How much modding is too much?

This is a question I've been considering asking, so great to see it up here for debate

Personally, I wouldn't mod a very limited doll besides redoing it's faceup - because if I really wanted it to look like something else, I'd buy an unlimited and mod that instead
On the other hand, I do have a sort-of limited doll (Luts Nanuri 07) which won't be made again, but because of how many there are around I felt there was no harm in modding her eyes open to better suit her character and my tastes. To me, she looks far better after having her eyes opened than I ever could have made her look beforehand. Although it was my first mod, now she's cleaned up properly and has a decent-ish faceup I'm quite proud of how different she looks to the other Nanuri 07 on the boards, and I've bonded with her far better now than I think I ever could have done beforehand.

I am considering very heavy mods on my floating head - opening/reshaping eyes, changing the shape & size of the mouth, sanding the cheeks & nose down, largish elf ears... by the end of it, he'll be unrecognisable as his original sculpt - but if I don't even try modding him, I'll end up just selling him and regretting never trying it.
I didn't pay anything for him, so if I screw up, it's not a great loss to me and it'll get chalked down as a learning experience. I do know of other sculpts that would require far less modding to look like the character, but to be honest, I'd rather mod him than swap him, because he's already in my possession and I'm not hurting anyone or mildly upsetting a previous owner by modding the heck outta him.
I'm even starting to consider making him a body rather than buy one and have to mod that even further just to get the look I want

Fortunately, if I do mess him up and want to try again with another of the same mold, there's plenty on the marketplace
I do feel a little sad for wanting to mod him so heavily because I loved the sculpt when I originally saw it, but as it is now, I can't imagine any character of mine looking like that. I don't intend selling him (unless it's as a cleanup project for someone ) so I don't see it as a bad thing to make him look so very different.

It amazes me how different my outlook on modding is after a year of owning a BJD, as when I got my first I said I'd be far too scared to do anything to any of them!

 

I am personally pretty pro-modding. I think it makes each doll a little more unique and personal to that owner. And even with badly-done mods... everyone has to start practicing somewhere. Very few people will make a spectacular mod their first time trying. My first mod was on my Juri06 head, which admittedly at the time was kind of a "throw-away" head. It was right after they came out and the marketplace was full of them, so I didn't really think of him as a limited. I did make a mistake and nicked his face near his lip, but that didn't make me love the doll any less. Others might be appalled, but to me it was a learning experience that I could avoid doing on future mods.

So that leads me to the issue of modding limiteds... I don't really have a problem with that either. Three of my modded dolls/heads are technically limiteds, even though they're some of the more common CP ones. Plus, I purchased one of those, already damaged as a "rescue mission", and other was just an eye-opening on a sleeping head. But still... to each their own, I say. I love being able to see all the unique things people do, even if some of them aren't to my own taste. If a doll has been modded into something I think is ugly, someone else may treasure that very modification and I recognize that.

So for me... really, no modding is "too much". Some mods may not be something I personally enjoy, but I still don't really have a problem with it.

 

Well, I think if the doll is missing a nose it's to much. But it's a person's choice if they want a doll resembelling Mandy from Grim Adventures, it may not fit my taste, but as long as the owner is proud of it, let them be.

However, I think it's smart to practice on less expensive dolls, so if you don't want to mess up terribly and you have no expireance, or if the dolls nose is too pointy and you don't want it to resemble Mandy, it won't.

I'm Pro-Modding, but against modding a doll straight away with no expireance. You need to practice, man. No matter how good you think you are, you could definatley surprise yourself, and it may not be a good thing.

 

Well, to each our own right? I know my talent as remoding a dollfie isn't up that at all, but i'm sure if with enough trails and errors....>.> yea ahem.

 

As long as it is well done, I could care less about seeing extensive mods on other dolls. I've seen two doll heads cut in half and attached midface for a different lower jaw - and it was fine, cause it looked good. If someone inexperience tried to do so, it wouldn't turn out half as good and I wouldn't like it. There isn't a definitive line for me as to what I think is acceptable - many people will do things I like, many won't, but I know art and talent when I see it and can appreciate it as such.

For my own dolls, I stick with the "can it be done well" rule. I can't do much beyond finger seperation and surface sanding, so I don't do much more. I would like to see some pretty intensive mods among my crew, if I ever get dolls needing such - amputation, facial/body resculpting, tanning/staining, etc. But until I know how to, anything beyond my skills and abilities is too much.

