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Are faceplate system dolls less personal?

Jun 17, 2010

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    1. They feel less personal to me - I always fall in love with dolls for their beautiful somber faces, so having different faceplates seems to be doll emoticons for me. I get how useful and interesting they could be, but they're not for me, and for the exact reasons you mentioned.

      But sleeping faces don't seem that way to me, although I don't want one. Weird.
       
      #41 Hikari Kame, Feb 9, 2011
    2. I love my U-noa, and want all the faceplates, some painted the same as different expressions for 1 character, some on their own. For us to have bought the Lusis complete as my first ABJD made faceplates the norm for me :) I agree that the eyes are easier to set and quicker to change (even without the mechanism, just using putty), and I am much more likely to try lots of looks and combinations...
       
      #42 mimimontoya, Feb 21, 2011
    3. Hi Nomi800 - good and valid point you have there :)

      I have both types of dolls so those with just a noggin and those with interchangeable faces. I can see where it could seem impersonal and less soulfull from the outside looking in - I thought the same before I bought a Unoa Lusis, I always imagined that she would have just the one face and I'd never be interested in having the others - it wasnt until I actually had her in my hands that I realised how much fun it was having faces to suits my moods and the pose I had her displayed in.

      Having said that my Ai Choa - who I love above and beyond all other dolls in existence - actually has a dreaming head but as i think she is perfect as she is I've never had any desire to get it.

      You may feel differently about face-plates once you have had an opportunity to try them out - but you may also not feel any different. I think that it is each to their own and you aren't any worse off for enjoying them or not enjoying them. I for one now have four dolls that have face-plate systems and they truly are lots of fun :)
       
      #43 whitewings, Feb 21, 2011
    4. What got me hooked on the faceplate system was fairyland. I think the fp make them a bit more dynamic, if you can say that about bjds... :p
      I think they are more personal because they can express more... the dolls which i only have one fp or one head.... makes me feel a bit limited... my lily will never be happy... unless i buy her more faces (her face up is a sad one)

      Having seen a gorgeous photo story featuring Ante, using both open eyed and sleeping fp, i thought it just gave her so much character!
      To be honest, ante never appealed to me until I saw how she could be with the sleeping face. But the thought of just a sleeping doll doesnt appeal to me, so having both faceplates really helps to let you see options.

      That said, new cupids kills me because they are so adorable, and yes, i have bought them as separate characters...cupid1 and cupid2.... i intended on twins, so i dont knw what to do with cupid3 :(
       
      #44 apple-pai, Feb 21, 2011
    5. I actually really like faceplates! For one, it makes swapping out eyes very easy! I have two dolls with faceplates at the moment; and Angell-Studio Mandarava, and a Fairyland LTF Chiwoo. With Mandy, I am never going to change her face, so it really doesn't feel less personal, it just feels like I have easier access to the inside of her head! For Chiwoo, I like having two faceplates of the same sculpt - a sleeping one and an open-eyed one. It sounds weird, but sometimes when it is night time, I just like to see her with a sleepy face ^^;

      I think if you were to have one body and different faceplates that are different sculpts, then it might be hard to identify the doll as ONE DOLL, but I don't think that is a bad thing, per se. For me, I like faceplates that are the same sculpt with some variance. With this hobby, I have learned that it is very much different strokes for different folks. I love my girls all equally, faceplate or attached head! xD
       
      #45 oyashiro, Feb 21, 2011
    6. this is all very interesting! I have never owned or seen a faceplate doll in real life, but i think if i were to buy one, i would look at all the faces and realize the doll has a personality that encompasses all those expressions. if you give the doll a personality just based off one face, then it might seem weird if the other faces aren't in line with that personality.

      For instance I have a doll with a sleeping face (dollzone dream xi) and just imagining him right now with open eyes freaked me out! his personality is so integrated with the calm expression of his closed eyes (because to me they may be closed but he isn't always asleep) that an open eyed face would throw me off. you could almost say he'd be a different doll, yes.

      but i have a lot of other figures and things with interchangeable parts and i don't think it changes their personality or soul at all, since i knew they had those other expressions/parts to begin with.
       
      #46 Lehst, Feb 21, 2011
    7. I'm not much a fan of face plate dolls, mostly for aesthetic reasons, but I can very much understand where OP is coming from. I'm also the type that needs a body for each doll rather than body sharing, and can't imagine having faceplates sitting around.

