Favorite joints?

I like my pashapasha's shoulder joints, she can shrug.

 

I really love jointed hands, to me there is something really satisfying about my dolls being able to hold stuff, make peace signs, or say flip another doll off. XD

 

My favorite joint engineering so far is Dream Valley... basically every human body they've made has such beautiful and functional joints, I can't praise them enough. I've said this before but I especially love the thigh/mobility joint because it's super minimalistic but also extremely functional.

Spoiler

I also just can't get enough of DC's limb extending joints... they make dolls look extra lanky (which is a plus in my book) and they also give the wrists a more natural range of motion, imo!

 

I like joints that serve a purpose while still looking aesthetically pleasing to me, I prefer aesthetics vs posing-ability. I love Fairyland's engineering for most of their bodies, I think they look beautiful while still having a wide range of motion. When Iple House first released their EID I was pretty excited because I knew I would need a larger body for one of my MNM head sculpts, but when owners started getting the first ones, I kept reading that the bodies were pretty hard to pose (I don't think that has changed). They look very slick and almost seamless, so that's a plus, but if the joints are there for show and no actual movement, then I rather just buy a statue. I love knees and elbows that look realistic and have hidden double-joints, more than the visible ones, but that's really hard to find. I also love what Mr. Bimong is doing with his Narea and Narin bodies -- I wish they were more proportioned like real-people and less like "older-BJD-aesthetics" but his engineering work is ingenious.

Spoiler

That is my favorite body from Fairyland, and my favorite doll as a whole. The others in my collection are much older, so their proportions not my preferred style, and all single jointed -- which is aesthetically pleasing (tome), but there's not a lot of range of motion there.

 

Chest joints that allow the doll to slouch! Like what’s the point of a jointed torso if they can’t slouch?

 

Unfortunately, not many companies do these, but upper arm swivel joints. They allow for more arm gestures and positioning, which are oftentimes limited with the lack of them. I in general like joints that can hold poses really nicely without needing tons of modding or sueding to accomplish it, even if they might not be the most aesthetically pleasing. I prefer poseabilty to pure aesthetics, but do love it when both can be achieved at once.

 

My most favorite is probably the Feeple 65 system with magnets and locks. The magnets were the decisive factor for me. They are practical and make dressing really easy. But I don't appreciate they removed the locks in hands. The hands are difficult to pose and fall off only all the time now. I will have to either change the magnets for stronger ones or mod the hands.

The more joints the better -- I prefer bodies with chest, waist joints, and thighs.

I don't mind if the joints look techy and less elegant which aren't hidden when leg/arm is stretched. The kind which visibly consists up of 3 parts: upper leg/arm, the double knee joint, lower leg/arm.

 

I love the Impldoll Idol male body. Sadly, they removed the tigh slits. So right now you have to choose whether the guys can sit like...well, guys, or whether they can only stand up. So I have to add them myself. The very first Idol body I have is absolutely perfect. The separate wrist joints are made in such a way that they have a cross section in them. You can pull the hand part with the hook, turn it by 90°, and rest it in that slit. Then you simply unhook the hand. If hands in other positions were available, you could the hook that in, unlock the hand part, and lock it again with the wrist.
Sadly, Impldoll has opted for a most likely cheaper option of combined hands and wrists here.

 

Hmm favorite joints are maybe a really good knee joint that is aesthetically pleasing while functional.

I love thinking about how to make joints better for future sculpts. I used to articulate action figures for my day job and it was fun to take on a BJD project. I ended up going for aesthetic and trying to get as much mobility as I could with the fewest possible joints for stability. I also made my doll curvy and getting her legs to work with as much movement as possible without certain tweaks like hollowed back thighs or super severe looking ball joints on the upper thigh.

I definitely have some ideas on how I could improve her for the future... generally I'm still happy with the joints I did make because she's SUPER stable and well balanced. Her poses stick really well without sueding and she can stand on one leg, etc.

Things I regret: that she can't completely fold her legs up (which I could have done with an extra joint in the upper thigh and figured out a better way to hide it than a first attempt that I didn't like the look of) and I wish I'd done a better job on the torso joint. I sacrificed my original round diaphragm joint that gave a more varied movement for a sort of notched part that provides stability. When I prototyped the ball joint there was too smooth and she couldn't stick in one position without tons of sueding and I still want to solve this problem better the next time.

Has anyone else made joints they're happy with?

 

I really love to play with fantasy part joints, like wings and digitigrade legs. Functional? Not usually. But fun? Yeah. I like seeing what unique poses I can get them into that a regular human-shaped doll can't do. Aesthetically my favorite of these are the Fairyland Fairyline centaurs/fauns. I'd slap down the money for one of those in a heartbeat if I had it.

Favorite joints I own: knee/elbow joints on DZ 1/4 bodies, at least the newish ones. Also Luts S65 bodies have a lot of locking points, which makes posing much easier, especially in the arms and torso.

 

Still don't know any exactly brand, as except Volks, my BJD experience still low but I like some kind of flexible jointed hand, hip joint and even a joint at toe.
I believe they can make my child have the ability posing in more complex poses, such a doing yoga exercise or ballet or even ice-skating poses, and they can grip things and wear geta without any changing in hand and foot part.
I hope Volks can implement this kind of things in their future doll-lines...

 

I have several dolls with joints I like, but I recently got a Dollshe 28M L4, the one with all the weird joints and they work so well. It took me a day or two to get the hang of them, and I do need to tighten him a little more, but he can pose. Especially for a larger doll. The best part is, they look nice. everything is smooth, rounded and fits together well. The best part is, it's easy to pose. Doll makers love to make joints that you have to work to use, especially when that doll is clothed. I don't want to have to struggle to get my doll to do things like bend a knee, any joint I have to pull out of a socket and lock is not going to work for me, especially when wearing clothes and doing that is nearly impossible. The Dollshe body is in some pretty thick, stiff jeans right now and I can get all his joints in place easily. That's what I like.

 

That honestly sounds amazing!

I really love double jointed arms and legs! I have a few single jointed tinies and while I do love them so so much, the double jointed sockets are so nice for posing. I’m so glad this system came out!

 

I hope more people contribute to this thread! I love love love a good joints system and am continually on the lookout for them. Although I mostly have smaller dolls and therefore it's relatively much easier to pose them (as opposed to bigger dolls).

I don't have a minifee so never knew about the magic of fairyland knees but this is really amazing! Although the "knee-bean" is nice on some dolls, I find it looks odd on more realistic dolls... Same thing with the peanut hip joint? It's a complicated love-hate relationship lol

 

Omg totally agree on both!! It can really work or it can be so weird!

 

I agree. Normally I stick to single joint dolls as I hate "peanut joints", but I saw the B56-01 body and fell hard for it. I have one on order and hope it will work out for my planned hybrid.

 

I like a nice well-sculpted double elbow joint, and rock solid stability. I don't care if the doll can do a perfect fetal position or yoga, I never want to do that. XD I need a doll that will stand, on its own, and behave.

Honestly the more joints dolls have they seem to be more of a hassle to use. Three-piece torsos, extra hip balls/peanuts, badly done double knees, it gets to a point where the doll wants to flop or curl up or collapse more than anything else if the stringing is even a little off. Even when it's done well it can be a bit of a pain. Ever try to use a mobility thigh joint that needs to be pulled out on a doll wearing pants that aren't super loose? Yikes.