Is there a market for one-of-a-kind DD?

This is something I've been curious about but didn't know where I should ask. Now, I've been around long enough to at least know that many people offer all sorts of bits and pieces for DD (custom eyes or faceups for example) but that's not quite what I'm wondering. I'm talking about the whole deal:

 

• 
  • Full doll (with faceup, eyes, and wig)
  • a complete outfit set
  • a set of pajamas
  • a set of underwear
  (outfits would be handmade, possibility from custom fabric)
  • full unique name
  • an actual backstory/introduction where the girl can have a chance to talk about herself
  

 

Would there be any interest in a DD like this, especially if the parent could choose some defining characteristics, as well as hair and eye color? (Name and backstory could be optional.) Is the idea of a 'mystery girl' something that would be interesting to anyone?

 

Some of the reason I'm asking this is that I've seen many people on the boards that either don't know how to sew, know enough that it's not something they enjoy, or they have a few ideas for a girl they might want but don't know how to proceed from there.

 

So, who has any thoughts on this?

 

~Sister Kyoya

I don't know about the name/backstory thing. But there's at least a few Japanese people on YJA who sell pretty much 'full sets' minus the bodies. And they tend to go for scary amounts. Lala-ya (Probably the #1 modder/faceup artist on YJA) sold a custom DDH-06 with outfit/wigs/eyes for 670000yen. (Yes, that's 4 zeroes )

 

But the question is how big of a market is there outside of Japan? No idea, except for a few crazy people (including me) who pay those insane amounts of them. Looking at for example Flickr when someone tries to resell a custom head bought from YJA they're usually met with hostility due to the pricing. ¬_¬

Just out of curiosity, why not the bodies?

 

I almost stopped breathing when I converted the yen. How is it possible to charge almost $8,500 for a bodyless DD? And here I was thinking that $1,500 was a lot, including the body.

 

~Sister Kyoya

I don't know about the name/backstory thing. But there's at least a few Japanese people on YJA who sell pretty much 'full sets' minus the bodies. And they tend to go for scary amounts. Lala-ya (Probably the #1 modder/faceup artist on YJA) sold a custom DDH-06 with outfit/wigs/eyes for 670000yen. (Yes, that's 4 zeroes )

 

But the question is how big of a market is there outside of Japan? No idea, except for a few crazy people (including me) who pay those insane amounts of them. Looking at for example Flickr when someone tries to resell a custom head bought from YJA they're usually met with hostility due to the pricing. ¬_¬

 

Holy cow, that's a lot of money. I think it would be really nice to own an OOAK Dollfie Dream since I already do own many OOAK fashion dolls.

I'm probably just too tired to think, but I really don't understand the question...

 

Are you asking if people make one-of-a-kind sculpts? Mostly not, because it's a very hard thing to do.

 

Then there's something else I thought of. If you bought a DD off Volks, customized her face-up, clothes, wig, and everything, wouldn't that make her one-of-a-kind?

 

And I'm not really understanding the whole "Name and Backstory" thing, isn't that what all the limited DD's are??

 

Sorry if I'm coming across as rude, I just don't understand...

I'm not sure what you're asking... what you mean like commissioning someone to create a complete original character? I'm sure someone crazy would be able to do that. Not only it'd take time, it'd also take skill and a great deal of money.

 

I've been hounding a certain character on YJA that I thought was the most adorable original character ever. She comes with everything but the body. So head + 2 sets of eyes + outfit + wig + ears. She came out to only 137,000 yen. That may seem like a lot but I totally fell in love with her... it's too bad I didn't get to win the auction and now I know I'll never get her again because she's completely OOAK.

 

 

Melt my heart out. <3

Her name was Momori.

Just out of curiosity, why not the bodies?

 

I almost stopped breathing when I converted the yen. How is it possible to charge almost $8,500 for a bodyless DD? And here I was thinking that $1,500 was a lot, including the body.

I guess because they (used to be) are readily available, so selling it with a body just adds extra shipping/etc. The heads/outfits made for MDD bodies are usually matched with Parabox 40cm bodies as well as they seem to be a lot more popular in Japan as MDD replacements.

 

Someone told me Lala-ya sold a head/outfit/etc set for over 800000y once. Never saw the auction myself though as Yahoo removes old listings. So yeah, things can go for crazy prices. ^^

I have seen some remakeup limited heads go for a lot but 800000y is certainly quite expensive. Volks also does its own One-offs at Dolpas. Some are for charity auctions. I am sure if it is an auction, they must go for quite a bit. The One-offs come with the head, body, eyes, wig, outfit, and custom faceup by one of their artists.

