Name one thing you wish was different in this hobby

Two things immediately come to mind (editing to add, yes, I know the prompt is ONE thing but I can't decide which one is most important ): the wait time, and how limited some dolls are.

I'm a very patient person, and heck, I'm someone who often sells made to order artsy stuff, so I completely get why Nice Things Take Time. But the 9 month —1 year+ waits are absolutely wild to me (though I still signed up for that with most of my collection! ). A person's entire living situation can completely change in that span of time. It would be a nightmare for my business if I had to contend with having to constantly check and make sure customers' addresses were still valid at the end of such a long wait, before sending them their Very Expensive Handmade Art Piece.

As for the limited quantities bit, I totally understand why fullsets would be limited (those elaborate sets of clothing and special accessories take up tons of time and space, I'm sure), but good heavens, I wish they would keep the nude dolls in circulation much longer. I don't like having to make such quick decisions about items that are this expensive, it's too easy for me to fall victim to FOMO.

Honorary mention to a third thing: I wish more companies regularly sold heads separately from bodies. Most of my favorites don't, or only make them occasionally available for a short time, and seemingly only with some dealers, not all of them. They'd be getting a much more regular paycheck from me if they did this, because I can far more easily justify a 50-100$ish head than I can a 300$+ full doll.

 

Like many others have said, it would be great to see more mature sculpts available in 1/4 scale, as well as the option to purchase head sculpts separately from the bodies. And if only resin didn't yellow over time—how wonderful that would be. I also wish there were BJD stores around the area I live; it’d be amazing to see the doll stuff in person before buying.

 

Ooh, I totally forgot that first bit, but I'd say it's a real strong contender for my Top Five (Somewhat Petty) "Complaints" now that I have a substantial population of both 1/3s and 1/4s. I love how impressive 1/3s look and feel, but not gonna lie, I think 1/4 is the perfect size (and size-to-price ratio) and the only thing holding it back is exactly that: the lack of mature sculpts.

Delighted to see Loongsoul's recent 1/4 Kai Yang and Miao Jun release alongside their 1/3 versions, and I'm hoping they'll do this with most releases in the future! (And perhaps their old ones too...goodness, I would love a 1/4 version of so many of their older ones. Slightly less ridiculously-sized Black Dragon, anyone? )

 

I wish there was equal amount of stuff for the fairyland minifee Moe body. Mostly shoes that fairyland makes. I recently got one and I would love the resin parts that come out for the A-line also could come for the Moe line body.

 

I wish calling people out for being scammers or otherwise shite behavior wasn’t such a taboo thing xP

And that it was more acceptable to call out poor posing, structural or quality issues for company or for artist dolls. No one deserves to be dragged across the floor by any means but at the end of the day, we are buying a product, and I think it should be OK to tell each other about our experiences with makers. Even if the maker is a small artist. If the posing pictures for promos are deceiving, and the doll can’t actually do that, we should be able to let someone know without being told we’re trying to ruin someone’s business.

 

The scamming. Dollzone just totally scammed my friend out of the Shadow and $760. Bought directly from their website.

 

Taxation (EU). It''s become the worst part of the hobby for me. I can't even calculate the costs in advance because my country's customs always get creative . It should be 26% (22% VAT, plus 4% because it's "dolls") but they always slap random "fees" on top which can be whatever. I have to account for an additional 30-35% of the value. And if I bought a single item I'd end up paying more in taxes than the actual cost of what I bought. Say €15 if I bought just a wig, plus shipping, plus another €15 in taxes, it would cost me €40-45. Express couriers are even worse as their fees are horrendous - I pay upwards of €90 for shipping and I still end up paying €30-35 just in fees (on top of VAT). I have to make larger bulk orders to stay cost-effective and it always feels like highway robbery. It's so annoying and stressful. I want to learn to sew so I'll only have to endure this when I buy dolls.