Re-releasing a limited doll as a basic—your thoughts?

I don't mind re-releases, mainly because these dolls are not the same as most collectible dolls. Most LE art dolls come fully dressed, sometimes in clothes that cannot be removed, perfectly coiffed, and the preferred way to keep them is mint-in-the-box to preserve their original value. I have customized all my LE bj dolls in some way, if only by redressing them in different clothes. Because I actually play with these dolls, I don't collect them in the same way as other dolls and don't expect them to hold their original value. I can understand why some collectors are irritated by re-releases, but I think the true art of bjd's is in the fantastic customization by owners. One LE Volks doll is exactly like another, but when repainted by a master faceup artist, it becomes unique and wonderful. Everyone collects dolls for different reasons, but as a person who prefers customized dolls, I am glad that some dolls are released several times in different forms.

 

One thing I have noticed is that when there is a basic release of a previously limited sculpt, there are differences (skin tone, faceup, attire, etc). So the prior limited release isn't really negated, if that makes sense. I have no problem with a company making a limited sculpt into a basic. It makes the doll available to those who missed out on the prior limited release or couldn't afford it.

 

Well, I have been pinning for a beautiful doll (At his selling time, my dad was overseas and my computer died, so I can't get him) and I bet his lucky owners really adore him. It might piss them off if they realise their rare doll is getting more and more common... and it isn't fair that the doll people have been rushing for suddenly became readily available. All the energy spent on aquiring him seemed wasted. But I wouldn't mind if they released him again in another limited sale, you know, like Christmas or something so more people can get him but he is still limited.

 

Release a limited; make a few people happy.
Release it as basic; make many people happy.
I perfectly understand the coolness and excitement of rare dolls. I chose my Lily.C as my first from my wish list because she was rarer than the other options (even though basic). But I don't like limiteds; I prefer it when anyone who loves a sculpt can buy it. I find it unfair even that companies publish really epic and beautiful dolls and only sell 10 pieces or something, and how is that even cost-effective to the company? They don't gain anything from the aftermarket. If they sold it as basic, they would get more money, as long as the sculpt was good. -.-
The only time I would find it really bad would be if they sold things as unique, one of a kind and then made more of it.

 

I think when its listed as limited, then it should remain that way! Soom released a Modigli as a limited and then said that was it, she was not going to be re released. So I bought a Gian, to make into a girl thinking that was it with Modigli.

Boom, right after the Gian order period they put Modigli back up. Not cool for a company, as I now will never buy from them again, EVER!!!

Being new to the BJD world I had no idea that is what some companies do. The company should have a 101 on what to expect when dealing with their company. All the Q.A. board stuff to me is BS! Sorry, I felt wronged, and with the kind of money spent, no excuses.............
Oh, and furthermore I can not even say that their product makes up for the lack of communication, Its been forever since I ordered two dolls and yet to get them!

 

I think a re-release is a great idea though I don't think that they should do it all the time if that makes sense. Maybe like twice in a period so those that missed out the first time due to circumstances could get one as well. I know I'd die for a soom Cuprit I joined the hobby like two months after it was released and sold out. Not to mention I didn't know it existed hehe.

 

I think it's irrelevant how people feel about the limited being "special". Part of doll companies being businesses means they need to make decisions based on what is best for them and their profit. If a limited doll sold VERY well in its limited release and people push the company for a lengthy period of time to re-release the doll, they may realize that instead of limiting themselves by selling only so many copies of that doll, they can make more and bring in a huge profit by meeting the demands of their customers. It doesn't happen often that any limited is re-released, especially as a basic - so when it does happen, obviously it's a choice the company made because they decided they wanted/needed to make more money. They work people up with the limited status, then reintroduce it and everyone has a heart attack and immediately buys the doll. Great strategy!

The doll is just as desirable, but not as unique. Does it really matter to people that the doll has a "status" like "limited" attached to it? The sculpt is still unique to the company and if you like it, you like it. Who cares whether it's limited or basic?
And shouldn't you be happy if a sculpt you've yearned for over a long period of time and haven't found on the market is finally available to you? I would think that would be a great feeling. :S

Of course, if I had bought the doll hoping that it would be an investment and I could sell it for equal value in the future, I would be out of my mind if the company started selling that same doll in basic form because I would have to lower my price. Even in saying that, any feelings against re-releases, at least from my perspective, are mostly circumstantial.

 

@mydaffer; Did they charge less for the second release of Modigli?

Edit: I looked it up myself, and they charged the same for both releases of the CW Modigli. So how is it that you feel they've cheated you if the doll is valued at the same price? Simply because there are more out there? Were you expecting to sell the doll in the future? (Even then, selling an LE doll higher than company value is morally questionable....)

