainee teachers salary in Kenya for 5 weeks
      -£50 to train a farmer and help stop poverty
      -£20 to feed a child orphaned by AIDs in Malawi for 3 and a half months
      -£8 to pay for 133 school dinners a month in a third world country

      I am not saying this to make anyone feel bad, I am no mother teresa myself, but before this community becomes money obsessed like the rest of the world please can we try to see whats important? I have a comparatively inexpensive doll, but I can afford to eat, have safe water to drink and I have a roof over my head and for this I am very thankful.

      Finally, I think we should learn to see the value of something as not what it cost, but what it means to us. Maud means the world to me, even if some would look down on her for not being from a "classier company".

      Here endeth the sermon!

      I promise I will never be so serious again! :)

       
    10. I was just about to marvel at the similarities between this debate & that one! ("Youngsters and BJDs") Both are being taken rather personally in the same ways, and both are evincing some personal hurt. Both are definitely signs of bigtime growing pains in the 'scene'.

      Change hurts some people more than others. If such people (those who are really utterly deeply mortally offended by the new trends afoot) wish to stay in the scene, they'll just have to learn to roll with the dilution of what used to be an aesthetically-homogeneous arena. Otherwise, as the saying goes, "pack up your dolls & go home". This, of course, doesn't mean they can't still dislike it, and bitch about it all the way home, and yearn aloud for the Olde Days, and that's OK too. Bitching is a coping mechanism, and (within reason) it's still legal here. ^^

      Those who dislike the dilution, yet roll with the changes, may find that the larger-scale fad dies out in a year or two, the badly-outfitted toys go away, and things may go back to some semblance of Olde Days. Fashions are like that. Things always get all mangled and cheapened by the mainstream when they come up from underground (I mean, MTV does Burning Man, really!). When the masses lose interest, things may not go back quite as far underground as before, but at least things will be quiet again. Time will tell if this hobby follows that pattern, too.


      PS: Theladyzowie, please turn off the Bold font from your preferences. It's like shouting. It hurts. We can already hear you just fine.
       
    11. What seems odd to me is how, almost every time money comes up as an issue in this hobby (no matter the context-), someone always feels the need to play the hoary old "Starving Children in the Third World"-card in an attempt to make us all shut up and feel terrible about how selfish we are.

      Yes, dolls are a luxury item. And no, none of them are objectively cheap, except by comparison to other expensive, luxury items... But attempts to make everyone feel bad about not giving that $600 to Oxfam and buying something that enriches their own life gets very tiresome after it's been brought up so many times.

      'Sorry of that's not your intention, zowie, but after seeing it done so many times in different debates and contexts, I always find myself questioning motives. People do have a duty, I believe, to help others when they can... But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to also do things for themselves when they're fortunate enough to have the opportunity.
       
    12. The pricing of some dolls does not necessarily relate to their intrinsic value.
      I started with a Dollfie Dream 1 body because I loved the sculpt, but was so disappointed with the ease at which she stained. I moved into Obitsu dolls because of their posability and affordability. They also, unfortunately stain easy. And as Fred is now on her 3rd face up, I am finding that the heads, no matter what they are sealed with, tend to yellow (Fred is over a year old and I've a Gretel head with the same problem).
      My resin girl is an Elfdoll Sooah ... my DH purchased her as a gift and it took a lot of time to pay for. I would buy her again, I just loved her sculpt ...
      I currently have added a DZ Felian (Kaylee) and a Bobobie 43 cm for whom I am custom modifying a resin head (temp. name Dew). I am hoping to add a AOD 60 cm this year, too. I just like the way they look.
      I have other dolls I like, but it seems like "everyone" has one of those girls, and I have never been the follow everyone else crowd. So I've tended to avoid long times saving up for a Narae, Shall or a Unoa. (I've also got 3 kids under 14 and a disabled husband, so funds for dolls can be just as sparse as a college kid's!)
      I think there are a lot of factors to consider before determining one doll or another is "cheap."
       

    13. Yep I totally agree which is why I said I have no problem with people saving up and buying expensive dolls and that I was not preaching to make anyone feel bad just to merely put things into perspective. I am a BJD owner too! I think it is very important to own something that is special to you and that is why I bought my doll. I am sorry that you have seen 'the hoary old "Starving Children in the Third World"-card' before, I was merely sharing my opinion. Everyone has their own reasons for buying a BJD but no one should feel bad at something I have said.
       
    14. You didn't. Since this is the debate forum, I gave my honest opinion without sugarcoating it. I do believe that people are allowed to do whatever with their dolls that they want, be it attacking it with a drill, throwing it in the river, or rolling it in duct tape etc etc. That's not going to stop me from wondering if they're a bit touched, but my wondering doesn't affect their enjoyment of their doll. My first reaction to the "this mold fit the character perfectly!!1!11" line with DZ dolls is "Yeah, right." Much the same way I think when people say they like Jenna Jameson for her acting abilities.

      I've never harassed a doll owner for their doll or posted anything mean on the forum. I simply ignore the dolls I don't like. If that makes me a snob, so be it. I fail to see how that impedes anyone's enjoyment of their doll. You're free to ignore me, think I'm an elitist ass or that my dolls are hideously ugly. It's not hurting my feelings or my enjoyment of my dolls.

