What’s your most expensive doll?

Let me start this post off by saying that this is by no means meant to be a way of judging anyone. Quite the opposite! It’s actually to help me feel a bit better about my own doll. 😭

As I mentioned in my other posts, he’s going to be a full custom. Which means that everything from the faceup, body tattoos, clothes, wig and accessories are all going to be done by the artist I’m commissioning. It’s going to take a LOT of time and effort, and on top of that, they do this as a full time job. So I completely understand why the prices are so high! And to be clear, I have no problem affording it. They were kind enough to allow me to do monthly payments, and I’m fortunate enough to have extra money from being on disability, so it’s not like I’m putting myself in a bad financial position by doing this.

I’m also absolutely sure that I actually want the doll. I took a lot of time to think it over to make sure I wasn’t just being impulsive, and my heart got set on it. I admittedly have a bit of doll fever atm, and the character means the absolute world to me. So this is definitely something that’s super important to me. But a part of me still feels guilty for spending THIS much money on a doll (I know it’s normal for Dollfies to be expensive, but since this is a full custom, he’s costing over twice as much as a normal one). I’m not really worried about buyer’s remorse since again, I know how much I want him. But ig I’m afraid that people (my family especially) are gonna judge me for it. I already have a bad reputation with them for making bad financial decisions when it comes to merch, so if they find out how much this was, it’s so over. 😭 They don’t REALLY care about what I spend my own money on and they’re typically just joking with me when they bring it up, but I can’t help feeling a little embarrassed cuz they’re definitely gonna think this is dumb. 

Anyway, it’s not a huge deal at the end of the day and I’m still getting the doll no matter what cuz it’s my money and I can afford it. But it did get me wondering if anyone else has or would consider paying such a crazy amount for a doll or if I’m being insane.

Edited July 24, 2024 by MrsHaitani

My Icon, counting her clothes, wig, eyes, accessories, and faceup, cost about 2 thousand dollars. Maybe more.

Not only did I blow all that money...I did that third eye mod myself.

Do I regret it? Not a single bit! She's the crown jewel of my whole collection, and finally having her done has me so happy! I do find myself wanting to be extra careful with her, though. She's not exactly a travel doll. 😅

I do have a $1k+ doll that IS, though! She's resin and off topic, but she's there. I bring her with on vacations and everything.

When it comes to friends and family, I simply don't tell them the truth unless I know they're gonna be cool about it...and most aren't. So if they don't ask, I don't say anything, and whenever they DO ask, I knock several hundred off the price, minimum. You don't owe them this info, especially if they're just gonna tease you about it! As long as you're spending responsibly (and it sounds like you are, so good job!), then it's really none of their business.

I really hope this makes you feel a bit better. It's hard making that leap into truly expensive territory for the first time in a hobby, but as long as you're committed to what you're getting (and you are), and responsible about it (and you are!), then you totally should go for it without feeling bad! I'm excited to see your doll when he's ready!

As a rule, I won't buy any doll whose base price is over $800USD just to obtain. That limit is not including eyes, wig, clothes, faceup/mods, the usual works. Most of mine are well under that even with all the fixings, but a few are over (Anthy and Mariko both cost about $800USD to obtain on their own, though they did admittedly come as fullsets even if I don't use them as such). I'm sure a couple of my off-topic resins are going to crest over $1000USD when all is said and done for them.

If you think about it, most everyone has a hobby they enjoy that turns into a money sink at some point. Fiber artists pay through the nose to afford small batch hand-dyed yarn, Lego fans go nuts for $300USD re-releases, and gamers spend $500USD on a new console every couple of years not even factoring in the cost of games themselves. Sure, nearly everyone starts small, but once you're emotionally/creatively invested in your hobby, it's not uncommon to branch out into progressively more expensive and time consuming projects.

There's no shame in spending your money how you see fit, assuming all your necessities are paid for. On the other hand, that doesn't mean you need to share exact data with people who aren't in the hobby and may not "get it," so to speak. The only people who gets exact values out of me are my spouse (because we share finances) and one of my friends (because she's also in the hobby). It's your discretionary income! If you don't want to share that information, then don't!