 

IMHO, for people to become upset over a rerelease is just ridiculous.
So what? I despise it when people buy dolls at the first opportunity because of its limited status or 'uniqueness' and see it as a means with which to make a profit. Because everyone knows that if a doll is truly limited, and too many people want the doll after it's all sold out, then it'll rake in a lot of money on the market, be it here or ebay, someone will be willing to pay outrageously for it.
Now, I'm not saying that is everyone's intention when they buy a limited doll but I'm sure some see it as a turn of profit.

A rerelease sounds like a great opportunity for others to get the doll as well! I'm sure it's mostly done because there was such a huge demand for that doll compared to its original quantity.

 

Eh, if the market calls for it, it's not that morally questionable. It's not fair to undercut yourself just so you can please the buyer (who can then sell it at market prices), but that's for a different thread

It depends on what defines the limited compared to the basic. The limited part might be the colour of the resin, or the outfit or faceup that comes with it. If it was the same colour, same face up, then yes, I might be miffed at it. (Since LEs are often released as basics, I tend not to buy super marked up ones if I don't really really really really want it.)

Bringing up current events - I really have no problem with Soom coming out with Bronze/NS versions of their previous dolls. It'll just be a colour variant of the same doll, and I know lots of people would still want to buy the original CW Sard, because they want him in that colour resin. I find it a great opportunity for people to get their grail doll (but then again I haven't been 'burned' - aka buying something super expensive and then watching the market price plummet due to increased availability).

 

You might want to go back and actually read mydaffer's post. She (sorry if I'm assuming the wrong pronoun here) missed out on the first release of the doll she actually wanted (Modigli) and thought she wouldn't be able to get it, therefore she bought a different doll instead - only to find out later that she could have had a second chance at the Modigli.

Whether or not you agree/disagree that she should have been prepared for a re-release, it is an entirely separate issue from what you're talking about.

I still personally have misgivings about re-releases of LEs, which has nothing to do with being upset that a LE doll is less "unique"/"special" after a second release, and everything to do with a company being reliable and sticking to the arrangements they've set forth.

For the record, I say this as someone who recently benefited from a re-release and still feels fairly uncomfortable about it.

 

I am of the same camp as the people who don't really care for limiteds in the way that they are limited and hard to get. Yes, there is a certain thrill to getting them, there is a certain rush that you get when you finally find that doll that was impossible to find or own. Of course now you've probably just spent some insane amount of cash on it, and may be getting something thats been used and after you get it, you may not even "bond" with it, or find that it was just the thrill of the chase that lit your fire. What then? I say, if they give you what you want, be overjoyed, shell out the money for something that's nearer the price it should be, and move on enjoying the sculpt that was love at first sight? That or even just choose a doll you know you will never get and that you know they will never rerelease, and there you go, forever pining over it and no worry of being let down that you can have what you wanted? Haha. No really though, I just love some limited sculpts, the artists put their special love and work into them and the product is not generally just a limited, but rather it's priceless when that the one that you fell in love with no matter how many are produced.

 

Thank you, that is exactly what I was trying to say. I appreciate the clarification. Melissa

 

@Malaryush; My apologies and thanks for the clarification. I must have completely missed the point there.
In that case, yes, I'd be more than upset too. Dishing out that much cash to settle for less is a horrible feeling.


What I was hoping to say was that one should never be prepared for a re-release, but the company does reserve their rights to do whatever they please with the sculpts they create. So they may release a sculpt for a limited time at first, but maybe later they decide that it's popular enough to then turn into a readily available doll.
I do think re-releases of dolls in different skin colours, for example, is a more tactful way to go about it though. That way they could essentially re-release the sculpt that is in high demand without upsetting the people who purchased the original release.

 

I'm very sorry that this was your first experience with dolly buying.

As an avid lover of SOOM, before I post I feel the need to point out that I most likely have a strong bias.

To me, the limited part of 'limited edition' isn't all that important as it generally refers to option parts, outfits, face ups and the like. There are very few exclusively limited dolls. The SOOM MD are exclusively limited as they are only released for a limited time period, and if they are re-released they are never the same as the ones that have been released before. SOOM takes great pains to ensure this - case in point, their strict regulations that are going to be in place at NYCC.

SOOM differentiates between their releases by making sure that the new release is considerably different than the other. Most of their MD are released with either a special skin tone, or only one skin tone available. Later, they are released in a different skin tone, so the editions are actually different.

I am upset that you did not get the doll that you wanted, but SOOM actually did tell the truth when they said they wouldn't release the doll again exactly as it was - because the next doll was different. It may have been a misleading truth, but it was a truth none-the-less.

On to the topics of Limited Editions in general. I would LOVE it if I could rely on a doll being released as a 'basic' edition later on. Because then I wouldn't get SOOMed so often, and my wishlist and dolly plans wouldn't be bumped back for months or even years at a time. I've suffered a burn where a basic doll I wanted went out of production while I was saving for it. The reason I didn't have the money to buy it earlier was because I'd bought a limited edition doll instead.

