How much modding is too much?

I kind of like a modded doll, as long as the modifications are tasteful - and therein lies the underlying issue: there's no accounting for taste. So what might be in good taste to one person might be absolutely out the window for someone else!

My first girl is on her way, and she'll be tan, and I am seriously considering sanding her nose down - *omg tan resin are you crazy aaah nooo don't do it* - Shh, calm down, don't freak out. I know the risks, I'm well informed, and I'm not afraid it's going to mess her up. She'll be a Shoyo, and though I adore the mold overall, that nose could stab someone and take their eye out. It's just a hair too pointy for me, so I'm considering rounding it off a little. As far as I'm concerned, it's no more risky than tattooing your doll and risking a stain, and I think the aesthetic will be greatly improved for my trouble. That's about all the modding I'm going to do for my girl, but if someone else wants to deck their dollie out with four sets of wings, horns, a tail, an extra set of arms, a third eye and scales, then more power to them! I would be absolutely uncomfortable doing that to a doll, because I know its beyond my skill level, but if someone could do it and make it look GOOD, then who's to say they've gone too far?

 

I agree with the people who say "once you bought the doll you can do whatever you want". because without being able to mod (elven ears) I would never have gotten Haplo home, because he would NOT be haplo without the mod, and his sculpt just does not come with elven ears.

To much modding? in my eyes would be if the doll falls apart, But I guess that is not the goal of most owners who mod, and on the other hand if that IS the goal I would still say Go For It. after all you payed for the doll.

 

I think there's almost no limit to modding. However, if you buy a doll because you only like lets say, her nose, and you see another one that has a different nose and the rest of the face you're in love with, wouldn't it be better to just mod that nose?

For example. I like my AoD Juli, but I think her nose it a bit too long and pointy and I'd like the lower lids of her eyes to be slightly rounder. But I'm not ready to have her modded yet, just because I'm afraid her looks will change too much.

It all depends on taste and what looks you are going for.
I've seen someone sand a complete nose off because they were going for a deer mod. It looked awesome.

 

So long as you don't sand it till its features are gone, its all good. But when someone makes a mod that destroys the doll i wince. But at the end of the day, its the doll owner's decision. I mean, they ARE paying good money...

 

no such thing as too much, it is up to the owner it's their doll

 

I have an Angel Region that I bought used (rescued!) because her modifications had gone awry. I had to work hard to resculpt her ears to some semblance of normal and do other work on her. But she's in great shape now...cute as a button! So I am not a big fan of someone taking on a mod unless they know what they're doing.

But...that being said, you paid for the doll, you're free to do with it whatever pleases you--no limit. I fully endorse any desire to customize your doll. I have been wanting to buy a Resin Soul Jun so my Sprite can have a boyfriend. But I fully intend for those aweful ears of his to get trimmed down to something much more reasonable. LOL!

 

As long as the end result looks good, I don't see a problem with it~ Personally, I love modded dolls. Especially if the doll's sculpt is common. What better way to set yours aside from others than by a little modification? XD

 

I don't think there's such thing as a limit to the modifications, as long as they're done right or if the owner is happy with them x3

Also I personally love to see heavily modded dolls... it's just neat to see how extensively the owners customized them >3>

 

It's the owner's doll so modding is completly fine with me. ^^
I love seeing well done dolls, too because it's often a hard thing to do.
There are dolls, though where I don't understand why they were modded in the first place when there were so many dolls that would have needed less modding and looked the same...

 

I've recently been under fire for this exact thing myself. I was offered a trade for a VE Chiwoo and on a whim decided to go for it. When he arrived, I decided his eyes were just a little too closed and I wasn't at all fond of elf ears. I modded him tastefully and in no way did I 'damage' the doll. The elf ears would be easy to sculpt back on, as would closing the eyes again.

I traded the doll. I spent my own hard-earned money on him, and I changed him to look how I wanted. None of my mods are drastic or badly done, and I don't plan on reselling him at all. I think some people who go 'Why did you do that to a limited doll?!' need to understand that not everyone buys a doll for it's worth-factor, and that being rude about it can be very hurtful. Besides, the boy had been on the MP for a long time.


All in all, I don't think there is too much modding unless it completely ruins the doll beyond any sort of saving.

ETA: I'm in no way claiming that people who love LEs and cringe at modding them are wrong, not at all, nor am I making statements about the general consensus who believe that.

