What’s your most expensive doll?

Bit of an update, I’ve almost paid off half the down payment. 🙏 I think I’m pretty much over feeling guilty about it atp, thankfully. My mom doesn’t seem to be paying attention to my payments either, so I think I’m in the clear there as far as being judged. This is too exciting for me to worry so much hehe. Thank you to everyone who reassured me!

Edited August 2 by MrsHaitani

Here we go!

My most expensive doll is probably my Tahomaru (who I am unashamed to say is my favorite, both in character and doll form - to the point where I am awaiting shipping on an absolutely MASSIVE plush of him that I recently had commissioned. The joys of having virtually no official merch outside a few buttons and keychains...🤣). I've had him in some form since 2019, since I loved Dororo, and especially his character - though he's definitely changed a lot over the years I've had him. I had both of his canon outfits commissioned - one in 2019, the other in 2021, gone through an older Kirito DDIII DDB body to a newer DD-f3 DDB when I moved to Japan. When I customize a character, they need to be as accurate as possible, so choosing a head for him was a chore. In the beginning, I chose a Chihaya head for him since I felt it could work for him and got an artist to do his faceup and eyes, which arrived in 2020. 

One of the things I'd really wanted for him was an alternate head which represented him from later in the series, but this required one closed eye, which is...a complicated mod, to say the least. Around 2021 I contacted the artist who had done Taho's faceup before and asked about the possibility of doing a closed eye mod with a similar faceup, and they said they would give it a try...so I purchased another Chihaya. Unfortunately in the end, the artist didn't feel confident to pull the mod off and wasn't satisfied with their attempts (totally understandable - I tried a partial closed eye mod way back in my early days of collecting and got torn to shreds over it 😅), so we agreed to just send the head back. So, the closed eye mod project went on hold.

Fast forward to mid-2022. I was preparing for mine and @condogenate's move to Japan when I was talking to a friend who does wonderful commission work about my Taho projects and the fact that DC-H-25 had been released not long prior, and given that I'd have easier access to getting a Dream Choice boy soon, would that head sculpt be better for my project? They've got a great eye for matching sculpts to character features and agreed that, yes, it looks more like him. Not only that, they offered to do the closed eye mod for his other head too! And so sometime after our arrival in Japan, I purchased two DC-H-25s and sent them to my friend. It did take quite a bit for his heads (plus one other head in the commission order - his brother, Hyakkimaru! 🤣) to be completed, but they finally arrived in May of this year and they are totally PERFECT. His closed eye head is color matched perfectly, too!

Another area that I spent quite a bit on was finding the right wig for him. If you know Tahomaru, you know he has ridiculous crab hair. I can't tell you how many times @condogenate and I tried to make yarn wigs for him and how much yarn we bought for him over time, but I'm no stylist, so I was never satisfied with my cuts. I had one commissioned from a lovely etsy seller at one point, but I always wanted a heat-resistant fiber wig for him - of course, wig customizers of that caliber are hard to find. While waiting for my heads to be painted, I was lucky enough to find a cosplay wig customizer on Taobao that also customizes doll wigs. They spoke some English and agreed to take my order - it wasn't cheap but the end result was SO worth it and absolutely perfect. They are my go to for character specific wigs now.

Here is what Taho used to look like in his first iteration, using the Chihaya head:

And this is him now (both versions - plus bonus Hyakkimaru):

I'm not even sure I want to know how much money I put into this boy, but between multiple heads/faceups/wigs/bodies/outfits, it had to be a lot. He is absolutely worth every penny, and he's my dream doll for sure. And...I'm not even done with him yet! I said I wasn't going to do it, but now that I've decided to dabble in faceups, I want to take on a mod myself and do a third option head for him, 

Spoiler

post-episode 22, where he has Hyakkimaru's eyes. Cutting out a third eye hole and making my own resin ones for him is going to be fun - I'm actually looking forward to it. 

...sorry for the long post! I'm just really passionate about this boy.

39 minutes ago, rudebuster said:

Here we go!

