"Why are BJDs so expensive?"

I guess cause it's like with all beautiful things, they cost way too much and keep you happy for way too long, er something...

 

I would say the hand work that goes into the first prototype, the time it takes for the whole casting of a doll to be done (20-30 days wait, remember? it's on every website except when another company's selling for them, in which you have premade ones)

And yes, Resin apparently IS expensive. I heard some ppl who tried to make their own doll out of resin (i.e. taking a step further than just keeping it to sculpys) and they say, it amounts to about the same price as buying one.

A friend and I went to the art store on saturday, and we bumped into this package thing that I think is for making resin. It said Resin *something and was a 100-150ml bottle? It costed almost 50 bucks anyway. If the size of the bottle represents the amount of resin you can actually make, I'd say you'll get a leg and a half of an MSD. And that's just resin alone. No molds, no nothing. Just the thing that is our boys and girls body, in unmixed/reacted liquid

Oh, and no, the price DOESN'T include bonding magic. If anyone went around buying dolls and expecting to bond just because the price is expensive, ladies and gentlemen, you have been mislead

Or just damn blessed if you bond with everything you bought.

 

*hugs Ace*

I'll always be happy with my boy, but it's still nice to see why I paid so much for him.

 

I agree so...

Objectively, there are too many others being expensive than BJDs.
It is so subjective to say "BJD is expensive" indeed...
The subjective feeling is always affected by the owners' values and point of view. I could like to say others buying a PRADA bag being too expensive subjectively! However, someone say it is cheap!

 

Hm My dad asked me this question seriously when i spend over $300 for a 16cm doll.. he said 'the doll is so small!!' why so expensive?

I said becoz its hand-made, made at order, and also with resin.. then he said, resin is not that expensive..

he even used his Wii to fight me back as he said there is technologie in Wii but a doll has nothing high tech.. *sigh* I dunno how to argue after.. -_-

I really think the materials or even labour cost wouldnt cost so much, i really think BJDs are overpriced.. but as there are people willing to pay high price, they just make more profit like this.

 

you could point out that consoles don't make money, they often infact lose money for the maker

its the games that make profit, and CDs cost next to nothing to make

 

You can also argue that paintings has nothing high tech either, a lot of them still cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Within 6 months a brand new Wii will be 2/3 of the price your father had paid for his Wii. Within 12 months it would quite likely be 1/2 of the price he had paid for it.

On the other hand the price of your doll will remain largely the same and even if you wanted to sell it second hand you'd only lose a little bit. (If you had looked after it carefully) If the doll is a popular limited version, you'd even make more out of it. The most extreme example I can think of would be SD Shinku, which usually goes for around 330,000yen (around USD 2800) on Y!J.

 

I was just thinking about how expensive BJD's were. And I thought 'gee, I wish they could be uber cheap!'. But then I thought 'BJD's being cheap wouldn't be as rewarding. I mean, you actually have to have a lot of patience and comitment for this hobby'. I think that BJD's being the price they are is way more rewarding then them being cheap. What do you think?

 

I don't think the price makes them more rewarding as such. Not for me anyway.
The dolls at the higher end of the price scale tend to be a higher quality than those on the lower end but I don't think price or how long I had to save for a doll would effect how much I enjoyed them.

It would be nice for them to be cheaper of course, but I really do think you get what you pay for with BJD's

 

Well, the good thing is that even if you pay a lot of money for a doll, if you'll sell it you'll make more o less the same money. Luckly bjd don't devaluate

 

I think the price kinda makes the hobby a little more... exclusive? I don't mean that I think only some people should get the dolls or anything but really it kind of shows a level of commitment for most people. Of course I would still love the dolls if they were more expensive or cheaper (cheaper would be good but not at the risk of quality)

 

Not entirely true. My Kohya went down a LOT in price.

 

This is really helpful for me. Since I plan to be buying one sooner or later, I know in advance that I'm going to have to recite many times the reasons why they are worth so much ^^; And as a personal believer of 'you get what you pay for' I really don't mind paying that amount of money. I would much rather shell out 5-900$ than go cheaper and get a bad quality doll.

 

Vinyl and plastic dolls are mass produced with machinery, and then finished in giant rooms with hundreds of peasants getting payed a pittance. I know someone who visted some a couple of those factories.

Resin dolls are hand cast with high quality resin that looks good unpainted. Even when seams are unsanded many dolls have had the seams sanded a bit. I think the eye holes may have to be cut/sanded out carefully by hand. Some parts may need holes drilled, some hand/foot types need wires inserted. The dolls have to be assembled. Then painted by a good artist. In small and startup doll companies, The sculptor may be doing many of these jobs.

Carolyn

 

That's because market prices immediately following a Dolpa are always volatile. You can't know a doll's true worth until it's been about a year after its debut once the hype and novelty of having one first have worn off. I bought my Kohya from Volks in 2006 and I could still get back what I paid for him ($786, split his outfit with a friend) if I wanted to sell him now.

 

I agree with what some people have said here.

However, slightly deviating from the concentration on Volks, it would seem that the other, newer companies are going one of two ways:

1) Producing at a much cheaper price.

I don't know if quality is compromised, if they simply plan to make a profit from the sheer amount of dolls they sell, or if they simply don't have as much of a colossal overhead, but they are cheaper.


2) Producing their own dolls at prices similar to those of Volks'.

I like dabbling in design and things, and I will say that even the basic drawing of an idea can be tiring, depending on what you're designing for. Has anyone seen plans for BJDs?

It is quite reasonable to assume that BJD plans require a lot of math, angling, mechanical know-how... and factoring in the added balancing and anatomical-correctness? I would actually think that just this 'basic', preliminary stage is worth at least a quarter to a half of their current sell price. Then, there's figuring out resin recipes..

But if the quality is mayhaps lower than Volks', they can put this price on their dolls because Volks' has.

All-in-all, the dolls are expensive, yes, but I think they are worth it. Especially considering the work and expenses that go into making one.

I think the problems other people have with the BJD prices is that in today's world, everything is expected to be mass-produced. I don't want to say this, but BJD could be. <.<;

 

Like everything else in the world- its "what the market will bear" - that determines value. If people wouldnt pay as much for a doll, someone would find a way to make it cheaper. ( and that doesnt mean as good, quality wise).

 

What I've been explaining to my friends who keep asking whenever they see the pictures of Rosencrantz is that first: he's hand made, and not mass produced. The mold was carved by hand, the details were painted by hand, and he's made of resin, not typical-grade rubber and plastic.

Second: he's sixty-four centimetres tall. That's HUGE. Twice the height of the average Barbie. The smaller BJDs would probably only be around $300, I bet.

Third: I believe that he won't even exist until I order him, because I'm pretty sure that the long wait for shipping is because they make the doll just for the person ordering, and don't necessarily have a whole bunch laying in wait.

And then there are labour considerations, too.

 

I realise that sculpting a doll and then making the mould in the first place is a time-consuming and painful process (trust me, I've tried!) but what is there that stops companies from injection casting a lot of doll parts at once?

It can't be the materials involved - Plenty of resin kit companies don't hand-cast - and it can't be that the machinery involved is too expensive because the increased production speed would quickly offset any outlay invested in the machine.

Of course, sanding and finishing and stringing and the like would still have to be done by people, but the actual moulding process could easily be automated.

Any thoughts?

 

I think it's because a lot of the companies aren't very big. They can't afford it. A lot of them take it very seriously, too. It's a very personal process, I guess.

IMO, anyway XD