Why are Bobobie dolls so cheap?

I was looking on their site and am always surprised to see such extreme low prices. Which is good I am not complaining but why is that I pay only 130$ for a bobobie 60cm and 600$ for a dream of doll 60cm (just comparing the site I just bought from)? Are they bad quality? The ones I have seen in person are just fine I believe. But also I do not find bobobie as attractive as the others.
But please tell me why you think they are so cheap compared to others.


sorry if there was already a thread like this or it belongs in a different place. Which I do not think it does.

 

I have a bobobie MSD- he cost me $165 including shipping, and he's been a dream to own so far. The sculpts are adorable, and they're not bad quality, it's just the companies method of production that's cheaper. Some of the larger companies tend to be more expensive, but really I think it comes down to how the resin is produced. I'll admit that bobobies feel a little more like plastic to touch than other dolls, but my Planetdoll girl has amazing, heavy, full bodied resin, and she was only about $200, so I think it really depends on the methods.

I hope that was helpful!

 

what's the link to bobobie?

 

http://www.bobobie.com/

 

I recently went to a doll meet and there was a bobobie there , although I did not touch him he was very nice looking.

 

May be because of the lack of promotion abilities they couldn't compare to more famous companies. It's a new company, isn't it?

 

AlchemillaVulgaris
http://www.bobobie.com/

 

Bobobie's resin is thinner and of a lower quality than other companies in my opinion. They make their sculpts thin. I have a Bobobie Mei and her entire body is impossibly thin. They've been improving the image of their sculpts into something I think is quite nice, but they are not as poseable out of the box as other companies dolls. They do not offer full sets to my knowledge. They're good dolls, but the resin is simply different than more expensive dolls.

 

I do not think they are that new and a lot of people seem to be aware of them

 

...

We've had this discussion before.

Repeatedly.

I found these threads after about thirty seconds using the handy-dandy 'search' function that's built into the top navigation bar of this forum.

 

This exact question gets asked about once a month. I think the main thing is that they have lower labor costs than many companies and do their best to keep prices way down. They obviously don't spend much on their photography, as their dolls are much nicer than their company photos show! Their faceups are pretty but basic, and the bodies are not as well engineered as most more expensive dolls. They usually need some work (restringing with thicker elastic, tightening, possibly sueding and/or wiring) before they are able to pose their best. That said, they are beautiful dolls, come with no seamlines, and in my opinion are a wonderful value.

 

tez- I figured but I just typed in bobobie and did not find it which was to vague I guess.

 

Actually factually its not lower quality it is simply a different type at. I have used the same brand resin as Bobobie to cast dolls myself - there are no fillers and the pigment range is phenominal and it is actually quite resistant to UV retarding (yellowing/discolouring).

The simple facts of the matter is that Dennis who is the founder of bobobie and the mastermind behind the casting of all the Bobobie dolls and Resin Soul dolls (Bobobies sister company) does the jobs of an entire army - he handles all the order processing, the sales, the web-site updates - he also moderates the Bobobie forum and public marketplace and he also takes the majority of the photographs AND he provides high quality customer service as well one on one answers to all his customers questions.

The body scupts are simpler than other companies - however the overheads are much lower and having spoken with Dennis he would much rather everyone was able to afford a doll and make them happy that to have the latest and greatest technology available to cast them.

I've had numerous Bobobie dolls and whilst their poseability isnt exactly scientific they are still plenty fun to have and enjoy and unlike some more expensive tanned dolls Bobobie tints their resin all the way through and not just on the surface so they can be modified without worrying about massive colour changes.... Oh and Dennis named Isabella after my daughter so yeah - I love them heheh

 

thanks for the knowledge I got it!

 

I own 5 Resinsouls (Boboies) , plus two Iplehouse, an Orient and I used to have a Hound.

I my opinion the resin used to make Bobbies is no thinner and they come to you sanded without seam lines.

The bodies aren't the greatest and they don't have a lot of range for posing, but neither do my other dolls. None of my have the fancy new joint systems, except the Akando.

I bought the Boboies because I love their faces and elf ears. I think they're some of the cutest dolls around.

If you buy one, restring it and the posing improves. You can also try sueding. It gives you hand on experience and would make a great first doll.

I would have no hesitation in buying one!

