How do you choose a doll? What is important?

Obviously it's the face! If looks could kill...LOL. So when I see a doll's face and it struck me as that, then it's a "must be mine". I see many beautiful doll faces, but some are just "oh..he's beautiful eyes" or "oohh...i love those lips" but if it didn't really win me over in an instant, then I learned that they will just fall into my ever growing wishlists. It's a totally different story for those who had me hypnotized tho...LOL...I worked out of my way to get them home asap...*shutupandtakemymoney*

 

aesthetics
posability
resin quality

 

I like "quirky" sculpts that look like they have interesting personalities (even though they might not be stereotypically beautiful or cute).

I also like wings and translucent resin. If a doll has wings and/or translucent resin, I'm more interested in it.

Size is a factor. I prefer dolls at Yo-SD size at the smallest and 70cm at the biggest.

I like getting dolls from different artists/companies.

 

The head and body sculpts are equally important to me. After that is size-- I want it to fit with the rest of my crew. The doll needs to pose well. Finally, the seller and the price.

Not at all important: faceup photos (I like to see the doll blank), fantasy parts, resin color, or the availability of clothes and wigs.

 

Beauty of the sculpt is the most important thing to me. After that comes the price and size of the doll and feedback of the company. BUT even if all that is okay, I NEED lots of owner pics and vids so I know exactly what I can expect in real. I prefer buying a doll in real so I can hold it and feel if I will get bonded. I would be really afraid to buy a doll online. I also prefer buying dolls secondhand because they already have a sort of personality from the previous owner and a lot of owner pics, I really like that.

 

When it came to my centaur dolls, it was body first and it took me forever to choose a head.

For all other dolls, it is sculpt first but sculpt generally isn't the deciding factor. Posability and how nicely the body is put together matters just a little more.

 

As for me, i think the good looking and quiality is the most important,and i prefer normal skins (it means normal skin and white skin,because tan skin ,for me ,it's a little limited),and the price is a second consideration,.as long as i can afford ,it's okay

 

Face matters, but posability really matters most to me. I have a short list of what I would need in a doll, and most is just on body engineering. At least a two-part torso, all double jointed, legs that allow rotation, some sort of hip joint that allows the legs to come up towards the chest, etc. How the joints look matter too, though I will take function over form. If the body looks good, then I will allow myself to look at heads for it. With any luck they would be from the same company...

 

Definitely the face for me! I mean, I think that is the most important part to me anyways. Outside of that I have to be able to imagine them fully done up, faceup, wig, clothing, everything. If I can't "see" what they would look like in my mind then I probably wouldn't really feel like they're the sculpt for me. Outside of the face I think they things I notice most on bodies are the hands. I love the delicate sculpts of some of the hands. I think that is kind of big for me, so I like when companies, like Fairyland, offer multiple types of hands.

 

Attraction, if a face or body gives me that 'wow gorgeous' then that's the one for me, however, size, quality and pose-ability are also a consideration.

 

The biggest factor is the face sculpt and expression. When browsing the manufacturers websites, if I don't like the face the thumbnail doesn't even get clicked on.

There are plenty of beautiful dolls, but I don't want one that looks sad.

If it passes the "clicked on the thumbnail" test then I can decide on other factors -- body types, size, price, etc

 

The biggest factor for me first and foremost is price. I mean I could love a face but anything over $600 I can't justify to myself- I don't know, spending that much on a doll would make me uncomfortable (maybe one day this won't be true?).

Next biggest factor is the face sculpt- specifically the eyes. I like large eyes and cuteness. Unique features (eye spaced kind of far away, larger nose, etc.) can be really great too! As long as it's not too far out of my aesthetic comfort-zone.

Body and size follow next. I'm partial to smaller dolls. Beyond that the rest of the details are rather minimal; if a doll has passed my requirements so far I'm probably already planning on buying it.

 

For me, face sculpt comes first. The head sculpts must look compatible with my first BJD, my Volks SD13 Link. His sculpt style set the aesthetic of my doll family (not including the Dollfie Dreams, who are their own aesthetic!). A changeable expression from different angles is also something I look for. I'm not really into realistic sculpts, I prefer more anime looking heads. Not all of my dolls are chosen for specific characters, but some of them are.

Body sculpt and suitability for a particular character come next. Poseability is very important to me, but I will sacrifice poseability if the head sculpt is perfect for my character. And I have sold dolls because they have ugly bodies or ugly joints!

Company feedback is also very important to me. I don't seek out new companies often, and I am not interested in unique fantasy dolls with lots of interchangeable parts. I also prefer BJDs 58cm or taller, and I want them to be slender instead of massive. I stick with normal, tan and white resin colors. Many of the dolls I buy are secondhand older sculpts because that is the look I fell in love with when I first started the BJD hobby.

Sometimes a beautiful faceup will inspire me to buy a doll, especially secondhand! But it's really the sculpt that has to sell me on a doll. One of my secondhand girls had multiple faceups that I didn't even like, but somehow I was able to tell how good her sculpt was, and I didn't hesitate for a second to buy her when she was available. With the right faceup, she is absolutely stunning.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

The first thing I always search is the head sculpt, is the most important part of a doll in my opinion. I prefer bodies with double-joints and compatible with the majority of clothes in markets. The last one for me is the BJD company or the reputation of the person who is selling the doll.

 

With me it's the overall look of the doll on the website! If I like how the doll looks I'm a sucker for it. From Dollshe David, Enoch from Granado, Drake from Iplehouse, Merlin from Ringdoll & now Rey from Dollits.
I love ultra realistic 70cm+ boys and love the gorgeousness of their sculpts. I don't go for young looking sculpts or anime looking dolls. Their bodies have to be sculpted with perfection & be very well defined for me to be anywhere interested in them.

 

1. Cute face
   
2. nice body with small boobs
3. must be a girl
4. double string
5. normally must be SD-size
6. Posing ability
7. price
8. availability because i dont like waiting

 

I have to agree that the head sculpt is the most important thing. Next would be the body, the size and the resin color.

 

Eyes are the windows to the soul. First, it's the eyes for me, closely followed by face sculpt.
Body and whether its poseable are next, but not as important.

 

1- Sculpt aesthetic. I need to fall in love with it, make me go "wow!". If have non-human traits even better, but it isn't a deal breaker if not.
2- It need to fit with the others. Having a magical universe help but I try to make the heads have similar size for the 1/4.
3- Inspire idea for a character.
4- Resin color. I really want tan and fantasy skin colors now, so sculpts with this option are taking priority.
5- I can get in a boy or genderless body that I find pretty.
6- Not a limited. If I can buy during their event or when they are in stock in a shop, great. But otherwise, I prefer dolls I can get any time from the company.