 

Maybe Sister Kyoya means something similar to the recent listing for Noodles:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/dollfiedream/discuss/72157629991740197/

 

Noodles has or had a name and already a suggestion of a personality according to the advance warning that she may be "a little bit shy" but would come around in a couple days. That made her hard to resist. She was not just any DD head. She was Noodles. Noodles didn't come as a complete set though, but her personality really seemed to show in the photos. So perhaps Sister Kyoya means a situation in which someone created a customized DD and gave her a name, wig, eyes, outfit, and some key personality traits and put her up for adoption. Would people be interested or would they have wanted to decide everything on their own.

 

That also leads to an interesting observation that some people adopt limiteds with plans to modify them or change their look completely. Some people certainly buy them and think of them as that anime character or game character. But it is not unusual to see a limited almost unrecognizable from her default style. I think both ideas are fun. Maybe Noodles is just making me biased.

Then there's something else I thought of. If you bought a DD off Volks, customized her face-up, clothes, wig, and everything, wouldn't that make her one-of-a-kind?

 

Sorry if I'm coming across as rude, I just don't understand...

 

lol, not rude at all. Keep reading for the answer to your question.

 

And I'm not really understanding the whole "Name and Backstory" thing, isn't that what all the limited DD's are??

 

In a way, yes, but done by someone who isn't Volks. I wouldn't be creating new heads, just modding either the Volks or SQLabs ones. Plus with the Volks ones you don't have any input about the doll because it's already done before they post the info about it.

 

what you mean like commissioning someone to create a complete original character?

 

Yes, this is exactly what I'm talking about.

 

I'm sure someone crazy would be able to do that. Not only it'd take time, it'd also take skill and a great deal of money.

 

You forgot to mention an extreme attention to detail and an overriding perfectionist streak...

 

Many of the people in my life have thought I am certifiably insane, but I just find it to be an intriguing personality trait. As for time, I have a whole summer starting at the end of next week, and I have been sewing for 20+ years, many of which have been for doll clothes. I may not be the fastest at drafting patterns, but once you have one that's accurate you don't have to redraw it over and over. I have been sewing and designing my own clothes since high school because I enjoy it.

 

Maybe Sister Kyoya means something similar to the recent listing for Noodles:

 

Noodles has or had a name and already a suggestion of a personality according to the advance warning that she may be "a little bit shy" but would come around in a couple days. That made her hard to resist. She was not just any DD head. She was Noodles. Noodles didn't come as a complete set though, but her personality really seemed to show in the photos. So perhaps Sister Kyoya means a situation in which someone created a customized DD and gave her a name, wig, eyes, outfit, and some key personality traits and put her up for adoption. Would people be interested or would they have wanted to decide everything on their own.

 

This is exactly what I'm talking about. Thanks Mitsuki. I have been seriously trying to figure out a summer job to earn what I need to finish Rainie's body and many other DD projects (ideally earning about $3,000, but that also includes some other DD projects and getting a resin BJD), hence the reason I asked the original question. I have lots of ideas in my head of clothes to design (DD Mbust and MDD Sbust are the only bodies we have at the moment) but I have a very hard time guessing what any other girls would want because I don't know their personalities really well. This might also explain the backstories thing too, aside from the fact that I really love writing and creating characters.

 

I just love the idea of a pre-made girl that isn't generic who is just waiting to be adopted by a loving family. Every girl should be unique, but not everyone has all the right talents to make it work. I have so much creativity and talent that it's practically coming out of my ears.

 

I'm still trying to figure out what would or wouldn't realistically work for me to do this summer to earn what I need to get our DD finished that we've had since Feb. Doing something for our community at the same time would make me very, very happy.

 

~Sister Kyoya

Hmm... I'm not sure. Like the others said, people sometimes balk at customs DDs when they are sold outside of Japan for outrageous prices. I don't think I've ever seen a custom DD fetch as high a price as , say, Saber Lily. I think if this were Japan, it would be different though since they seem to go crazy over the OOAKs. That being said though, if it were a really well made custom with a Volks quality outfit, I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I had the money. Kinda like if they made any of the DDs on my wishlist - like Witchblade or Valkyrie profile, whew, but I would certainly go for that.

I haven't seen custom DDs sell for enough to say you should go for it. The market is probably too small to earn near 1k a month. If you can invest a bit, look into custom manufacturing - seems there'd be a market for male DD option parts

I think the main hurdle with this will be getting established as a one-off maker.

 

Especially making a profit from the start will be hard, take SQ labs for an example, their heads even in prepainted form went for less than 6-7k yen when they started, but now its seems a solid 10k+ for each, last time I checked (which was a while ago, I'll admit)

 

I might be a bit mean, and over-realistic about it, but i've seen a lot of so-so, but not bad looking basic faceups sell for more or less for what the head had cost new. Naturally to get these off YJA will involve handling fee's, but this sort of gives a guideline to the problem at hand.

