I take issue with the term 'Random Eye Color'! Do you?

Actually, that "placeholder eyes" makes me think of this: When you buy a new wallet, you'll often find little placeholder cardboard cards in the "slots" where your credit cards etc are meant to go ... I see the "free random eyes" as something similar: They put them in the dolls so there's SOMETHING there. You're not actually expected to keep them, just like you're not expected to actually use those little cardboard cards for anything ...

 

Khell, this is a very good point! I totally agree.
I think it's quite kind of the company to include free eyes, they don't usually have to do this, it's not included with the doll price. Sometimes the companies are even ok if you ask about a certain colour of the free random eyes, like Luts.

 

Usually I don't plan to keep the random eyes at all but I am happy to have them until the right eyes arrive. But most companies are willing to give your doll eyes in the colour you prefer if you ask them with your order.

 

With regards to the people mentioning that they are factoring the eyes into the price of the doll: I wouldn't necessarily say that they factor the eyes into the price of the DOLL itself, but they most certainly factor them into their bottom line (aka, their profit margin, which everything they sell contributes to). There's probably a lot of things a company factors into their bottom line. Things like packing materials, face-up materials, the cushions that the dolls come in, paper and ink for the dolls' paperwork, paying their employees. And any company with good business sense, would factor in the possibility of a bad batch of dolls, broken pieces that they need to replace for the customers, and other such unexpected mishaps.

If we expect to have a say in every single thing that goes into their bottom line, then in the same vein that people are demanding the "right" to choose eye color, shouldn't we also get to choose the exact colors and details in the face-up? The color of the box & pillows that the doll comes in? The type of packing materials that they use? Or maybe we should get to have a say in who the company hires, since our money goes towards their paychecks? That would just get ridiculous, and fast!

And if we started demanding a say in everything that our money contributed to, you can guarantee that the prices of dolls would rise dramatically to make up for all the extra money they're spending on these ridiculous demands.

Quit whining about not getting to chose the eye color of what is a GIFT from the company. Yes, they may factor them into their bottom line so they don't go broke from giving out so many pairs of eyes, but so what? If you ask them not to send you the eyes, you're not going to get some magical $7 discount off the price of your doll. The price of the doll factors into so many things that the company needs in order to keep running their business. And, chances are, if you put a little note in when you order asking for a specific eye color, the company will be more than happy to oblige (provided they have it in stock).

And for those who are saying that they can't afford to also buy eyes because the doll is so expensive:
What are you doing spending hundreds of dollars on a doll when you can't afford to also drop $20 on decent eyes!? And actually, you don't even have to spend $20 on eyes. There are some really beautiful glass eyes to be found here on the DoA marketplace for only $10! Spend your money how you want, but don't be complaining that you can't afford a mere $10-$20 for eyes when you just dropped a few hundred dollars (at least) on a doll.


I'm grateful when a company is kind enough to send gifts with the doll I order! When I ordered a basic (non-MD) from Soom, I put in a polite request for a certain pair of eyes, and they gave me the exact eyes I asked for! Companies (generally speaking) want to make the customers happy. The ones that don't, usually have financial troubles and/or don't last very long.

 

Of my Bobobie dolls, the "random" color was always blue. My Volks dolls always had a preset eye color for the doll... I actually have an accumulation of eyes from owning different dolls, buy, selling, and trading eyes at doll meets. I consider the free random eyes to be a fun addition to the collection rather than something annoying.

Sigh, now I want to buy eyes.

 

Really? You are going to compare eye color with face up colors? A face up color would be a custom work. Eyes come in different colors. It's not the same thing at all.

Also, don't criticize people for saving up for a doll and not having any money left over for buying a second set of eyes. It's none of your business how people spend their money. smh

 

I'm a bit shocked that this hasn't been moved to the Debate section. :\ Because that's what this has turned into.