 

I love my Bobobie. They have beautiful sculpts and expressive faces. I really like the fact that you can't see seems in the resin. They are a bit difficult to pose, but you can always re-string or suede. I'm very happy with my doll!

 

I've had a Bobobie SD Rachel Girl for around two years now. She has spent most of that time stored above my closet in a doll carrier, partly due to lack of interest in SD sized dolls. I recently took her down, cleaned her up and started to play with her again.

The doll itself has a lot of personality and character. I absolutely adore her to bits. She makes a perfect first SD sized doll. Her resin is quite smooth and she is very well made. In all truth, she has one of the best factory faceup's on a doll I have yet to see!

And to top it off she's quite cost efficient!

 

Bobobie is kind of an odd company in that you either passionately love them, own like 12 of their dolls, and proclaim their virtues in every thread like this that comes along, OR you abhor them and find them to be extremely ugly and hire an Iplehouse Akando to rough them up for their lunch money. I've never seen someone with the "oh well they're pretty nice" attitude.

As for the reasons they cost so little?

-Made in China where labor, supplies, and cost of living is much less expensive
-(speculated by many, although I don't think it would effect much) Less money spent on webdesign and photography.
-Walmart-esque business model: become more sucessful selling many items at a low price than selling few items at a high price.
-Unrefined body/joint/hand sculpts
-Less fancy packaging and boxes

 

I really need this kind of testimony . Thank's a lot!.

 

I'm guessing that Dennis still pays his employees a decent wage, they just don't need as much money as someone living in Japan where rent is two grand?

 

Hello all

im deffo goin to order a 43cm Girl Ariel as ive fallen in love with her and her cute years...kinda reminds me of the cutest dobbie the hous elf ever

i was wondering about the coloured resin, i was thinking getting her pink or blue, but ive heard different people mention aboput colour rubbing away, altho ive never asked about the bobobie colour resin...

it would be nice to know so that when i do get her i dont have a heart attack

thanks very much ^_^

 

I also appreciate Bobobie dolls quite a lot. I have one at home and another on the way. I think the quality is great. The resin is sturdy and waiting time is relatively short (usually a month). My boy was delayed a bit however because the face up artist had a sick kid in the hospital, as Dennis stated on the forum. This also proves to me that this company is treating the workers with respect which is very satisfying. I don't mind waiting a bit longer because a key employee is having personal issues. A sick child is serious, especially in China because of one-child policy.
As for coloured resin, they dye the resin through and through so they're casting coloured resin. It's not just the top layer. They show this on their website I think. Also, a while ago a customer reported on their forum that a doll had arrived damaged, the damage happened during transit. This concerned coloured resin and you could see that the resin was entirely grey at the fractured locations.

 

wow thanks for that thats put my mind at ease a bit, i wouldnt mind if they did i just didnt want any unwanted suprises lol...
and im guessing a month is quick, im still waitin on my 1st bjd i only ordered him on the 4th so i'd have no dea but ive heard lots of people say that bobobie ship fast
I love the way there not as costly as some other companys because i cant reeli afford to buy most of the ones i see( which sucks¬¬') but there casts are reeli cute and there the only company ive found that has done an elf/sprite that i like

 

maybe a retarded question bobobie? resinsoul? sister companies? i ask cos i want to get a Mei, and shipping in resinsoul is quite a lot cheaper than bobobie @.@

 

Resinsoul and Bobobie are sister companies, Bobobie does the casting for Resinsoul, as I understand it. I have a Resinsoul Ni, she's beautiful. Needed sueding and tightening, and I had to make her some S-hooks, so like Bobobies, Resinsouls need a little work to be their best, but are very nice dolls for the price.

And a month is really short for a BJD wait. I've seen companies with 6-month or more waits. I'm at the very end (I hope) of a 3 month wait at the moment.

 

And I am also enjoying the fact that I'm a European living in a Euro-country. Right now the US-dollar is still quite cheap compared to our currency. But I have this advantage with anything bought online priced in US-dollars.

 

BBB & RS are sister companies, but RS doesn't offer BBB items. I wanted to buy some RS bodies and a BBB Pandora head but RS told me that they can't sell me the BBB head.
BBB does sell RS items but not the other way around. ^^ I wonder why?