My most expensive doll is probably my Tahomaru (who I am unashamed to say is my favorite, both in character and doll form - to the point where I am awaiting shipping on an absolutely MASSIVE plush of him that I recently had commissioned. The joys of having virtually no official merch outside a few buttons and keychains...🤣). I've had him in some form since 2019, since I loved Dororo, and especially his character - though he's definitely changed a lot over the years I've had him. I had both of his canon outfits commissioned - one in 2019, the other in 2021, gone through an older Kirito DDIII DDB body to a newer DD-f3 DDB when I moved to Japan. When I customize a character, they need to be as accurate as possible, so choosing a head for him was a chore. In the beginning, I chose a Chihaya head for him since I felt it could work for him and got an artist to do his faceup and eyes, which arrived in 2020. 

One of the things I'd really wanted for him was an alternate head which represented him from later in the series, but this required one closed eye, which is...a complicated mod, to say the least. Around 2021 I contacted the artist who had done Taho's faceup before and asked about the possibility of doing a closed eye mod with a similar faceup, and they said they would give it a try...so I purchased another Chihaya. Unfortunately in the end, the artist didn't feel confident to pull the mod off and wasn't satisfied with their attempts (totally understandable - I tried a partial closed eye mod way back in my early days of collecting and got torn to shreds over it 😅), so we agreed to just send the head back. So, the closed eye mod project went on hold.

Fast forward to mid-2022. I was preparing for mine and @condogenate's move to Japan when I was talking to a friend who does wonderful commission work about my Taho projects and the fact that DC-H-25 had been released not long prior, and given that I'd have easier access to getting a Dream Choice boy soon, would that head sculpt be better for my project? They've got a great eye for matching sculpts to character features and agreed that, yes, it looks more like him. Not only that, they offered to do the closed eye mod for his other head too! And so sometime after our arrival in Japan, I purchased two DC-H-25s and sent them to my friend. It did take quite a bit for his heads (plus one other head in the commission order - his brother, Hyakkimaru! 🤣) to be completed, but they finally arrived in May of this year and they are totally PERFECT. His closed eye head is color matched perfectly, too!

Another area that I spent quite a bit on was finding the right wig for him. If you know Tahomaru, you know he has ridiculous crab hair. I can't tell you how many times @condogenate and I tried to make yarn wigs for him and how much yarn we bought for him over time, but I'm no stylist, so I was never satisfied with my cuts. I had one commissioned from a lovely etsy seller at one point, but I always wanted a heat-resistant fiber wig for him - of course, wig customizers of that caliber are hard to find. While waiting for my heads to be painted, I was lucky enough to find a cosplay wig customizer on Taobao that also customizes doll wigs. They spoke some English and agreed to take my order - it wasn't cheap but the end result was SO worth it and absolutely perfect. They are my go to for character specific wigs now.

Here is what Taho used to look like in his first iteration, using the Chihaya head:

And this is him now (both versions - plus bonus Hyakkimaru):

I'm not even sure I want to know how much money I put into this boy, but between multiple heads/faceups/wigs/bodies/outfits, it had to be a lot. He is absolutely worth every penny, and he's my dream doll for sure. And...I'm not even done with him yet! I said I wasn't going to do it, but now that I've decided to dabble in faceups, I want to take on a mod myself and do a third option head for him, 

  Reveal hidden contents

post-episode 22, where he has Hyakkimaru's eyes. Cutting out a third eye hole and making my own resin ones for him is going to be fun - I'm actually looking forward to it. 

...sorry for the long post! I'm just really passionate about this boy.

Omg, I love the dedication! Seeing people having so much love for a character makes me so happy honestly bc I get the same way with my favs. 😭🙏 I can absolutely relate to obsessing over characters that have barely any merch also- My favorite character ever aside from Ran is Illuso from JJBA who’s like one of the most irrelevant, unpopular characters in the series. SJSJSJS

It’s amazing seeing how your doll has evolved over the years though! He looks so cool! 🥺 I’m not familiar with Dororo, but I searched him up and I’m honestly super impressed by how accurate he looks! I can definitely relate to wanting to recreate all his canon looks as well. I’ve mentioned it in other replies, but I know for a fact I’m gonna wanna commission a ton of my boy’s canon outfits and I can’t promise I won’t eventually want to get an alternate head and wig for his timeskip look. There’s something so special about having a doll like this of your fav and there’s no way I won’t end up going all out.