 

As an extreme example, the elf head I have, was probably a real setback for the person who made it, having to sell it for less than what the parts had cost them, and not even including the time and effort put into paint and assembly. I think the tupperware bowl it came bolted to cost more than what I paid for it ~_~;

 

The same story continues with more or less all my customs. Yukimaru's head was a 5k yen purchase, and that barely covered the head, and the custom resin eyes it came with.

 

The head of my souseiseki came off a MDD custom full set that came to 17k yen, which is more or less 10k yen less than what the body, head, wig and eyes would have cost, and again not including the simple home made clothes it came with. Then again, this was sold as junk, so that probably contributed.

 

Turning a 300-400$us investment per full set doll just in parts and materials into profit can be a daunting task in my oppinnion, especially if starting from scratch.

 

But all in all, to fetch top dollar, it has to be a top dollar effort.

 

Like it was already said, to pry more money out of people's hands than what they would pay for a volks made doll, it has to be better in all fields than a volks made doll.

 

Unfortunately I dont think that just creating a background story is enough reason to tack on extra cost for a doll, since I think that people that are out for a custom, will probably start fresh, and come up with their own story in the end -- Unless it is a very well known, well made character, with some dobleepented history, Billy's Sprout could be a good example in this community, that someone wants to continue building the pre made story with, but then again this character has more invested in it, than just parts and paint -- There's quite a bit of play time involved.

Customs sometimes sell for a lot more than character DDs, so I think there's definitely a market for it as others have said. In fact, I think having a custom with a name and base personality (shy/bold/smart/bookish/etc) is actually kind of a draw. I know I usually only go for customs once I've given them a name (and then they MUST be mine) as I need to feel attached to them before I plunk down the money. I think that's one of the reasons character DDs are more popular than customs even though a fullset is a lot more expensive than a custom in many instances (you can get a custom girl with faceup for ~$500, less depending on your clothing/wig/eye choices). It's easier to instantly connect to a fullset than it is to plan out your own custom and spend a lot of money before you've even seen what her face will look like.

 

I've been tempted by a lot of Flickr/figure.fm custom sales but never actually bought any of them until recently, when I acquired both Anouc's Kureha and Motoko's Ryoko--probably because not only did I love the faceup, but I loved the personality and style attached to each of them. I plan to keep them the way they are for sure! Maybe it's different for everyone, because I know some people like having their dolls as a personality-less blank slate for them to work on, but personally I like that spark of inspiration.

 

However, starting up doing it yourself would be really difficult. You have to be a really well-known customizer to get a lot of money for sets, and that's really only on YJ--I don't think the US has a big enough DD market. Look at Hikaru, who is really popular and quite talented, but charges about $40 a head! I wouldn't bank on it as a source of income.

Customs are tough because there is so much room for interpretation. Not every custom is truly worth the price it goes for. It is in the eyes of the buyer to see worth. What I may deem average may be spectacular to someone else, and they may pay top dollar for it. I have definitely felt and seen this.

 

I have had at one time 9 custom heads floating around, and for me I love to work on heads but I don't want to keep every one, so I decided to sell some. I almost never covered the cost of time and labor I put into them, I would pretty much just break even. Obviously some were better than others, but still it is not something I sell hoping for a large profit. Or wanting to make a large profit. I honestly just want what I feel they are worth. That includes small items I make as well. I like making them and being able to see them go to people who want and love them. So far I have been lucky to see many of my items go to great members in the community! For those people who own my items, I think they can vouch for their quality.

 

But as someone stated Hikaru does an amazing face-up for $40 and seems to be the standard around here. People are just now starting to look to other face-up artists for a change of pace. Generally when I get the itchy fingers I buy a couple heads and paint. But I have held off lately because I don't want to be stuck with them in buckets, And I have had to sell them very low which seems sad for all the work I put in. So it is tough for customizers! XD

 

There is also the fact that the fullest is more popular here. It is standard and quality controlled way to get a doll already faced-up and then change her to suit the owner. Just as volks cloths are the standard for wanting nice items.

 

Sorry for the wall of text, and slight soapbox, but if you know my photos, you know I am a customizer. I only own one limited character and it is just her head. And I changed her face-up XD To me this is the best part of the hobby. And sharing what I make is too! So I hope there will be more growth and love for customs! And I hope people understand that when you buy a custom product you are buying someone's hard work. To say it is expensive or lowball the seller is offending their work. Most people who make their own things in our community charge reasonable prices. YJA is in a galaxy of its own, so I won't comment on that.

 

Gets off box and runs in mousehole....

when I acquired both Anouc's Kureha and Motoko's Ryoko

 

Wait, wait . . . you have Ryoko???

when I acquired both Anouc's Kureha and Motoko's Ryoko

 

Wait, wait . . . you have Ryoko???

 

That was my exact reaction!

