LOL. This prompted me to visit their site (realdoll.com) for the first time in a long time and I see they finally have the new male dolls out. As someone who likes twinks (smaller-framed more boyish-looking guys), they're quite hot! But they need a few more pics, especially of the faces. hehe.
I won't say I've never toyed with the idea of getting one (and I've gotten cheap inflatable dolls before), but in the end it'd take quite a bit for me to actually do it.
For one, as you mentioned, the price is pretty hard to justify for anyone. If I won the lottery sometime or otherwise ended up unreasonably wealthy someday, maybe. =oP
But even then there's a storage issue... I mean, it's not like these are deflateable, so essentially you need a man-sized space somewhere. lol. I can just see it now - me wrestling one into my closet, then having the cops break down my door because a neighbor saw me struggling with a body. =oP
But seriously, I have a heavy Cyberskin butt now that I store in my closet and cover with cloth (in case of company), and I just don't know what I'd do with a full-sized doll. Even the butt is heavy and large and awkward (which also makes cleaning so).
Plus as good as the dolls are (and I'm sure they would be a lot of fun to use - I'd love to try one just to see what it's like), I have to think for me there'd be some serious cognitive dissonance (buyer's remorse) after buying one. I mean, you can have sex with it...and you can cuddle it, but it's not going to talk to you or really hold you or act on its own, etc., etc. At the end of the day, it's just an empty doll and not a substitute for a human... Unbelievably cool, sure, but not a replacement, so I'd rather strive for the real thing at this point in my life. And if I don't end up with a partner and hit the lottery with the space to spare at some point in the future, hey you never know... lol
As a sidenote, this guy (haven't actually read the book but have seen him interviewed) thinks sex (and even love) with robots/androids is the future:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Sex-Robots-Hu...940&sr=8-1
I have to say an artifically intelligent RealDoll that can interact would be pretty damn hot - dunno about loving the thing but can certainly see thinking I do. =oP Something like that would be pretty wild...