Putting in my two cents… I don’t have much experience at all with toy-making compared to others here, but I did make a resin toy once back in 2015 (if anyone even remembers lol.) I considered myself a “new artist” and thought of it as my “first release.” It was sculpted by me, molded by me, rotocast by me, assembled by me, hand painted by me… and I charged $30 each anyway. I totally did not make any profit. I felt like the price had to be low despite all the work I put in because I didn’t make a name for myself yet. It didn’t feel fair to price high because other artists have been honing their craft for years, and have amassed a large following. I didn’t even break even. I don’t think anyone should be expecting to recoup production costs on their very first sculpt, or even crazier, their first sculpt’s first colorway. I feel like you have to respect the greats that came before you, and know that you’re not on par with them as a newcomer. It’s a process of working up to the point where you get that kind of respect too. That’s at least my thinking on the matter. Profits will come sooner or later, or maybe not at all. I’d like to think toy-making is a labor of love and not a cash grab, but unfortunately it seems to be that way for these new artists. That’s why I won’t touch any of it.
Kind of, but Japan is so expensive for production these days (for us gaijin at least) everything is difficult. You can pay 2k for wax and a mold for a mini figure and have to sell 200 of them to get out of the red, or you can pay 8k or more on a standard size toys wax and mold and have to sell 60 of them at 200 bucks to get out of the red. I don’t think I’ve made money yet on any of my last 3 toys. So I operate from a pov where I don’t care about profits, I know how hard it is to make money. Unless you luck out and hit the hype lottery with your creation and you can charge an insane amount or sell editions of 100s, which that probably doesn’t matter, because Japan probably won’t be able to pull that quantity for you. So I just make what I want and don’t worry about the profit or sales. I have another job and at this point I’m doing it for my own enjoyment and because I just can’t stop making stuff. I think about trying some other mediums, maybe wood carving or 3-d sculpting and printing. I’m just still addicted to making sofubi for better or worse. But I will say the improved quality in China and low prices are going to make it a lot easier for passion projects to actually turn a profit.
I want to make cool quality affordable toys that collectors like while also running a small studio business. Sometimes it feels like it’s working, sometimes it doesn’t… It is a good idea to factor in the toy's retail price as one of the first things in the design/ ideation. I think reasonable price points are important for bringing new collectors, building momentum and making money. The community is far less likely to take a new maker seriously if they are charging 200-400 for a first release toy. I'm constantly being surprised by things though...
I feel this - I dont think my toy is overpriced*, he's basically $10 an inch give or take plus $10 on that price if painted. I make and sell resin toys, and really thought somehow that vinyl would open up a larger audience. And it did, for online sales, but dcon was a ghost town for me, and that stung, not gonna lie. I could've skipped all the fight to be able to do this and just done more of the same and done 'better'. So it felt weird. Of course I am doubling down and have 9 more vinyl toys in production now, not very interested in producing resin toys anymore (but can still use that for guts, accessories, fridge magnets and other crap) *I could be wrong!
A friend of mine just got one of these, they just sent a friend to the store in Osaka and picked it up. No "fan quiz" required.
I'm always happy to see toy makers releasing their first toys. But lately, I cannot even think about how their sales should be priced because I yet have to afford those ultra-express-mail-international-global-program-insured-tracked-taxed-signed-upon-delivery shipping methods. So now, I'm accepting first, or any, toy donations. I promise to love all toys and play with them, as well as tag the toy makers on social media when I publish photos.
I'm always happy to donate toys to collectors. All I ask is that they cover the price of the toy plus shipping costs.
