Have trouble looking past the pictures?

I always scroll past the flashy photos straight to the bottom to see the nude doll... most of the time I'm not keen on the body shape, and then I know I don't want one... so the pictures at the top are just inspirational as opposed to enticing...

 

I have occasionally had that problem! (Alternatively I have had the complete opposite problem where I've been completely meh about a sculpt until I see someone's owner photos). When possible I try to look up the blank head to see if I like the nose shape (most important to me) and also photos of the doll with different styling. I do love the company photos for inspiration, though - they really are quite nice ^^

 

Yep I recognize this problem, especially makes it hard to throw your own character over it. That's why I hate it when companies don't put "naked" pictures. There for I have this rule where I don't buy a sculpt if they don't show the naked sculpt. Another thing I try to do is search for pictures of others with the same sculpt to get a full range of possibilities. Especially because companies also have a hand of just showing certain angles of their dolls, and not all of them so you can't see all the dimensions exactly. Luckily this never ended up for me in a bad buy (because of the background research I do).

 

I definitely do. To help combat this, I look for images of the bare and blank doll, search for owner pics with non-company faceups and different lighting, etc. I've made a few impulse purchases because I've been reeled in by company photos, but (thankfully) I haven't regretted them, and I don't have a hard time giving them a different look and identity once they're home.

 

Yup.

Especially the companies that don't show blank sculpt or nude body photos, or only choose to show the doll from the 'best angle' (SoulDoll was kind of notorious for this back in the day). There have also been dolls that I wasn't keen on until I saw the blank photos; there was a recent Luts release with lips that were painted really poofy/big, which I'm not fond of, but the blank photos showed thinner lips that appealed more to me on that particular face.

I prefer to see the doll head either blank or with a very simple face-up before I purchase (I'm not terribly picky about the bodies). Otherwise, I focus on the eye shape, outline of the face, and the spacing of the mouth between the lips and chin.

 

I definitely have this problem too, and I agree with @Doll-Mage, sometimes doll companies don't show pictures of the blank sculpt so you have to search for them yourself which can be a bit frustrating. But on the other hand, I sometimes also find it hard to picture the character of the doll without a faceup on, so I like to see them with a simple one too. I guess to me many blank sculpts can look quite similar, probably because I'm not very experienced, but they can also tell you a lot!

 

This hasn't really happened to me. I'm kind of in the habit of researching the heck out of every doll that piques my interest, even if I'm in no position to be buying at the time. If there's no blank doll photos alongside the promotional ones, I go to the section of the company's website selling doll parts/heads. Though of course it's preferable to see the blank doll fully assembled. I also look at lots of photos from doll owners. Even the default faceup can look totally different without studio lighting and editing.

 

It just goes to show how much a faceup can really change a doll. I always try to find blank pics before I buy or I just pray it will be alright. And it has discouraged me to a lot of dolls because of what they look blank. ;A;

 

The nude pictures are the most crucial for me choosing a doll sculpt. If there are none, I know right away I'm not going to bother...
I have to like it just as much without paint as I do with. So far, that's resulted in my two bjd purchases.

 

I have the same and opposite problems. I have a hard time seeing a character until I see owner photos but I know exactly what you mean. As a newbie I feel super overwhelmed over how many choices. It's like sensory overload so now I just look at bodies first.

 

I generally avoid going for dolls that don't show the nude doll or clear face and body photos, even if that means checking the body-only page. The rare occasion where a company has blown out or over shadowing the showcase images without clear photos provided will usually turn me away from considering.

 

I also have a huge problem with the company photos... If there are no nude photos I actually start researching to see if I either see someone having the doll pictured blank after purchase or my head starts trying to change my character's look I had in mind to fit the company look (which is stupid since I get them blank most of the time in the end >.>).
When I saw nude pictures and still afterwards believe the company style is what suits the character I have in mind, then that's a good thing and I go for companies' faceup or fullset options but not the other way around...

 

I find it really disconcerting when I see side-by-sides of company faceups on the company page VS IRL pics of the same doll with the standard faceup and it's so very different. Not just different because of individual artists etc, but different because the company images are usually photoshopped beyond recognition. There are so many sculpts that I'm intrigued by, only to realize that they look nothing like what I imagine, because a photoshop has changed the nature of the underlying sculpt or given shading and textures that simply aren't there. (Lookin' at you, SoulDoll)

 

Sometimes it's even harder for me to look at just a blank face; if I see it from different angles, styles, etc, it is way easier for me to determine what direction I want to take. I like scrolling through tons of owner photos if possible so I can see the potential.

 

I do this, too. I actually prefer to scroll through owner's photos first, then hunt down a blank photo of the sculpt so I can experiment with a face mock-up.

 

I need to see both blank and painted faces to really get an idea of if the doll will work or not. When I'm looking for a specific character I first go by the fancier company pictures, then pick a few to narrow down by using the blank sculpts. But it's always so frustrating when all the pictures are dark and with this intricate background or fog, or anything else that just makes it so hard to tell what the doll actually looks like!

 

With resins, I've trained myself to look at the blank sculpt as soon as possible, and judge from there.

But the faceup problem kicks in in full force when I'm looking at Dollfie Dreams, oh my goodness. I'm terrible with faces IRL if I haven't seen the person a lot, and the same thing applies to DDs. I can barely tell the difference between most DDs, save for a few really distinctive and/or really popular sculpts (looking at you, DD Saber and Miku), so I get bored while looking at blank pics and judge by default faceup I'm never going to buy a DD sculpt that I couldn't pick out of a lineup now, which will be either fantastic or terrible for my budget.