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

Eh - they're free! I really liked the pair that I got with my DZ Clare - she ended up keeping them rather than the ones I'd bought for her! Generally I go looking for eyes to suit the character when I buy the doll anyway. I tend to order unusual sculpts that never come with eyes, artists sculpts and the like so when they come random free eyes are a lovely unexpected bonus!

 

I rather like the idea. It's fun to see what color eyes you'll get!

But that being said, they are included with face-ups so no complaints here. I have kept the default eyes in one of my boys, though..

 

I think people sometimes forget that these dolls are almost like buying a piece of art. Lots of blood and sweat goes into sculpting and molding them, never mind hand painting a factory face up on one. These companies are not obligated to sell you their dolls and your not obligated to buy them. I personally consider it a privilege to own such a lovely work of art and I never consider it a right of any kind. If a company is nice enough to give a pair of eyes with the doll, any color, that is just them being kind about it.

 

I don't mind the random eyes, but it did make me a little sad to see Fly get some that were basically a black pupil with what looked like a really light lilac for the iris, but you couldn't see the iris, because it was so light. I was mostly just sad because everyone else was saying what lovely eyes they'd gotten from Doll-Love, and mine weren't

Oh well, I'm gonna give them to someone who loves them at a doll meet, anyway!

 

I only own one doll and I didn't have a problem with it...until I got her. I was told my doll would come with 2 sets of random eyes so it was kind of exciting knowing I could customize her eyes from day one and to see what colours I would get My doll came with three eyes the same colour and one different coloured one =____= Luckily I was already thinking about buying some more eyes so I didn't dwell on it too much

 

Maybe the reason why doll companies does not usually offer you a choice of eye color is because most doll companies do not make their own eyes. They get them for other sources. Imagine the hassle it would cause if they give you the choice of color of eyes, but the eye color you choose is out of stock/backordered.

Also, I think its weird to have this mentality of, "I paid this much for this thing, I am entitled to so and so!" You are entitled to what you purchased, nothing more, nothing less. When you go to a doll company, and decide to purchase their product, you know what you're getting. The website tells you EXACTLY what you're getting with your purchase. And you agreed to it by purchasing their product.

So then why demand more? Why feel like doll companies have cheated you out of something? Where is this mentality comes from? If you think about it, despite dolls being expensive, in the grand scheme of things, they're not *that* expensive. So why the entitlement mentality?

 

I think it is true that the company puts a random eye. After all, we do not pay extra for it. Many companies have the opportunity to buy additional eyes and if for me it matters - I buy them separately.

 

I do find it annoying, but I can understand why it's done. I mean, if everyone requests the same handful of eye colors, then that's going to be a bit of a pain for the company and their stock. Just as long as I don't get brown I'm pretty okay with it.
Besides, some companies don't even give you eyes. If I get a free pair then I'll take it. Better than shelling out an additional $20 for a pair of eyes on top of whatever else I need to get my doll.

 

The eye thing doesn't bother me. I have managed to find some rather creative ways of getting doll eyes when I need them. What drives me nuts is when I go to figure out how much a basic, no face up doll will cost me with shipping only to find that the real price of a so called basic doll isn't actually basic, that you have to choose one or more options with the doll like skin color that cost extra to even put it in the cart. You can't just buy a normal skin guy or gal with non-mobility joints or something else because they won't let you spend what they call the base price. Don't tell me a doll's base price is $600 when actually it's more like $20 more because you can't just choose him or her as he/she is, with basic parts. You have to step up $20 or more just to be able to order him or her. That's a bit deceptive I think when they do that.

 

Which company were you looking at, magkelly?

I know you have to select a skin colour option for Fairyland, but that doesn't change the base price of the doll. Things like extra face-plates and adding face-ups and blushing increase the price, but choosing between two standard colours shouldn't increase the price. Choosing dark resin or a limited edition colour might cost you more, but generally companies have a choice between NS or WS and there's a flat rate.

 

People keep talking about what would happen if everyone requested the same color. And it seems to me that's a rather specious argument. First of all, I figure most people are going to order the color that the doll is advertised with... whatever promotional photos the maker puts on their site is what most people are going to follow. Secondly, over time, a doll manufacturer is going to get a feel for what color eyes people order with their dolls, and they'll know to keep twice as many green eyes as hazel eyes on hand, for instance.

I suspect it comes down to the fact that the doll companies aren't making their own eyes, though, and aren't ordering from the eye makers in lots of particular colors... they're going for the lower price, bulk order where they just get, say, a thousand eyes, and whatever turns up is what they've got.

It would be nice to be able to specify; it would be nice to be able to source everything for the character I'm building at the same seller. But... that ain't the way it is, so we deal with it and move on.

 

I hate that they chose the eye color for you! I'm thankful they include eyes, but I wouldn't mind spending extra to pick my own set of eyes. I got two sets of the same colored eyes, and they are not the color I need.

 

Im not quite into your idea. and i think it really depends on whether you have payed for the "random color eyes".
for some company, you sell dolls with a random pair of eyes, for a basic doll or a fullset doll gift, that means its free. i have no idea how do other people think, for myself, im thankful such a little gift, and will hold and dissatisfy with free gift.
one the other side, if i purchase pair of eyes from doll company, i insist the right to chose the color. cause i have payed to them, its really reasonable to get pair with my fond color.
so , it really depends. maybe iv already payed for the "random color eyes" in a basic doll set, but the company declares they are free gifts~ i can also accept these "random color eyes"~
hope this can make a little bit help~ ^　^

 

There are several tutorials on how to make new eyes out of old/unwanted eyes,so now if I got a pair of eyes I didn't like I would just make new eyes out of them.

 

I think she's talking about the dolls like Tonner...Personally I find that if your choosing like LT or Dark Tan then it's fine to jack up the price a little because it's hard to get that resin into that mold in the first place. I know resin fumes are toxic and for the work that goes into especially the darker dolls I don't mind the price because their all hand made....Same goes for random eye color.

 

I would appreciate if they would at least gave me some options. But random eyes are all Acrylic type so it's not a big deal for me since most of the eyes I'm interested is Glass type which is like much more expensive and prettier.

 

I think it's kinda neat to see what I get, but I'm always worried that it will be a color I already have. Same with random wigs.

 

Eh, I usually just buy the color I want if I have a plan for a doll. I hang on to some of the defaults if I think they are nice (my HDF came with really nice blue glass ones). Otherwise, I'm planning to sell the unwanted ones. I think it's kind of fun to see just what gets sent with the doll. Sometimes, they even end up being close to what I had in mind, even if I usually end up not using them since I purchased eyes elsewhere.

Frankly, I'm grateful that they send something like that along with the doll for free. They could always charge extra for you to even get eyes with your doll.

 

Wow! People are really passionate about this subject! Honestly I think there should be some sort of option for choosing in-stock eyes, because the eyes can be expensive and its a risk even if you pick the color that you like for eyes, because it might still be off.

Personally when I picked out dolls, I choose ones that came with eyes, box, pillow, ext so the price of the eyes is included with the price of the doll. I don't think saying you can just sell the ones that don't work well is nearly as easy as just getting the ones you want from the company. Because odds are it would take months to sell eyes, that probably aren't being sold at the same price as was included in your dolls price.

I don't really care though, because i usually don't have plans for my dolls eyes, but I know that the ones i can afford aren't nearly as nice as the ones that came from the company. But whateves, I know for the next doll i'm getting i'm going to request a certain color and see what I get!

 

I've always liked the "random eyes", it's a fun surprise! I've never really disliked the eyes my dolls have arrived with. Actually, two of them arrived with lovely purple eyes that I like enough to not even want to change them.