Is there pressure to make your BJD the BEST?

I feel pressured to make my FIRST doll perfect....but not in the sense that you're posting about. Perfect to *me*. As in sculpt decision, wig, faceup, eyes, etc.

But when it comes to the dolls in general, some people would probably say mine will be a bit bland, others will say they are a little out there. I plan them out for my own needs. As well as their stories.... Such as: I'm getting LTFs and pukis, and they are tiny but I want them to not be entirely "children". So their back stories are not your run of the mill "normal" kinda stuff. But they aren't WAY epic out there either. XP All that matters to me is that they are exactly what I imagined, are well portrayed and convincing enough to take on the life that I gave them.

As for other people's dolls, I do ADMIRE the ones that are very different and elaborate; Beautiful to look at and very interesting. But "boring" isn't bad either. To be honest, I like the variety.

 

Hmmm, this is kind of a funny question for me. I have a household full of fantasy-type character dolls but it has never been a question of comparison or one-up-manship. I don't know if it is because most of them aren't the most common sculpts you see, like a Limhwa half-elf, or because I'm horribly shy in person, I just was never interested in making my doll participation a competition. Oddly enough, my dolls have all become very "ordinary people" type characters to me, despite their actual "character" now that I have started role-playing with them through their MySpace page. It makes them even more flawed-human type "people" and less like the ideal characters originally created. It also completely removes any thought of comparison with any other doll because they are so very much themselves. If that makes any sense at all....

 

I feel this at meets a lot, especially if I know there will be people there I do not know. It's childish in a way, but I want to look like a good caring owner and not careless. Like right now I'm making a new outfit for my girl for a meet this weekend and odds are tonight I'll change my mind being unhappy with the new clothes.

 

My girls are absolutely more of the 'bland' type of dolls. They would be the ones stepping in things and really hoping it was just mud I love them more like that though. Too me - the whole "saving the universe" doesn't work. Probably because I'm not like that as a person, and whether I like it or not, my dolls seems to inherit their personalities from me (poor little ones!).

 

Well, my msds are little boys and as such like little boy games/jokes/toys etc... nothing supernatural there

2 of my SD's are pretty normal guys.... yes, quite bland *nodnod*

my 2 Delf guys are Canine & Feline, but do not have any amazing traits or a particularly spectacular look... and my Soom tinies (Glot & Beyla) are kept pretty much default because that is what I liked about them when I saw the Soom pictures

However I do insist that my dolls are looking their best at all times, well maintained and well dressed.... I can actually sew pretty well, but while I often sew outfits for others I really really REALLY prefer my guys in professional, perfectly produced clothing

So more spectacular than others, no definately not... but I do like to make them the BEST that they can be for me

 

I dont feel pressured to make my dolls "extraordinary", but more to make a good first impression.

And also, most my dolls are characters created before I got into the hobby so they already have their stories and styles, having them in BJD just makes it easier to show their "true" colors =D

And, really, its fun to have a different BJD and not only have "bland" ones ;3

 

I think that it might be easy to fall into a trap of thinking that you have to make your doll the best, the funkiest, the most unusual, but I don't think that it will help you with actually connecting with the doll!

Backstory wise, my doll is a 17 year old school girl. That's it, and I love her. I do not feel the need to make her a reincarnation of Cleopatra or a space being, lol. And I plan to have a doll who is like 'I'm an elven princess from the mooooooooon, ok' and everyone is is like 'Your name is Susan and you work at a newsagency. You are not an elven princess.'

And for me, that's fun and I like the strangeness of having entirely normal (if occasionally delusional) characters for my dolls.

Clothing and customisation wise, I just want regular, simple clothes as well. I see the beautiful, elaborate costumes, and they awe me, but a) no part of me can come at spending more money on doll's clothes then I spend on my own and b) again, what really charms me about the idea of my dolls is that they can just wear normal clothing!

 

I don't want her to be the best ever. I simply want her to be the best in my eyes, to my best ability. As long as i know i did my best I am happy

 

Personally, the only pressure I would feel to make my doll "the best" is from myself. I sort of feel like with my dolls I try to make them live up to my standards of beauty, but everyone sees beauty diffrently, therefore some may be happy with more bland dolls, whiles some want elaborate, extravagant, unusual, or unique dolls. (Hope I made sense )

 

No. I haven't read what everyone else has said, but no.
There's no such thing as "the BEST," especially in a hobby with hundreds of thousands (?) of participants and you figure, an average of three to seven dolls for a large percentage of the hobby's population.
Just because the "best" might possibly be out there, who's to say the owner is on DoA, or posts pictures? Some prefer to keep their hobby more private.

I strive to make my dolls better. However, I know they'll never be "the best," simply because I cannot afford ridiculously high-quality faceups, or to keep buying and trying wigs and eyes to make the best fit, or, especially, to provide my dolls with the most intricate of outfits. I'd rather they have more casual clothes, and many choices so they don't wear the same outfit for even a month at a time.

But honestly, it doesn't bother me.

There will always be someone bigger, better, stronger, faster, more creative, more talented, with more time on their hands, and more money to spend than you. Even if you're the daughter of a rich entrepreneur, with all the money in the world to spend on your dolls...who's to say you've got a good eye for design?

