Is there such a thing as an inferior ball-jointed doll?

No doll is superior or inferior to another... My super limited LE15/25s hang around just fine with my $150 Doll Leaves basics, my tan skinned dolls with my white skinned ones, and so on so forth. Every doll can be beautiful and it all boils down to personal preference. I do most of my faceups, I have some artist ones and company ones. Fullsets? Not really... I have my first/only fullset doll incoming and she's not going to stay in her fullset forever. Do some of my dolls have expensive outfits? yes... but most of them have outfits i've put together from getting standalone items since they need to match their characters. Does this make them any less special than a fullset Volks in a Baby the Stars Shine Bright ensemble? I don't quite believe so...

Long story short, if the dolls are special to you indeed you shouldn't feel hurt by what a random stranger thinks of your collection; your dolls are as special as they can get because, you know, you picked them, customized them and they are yours!! Which is the most important thing.

As for pictures... all of my dolls are my favorites, I'm really proud of Ealdred though so here you go! I consider him to be my muse in resin form in a sense...

 

Ma by the person just meant that they would be cheaper on the seccond hand market? I don't think any doll can be inferior. A dolls worth is very personal to the owner.

 

Out of curiosity I was wondering why you'd ask this question. I see that you just joined the forum and was wondering what dolls you had. I looked at your profile and found that you had: ☆ ??? - Littlefee Leah {Full Package Sugar Plum Fairy} - Born in 2009. Looks like to me this is a pretty fancy doll.

Most people here are not critical of the dolls others have. They just like the ones they like and move on. As for me, I love to see all the dolls and what other do with them.

 

Superior, no. I can get jealous of people who own beautiful dolls that, for some reason or another, I could never get my hands on, but that's just human nature, isn't it?
My dolls are bascis, normal skin colors, still have their default face-up and everything, but that's neither here nor there - I love them because they're special to me. I bought them because they fit characters I wanted to have doll-versions of, and I'm glad I found them as basics, because frankly, that way I had time to save up the money and to wait for a while to make sure that I actually wanted these specific dolls.

Might be that this person collects dolls for a different reason than you do, of course - if she collects them because they are special or pretty or rare, in their own right, then obviously she would feel that hers are superior to yours or mine.
So, as with everything else, it doesn't matter if other people feel superior because their dolls are more rare than yours (or for any other reason, really), no one else can understand exactly how special your dolls are to you.

I wish I had a picture to show, but I haven't had time to transfer any photos to this computer yet. So I might get back to you on that one

 

Funny, Because I think limited full sets aren't really special. Don't get me wrong. I do love full sets. Most of the dolls I own are full sets. It is expensive, but easy. I love most of the company face up. But many people have them. And when you browse the gallary you see the you also own.


I think it is amazing how people can change a character by changing little things in the outfit of dolls. But the ones I like most are the ones people customize themselves.
This also what I love most about the hobby. The fact that you can use a base and make something beautifull and the price tag of the doll doesn't matter if you love them.

 

Superior? Well, I guess there's dolls out there who're superior to others as far as things - objectively measurable things - like mobility or engineering are concerned. Or maybe resin quality (how prone to breaking/chipping is it? does it keep giving off an unpleasant odour? is it nice to handle? etc). And I'll always and in every single case consider genuine dolls superior to recasts, no matter how nice the recast looks.

Except for that, for me, there's no such thing as one doll being superior to the other. There's just dolls I like and dolls I don't like (of course I'll prefer those that I like but we all do, don't we? ). Purely a matter of taste.

 

i do not think some dolls are superior than others, it is true that some are cheaper, but even then there can be a lot work put into them from the owner.
yes many see the fairyland dolls as fancy, they are also some of the more expensive in the bjd hobby. i personally love them because of their posing abilities, body and head sculpts.

there are a little of everything in the group of dolls i own both unlimited and limited. from a cheap resin soul to a soom limited. most of them normal skin, some whites and one grey, one a limited leeke skin color and one light tan(the resin soul) . i love them all as they fit the characters i gave them. i also have a few fullsets, but i always end up changing a few things as i love to decide the way they look.
i really can not chose a favorite among them

 

i do think that there are 'superior' bjd out there because of the quality they have but i would never look down on dolls just because they are cheap or incomplete. Each one is special depending on how much you take care of them. I have friends who has older version bjds but they still look beautiful.

 

I would pretty much agree with Khell; those things are objective. Sounds like everything the person who criticized your dolls was thinking of was subjective, though -- entirely individual preference -- and being outspoken about judging someone else's dolls based on one's own personal preference is neither right nor fair. I haven't been here very long, either, but I'm pretty sure DoA is generally against that sort of behavior, too. What anyone thinks in his or her own mind is their own business, but what they say to others should show some consideration of others' feelings.