 

I think that as long as it is done well and doesn't harm the way it works or it's durability it is fine. I like to see gore mods and such myself. ^-^
But to a limited...I would not be as happy to see heavily modded. If I had any experience or talent in modding I wouldn't even touch a limited. I mean, you're doll is rare and special, and ruining that would irk me.
But to each their own. I don't really mind what people do to their own dolls as long as they're happy.

 

How much modding is too much?

If your doll has 8 1/2 breasts...that's too much

If "I'm a torso!" is the only thing your doll could say in a photostory...that's too much

If your doll has a very 'special' looking crooked 'cyclops' eye...that's too much

If your doll looks like he's had more botched surgery than Micheal Jackson...that's too much

If any of your doll's body parts have been used to replace her head....that's too much

If your SD has become and MSD....that's too much

If you've doll's resin has been infused with human DNA to create a hybrid that is an abomination to the world...that's too much

If your doll is on fire and/or a smouldering gob of resin...that's too much



Really though, you can do what you like, but if you want your doll to continue looking nice or interesting (in a good way) and/or retain/increase it's value you should have enough skill to do a great job on whatever mod you're going for (or enough money to pay someone skilled enough to do the job well). If you have the mod skills of a drunken lemur (or you are a drunken lemur) you might want to hold off on modding your expensive limited doll and practice on the cheapest you can get until you improve or leave it to those who have talent. (I'd say I'm more on the lemur side personally)

 

I think any modification of a limited is a horrendous and unforgivable tragedy.

But basics are up for grabs. *shrugs* You can do whatever you want and I won't really care. I suppose the point it becomes to much is when a doll is no longer salvigable.

I saw a doll on ebay once that had been modified into a zombie. Literally half the head had heavy scaring in a poorly done attempt to look like bone coming through the dolls skin. I nearly threw up it was bad. It made me cry for the doll. It seems it would be sad to be rendering into junk that no one would want to love.

 

Hmm. I'm not really against mods, I think they can make a really gorgeous and unique doll. I've seen some very limited dolls with what I consider "minor" mods that I thought looked just fabulous (this is things like mild eye shape alteration, sanding down cheeks and jaw for a slightly different shape, elf ears, piercings, sanded noses, stuff like that that's a relatively mild change/enhancement to the sculpt). Personally, I wonder why anyone would extensively modify a limited or rare doll to the point where it doesn't matter what the base doll was, because they could have used a much cheaper head and it wouldn't have mattered. But unless it's an extremely tiny edition (less than 10 of that head in existance ever?) and has been modded to the point where it's unrecognizable I can't really bother to be that upset. Even rare dolls come up for sale, I don't believe that "taking away someone else's chance to own the doll" thing unless it really is a truly teeny tiny edition, so one "ruined" Woosoo (or whatever sculpt) isn't going to collapse the hopes of ever owning one.

As for going too far in general... I've seen some dolls sanded to the point where they practically have no facial features left. I just wonder why someone who is modding, has sanded something away and realizes it looks bad, would then think that sanding more will help. But then even an over-sanded head like that can then be used by someone else to practice modding features onto a sculpt, and sometimes a really beautiful and unique doll is the result.

 

I wouldn't mod a limited or rare, unless it was just eye opening or a tattoo or sanding.

any other doll, i would happily mod to my own content as long as I don't lose the pureness of the original sculpt in doing so.

 

I think modding is a beautiful thing as long as its done well and isn't ridicules (such as removing all of a dolls facial features, e.g like this poor Ceil head).
I understand completely how much a person can love a doll's face but would like to enhance it to better suit themselves, but I don't really agree with a doll being modified just because the owner doesn't actually like the face. In such a case it probably would be better to just sell the doll and use the money earned from that to buy a doll better suited to themselves, because a modified doll no matter how modified will always carry traces of who they once were.

Cheers,
Sera~

 

I completely love that mod, though. The head came to the modifyer because there was an accident with acetone and the face was ruined. To give a doll new life like that is something I can totally respect. The head is sad around the eyes, still, because that's a horrible thing to happen to anyone, losing your face like that, but the new face sits so well on the head, and it's been saved. I love that.

 

Thanks Lupi_stardust. I used her "before" images as an example because she actually was a botched mod job by a previous owner (I should have clarified that). The acetone was used to remove the mods (along with sand paper) which ruined her face. I agree with you though, the finished work I presented on there is a great example of a mod gone good ^^

Sera~

 

I can't tell when it's too much ..

but I'm shocked if it's tooooo black... or look like death
I think my type of make-up/face-up/modding would be cute, adorable, unique and stylish of course (not sure how to explain that in english ^^'')

 

Oh my goodness! Now that IS a botch. I thought it was an accident, pure and simple...

