But the joints are showing!

Well, I noted that it depends for me. I actually like joints that somehow blend in nicely with the sculpt. The sculpt may be as nice as may be, but if the joints in action look too mechanical, it puts me off. I can't stand especially very bulky or mechanical-looking elbow and knee joints.

I also do not like it if a doll's knees wearing pants show clear gaps or otherwise look unnatural when bent.

A beautiful doll has to meet these two criteria for me: A beautiful sculpt, and joints which are visible, but do not interfere with the "flow". If as a topping good posability can be added, the doll is near perfect IMO.

And I have no problems with joints showing. I actually love when my boy is naked, but he is only allowed that at home.

 

1. Does it bother you, even slightly, if you can't hide a joint in a picture? Will you dress your doll so as to hide certain joints? Or do you enjoy or even show off the joints?
Not at all.

2. If you minimize their appearance, is this because it makes the doll seem more like a real thing to you, or aesthetics, or something else? If it doesn't bother you, is it appreciation of the design, or simple indifference and getting used to it, or something else?
I don't minimize them.

3. Do you prefer the tradeoff of slightly less mobility (non-jointed hands, single versus double joints, mobility thigh joints, etc.) because of aesthetic reasons and desire to avoid a sometimes awkward look, or for realism? If you prefer it for realism, why is it that you don't want the range of mobility that is realistic? Or not at all - you want those joints?
I prefer mobility without a doubt.

4. Do you attempt to portray your doll as something more than a doll, more alive? To what extent?
It seems like an interesting idea for photos, but I don't think I'd take it so far as to inconvenience me.

 

The joints of my boy don't bother me at all, actually. I think they make him more interesting and LESS human, which I'm more drawn to. ^w^
I don't however particularly like jointed hands and I'd rather leave them be for aesthetic purposes.

 

I remember playing w/ Barbies as a little girl and despizing the fact that they couldn't be or stay in the poses that I wanted them to. So when it comes to bjd's I love the fact that they are so poseable and life-like. However I've noticed that in pictures the larger joints/gaps do bother me a little, and when dressing or creating outfits for my dolls I do cover up the joints more often than not. When I first got my dolls I noticed it more, but over time I feel that I focus more on the beauty of the dolls than their joints.

 

I really just love the joints but if i want to take a picture of my doll and i want them to have a more real life feel i try to cover them

 

When I take photos I like the challenge of eliminating the joints if possible. It's fun to get a humanoid photo

 

1. Does it bother you, even slightly, if you can't hide a joint in a picture? Will you dress your doll so as to hide certain joints? Or do you enjoy or even show off the joints?
I prefer to not see joints in my dolls, but if they do show i wont be bothered. I will probably dress my dolls more hoping to hide the joints


2. If you minimize their appearance, is this because it makes the doll seem more like a real thing to you, or aesthetics, or something else? If it doesn't bother you, is it appreciation of the design, or simple indifference and getting used to it, or something else?
It is because it looks more real. I want my dolls to be very realistic.


3. Do you prefer the tradeoff of slightly less mobility (non-jointed hands, single versus double joints, mobility thigh joints, etc.) because of aesthetic reasons and desire to avoid a sometimes awkward look, or for realism? If you prefer it for realism, why is it that you don't want the range of mobility that is realistic? Or not at all - you want those joints?
I think that it depends on what the doll is supposed to be. I think the jointed hands have a skeletal look to them so i would use that for those kind of characters. Humans i would liek to keep normal hands for the asthetics


4. Do you attempt to portray your doll as something more than a doll, more alive? To what extent

I want it to look alive but always bearing in mind that its not a real human. however i like the OP's idea of a "pinochio"

 

1. Does it bother you, even slightly, if you can't hide a joint in a picture? Will you dress your doll so as to hide certain joints? Or do you enjoy or even show off the joints?
It doesn't bother me at all. I don't try to hide their joints nor do I purposefully do anything that would accentuate the joints. I just dress them in what I feel they suit best and whether the joints show or not, it is simply an effect of the clothes.

2. If you minimize their appearance, is this because it makes the doll seem more like a real thing to you, or aesthetics, or something else? If it doesn't bother you, is it appreciation of the design, or simple indifference and getting used to it, or something else?
I guess this doesn't apply to me

3. Do you prefer the tradeoff of slightly less mobility (non-jointed hands, single versus double joints, mobility thigh joints, etc.) because of aesthetic reasons and desire to avoid a sometimes awkward look, or for realism? If you prefer it for realism, why is it that you don't want the range of mobility that is realistic? Or not at all - you want those joints?
Generally, I would prefer purchasing a doll with realistic joints and not those rectangular double jointed ones with no detail and just a sharp chunk of resin in the middle because it's just ugly and destroys the flow of the body. Though...I buy a doll based on their facial sculpt and whether or not they have a torso joint (Torso joint or no deal!). Unrealistic joints aren't going to make or break the doll for me.

4. Do you attempt to portray your doll as something more than a doll, more alive? To what extent?
Yes, but I also embrace the fact that they are a highly poseable doll by putting them in realistically natural poses without hiding the joints.

 

For me, it really depends on the joints. Some of them don't look all that attractive, some of them I don't mind.

Sometimes I kind of like when the joints show, because then you can tell they're dolls. I've seen pictures of dolls that were so realistic that I would have mistaken them for actual people if I didn't see their joints.