 

My answer to the OP would be "when it stops looking good".

Other than that, have at it and enjoy modifying to your heart's content. So what if you cannot tell what doll it originally was because of all the modifications? That's half the fun of taking something that is fairly generic (and yes, even though the sculpts are all very good they are generic simply because there are so many of them about) and then doing a unique face up or adding scars or bionic implants or horns or whatever you want to add to or take away from the original sculpt.

Phil.

 

How much modding is too much?

You look at your doll and think "oh s*** what have I done??"

 

Wow, not a lot of people seem to have read this part even after you edited it. XD;

I guess my threshold for modding changes depending on how well it's done. (Naturally..) One thing that absolutely doesn't appeal to me is when dolls have so many APPENDAGES that you hardly know what you're looking at the first time you see it. XD;; Like tails and horns and ears and crazy feet and EXTRA ARMS and all that insanity some people seem to love. And then usually it's like, painted with neon stripes or something, with scars and tattoos and markings all over, and one eye with a "cursed" pupil or some randomness. (seriously, I'm not exaggerating, I've seen more than a couple of these.. amalgamations.) And that's when modding does not appeal to me, because it's like, what even IS that? It stops being something you can look at and imagine as a living character. Plus it stops being able to pose in any natural fashion.

I think, to be good, a design needs some simplicity to it. Something immediately recognizable and relatable. And, you know, a look that is unified. When people are just adding random detail and stuff all over the place, it just starts to look like a mess. I think it looks best when the artist uses the sculpt to their advantage, and works WITH it, to enhance the original features. This way the overall look tends to stay a lot stronger. It totally CAN have horns and tails and stuff, but it should work with the rest of the design. Too much and it all starts working against itself.

Also, no, to me it doesn't matter to me if it's a rare sculpt.. I don't really care.

 

There's never a 'too much' unless the owner thinks that.
It's not anyone else's doll than theirs, so if other people don't like it, it doesn't matter.
I actually had this happen to me (well, something similar) when I just got into this hobby. It was about a video about two girls smashing limited dolls against eachother as if they were barbies. I made a comment that that was completely unnaceptable, but lately I realised I was just jaleous. They were dolls I liked, and wanted, and missed out on, and they were 'wrecking' them. But it was their money, not mine, and their dolls, not mine.
Some time ago someone posted their SOOM Chrom, and had painted him in a way people didn't like. I saw the rudest comments, and I really didn't understand. Would it really make them feel better if the owner changed the doll to their likings? No, it's what the owner desires and wants and likes. It's not to please others.
And most people do mods because they can do that with these dolls. They can put all their imagination in it, and make it their own. Sure, 20 arms may look stupid to someone else, but it was obviously done for some reason.

 

I think we are looking at a difference of opinion here. On the one hand we have those who look at each of these dolls as types of art work and they feel that they should stay as their creator created them. On the other hand we have those who look at the doll as a base to work on and create what is in their mind. I know some collectors get rather rabid that you even took the doll out of the box when you go to resell it. But if I can't play with it, then I don't want it.

 

I honestly plan to tattoo (in pale silver) all over my boy's body when I get him. I don't think modding him is bad, but if I mess up I'm pretty sure I'll be really sad and will feel like I've failed him in some way. Other than that, I don't think I'll mod any more of him, just his clothes. ^.^

 

This is one of the single best pieces of advice I have ever read on this forum. You really articulated everything I feel in that paragraph!

When a design is unified, the impact is much more positively memorable ("Wow! Look at that design, it's brilliant! I love how the colors complement each other." versus "Oh my god, that doll has three eyes, hooves, vampire fangs, cat ears, and angel wings.... And is wearing technicolor lingerie.")

Anyone can throw a bunch of extreme and/or exotic features together, but it takes real skill and patience to construct a design that is original and memorable while retaining unification and balance.

 

I like mods and have seen a Volks Garnet that is heavily modded and looks so much better than the original.
Nothing is too much for me, when it comes to customizations. ~Gus

 

When the original mold is unrecognizable, even if the modding is awesome and of course, when the modd totally ruins the doll (and I've seen plenty of both of these kind of modds)

And why? cause I'm against modded dolls for myself (specially modded heads), but other people can do anything they want with their dolls, of course. The only modds I like are, for example, separated fingers and that kind of stuff.

 

I Want To See Some Before & After Pictures Of Peoples Modified Dolls Please!!!! Pretty Pretty Please! ^^