But nevertheless, the story has a happy ending.

 

I personally think it's almost selfish to take an extremely limited-edition doll and modify the darn thing beyond recognition. Someone else may covet that doll the way it was originally made, and to take a limited edition as a 'base' for your modding needs makes me feel a little sad for some reason -- I can't explain it rationally. (Although this is rather unreasonable of me. I mean, how could anyone know for sure who wants the LE doll or not? You can't just sit around and wait forever, going, "Well, I'd better let others have a chance to get it before me, teehee!" So... I suppose my thoughts aren't particularly coherent.) Like others have said, it would be more considerate to the rest of the dolling community to simply buy a non-limited and work your wonders from there.

I would be especially offended if the modder decided to purchase the limited-edition doll, modify it significantly, and then sell it again with the purposes of adding more to the final sales price of the doll because the doll's original sculpt was limited. That sort of thing just seems mean!

Buuuuut, dolling community be darned, if you want that limited edition sculpt to have demon horns and fangs and gills, and a removeable brain stem, then it WILL HAVE IT! XD Altogether I'm pro-modding, and am especially tickled when it's a great mod. I mean, you paid for it. ~chuckle~

 

I suppose modding is too much when all of the original character of the doll is lost and the doll could have been any doll. Given that there are so many extremely inexpensive dolls made now, and many people regard them as throwaway "practice" heads, it could be argued that there is very little character for those dolls to lose. When modifications are that extreme, there isn't much point in identifying the doll as a "modified Doll X" because it no longer bears any resemblance to that sculpt.

I have significantly altered the faces of three of my dolls and I have altered at least three bodies in the process of making hybrids. Two of the heads I modified are common, readily available dolls (Delf Dreaming Shiwoo and Delf Miyu) and the other was a limited (Volks Yukinojo). I see no reason why I shouldn't alter a doll to suit my personal aesthetic requirements. At the time I purchased them, there weren't any other sculpts that looked right for the characters I had in mind. Given the vast array of new sculpts now available, I could easily find another doll that looks just right without any modification, but I've discovered that I'm too attached to my own handiwork and haven't replaced them yet.

I brought my modified Yukinojo to the LA Dolpa last year and at one point actually asked some Volks staff members how the company feels about alterations to limiteds. They expressed no dismay at the thought, and also didn't even seem to expect limiteds to retain their default faceups. The idea being that the default look was provided for those collectors who didn't want to customize dolls, but more creative interpretations were encouraged. Out of all the dolls we'd brought my Yukinojo certainly got the most enthusiastic squealing and photo snapping from the Japanese staff. They must have noticed that half of his nose and forehead had been carved away but I guess it was an improvement as far as they were concerned. *shrugs*

 

I think that modding girls into boys are too much. Why get a girl body when you can just get a boy body? It saves you a lot of time. Seriously. I'm not a fan of modding at all. But that's just me. If you want an elf get an elf doll. If you want a boy doll get a boy body and not sand off the poor doll's breasts to get it to be male. If you really want a flat chested doll with no boy parts then get a boy doll and sand off its boy bits (still mean XD but whatever). I say just use the doll for what it is. There are the same sculpts floating around (minifee, luts, soom) yet they all look different even without mods. Every owner does something different so no doll looks the same.

I'm okay with mild modding (sanding down the face, maybe adding on fangs or elf ears (dunno why you just wouldn't get an elf doll to begin with!)) but when its so heavily done its not recognizable, then its too much. *shrug*

 

I personally don't think there can ever be too much modding. I am biased as I mod dolls for fun and profit (which promptly get spend on more dolls).

I know a lot of people get hung up on 'creating their doll from stratch'...that's fine and kuddo's to you if you have the means and the skill. But for those that can't or just don't, there is nothing more challenging/rewarding than to making a doll so unique that when people see your doll they say 'Hey, I know that doll!'.

 

I'd never mod my LE doll, but I don't think it's wrong if someone else wants to mod theirs. I'll never be up to it, but I think the challenge of an extreme mod would make it exciting and fun. I guess there is a point though when it would be easier and more cost effective to just sculpt and cast your own head rather than sanding a face completely off and rebuilding it. But if that's what floats your boat, go for it!