How do you pick a doll? The company faceup or the blank sculpt?

I first look at the company faceup, then other owner's faceups, and then the blank sculpt, so I can get a good idea of the potential the sculpt has.

 

Whether I like the facial features of the blank sculpt is definitely the most important to me since I hardly ever keep company faceups.

I always look up other people's photos too since some dolls can look pretty different IRL vs company photos even without a custom faceup.

I have a fairly specific look I want for each doll too so sometimes it's about finding a sculpt that takes the least effort to mod for the desired effect.

 

The faceup is definitely a big influence on the dolls I chose (since I can't do them myself, so I'd have to go with the company faceup or pay someone else to do one) but I also tend to look at things like eye and face shape and what the ears look like if the doll has fantasy ears.

 

both～ I also like to Google other people have done with the same doll

 

I usually go for the company face up because it gives you a start (I also never really have specific characters in mind so it wouldn't matter at the time) ..If I did my own faceups I would go blank. But since I'm a newb and don't do that, company it is.

 

Blank sculpt!

Of course the finished version is what catches my eye, but as I rarely keep default face-ups or have a different idea of what I want the doll to look like, making sure I love the blank sculpt on its own is paramount. I used to keep a photo folder of just blank sculpts so I could compare them when shopping for a certain type of doll.

 

Two of my four dolls only had pictures available with full face ups - they only released as fullsets and no one had one to show. It was their first (or second) release, with not enough time to have anyone get one yet. In these cases I totally fell in love right away.

Two of them are basics, you can (could?) get them all the time. I looked at blank faces, their default face ups, custom face ups. The works! I was very very picky on what I was doing. This group includes my very first doll! So really, I think I need to see the faces in as many ways as possible. Especially if I like the line from the company but don't immediately get pulled to a sculpt.

My two newest coming dolls I was able to see face up and blank, but there's no owners photos yet. But I definitely appreciate seeing those blank photos because they told me so much about the sculpt. And made me know that I wanted to order one of them blank. I really love that some companies show the default face up (or limited face up) but still bother to take those dull, no paint photos, nothing special about them kind of photos. They tell you so much.

 

I mostly choose my doll based on their blank sculpt, it gives me different possibilities for the faceup as well as the character. I like to do faceup myself so I want to make sure I like the blank sculpt first before starting to paint them. After I find a sculpt that I like, I would search for other's faceup doll for reference.

 

I look at both. The sculpt is the most important, of course, but I like to see other artist's face up ideas born from the sculpt.

 

I tend to look different face ups of the sculpt I like over the internet just to see all the potential that sculpt has. I also need to see the head without any make up before buying it. Then I always go for blank sculpt because I do my own face ups. I love to be self-sufficient and do things by myself as that's the only way I feel my dolls are completely mine

 

Blank sculpt. As they say about seeing women without make-up, lol. There are definitely dolls whom I love the face-up style of, but the face itself is just kind of "eh. Nice, but I don't need it."

Owner pics also have a big influence on me. Some companies are so bad at providing proper photos from all angles. It just makes me think they are hiding that the doll looks like potato from a certain angle...

 

I definitely have to see the blank face before I make a decision, but I appreciate seeing face-up versions, from the company and other artists, to see an idea of the possibilities with that sculpt. This is why it's so frustrating for me that often times, it's difficult to find a picture of the blank sculpt

 

Blank face is my choice. In fact, if I can't find at least one blank picture of the head where I can see all the features, I won't be willing to buy it.
Of course, while traveling the net looking for blank pics of owners, I also see face-ups and what others have done with the sculpt which is also inspiring sometimes.

 

I always choose by the faceups, and then I buy them blank to paint on. I-It makes sense to me. Hasn't steered me wrong, yet!

I do look at the blank sculpts, though-- I wouldn't go in completely blind! The faceups just help me see the potential, too.

 

Company faceups and faceups others have done (like on DoA and Google images). I just can't see what a blank head will look like, not even close. I'm always shocked to see the transformation. That being said, I've seen the most beautiful doll and the worst on the same head sculpt.

 

I think it varies from doll to doll for me. Sometimes I have a hard time distinguishing features without the help of a face-up but I really like being able to see the head blank before buying if possible because sometimes the doll hiding behind the pictured face-up is so much more beautiful than it seems at first glance.

 

how do you guys design your dolls? id like to know everyones way of how their little babies came to be ^^ i personally cant draw very well so ive used things like imvu to design the base idea for my dolls when it comes to the dolls themselves i will only be using that design as a base idea. also with chooseing sculpts how do you know whats perfect for you do ou choose based on their personality or do you just choose it because it looks cute ive tryed to choose the sculpts based off of personalitys as id like a doll to suit them and show them as a person.

 

i usually have a character design in mind before i start putting a doll together, but a lot of times, my idea for the character changes as i put it together! i guess its kind of like how, if you plan to adopt a new pet, you plan for names, but when you finally see them in person, sometimes the names change! if that makes sense?
basically i like to have a rough idea, but in the end i base the character on the doll, rather than base the doll on the character

 

I tend to go off the blank sculpt when companies don't show their sculpts blank it really throws me off because i can't tell if the face shape is right qwq Which i'm sure means i've done the same and passed up dolls that would probably be perfect! I try to search other places for a picture of the blank doll head but more times then not i can't them unfortunately

 

I use the blank sculpt because I find that many companies disguise the realism/lack of realism or detail/lack of detail in their sculpts with a faceup.

If I based things on the faceup, I would think that the doll had more bone structure than it actually has, for example, and then I kind of feel cheated because I don't buy company faceups for dolls. When I buy a sculpt, I'm buying it for details like a browbone, cheekbones, jaw, eyewell size, eyelid, waterline, tear duct, tc. You can paint those on, or you can blush an existing part of the sculpt if it exists. It's hard to tell with a faceup.