 

The joints on BJDs don't bother me at all. To me, BJDs are dolls, and this type of doll has joints. I don't consider them to be human. I think the joints are really interesting and it shows the mechanics behind how they can pose like humans. I would prefer to have my doll pose incredibly well than to have minimal joints. They are beautiful in their own sense

 

Ironically it doesn't bother me for the most part. Joints are honestly part of why I love BJDs so very much, it's part of who they are.

Though occasionally wrists get to me, especially when the joint there makes the pose seem awkward.

 

I'm not bothered by the joints at all. I mean, it's awesome when the dolls can look so human because their joints are hidden and they're THAT realistic looking, but when you can see the joints, I still think it's cool.

 

Actually I've never even noticed the joints in my photos. This makes me wonder if I should be more attentive haha

 

Initially joints on BJD kept me from purchasing them. Not that I find them ugly, but I preferred figures without joints (static PVC or resin scaled figures). However seeing pictures of beautiful BJDs made me change my mind. Even when seeing joints it depends on how the photo is taken. So even when you do see joints they can still look natural. I am still in the process of getting used to it so for now I do prefer clothes that are stylish yet hide joints a bit more, but I'm sure that will change with time.

 

Love the joints, but some are more beautiful than others. Joints that annoy me, I usually hide.

 

I don't mind joints at all. They're a part of the doll so I guess I feel that it belongs regardless.
Some photos that I've seen that have the joints are beautiful.

 

I prefer mobility to sculpt but I really like to have both whenever possible ^-^ Seeing the joints doesn't bother me but I like better when the joints are aesthetically pleasing.

 

1. Does it bother you, even slightly, if you can't hide a joint in a picture? Will you dress your doll so as to hide certain joints? Or do you enjoy or even show off the joints?

You know, it used to bother me immensely if Chaeri's joints showed, and I would dress her exclusively in long sleeves, pants, or opaque tights in order to hide them. Nowadays I barely notice her joints at all and right now she's wearing a short skirt and a short-sleeved bolero jacket, her elbow, wrist and knee joints proudly on display.

2. If you minimize their appearance, is this because it makes the doll seem more like a real thing to you, or aesthetics, or something else? If it doesn't bother you, is it appreciation of the design, or simple indifference and getting used to it, or something else?

I simply don't care much one way or the other anymore, which is strange, because I used to hate visible joints. I thought they were ugly and disconcerting. It was pretty much an aesthetic thing for me.

3. Do you prefer the tradeoff of slightly less mobility (non-jointed hands, single versus double joints, mobility thigh joints, etc.) because of aesthetic reasons and desire to avoid a sometimes awkward look, or for realism? If you prefer it for realism, why is it that you don't want the range of mobility that is realistic? Or not at all - you want those joints?

Again, I used to not care about hand joints, but now they're a must. Same with foot/ankle joints. One thing I do like about Chaeri's current body design is that her hip joint is low enough so that it doesn't show when she's wearing short tops and low-rise pants, so bare midriff fashions look really good on her. I still shy away from visible mid-waist joints.

4. Do you attempt to portray your doll as something more than a doll, more alive? To what extent?

I like to pose Chaeri naturally, either sitting or standing. I often put her in her chair holding a book or her little laptop as though she's reading or browsing.

 

Does it bother you, even slightly, if you can't hide a joint in a picture? Will you dress your doll so as to hide certain joints? Or do you enjoy or even show off the joints?

I'm not going out of my way to hide joints, no, and somehow only knee-joints can really disturb me at times. Probably because for the kneeling poses they need to be pulled from their sockets completely and that I do find disturbing. Other then that: no.

If you minimize their appearance, is this because it makes the doll seem more like a real thing to you, or aesthetics, or something else? If it doesn't bother you, is it appreciation of the design, or simple indifference and getting used to it, or something else?

Getting used to, definately. I remember I used to fret over joints more in the beginning, but now I hardly see them anymore. It has become normal. Funnily enough, if I sometimes see a picture where someone Photoshopped the joints of their doll away I am way more disturbed.

Do you prefer the tradeoff of slightly less mobility (non-jointed hands, single versus double joints, mobility thigh joints, etc.) because of aesthetic reasons and desire to avoid a sometimes awkward look, or for realism? If you prefer it for realism, why is it that you don't want the range of mobility that is realistic? Or not at all - you want those joints?

For me realism IS poseability, but not necessarily poseability as-in 'range of motion', but more as in the ability to do the poses they can do realistically and naturally. I am a sucker for realistic standing poses (with one leg carrying the weight and the other bend for example, including a realistic position of the hips and arc of the back) and natural posing there means more to me then a doll that can sit straight. Sitting straight isn't very realistic to begin with, I love realistic slouches and steer away from dolls that can only keep their backs straight.
What I'm trying to say is that natural-looking, 'human' poses (like slouching or above mentioned standing position) define the realism of the doll much much more for me then smooth-looking joints.

Do you attempt to portray your doll as something more than a doll, more alive?

Only by working with their doll-ness and not against it, if that makes sense.

 

I love the joints, though I dislike what I find as awkward/uncomfortable posing. This includes dislocated joints to bend a limb further (for example a shin or lower arm pulled out of the socket and exposing the elastic channels and ball socket) and showing of the neck joint. In fact I really really dislike awkward head posing where the head ends up looking perched on the end of the neck. So for me it's not really the joints that are an issue at all, but how the doll is posed. I do prefer owning dolls with greater joint mobility.