21 hours ago, MrsHaitani said:

Bit of an update, I’ve almost paid off half the down payment. 🙏 I think I’m pretty much over feeling guilty about it atp, thankfully. My mom doesn’t seem to be paying attention to my payments either, so I think I’m in the clear there as far as being judged. This is too exciting for me to worry so much hehe. Thank you to everyone who reassured me!

Congratulations! I hope you're able to finish off the down payment soon! Waiting for your favorite doll to be at your doorstep is a gut-wrenching process, to be sure! The wait, oh, the wait!!

Edited August 3 by condogenate

22 minutes ago, condogenate said:

Congratulations! I hope you're able to finish off the down payment soon! Waiting for your favorite doll to be at your doorstep is a gut-wrenching process, to be sure! The wait, oh, the wait!!

I’m sure I will! If I continue with these monthly payments, it should be all paid off by October! Not too bad for something this expensive hehe. 

The wait is definitely going to be hard, especially since it’s probably gonna take a super long time for the doll to be complete bc of how much work he needs + all the other comms the artist has to do simultaneously. But I’ll do my best to hang in there! I know it’ll be worth the wait in the end even if it’s gonna be agonizing. 😭

36 minutes ago, MrsHaitani said:

I’m sure I will! If I continue with these monthly payments, it should be all paid off by October! Not too bad for something this expensive hehe. 

The wait is definitely going to be hard, especially since it’s probably gonna take a super long time for the doll to be complete bc of how much work he needs + all the other comms the artist has to do simultaneously. But I’ll do my best to hang in there! I know it’ll be worth the wait in the end even if it’s gonna be agonizing. 😭

You certainly have more patience than I do! Even just two weeks would have me climbing up the walls by my teeth like Bonk. 😁 Hang in there, man, hang in there! Be strong! 💪

Well it depends if I'm counting everything that went into the doll acquisition like customs it's gotta be my latest Lily for a little margin which was 1,100 herself I believe, but I got hit with 1,100 customs (don't ask) so she was 2,200 in total, that was in 2020 but we go way back (she's my 3rd Lily) 🙈

Other than that, Tamaki remains the one most I've paid for at 1,800 (not counting my first Tama which was 2,000 at the time and got a loan for her lol, and also my first and second Lily which ran for about 1,500 each). 

From there I guess it has to be Miki Hoshii  at 1,700 as the ultimate DDS and also Sasara whom you may know well as the all time DD grail. They all have been expensive but totally worth it.

From there is hard to remember. My most expensive head is Beato for example whom I paid a whopping $1000 for it (totally worth it!), then if you add the cost of putting her together is also close to 1.5k

I like to think that almost all my girls are or have been massive grails in the past, at least from from my experience so no regrets at all

On the other hand, Rin, for instance, was priced at 1.6k if I recall correctly. However, she was more of an impulsive purchase. She is neither limited nor special, at least not in my opinion. There are hundreds of her available after the  pre-order reboot and her price has dropped significantly. But hey, we're just here to enjoy ourselves, aren't we? 

Edited August 3 by puxlavoix

9 minutes ago, puxlavoix said:

Well it depends if I'm counting everything that went into the doll acquisition like customs it's gotta be my latest Lily for a little margin which was 1,100 herself I believe, but I got hit with 1,100 customs (don't ask) so she was 2,200 in total, that was in 2020 but we go way back (she's my 3rd Lily) 🙈

Other than that, Tamaki remains the one most I've paid for at 1,800 (not counting my first Tama which was 2,000 at the time and got a loan for her lol, and also my first and second Lily which ran for about 1,500 each). 

From there I guess it has to be Miki Hoshii  at 1,700 as the ultimate DDS and also Sasara whom you may know well as the all time DD grail. They all have been expensive but totally worth it.

