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

I do not think that I am paying for the eyes, but rather they are free or a 'gift.' I rather like the random aspect of this ritual because sometimes the eyes are the perfect color, or better than the color I had originally planned. I would have never thought of buying, using, and liking pink eyes until I got them 'randomly.'

Besides, a lot of people don't even care about what 'random' eyes they recieve. Many owners already have or will buy 'higher quality' eyes, such as urethane or custom eyes and sell or trade their default eyes.

If you don't want 'random' eyes, request for no eyes at all.
Or, if you care that much, and buy those $6 eyes that you really want.

 

If you want specific eyes for a doll, buy them. Don't create some unrealistic expectation that the doll company should cater to your customization wants with what is in essence a free item with purchase of a doll.

Can you provide a link to the specific doll in question? I would be curious to see these "$6.00 glass eyes" to which you are referring.

 

I agree with everyone else, random eyes are just like the random wig- some companies do it, some don't. If you don't like what you get, take them to a meetup and trade them. If you really love the eyes of a particular doll (fullset or not) you can always send a message and ask what the exact eyes are. That way, you can buy them for yourself.

I've gotten at least three dolls with 'random' eyes, and after the first one arrived with brown, I requested that the second one have 'not brown' eyes. The company was happy to oblige,and I got pink instead. XD Actually, my newest doll is wearing those same pink eyes (old Dollshe urethanes).

@Celestila- I think you want 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth' (or eye, in this case)

 

Naw, doesn't bother me.. like many have already said I sort of enjoy the surprise of finding out what colour my doll comes with. It might be a shade I wouldn't have chosen or thought of but works regardless and changes my expectations for the better.

 

My personal opinion? The eyes that come with dolls are a throwaway gift that come out of the doll as soon as I get my hands on them. They go into a box to be traded or given to members of my doll group that need eyes. I think it's ridiculous to depend on the doll company to customize your doll for you, especially since some companies are terrible about putting eyes into dolls that are not appropriately sized or fit to the shape of the eyewell.

It's ridiculous to go on about how the expense of your doll entitles you to something if you can't be bothered to buy a pair of eyes that properly fit.

 

Mariano, I felt bit like you when I purchased my first doll two years ago. I was sad and a bit annoyed that he came with random eyes.

It felt like such a waste, where I would probably never use them and that it would've been better off with someone else who would appreciate that color more. Of all the colors, what's the chance of getting green, you know? I was adamant that he had to have green eyes.

I was not able to buy/sell on the MP at that point too so, I pretty much felt like I was going to get something to throw away. I was also under the mentality of 'I only need 1 doll and that's it' so the thought of 'It might work for a future doll' never came to mind.

It also felt like a waste of money too because they were not labeled as 'free random eyes' but as 'random eyes will be included'. To me, this means: "In the $X price for this doll, the price of the random eyes is also included" So because they aren't free, I should have the option to choose a color! Why do I not have control over something I'm spending my money on?

To address the 'Send them a message where you kindly ask them for your color of choice' that several others have pointed out, I was also too timid to send them a Q&A to request a specific eye color at that point in time.


But now, I don't care too much anymore about the random stuff they send with the doll. I have found uses for my free eyes every so often; though I have to admit, they never stayed in long. Regardless, the more eyes the better!


I do like the idea of your drop down menu, though, I feel that these companies have a lot on their shoulders already. To manage the stock for the cheapo eyes they include would be silly and not profitable.

 

It's like playing Gatcha

 

Because this hobby is all about customising your doll to your taste, I think the 'random eyes' thing is a very minor issue. Not all dolls come with eyes anyway! Even when I've bought dolls that have come with gratis eyes, I've bought them a pair of eyes I prefer for them and either sold or traded the other eyes. One doll came with green glass eyes from Fairyland and they were lovely, but I wanted a different pair of green glass eyes for her, so I got the ones I wanted and I traded the ones I didn't.

The random eyes are freebies. I take issue with the idea that someone can complain about the colour of the freebie they're getting. Companies are sending random eyes so that your doll won't have to be eyeless while you customise him or her. I suppose you could ask the company not to include eyes if you really don't want them, but the eyes are freebies, so they're not going to affect the overall price.

 

I don't really mind random eyes. I change my mind a lot on my doll's looks so random eyes can find their use somewhere. I switch eyes a lot when I get bored...

I dunno if I consider them "free gift" I mean, not every doll company sends their dolls with eyes, but since dolls don't have a standardized price I dunno how much the eyes figure into how companies decide to price their dolls. @_@

 

I love random eyes! One of my dolls came with dark blue glass eyes and those didn't suit her. I placed the glass eyes in my eye box (where all the spare eyes go) and one moment when I had trouble figuring out the look of another doll I tried all the eyes in the proper size from that box until I put the blue glass eyes in the doll: a perfect fit.
Those were eyes I would never have bought for the doll and I would not have even thought of getting dark blue eyes. Normally I like lighter coloured eyes.

I even like random eyes so much that when I joined an eye maker's event of "buy one pair and get one pair free" I asked for random colours for the free pairs. Now I can try out all sorts of colours I would never have thought of buying myself as I'm usually a pretty "safe" shopper. I usually don't want to spend money with the risk I don't use it in the end, but hey, those eyes were free.
I've bought a lot of dolls in the past and my eye box is filled with free random colour eyes. When I get a new doll, I have a little eye fitting session to figure out what kind of eyes to get for it. I don't mind the eyes sitting in a box as they are worth a few dollars at most.