      I disagree that having faceplates adds just oh so much more life or personality to a doll. Non-faceplate dolls can show a wide variety of subtle expressions just from photo angles, body language and environment, which I just adore. While faceplates tend to be drastic expression changes such as winking, sleeping, kissy faces... And that doesn't appeal to me in the same way, because I'd see a completely different doll in each faceplate.

      I'd never personally own a faceplate system doll, but I can understand why others whould choose to.
       
      #47 Bellforge, Feb 21, 2011
    8. I think the "soul" of a doll resides in more than just the head- it's in the combination of face sculpt, faceup, wig, eyes... even clothes and body posture! I don't notice the different between my faceplate and my head dolls in terms of which feels more like a whole doll. A doll's soul is what I put into it, if that makes any sense. Once I separate a head from a body and wipe the faceup and take out the eyes, I feel like the doll's soul leaves whether I'm holding a whole head or faceplate in your hands. Only once all the elements of a doll come together do I actually feel like my doll's personality is there.
       
      #48 prettybird, Feb 21, 2011
    9. That does seem odd to me, the idea of a doll with a faceplate.....I mean, if it is all the same doll and face then it doesn't seem less personal; though on the other hand a pop off face for any doll to me seems alien for some reason....
       
      #49 Token, Mar 1, 2011
    10. Haha, guilty as charged:lol:

      I just thought I'd update by saying since I orginally posted I've gotten a couple dolls that work with faceplate systems and absolutly love them. It really does make faceups and eyes easier, but that wasn't really my orginal point was it?

      As far as having a doll that has mulitiple faces devoted to it. I don't have one yet, but I have my first one ordered (a pukifee with awake and sleeping faces)

      He's not here yet, so I'm still not sure how it will all work out, but so far I'm not to bothered by the idea of him having muliple faces.
      I'm still slightly bothered by the idea that he won't be 'complete' because there will always be part of him packed away, but having a minifee with mulitple hands has definatly lessened that feeling.

      I've read through everyone's comments. I guess the overall feeling is that most people arn't bothered at all, I can understand that :)
       
      #50 Nomi800, May 27, 2011
    11. I'm a sucker for any and all optional parts (faces and hands especially). I have a doll coming in right now with an optional head that has a different expression and I'm absolutely THRILLED at all of the new possibilities. Camera angles, lighting and all that, but there really is a limit to how much one doll with one face can do. I actually sort of wish that this doll had face-plates instead of another head, because it would be easier to store and faster to switch in the middle of a photoshoot. I'd also buy a doll with a face plate system in a heart beat, if I could find one that I actually like, but unfortunately so far they've all been in the "pretty, but not impressive" category.

      So, no I don't think face plates are "less personal". They add a WHOLE lot to the doll's character, and if anything that just makes them more personal and more expressive, not less.

      That being said... that only applies to dolls who have several faces for one character. I don't think I'd ever want to own a doll (or... dolls?) that has several different characters on one body, unless the character specifically called for it - i.e. a shapeshifter with multiple personality disorder, or two characters actually body-sharing, or something. Otherwise they'd always be screaming "INCOMPLETE!!" to me, and I don't really like having incomplete dolls lying around. Besides, I like having a variety of bodies, too.
       
      #51 Lelite, May 27, 2011
    12. I definitely don't find them less personal - I feel it's more the "spirit" of the doll than the physical aspect of the whole head versus face plates... Plus it's so cool to be able to change emotions~! Adds a whole new level to the doll-owning experience, imo~
       
      #52 sakura, May 31, 2011
    13. I think it's more personal actually! Being able to change the expression of a doll is really cool. I like the idea of faceplates and i wish all companies did something like that. Also, i think it makes the hobby more indepth
       
      #53 Burpieez, May 31, 2011
    14. I prefer face plates - they make it extremely easy to switch out eyes! I have quite a few dolls with S-hooks holding their head plates and it gets very tiring prying those things open. I also enjoy the variety of expressions available with face plates. My girl currently has two - sleeping and awake plates and it's quite sweet that she can go to sleep at night with the rest of the household. I've had no issues bonding with the face plated girl at all :)
       
      #54 Anna, Jun 2, 2011
    15. I don't think they seem less personal at all, just able to change expressions. For me, I will be getting two Pukifees soon, and I ordered them with both the awake and sleeping faces with matching face-ups. This way, I can change their expressions when I take pictures, which will be fun. However, for dolls with multiple head sculpt options, the extra heads are too expensive for me to want to buy just to have different facial expressions; plus, like someone else here mentioned, they take up a lot more space when you are trying to store them! :)
       
      #55 EriChanHime, Jul 9, 2011
    16. I myself love faceplates and want to get a sleeping one for my puki ante boy. They're the same exact mold, just with their eyes shut or open, or even winking! So why should it matter? It's hard to get sleeping shots of a doll with their eyes wide open, so I think it's a big help, and they look adorable to me! And they're also sooo easy to install compared to taking the entire head off a doll.
       