From there is hard to remember. My most expensive head is Beato for example whom I paid a whopping $1000 for it (totally worth it!), then if you add the cost of putting her together is also close to 1.5k

I like to think that almost all my girls are or have been massive grails in the past, at least from from my experience so no regrets at all

On the other hand, Rin, for instance, was priced at 1.6k if I recall correctly. However, she was more of an impulsive purchase. She is neither limited nor special, at least not in my opinion. There are hundreds of her available after the  pre-order reboot and her price has dropped significantly. But hey, we're just here to enjoy ourselves, aren't we? 

1k+ for customs is insane omg??? I had no idea that could happen. 😭 But I really admire the dedication you have to your girls! Your collection sounds crazy (in a good way ofc!)

I also love how many Fate fans there are on here hehe.

3 hours ago, condogenate said:

You certainly have more patience than I do! Even just two weeks would have me climbing up the walls by my teeth like Bonk. 😁 Hang in there, man, hang in there! Be strong! 💪

I’ll try my best. 😭 It’s been a month and I’m already getting super antsy, but we’ve still got a long way to go. Hoping I can keep myself busy so I don’t end up exploding-

My most expensive doll would honestly have to be Frieren!

The rest of this is probably just me rambling so forgive me, heh. For the longest time, I could never answer any question regarding what my favorite series/book/show/etc. was. It wasn't until I purchased the first volume of Frieren while on a trip to the bookstore did everything change. I instantly fell in love with the series and finally had an answer to a question that haunted me for a bit lol. 

After that, I purchased all of the available volumes and binged them all in like a day. I even went as far as to start collecting figures, plushies, and literally anything I could get my hands on. So you wouldn't believe my reaction when I saw they were making a Frieren Dollfie. I was quite literally jumping with joy!

During the lottery, I remember I asked my friends and co-workers if they would also join for more of a chance to get her because my luck is awful lol. Luckily they all agreed and so I waited... and waited... and waited some more. By now, many lucky winners were starting to get their Frieren Dollfies shipped to them with no news of anybody else receiving an invoice so I eventually lost all hope. So I ended up buying one for way more then was probably reasonable on Yahoo Auctions. 😅

After a couple of days of waiting, my is on her way to me and I just so happen to check my email to see a invoice for the Frieren lottery. So uh, now I just have two Frierens. I love them both very much and are both two of my most prized possessions who I wouldn't trade for anything in the world! (But man, they were both expensive that it still kinda hurts to think about lmao)

12 minutes ago, ButterBiscuits said:

My most expensive doll would honestly have to be Frieren!

The rest of this is probably just me rambling so forgive me, heh. For the longest time, I could never answer any question regarding what my favorite series/book/show/etc. was. It wasn't until I purchased the first volume of Frieren while on a trip to the bookstore did everything change. I instantly fell in love with the series and finally had an answer to a question that haunted me for a bit lol. 

After that, I purchased all of the available volumes and binged them all in like a day. I even went as far as to start collecting figures, plushies, and literally anything I could get my hands on. So you wouldn't believe my reaction when I saw they were making a Frieren Dollfie. I was quite literally jumping with joy!

During the lottery, I remember I asked my friends and co-workers if they would also join for more of a chance to get her because my luck is awful lol. Luckily they all agreed and so I waited... and waited... and waited some more. By now, many lucky winners were starting to get their Frieren Dollfies shipped to them with no news of anybody else receiving an invoice so I eventually lost all hope. So I ended up buying one for way more then was probably reasonable on Yahoo Auctions. 😅

After a couple of days of waiting, my is on her way to me and I just so happen to check my email to see an invoice for the Frieren lottery. So uh, now I just have two Frierens. I love them both very much and are both two of my most prized possessions who I wouldn't trade for anything in the world! (But man, they were both expensive that it still kinda hurts to think about lmao)

I can honestly relate to having a series just… suddenly take over your life out of nowhere. It’s happened to me twice over the past two years and I still haven’t recovered. 😭 But having a series you can be that passionate about is super fun hehe.

THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE WORST TIMING EVER THOUGH OMG… I feel like lotteries like that should have a deadline for receiving the invoice to prevent stuff like that bc I can imagine someone thinking they lost and then buying the doll way overpriced secondhand only to get an invoice later is something that probably has happened more times than it should— But I’m glad that you were still able to bond with both your Frierens despite all that, that’s really sweet! Most people probably would’ve just sold the second one. 🥺

On 8/5/2024 at 1:31 PM, MrsHaitani said:

I can honestly relate to having a series just… suddenly take over your life out of nowhere. It’s happened to me twice over the past two years and I still haven’t recovered. 😭 But having a series you can be that passionate about is super fun hehe.

THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE WORST TIMING EVER THOUGH OMG… I feel like lotteries like that should have a deadline for receiving the invoice to prevent stuff like that bc I can imagine someone thinking they lost and then buying the doll way overpriced secondhand only to get an invoice later is something that probably has happened more times than it should— But I’m glad that you were still able to bond with both your Frierens despite all that, that’s really sweet! Most people probably would’ve just sold the second one. 🥺

Oh yeah, it definitely is pretty fun to finally have something I'm passionate about even if it sorta does have a chokehold on me lol. The timing was really the worst and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if someone had the same thing happen to them like that happened to me. It would be nice to have like a deadline for invoices and maybe a second one for redraws if the original winners didn't pay their invoices? Also thank you for the sweet words! Whenever they were both being shipped to me, I actually thought about selling one of them. When they arrived and I opened them, I just couldn't bring myself to because they're just precious haha.

Anyways, I absolutely can't wait to see your custom doll complete!! Make sure to take lots pictures to share!! 💖

DD Yaya who was ¥120,000. By the time she arrived home and I'd paid her import duties she totalled £982.06 in my money.

Mine is my Yuki, her head+wig was about $500 and I got her the f3 body from Volks, which was about $300 at the time. I gotta say I have absolutely 0 regrets since she was my absolute holy grail doll since I was like 12 and I never thought I would be able to get her! Back in the 2010s when she was a more popular sculpt, I could never find her listed secondhand for anything less than 300,000 yen, and as time went on I couldn't find any listings for her at all. Seeing her head popping up in the marketplace here felt like a miracle! Honestly, I still can't believe that she's here!

I used to have a lot of guilt when it came to purchasing expensive things (Even for things that are actually necessary! So the guilt for expensive dolls was extra bad!), so I would often try to find cheaper "substitutes" for the things that I really wanted. I've come to realize that this has left me wasting money on stuff that I'm not happy with and don't feel thrilled to have, and that just buying the one that I REALLY wanted would saved me both time and money. I now feel that as long as you aren't financially ruining yourself, then any purchase that you're happy with and love was worth the money regardless of the price tag. Meanwhile buying something that you don't actually like is more of a waste, even if it only cost $10. I'm becoming more discerning with my purchases and trying to overcome the quantity>quality mindset I was raised with lol.

1 hour ago, Roserolls said:

Mine is my Yuki, her head+wig was about $500 and I got her the f3 body from Volks, which was about $300 at the time. I gotta say I have absolutely 0 regrets since she was my absolute holy grail doll since I was like 12 and I never thought I would be able to get her! Back in the 2010s when she was a more popular sculpt, I could never find her listed secondhand for anything less than 300,000 yen, and as time went on I couldn't find any listings for her at all. Seeing her head popping up in the marketplace here felt like a miracle! Honestly, I still can't believe that she's here!

We don't see many of those rare gems around here anymore. Would you please show us some pics of your Yuki? 🥰

Edited August 6 by puxlavoix

On 7/27/2024 at 1:34 PM, 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)

I can recall when Saber Lily's head alone was $1400, and I assume yours is either Lily or Blue Saber? Blue's full set was just as crazy expensive as Lily's.

For me it's my Sasara 2nd release, she was around $1090.00.

18 hours ago, puxlavoix said:

We don't see many of those rare gems around here anymore. Would you please show us some pics of your Yuki? 🥰

Of course! I've been wanting to take her outside for photos more since my rose bushes are all in bloom, but we keep getting hit with unexpected rain and thunder every day now

On 8/6/2024 at 5:46 PM, ButterBiscuits said:

Anyways, I absolutely can't wait to see your custom doll complete!! Make sure to take lots pictures to share!! 💖

Oh I absolutely will! I won’t shut up about him I fear. 