      I would love to see some dolls that prove my thoughts wrong, but with the large crowd of newbie owners the most inexpensive dolls attract, they're given fewer chances to look as nicely put together as a lot of the more established, expensive dolls are.
       
    15. As both a younger board member, and someone who just bought a Unoa in the last pre-order, I just wanted to weight in on all this.

      I originally came into this hobby with the idea that I would buy a mini because a) they would be easier to handle and b) they would be cheaper. No one goes into a hobby with the most expensive and most technical equipment. They buy something they can afford and they believe will allow them to learn. I see many people buying cheaper dolls and minis for this very reason. But the idea that in this very expensive luxury hobby that you will only allow yourself to buy cheaper dolls, is I think, slightly naive. I have read many stories of people buying a doll to 'tide them over', only to sell that doll later on.

      I considered buying a 'tide me over' doll as I had no idea when the Unoa pre-order would be, and for a mini, she is bloody expensive. But I wanted her, saved and waited, and am happy for my decision. And in the wait, I can save for nice clothes, wigs and eyes. I want a doll that I think is pretty and I like. If people want to buy a inexpensive doll because they like the mold, sure thing. If they want to buy a doll to wet their feet, smart going!

      But to buy a doll for the e-penis of saying 'I HAVE A DOLL NAH NAH', is really annoying and is making many of the smarter and more mature doll members shake their heads and leave for more mature playground. I would rather have a doll I like then twelve that I got just to say I HAVE DOLL.

      I like Dollzone, I like their aesthetic. I also like Volks and I like Dream of Doll. And I love Alchemic Labo. They have aesthetics and dolls that appeal to me, despite cost. One day I would love to own a DZ Wing. But I want to buy him because I love the sculpt. Not because he would cost me 1/5th of a Dollshe.
       
    16. I will be completely and brutally honest when I say that yes, my first doll purchase was almost utterly governed by price. To be honest, my girl is completely against my aesthetic tastes, and I've found that I prefer SD size over MSD. However, I have found that I am now so irrevocably attached to her. I could not sell her. While I would not buy another doll like her, I would never be able to let her go.
      I've had more "expensive" dolls that I could not bond with, including a Souldoll Paris and an $850 LE Latidoll Aida. So, really, price doesn't govern at all what you end up falling in love with.
      Currently, I have enough for a DS SA Husky, and I'm in the next pre-order for a Migidoll Ryu. But so what? If they were "cheap" versions, I wouldn't be turned off of their sculpts as I find them absolutely gorgeous.
      Yes, people's decisions can be governed by price, but that doesn't detract from their love of their dolls.
       
    17. You are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to disagree.;) And so is the beauty of debate! But none of this means we cannot be civil and friendly with one another. I admire your honesty even if I don't admire your viewpoint. I prefer honesty like yours to people who bitch secretly and pretend to be alright with things. You cannot please everyone all of the time though. :)
      But I must say that I am definitely with Krissy on this one.
       
    18. Kim, I'm just curious to know why you don't believe no one can honestly just fall in love with a cheaper doll purely for their sculpt. I'm not saying I disagree that you are allowed to have your opinion, there are some sculpts that I really don't favor at all...but that goes along with what you say yourself. If you agree that we all have different tastes and likes and dislikes, why can't someone really just love a cheaper mold because they find that sculpt pretty? Why can't someone have a taste in dolls that happens to fall into the category of DZdolls, AOD or what have you?

      .....um, I mean in this no way to sound prodding or rude, I'm overall just curious and I'm not intending to sound mad or anything. -_-'
       
    19. Then maybe part of the problem is that we(as in, both sides of the hobby)are avoiding each other because we assume the other doesn't accept us, while it might not always be true? You see it in this thread too,people feel they have to justify why they have a certain dolls("I'm a college student/just love the doll")which kind of gets in the way of an open discussion because you can't say anything without someone taking it personal-which is understandable, I guess. But it kind of feels as if there's a gap between certain kinds of owners and I don't think it has to be there, but then again, maybe I'm too naieve and too 'let's all be friends!' XD

      (There wouldn't be much of a debate if we were all accepting each others choices XD)
       
    20. here's my another opinion regarding this issue.

      As many of you think that cheap dolls that costs $150-$275 isn't really cheap for me. As most of you whose earning $50-$60 per babysits or earning $500-$1000 per month, well think again.

      BJD lovers like me, from a developing country, working as a graphic artist, earning $275 per month with minimum wage is $13 per day and paying bills, those doll's you're calling cheap isn't cheap for me. $275 from AoD is worth my 1 month salary still a lot of money and since I really like her I went for a layaway. And those dolls in my wish list could be completed after 5- 10 years. I think we should start to consider other BJD collectors that are from developing countries because we are working double or triple the effort than most of you to be able to and buy a cheapest doll they can find but making sure that cheap doll is worth buying for. You might be saying that I should spend the money for things that I really needed instead wasting useless things and value my life. But I guess It's not bad to buy one or two, because I know that we'll be happy with it and at least give myself a reward for a job well done...even for once and making sure that it'll will not affect my life.

      this is my honest opinion and I'm not blasting anyone...peace!! ^___^