Dollzone Discussion ~ 60 and 70cm ~ Part VIII

Yes, I agree the style/aesthetic of dolls has definitely changed. When I first got into this hobby, dolls had the old Yaoi aesthetic, i.e., slender, pretty, and sort of feminine. The current popular aesthetic seems to be this “Bara adjacent BL look” which calls for hyper-masculine bodies with huge muscles, and tiny heads. (Thank you @Cloudedmind for your explanation of the current doll aesthetic. I totally get it now.)

I think with the right facial sculpt the bara adjacent BL look is fine, even drool-worthy. But, I’ve seen some facial sculpts that look very adolescent that have these big, over-developed bodies. So not my cup of tea.

 

It is a bit jarring to see a soft, young-ish face paired with a heavily muscled body. I mean, if that's your jam, have at and enjoy. It's not a look I generally find appealing. That being said, I do have some boys who have a soft/gentle face but a jacked body. Khale (Leeke Khal) is like that. Soft, beautiful (adult) face, totally ripped body (he's on the old Leeke muscle body). But you'd never know he looks like that until you get him naked as he tends to wear pastel colours and flowing robes that hide his body shape.

It seems like a lot of companies are sliding over into the more realistic sculpts and leaving the more anime/yaoi aesthetic at the wayside. I suppose it's what is selling now and if they want to stay in business, well, you need to give the customers what they want. I can't talk too hard against the more realistic sculpts as I own a fair number but the old anime/yaoi aesthetic will always have a tender place in my heart because that's what initially got me into the hobby.

 

Sounds like there needs to be a tall stick boy in the 72-77cm size to go with the tall thicc boys that currently reside there.

 

I desperately want a tall thicc boy - and I mean THICC, no defined muscles, just curvy and plump

 

Oh I 100% agree!! I want a curvy boy!!
I know there's a mature mini out there from a different company with a very soft shape, but ooooh I'd sell my soul for an SD with curves.

 

Oooooh! Curvy and plump! Oh my! What would that look like?

 

I think Argonautica does a more filled out SD girl but no boy as far as I know. Dr. Krow has a very realistic curvy girl but I think she's MSD in size? But again, no boy. Huli recently did a very thicc and sturdy boy but he's modeled after the Tolkien dwarves (I think) and I believe he's MSD.

I think most companies are afraid to slide into the chonky side of things regardless of whether they're female or male sculpts. Clothing them with off-the-rack stuff would be hard. You'd need to be very careful in the sculpting of the fluffy aspect so as not to impede movement/posing. The target audience for such a sculpt is likely much smaller than the buyers of the standard dolls. It's considerable time and money to make a new sculpt and if it doesn't sell... well there's no getting those resources back.

 

I want a doll that looks like Orange (adultish content warning)

 

maybe the Meeksdoll Labella's boys for a softer male body? i think only the newest DZ head on the beefcake bod would work though with a 13cm neck since they are big like a ID75.

also, i'm kinda excited, i scored a Raymond and a Robin.
i never had a chance before they were discontinued, so happy they can join my Isaac's and Leslie.

i think my other DZ's fall more under the slimmer 68 category. maybe i'll find a Gene eventually, i have his body for another hybrid LOL i like all the variety, it's fun to have different looks, but those new big fellas look heavy

 

Wow! Congrats Grimalkin! I’m so excited for you! You got a Raymond and a Robin! Super WOW! That is a total score! Robin is kinda rare, isn’t he? I don’t recall seeing a lot of him around.

You lucky thing! That will be quite the stud-stable of tall gorgeous Dollzone boys. (Hot boy resin!)

Looking forward to pictures!

Let’s hear it for DZ Robin!

 

@Grimalkin - Ooh congratulations!! I love Robin's profile, his nose is such a lovely shape.

 

@Rabbit-moon and @Quiet and Insane - thanks for your shared enthusiasm they are floating heads for now, but I think they can borrow somebody's "ride" i also love Robin's nose, and his lips too. i really regret not getting the bust they sold with his release, the one with the fox. i think i've seen Robin a little more on instagram than here, but true, not as much as some of the other guys.

edit - p.s. realised the fox bust went with Devon... oops but i sure looked at that little fox and Robin so many times LOL

 

I don't think Robin was available all that long before DZ axed him, which is really unfortunate. Sometimes people need to see owner pictures before they really fall for a sculpt, and with how long DZ wait times can be, I bet there wasn't that many owner pictures out there before he got the ax

 

that discontinuation period was so sad, since DC felled a bunch around the same time as well. no way to prioritize or plan.

@Girrl - you're so right though, sometimes a sculpt i didn't look twice at in company shots is amazing in the hands of an owner and suddenly, i'm obsessed with their possibilities

 

I remember, during that time, I was obsessed with DZ Leslie, but I just couldn’t wrangle the funds to get him. And, on top of that, I was hesitant because Dollzone was going through a period where their face-ups looked nothing like the face-ups in the promotion pictures. I had that happen with the DZ Oliver I purchased, so disappointing.

I saw some owner photos of Leslie, and sadly, he never looked like his promo pix. By the time I got the courage, and the funds, to buy him he was discontinued.

 

Wasn't Leslie originally released around the same time as Raymond?

 

Yes they were released together I think! I’m excited to get a Raymond of my own finally. He was a strong contender for a new shell for Val back in the day, but he’s a little too gaunt for him. But he’s perfect for Zai, who’s partnered with Jazz (my Stramonium) and I have both her and their daughter at home.

Edit:

Raymond & Leslie – BJD Collectasy a release article of them. I didn’t realize it’s been since December of 2012 that they were released, so the first ones should have arrived in 2013

 

I was drawn to the Gene body with the wings and claws because weird/unusual is my jam. But I had no character for him so passed. There was a grey Gene (and of course I'm weak to coloured resin) in the MP for what seemed like forever ages ago and I visited him a fair bit but still no character so I just admired him from afar. He also had the full default blushing and I didn't like it and would've wiped it and that kinda seems... I dunno, wasteful? I felt a bit bad for him that he was just sitting there for so long. He was fairly priced and it was like please, somebody love me and take me home. But I'm weird that way.

As a side note, no matter how much I like the look of wings, it's an utter PITA to dress a doll that has them. I have several winged dolls (and characters) and unless you make specific shirts/coats for them or don't mind cutting into existing clothes, you're going to mutter under your breath frequently when you need to dress them. All my winged boys except 1 have magnet/slotted wings so they can wear normal stuff if you leave the wings off. My DV Bethel has strung wings so his shirts will need to be custom for him as there's no way I'm unstringing his wings every time I want to change his shirt (especially since they're strung very tight).

 

i got lucky i guess for Leslie, he was in stock and on clearance with a dealer well past the last date of offering by DZ, and layaway helped me there. but he's blank. i know what you mean about the faceups though, my Isaac's is similar to the company pics, but definitely different and sort of, well, blurry might be the best word. (i'm still over the moon that he got to join my crew).

The other sculpt i thought was similar to Leslie is Charmdoll's boy JianLi (esp. JianLi-3 and JianLi original) but after seeing the different versions of him, i think it's all in the faceup. Alice's has 3 versions of him showing, and the JianLi-3 listing is crazy how much the profile is similar, i wondered if it was by the same sculptor tbh.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your rendition of Raymond and how he fits in with your group

that is so funny! i was having the exact same thoughts about that grey Gene when he was for sale! I don't think i could have made myself wipe him either. Can confirm the wings are a PITA, they are humongous. and even after having both strung and magnet types and all the clothing problems, i still wind up with more wings