Is there pressure to make your BJD the BEST?

I put a lot of pressure on myself to get my dolls looking how I'd envisioned them... my first doll is approaching that now,and I feel it has all been worth it ^_^ My doll's characters/personalities were more or less made up as I went along... so, I don't feel much pressure to weave intricate stuff... it's all very liquid here, lol. And fairly standard. One of my dolls is an occupational therapist. Gosh.

When I see very exotic dolls with beautifully made fantasy outfits/face-ups/histories etc., I get a real kick out of it, because it does look so spectacular! And, I guess, that's why I love to look at other people's dolls a lot here in the galleries and otherplaces on the web... I love to see what other people have done, though having epic dolls doesn't suit me very well... that's why I feel it's great that other people have done them and shared: I get to see them anyway...

 

Aha I know what you mean!!!!
I'm a big fan of those "amazing" dolls like R727 and MadamMauMau's NachtZirkus, and I look at my boy in his gray shirt and funky default pants and I just sigh a little XD
I went through a stage for about a week just now trying desperately to think of something as awesome as that but I decided: 1) if it were to happen, it would take time 2) I don't have that amount of money :P 3) I love my boy and that's enough for me ^^

 

I always enjoy seeing those incredible dolls that everyone's talking about here, but I certainly don't feel any pressure when it comes to my own guys and I don't have any inclination or desire to have mine 'compete' against any other dolls that are out there. As long as my guys are as close to how I see them in my head then I'm happy: they have high standards to live up to, but those are my standards and not set by anyone else... which is the secret to contentment in general, I think!

 

LOL, this is a really fun question! I think most of my girls are really normal. They tend to have Normal names like "Ann" or "Emmaline" and be pretty normal. I do have have some more "out there" dolls but just a few and they tend to group themselves... so that all the SDs are pretty normal like you and me, the Pipos are "normal" except for being anthros of course, the Rosette girls are in the Victorian time-period but it's pretty realistic for them too. The most exotic my guys get is the Customhouse Petites, I have an Egyptian prince, a Time-traveling Acheologist's daughter and an Egyptian demi-goddess disguised as a "normal" person. So really i guess they run the gamut from really freaky to really normal! and no, i never felt any pressure internal or external to make then more or less fantasy oriented.

 

Amefurashi:

It's funny, I don't have a single doll yet, and I'm afraid of the opposite!
My story and characters are set in a different world and are alien. Everything is quite fantastical and metaphorical, and everything I have planned for the looks and characters of my dolls is symbolic and fitting. Yet, I'm so afraid that the 'alien' aspect might bore me once the novelty wears off, and that I'd just want them to be.. well, normal.
Thankfully BJD are incredibly customizable, so if I do ever want to change things around; I can!
And so can you

 

I think there is an underlying pressure or competitiveness some people feel, but it comes from within, not from others. It's that doubt people feel when they see a really beautiful or interesting doll. No one tells us we have to make our dolls the best, but there is an undercurrent in the hobby of people wanting their dolls to be considered pretty by others (cause its nice of course), and not have those dolls others grimace at. In the end though, these dolls should all be for ourselves, shouldn't they?

I have some over the top dolls (both character wise and visually), and I have some plain dolls. I don't think the OTT ones are better over the plain ones, I like them equally as they are how I want them to be. I do love it when people have extravagant stories and looks for their dolls, I find it interesting to see what other people do with their dolls, not to mention inspiring to look at. But also some of my favourite dolls from other owners are pretty 'plain' looking. They're just beautiful dolls I love to look at time and time again.

 

I have far-out otherworld guys and I have earthly guys. As in real life, I prefer a mixture of men. ^^ It keeps monotony from setting in.

I do like to have them all sitting around looking their best, however. There's just no reason not to! Whether they're in fabulous strappy leather costumes or jeans-and-a-sweater, every single man here has to make me go "hellyeah!" when I look at him. I'm the one who sits around the house in ratty cavegirl hair and ripped leggings and mismatched socks and a smelly floppy old sweater. The dolls are here to look better than me. I wouldn't present them in photos without making sure their looks were all in place AND their looks had something to say to the camera today... there wouldn't really be a point. Even the most on-the-fly snapshots that I take "just because", they're always done because a certain doll is just sitting around looking so perfect and wonderful that I can't resist a quick pic of him as he is right now.

 

I don't think I have that kind of pressure, personally. I own a BBB Mei, and because of how small she is, and the way she sits and poses (she looks so delicate and timid around all those big SDs and such!), I think she's perfect how she is. Eventually I think I'll customize her to make her truly unique, but for now she's just my little girl. She doesn't have to be 'the best'.