Indeed, Ryoko now lives with me and SirNarwhal! It was only a few days ago that she got here (Friday!) and we haven't been able to do an "official" welcome post for her yet. I think we're bringing her to Times Square for her first shoot with us later this week~

I really do appreciate everyone's feedback. Thank you!

 

To clarify one thing though, I wasn't particularly referring only to custom heads. I find that part intriguing, but I'm smart enough to know that I don't have the skill to do that at the moment. But that's one thing I've got Rainie for because I wanted her head to be modded even before she arrived here. The biggest draw for me actually is the clothing, especially since I have access to making my own professionally printed fabric so even that part of the design is my own as well as the outfit styles. It has really helped a lot being able to think about this 'out loud' and realize that designing things in themed sets is really what I'd like to work at this summer. Before I kept getting really confused when I though about it because it seemed like random pieces of clothing to design but nothing was very cohesive.

 

My original idea that I stated is still something of interest to me if anyone is ever looking for something like that, but for now I can still use the overall concept in designing and presenting the finished clothing without it having to be an all or nothing thing. Plus, I'm sure a few of you probably think I'm a bit more than a little batty since I haven't had a chance to show off what I am capable of.

 

Even though I was surprised at what a modded DD head could go for, I had no assumption at all that it was even remotely close to normal. I would be totally beside myself to earn what I'm hoping for, but base line I'd be very content to earn the $300 I need to finish Rainie. I expect that I'm going to be very busy this summer with many projects to get anywhere with my goal, nor am I relying on a single source to get me to that point.

 

If you can invest a bit, look into custom manufacturing - seems there'd be a market for male DD option parts

 

I'm a bit curious if you had any idea how to go about researching what exactly it takes to do custom manufacture DD parts. It has been something I've mildly thought about and I know of a mold making supplies company, but how to get the right materials and even how to color it right is something that has stumped me. I have though about this a lot the last few months because I wish Volks had at least an optional guy bust so all I'd have to do is swap it out to keep Tamayuki mostly an MDD, but I've been afraid that I couldn't post about him any more on the main part of the forums if I had to get him an Obitsu body.

 

But all in all, to fetch top dollar, it has to be a top dollar effort.

 

Like it was already said, to pry more money out of people's hands than what they would pay for a volks made doll, it has to be better in all fields than a volks made doll.

 

If I didn't feel like I was capable of creating something that I would be proud to buy myself, and I can be overly picky, I wouldn't have posted my off-the-wall question.

 

Unfortunately I dont think that just creating a background story is enough reason to tack on extra cost for a doll, since I think that people that are out for a custom, will probably start fresh, and come up with their own story in the end -- Unless it is a very well known, well made character, with some dobleepented history, Billy's Sprout could be a good example in this community, that someone wants to continue building the pre made story with, but then again this character has more invested in it, than just parts and paint -- There's quite a bit of play time involved.

 

This is something I was aware of, but I wanted to see if anyone else would be interested in something like that. I know I surely would if I could afford it. Then there is the occasional person who is buying for someone else who might have a special reason to want a special DD that can't be easily (enough) assembled from the various parts shops (LeekeWorld, Volks, Mint on Card, ect.) spannning the net, or just don't have the time to hunt everything down. Then there are the people who may want a doll but who really struggle with seeing all these random pieces that they might like but aren't good at visualizing the complete girl in their head. I can think of lots of instances when a custom assembled doll would be a valuable option to have, I just didn't know how many of those instances would be common enough to make it worth it to try.

 

And I hope people understand that when you buy a custom product you are buying someone's hard work. To say it is expensive or lowball the seller is offending their work. Most people who make their own things in our community charge reasonable prices.

 

This is one reason why I think Etsy is such a great place. I'd hate to know how many of the people are there now used to try to sell through Ebay where everyone is looking for the cheapest price possible (or so it always seemed to me.) Do you have any suggestion on what a good calculation is to figure out the reasonable price range? I know a fair amount depends on it like what the item is, how well or exceptionally it has been made, if it is a single item vs. a set, ect. but even so how can you figure it out without shortchanging yourself?

 

Also here is another general question for whoever wants to answer: Is there any sort of interest in DD sized things that aren't jewelry or clothing? What about food? Other photostory type props like cereal boxes, boxes of candy, greeting cards, ect? I wonder about this because it seems like since the items are much smaller and less complicated than even a single outfit, the lower overall price would make them more accessible to a larger group of people.

 

Again, thank you for listening to my silly questions.

 

~Sister Kyoya

If you're interested in custom manufacturing, you don't have to handle the production yourself. I think vinyl casting requires high temps and some specialized gear. Lots of BJD artists and toy makers hire out overseas factories to handle sculpting and casting. There's also the option of using 3D printing services like http://www.shapeways.com/. Peapod Doll has custom DD feet, so it's surely possible.

Making custom accessories, maybe props from popular anime, seems like a good place to start