Don't They ALL Look The SAME? (Face Wise)

I think it's sort of funny that DC gets pointed out as the unique company, since when they first came out people got all up in a tizzy thinking they were copying the DZ aesthetic. Of course, it was very quickly figured out that the main artist had worked for DZ. Even now, I can still see a bit of DZ in them, plus there is a bit of DC showing up in their company. That's what happens when an artist shares his talents with multiple companies.
I also wonder how many doll artists at the larger companies are learning from already established artists. When a person learns an art trade from another they tend to end up with a similar "flavor" even if they are different.

That and we are all drawn to certain looks. If you are really into how Volks looks, then you can probably tell them apart easily, no matter how much alike others may see them. All companies have their look, and some companies do have a look similar to another. If it is within your aesthetic, then you will be able to see the differences.


If you really are looking for something different, maybe you should look into artist type dolls. A few of them are even accepted on this forum.

And, hey, since artists do move around and learn from each other, perhaps one day the look that DC has will spread around more. Of course, if that were to happen, they would then be considered bland themselves. Then people would go off looking for something more unique.

 

If you don't look carefully, or don't care, then everything does start to blur. I definitely can't tell a LOT of sculpts apart--mostly because I wasn't that interested.

BUT, when it comes to picking out one you like, they definitely do NOT all look alike because there are some that an individual will like and some that they won't. It may SEEM like there are tons more that they don't like, but that's because they are interested in something SPECIFIC. So it's more a matter of point of view.

If you are interested in, for instance, Volks' styles, there are definitely sculpts you will like more than others--and those you will have to buy. If you aren't into that style, then you'd group them into a single group that is all the same to you--and they would seem all alike to you.

An Iplehouse EID doesn't look like one of Ringdoll's Seniors and neither look like a Fairyland. But if you aren't interested in those styles you won't bother to distinguish between them, so they will seem the same.

 

I knew this would stir up nasty comments *clicks fingers*

In almost every forum I've been to, discussions were for the sake of sharing your perspectives and opinions on matters whether they are different, right, wrong, weird etc. I really don't mean to be rude, but I feel like I must state this. A lot of people on DoA, in a way discourage difference of opinions. If you have some sort of biased or unpopular opinion you are told to simply ignore it and 'look somewhere else', 'just let it go', 'don't like it, don't look at it'. This kind of attitude is not suitable in a place where discussion is supposed to be open and encouraged .-. Geez. Fine, then should everyone just shut up and 'ignore it'? That's not what a forum is about.

Drama aside, let me reiterate~

I agree with this entirely! Which is why I said some Volks fanatic would argue with me. I own no Volks dolls, I WAS an admirer of them when I was like, 13 years old, but that has since long gone died and I know nothing about them, hence I cannot for the life of me recognise their sculpts!

And totally, a little samey-ness is great too! I'm not totally against it, it's fine! I have a Minifee Celine which used to look 100% identical to the MNF Chloe when I first looked at them. I even said and I quote: "Celine is the exact same sculpt as Chloe and Fairyland is lying to us" as a joke xD Oh how I was wrong. I now see how blind and wrong I was :P I like teefs, Chloe has no teefs

I get what you mean! Each company has their own aesthetic like someone previously mentioned. I actually practice on memorising their different -although sometimes subtle- styles so I can be able to identify them without knowing which company they're from I now can instantly recognise a Bluefairy doll from their eyes and lips, a Volks doll from their cheeks mainly, a Luts doll and so on. Soom is a hard one since I don't look at their sculpts much xD

Again, taking my words way too seriously when I clearly said it is my own personal opinion. Never gets old.
I didn't in any way intend for the "Volks Fanatic" thing to be as an insult. Period. I would never insult anyone because of what they like. I was only giving an example, and you understood the gist of it right? I apologise if it came off as an insult to you! Is the word 'fanatic' wrongly used? English isn't my first language and I usually do not use the correct words to iterate the meanings...

On to the dolls, all I can say is, behold the power of face ups lol. I'm actually very impressed! They seemed like different sculpts. Again, like I mentioned ^previously, I would not consider myself a Volks fan at all, not even an amateur fan, as I'm not interested in their dolls and I see no reason to 'research' on their sculpts Why would I when I can go find my own dolls some clothing/accessories or something?

Anyway, I'm glad you didn't just pinpoint that and left off. My point has come across, which is, to me, their sculpts are very similar and generic. Maybe not the 'sister' sculpts but from set to set, they're pretty similar, and the Coco compared to the rest of them.