 

The only dolls I feel this pressure are my Volks dolls. Cause Volks started this whole thing and there being so many nice pictures of Volks dolls beautifully in wonderful outfits that makes them look like show pieces. I look at my 3 Volks girls and I feel bad. Caitlin has scratches on her face up, Celeste's default wig isn't in great condition, and Shayla...well her wig has had it and she's old skin so she has issues that the newer Volks dolls don't have. The only one I've caved with is Shayla, she's in almost exclusive Dollheart and some actual vintage outfits. She's not an "everyday" clothes doll. Cait and Celeste I don't mind, but with Celeste I am striving to keep her nice and make her stand out from the other YoSD Nonos.

 

who's pressuring me?!

 

I have to admit, I felt some pressure when I first started the hobby. Now looking back on it those thoughts were really silly. Now I just like to go into galleries and appreciate the work that people put into their dolls. As for mine, I just try to make them look decent and enjoy having them. They as not unique at all, in fact they are bland and generic but it really doesn't bother me.. o.o;

 

I just want them to be the best dolls to me in the end.
They're here to make me happy, after all...so, mission accomplished.

I wouldn't want to compete with other people's elaborate costuming
and ideas. I don't really care for such internal competition.
I respect the work they put into their dolls as I respect
myself making my dolls how I want them to be for me.

 

I don't really think about outside pressures at all. To me, my dolls are like a 3 dimensional journal...they are all records of my life experiences...so I design each one to fulfill my own creative expressions and nothing more. I don't even really think about what others will think when I'm working on them or how they'll compare with other dolls out there. They're merely a way of expressing myself. That being said, I strive hard to make them what I want, and I enjoy putting them out there for others to see when I'm done. But truly, whatever they turn out to be makes me happy.

 

Ah, no not exactly. I'm the only one putting pressure on me because I want my boys to look like my OCs they're representing, but most of the characters I had in mind for the ones I own and the ones I still have in mind for the ones I'm planning have existed a long time before I even knew about the community or BJDs in general.
They are who they are, I'm not changing anything about them to make them more special to others, just to me, if I change something at all.

 

It doesn't really matter to me. I just want my girls to be beautiful and sweet, and look good in the types of clothes I like. If other people see them and are like "wow!", that's cool. If not, that's ok too. I feel no pressure to make my dolls into anything other than what I want them to be ^-^

 

I don't have any real desire to make my dolls unique, really - but sometimes, when I see a really beautiful doll, I'm inclined to try and 'spice up' my boys' appearances a little bit. New faceups, wigs, eyes, etc. When it comes down to it, it's really just to make myself happy and not other people - but other people seem to influence it.

 

I don't think there's any real pressure to have 'epic' fantasy dolls, or pressure in the realm of characters, but I do feel that there's pressure for owners to always have all their dolls wearing the best, whether that be urethane eyes or a super-high quality wig or outfit, or even a faceup by a well known professional. I was reading a debate thread the other day (can't remember which one), and one thing I saw repeatedly mentioned was that people thought it was necessary for a doll to have a 'proper' faceup and outfit, and that they often thought it was a pity when a doll would always wear sock dresses instead of higher quality clothing, or had a 'poorly' self done faceup instead of a 'professional' one. I was a little stunned. It's often said on these boards that "it's your doll, you can do whatever you want with it", but the proof that people really do care about what you do with your doll was right there. (That statement is absolutely true, but it doesn't mean that people aren't going to form opinions about what you do with the doll.) I do feel that kind of pressure, and I occasionally feel the 'epic character' pressure with my Heliot, but for him I know it's because he isn't where I want him to be yet. So for the most part, I don't feel the need to make the characters embodied by the dolls more 'epic'. They're already too epic for my wallet to handle.

 

My doll is meant to be the 3D embodiment of my favorite fictional character, so I've never felt the pressure to impress other bjd owners, the only thing that matters to me is that the doll fits my personal vision of that particular character.

 

That's really interesting. I can understand if people would set these standards for their own dolls, but for others'..?

 

Well, I dont care about my dolls not being most unique or famous or be sdljl;xdjk; amasing, and also I never bother about characters much, but I want all of my dolls to look nice. Proper custom faceups, high quality clothes, and just lovely overal look. I love them this way and it makes me happy when I roll down database thread and my dollies looks all neat and pretty in it. And I feel a bit proud for taking such a good care about them xD

So I dont have any pressure. Sure it would be nice if people would remember my dolls by their names because they are fabulous or something, but I am already happy over the heels when I get 'your dolls always looks so nice!' comments \(=3=)/