Ever get off-setted by a doll's face up?

Actually I'm not put off by default face up as much as the wrong position of the doll's eyes. That's seriously disappointed me. It makes the doll looks...either creepy or just souless. I tend to go around the forum to see owner's photos of the doll i want, which sometimes make me more confused because their eyes position completely put me off ...
Please tell me I'm not the only one ...

 

There has been the odd occurence where I have seen a particular doll on a company website and basically dimissed it quite rapidly only to discover the same doll (for example on flickr) with an alternative custom face-up, going from ignoring the sculpt to liking it and realising its potential. Some company photos with distractions such as the company face-up and accessories can actually be rather offputting because they may not match my specific tastes and its hard to judge what it would look like with an alternative "look". I prefer to see a range of owner pictures of a sculpt to get a better portrayal of what a particular doll looks like. I also like to see a face blank although it doesn't do that great a job of showing a doll's potential. All of my dolls have come with a company face-up and luckily all met my approval. However I believe it's definitely worth checking out owner pictures of a certain sculpt you're interested in before making the decision to purchase, company photographs can be deceptive.

 

I agree with Rainbowcosy. I've never been disappointed with the few company face ups I've gotten, but seeing owner pictures has changed my view on some sculpts. I prefer to see pictures of blank heads as that helps me determine if I like the eye shape and lips. I'm really picky about lips and mouth shape. I've seen some amazing owner photos that have completely changed the look of the doll, and I was like, Wow, that looks good!

 

YES.

There are many dolls I've passed over because of the default faceup. I wish companies would post blank pictures of their dolls on a consistent basis. Honestly, there are a few dolls I own that I never would have purchased if all I had to go on was the company's photos.

 

I've had both this experience and the opposite. I love to browse the bjd tags on Flickr, instagram, and tumblr, and seeing owner pictures has changed my mind about several sculpts! Case in point: The doll I have on layaway right now looks EXTREMELY asymmetrical blank, she's very old (2002) so the default face up pics are HIDEOUS, and I was really torn about buying her, because I couldn't justify an ugly doll just for the age and rarity. There are very few pics in the Google search for her, and NONE on DoA. Then I found a person on Flickr that has 4 of this sculpt, all painted beautifully, and I could see just how GORGEOUS she was and how much potential she has! (I also discovered 2 sculpts that look like her sisters from different companies and now I want them ALL!)

The opposite has happened several times. I keep Pinterest boards for all of the dolls I want, and when I go looking for owner pictures, sometimes I'm shocked by how much I don't like the shape of the face or nose or eyes once I see the doll turned a different direction! I won't mention the company name, but I love their face ups, but once the doll is turned around, the face shape is not always appealing. I've also been weirded out by joints and bodies that don't show in the nicely dressed site photos but are really unpleasant looking in owner photos. Owner photos also reveal what the resin looks like in natural light or with a little age, giving you a better idea of what the doll REALLY looks like. A really nice person on tumblr once saw my post about wanting a certain doll, and sent me photos of how unbelievably yellow she was after only one year so I wouldn't spend the money.

I just comes down to needing owner pictures to make an informed choice!

 

Not sure if you're familiar with X2 dolls, the project didn't last long and there aren't many here on the forum.

X2 Elizabeth had a terrible faceup in the official pictures. The site doesn't exist anymore but you can still see it with the wayback machine: x2

Odd blushing, superlong eyelashes and what looks like red eyes with black sclera (probably 16mm, too big, mine wears 12mm). I never understood that choice, but I still bought her and I love her.

 

Seeing the default faceup isn't always the most helpful, so I prefer to view owner pictures and see a wide variety of styles to see if what I had in mind might work.

 

I think when I was much newer to the hobby that happened to me more often-- I wasn't as used to things, hadn't really developed that look-past-the-paint-job skill. So I'd assume that I disliked a doll when what I really didn't like was the company faceup. But yeah, for me, seeing owner photos (or seeing dolls in person at cons/meets) really changed the way I looked at company photos and faceups.

 

I probably wouldn't have ordered any of my dolls if it weren't for owner photos, thank goodness for Flickr. It's not just the faceups though, sometimes companies just don't have flattering pictures of their dolls.

 

It matters to me. I have seen two different company face-ups on the same doll, and hated one and plan to get the other. Really, intend to get the blank doll and do what I want. It is just amazing how beautiful one face-up can look, and how hard bitten and haglike the same sculpt can look and both are on the company website. Even a change in the color of the resin can change the entire look, sometimes I have liked both. I prefer company shots with several different face-ups, wigs, eyes, and with a pic of the bare face and body. It seems to me that you are more likely tosee this much detail on the sites of the more expensive and detailed dolls. I also like to check out owner face-ups of the sculpt as well.

 

It's funny that this thread caught my attention. I was just thinking about this the other day as I've recently discovered that the last few Soom Teenie Gem faceups have really distracted me and turned me off. I had no clue Viol/Ling or the Heart Bunnies were so cute until I saw owner photos of them blank. I love the Appini sculpt but every time I look at this current re-release's faceup I start to somehow question my like of the sculpt. Which I don't even understand why, because I *know* I love the blank sculpt.

 

This gets me all the time! Some company's styles are just so different from mine (eg, I don't like pouty lips and round cheeks, but these are often emphasized) and the faceup and photo lighting don't help at all. If I am seriously considering a doll, I look up owner pics first -I've even had it go the other way, where I liked the company images but not the blank doll!

 

Some companies really do have terrible default faceups. Then there are the ones that show 20 photos, all the same angle with the doll's hair covering half his face. I really like the companies that show blank heads from several angles.

 

definitely. I really do wish companies would offer more "blank" photos because some sculpts seem to be very hard to find owner pics of, particularly without a wig and blank so you can get a good idea of the potential. Sometimes a faceup really puts me off, then I see a blank head and think "wow"

 

I'm pretty sure company face-ups have put me off of a doll. On the other hand, I know I've bought dolls because I liked the face-up. These days, I try to also look at owner pics.