Companies: Change in Style, Change in Tastes?

Yes - Souldoll. I like their older boys - especially Morse and Lester. But now - meh XD

 

Dollshe. In 2016 I realized his more realistic style didn't suit me, and I preferred his pre-2008 sculpts. This was a blessing in disguise, as it turns out, given what's been happening since then.

I've also become less interested in Volks, as they've gone to producing more and more pretty girls, and so few boys. The boys were what drew me in, back in 2005-2006. It's yet another blessing, though, as I have a healthy collection, and there's still some older Volks sculpts out there that I can pursue if/when I want.

 

Oh this is an interesting conversation because I feel as a collector my tastes are also shifting too as companies progress and change. I feel very similar to you @beamlette with Dollshe and Volks.

I'm in the same boat with @Cap'n, having some mixed feelings with Luts. When I started collecting, I LOVED Luts dolls and thought they would be the only dolls I would collect, but over the years I found myself collecting them less and less. I do love that they offer such a wide catalogue of dolls/colors, but after some time I felt uninspired by many of their newer molds. Sometimes I feel they have the same face again and again. Their style hasn't really changed, but maybe I'm just bored? I also agree all the new sizing on bodies feels like they're finding ways to get as many of their sculpts to fit several different bodies. Maybe I just long for the days when releasing a couple new dolls was a huge deal? Now they release like 8-10 dolls at a time, and I feel overwhelmed at times.

I gotta give a shout out to Souldoll though... I've always admired and liked Souldoll's when I started collecting, but never enough to buy and collect them. Lately Souldoll just seems to be jiving with my current tastes.. because I literally went from 2 Souldolls in 2020 to 11 sculpts. Their style has really improved!!! I feel many of their early dolls had a lot of symmetrical issues or odd expressions... but I think Souldoll has always been in their own world in terms of style. I've really started to appreciate them more as of late because of them venturing into some fun concepts with their own dolls.

 

Ah, I was wondering if I'm the only one feeling a bit... disappointed with Luts lately. I haven't been interested in any of their new sculpts for a year now. And there were a lot of them released in 2021. It used to be a unique face after a unique face (or maybe it just felt so because I was new to the hobby?) with much more time between releases around 2010-2013 when I was still actively following their works. Now it just feels like all their dolls began suffering the same face syndrome. I'm not really sure if it's just the make-up or if sculpting is part of the problem, but to me their new dolls just feel like slightly altered versions of one another. I mean, I can see similar points in their older dolls as well, but the similarities in their new dolls are just too much for me. But maybe it's just me, or my tastes just changed, lol.

 

Mine would be Dollzone. My second doll was a Mo in 2008, and fourth was Hid, sixth was Yuu in 2009 and I absolutely adored them. I've also owned SD Mo (three heads...), tiny Mo, , Xi-Aleister, Yuri, Nina, Fei, Shoyo, Hong and Ying, and another Hid. So I loved most of their dolls pre-2010s. Then....things started shifting after Doll Chateau's success. The bodies became much thinner and/or pear shaped. The heads much smaller with ears that were lower and stuck out more. Smaller eyes. Then stranger sculpts, more fantasy oriented. The last that I bought was Zo (aside from tiny Mo) and the instant I opened him, I realized I didn't like him. He was too thin, hips too wide, new normal yellow (at the time) was waxy and orangey, his head was so small. I wanted him to be a child for my SD Mo, and it was just not going to work at all. I took pictures and listed him that same day. And I haven't loved a sculpt by them since. Which is super sad because I really loved their old sculpts and bodies. But considering their popularity, apparently what they are doing works, and lots of people are very happy with the new style, even if it's not for me!

On the other hand, I like Resinsoul much better now! My sister and I had a few Resinsoul 1/4 dolls back around 2008-2010, and I was not impressed. The posing wasn't great, the resin was thin and one of the dolls started to chip and crumble around the wrists. The default faceups were very bland. I didn't buy one for a long time after that, but when I saw Mi, I had to have her! And OMG, it was such a difference! The resin is much nicer than it used to be (at least in my experience), the newer bodies have better engineering, and while I haven't ordered one with faceup, I have seen other people's recent RS faceups and they are worlds apart from the first ones! And on top of that, they still offer dolls in any color, have managed to keep their prices extremely low, and their customer service is wonderful.

 

I would say Doll Chateau (and Dollzone to a lesser extent), but I don't know if that's really because their style changed or just a combination of other factors. When I lost interest was just around when Dream Valley appeared, and I'm not sure if Dream Valley was just a cheaper, more functional alternative for lanky bodies or if DC truly changed. To complicate things further, I'm pretty sure the Dream Valley sculptor worked with either DC or DZ before branching off into their own studio... so maybe their work was what I liked all along?

I also agree with beamlette about Dollshe, though I didn't see the stylized early sculpts until well after they were long gone. I LOVE how stylistic and simple and slim the Rhythmos body is, if it had eventually gotten better jointing I would have been in trouble. I'm very glad the style has become something I don't care for.

 

Me, too! For about 15 years they were my absolute go-to place for really handsome guys and girls that still retained a very typical quirkiness and lots of personality. I suppose it was one one of the sculptors who had worked for them a long time whose work I kept falling for, but I sadly do not know the name. All of these sculpts (and their sculptors) were thrown out in the big discontinuation event they had a couple years ago, and I was not able to afford all sculpts that had eluded me before.
Since then it's all been about the more mainstreamy, softer, childlike sculpting. No wonder, as they had been struggling - quirkiness doesn't sell so well, I guess. For me Souldoll have somewhat lost their uniqueness through that change, and I haven't even contemplated one of their more recent releases.

