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

Let me start with I think there is nothing wrong for anyone to think this about dolls from any company/sculptor. Everyone has different opinions on what they want in their dolls and our feelings on looks are totally subjective anyway.

In my limited experience with Volks, well, I think their photos are more generic than their dolls. When I saw the official photos I did think a lot of the dolls look "generic" for lack of a better term. But when I saw them in person (granted, there were only 7 or 8 dolls at the Volk USA office when I visited) the dolls looked distinctly different from each other. There are some I immediately felt warm to, some I thought were pretty but didn't feel anything for, and then there were ones I actually disliked on sight. So even if they do share similar features, they were different enough to provoke a range of different emotions in me, and personally that is enough differences for me to consider them different enough.

I forgot where it came from, but there is the idea that when we look too long and hard at something it starts to lose its shape and meaning. I know when I look at too many art works of a similar style (i.e. classic Madonna paintings in the museum) things start to blend a look the same to me.

Just want to add that from a business perspective, it is difficult to find a face that customers will love and come back for. It makes a lot of sense for companies to stick with what people like. Introducing new things are both costly and risky, selling the one beloved and proven product in different packages pleases a lot of customers and makes the company money. Think American Girls, Hello Kitty, Pullip, and even Barbie. They have all succeed by selling variations on a theme.

 

Etoile : "...when we look too long and hard at something it starts to lose its shape and meaning...." I agree.
For someone who is in this hobby for a long time or watching doll sites every day, it's understandable. I think as there is more and more people in this hobby, there is maybe more people whith the feeling that there is no enough uniqueness. But it's ok because it changes the market. It's ok, because there is a lot of small new companies and artists from all ower the world. I already can see a lot of bjd collector who strarts to create their own dolls and most of them have a unique style and ideas from the beginning. Personally these artists and tiny companies that I'm looking for nowadays. Not easy to find them, but I can say there is a lot of treasure out there.

 

I can see where this idea comes from. There does seem to be over lap between companies, but I think there are also a lot of unique sculpts. I guess you have to really look through to find them or maybe it's just because I like more fantasy-esque sculpts, and often I get fantasy bodies. A lot of those sculpts have animal features integrated into them. i.e. Amos, Agnes, etc.

 

I agree with you about Luts and Volks, good point

 

Considering that I'm currently trying to decide on a Luts doll... I'd absolutely dispute this. There's a huge range through their sculpts; they've all got the touch of the same sculptor in common, but once you take the time to actually start looking at them, they're distinct sculpts. And while I've not spent enough time with Volks to discover the same thing, I'm quite certain that their sculpts are likewise quite distinct, once you actually look at them.

The problem is that many people, even within the hobby, don't look closely enough. They see that particular set of "Luts" or "Volks" features, without taking the time to see that this one's expression is different, that one has different eyes, this one has a different chin and jaw line, that one has a distinctive nose, and so on. So they do the same thing non-hobbyists do--they see them all as Barbies. Honestly, I feel like people actually involved in the hobby should do a little better than that.

 

A fan of Volks (or another company) would be able to tell the difference between a Lucas or a School Head A even thought they very similar, Or even someone who has taken the time to get to carefully compare the two should be able to differentiate the two similar molds.

Saying "But they all look the same." is an indication that the collector is lazy and inexperienced. Unfortunately, people who whine the loudest and most insistent are the often the most heard. Their are many many experienced ( and less whiny) collectors out there who go looking at different dolls trying to look for the features that they want in a sculpt. Maybe they find something that's very close but something would be 'off' about it like the mouth is wrong or the eyes are the wrong shape. Finding a similar mold within the same company would be their saving grace.

 

I agree. The last few years companies have seemed to strongly gravitate towards perfectly symmetrical, perfectly proportioned dolls that remind me of jrpg style characters. They seem to have nearly identical facial proportions with no humanizing "flaws" or variation.

 

This could be seen as good or bad, depending on your preference. One of my older girls has slightly different shaped eyes (and I love her for it), but I find I usually gravitate toward the more idealized, symmetrical faces.

Perhaps it's just that I didn't know where to look years ago, but I'm finding it easier now to find dolls with more pronounced western-looking features (chins, noses, etc.) than it used to be. I remember back when I was looking for my first doll thinking everything looked very jrpg-esque and wishing there was more diversity, and I feel like there are at least more options now in that respect.

 

I think there is a great deal of variety in doll faces out there. It just depends on where you look. If you want more realistic-looking faces, just don't go to Fairyland or Luts or Peaks Woods. You'll find plenty of variety with Granado or Iplehouse or DIM or Souldoll or Dollmore.

It seems quite normal to me that a particular artist/company has a particular style, so they are probably going to produce similar-ish sculpts. I have several dolls sculpted by the same artist, and whereas I personally find it easy to distinguish between the sculpts, they do look like siblings. But apart from the fact that I adore the artist's style, I meant for the dolls to be siblings, so that worked out nicely .

There is also a personal thing going on, I think... It's just easier to distinguish between sculpts that appeal to you. If there is a face you love, it is going to stand out to you. I find it difficult to distinguish between the different sculpts of companies that don't particularly appeal to me style-wise. (This is not to say I don't think they are pretty, because I do! It just means I am not looking for that type of doll.) I can't tell the Migidoll sculpts apart - I can only tell they are Migidoll. I can't tell Volks sculpts apart, nor Peaks Woods, nor BlueFairy, nor the Soom tinies.

