Doll Expressions?

Have you ever fallen in love with a sculpt simply because it had a bright eyed look or any other special facial quality that you noticed?

Oh, heck yes - a smirk on a boy gets me every time. Don't know why... Maybe I just love bad boy bjd's? ^o^ The first time I saw Iplehouse's SID Elemental Guardian Claude smirking at me from my screen, I knew he would be mine. I still think he's one of the most gorgeous boys I've ever seen. Honestly, my heart still flutters every time I see him.

EDIT:

Come to think of it, it's the same for my Volks F-38. He's a smirky boy, too!

 

My Vince usually looks pretty cheerful... Even when he doesn't look especially cheery, he looks more on the dreamy side of introspective, I've never caught him looking sad.

I think I see a lot of gentle smiles or non-smiles when you get to MSD or bigger, though, and I think it's because of the above reason-- a puki can grin like a maniac and be adorable, but when you put a super happy smile on a larger doll, you can fall into the uncanny valley with it.

I think sometimes sad/worried dolls are cute/beautiful, but sometimes I just want to have a happy face greet me. (though I like a sculpt with a little mischief in it, too...)

 

Just ask anyone... I'm a sucker for pouty or smirky dolls; especially smirky men... and a quick look at my wishlist (mayhaps not the imminent one) and the dolls I have at home will easily reveal as much. There's a very obvious combo of SSDF Avalanche, IoS Sezz, DikaDoll Murong, Switch Soseo, Doll Chateau Hugh and IoS Chaos before anything... hell, even the new HDF Brownie that somehow wormed his way into my list is rather smirky and I keep noticing this every time a new doll catches my eye; there's a very good chance they're smirking... a really very good chance. And I often find myself exasperating; why can't I like dolls with different expressions as much!!!?

 

Would the sculpt not be the primary reason to like or not like a doll? Clothing, body type, and the like can all be purchased second-hand if you like them, whereas it's the face that will make or break the adoption of an actual doll. You've gotta get the head right and then the rest will follow.

 

I find that a lot of the time I don't like the sculpts that smile because they look to fake. But what I REALLY can't do is the super pouty faces. They look fake and just...not cute to me. And I'm not talking about just a sad looking doll, I mean the ones that have their bottom lip in a pout like you'd do to your mom so you can have a cookie. lol They just look unnatural to me.

 

I'm the same, although I like all facial expressions. Most doll's faces are too neutral for my taste. I like dolls to be really frowny (like IH Dexter), or really smiling, or really [enter emotion here].

With face-ups you can give a doll an expression, that's true, but there are limits to what you can do. I guess that's why I started sculpting for myself. I couldn't find a doll with the expression I was looking for. He had to look gentle, with the possibility of mischief (this was before IH Claude came out). It's been a long process, but I've finally got the doll that I want!

EDIT:
Recently I've fallen head over heels in love with RS Joshua. The shy innocence of that doll makes my heart melt.

 

I like for my dolls to have a host of expressions that are possible to make--manipulating the tilt of the head or the position of the eyes to get one look or another, so an overtly smiling doll would be a little difficult to get different expressions out of. However, I did just order a Claude, so I guess I'm gonna have to deal with that, lol! My plan is to give him a faceup with very carefully arranged eyebrows, so that I can still get a glower out of him from certain angles.

I do really like the solemn or pouty dolls, too. I just like for the expression to make sense in context.

 

I prefer dolls with a kind of neutral expression, so I can use them in more situations and photostories so they show more expression! However I like looking at other's happy dollies!

 

I prefer neutral expressions or ones with a very slight smile caused by faceup or something xP Big expressions arent really my thing.. I find it hard to relate to something who always looks sad or always looks happy ^^;

 

Even with the tinies that have the capacity to be cheerful and look cute I've noticed the most common expressions are surprised or pouting, so although less so it can be a problem across all sizes to find the perfect face you like. The face is the most important thing about the doll for me, and I'm kind of picky in the faces I like -- I'm afraid that I might not end up owning all that many dolls because of it, as much as I like the BJD hobby

 

I don't think you'll have to worry about your Claude. In my experience, a smiling doll is just as capable of displaying a wide range of emotions as a neutral one. Just think about how many smiles there are. There's the shy smile, the grin, the mischievous, the downright predator like. There's even an angry smile, a scoff, the gleeful face, and the sad smile.

Like with a neutral face, it all depends on the doll's pose, the angle of the shot and the lighting used.

Congrats by the way! He is a beautiful doll!

 

i like open mouths like D: or : D or O:

but i also think dolls' expressions can look different depending on the angle you look at them from so expression aren't THAT important to me. you can change how it looks by how their eyebrows are painted too.

 

i've always hated how sad or morbid a lot of doll expressions are, coming from collecting anime figures i notice it a lot, as anime figures are always happy or smiling, sometimes angry or sexy, dolls are pretty limited in expressions.

i thin we all see expressions differently though

 

Thank you! I'm so excited to get him. ^^

And I do agree with you, every expression has different interpretations. I can't wait to see how dangerous and predatory I can get my Claude to look.

 

That's how I feel, too! I like seeing other people's dolls with big expressions, but I personally prefer neutral.

 

I like a doll to have a definite expression on its face, and I also like that expression to change from different angles. I'm pleased that so many of mine have turned out to have changeable expressions.

Eyebrows also have a dramatic effect on a doll's expression, in my opinion. If I'm having a faceup done, I'm always really specific about the brows. They define some of my characters.

Lowell, my Ninodoll Bada.​

Linda S.
galatia9