Cheapest starting point - buy or make?

I have a dilemma I'm hoping someone here can help me out with. The explanation is a little long-winded, so bear with me... or don't. This is the internet and I guess you can just click away if you want. Also, I apologize if I'm posting this in the wrong place.

I have a series of specific costume designs that I've been wanting to make for a long time, but realizing that it would be too ambitious and costly for life-size, I decided to go with dolls instead. I've been a collector of porcelains since I was a child (courtesy of my grandmother, who left me some of her dolls), but porcelains don't seem to have universal sizes, and also no longer seem to be popular, so I want to try creating for BJDs instead. BJDs are certainly more flexible (pun intended) when it comes to what you can do with creative photography, which would be ideal when it's time to photograph the costumes.

But BJDs are ludicrously expensive for the ideal size. At the moment I'm looking at either Dollshe Amanda Beauty 26F Classic Maxi, or Iplehouse Elf Grace SID or Raffine EID. All three are over $500 or $600 each with shipping, even with Christmas sale prices and without faceup or wig. I don't think I can justify spending that much on a doll. If I could, I would just borrow a doll to test fit and "model" the costumes on, and sell the costumes until I have enough money to buy my own BJD. But alas, I don't know any collectors I can borrow from.

The other option is making my own dolls. I do have specific design ideas which, so far as know, aren't available anywhere in the BJD market. Creating a unique doll and unique costumes for said doll would be both an enjoyable and potentially lucrative endeavor... if I'm successful in my sculpting, which I'm unsure of. I tend to be fairly successful learning new artistic skills, but not always. I'm also unsure of what the cost of such a project might be, so I may just end up spending a lot of money on something that will ultimately fail. At least with a purchased doll, I know what I'm getting, and I already know how to sew. Again, the smart thing to do would be to sell costumes for other BJDs until I've earned enough money for the materials to make my own doll, but that puts me at square one; I don't own a BJD, and I don't know anyone I can borrow one from.

So... opinions? What's the cost of buying a doll versus the cost of making one the same size? Which path carries the least risk, or the greatest opportunity? I value any advice, because really, I just want to make pretty things and not starve to death for my choice of vocation. Thanks bunches.

 

I actually have those exact two Yoshida books, as well as ones by Robert McKinley. (BTW, I found an English translation for the first book, but does anyone know where I can find a translation for the second?) I have some sculpting experience, and I've sculpted legs for porcelain dolls as a template for making cloth parts to get the shape I want. (You know, like when only part of the doll is porcelain, and other parts that are meant to be hidden are stuffed fabirc. I find it easiest to make a pattern on a body rather than drafting it with math. Math just isn't organic enough for me.) But the BJD dress form doesn't sound like a bad idea. If I'd known that was a thing, I would have done that in the first place. Thanks! (Although I tried making a tape dress form for myself once, and the surface was too uneven to make it usable. Not sure how I feel about tape dress forms on an even smaller scale.)

Buuut... I would still like to make my own dolls, even if I don't have to worry about it right away. What materials are recommended? It looks like 3D programs are best for symmetry, but I think I'd rather do it the traditional way. But I've seen people use paper clay, polymer clay, traditional clay, or a mix. Frankly, my brain is spinning with all the info.

Also, where do I buy the dress forms? I've never seen them come up in my BJD searches.

 

I'm looking for a certain level of facial realism and accurate body proportions, so yes, unless there's something cheaper I haven't seen yet. I also need them to be larger so they're easier to sew for. I didn't know that there was such a list until you mentioned it, though, so I'll check that out.

I did find a US dealer for Dollshe, which at least cuts down on the shipping, and not choosing the Honey skin cuts it down further. (The Honey skin seems to me to look nice unpainted, but all the photos I've seen with faceup look too waxy and artificial.) So I was ready to take the plunge, but then I found out their wait times can be extremely long. Then I discovered Impldoll Star Sicily, which is very pretty, and is cheaper, but doesn't suit my plans as well and the Dollshe Amanda, so now I'm back to not knowing what I want. Ha.

 

I do want to go down that road, long and twisty though it may be, but I realized it would help to have a doll in my hands to analyze the joints and stringing before I start. I ended up purchasing Impldoll Sicily (which also came with a free extra head, so I chose Azalea), and because Dollshe wait times are so long anyway, I'm doing a 12-month layaway for Amanda Beauty. I have certain projects planned for each, so I hope to have Amanda by the time I finish Sicily's/Azalea's projects, at which point I can start on Amanda's projects. I can sell the things I make, and I can sell the dolls if I don't feel I can afford to keep them. And if I do it right, I may have the money in the end to make my own dolls.

That's the plan. It may not work, but I get nowhere at all if I don't try.