28 minutes ago, Oculae said:

My Icon, counting her clothes, wig, eyes, accessories, and faceup, cost about 2 thousand dollars. Maybe more.

Not only did I blow all that money...I did that third eye mod myself.

Do I regret it? Not a single bit! She's the crown jewel of my whole collection, and finally having her done has me so happy! I do find myself wanting to be extra careful with her, though. She's not exactly a travel doll. 😅

I do have a $1k+ doll that IS, though! She's resin and off topic, but she's there. I bring her with on vacations and everything.

When it comes to friends and family, I simply don't tell them the truth unless I know they're gonna be cool about it...and most aren't. So if they don't ask, I don't say anything, and whenever they DO ask, I knock several hundred off the price, minimum. You don't owe them this info, especially if they're just gonna tease you about it! As long as you're spending responsibly (and it sounds like you are, so good job!), then it's really none of their business.

I really hope this makes you feel a bit better. It's hard making that leap into truly expensive territory for the first time in a hobby, but as long as you're committed to what you're getting (and you are), and responsible about it (and you are!), then you totally should go for it without feeling bad! I'm excited to see your doll when he's ready!

Omg, she looks absolutely gorgeous! My doll is admittedly in that price range, even a bit more expensive than that. And he’s honestly way less detailed since his design isn’t THAT complex. But since the artist is doing all this by hand and it’s how they make a living, I totally understand why the price needs to be that high. I’m worried I’ll be paranoid about damaging him, but I’m trying to relax about it since, if I’m paying that much, I’m gonna make the most of it and have him with me around the house and on outings hehe. I need to cuddle him or I’ll explode. 

I’d honestly prefer not having to tell my family how much it was, but unfortunately me and my mom share a PayPal and she sees all my transactions so I can’t really hide it. 😭 If I’m lucky though, maybe she won’t bother adding up all the payments/won’t notice that it’s all going to the same person. On a better note, I did talk to my brother about it before I went through with the commission and even though he’s usually the one who teases me the most about my merch, he took it well and even told me to relax and not worry about it since it’s my money. Hopefully anyone else who finds out has the same attitude. 

And thank you so much! This does help a lot. I think it’s mostly just scary since I’ve never bought anything that’s price was in the thousands before. I’m sure my merch collections add up to well over that, but that was all bought gradually. The monthly payments definitely help me not feel so bad though since I’m not paying it all at once. And knowing that other people do spend this much on this hobby at times definitely makes me feel better about it. I’ll absolutely be posting about my boy when he’s done! 🤭

18 minutes ago, Thespian said:

As a rule, I won't buy any doll whose base price is over $800USD just to obtain. That limit is not including eyes, wig, clothes, faceup/mods, the usual works. Most of mine are well under that even with all the fixings, but a few are over (Anthy and Mariko both cost about $800USD to obtain on their own, though they did admittedly come as fullsets even if I don't use them as such). I'm sure a couple of my off-topic resins are going to crest over $1000USD when all is said and done for them.

If you think about it, most everyone has a hobby they enjoy that turns into a money sink at some point. Fiber artists pay through the nose to afford small batch hand-dyed yarn, Lego fans go nuts for $300USD re-releases, and gamers spend $500USD on a new console every couple of years not even factoring in the cost of games themselves. Sure, nearly everyone starts small, but once you're emotionally/creatively invested in your hobby, it's not uncommon to branch out into progressively more expensive and time consuming projects.

There's no shame in spending your money how you see fit, assuming all your necessities are paid for. On the other hand, that doesn't mean you need to share exact data with people who aren't in the hobby and may not "get it," so to speak. The only people who gets exact values out of me are my spouse (because we share finances) and one of my friends (because she's also in the hobby). It's your discretionary income! If you don't want to share that information, then don't!

That’s true! Honestly, I know I’ve spent well over this on my merch collections over the years. I do get very emotionally invested in things like this, especially when it involves characters I like. And even if I hadn’t decided to get the doll, the money probably would’ve still gone towards more merch of the character anyway. I think it was only bugging me a bit because I’ve never put this much money towards a single thing before, but at the end of the day I know it shouldn’t matter as long as I can afford it. 