Anyway, I ADORE RS (and BBB). I bought 5 70cm RS male bodies last month and I love them! They couldn't be more PERFECT for my purpose. (Creating 70cm Anime characters. ^^)

Here is a picture of what I've done so far: (Please excuse the Sailor Moon charas---they're not quite done yet as of this photograph. ^^;


The guys are all ResinSoul NS 70cm male bodies with Volks Dollfie Dream Option heads. The girls are all Obitsu 60cm WS bodies with Volks DD option heads, except for Pluto who is a ResinSoul 58cm body (extended her legs to make her 61cm) with Volks DD head. (The realistic guy in the center is a portrait doll of Kisho Taniyama, my favorite singer/seiyuu---he was a Dollzone Yuu 70cm before I modded him)

So the RS bodies are so super versatile and match the Obitsu WS and Volks DD NS almost perfectly!!! And the fact that they're so slim and long really makes for a PERFECT anime look!!!! Before RS came out with their 70cm guys, my 5 anime guys were Obitsu 60cm bodies (with male chests). It was good, but I didn't like how they were about the same height/shape as their girls. ^^;;
So when RS offered the 70cm body, it was a dream come true!!!!
I can't say how happy I am with RS and BBB! ^^ I am already saving up for more RS bodies---for my Gambit & Rogue 70/60cm doll set! ^.~

 

I am so sold on Bobobie - especially for a first time BJD owner like me. I have a Mei on layaway and was just gifted with an adorable little green Nissa. He is my first official ABJD and I am so impressed. I have the suspicion that the (wonderful) person who gave me the doll restrung him, because there is no problem with the little guy's posability at all. The resin texture is wonderful and while his factory faceup is rather basic, it certainly hints at his mischievous personality! The more I look at him and handle him the more potential I see in him.

There are several BBB/RS molds that I love the look of and I expect to make members of my doll family in the future.

 

I have a blue sprite, and she's held up just fine. I also have a dark tan, BW, and NS from Bobobie, and color wise they hold up well. My BW is third hand and several years old, so she's not as paper white as a brand new BBB, but she's still just as white as a lot of companies' BW dolls. My dark tan boy has also held up very well--he's almost two years old now and looks just as good as the day I got him. I personally feel very comfortable buying their colored resins. They also do the casting for Resin Soul, so the resin is the same for them as well.

 

I have my heart set on a bobobie boy for a while. From all the research I have done, this brand is something I think that most newbies like me, should start out with. Also if you are not the one buying the doll, lets say your parents, You could bet that they are releaved to hear that not all BJD's are $600 or more. I think that this brand is also great if you don't know if you are going to stay into the hobby, Most parents(like mine) think that this is just a passing fling. But, I hope and greatly think that this is a hobby i will not give up on. Plus i love sewing so it all works out.

 

It's true! I wish I had been exposed to the true potential of BBB/RS when I was first starting out. Maybe I wouldn't have spent $600 on my first three dolls!

 

bobobie sounds like an awesome company there are two dolls I love from there, Ariel and Mei... definately going to be my 2nd and 3rd dolls. lol, will it ever end? I haven't even saved enough money for my first doll XD at least they won't cost a zillion dollars! student freindly, yay!

 

I am looking into getting a bobobie Mu, the only thing that turned me off a little was the prices, the first dolls i was looking at were around 600, then i saw him, fell in love...then saw his price...and at first was like MWAH!! but then i got worried, maybe he's cheaply made? However, reading through these posts has been very informative. So my future plans for Mu have been decided: He shall be mine! ;D

 

Hey, we're both from Missouri! Sorry just saw that! whoa, and we started the same time with almost exactly the same posts.....creepy kewl!

 

They are great, especially for a first doll....i would go through resinsoul rather than bobobie >>;; BBB custmer service lacks ..a lot and wait times are longer >>;;

 

I took a sceenshot! Stuff like this rarely happens!

 

Just because the price is lower than other companies', doesnt mean that the quality is less =w=
I have three dolls from BBB/RS and I love them way more than my more expensive dolls.
Here's my Sprite&Espree[Sprite with human ears] boys, they have soooo mcuh potential! Just need the right face-ups/clothes/etc.