10 hours ago, Roserolls said:

Of course! I've been wanting to take her outside for photos more since my rose bushes are all in bloom, but we keep getting hit with unexpected rain and thunder every day now

Oh, she's so precious!! Congrats and thank you very very much for sharing these! 😍🥰

It really scapes my mind why wasn't she ever re-released. 🤔 #BringHerBack #WeWantMore.

Truly a gem to behold! ✨

Currently Mashiro at 95,000 yen (including shipping & import taxes).

Oh my god, how could I have forgotten that I carefully pieced together every bit of Kyojuro's Rengoku-sensei outfit, right down to finding little gold clips that look exactly like his tie clips. He has his red tie, watch, and everything! The items themselves probably weren't so expensive, but there were a lot of little pieces to find and a lot of events to go to to find them, and that adds up. That, plus everything else I mentioned in my first post in this thread makes Kyojuro Rengoku my most pampered doll.

On 8/14/2024 at 5:24 PM, chupakiba said:

Oh my god, how could I have forgotten that I carefully pieced together every bit of Kyojuro's Rengoku-sensei outfit, right down to finding little gold clips that look exactly like his tie clips. He has his red tie, watch, and everything! The items themselves probably weren't so expensive, but there were a lot of little pieces to find and a lot of events to go to to find them, and that adds up. That, plus everything else I mentioned in my first post in this thread makes Kyojuro Rengoku my most pampered doll.

I love that omg. 🥺 I’ve mentioned it before but there’s something so special about having dolls of your favs. I love seeing people who are so dedicated hehe.

 

On 8/6/2024 at 3:33 PM, Roserolls said:

Mine is my Yuki, her head+wig was about $500 and I got her the f3 body from Volks, which was about $300 at the time. I gotta say I have absolutely 0 regrets since she was my absolute holy grail doll since I was like 12 and I never thought I would be able to get her! Back in the 2010s when she was a more popular sculpt, I could never find her listed secondhand for anything less than 300,000 yen, and as time went on I couldn't find any listings for her at all. Seeing her head popping up in the marketplace here felt like a miracle! Honestly, I still can't believe that she's here!

I used to have a lot of guilt when it came to purchasing expensive things (Even for things that are actually necessary! So the guilt for expensive dolls was extra bad!), so I would often try to find cheaper "substitutes" for the things that I really wanted. I've come to realize that this has left me wasting money on stuff that I'm not happy with and don't feel thrilled to have, and that just buying the one that I REALLY wanted would saved me both time and money. I now feel that as long as you aren't financially ruining yourself, then any purchase that you're happy with and love was worth the money regardless of the price tag. Meanwhile buying something that you don't actually like is more of a waste, even if it only cost $10. I'm becoming more discerning with my purchases and trying to overcome the quantity>quality mindset I was raised with lol.

That’s amazing omg! I’m so happy you were able to get her. 🥺

And I absolutely agree. Even if something is expensive, if you can afford it just fine and know how badly you want it then there’s really no reason not to. Happiness is the most importantly thing!

As of now, my most expensive DD has been the re-release of Saber Arturia.... the one with the crown and cape.  She was $1100 after shipping and taxes.  

But there was one other that ran me $1200, that being an Iris Icon with matching joints.  She came with extra hands and her extra lingerie set.  I had twins for a while but for some reason, it just didn't sit right with me so I let her go to a good friend for the same price I paid.  So now Saber is back up at the top of the heap for my most expensive girl.

 

Billy 

Mine is an off-topic resin fullset from Loongsoul which cost around $1500. He's 73cm tall and came with an exquisite and very elaborate outfit with many layers and some pieces made of real silk, a very intricate styled wig with headpieces and jewellery, full face and body blushing done by hand. He's super solid and heavy and very tall! He's absolutely breathtaking and I admire him every single day, so I definitely consider the doll money well spent!

I never discuss the topic of how much my dolls cost because it's really no one's business. I'm responsible with my money and save up funds specifically for my doll hobby and other hobbies while making all of my other bills with money to spare. It's not an irresponsible hobby and I'm an adult so it's nobody's business!