Thinking outside the box a little further... another possibility would be selling a box set with an armature and embroidered/printed fabric pieces and instructions on how to stitch them.
Kinda like an airfix kit for girls. That's how airfix got started originally. The founder wanted to sell toy planes, but he couldn't come up with a way to assemble and paint them efficiently. So he sold them as sprues and paint sets and they were hugely popular.
It'd certainly be a good way to learn sewing skills.
Well... did a little hunt and a boxed doll cost around $20. So to make a decent profit I'd have to be making them for $5 each and something like 50-100 a week.
Because of the scale the materials are negligable, most of that cost would be labour. I *think* the armature could be done for around $1 (roughly 20 dolls an hour), which leaves $4 for the outfit.
Designing the pattern isn't an issue, I can do that easily enough. The trick is designing it so that there's minimal manual processes required. I'm thinking the way to go would be machine embroidering a flat sheet of fabric, then laser cutting the pieces out and stitching them. To make it efficient I would need to be able to stitch 5 outfits per hour, so 10 minutes each. That's leaving 5 minutes for hooping/unhooping the fabric and 5 minutes for dressing the dolls at the end. Alternatively I could outsource the embroidery and laser cutting.
In terms of materials I've been looking around and another option is moulded pulp (paper and gypsum). I think that moulded over a wooden armature would be the best balance of durability, appearance and cost.
I think the main question is... is there actually a market for that many dolls from a small producer? 50 a week is 2600 a year.
@Eiregoat@mushroom_soup I like the idea of wooden dolls, but many I had seen look basically like the artist's wooden mannequins (many flat faces especially). I went down a small rabbit-hole just now looking for decent-looking wooden ball-jointed/ pose-able dolls, how to make them, etc. Very interesting; I think I may explore this more. :blobthinkingeyes:
As for the clothes, if you can make the dolls in "standard" sizes of big company dolls (from "barbie" size to, say, "american doll" size), there are a lot of people making outfits and a lot of patterns available (that are also easy to tweak) that aren't just "modern"-styled clothing, but I'm not sure how big you mean by "mass production." :blobthinking:
@Eiregoat there is a big market for dolls with traditional/victorian/cottage core type clothing however no major western toy company makes such a thing (I mean besides black baby dolls in African clothing but of course). You can find some clothing like that in the Asian doll market as expensive bjds are a big deal there
Imma have to think about this further. Wood is another material option and might be safer/more durable.
I'm pretty sure the core armature would be easy enough to mass produce for cheap enough. It'd mostly be a matter of finding a way to make the clothes efficiently. I have a few ideas though.
Look ok I know you guys don't care but it bothers me a LOT that the barbie aisle currently contains the most boring ugly dolls imaginable and it's considered "misogynist" to want Barbie to be the glamorous fashion queen she is supposed to be
@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup Hell, isn’t that what all those podcast adverts are for in the food realm? Taking an experience you should have learned from grandma, packaging a starter kit, then walking you through it?
making stuff pre-built for the intermediate/advanced skills,
making sure it requires a very limited tool set (like level 1= hand sewing w/ needle kit, level 2= sewing machine),
VERY good directions (I’d reference Ifixit as the standard there, people WILL screw up if you don’t provide enough scaffolding)
and probably selling pre-finished kits made by you, at like, 3-5x the cost of the DIY kit, that way it looks like they’re deriving a lot of value by doing it themselves. Make it out of stock forever, just have it there so they see the end result
On that scale hand sewing would arguably be better than machine sewing. I could even bundle a little needle compact and some thread. They cost like 15 cents from chikland.
I think the best way to do instructions would be to have a little multi-language manual with a QR code linking to a tutorial video online.
That's not a bad idea about the fully assembled kits actually. I'd have to make a few anyhow as display models.
@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup Yeah, having a kit for like, $12 and the finished model for $35 would be good, makes them feel like the work is worth it.
Be sure to test it out with family, kids. Give it to a guy, girl, see how they approach it and try to see where they interact differently.
I think there might be a market for these kinds of things, when you think back they used to be classic depression era americana to make a doll for the girls out of flower sacks. Could really hammer in the idea that it’s an heirloom, that people can make a bunch for their kids/grandkids
@WashedOutGundamPilot@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup I would recommend looking into making this a subscription service that gets harder by the month. Gives you almost guaranteed income monthly which is very profitable. Mark Rober has done this and while I haven't tried to look into if it's working for him, I would be very surprised if it wasn't considering the size of his studio. There's a reason why these subscription model services are everywhere online sponsoring everyone, the margins are insane and they can afford the excessive promotion after they get the ball rolling.
@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup In that case I’d definitely reference old 30’s stuff. Ever seen the butter boxes? They used to have perforations/lines for kids to make doll furniture from the carton. Could be cool to bring them back, like a “Reissue” using the old designs
@WashedOutGundamPilot@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup Yeah but the trick is to either become an influencer somehow and advertise your own product that way or target smaller niche youtubers with hyper focused audiences that would buy the ever loving shit out of a product like this. Girly youtube doesn't have many sponsors and they would eat this shit up for a low advertising cost if I had to bet on it.
@fishsticks@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup Instagram cottage core chicks, too. But you really gotta get the ducks in a row beforehand, it’s make or break when you get that first burst of notoriety
Yeah... I think cottage core is the way to go with this. Like really sell the rustic domestic dream.
There was a brand a bit like that when I was a kid "sylvanian families." My sister/cousin/all the girls in my class loved it. I was way cooler of course and preferred dinosaurs.
@pyrate@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup I just always hated the chick-decor, I got to see my grandparent’s stuff, older, hardy, sturdy, generational - while all their kids just rotated through a never ending cycle of fad shit from target & ikea. I have some furniture I’ve inherited, stuff that’s decades old, and I love it. Makes me happy to open a drawer and see his handwriting, or a date from when he repaired something.
Men washing their hands of decor in the home has been really nasty, actually. Women are being pushed into shit by HGTV and pinterest, and it’s nothing but a money sink for garbage that doesn’t last 10 years
Oh! Just had another idea. Theme it around different crafts. Like have sets with a tiny working spinning wheel, or a loom, or one of those ovens that works off a tea light candle.
@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@fishsticks@mushroom_soup I’d really be seeing if I could source some historic looking flour sack patterns, too. It’s a very interesting element of americana, how people’s groceries became toys for the kids every week
Also they were making full scale clothes from those. Eventually the manufacturers noticed and started printing floral designs on the flower sacks to attract customers.
@WashedOutGundamPilot@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup Oh yeah of course. That initial push, especially with little capital, is going to be pretty difficult. Might help to think outside of the box with advertising but with something like this but I wouldn't even know where to begin outside of the basic stuff.
@fishsticks@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup Organic growth for like, a year maybe, until you get your fulfillment systems all shaken out, you know that the kits do well, you’ve fielded enough questions from people, maybe gotten to revise the product a few times, then you start approaching channels, or just send them free samples if they list a PO box, probably won’t work but it’s worth a try.
@WashedOutGundamPilot@Eiregoat@scenesbycolleen@mushroom_soup That is probably the play if you don't have anything, preexisting capital or an audience, to lean on. >if they list a po box, probably won't work Smaller channels would definitively eat it up. I've seen multiple very small channels focused around content for girls just randomly unbox something someone sent them. The views on those videos are usually trash but it'd probably generate a few sales.