I think the main thing I’m embarrassed about is just that me and my mom share a PayPal, so she’ll definitely see my transactions. But maybe I’ll get lucky and she won’t bother adding up all the payments- If she does, I just hope she doesn’t judge me too much LOL. 

I can very well understand the emotion you have behind your boy, my whole doll collection is dedicated to shelling the two characters that are most important to me. My most expensive member of the family is definitely my DDB Haruka, by virtue of me having to get his body over Dream Choice, so we were speaking proxy charges and shipping and then German custom taxes added a lot, so just his body made it to something around 900€. Then there was of course his custom faceup with put him clean over the 1000 mark, then various hands, the wig, various eyes ...

And don't even get me started on the clothes I pamper my boys with all across the bord, I honestly won't even attempt to think about how much money went into that. Reminds me tho that I still need to make them some of their canon outfits.

But yeah, as you can already see in this thread, this is a hobby that can easily go into some higher numbers and there is no shame in that.

23 minutes ago, MoiBakaDesu said:

I can very well understand the emotion you have behind your boy, my whole doll collection is dedicated to shelling the two characters that are most important to me. My most expensive member of the family is definitely my DDB Haruka, by virtue of me having to get his body over Dream Choice, so we were speaking proxy charges and shipping and then German custom taxes added a lot, so just his body made it to something around 900€. Then there was of course his custom faceup with put him clean over the 1000 mark, then various hands, the wig, various eyes ...

And don't even get me started on the clothes I pamper my boys with all across the bord, I honestly won't even attempt to think about how much money went into that. Reminds me tho that I still need to make them some of their canon outfits.

But yeah, as you can already see in this thread, this is a hobby that can easily go into some higher numbers and there is no shame in that.

I’m really glad that this seems to be a normal thing here. It definitely makes me feel a lot less bad. It probably isn’t even that bad considering how much I usually spend on art commissions and merch of him and my other favorite character anyway. I guess it just feels weird to put all that money towards one single thing since I’ve never gotten anything THIS expensive before. But I know it’ll be worth it in the end, so I just need to relax. 🙏 

Our most expensive purchase was Kagamine Rin at 180,000 JPY.

As luck would have it, a week after I ordered her, Volks announced she would be rebooted!

I now have rebooted Rin too (plus Len). Rin 1 is now forevermore known as Evil Rin.

On the plus side Rin (and Len) are becoming rare again. I'm also surprised that Kaito is kind of becoming a grail... Volks had him on sale for ages, yet already he seems to be fairly uncommon.

Rin is gorgeous irl. Those eyes... That faceup... She's really something.

As for owning so many dolls, I do kind of sleep better at night knowing that if there was a gigantic stock market crash, I wouldn't lose everything.

Second most expensive was SD Mytyl. I missed her in the Volks lottery but a year later she appeared on Mandarake at 170,000 JPY.

A small crumb of comfort was her birdcage and cape set appeared on YJA for not much more than retail.

We should probably take some better photos of her. She's breathtaking irl.

2 hours ago, Xiongmao said:

Our most expensive purchase was Kagamine Rin at 180,000 JPY.

As luck would have it, a week after I ordered her, Volks announced she would be rebooted!

I now have rebooted Rin too (plus Len). Rin 1 is now forevermore known as Evil Rin.

On the plus side Rin (and Len) are becoming rare again. I'm also surprised that Kaito is kind of becoming a grail... Volks had him on sale for ages, yet already he seems to be fairly uncommon.

Rin is gorgeous irl. Those eyes... That faceup... She's really something.

As for owning so many dolls, I do kind of sleep better at night knowing that if there was a gigantic stock market crash, I wouldn't lose everything.

Second most expensive was SD Mytyl. I missed her in the Volks lottery but a year later she appeared on Mandarake at 170,000 JPY.

A small crumb of comfort was her birdcage and cape set appeared on YJA for not much more than retail.

We should probably take some better photos of her. She's breathtaking irl.

Omg, these dolls are beautiful! Evillious Chronicles Rin will always have a special place in my heart tbh. 

I will admit, it’s a comfort knowing that the fullset Volks dolls can go for so much. It makes it feel a bit more justified that full customs would be so much more given all the extra work and materials that go in.