 

Wow, this topic has been so educational for me in many ways. Makes one really think about sculpts. I personally have been very intimidated by collectors that are extremely knowledgeable. I'm rather new to BJDs and am just learning the ropes. I have felt many dolls looked alike but am no an expert nor a artist. I recently ordered a Peaks Woods doll because the faceup look so different to me from what I have collected. This topic has stirred up an animated discussion....very good, love that. But I really don't care for bullies...JMO

 

Sculpts from a single company definitely tend to look pretty similar, but that's because each company has their own style that they stick to. I don't think dolls across companies usually look that similar. There are exceptions, of course, but in my opinion more look different than they do the same. I do think, however, that certain popular trends in doll sculpting can make dolls as a whole appear very similar. For example, I personally feel that many boy dolls share a pouty, teen-angst look with angular features and lean bodies. I don't dislike this trend but it does make boy dolls seem less diverse. Still, there are plenty of guy dolls out there that don't even come close to this style, like Iplehouse's EIDs. For girls, I often see the full-lipped SD16 seductress or the cutesy SD13s with round faces and big eyes. Again, I don't dislike any of these common traits, I just see them everywhere!

At the moment, I own more dolls from Fairyland than anywhere else and they are all Feeple60 girls so they look very similar, but that's just because they are from the same company and I like that company's aesthetic. If I wanted more variety I could just buy from elsewhere! I think the easiest way to bring together a unique collection might be to try and buy each doll from a different brand.

 

Oh I didn't mean flaws in the sculpting, I meant features that real people would have that fall outside the very strict ratio a lot of companies have started to adhere to. (such as a nose with a bump, thinner lips, wider mouth, longer face, etc...little details that give variety)

 

All of those dolls are MEANT to look alike. Save for Coco, Kurumi+Miruku, Bianka+Rose and Kira+Nana+Sara+Megu are pairs or groups of dolls that all share the exact headmold. Coco is a unique sculpt but probably resembles Kurumi and Miruku due to the high popularity of those sculpts. Kira+Nana+Sara+Megu are called the "Four Sisters" and their gimmick was that they were all the same sculpt but with a different wig, something that's been the same since Volks opened, not to mention that they are in fact the very first ABJD head sculpt.

I'd understand if you do think that Volks is "losing creativity" but those were poor examples.

 

if the sculpt is not unique at first sight it will not catch the eye and the doll should attract me to it not that i have to put effort to notice the difference between dolls from the same company, it have nothing to do with being involved at the hobby, i think sculptors at the mentioned companies should put more effort to produce dolls that don't all look the same but with different expressions or jaw line

 

People will always say, "Oh, all X company's sculpts look the same," but that's usually because they're just not fans of that company and aren't looking closely enough to see past the sculptors' signature style. Any fan of that company is going to heartily disagree. It's all a matter of perspective.

 

And again, I disagree. They are all extremely different, but clearly not to your personal tastes. They are, however, to the tastes of many other collectors, and you have no right as one single creator to demand that all companies bow to your personal style.

Many of their sculpts are terribly unique, and many have caught my eye--it's why it's taking me so long to decide on only one sculpt from their company. There are plenty of "different expressions" and different "jaw lines," as well as different eyes, different noses, different cheekbones, different lips, and so on. You not liking them does not make them all the same. It only means you haven't looked closely because you don't care for the base aesthetic. You're using a straw man argument--positing that they're all the same based purely on their lack of appeal to you. It's a weak argument at best, as weak as "the same headmold with a different name from Volks totally looks like the same headmold."

 

I can see that your argument is weak as well as it's based on your personal opinion and not because you wanna buy a doll from this company you should defend all their sculpts, and you have no right to tell me what i should say or effect my opinion if I'm asking certain company to be more creative and stop cornering them selves at a certain style its my opinion i didn't ask you to agree with it and it doesn't mean that they will do it for me and bow to my personal style as per your words, you have no right as well to describe people at the hobby because their taste is different than yours as illiterate as outsiders who is seeing BJD as barbies, if you read all the replies you will fiend others agreeing with me and no need to describe all the disagreeing opinions as a weak argument let's keep it civilised

 

You know what, when I just started to get involded to the hobby all of them seemed really different and unique. But approximately four years after it feels like all the companies just lost their source of inspiration or something. And now, when I go through some BJD sites, no matter if it's Soom or Luts, they all look similar and uninteresting. It's not like I was so astonished with BJDs when I just started the hobby, no, I think dolls really were more creative and interesting in sculpt, and now they start to look alike. Not all of them, but...

 

I wonder if some part of the difference in people's perceptions of similarity might be a matter of seeing the dolls "in person" vs. seeing only their photographs?

It can be very, very hard to judge sometimes what a three-dimensional object (like a doll's head-) actually looks like given nothing but a two-dimensional picture. If your primary (or even only-) exposure to dolls from Company X came from the images on their sale pages, or from owners' photos online, it could very easily be harder to tell them apart at a glance than if you'd been looking at the actual dolls themselves, either in your own collection or at a meet. Being able to see the depth of certain features can make a huge difference.

'Wish we lived in the same area, Moor Romeo... If we did, I could hand you a couple of my crew from different companies to find out if the physical dolls look as similar to you as the photographs tend to. I'm really curious about that.