 

OP: the fact that you have an opinion that is different from mine does not bother me in the slightest. What DOES bother me is the lack of tact with which you expressed it. Telling people who may feel differently about doll sculpts than you do to "not get their panties in a twist" and etc. before they even have a chance to reply--- that hardly seems like you're after a respectful exchange of opinions.

 

Quoting for relevance!

I couldn't agree with you more.

And you seem happy about it. Then did you just made such comments just to stir everybody up?

 

If you "see no reason to research their sculpts" then I suggest you avoid holding them up as an example in the manner you did. You came out, guns blazing, and ended up saying something that was not only easily debunked, it highlighted a lack of knowledge. If you're going to make examples, make them informed examples and don't just crow about how you knew this was going to get angry comments omg, like that's some kind of badge of honor. There's no points won for being unnecessarily aggravating; all you're doing is making yourself look bad.

Volks has an aesthetic. It's a cohesive aesthetic, at that. There's no reason to use capitals, bold, and HUGE FONT to blast a company that's not only well-loved and well-regarded, but essentially pioneered the hobby we all love.

 

This thread is quickly degenerating into something that should be closed.

Obvious disrespect in others personal choices is has been pointed out and some of the comments are starting to become a "Let's bash this company's sculpts and other peoples opinions" type of vibe is not sitting well with me.

Sharing opinions and have a real discussion is about Respect and I am not seeing that in this thread anymore.

 

I respectfully disagree.

While I certainly do notice similarities between sculpts within a company's own dolls (which is only natural, as an artist's / sculptor's style and aesthetic will always have a signature look that tells a viewer that it's their work), I don't see it so much between different companies.

For example - the Volks style is very different from say, Soom, Iplehouse, or Dollshe, and none of them look at all alike to the other companies I mentioned.

To me, most of the doll companies look different from one another, each with their own distinct and recognizable style, and all very beautiful in their own way. And that's a good thing. : )

 

I don't see this at all. I have to wonder if part of it is that I am new to the hobby and I don't spend hours and hours looking for dolls. I don't even get to buy lots of dolls. I feel there is a lot out there for me to choose from and I am really trying to find that one doll that speaks to me in a powerful way. The small amount of looking I have done has shown me a lot of variety in fact so much so, its hard for me to make a decision. I guess it just depends on the person and expectations to keep collecting and finding unique things in a market that is made for what is selling and popular by most.

 

I really do not agree with the OP . I've owned dolls from 10 different companies and I can say from my personal experience that face feature wise they are nothing alike . When you put side by sad say a crobidoll and a luts delf you can see how big the difference is regarding head scale , proportions and general stylistic aspects .
Personally I love all doll companies because I can find something different and beautiful in each of them . As a sidenote that's the biggest reason I can't stop shopping .

 

This I have to agree with.
when I was very new to the hobby there weren't that many dolls and companies around. Still, I had troubles with bigger companies like Luts and Soom because dolls there looked very similar, especially face-up-wise. But Volks took the cake... and didn't let go of it. ^^;

 

There are so many companies out there with so many different styles, that you're bound to find something that matches your tastes. If you're getting bored with the 'general' Korean style, why not go looking for dolls from other countries?

Want something different than the companies you've been listing here? Try researching French, Polish, Russian, Finnish etc doll-makers. Are you bored of European artist sculpts? Go check out the Chinese companies. Don't like Chinese dolls? Immerse yourself in the splendor of the Japanese Dollfie . There are endless possibilities.

Is it really necessary to negatively single out one company? This way you're (general) bound to trip over hurt feelings; You ARE talking about other people's dolls .

Also, you're reply on page 3 sounds a bit hysterical to me when you're basically saying: "OMG, people! I TOLD you it was just my opinion, why are you Volks fans bothering me???" when actually, they were just correcting a wrong presumption. Correcting something =/= charging you with pitchforks.

 

I actually don't think anyone was nasty to you so much as pointing out that you actually weren't making the point you meant to at all.

Because you have mentioned English isn't your first language I will explain why I at least didn't take too kindly to your "fanatic" comment as I think it's good for me now to know you didn't intend for it to be negative, but I also think it's important for you to understand why it was.

"Fanatic" is a word often used to describe someone who is very dedicated/avid about something frequently in an intrusive or harmful way whether it is to themselves or others. For a long time when I started collecting, and even before that, there was the indication that if you loved Volks dolls and collected all or primarily their sculpts that you were elitist or fanatical and thought that Volks were perfect and all other companies were lesser than Volks. It became a very negative stereotype that if you so much as mentioned Volks was your favourite company you were automatically rude and thought you were better than other collectors.