 

I'm always stalking the mini threads looking at your dolls bulletsBANQ. You do such a great job on these sculpts as do a few other people I've seen around the forums.

I really wish I had known about this company when I was first looking to buy. I think it would have been a great first doll and a good introduction into a hands on approach to the hobby. I love their sculpts and even though I don't own one yet, I am planning on owning one soon. It's a great affordable price for getting into the hobby especially for those like me on a strict budget when it comes to hobbies.

Also from what I hear, the quality is actually very good for the price so I wouldn't let the price deter you. I know a few people who have these dolls and they're absolutely stunning.

 

I bought a Bobobie Charisma for my first "big" bjd, mainly because I didn't want to invest lots of $$$ on a new hobby I wasn't quite sure of. I think she was an excellent introduction to BJDs and I have purchased a Sprite as a gift for a very dear friend to introduce her to BJDs too. I feel much more comfortable "customizing" my Charisma as opposed to my Elfdoll Ryung!
So I actually play with my Bobobie doll more...

 

My first BJDs were tiny Bobobies, and they have kept their color even though they have been exposed to a lot of direct lighting, and carried around a lot. The bigger ones I have, Mei, Apollo, and Weylin, were a little harder for me to handle because I guess Bobobie strings them loosely for shipping safely, and I don't know how to adjust the stringing. Their resin is so smooth, without discernable seam lines, and their hands seem really expressive. I think Bobobies are a great value.

 

bajib, if you want to tighten rather than completely restring, the easiest thing to do is pop open their heads, pull the strings up until they are tight enough, and retie.

On colour change - my blue Sprite has greened a little, and her seam lines are noticeably paler than the rest of her. But she was one of the very first Sprites, and she spent a hell of a lot of time in a sunny bedroom (bad me) - really, it's minimal colour change considering what I put her through! I've had a coffee Lian for a year and a half and treated her more carefully (sitting in a shadowed corner), and she has no noticeable colour change.

The bodies are definitely basic when it comes to sculpting, but they look good clothed, and the head sculpts are lovely, as is the resin. I really enjoy mine - Isabella, for example, is one of my all-time favourite sculpts, so it's easy to live with her basic (but very stable) little body.

 

Ya, bobobies don't have filler, which makes them lighter. I am not 100 percent sure, but this is what someone told me ;-/

 

Dennis (head of Bobobie) is not only the translator at Bobobie - he's also the sales clerk, website technician, accountant and artist behind the Bobobie dolls and bodies but he is one of only three people who work at Bobobie.... ResinSoul is a subsidiary of Bobobie, so all dolls from ResinSoul actually come from Bobobie and not the otherway around. I bought from Dennis in his first month of operation - little Isabella is named after my daughter and I've never waited more than 48 hours for a personal reply to my e-mails. Next year I will have the pleasure of meeting him in person so its fair to say I am a huge fan of his principals and his ethics and I know from vast BBB and RS experience none of the dolls are "cheaply" made - there are no fillers in the resin to increase their weight - the dyes are pre-mixed tinted resins for maximum uniformity and that he DOES keep his prices down by removing surplus overheads and the "frills" that come with other dolls on the market...

 

I think bobobie's prices are ok to the product they sell... some companies had ridiculous high prices @__@

 

Here's a little question. How much would S/H be? I went on DenverDoll and they don't have Mu yet. I really want to get him, but I'm not so sure about S/H.

Never mind that. I found it. Now I really want a Mu.

 

It looks like they have Mu at Junkyspot http://junkyspot.com/ and the shipping is just $15

 

I have held a lot of various MSD girls and boys and I have to say that Bobobie dolls are noticeably lighter than dolls from other companies. I think it's because the resin is thinner. My BBB MSD boy body has slightly thinner resin than my Bluefairy or DoD bodies.

 

Excellent choice, Mu was my first! He's great in person, much better than the company pics and his horns stay on well if you keep the big magnets in the headcap then slide some smaller additional ones under his wig. I found stacks of ten little pinky-nail sized disc magnets at my local gaming store for $1.

I do have problems with 16mm domed eyes in him though. <_<

 

Hey thanks for making this thread. Just what I needed to know I'm sold on their amazing prices. I'm still curious about Fantasy doll though if anyone has a thread like this for them.... O_o if anyone knows of one...