Doll companies offering a random eye colour is usually done to avoid delays in shipping. When a customer askes for a colour that is out of stock, they'll have to delay shipping until a new order of eyes comes in.

 

I'm pretty much echoing many others here. Even if eyes are advertised as included in a set, if it says "random eyes," than that is what is included. It's not like they're saying you get blue eyes, and then sending you brown eyes. They're saying you get random eyes, and you're getting random eyes. You're getting exactly what you paid for, what comes with the set.

A choice of eye color doesn't come with the set. It's not listed as something that comes with a set. You can whine that a lot of things should come with the set for how much money you're spending, but a lot of things don't. You can say shoes should be included, if you're spending so much money, but they don't. You have to buy them separately. And a choice of eye color isn't included either; you have to buy that separately as well.

And it's not that big a deal.


For me personally, it doesn't matter. I figure out what size, color, and material of eyes I want for a doll and buy them separately anyway. Because of that, I, like others here, actually enjoy the surprise of what the random eye color will be, for the ones that actually came with eyes. Some of my guys came with really beautiful random eyes... which are now packed away in a box. One of my guys actually came - randomly! - with the exact color of eyes I wanted for him. .... Except that I wanted him to have black scleras, so had to change them anyway. Oops...

 

If I have a preference for color, I always ask, very politely, when I send my payment to them. Most times, they send me what I want, if they have it. It doesn't really matter to me anyway. I have a drawer full of doll eyes to choose from when they arrive.

 

Meh. I'm always surprised when eyes come with dolls. And I've gotten pretty picky about eyes, so cheap acrylics/glass eyes ain't gonna work out for me anymore. That and I seem to have a penchant for getting dolls that look best in odd sizes. Even when I was a noob, I never expected to be able to choose the colours of the random eyes. I did expect shoes to come with outfit sets, though. XD

 

This! I can't tell you how often I have gotten red or purple or pupiless eyes in a doll, and later discovered those eyes to be the perfect eyes for another doll--and they are ones I would never have thought to buy for myself. I suppose I can afford to be surprised as I have enough loose cash laying around for things like eyes; if money was tight I might be more anxious about them. But the eyes I like are usually around 10-15 dollars, so it's not like buying gumdrops every time.

 

Apart from the really obvious points that have already come up - I can foresee picky customers going "THAT'S THE WRONG SHADE OF GREEN! I wanted OLIVE green, not EMERALD green!!! >:[ "

Count me in as one of the many who prefer urethane eyes for their dolls. So whatever eyes they come with, it doesn't matter to me. So considering most don't even use the eyes given, it wouldn't be economical for businesses to cater to the few that do. Why would you want your favorite company to lose money that way? It'd mean they'd spend all their money on sorting out eyes, instead of spending it on producing new sculpts.

This.

Negative reasons for a company to stop the random eyes:
If a specific colour is out of stock, the customer complains.
If the colour is right but the wrong shade, the customer complains.
If the shipping is delayed while the eyes are being shipped in, the customer complains.
If the company doesn't have the colour you want at all, the customer complains.
If the eye size is too big/too small for personal tastes, the customer complains.

Everyone, feel free to add to it I just wanted to sum up things in one post.

PS, slightly off topic, but considering your complaint stems from "Black and Asian dolls from companies should have stereotypical eye colours because that what I deem correct." and "I wanted my dolls to be realistic, Iplehouse should have read my mind." I don't see any reasonable basis for your complaint.

 

Given that there are plenty of companies producing pricey dolls that don't come with eyes as part of the basic purchase (or that come as only a single-option for everything fullset) that seems like it would narrow your reference down to only a couple of companies. And if you're talking about something that specific fair enough, but hobby-wide it's not a particularly realistic expectation.

 

I really wouldn't mind to be honest. Most companies take requests also, if you say "please have brown eyes" they sometimes make that request.

 

Here's the way I look at it- unless you're getting a Volks FCS doll, the company IS NOT customizing a doll to YOUR specifications.

You didn't go to the company and say "I have x dollars. I want this this this and this and I want it to look like this". No- what you're buying is the company's doll, made by THEIR sculptors, off of THEIR ideas, built to THEIR specifications. And they are gracious enough to make it available for you to purchase and do as you please with it.

And they're even nice enough to assemble it, and offer the option of painting it and some even include clothing. That's pretty generous of the company, to make their art available to the public. And it's your choice to spend your money on their art. and then after that, it's your choice.

This hobby is about customization. You buy the doll, that the company made, and then make it your own. You decide if you want to keep it as is, or if you want to do something different than what the company saw for it. But it's still their design. Their art. that they are nice enough to make available to you. $6 free random eyes...aren't really anything to get all worked up about, unless you designed the doll yourself.

 

I think "Random Eye Color" is the company's opportunity to get rid of eye colors that don't sell well.

 

This this this. When making a doll, you do have to do some of the work yourself. That's kind of the point. I think it's great that they provide any kind of eye at all! And most companies do try and give you the eye colour you want if you ask them. Seriously, all this entitlement culture gets on my nerves.
Dolls are meant to be customized. You're supposed to put work into picking the right eyes, the right wig, the right clothes, the right faceup. It's hardly the same to tell a company "I want blue eyes in my doll". You want blue eyes, go trawling through the hundreds of places that sell them, then buy your own pair in the perfect shade and material.