I guess I buy mostly Soom MDs or Special Orders that don't come with eyes or second hand dolls that eyes were never an issue, really. I just came up with my own. My very first doll, my Luts Lishe (2004), I put in a request for her eyecolor, and they honored it. If my dolls come with random eyes, cool! Chances are, I have eyes already lined up for the character, but if they don't work out, I have a backup plan! I bought some 14mm (recommended size) Soom eyes with my Nodia thinking they'd be JUST THE MOST PERFECT THING EVER for the character, and 14s don't look right in her, even with eyelashes applied! I tried some 16mms that I had lying in my 'eye box', and wow! Loved it!

Eyes aren't generally a huge expense on the doll. Just gotta keep savin', keep savin'! If you could do it to bring home your darling to begin with, you can go a little further! Don't get discouraged. Your doll doesn't always have be done overnight. The beauty of this hobby is that you can try out many different things until everything just clicks together the way you want it to! Playing around can bring up combinations that you wouldn't have thought so wonderful, but turn out fabulous in the end!

That being said, they don't mass produce these things, and most of these companies will bend over backwards to help you. And I think most people are trying to say, "give the customers an inch, and they'll start taking a mile" concept.

 

Yeah, well, I can see Kelaria's point. You're shelling out - let's say 600 USD for buying a doll. Now, it's not really that much of a difference whether you buy a doll and random gift eyes for 600 USD or a doll with random gift eyes and another pair of eyes for 620 USD, is it? It doesn't even make much difference when you look at customs fees.

I mean, it isn't as if buying a doll is the end of money-spending in this hobby. It's only the beginning. Cos once you got your doll, you need clothes. Lots of clothes. And still more clothes. And shoes. And that gorgeous wig. And that cute little iPad that's just the PERFECT size for your doll. And a new face-up cos you've grown tired of the one your doll came with. And new strings cos it's too floppy. And maybe another doll cos your doll absolutely wants a brother/sister/friend/kid/arch-enemy (believe me, it happens. I only ever wanted one doll. Now I got - more than I care to count ...).

Even if you do most of that stuff yourself, make your own clothes, wigs and face-ups, you'll still have to buy the necessary materials - spending money. So I guess what I simply don't get is why it seems to be such a big deal for some people to

a) either ask the company they're ordering from nicely to give them a pair of eyes in their preferred colour (seems to have worked for many people here on the forum) or
b) simply buy a pair of cheap eyes in their preferred colour that can serve as placeholder-eyes until they can afford the really, really expensive ones they crave.

I mean, they're old and mature enough, obviously, to order a very expensive doll and communicate to the company whether they want the company face-up or not ...

 

As I said, people may spend their money however they wish. I just don't want to hear them complaining about not being able to buy $10-$20 eyes when they just spent hundreds of dollars on a doll. It's unnecessary.

Exactly! Thank you for this. Buying a doll is the beginning of a long commitment to spending money in the doll hobby.

 

It's very much comparable to a face-up, just on a different level of magnitude. The reason why companies don't let you make changes to the default face-up, even though you are paying for it, is because it would cost more to have a custom face-up done. Why? Because the company would have to keep track of what each customer wants with each order - instead of company artists working off the default sample, they now have to review instructions for each individual order; it will take them more time, the company will have to pay artists more per doll painted and, thus, would pass the cost increase to the consumer. Same with eyes, just on a much smaller scale - instead of reaching into the eye bin and pulling out a random pair of eyes, the employee now has to look for a specific pair, which, if not available, will delay the doll's shipping, which will result in an irate customer, complaining about further delays. And, I can only imagine the after-service headaches the CS team will have when the customer starts complaining that she got a brown pair of cheap acrylics instead of the blue pair of cheap acrylics she requested during checkout.

I doubt Kelaria was criticizing anyone. She's simply pointing out that expenses such as eyes are part of the cost of the hobby. Yes, you spent money on the doll, but you bought just the doll, the eyes, clothes, wigs will be an additional expense. It's just something that all of us have to factor in when we are saving for a doll.

