How much modding is too much?

Sometimes the sleeping heads have something the open-eyed heads don't: fangs, elf ears, or the heads are just different enough for it to matter to someone. I know the Elf Yder sleeping head is bigger (and thus more in-proportion and not as annoying to find wigs for) so for that reason alone I'd rather have a modded sleeping head than an open-eyed head.


For myself, I think if the artist doing the mods is talented enough, there are no boundaries. What makes me cringe is badly-done mods or mods that just completely take away from the original mold's charm.

 

If people didn't mod dolls we wouldn't have manufacturers like Soom creating awesome stuff like the Satyrs or the new crabclaw guy.

 

Out of all my dolls, only one is modded. And I hadn't seen the mold unmodded beforehand, so I fell in love with it the way I saw him on the marketplace. ^^

I think if someone's going to spend huge amounts of money on a limited doll, I wouldn't see the point of modding to to the point of being unable to recognize it as that scuplt anymore.

 

I agree that modding it would be making it more of your own. I guess if you really want to change it so much that its unrecognizable, thats okay too. But when its basically destroyed, thats when you know you went a tad too far with it.

 

Modding is fine. period.
rares, modding beyond repair, beyond recognition...still fine. period.

although if someone gets a BJD just to mod it to pieces then I wonder why they are in this hobby to begin with. Though if they have the money ....go ahead. As long as it's on their own dolls.

Now about rares...-i know they are limited and cost a lot of money....but if someone buys the doll. It's theirs-it doesn't matter if they are planning on modding it beyond recognition. It's their doll, it's their choice. They shelled out the money for the doll. so they can say what the dolls fate is.

....still....
poor dolls...

 

I think that it is your doll do what you will with it, Myself personally I want the doll that comes the way it comes from the artist who sculpted it, that is why I chose it afterall, If somebody has a particular look that they want to acheive most of it is done with the faceup, why not just sculpt the doll from scratch? that to me would be much more astounding than to sand off or add to somebody elses work, and that makes it much easier than starting from scratch, (my opinion only, please no knives thrown at me)

 

Maybe because not everyone is a sculptor, and may not have the knowledge/resources/ talent(XD) to do so.

 

I like modding. I like modding A LOT.

But I guess if I wanted a doll pretty badly and couldn't get it because it was LE and saw a very modded version of that doll, I could be mad.

But... I really love modding.

 

In the absolute, I think modding is never "too much modding" because an owner can do what he want with his doll. But now, if you have an idea of what you want to do through the modding and then fail to obtain it ( and spoil your doll in the same time ><) then it was too much ^^

 

Is the question meant to be for second hand sellers/buyers? Because I don't quite get the purpose of the question if not. I personally wouldn't buy a doll if it was not mine to begin with. My doll, my problems, no one else’s. <<; I would rather pay full out than buy second hand [On dolls at least].

But as for how I feel about it, I have no qualms with it. Sure I've seen things I personally wouldn't do to a doll. Then again, I'm sure most people here wouldn't try so hard to give theirs a paunch like mine will soon have.

To each his own. That's all I can say really.

 

I am not going to rain on someones parade if they want to brutally modify the sculpt, including changing a one off into something that doesn't even minutely resemble a BJD anymore.
Even though I would cringe, and possibly have nightmares... It's their money, their doll, and sure if it was say the black ducan, a bermann, or somesuch I'd possibly even be quite upset over it. But I can't say anything about it, to anyone here anyhow. My fiance would get an earload...

There are some modifications on dolls which I would immediately turn to ebay or craigslist and start selling my limbs. I even decided my pinkies, and a kidney would go first.
One of these is Kaspar, St. James' modified shiwoo.
Some dolls just are amazing modifications, and heck I wish I could get ahold of one.

I do not have the skill to really modify a doll, and frankly I am scared to try it, however there are some who do have it, and aren't afraid, and should probably do it more often.

I am perfectly content with how Yli is, she has a default face up, an unblushed body, default acrylic eyes, and a pretty standard color DollGa wig... I do not feel the need to modify her, however who is to get mad at me if I turned her into a purple and green creature with tentacles, displaced eyes, malformed facial structure, and very little resemblance to any known doll or creature in mankind.
She is mine, and if that is what I want, then it is my choice and no one has a say about it other then me.

Oh, and I will be trying my palms at modification soon, on a limited Soom Cream White Onyx. Her face will be quite different when I am done.