For me my most expensive is a draw between buying a NIB anthy and pre-ordering Dolk Yukari. I think both are around (or will be in the case of yukari) £1000 due to shipping and customs. 

 

Anthy was a Grail as I'm a fan of the series. But also who knows when we'll get a tawny anime styled Dollfie again. I'm also fairly picky with dolls I buy, so even if we did get another, there's a high chance I'd skip.  Anthy isn't really that hard to find, but I noticed she often shows up either missing accessories or as just the doll alone. So I splurged a bit to ensure I got fullset. 

 

Yukari because I'm a huge vocaloid/vocal synth fan. I honestly didn't expect it. Outside of the crypton six Vocaloid merch is not common and limited to plushies/pins etc. 

Crazy thing is I'll probably be dropping that much again next year when pre-orders for anime styled yukari goes up.

 

I'm also on the hunt for meiko and a good condition luka. Hoping luka get's a reboot tbh. 

as I'm sure would be a shock to nobody - my Saber cost waaaay too much (we talkin 4 digit numbers in US cash money)

first was finding her [secondhand] at all, as this was years after the original release, and still years before the Fate/GO collab re-release

but then upgrading her from the original base-2 body to base-3. And then getting a new bust as the body came w/ L and she's def an M ......... and then a few years down the road upgrading body yet again, to the Sister one, as it suits her better

and then of course getting her a cute lil new face-up

The girl is a money pit and means so freakin much to me

Edited July 27, 2024 by Anna-neko

1 hour ago, Anna-neko said:

as I'm sure would be a shock to nobody - my Saber cost waaaay too much (we talkin 4 digit numbers in US cash money)

first was finding her [secondhand] at all, as this was years after the original release, and still years before the Fate/GO collab re-release

but then upgrading her from the original base-2 body to base-3. And then getting a new bust as the body came w/ L and she's def an M ......... and then a few years down the road upgrading body yet again, to the Sister one, as it suits her better

and then of course getting her a cute lil new face-up

The girl is a money pit and means so freakin much to me

I admire your dedication, honestly. I love seeing people who are so committed to their favs. 🥺 I tend to get VERY obsessive with mine so I always end up putting way too much money into merch of them— But this is by far my biggest investment. My boy is also gonna be in the 4 digits, oops. It’s such a special way of expressing your love for a character though! 

You have great taste btw. Fate is one of my favorite series hehe (I noticed it’s pretty popular here!)

9 hours ago, luna_Lillie said:

For me my most expensive is a draw between buying a NIB anthy and pre-ordering Dolk Yukari. I think both are around (or will be in the case of yukari) £1000 due to shipping and customs. 

 

Anthy was a Grail as I'm a fan of the series. But also who knows when we'll get a tawny anime styled Dollfie again. I'm also fairly picky with dolls I buy, so even if we did get another, there's a high chance I'd skip.  Anthy isn't really that hard to find, but I noticed she often shows up either missing accessories or as just the doll alone. So I splurged a bit to ensure I got fullset. 

 

Yukari because I'm a huge vocaloid/vocal synth fan. I honestly didn't expect it. Outside of the crypton six Vocaloid merch is not common and limited to plushies/pins etc. 

Crazy thing is I'll probably be dropping that much again next year when pre-orders for anime styled yukari goes up.

 

I'm also on the hunt for meiko and a good condition luka. Hoping luka get's a reboot tbh. 

I’ve noticed that this seems to be around the average price for fullsets. At least secondhand ones. Definitely makes me feel less bad about the price of a full custom since it makes sense that something like that would cost even more.

Good luck finding Meiko and Luka!

My most expensive is Polaris, my Dream Choice at around the $660 mark USD. I'm still at the point I balk at Dollfie prices, but she's incredibly special to me as the money was split as a gift from my mother during a really bad mental health period. The most expensive doll I've fully paid myself is a resin one, $400 for my Ybeedoll Nora.

32 minutes ago, PlasticJester said:

My most expensive is Polaris, my Dream Choice at around the $660 mark USD. I'm still at the point I balk at Dollfie prices, but she's incredibly special to me as the money was split as a gift from my mother during a really bad mental health period. The most expensive doll I've fully paid myself is a resin one, $400 for my Ybeedoll Nora.

