Money money money

I think many people in this hobby forget that like any business, the doll business is driven by money. Fairyland, like SOOM and any other doll company is there to make money. The actual artists themselves might be have some artistic integrity and want to please people, but the companies who sell the dolls are there to make money.

I originally thought of this post because I was told that we couldn’t be ‘sure’ that Fairyland would release the F60 Mirwen. 

I was sure we could, for the following reasons:

1. when the VF doll was released there was a LOT of customers and fans constantly asking Fairyland when the doll was going to sold because they wanted one. These questions kept coming and coming and coming even after they told people that they would not be selling the doll, that it had nothing to do with them and was a deal between CP and Yamato USA/Japan.
2. They sold the MNF Mirwen and still the questions kept coming - I think you'll also find that the MNF Mirwen has sold rather well, not only because it is the VF doll sculpt but also because it reminds people of the older CP sculpts.
3. The number of people asking FL and CP for a 60cm doll has been enormous - even though the 60cm doll was sold though Luts, people kept asking. You can see that in any of the messages where they address it in their blog before and after the release of both the CL and the F65.
4. Combine the number of people who want an F60 and the number of people who want a version of the VF doll, and you have a large number of customers and a potential of a heap of money for an F60 Mirwen.

So why wouldn't a company sell a doll that has the potential for making them a whole lot of money and quite quickly? It's one reason I knew Luts wouldn't willingly hand the Delfs back, simply because they have proven themselves to be a money maker.

Some people I think almost see doll companies as not-for-profits, making dolls for artistic merit and because they look good. No, doll companies sell dolls to make money. And lots of it.

I was surprised when SOOM stopped selling its massively lucrative Monthly Dolls - but then I realised the possible reason why - keeping up with a doll a month became too difficult, without that line they can keep making the same types of dolls and release them any time they like! (and possibly still make the same amounts of money, although I don't think they've released any super popular ones recently... the Teenie Gem Isaac might be an exception to the current rule). 

Unfortunately I think one down side of not realising dolls once a month means that those people who collected SOOM MDs and got used to checking the SOOM page once a month for the new doll don't necessarily do that anymore. I used to and I only randomly have a look at the SOOM page nowadays, no where near as often as I used to, and I haven't bought anything from SOOM since their last MD.

What brought this subject up for me again now is the situation with the Chic lines; and the muttering from the F65 thread about no updates for them when there are plenty of updates for the brand new F60.

Chicline

The Chiclines have been off sale for a while, mainly because (and as usual this is my reading of the situation and communications from Fairyland/CP):

1. they are difficult to make and restring and this affects their price
2. Fairyland seems unwilling to offer them at the price which would make  them financially viable (possibly because then they’d have to deal with all the complaints that they’re “too expensive”).
3. From the sounds of it they were only receiving single orders or not enough to pay for the casting and production.

In response to inquiries, they have made the following concession on the sale of the Chic-lines - they will produce them for a limited time, but only if they get 20 of each body ordered (obviously therefore enough to make them a profit rather than making a loss). 

This has gotten a lot of muttering, especially in that people want them to release new heads first. I would suggest that perhaps the lack of sales previously when they released two new heads - the Ineffa and the Fabilis, coupled with the price of casting, producing and stringing them, makes it financially unviable for them to continue to offer the line.

After all, why would you continue to produce a doll which doesn’t sell and you spend more money on the production of, rather than making a profit?

Yes, Chiclines, like F65s show the full artistic and engineering skills of CP, but how many people buy them for that reason? They’re a bit of a difficult size for many to deal with and that could affect their sales too!

FeePle 65 v FeePle 60

I had a lot of this conversation when I was talking about the new F60 line not simply being a remake of a 5-cm shorter F65. However, now the comments are slightly different. 

The F60 was released a couple of months ago (In July to be precise) with six heads - three of which had to be created for the new line - the Chloe, the Karsh and the Luka, all of whom are also MNF heads, the other three just had to be recast - the Mirwen had been made for over a year and the Lishe and El have been around for years - all three have always been in 60cm size (the Nanuri A & B are simply elf ears added to the Chloe and Karsh sculpts). Just last week, the F60 al a carte was update with another six heads, of which only 2 had to be sculpted - the Roke and the Siean, both originally F65 sculpts. The others - Rona and Anu were originally F70 heads, which is the same size as an F60 head, and the Miyu and Yder are both older 60cm heads.