      #56 gr8story, Jul 9, 2011
    17. I have a couple of faceplate dolls now (pukis mostly) and really don't use the extra expressions. Winking doesn't come up often in my PSs! I also have MNF with multiple heads, and can see the benefit of multiple expressions IF you get them in the first place with the same faceups. I don't think I'd bother to try and match a second blank head or faceplate to one I already have, especially if it has a custom faceup and you can't get the original artist to work on the new one.

      It's always been a lot easier to create closed eyes digitally when needed. I can see multiple expressions for my characters in my head, and choose to get variations by how I pose and from what angle I photograph them. After all, expressions are not just open/shut or winking eyes, but varying squints, widening, or other subtle eye positions, as well as multiple open and closed mouth positions, and changing eyebrow angles, etc. (Never mind mentioning neck angles you can't get with a particular brand of doll!) Even 2 or 3 heads will still fall short of the visuals I play out in my head while deciding the storyline and dialogue.

      My major opinion towards faceplates is shaped by my dislike of the extra seam line at the rear of the jaw. If it's a tiny doll like a puki, easy enough to hide with a wig, but an SD doll isn't always going to have long hair. I'm equally divided between disliking faceplates with very weak magnets, so that they seem to fall off if the wind shifts, and those with such strong magnets that you have to struggle to get them off, or snap back into place. And when it's one of the smaller ones, with only little ears on which to maintain your grip--! And with the occasional vagaries of resin production, a face plate that doesn't quite seat into the back, or has an odd design (like being more narrow than the back's "jawline" projections, really turns me off.

      The argument about faceplates taking up less storage room doesn't come into it for me. Once you devote a whole bureau to doll clothes, and a huge tote bin to your compulsive wig collection, a single-layer tote of floating heads doesn't even rate in comparison!
       
      #57 hobbywhelmed, Jul 9, 2011
    18. So far I only have faceplate dolls, but I like them because they seem to add another layer to the character. And just as you can get PJ's for your dolls to make them sleep, I give them their sleeping faces and curl them up when I go to bed, and change the faceplates in the morning again to wake them up.

      I don't think storage is such a problem, but that might be because I only have Fairyland dolls right now, and they come in their boxes and that is where I store their stuff, so they don't actually take up extra space.

      I also think that maybe for me the non faceplate dolls will be a bit 2d but since I don't have any I can't really judge that yet.

      I also don't think that faceplates make the doll less personal or emotional. Quite the opposite.
       
      #58 PhieRyder, Jul 17, 2011
    19. It seems like with the other dolls, you can switch their bodies, you can change their hair and eyes, but the doll's head and most importantly its face IS the doll, like that's the part that contains their personality or if you believe in it, their soul.

      Almost all of my doll heads 'share' bodies, to the point where I actually store my bodies without any heads on them at all. So, to me, the heads are definitely the defining part of a character. When my Cuprit head is on my white skin body, I refer to the whole doll as 'Cuprit', and if I then put my Cass head on it, I then call the whole doll 'Cass' instead.

      But I don't agree that this system is less personal. I have a couple of characters who are represented by multiple heads, and I'm never bothered by the idea that one of their heads is in storage. Most of my characters are in storage in the exact same way, and that doesn't affect the way I feel about them.
       
      #59 sharnofshade, Dec 10, 2013
    20. I have trouble with this, to be honest. I agree that each head should be treated as a separate character (that's what I do) and to be perfectly honest I'm a little afraid to own several faceplates of the same sculpt because I'm afraid the other plates will bring forward characters of their own instead of acting as part of the whole I initially intended. That being said I do want to get an open eyed Crobidoll Lance head to have an alternative option for my Yui's (Lance Daydream) expression xD; so I'm about on the fence for this.
       
      #60 Soenatte, Dec 10, 2013
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