A Friendly Size Debate

Well...I can only speak from my very limited experience. I have 4 SD dolls, and 1 MSD. As far as posing my MSD is way easier, but maybe all my SDs are just badly strung or balanced. And as far as dress, well, I have a MSD girl and in my experience there is far far far far far far more outfits for MSD girls than there is for big SDs Which was actually the biggest motivation for me to get an MSD because I wanted more clothing choices. Especially a girl MSD. Of course, I could be looking at the wrong places.

And with all the companies I like, the MSDs are cheaper. But then it's relative isn't it? Within their respective companies the MSDs are cheaper than SDs, etc but one company may be far more expensive overall so their MSDs could be more expensive than another companies SDs.

 

From my experience, my favorite size to pose would be Yo-SD/LTF-ish size range, so 25cm or so tinies. Though, depending on the doll, 16cm can be fun, too. I love my larger dolls a lot, but they aren't much for posing. I guess I'd say the aforementioned tiny ranges are also nice to dress, though I think I prefer wigging and installing eyes in my SD-sized dolls over my tinies. For the dolls I have now, some of my smaller ones are probably more affordable and their clothes and wigs might be less expensive, but with dolls I've had in the past I've built some SD-sized dolls that were less expensive than some of my smaller dolls. I've also admired some tinies with prices starting far over what I'd pay for them, putting them in what was once larger doll price ranges. They may be worth it in one way or another, but they're simply outside what I'm willing to invest in the hobby at this time. "Affordable" is subjective, I guess, so I don't have a really good answer.

 

I honestly have had a way easier time posing MSDs than SDs. I have the ongoing problem of "too little hand, too much doll" when posing the SDs. Snap a leg into place, another limb goes crazy. Even after sueding, I think I prefer the MSDs for posing.

 

My first doll was a DollShe Bernard and wow, was he hard to pose! Even my MSD who is the worst strung at this time is easier to pose than my DollShe Bernard ever was. I appreciate the MSD centre of gravity, and the fact that they have less limb to wave around and (like @Souviet said) snap out of place when you're trying to do something else.

 

I think posing is more about engineering than size, so I don't really have an answer for that one.

For clothes I think the big ones win out if you're making your own (it's just easier to sew things that aren't tiny) while some of the slim tinies have to win when it comes to off the shelf clothing since they can fit into playline fashion doll clothing.

As for affordability, smaller dolls are almost universally less expensive relative to bigger dolls from the same company (at least given the same level of accessory - obviously a tiny with a fancy fullset in a non-standard colour might be more expensive than a basic undressed larger doll), so that doesn't seem like something that's open to debate - it's virtually an absolute truth within a given company.

 

Which BJD size is easier pose? MSDs!

Easier to dress and wig? SDs!

Which size is more affordable? Tinies! (depends on the company of course)



Sorry if this doesn't help you, all sizes have their pros and cons and as an owner of sizes from puki pukis to 65cm dolls, that's been my experience.

 

Agreeing with @Hervoyel on posing. It really depends on the engineering of the doll, and also the person handling it--we all have different standards for what we want (is a doll a "good" poser if it sits and stands well, or are you someone who will only give it that title if it can stand on one foot?) and different abilities when it comes to helping a doll find its center of balance. On the whole I'd say a smaller doll is easier to mess with because it doesn't have to fight as hard against its own weight, but I've had some small dolls that crumple where my bigger guys stand like rocks.

The big guys are easier to clothe, I think, since so many shops have been around forever catering to them, but that's only if we're talking standard 60cm doll. The tall guys get a little more difficult and expensive to clothe because it's harder to find places to make things specialized to either the tall 70cm dolls or the beefy 70cm dolls -- and forget it if you've got a girl with curves in different places than the standard SD/SDGrG/SD16 girl. Luckily, most companies seem to be onto this and create dolls that can squeeze into the most common sizing. I do think some sizes have it easier than others -- if your doll can fit a Minifee girl's clothing you're in luck because so many seamstresses specialize in their size. I feel like it's easier to find clothing for them than for a standard MSD.

Obviously with few exceptions smaller dolls are cheaper than bigger dolls. They take up less materials.

All of the sizes have their good points and detractions, however. You're forgetting that what motivates most people when buying is aesthetics -- I don't care if my SD is going to be heavier and perhaps less poseable than a PukiPuki because I didn't want a child doll, and the person buying the Puki is going to want a cute little thing rather than a big mature doll. There is no definitive size that wins out over all the others without the personal preferences of the owner coming into play.

 

I've owned everything from 12cm up to 73cm.

Posing: usually YoSD or MSD. They're lightweight and easy to move and not so small that I have trouble with the tiny details.

Clothing: Minifee. I love how easy it is to pop her head, hands and feet off. It's also so easy to find cute clothes on etsy tailored to fit her. Her size also makes it easy. Larger dolls can be a fight to dress and smaller are just too tiny to deal with.

Wigs: MSD or SD. Most options come in these sizes, and especially with SD if a wig is half a cm too big, a wig cap can fix that. On a tiny doll, half a cm might mean having to buy a whole new wig.

Affordable: typically, the smaller the doll, the cheaper (within the same company. They vary greatly when you compare different companies). However, IMO I feel I get the mosh out of my money with SD. I like some smaller dolls, but in their size range there are just so many cheaper alternatives (Hujoo, 11cm Obitsu, Ai Dolls, etc). There aren't many SD sized dolls out there.


Even though for these particular categories, I've chosen MSD and smaller, I still like SD best. I like the better variety of mature sculpts. I like the heaviness of the resin. I like the mature bodies. I like the large size. I like the clothing options and details. I also think it's easier to sew for and do faceups on large dolls.

 

Easiest to pose? My MSDs have always been GREAT posers.

Easiest to clothe & wig? DEFINITELY SDs.

Affordability? I guess it depends-- a low end SD will obviously cost more than a high end YoSD or MSD. In my taste? My MSDs are more expensive.

 

If you like making your own outfits, larger dolls (1/3 and up-) are definitely easier to sew for...

1/12 Micros (Banjis, Pukis and such) are the easiest dolls to find props to fit. They're doll-house scale...

1/6 and 1/4 Tinies and Minis are easy to carry around. They're large enough to hold onto, but light enough not to turn into arm-busters...

So, yeah. There are good points for all sizes.