This of course restarted and intensified the debate about the F65s getting al a carte and the lack of F65 heads - they have five: Chloe, Roke, Siean, Lora and Lorence, plus the Juri 2012. Most F65 enthusiasts, and we allow for a small amount of bias, can’t understand why there are not more heads and an al a carte option for the F65s, when there is already 12 heads for the F60s as well as the al a carte option.

I will offer the following possible reasons. (feel free to disagree, as usual) - I am sure I have offered some of this reasoning when I commented on the unlikelyhood of the F60s being mini F65s...:

1. The F65s, while sculpturally brilliant, don’t sell particularly well. This could be because:
1. A lot of people prefer 60cm (usually approximately 58cm) and shorter
2. They are so unlike CP’s usual aesthetic that most enthusiasts don’t have them (same goes for the Chic-line)
3. The weight and width of the sculpts and the bodies are not massively popular.
4. There are no recognizable heads like the Lishe/El/Shiwoo/Chiwoo etc. (and I deliberately don’t include the Chloe because she doesn’t have the age of previous sculpts behind her)

1. The sales of the Chiclines have put them off releasing more heads in the F65 size, especially with those of the recognizable category-  Lishe, El and DES
2. The reception to the new heads - Roke, Siean, Lora and Lorence - has not been what they expected and the sales have not increased
3. The Delfs have been a long time money maker and they have a sentimental attachment to them
4. The reception to the F60s and their capitulation to produce an al a carte option early has paid off financially. 
5. The heads they released did not have to resculpted, just re-cast. (and there is a suggestion that the Roke and Siean had already been sculpted prior to the release of the F60s.) Any heads they want to produce for the F65 line MUST be resculpted from scratch to meet that aesthetic.
6. There are 18 Delf heads and 7 F70 heads which they can re-release in the F60 line with no extra fuss; and 13 MNF heads which they can upsize with not too much trouble. 
7. The number of Delf/F70 sculpts which can just be re-released is immense and the interest and inquiries about sculpts not yet released is very high. 
8. Requests about resculpting smaller sizes is often in relation to getting a 60cm version (in the same aesthetic) as the current sculpt: i.e. An F60 Rheia.

I don’t think I’ve covered everything I think about this, but at the same time, there’s probably only one that matters to Fairyland... The F60s make them more money than the F65s.

For those interested, the 18 Delf, 7 F70 and 13 MNF heads are as follows (if I’ve forgotten one I apologize).

Delf: Edgar, Jess, Kum-ran, IF, Shine, Dambi, Moon, Shiwoo, Dark Human Soo, Dark Elf Soo, Angel Elf Soo, Soo, Soony, Chiwoo, Woosoo, Breakaway, Lu-wen, Harang

F70: Iden, Riff, Ashley, Cali, Peavy, Dreaming Vampire Moon, Esther

MNF: Ari, Shushu, Ruth, Marcia, Ryeon, Seorin, Carl, Rheia, Eliya, Kyle, Rena, Rix

F60 final

So I never finished the story.

I did end up purchasing an F60 and unllike me, I paid in full for it with Fairyland. So I sat in to wait - I bought a wig from Leekeworld which I full expected would arrive before my doll. I also put in for the Nanuri A head, since I figured that if I didn't like it, then I could always sell it on.

So I settled down to wait.

A week or so after the release (I had bought on the second day) I heard about someone who had received a shipping notice. I was very skeptical as usually, for those who don't know, a shipping notice isn't issued until after the 40 business day mark, or about 3-4 months.

I thought this girl must be wrong, since it was little over a week or two after the order date. But, she was right and she got her doll quite quickly - and it wasn't a fluke, others who had paid received their dolls just as quickly.

I now saw that it was highly likely that I too would get my doll earlier than I ever expected. I did get the "before shipping" notification quite quickly and the shipping notice even quicker.

But unfortunately my girl took quite a while in the shipping.  She was shipped and then took about 7 days to make it to the house.

I believe (from what I read on DoA) that I got the first Lishe... how fun is that?

Her name is Sulis - and along with her I received the event head, a Nanuri A - originally I wasn't really planning on keeping her, but then I took a photo of her wearing Morrigan's wig and she stuck...

This is Mor Mumain... and you know how this dolly stuff works - I noticed another Nanuri A for sale. Well, everyone knows how dolly impulse buying goes - Mor Mumain now has an identical twin sister called Nic Naomhim - I received her just yesterday. I'm planning on getting their eyes modded - one to fully open and the other to half open. Mor is most likely going to get a similar wig to Morrigan's, and I might get Nic a longer one in the same style.

All these plans, its going to be fun!