The prices can definitely get crazy. 😭 It can be hard justifying it, hence why I was feeling a bit bad, but I do take comfort in knowing that it usually ends up being worth it in the end for something so special. 

in terms of my vinyl collection definitely Rena 😳

aside from being spoiled with clothes, she got switched from her original mdd body to obitsu and got a custom faceup! she also got a new pair eyes and some wigs. she is definitely spoiled 😅

my in progress girl might be coming for the title of most expensive vinyl girl though oops

5 hours ago, ohnoaiwa said:

in terms of my vinyl collection definitely Rena 😳

aside from being spoiled with clothes, she got switched from her original mdd body to obitsu and got a custom faceup! she also got a new pair eyes and some wigs. she is definitely spoiled 😅

my in progress girl might be coming for the title of most expensive vinyl girl though oops

It seems like everyone has that one doll they spoil hehe. I’m sure mine will be the same— He has tons of different outfits from official art and I can already feel I’m gonna want as many as I can get. 😭

1 hour ago, MrsHaitani said:

It seems like everyone has that one doll they spoil hehe. I’m sure mine will be the same— He has tons of different outfits from official art and I can already feel I’m gonna want as many as I can get. 😭

my favorites usually rotate between them all and it becomes a sick cycle of "dont tell the others 'X' is the favorite" lol

6 minutes ago, ohnoaiwa said:

my favorites usually rotate between them all and it becomes a sick cycle of "dont tell the others 'X' is the favorite" lol

Honestly I feel like I’m gonna feel bad if I ever decide to get more dolls after him bc I know he’ll always be the favorite and the only one I spoil-

54 minutes ago, ohnoaiwa said:

my favorites usually rotate between them all and it becomes a sick cycle of "dont tell the others 'X' is the favorite" lol

This is me haha.  I would say that everyone is equally expensive for me in my current collection, between all of the clothes and shoes and goodies that come along with being the spoiled-baby-of-the-week.  Everyone is expensive in their own way rather than an overall flat price - Lariat has the most expensive head (it was a bid war I was determined to win and cost the equivalent of two other Tinyfox dolls before it even got a body), Yuliy has the most expensive hands (10 exclusive sets of differently manicured hands and pegs for each at the moment), Arlo has the most expensive unintentional body count (trying to replace a stained leg somehow brought home 3 bodies that became 2 bonus dolls loool), etc etc.

Since I haven't bought any series licensed dolls/done any hardcore customizing/purchased vinyl above 1/4 scale, I've managed to avoid any single one being horrendously more expensive than another so far.  I'd love to eventually grab a Dream Choice or two though, which would end up being the most expensive flat costs.

2 hours ago, mmmuguet said:

This is me haha.  I would say that everyone is equally expensive for me in my current collection, between all of the clothes and shoes and goodies that come along with being the spoiled-baby-of-the-week.  Everyone is expensive in their own way rather than an overall flat price - Lariat has the most expensive head (it was a bid war I was determined to win and cost the equivalent of two other Tinyfox dolls before it even got a body), Yuliy has the most expensive hands (10 exclusive sets of differently manicured hands and pegs for each at the moment), Arlo has the most expensive unintentional body count (trying to replace a stained leg somehow brought home 3 bodies that became 2 bonus dolls loool), etc etc.

Since I haven't bought any series licensed dolls/done any hardcore customizing/purchased vinyl above 1/4 scale, I've managed to avoid any single one being horrendously more expensive than another so far.  I'd love to eventually grab a Dream Choice or two though, which would end up being the most expensive flat costs.

I can’t wait to spoil my boy honestly. It sounds like so much fun being able to shop around and find presents for your dolls. 🥺 I can only imagine how much money will end up going into him- The base price is crazy as it is, but with all the other stuff I’ll inevitably get him, this is certainly gonna be an investment…

7 hours ago, MrsHaitani said:

I can’t wait to spoil my boy honestly. It sounds like so much fun being able to shop around and find presents for your dolls. 🥺 I can only imagine how much money will end up going into him- The base price is crazy as it is, but with all the other stuff I’ll inevitably get him, this is certainly gonna be an investment…

Oh, that is so true, it is also a dangerous money-sink, haha! I go window-shopping for my boys a lot more intensly than for myself in fact, and even though I don't really intend to Haruka always ends up the more spoiled when it comes to clothes at least. But also little doll-sized accessoires and goodies, it is a whole lot of fun.