As someone who has collected dolls for almost 8 years now I have owned a large number of dolls from a variety of companies. I think over time Volks has remained one of my favourites, but because their quality and aesthetic suits me personally, not because I feel other companies are not as good as them. But even still, after eight years I still see it come up from people as a way to "insult" people or negate their comments or arguments if they are in anyway positive toward Volks. It is really frustrating to see the same negativity after eight years, especially when the same people who do those things are usually the first ones who call others dramatic/rude/negative.

 

Really. It's Just Her Opinion that all BJDs look alike... and it's Just My Opinion that this is the stupidest topic I've ever seen on DOA.

(Which is a hefty title, because there have been some shit-stirring doozies up in here.)

 

Uhm... centaurs and spidertaurs also have faces? I wanted a Luts centaur, but wasn't really blown away by their faces, which is equally important to me. The DC spider head wasn't everyone's favorite either. I can recall some people saying that they wished DC sold the spider body seperately.

 

After two months of combing through mature female MSD sculpts to find the perfect one? No. They are absolutely NOT all the same. I've lost count of how many dolls I ruled out as "not even close," how many I looked at that were "almost except this one particular feature of their sculpt," how many I looked at that were "well maybe if I can't do any better." The sculpt I have for this character doesn't suit her at all, and it did take me at least two months to finally find one that does speak to me as her. This is across multiple companies, from multiple countries of origin, in several price ranges. They definitely aren't all the same, not even close.

There are similarities within companies, as there should be. Each company has a particular aesthetic they specialize in, which is how each company gains a fan base that ends up with multiples of their dolls, but each company, when compared to others, still looks different. (I'm actually using this within a doll family I'm currently assembling, where each different ethnicity or country of origin for the characters is represented by a different company. It gives them a cohesive look as a group, but also ties the family members a bit closer together thanks to their sharing certain additional features.)

And yes, there are some different sculpts out there. Plenty have been mentioned, but they aren't as popular when they start to get extreme. People have brought up DC a lot, but I'm going to bring up DollPamm instead. I'm one of the few owners of a DP doll; there aren't many of us around, and I have no doubt that part of that is the extremely unusual sculpts that are typical of that company. I do love my girl, but I haven't seen owner photos of the most extreme ones, and the company thread isn't especially active. On the other hand, it's tough to keep up with the various CP threads I'm subscribed to, as those sculpts are extremely popular.

And no, they don't all look the same, either. The OP and other newer collectors here need to settle down and take some time to actually look at sculpts, rather than get fired up about a problem that doesn't truly exist. Once they actually take the time to look more closely at the sculpts, they'll find the differences, those small details that can make or break a sculpt. And they'll find the companies that fit their own aesthetic preferences, and let the other companies cater to the people who prefer those aesthetics instead of calling for them to fit their own desires.

 

Why, yes, they are practically identical. GOSH, VOLKS, YOU SO LAZY.

(In short, no, I don't see it.)

 

Some of these replies are hilarious. No I don't think even within the same company that dolls faces look exactly the same. Some might look like sisters/brothers at times but they'll have something unique about them.

 

solitary agent, good examples, thanks!

I think that BJD sculpts are starting to look more different, rather than more alike, as time goes on. For example, to me some of Dollzone's early sculpts don't have the remotest family resemblance to current ones. They look like they came from different companies!

I look at Volks because I know I love their dolls. I don't love ALL of them, or even a quarter of them. But I know they make what I like, and that they will continue to do so. I also know which companies I will most likely not buy dolls from. I don't tend to peruse their websites, so obviously I won't be able to tell their dolls apart. They will all look similar to me because I don't make it a habit to study their features.

Before I started seriously considering purchasing Dollfie Dreams, I couldn't figure out how people could tell the sculpts apart. But after studying them a while to decide which ones I wanted, I learned how to see the differences. Now I can tell many of them apart by sight, though I do still have to refer to pictures for heads with custom faceups.

In a way, I find a super-unique sculpt to be too limiting. Their features channel them into a specific character type which may not agree with what I want. My characters are pretty much purely human and modern day, and I like to choose how they look and what they wear. A beautiful faceup can create a specific character instantly, just like clothing does, and I find that most head sculpts are real chameleons. So even a sculpt you might consider "bland" can make a doll that is just as unique as a highly detailed sculpt.

I like my BJDs to look unique (doesn't everyone??), and I also like them to be specific characters for me. Just because I choose an "ordinary" sculpt doesn't mean it isn't very special to me. My first BJD (Volks Link) still wears his default hair and eyes in his default color, but to me he is incredibly unique. I prefer my dolls to come without personalities, because I plan to put the character in there. I don't want the company to put a preconceived notion in there for me.

Basically, I feel like I make my dolls unique. I am very happy and grateful that Volks, Dollzone and other companies provide me with the means to do that.

Linda S.
galatia9