How Do Doll Sculpts Get So Popular?

This is a touchy subject. It's kind of like in school, even the cheerleaders don't think they're 'popular', just 'everyone loves them'!
I guess it's the most active posted dolls, and owners that have lots and lots of friends to comment on the thread. Just my guess though.

 

I think the best thing to say is C'est La Vie
(My only remaining bit of french since high school )
Some dolls are just liked by more individuals than others and therefore gets more attention

 

It depends on thier "appeal". Just like fashion, media, and life in general.
It just happens, I guess.
I do notice the "hype" tends to fade after a while, and that applies to fashin, media and life, too!

*jen

 

Some dolls must just appeal to the fandom in general :3 Others may have a look that's an 'aquired' taste, and simply don't strike a chord with the majority of owners!

 

I dunno... At least in the early stages, when a sculpt is new, I don't think a doll's popularity has much of anything to do with who owns one. People are still going to pick a doll or not based on its own merits and their own tastes.

Later on, who owns one may influence some people... but for the most part, I *still* think people are going to buy them based on their own preferences, not in an effort to jump on some band-wagon or copy-cat some other poster.

So... why then would everybody and their sister want an El? Or a Shiwoo? Or a Hound? They're nice sculpts... Generally easy to photograph (Els especially-), adaptable to a lot of different looks and styles, and easy to get. There are a lot of owner pictures posted, so they're less of a risk than rarer, less-often posted models... The person looking to buy one can get a much better idea of what the doll is really like "sight unseen".

That leads to something of a "critical mass" situation. More dolls of one sculpt = more pictures posted = more people looking at them and wanting them = even more of them around, and so on.

That can actually lead to a backlash of sorts. People who like to feel "unique" and "different" will look at the sculpt and say things like "Oh no. I would NEVER buy an El. Everybody has an El. They're too popular. I hate them." (Yes, I've really heard people say that... and not only about Els. ) Even though they might otherwise have liked the doll, it's popularity makes them reject it.

Anyway... Which dolls are popular and which aren't isn't written in stone. Which one is favored and which one is rare will change over time. When I was waiting for Harumatsu and Tien Jen and Xi was waiting for Ilu, there were very few Shiwoos around. People talked about him looking like a chipmonk, and how much nicer Chiwoo, El, and Yder were... Now look at how many of them there are on the board. They've multiplied like rabbits. 0_o

Right now... they're "popular". Next year, maybe it'll be Moon that gets the love and Shiwoo will be back to "least-favorite CP boy"-status. Who knows...

 

How? The way anything gets popular--because a large percentage of the population likes it, or likes the idea of liking it.
*heh*
Me, I just buy what I like, irregardless of what's 'popular'. That said, however, if I had not seen so many cute Shiwoos and gorgeous vamp Shiwoos here on the board I probably never would have considered getting them. The Luts pics of Shiwoo didn't interest me at all, really.

 

I personally dont care what molds are most popular..I tend to just go giver attention to what looks good..

some of these are pretty narrow minded "rules" but they still ring true, as unfair as they may be....People that get a flood of comments usually

take good pictures- that look like they've had a bit of time/planning spent on them

take FLATTERING pictures- like no up the nose flashed out "killer doll" photos

they have attractive dolls- well done faceups, finished looking dolls..not blank heads wrapped in sheets etc

BUT~
You get what you give. If you want comments you have to go out and give comments to others. Its a 2 way street..and not only that but if you DO get random comments, then go do the same for that person.

Generally I make it my rule of thumb...if someone leaves a comment for me, then I automatically owe them one on something of theirs.

I personally prefer boy dolls. So normally my "favorite" people usually have large amounts of boys to entertain me...I tend to not even really look at posts featuring girl dolls or tinies.

Though I also seek out molds ive been waiting to see/ might get/ have had/ or want really bad....And I usually comment on THOSE just because im excited about it

I also like "smart" posts...as odd as that sounds...There are a few people here on the boards who I admire simply because they seem really really intelligent and their stories are entertaining because they come across as well thought out and just...nice..Not messy..not thrown together..not completely random text and pictures..Its refreshing so I appriciate those a LOT..and I tend to end up following those people around DoA just to see what they're up to

 

That's so true - compared to the lengths you had to go to last year to find more than a couple of Shiwoo owner-pictures that showed him in a more flattering light than the official Luts ones (which I don't think show him off very well at all, IMO) the recent Shiwoo-explosion has meant that there are many more pictures of the sculpt in all sorts of styles, all sorts of characters, all sorts of photography techniques. Then it becomes self-perpetuating, as people see more pictures of a sculpt they perhaps hadn't thought about much before, and become aware of far more possibilities for that doll than the plain official ones might suggest. I've seen the beginnings of a backlash around too, sadly enough - you'll get threads that say 'I don't want a Shiwoo because everyone and their dog has one!' Which... really makes me laugh, seeing such a turnaround from when I joined DoA: the main CP-related threads then always seemed to be tossing up between El and Chiwoo, and Yder and Shiwoo never seemed to have a look-in. Funny how things change, I think.

 

I agree I agree!!

 

It just happens like with human's popularity. Personalities, style, backstory..etc Just that in this case the above applies to both the doll and the owner.

 

Dolls with long-running well-written photostories seem to get a lot of attention. All of the dolls I can immediately name are in well written photostories that tend to follow some kind of overarching theme or plotline. I can't think of many 'famous' dolls that only do photoshoots, not photostories, but that might just be the dolls I'm personally familiar with.