On 7/30/2024 at 6:16 AM, MoiBakaDesu said:

Oh, that is so true, it is also a dangerous money-sink, haha! I go window-shopping for my boys a lot more intensly than for myself in fact, and even though I don't really intend to Haruka always ends up the more spoiled when it comes to clothes at least. But also little doll-sized accessoires and goodies, it is a whole lot of fun.

I’m going to have to prepare myself for the commitment hehe. 🤭

My most expensive doll is, of course, my beloved Kyojuro Rengoku. His faceup was a bit pricey, and not only did I buy a decently-priced wig off Taobao, I also commissioned two pricier wigs from a friend two years later when the first started falling apart. And then there's all the trinkets I got him; commissioned his Demon Slayer uniform (twice, once was the wrong size—oops), his pajamas from the CRAFTHOLIC x Kimetsu no Yaiba collaboration, bought him a bunch of props specifically for him, bought him some other outfits specifically for him... (And when I mean "specifically for him," I mean it—no other doll is allowed to use or wear them.)

If you want to go by a doll that was supposed to be the same character but wasn't always the same doll, then the most expensive doll I've ever had would have to be Zenon. She has had so many reshells, you could probably compare them to the amount of grains of sand there are on a beach. I would buy one, think it would work for her, buy her a whole bunch of items, but it would never work out. The doll just wouldn't be her. The sculpt wouldn't be right. She's an original character, so she was a lot harder to visualize; but finally, during I-Doll in December of last year, we passed by a vendor, saw a head, and both @rudebuster and I immediately shouted at the same time, "OMG, THAT'S Z, WE HAVE TO GET THAT HEAD." And she went to get extra cash so we could afford it while I guarded it from any other possible buyers (there weren't any), and we got the head. @rudebuster has told me that I'm forbidden from ever reshelling Zenon again, because the head is perfect for her. It's heavily modded, but the expression fits her perfectly. And like Kyojuro, she also gets a lot of gifts.

Edited August 3, 2024 by condogenate

57 minutes ago, condogenate said:

My most expensive doll is, of course, my beloved Kyojuro Rengoku. His faceup was a bit pricey, and not only did I buy a decently-priced wig off Taobao, I also commissioned two pricier wigs from a friend two years later when the first started falling apart. And then there's all the trinkets I got him; commissioned his Demon Slayer uniform (twice, once was the wrong size—oops), his pajamas from the CRAFTHOLIC x Kimetsu no Yaiba collaboration, bought him a bunch of props specifically for him, bought him some other outfits specifically for him... (And when I mean "specifically for him," I mean it—no other doll is allowed to use or wear them.)

If you want to go by a doll that was supposed to be the same character but wasn't always the same doll, then the most expensive doll I've ever had would have to be Zenon. She has had so many reshells, you could probably compare them to the amount of grains of sand there are on a beach. I would buy one, think it would work for her, buy her a whole bunch of items, but it would never work out. The doll just wouldn't be her. The sculpt wouldn't be right. She's an original character, so she was a lot harder to visualize; but finally, during I-Doll in March of this year, we passed by a vendor, saw a head, and both @rudebuster and I immediately shouted at the same time, "OMG, THAT'S Z, WE HAVE TO GET THAT HEAD." And she went to get extra cash so we could afford it while I guarded it from any other possible buyers (there weren't any), and we got the head. @rudebuster has told me that I'm forbidden from ever reshelling Zenon again, because the head is perfect for her. It's heavily modded, but the expression fits her perfectly. And like Kyojuro, she also gets a lot of gifts.

I have a feeling that this is exactly how I’m going to end up being as well honestly. 😭 Ran has so many different canon outfits because of how much official art/merch he gets, and I have this sinking feeling that I’m going to keep coming back to my doll artist to commission a bunch of them. I’m already considering asking them to add an extra outfit to my order so he can have his more casual outfit along with his uniform— And one day I’d like to have an alternate wig with his hair down instead of the braids. 

The things I do for fictional men…