I own both company made dolls like volks, peakswoods and other companies, but I also buy personal made dolls too like from illusion garden, some artists are really good at create their own dolls. They have very good taste.
Peakswoods is run by two sisters, one sculpts and one handles everything else. Really, they are an artist studio line. They have just been around a long time and have worked very hard to make so many dolls. Very few makers actually are actually what we call a "company". Volks, Iplehouse, Ringdoll, Dollzone are good examples of makers with more than 8-10 employees. And really only Volks has enough employees (maybe 50+ in the BJD area doing everything from sculpting to staffing their stores) to technically be a real company. And even then, as far as the world goes, that isn't a big company.
i generally prefer company-made dolls as they're usually always available, i can save up for a doll i like and order it as soon as i have the money, whereas with an artist doll i would likely have to wait for a preorder (if there are anymore) or for one to pop up secondhand. i've noticed that company-made dolls generally appeal better to my personal aesthetic too.
Just semantics IMO. Otherwise you'd be saying that a single sculptor, posting limited editions randomly on Instagram is an "artist"... while a single sculptor with an established website and a regular line is a "company". I don't see the difference, to be honest. But to answer the original question, I like all the dolls, wherever they come from.
That distinction does not hold up in my opinion. At the core of almost all those so-called companies is one doll artist, whether they do everything else on their own as well or are actually able to employ a few people for the more menial work outside of sculpting. Only a handful of operations are bigger than that, having a whole sculpting team, for instance (see idrisfynn's post on that). I go more by what the products of these companies look like - do they still look like individual works of art, or do they have a serial corporate look about them? (For me, examples of the latter would be Iplehouse or Fairyland, where most sculpts seem based off of each other with only the smallest alterations, often aided by 3D computer sculpting. Only my opinion^^!) Of these two, I would always choose individual art over corporate style. But of course, there are no clear boundaries.
Well, I suppose it really depends on the doll, honestly. There are a lot of very wonderful art dolls out there... but I think for the most part, I prefer the company ones? It's usually easier to find clothes and accessories to fit them, and I'm not very good at making things like that.
I have only one artist made doll, the rest are company made basically because the few artist adult sculpts are terribly expensive & most artists tend to do children which don't interest me at all. The childlike ones are also expensive & the bodies often seem somewhat crude, especially the hands. I love beautiful hands that look real & graceful.
Thank you so much, you teach me a lot! I really do not know PW has so fewer people but their dolls are so amazing. although the waiting time is too long but their dolls do worth that. And their official make up is awesome too.
As others have said, there's a dime's worth of difference between an artist and a company, as far as size goes. And thanks to casting services like Harucasting, you're generally going to get quality either way. If I had to choose, companies tend to be less stressful for me, as aside from the odd limited release, their molds are available whenever and there isn't pressure to jump on a limited preorder with limited slots and no guarantee of another run. That said, companies can be stressful, too (Doll Chateau is really stressing me out atm), and an artist preorder feels more special and exciting.
I love both. There are several artists I would love to buy from, however they only take orders during certain periods and a lot of time it just doesn't work out for me financially so I'm just waiting for the stars to align. Most of my dolls are discontinued sculpts from companies though.
Never truly experienced an artist doll, but I’ve been wanting one. I think there’s just something about knowing the one person that made them that makes the doll very special.
Company. With the company dolls I feel more like I can make them into my own and break the connection from the original artist. Sounds bad but with artist dolls I don't feel that they can be my doll.
I like both. I won't spend tons more on a famous-maker art doll, though (just not in my budget--not that I don't like them!). I do look at both as being very similar. Most "companies" are built around a single artist.
Honestly the only way I know there's a difference is when the only way to buy the doll/head is by emailing or DM...lol. Maybe they have a blog, maybe they just post on social, maybe you're on their mailing list, maybe you have to email them and ask if their doll is for sale. I've found some artists this way. As for "companies/brands" - I don't know enough of the dolly lore to know how many people are behind something like a Luts or Iplehouse. In any case, I'm fairly confident that at the end of the day, it's still a single artist that crafts the design.
Both. Company dolls have more exposure and it minimizes the hassle of trying to obtain one since more or less the doll is just available. While individual artist, although hard to catch because of the short pre orders and who knows when the doll will be reproduced again makes it special. And you can tell the whole process is done with care and you get an exclusive doll.
As a newbie in this hobby, I am interested to see how my opinion on this subject might change over the years. I just bought my first doll from an individual artist. I am a huge believer in supporting independent artists over companies, in many aspects of my life. In the two years I have been looking for a doll, I have not yet seen a company doll that I like enough to buy. That's not to say I never will. I guess right now I am at a point where artist > company. But that might change with time.
Both, yes please. More likely to leave an artist doll (and company limiteds) complete and unmodified, though… so it’s fulfills two different sides of play/collecting style.
I'll say both, since there isn't that clear a distinction between the two. As someone who's mostly collected mature tinies for the seven and half years I've been into BJDs, most of my dolls are limited edition or discontinued. Soom mostly does things as limited time pre-orders. I have a few dolls from a no longer active BJD artist, and one I got second hand. Whether or not I'll order a doll depends partially on whether they have a user friendly website/ sell through dealers. If the only way to buy a doll is through social media or Taobao, I'll admire other owners' dolls, but won't order them myself.
