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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Eh... they were bred as fighting dogs. The primary objective of their breeders was to produce the most vicious animal possible, not a companion. It should not be surprising they make dangerous pets.
Copyright exists: - Disney makes a star wars sequel - It's woke and meaningless - Everyone hates it and complains about it - Blackpills all around
No copyright: - Disney makes a star wars sequel - So do a bunch of small studios and fan groups - Everyone hates the disney version, but some of the underground studios are pretty good - People give them their money instead - They just ignore the crappy "official" version and the indie movies get built on instead
It's kinda like a blockchain come to think of it. The more popular narratives get build on more and gradually become fleshed out, naturally becoming canon.
I don't think this is true, there's plenty of data to suggest that works under copyright often end up being neglected and don't get distributed as widely as works out of copyright.
A particularly good example is the John Carter series, roughly half the books are public domain, the other half are still under copyright. Guess which half is easier to get your hands on.
Anyhow, it's questionable whether "intellectual property" should be called property at all since it doesn't have the same charactaristics that define actual property.
Property is defined by rivalrousness (only one person can use it at a time) and scarcity (there isn't enough for everyone). Land is property because if I build a farm on a stretch of land then you can't build one there and there isn't enough farmland for everyone who wants it.
By contrast a literary concept is not rivalrous, two people can work off it and consume it at the same time, and it's not scarce, copies are easily made and there's no limit to how many we can have.
> You want a job that actually offers a living wage? Those disappeared right about the same time pensions did.
Waiting tables has always been for shit pay though. It's never been the kind of job you could raise a family on. Even top end waiting jobs aren't great.
> Also the Spanish subtitles are just the cherry on top here
It's kinda fucked how they can all but advertise breaking employee law and nothing happens.