 

I think when your doll no longer has anymore modding room on its body

 

I do admit that I get annoyed if I see a limited/retired doll that has been modded to the point where it doesn't look at all like it's original mold. But it's a personal thing, and I've got no room in anyone else's business.

I guess that people can knock themselves out modding, as long as the doll looks good. You can even add back a part that was taken out, you just need certain tools.

But then again, there are some casualties...http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193526

 

I can't help but cringe in pity when I see some less than skillful mods or mods that are so dramatic or extreme that it obscures the original beauty of the doll. Of course, I know that "once the doll is yours, you can do whatever you want, blah blah blah", but I have to question the judgment of the owner when a doll is so heavily modded as to be unrecognizable or uglier than sin.

To each their own, I guess, but I can't imagine spending hundreds of dollars on something, then turn around and literally ruin it.

 

This is such an interesting question, I have really enjoyed reading everybodies views and as someone fairly recent to the hobby, I have to say that I think modding can be amazing. There are several companies whose sculpts I found not to my taste until I saw what really good (ie - well executed considerate) mods could make of them.

Having said that I think modding dolls that may never be available again (LE/discontinued/company on hiatus or changed the sculpt) is always going to be problematic because there are people who love the original sculpt and cant get hold of it and they're never going to be happy looking at pictures of badly modded versions of a rare coveted sculpt, of which there are usually as many of as well modded versions.

I love the Dollshe sculpts, I may never get to own one as lots of other people also share my feelings and the company seems to be on neverending hiatus. When I see people modding them badly (ie, taking the original and destroying its aesthetic cohesiveness) it makes me really sad for me and for all those other people who may never own the doll as yet another original sculpt bites the dust.

I think under those circumstances, how is saying "Its my doll, and I'll do what I like with it" any different from the big game hunters/taxidermists/etc that you see on documentaries, saying "Its my money and I'll shot tigers if I want to" or "I've always wanted to stuff something really rare like a panda". And before everyone starts freaking and saying its completely different...I would argue, in our universe, the dollverse if you will, its the same.

Its just taking something rare and beautiful that people would love to see and enjoy and destroying it. I'm not saying don't mod, just mod respectfully

 

I think as long as the doll still looks good in the end, power to the modder. I respect the original sculpt, but I also respect people who can use the sculpt as a canvas to create something truly fitting to their ideal.

What attracts me the most to BJDs is that they are a 3d art form--from sculpt to face-up to wigs and eyes to clothing--and one that the owner takes upon them self to transform from the stock they get to their personal form of expression.

My one bump might be rare or limited dolls. I won't fault them for it, but I also think that those that are rare should be appreciated in their original glory, not just by the owner but by all. I'm relatively new to the BJD world, but I get the sense that people prize other's dolls just as much as their own, for the craftsmanship.

 

This debate goes on in the quilting world too. (As well as other hobbies.) Why would anyone take an heirloom and *gasp* cut it up for smaller projects. To them, retaining the integrity of a piece no matter how badly eroded is of the utmost importance.

Others see items as a launching point for their own creations and blithely use whatever comes to hand.

Purists versus Innovators... room enough in the world for both.

For my own opinion, if you mod a doll so heavily that no one else wants to buy it except for parts... you might have gone a bit overboard.

Good discussion!

Margie

 

sometimes i see dolls that have been modded and i think "nooooo, why did you do that! he was beautiful before!" and then others i think "oh wow, that's so amazing!" so i think it depends on the sculpt and the skill of the modder. of course, i would never tell them that i thought they had wrecked their doll; it's their doll and it's up to them whether they mod it or not.

as for limited dolls, i don't believe in modding them. it's for that reason, i am selling my only LE doll, because i want a doll i can take apart and completely alter. i think LE dolls deserve to be preserved because they are limited and if there are standard versions of the same doll, why not mod those instead?

 

I think that as long as they don't mod it to the point where you touch it and it turns to dust any amount of modding is fine, it's their doll and if they want to mod it heavily, slightly or not at all that's their decision.
if someone modded a doll so much I thought it looked bad I would still say it looked good to the owner because to the owner they love the doll the way they modded it to be and it would be extrememly rude of me to say otherwise.

 

In an artists point of view, Its never too much. It is your doll, your character, your world. Do as you please. Make you art how ever you wish.

This is something along the lines of how much art is too much art? How much paint on a canvass is too much?

It all goes down to the individual in the end.