Changing your mind because of owner pictures?

It's happened to me too many times. I can't really pinpoint one specific instance, since it's happened so often!

Company pictures are promotional in nature. They show the doll in a very specific and intentionally flattering light. That said, they don't always show a doll to its true advantage. Take DollZone Edward. All done up in his fullset, he looks a bit...ridiculous...to most people. In fact, I bought him as a fullset in a brick-and-mortar store. I grabbed him right up because something just called to me. Turns out that once you strip away that fluffy wig and over-the-top outfit, he's a beautiful man!

Silfe Photoshoot 1 by Redfaery1987, on Flickr

 

The two main companies it's happened to me with are Resinsoul and Fairyland (for Real Puki and Puki Puki anyway).

Resinsoul's photos - especially their less recent ones, so often do not do the dolls any justice - I think Mei and Lan are probably the two best.
And FairyLand's photos of the RealPukis and Puki Pukis have too much character to them - which is an odd complaint, but I also like to see the dolls blank!

 

Fairyland Pukifee Cony. The first pictures I saw of her didn't impress me, but the more real-life pics I saw, the cuter she got.

ADAD - Metallic by ladymadrigal80, on Flickr

 

That happens and because of this I like to see owners photos before making buying decisions, owners photos can help you see other traits and customization possibilities for the dolls. There's some doll I would never like by store photos only but what owners did with them show how amazing they can be.

 

It's actually due to owner pics I got my first doll at all - while I loved almost everything about the Soulkid Apple in her promotional pictures on Souldoll's website, she had what looked like bags/shadows under her eyes in every shot. I couldn't tell if it was the sculpt or the face up, but either way I wasn't sure I'd be happy if I got her based on the company pictures. When I looked for owner pics I found some that had the same issue, but also some that didn't. That convinced me that she was just a tricky sculpt to photograph because of the way her face caught shadows but that she would look fine in person. And she does

 

Owner pics have gotten me into some really lovely sculpts, and has turned me off other ones. I wouldn't have discovered the pretty of DollZone Cloud without *them, also Minifee Ruth and Dream of Doll Zen. I've certainly had the reverse happen, in making me consider some of the body sculpts in more detail (very picky about them) along with fixing in advance what could have ended up as a rather expensive mistake if I had purchased one doll I had an eye on (Volks Irvin, did love the company pictures, but turns out that I really would not have liked the sculpt if I had him). Always useful :3

 

I'm definately thankful for owner's pics to show how a doll really looks. Some companies, of which I can't recall too often post photos in weird angles. And I've definately changed my mind a lot when looking at non-company photos of dolls, both for and against a particular sculpt.

 

For me it's been mostly the negative effect of promo pics that made the owner pictures pale in comparison and sometimes also made me change my opinion.
Promo pics mostly look very nice, crisp and beautiful. Many companies use photoshop and lighting in such a way that it's easy to be dazzled. ^^;
Especially when I was new to the hobby I always thought that the promo pics were so nice, I couldn't possibly make the doll look as good on my own.
And box openings and early owner pictures of those dolls, like I expected, mostly weren't that great and brought me down to earth again.

 

This has happened to me many times! I didn't think anything much of minifee marcia blank or on company pictures. Owner photos made me fall in love. Also Volks Kurumi. I found the Volks pictures boring until I saw her with different faceups.

 

Most of the time I see owner pics and fall and love with a sculpt more. I completely disliked doll leaves amara till I saw owner pictures then now I love her sculpt. Souldoll's Rye company pics made me swoon and fell in love. I've only seen very few owner pics and it's not the same. I don't love the owner pics of her. Those are my two examples I can think of.

 

Absolutely! I always check DoA for pictures of a sculpt I'm considering, and flickr as well, because I find that the sculpt can be SO changeable and I'm easily swayed by the set decorations and makeup. I recently ordered a Souldoll Shaun even though for weeks I'd been sure that Little Monica Little Demetri was perfect for the character, and I'd intended to buy the latter right up until the last second. I changed my mind based on one flickr picture of how Shaun could look.

 

Most of the dolls I have didn't have owner photo's when I bought them - so I had to wing it. But I almost always buy from companies or artists that show the blank sculpt from at least two angles. I think owner photo's are cool but they (just like the company promo pics) distract me from seeing the sculpt underneath.

 

Absolutely! There was a particular character I was looking to shell, and had been going through sculpt after sculpt with a lot of "well, maybe" and "I guess I could settle" for months on end. Then from someone's box opening thread, I decided to check out a company I hadn't looked at before; the doll in the opening was cute, but "not the one," but I did see a couple on their site that were "well, maybe" sculpts.

So from there, I turned to flickr to look at owner photos of that company's dolls, and see them outside the site photos... and there she was! The perfect sculpt, ideal in absolutely every way! And... she was the same sculpt as the "not the one" box opening, and one that I'd completely passed up in the company listings.

All it was, was a simple change of wig style and color, though, and I went from "not the one" to happily having that very sculpt I'd rejected home, perfectly filling that character slot in my collection.

 

Sadly the two sculpts I've been looking at don't have too many owner pics. But there was another sculpt that I loved the company pics of, but when I saw the owner pics I didn't like small details in the face that I didn't notice in the company pics. Though it was thanks to an owner pic that lead me to the company that I'm ordering my first doll from. Can't find owner pics of him yet, but I really loved the owner pics from that company so hopefully he'll be perfect!

 

Yes. Soom's Dia could never be able favourite mold, because promo foto are no "tasty". It's very convenient when company makes picture of naked head. Sometimes make up make doll less interesting.

 

Owner photos are definitely important! I know that I've seriously started wanting a doll when I saw the owners photos--many times!

 

It happens a lot! Can go either way.

I had seen Migidoll Ell company pictures, and while I think he looks great in those pictures, I didn't want to buy him until I saw an owner picture that made me realize he was perfect for a character I had been looking to shell for months!

On the other hand, I was absolutely in love with Dream Realm Xiao Chi when he was first released, but after seeing owner pictures, I couldn't stand the nose in profile, and was very happy that I hadn't ordered him.

I think it's important to see sculpts in different lights, at different angles and in different faceups sometimes, just to get a real idea of what you're buying.

 

DollZone Raphael's fullset outfit is a little extreme, I definitely like him better in owner pics. Resinsoul is horrible at photographing their dolls, they always look better in owner pics too.

 

Dollmore have some unflattering pictures of Narsha, she has an uncommon face sculpt and sometimes doesn't photograph very well. I browsed their website many times and didn't like their dolls.
But as soon as I saw one in person I loved it so much I bought her XD

Looking at owner pictures in my case usually works more for deciding to not get one. Sometimes websites don't show you the doll body, and don't say anything about poseability either. I like to know those kind of things before buying.