There are a lot of companies who have gone down or are going down that road presently, much to my dismay
But their are also lots of new sculptors doing amazing new things, so there's hope^^

 

For me, It's Cerberus Project... I still love their older. "classic" sculpts (El, Shiwoo, Breakaway and such-), but I find I just can't really like the parade of pouty girly-girls that they produce as Fairyland. I guess I just react poorly to endless duck-face.

 

Definitely BlueFairy for me. Their new faces are still almost the same style, but the bodies are so different. I love the older style immature single jointed bodies but they added breasts, bigger breasts, double jointing, upper arm jointing and lost all of the cuteness of their original bodies. I wish they'd offer the older bodies for sale again but I'll just have to look for an older one second hand if I decide I need another.

 

oh, I like the topic a lot, OP

So, within the mentioned ones, I actually like the newer Impldoll more. Sure, they're too iplehouse-like sometimes, but I just like them.

I also like the newer Dollshe dolls more. They're more refined imo.

When it comes to the classics...

I liked the classic MSDs from Doll Chateau more. Bella, Colin, etc... those were the dolls... Same with the *old* dollzone.

I liked the old MNFs where I could tell the sculpts apart lol xD The classic Mirwen, Chloe, Rheia, Karsh... yeah, I liked them The new ones are still pretty, but I haven't been able to recognise any new sculpt since Lyria xD

Same with volks, soom and iplehouse... I don't follow the new thrends, because I don't buy dolls anymore and I have just bought all the classics I'd ever wanted and stuck in 2000s (I got into the hobby in 2013). But I love looking up Flickr old pics from e..g 2009-2015 where those dolls were more popular. The ones now are still uber-cute but they just look like a copy of one another. The individuality is lost.

I liked the classic Supia body A LOT more. Imo it's the prettiest girl doll body (next to VS sd13, Ariadoll, Zaoll and Limhwa), but the new ones are meh... too many joints!

One of the most important changes that I dislike with the majority of companies is the upgrading of bodies into double jointed. I *hate* double joints lol xD

Eitherway, I just like the variety that is now. I like it that *despite* such variety, I'm still into the oldies, which to me means they're just timeless!

 

This is a very interesting topic! I am really disappointed 2D Dolls seems to be going toward non-anime dolls and discontinuing so many of their MSDs is really disheartening.

I also loved early Doll Chateau! And then they discontinued all the sculpts I liked. There isn't much from them I really want anymore. I really like the Dollzone anime MSDs and I will finally acquire them both! (thank you layaway). But Mirai and Yui are the DZ dolls that have really captured me. I have liked various sculpts of theirs over the years but not enough to buy them.

Fewer and fewer Volks dolls have excited me lately. They are pretty, but nothing I would go to extra effort to acquire. The dolls I like from them are some of the older LEs which are impossible to find and too expensive once you do. For my own satisfaction I'd love to get an FCS doll one day.

 

I really don't care if a company changes their style or direction it's their choice. But I did get upset with Dollshe for changing their oriental skin resin color in 2020 as I had heads waiting on bodies from Dollstown and DT uses Dollshe for their casting service. The change was not slight, but very drastic. It upset many on my Facebook page for Dollstown as they had second hand heads or bodies that were going to need plans changed for. It was especially upsetting as no warning in advance. So resin changes upset me more.

 

Such an interesting topic. I have to echo a few people prior that Doll Chateau is drifting in a direction that's lost me in the last...4 years? I scrambled and got a Dennis right before it was discontinued. Would have loved to have the 1/6 human-centaur body as well, but alas. I don't think their newer sculpts are ugly, but they just don't have that wow factor for me, personally. Same with DollZone. Dream Valley kind of fills that gap, though I think DV doesn't lean quite far enough into "actively unsettling" to really take the crown.

I don't even own any 2D dolls yet (someday, Blackcurrant, someday!), but I was a little bummed to see them drifting from their minimal but eye-catching, anime-inspired sculpts in favor of what I can only describe as the sort of pretty plasticine semi-realism that gobs of companies have. I mean, the company is called 2D Doll! Where's this third dimension coming from, huh??? Jeez!

Luckily, now that I'm off my multi-year hiatus I've come back to find several companies coming out with stylized sculpts that are great canvases while still having personality on their own. DF-H, DF-A, DollPamm and Xagadoll are gunning for my wallet in a big way. Odd that over the decade I've been in the hobby, I've slowly done a complete 180 from only being interested in mature sculpts to vastly preferring stylized, cartoonish sculpts. Though I do still love highly specific, realistic faces, particularly if they're more focused on looking distinctive rather than pretty. That doesn't seem to be on-trend right now, maybe because the more specific a face is, the less it's necessarily going to sell as it'll lack a broad appeal? It's too bad.

 

Soom's aesthetic has almost completely lost me now. I'm not going to say it's impossible that they might release another doll I like, but they've slowly shifted from truly unique fantasy designs to human body plus fantasy head plus sometimes horns plus sometimes long nail hands, wearing modern European royalty clothes like something out of a Shakespeare performance. And their female body is too tense to work for many of my characters. And I don't like their current faceup artist's eye makeup aesthetic.

I didn't really have another favorite company besides Soom, but Fairyland continues to make me sad as they focus on minifees and ignore their larger doll lines. Their engineering is so perfect, I want more dolls on that body!