And really, let's not forget that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

I get unhappy when my dolls do not look perfect and would not present them if I wasnt able to step back and feel they where. Not really any external pressure to, it's just how I feel, same as I rarely present my own work [or even mention it, ho-hum] as I see it riddled with issues or not being done to a standard I hold myself to- but by all accounts most people proberbly don't care and will appreciate it anyway. Same as with dolls.

More or less echoing what's been said, I want my dolls to be amazing for my own benifit, however that may be- though I happen to like going the "whole" way with expensive outfits & perfect faceups and such. I don't really photograph them either, save for a few terrible shots of them just being around before they got finished that may be floating around the forums somewhere. Now I feel bad as I reminded myself about my unfinished guys, hehe!

 

As long as i'm happy with my dolls I don't care what other people think, i've not had mine long but they do take on their own sort of style but I will change them quite often so who knows what they will be like in the future, my human dolls are funky people and my smaller dolls have elf ears so will be fantasy elves and pixie types but nothing to crazy. I change my mind a lot so I might decide differently tomorrow who knows!

 

I think a lot of people can feel discouraged when their dolls don't turn out to be fantastically amazing and acclaimed like some other people's dolls on the forums are.

To be honest, a lot of my characters feel 'bland' compared to many people's stories, but you know, I like them being more 'normal' and down to earth. I don't have gods, vampires, deities or mystical creatures of any kind and well, frankly I like it that way. My dolls may not be considered to be 'OMFG TOTALLY FREAKING AMAZING' but the fact is, I like them and that's the main point. ^_^

 

I absolutely love Ethsy's Suiseiseki.

It's so unique, and it takes one of my favourite sculpts to a really neat potential, but I can look and be happy with my own dolls as long as they look clean and well put together, with clothes that are decent.

Someday, I'd like to create a doll that is unique, but if I don't, it's not a huge deal if the inspiration never arises.

 

I'd feel pressed to make my BJD the best... if we were talking a contest maybe.
BJDs are thought to be highly customizable, and how you customize them is up to you. Simple, complex, some casual look or something more flamboyant? Unusual? Unique? It's up to the owner and customizer. While there might be certain levels we want to achieve with our dolls, I feel it'd be impossible to talk about "the very best BJD out there", at least not based on arbitrary means.

As I see other owners' photos, beautiful face-ups and stunning mods, I'm amazed at what you can achieve in the hobby, and there's this motivation to make my doll look just as beautiful. Just how much beautiful, well, I think it depends on what your idea of beauty is and what you want to achieve: while some people give their dolls complex background stories, highly detailed face-ups and custom-made outfits, others will just be pleased with simpler stories or no background story at all, and more casual clothing for their dolls. It just has to do with what each person wants, and I firmly think that even the "blandest" of dolls dresses in the "simplest" of outfits is stunning beautiful is the owner feels it looks the way he or she always wanted it to look like.

 

I think you can make a doll very beautiful and detailed in a much more subtle way, like crafting them very well-made and distinct clothes and giving them a great faceup even if they are a more average-type character with a more subdued style. :3 The fancy dolls with intricately beaded dreses and long flowing hair can be really gorgeous and impressive, but some of the dolls I've admired most have been some of the most simple and plain, because they've had enchanting faceups that made them look so real and brought out so much personality.
So I don't feel the need to make my dolls super fancy, but I do feel the need to make them the best they can be for the type of character they are.

 

That made me laugh so hard, and sounds like such an awesome character too!

For me, I want my dolls to be the closest to their character they can be. It's just like we won't call one person the best person, if you're dolls have personalities then they should be respected for that, not for their super-awesome-uniqueness if that's not who they are.

My first three were just going to be highschool students, but now they're world-hopping and saving private arts highschool students just because that's who I felt they were (and bonus, I get to dress them in whatever style/era outfits I want and they can interact with all my other dolls). I have some pre-existing characters who are somewhat epic, but not all will look like rulers/heroes of the universe. I love the variety I suppose. And the only one I'm really trying to outdo is myself.

 

It's an interesting question. I'm often in awe of many of the most gorgeous and epic styles out there and I admit to feeling some pressure, but that's just as much living up to my own expectations as to making something as cool or epic as what I see out there. However, my characters are normal people--where they come from. I want to make them epic things because that's what they want, not because I see someone else do it and I gotta jump on the bandwagon and churn out teh awesome.

I look at those cool outfits and mods and I get inspired. They give me ideas to draw, to make, to elaborate on. I don't want to compete, I want to create and have fun customizing my way. I'm not gonna feel plain and down if the character wants to look like background wallpaper, I'm just gonna make them my kind of awesome wallpaper.

 

Well... Actually all my dolls are an everyday persons. I made a XVIII century costumes for them, but that only means they act as roleplayers. Maybe I will make some fantasy clothes for them someday... I love to make modern and casual looking style on them too and it can be not less great than any specific stuff. Actually I'm tired a bit of dolly images full of God-like powers, also I like kink and fun very much so this is my main field of activity.

I understand that I simply can't be perfect in every way but every tiny bit adds to my doll's images. So people feel it and give me a kind feedback.

And I do not feel any pressure for sure. The dolls suit my taste and this is the main reason for me being involved into this hobby.

 

Not in terms of characters, but picture wise yes. Hardly anyone looks at bad pictures, or a doll they see as bland, and there is no comments. So you HAVE to be one of the best to even get comments.