Changing your mind because of owner pictures?

Has for me. I was wishing for one of Soom's tinies, one of the little fawns with sheep horns, because so cute on their site! Then I saw pictures of owners, without the wig and those heads are so big and goofy looking, like they have a problem with brain swelling. I don't wish for one anymore.

 

Company pictures are not always nice
so I must confess that flickr is my inspiration
you can see all the other custom and finally fall in doll with a doll you never image

 

Definitely! There are a fair number of companies whose official photos don't do their dolls justice so the potential is hard to see before owner photos are available. And then there are companies whose styling tends towards one look to such an extent that it's hard to imagine the dolls in any other style - there have been several times where I've thought "cute, but not to my taste", and then saw a doll styled differently and realized that I was wrong.

And on the flip side, there are some companies who have artists to promotional faceups that hide the flaws in their sculpts or who do such a stunning job at outfitting the dolls that it's easy for a viewer to forget to look at the actual engineering of the bodies.

 

Oh definitely! I would be much less enthusiastic to buy something that had poor owner pictures but good company pictures, which happens kind of a lot. When I was trying to pick out my first doll, the first thing I did was go looking for owner pictures, as I don't think company photos show all I want to see a doll doing. What really convinced me to get my DollLeaves Bailey was an owner photo, so I would definitely say that they have some sway on my purchasing!

 

Most of the times.
Some companies do not care a lot about the promo pictures. So you have to dig the images to find a proper one or at least the one where the doll looks proportional and not really awful. In that case Flickr or even some forums help a lot. As time goes by you learn to recognize 'possibilities' of one's sculpt, even if you're not the sculptor. I believe that with any doll one can make a wonderful pictures to encourage others.

 

Owner pics always help me decide what I really want.

 

Owner pics/ seeing one in real life has helped me decide I liked a whole size range. I've owned a Puki for several years since he was a gift from my close friends, but I always dismissed other YoSDs and tinies since I thought they were just too small and childish for me. Another friend got one last AN and seeing her tiny in person definitely made me change my mind on how they looked IRL and how versatile they can actually BE. And oh look, three have made it into my collection since. Bwahahahaha.

 

Definitely! At first I was completely against getting an Iplehouse doll, but once I saw some more pictures of them and other examples online, I slowly started changing my mind about them. Now almost half of the dolls I really want are from Iple! xDD

 

Before buying any doll, I try to find as many owner pictures as possible. If it's a pretty underrated doll...... I sometimes bite the bullet and buy the doll anyway. Especially if it's a doll that not a lot of people own so any photos out there are basically the same doll (like my Crobi Haz or Migi Mu) ^^;

 

isn't it a routine thing that everyone do? i mean we can't judge only with pics only from the company.. i think dolls change a lot depending on a face up or other stuffs so it is inevitable to check some more pics from owners.

 

Absolutely!

ResinSoul's site pictures don't do the dolls justice whatsoever.
I almost passed up their dolls completely until I looked at the owner pictures and saw how beautiful they could be! They can be absolutely stunning and gorgeous, even when completely blank, and that's what shocked me. The company pictures just don't show how great these dolls can be.
It's why I look at owner pictures before even considering a doll for my wishlist.

 

From yay to nay:
Doll Leaves Bailey: I loved her promo pics so much! I never had a thing for SD's, but was seriously considering making an exception for her. MOC had her in stock with the default face-up I absolutely adored. I asked for a picture and boy, what a disappointment... The doll looked nothing like it did in the promo pics and it put me off completely. Which wasn't all that bad as SD's are too big for me anyways.

From nay to yay:
Lati Yellow: those big bobble heads annoyed me. I did like the Lea sculpt a lot though. Their single torso's also put me off. Then Lati did the Peter Pan thing. Could not pass that Lea up. I need a Lea in my life. Bobble headed or not.
Limhwa Dodo: dancingbeedolls and my friend Rooz convinced me to go for Dodo instead of Mimi. Limhwa's pictures are awful, but when I saw dancingbeedolls girl, I knew I needed a Dodo. My friend got a Dodo one year later. Their twin sisters now. xD
Dollzone Annie: her promo pics and default face-up don't do her any justice. Pictures of Yomigaeri, rafaelvyana and necofenix changed my mind.

I also use owner pics to solidify my opinions about a doll. I think it is awesome and owner pics show me: yes, they are are!
In case of Fairyland Littlefee Ante, I went from meh to want to nooooo everybody has one already, to whatever, I'm getting one too.
She was everywhere and she grew on me.

There have been times where there were little to no owner pics when ordering a doll. New releases and unpopulair or unknown sculpts. In that case I just have to go with my gut feeling.

 

For me... well.. it's hard to dislike any dolls at all. I believe each and every doll has beauty in them so as long as the owner pulls it out then I'm inclined to like them even if I initially found the company photos to be lackluster. There are still some dolls that I personally can't like in owner pictures or company pictures alike... like minifee Celine, for example. There's something about the sculpt that just doesn't sit right with me, and to this day the only Celine I really like is my own, heavily modded one... which pretty much proves my initial point to me. Every doll can be gorgeous with just the right amount of work and dedication.

 

Owner pictures really make a difference when you're buying a doll, I think. I've seen several companies that just sent on the mark their with their photography, and to buy a doll I need to see them in the best and worst light.

 

My first doll I KNEW I wanted before I looked at owner pictures. Then when I looked them up I found one owner picture that made me unsure, and then another that made me want it even more. And another one I never would have wanted if I hadn't seen the owner pictures. The company pictures were good, but the faceup was so weird and unflattering I never really spent much time looking at them.

 

I think commonly people will like the way the doll looks in the company pictures but owners pics turn them off that doll. For me however the opposite happened, I started liking a doll after seeing owners pics of some volks dolls, previously I never liked them but no I'm starting to like them and am thinking of buying one.

 

Owner pics always help me decide whether I'll be getting the doll or not. Owner pics usually show the doll's full potential. Which makes everything easier. But sometimes there aren't owner pictures for some dolls and it makes it hard to decide whether I should get them or not.

 

There's one particular company that I used to love, fell in love with this one doll, and looked up pictures of him... and it didn't translate at all, the doll in the company photo and the owners pictures didn't match. I noticed it with all their dolls. It's strange. But it really stinks because the company pictures are so pretty!

Sometimes owners pictures get me trouble, though. I see a pretty doll and I have to have it, but, that exact doll x3

 

I had seen a lot of owner pictures that I liked of fairyland mini fee Chloe but I didn't know they were the same doll at first. I finally figured out it was the same doll customized differently. It's nice to see how people customize their dolls. I was more of a fan of the owner pictures for sure.

 

It happened with me and still happens.
I was really tempted by Dollchateau Douglas, some months ago, but seeing owner's pictures I changed my mind because even if the sculpt still looked really pretty it wasn't what I was searching for.
On the other hand, Dollzone Freddy company pictures had something that turned me off, and also the body had something I didn't appreciate, but seeing owner's pictures I made my mind and now I have one that I love to bits!
Given that, I always search for owner's pictures, or at least for a blank sculpt picture...