It's kind of like reading a webcomic. I will come back looking at the same person's dolls if I know they will give me quality stories each time, regardless of whether I like their dolls, and I tend to think a lot of the board behaves the same way.

 

I'm not sure I agree with that...

Most of the dolls that are memorable for one reason or another do *have* stories and backgrounds and personalities and such, but not all of them are posted inthe Photostories gallery. Some of them rarely if ever have more than plain old photoshoots... Take Tadj and Kaoru, for example, or Belladonna and her sister's dolls.

As for what makes an individual doll more popular than others of its type... Well, what makes a human popular? Do they have a personality or story that people find attractive? Are they cute, or pretty or original in some way? Are they often doing something interesting? Are the pictures good, the props appropriate and the costumes well-made?

If most of those are "Yes", odds are that doll will have at least some level of name-recognition and popularity. It's not a sure thing, certainly... but it's a pretty good indicator. And yeah... who owns them can be a factor there if the doll is a relative unknown. A new doll who belongs to an owner who has other well-thought-of dolls is likely to get more attention than one who belongs to a newbie or an unknown owner, simply because that first doll's owner will have a reputation for having dolls that are worth looking at.

It may not be entirely fair, but it is common sense... If I know that Chef X makes excellent pastries, I'm more likely to try one of her new creations than I am to try an experimental recipe from Chef Z, whose food I've never tasted. I know I like Belladonna and Morbid's dolls in general, so I'm mor elikely to check out one of their threads than some random poster I've never heard of before.

 

A while ago in 2004/early 2005, Chiwoo was so popular! Also, Ttory was very popular at first, now Ani seems to have picked up a lot of steam. At first, Ani's stock photos were not flattering, but as more people got him and took good pictures, it became clear that he was a gorgeous doll.

I think popularity goes in waves. It's interesting to see who will become popular next!

 

Certain molds' popularity does have an effect on me. I have seen so many Els in so many differen't looks that they have all blurred into one. I can't really think of many Els that feel like an individual. The sculpt is lovely, but I could never get one. It wouldn't feel like MY doll. I've become desensitized to him, or something.

But that's just my general feeling on super popular molds, and I've seen the most of El.

 

This is an interesting thread. I'm a little at a loss about it as well.

I know when I got Winter, my Yder, over a year ago... there were NO Yders. I believe Winter was the last one of the first batch, actually. But once I got him and he began to look more like his 'default' look, I turned many people into loving Yder. And now he's become a more popular CP sculpt. I know many people who just like Winter in general, maybe because of his story, or the way he looks, or the way I photograph him.

I do think it's like people, in a way. In person, I'm very much the same. ^^'; I don't think I'm very attractive, but I'm confident about myself and enjoy myself, which makes others like me. Sometimes that energy can transfer into photographs as well.

 

I think popular dolls are popular because of their "personality" and appearance (popular mold, face-up, clothing, etc...) and also the amount of skill the photographer has, the more entertaining photo stories, and even the popularity of the doll owner.

 

It's difficult not to take a second look at certain dolls-- If they are owned by many owners and have lots of photos posted of them, or if they are really sought after and people talk about them and get excited about trying to get them, and if individual dolls are just so beautiful or so beautifully shot in photos, that you just can't help noticing...

Right now there's the whole Berman-thing... Some people just really want to get ahold of him, so it's easy to get caught up in all that energy. Personally, while I think he's wonderful, he's not at the top of my list of wants (there are so many wonderful dolls!), but because others love him so much, I have looked at him more closely and with more interest, I must admit.

So many people love Els and I do, too. It's just that his sculpt is versatile and seems to fit with the ideas people have for characters for their dolls. I don't like him because he's popular. It's just personal taste and what appeals to more or less people...

I have loved looking at Saints in the Gallery section lately because some of the owner photos have just been so beautiful. I doubt I'll ever have one, lovely as they are, but the photos are just so good I can't ignore them.

Popularity--depends on lots of things... individual dolls, what the owner does, if there are a lot of people chattering about one or the other and spreading the word, if there are beautiful photos up or interesting posts about them...or if the sculpt is popular and lots of interesting variations are posted or if the owners just love them a lot and keep posting about them...

But I enjoy looking at and hearing about all kinds of dolls, even if I don't comment in all the threads. I hope people won't let popularity determine how often they post about their dolls!

 

Do I understand that right that you wonder more about the popularity of individual dolls than the popularity of a certain sculpt?

If so... Yes, I think it's a combination of the sculpt, the faceup, the style (clothes, wigs, accessories), the background story (if there is one), the quality of the photographs and also how active the owner is here. If I know somebody -- maybe I had some sort of transaction with them or talked to them at some point, or maybe I just remember that I liked their previous gallery post --, I'm more likely to open their gallery posts, simply because their name catches my attention.

My personal guess would be that the most important factor of these is sculpt, though. I tend to only look at gallery posts with a sculpt that appeals to me, myself.

I rarely get a lot of comments when I post in the gallery -- my last gallery post didn't get even a single one. That is just a bit disappointing, but I've decided that it just means that I need to take more interesting photographs and comment more on other people's posts. (I admit that I'm really bad about that.)

Though I've also noticed that my thread got very few views, compared to other posts, so I'm guessing that the sculpts of my dolls might not be very popular, either.