Ho trovato nel web un articolo interessante che espone più o meno le stesse motivazioni riguardo il costo elevato di una reborn doll. Ovviamente... è scritto in Inglese, ma penso che ormai chiunque, oggi sia in grado di tradurre di tutto... 'googlando'. ;-)
L'articolo è sul sito di 'Bushel and the peck'...
Prices of reborn dolls:
Why do reborn dolls cost so much?
A lot of people who are new to reborn dolls, are shocked at how much they cost. They want to know why a doll
would cost so much. So I thought I would address that question here.
First of all, reborn dolls are not a manufactured or factory produced doll. They are created by reborn artists,
who paint the kits, root each hair individually into the head, and put them together. I have put together a kind
of list, so that people will better understand the prices of reborn dolls.
Doll kit: Reborns start out as a blank vinyl doll kit, that comes with a head, arms, and legs. These are
bald kits, that have not been painted, or put together. There are many kits available these days, and the
prices vary. They usually cost anywhere from $39.00- $120.00 (sometimes more for toddler and child
sizes)
Hair: Babies are usually rooted with angora mohair. The best mohair can be expensive, as cheap mohair
often looks dry, frizzy, or brittle. The hair is very important to the looks of the reborn doll. Good mohair
usually costs $50.00- $125.00 for one ounce.
Eyes: Most reborn collectors want glass eyes. Glass eyes usually cost $28.00- $35.00
Eyelashes: $2.00-$5.00 a pair
Weighting: Most people use glass beads for weighting, which are expensive. Unless you can find it in
bulk, which is not always possible, it costs about $5.00-$7.00 oer pound.
Polyfil Stuffing: $4.00-$5.00 a bag for supreme polyfil
Cloth Body: Most kits do not come with the bodies. $18.00-$22.00
Clothing: $15.00-$20.00 for a casual outfit, $35.00 and up for dressy clothing.
Total price for completing a reborn usually costs anywhere from $235.00-$400.00 depending on the kit used.
When you consider the cost of the kit, supplies, and the work that goes into it, you can see the price doesn't
sound ridiculous at all. Since I use only the highest quality supplies for my babies, my total cost is usually
$250.00- $300.00 or so, depending on the kit.
Then there are other things to consider: Wire ties for putting limbs on the bodies, nylon for containig the
weighting beads, the use of very expensive Genesis paint, cosmetic wedges, paint thinner, glue, magnets,
rooting needles, etc.. These things have to be replenished from time to time.
That is just what it costs for the supplies needed to make the doll. This doesn't include the many hours over
several days, and weeks of work that actually go into making the baby. So of course, most artists are not going
to sell their babies for just the cost of the supplies. They need to be paid for their time. No one would expect a
painter to sell a painting just for the cost of the canvas and the paint used for it. The same reasoning applies to
reborn dolls.
There are some cheap dolls out there available, but a lot of the time, as the old saying goes, "you get what you
pay for". The hair may not be the best quality, or the the painting may be messy, or almost non-existant. I'm
not saying this is the case all of the time, because some talented artists may be forced to sell their beautiful
creations at a low price at times. So because of this it is still possible to find a good reborn at affordable price.
But with so many new people finding out about reborn dolls, there are those who notice how much some of
these dolls are selling for, and they want a part of it. So they may quickly throw together a low quality doll, and
sell at a much lower price. This is actually hurting the reborn market, as new collectors may purchase one of
these low-quality reborns, and be disappointed once it arrives. They may then think this is the standard of all
reborn dolls, and may never purchase one ever again.
I hope this may help those who have had trouble understanding the prices. :)
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Dollmaking is not an art form... it's a LOVE FORM.
by Margherita :)
Il mio sito web:
www.pupapupae.it/