Having time to consider purchases and think them through would be much more valuable to me than whether or not a doll is 'limited release'. I play with my limiteds in exactly the same way as my other dollies. For me, I fell in love with the sculpt, but I had to buy it within a time frame or miss out completely. I'd much rather have had time to plan the doll, save for it, and not feel pressured into buying it within the limited period.

 

It is their sculpt and their right to do re-releases as they please, but if a company has presented a doll as a limited edition that won't be available again, they're likely to make a lot of people unhappy by going back on that arrangement. I'd say it moves into the territory of false advertising, depending on how it's done. Yes, they stand to make a profit off of further sales by bringing the doll back, but they also stand to lose profit by alienating their customers if it appears they're changing policies in order to snag some extra sales.

I do think people have every right to be upset when something is re-released in a way that appears to contradict the original arrangement. There are people who will have settled for something else, as mydaffer did. There will be people who inconvenienced themselves by rearranging their priorities or missed out on other dolls (or even non-doll purchases, as I suppose those exist, too ) so that they could buy a doll within its available window, only to realize they could have bought it later at a much more convenient time. There will be those people who already paid out the nose to get a limited doll second-hand only to find it released again at the original price. And there will be those who just have a more difficult time trusting a company that doesn't stick to the deal they put forward. I don't think any of those concerns are unreasonable, even if they're not ones everyone would share.

If a company really wants to be able to return to profitable or popular dolls, they could just make that policy clear to begin with -- I know of one off-topic doll maker who does monthly dolls, but very clearly announces that she'll be bringing them back the following year, which lets everyone plan as best suits them. Or they could -- as in the case of the recent Soom re-releases or many similar cases with different resin colours, face-ups & outfits -- find a way to compromise by bringing back a favourite doll in a different form.

For me, I realize part of my issue is that I'm coming from other hobbies where limited edition of such-and-such is essentially a sealed deal, and those products aren't coming back. The fact that LEs are brought back in any form feels a bit odd to me as a result, though it's something to which I am adapting. (But for the record, I'd be perfectly happy if nothing was limited and all dolls were always available, so as to avoid all the concerns entirely.)

 

I don't like the idea of having a limited doll re-released as a basic..especially if I purchased the limited version. Even if I didn't, I like the idea of "rare" dolls..it makes them more valuable in my eyes (figuratively and literally).

 

Just to touch on this - there's actually nothing in an MD sales ad that suggests that the doll sculpts themselves are limited, in any colour. Not even the fantasy parts. Soom meticulously details what is limited for each MD (with the obvious implication that everything not listed as limited isn't limited). Usually, the only things which are limited are the face-up, the clothing, the eyes, and the shoes. Sometimes the accessories aren't even all limited - IO, for example, had limited eyes for his lion mask, but non-limited eyes himself. The only part of every MD I've seen which has been limited is the face-up.

This means that Soom isn't doing anything wrong if they do release another CW Sard (complete with hooves), or another Pearl Violet Vesuvia (complete with scorpion tail), or another Tan Brown Chalco (complete with hooves. They could even release them as basic if they wanted, and not be doing anything they claimed they wouldn't do. As long as the face-up (and relevant accessories) are not repeated, they are sticking to exactly what they advertised.

So, while I could sympathise with someone disappointed that their unique doll is suddenly less unique, I wouldn't have much sympathy for anyone complaining that the value of their doll went down. If someone is 'investing' in dolls and cares so much about their potential value, they should read the sales details of each doll carefully before they buy it, and not just make assumptions about what the company can or can't do in the future.

 

Although I love love loooove my limited girls, I feel sad that others can't share the same joy and would welcome a re-release of the same or different editions or as a basic. If they had released a basic before the limiteds, I'm not sure I would've bought the fullsets since I love the sculpt most of all....
Mme. duBunny

 

In regards to Iplehouse and CDS-- CDS IS limited. You cannot use layaway to buy them, like you can with their Special Edition and basics, or even Elemental Guardians and the option to buy them is only available during the first fifteen days of the month. So in this instance, dolls in CDS are limited by their order period, which is still... limited.

There's also the fact that their light brown, ebony, and special real skin colors tend to vary with each batch, so the ebony skin Ashanti from the initial order won't be the same two years later in CDS. You're essentially getting a different skin toned doll.

As someone who owned three limited dolls at one point (I only have one now) I like the idea of companies re-selling limiteds. Personally I wouldn't care if they brought them back with the same face-up, clothes and accessories because I don't buy those things. But I can understand how people would get upset with that. Though with some sculpts, it'd just be nice to be able to see more of them in the gallery and see what other owners do differently with their dolls than what I do with mine.

Personally though, limited dolls are still just dolls. I've often wondered what exactly makes a company decide whether a sculpt is limited material or not and if that "limited edition" label makes the sculpt more attractive to customers on an unconscious level. Say for example Chrom or Sard were basics, would they still be as popular?