 

since i'm new to the bjd world, when i first read that the dolls i was interested in ordering would come with a random eye colour i was really disappointed, because i wanted whatever i chose to be perfect since it's such a lot of money.

i requested "light"-coloured eyes & was given a gorgeous blue which helped complete my first doll & made sure i was properly in love with her when she arrived.

for my second doll i think i'll really enjoy being given a random colour, as i know what to expect from the dolls themselves & will be excited to have a little surprise factor. & besides, now i know how to change eyes! so i can always buy a new pair & sell the old (:

 

As I consider "random eyes" or "random wig" freebies, I don't mind getting them "randomly". Sometimes, it will fit the doll it came with, sometimes it will fit another doll and sometimes it won't fit anybody, but I don't really mind, as I consider them freebies.

 

I really don't mind the "random eye color" thing, to be honest.

It's interesting to see what randomly selected eyes come with the doll, but I also sometimes have floating eyes kicking around that I'm just as liable to use. So far, I haven't stuck with the default eyes with any of my boys. XD;

On the other hand, if the included eyes were really striking, I might not even bother to change them out.

But yeah, the way I see it is that it's just another fun little bonus with your order; not unlike how if you order a doll through something like Mint on Card you get the fun little bonus of seeing what kind of freebies you'll get. And heck, you could always keep the eyes, even if they don't see use in the doll you got them from, and maybe they'll see use with a future doll.

 

as for my opinion, it depends on whether the eyes are payed.
one the one hand, if the eyes are free, i reckon it is something grateful for a company to offer a pair of free eyes no matter it is random or customized. caz it is not necessary for them to do so! the price we payed is just for the doll itself and the pair of eyes we received is just the gift form doll company. no one would dislike and avoid the gift just because it is not the right color we expect. ^ ^ IMHO, i like all the gifts i have received~
however, when its full-set case, or purchased specially, i think we do have the right to decide which pair and which color to purchase~

 

i found that for the most part companies tend to put a "themed" color of eyes in their dolls...like i know RS and BBB tend to put blue in their boys for eye color, and other companies do the same type thing, where they put in similar colored eyes in a certain gender or size...

 

Having bought dolls who came with random eyes and dolls who didn't come with eyes... I MUCH prefer having eyes that might not be what I keep just as a placeholder than knowing if I don't buy eyes in the same order then the doll will be totally eyeless.

I don't mind, if the doll is perfect, but I would definitely rather have a pair of eyes that might not be right. Vince's default eyes I wound up really enjoying and he's kept them. For Pete I knew what I wanted and I swapped his out for eyes I'd bought previously right away. Billy still has his defaults but I do plan on changing them, when I find something that's right for him. But, I'm glad he came with eyes because I didn't have a pair on hand in his size.

 

well from my experiance if they offer random eyes...you CAN REQUEST a particular eye color and they generally try to give you that color. All but one out of the 4 bjd's that came with eyes.. I got I brown pair one tri color pair and one blue pair and one more blue pair but he has the original face up from the factory. My tri color pair went to another doll of mine. I have yet to come up with a character with brown eyes.. so it has not been used yet.. I just keep the eyes till I have use for them somewhere down the line.. I know my sister is slowly accumulating dolls so maybe she will need some eyes at some point.. and I will have some for her. I look at eyes as being a free gift with my purchase.. So they do not have to be anything special to me.. its like ordering from some catalogs and the purchase will sometimes come with a free bag or something.. There is a dealer on Ebay that is really good. She will let you have a free pair of eyes of your choice out of her eye collection and that is on top of what ever free eyes you get auto from the company. I wish I could remember her name.

 

I've always loved the random eyes that can come with the dolls, that way I get colors I would have never previously considered. Like the pink and purple ones that came with two of my girls. Personally I'd rather have eyes that don't fit the character than an eyeless head staring at me. Plus as far as dolls go, the eyes are generally the least of the expenses.

 

Yes it is and issue for me because I get too much repeat colors ,so I have too many blue in my collection.

 

I like getting random colored eyes with my dolls but then again, I feel like people should have the option to choose the eye color of a doll they just spent a ton of money on. I usually end up with nice eyes but a few years ago I ordered two Doll-Leaves tinies and they both came with the same blue eyes lol. Years before this, my future husband ordered me a Dollzone Feilian and she came with one brown acrylic eye and one purple-brown acrylic eye.