Well, I, for one, am lucky enough to be a new owner but already have my Grail Doll: she is a Luts, yes, but she's not a limited sculpt, and she's in a very "ordinary" skin tone. I consider her to be very beautiful, and she is precious to me. I got her because I love her, just as she is. (She's the doll in my avatar pic. I would add another photo, but the ones I took yesterday aren't off the camera yet. ) None of my seven dolls is in rare skin tone! But, each one is in a beautiful shade of resin which was lovingly chosen and mixed up by the doll artists who created him or her, and each has a face lovingly sculpted and carefully painted by skilled artists. How could anyone consider such a doll "inferior" to another?!

I think that no legitimate doll of quality resin is "inferior" to another because of limited edition or skin color -- that's dolly racism! None of that, none of that!

Love your dolls because YOU love them. What someone with the bad manners to think that being outspoken and judgemental is okay thinks is... ...who cares??

 

What if someone was in the hobby for a different reason such as creating a character for the doll and not trying to collect as many limited dolls as possible? Should I buy a super limited, special skin scuplt because its "superior" to a basic even though it wouldnt suit a character I was trying to shell? I definitely think no dolls are superior to others, unless like someone mentioned above, such as build quality.

 

I think whatever you do to a doll to customize and create a character for example, makes a doll unique, not how rare the sculpt or full set is.

Nobody should ever look down on another for having 'cheaper' dolls or something. Besides, I have seen lots of 'cheap' dolls which look absolutely beautiful because of how they've been customized. Some people do amazing faceups and make great outfits.

 

that's ridiculous to call a doll "inferior" because it's NS with a company faceup and not a fullset. That is, truly ridiculous. What a turd of a person to have said that. Elitist snobbery.

When I read your post title, I thought, well of course there is such a thing as an inferior BJD, just like ANYTHING that is made - there are inferior cars, inferior clothing, etc. I was assuming you meant quality of resin, quality of construction, quality of jointing, etc. On that scale, sure, again, just like anything else, there are some companies out there churning out BJDs of all different kinds of quality. But that still doesn't mean anybody has the right to say "my doll is better than yours because xyz." It's just rude, and people like that... you don't need "friends" like that.

 

I have dolls that are limited (Soom MD), very limited (38 made), a limited fullset (who's character would never wear the fullset clothes, wig or eyes, but I won him so....), fantasy colours, discontinued dolls and dolls that are commonly available. I have default company face-ups, custom company face-ups and completely custom artist face-ups. I've even got a doll without a face-up that will never have one because he looks amazing without one. I wouldn't say any of them are inferior to each other because of what they may or may not have.

However... I will say that there are some in my collection with very frustrating engineering of certain joints that makes them a tough challenge to pose or even do very basic things like stand unaided (I'm looking at you and your Collapse O-matic Knees of Doom, OD). Some have wonky design where the idea is good but the actual execution sucks hard core (Leeke locking magnetic hands that don't actually lock and make the hands prone to flying off if you breath on them too hard). Some simply have poor choices made in the size/type of elastic used (I'm looking at you, RS). Does this make them inferior? I don't think so as in my opinion, one flaw doesn't automatically make the doll a candidate for the trash heap. It just presents more of a challenge to your patience and perhaps encourages you to do what you can to fix the issue (sueding/wiring, swapping out body parts, learning to re-string a doll).

The person who called your dolls inferior because they don't fit into their aesthetic ideals was quite rude and insensitive. I can understand why you'd be hurt but in this instance, your best option is likely to ignore them and not associate with them. As long as your dolls make you happy, they're the best thing in the world.

 

I have yet to come across an inferior BJD. I like some companies and molds better than others, but they're all beautiful and well made. How can they not be special? I mean they're only made when someone places an order. Even secondhand dolls are special as they were made especially for someone.

There are some resins that I like better than others, but I've yet to handle resin I've considered "inferior".

I personally don't even like tanned skin or a lot of fantasy colors so... yeah. And I don't like full sets. Some are lovely, but I like to find my own stuff and put it together. I've never been one for "limited edition" just because its limited. If I really love the outfit anyway, I MIGHT consider it but usually not. I certainly wouldn't just buy it to say I own one.

I would just laugh at this person and feel sorry for them. They're obviously missing the best part of this hobby and spending lucrative amounts of money without getting the bang for their buck. Then I'd go and snuggle my dolls and think about how much it must suck to be that person and not be able to enjoy dolls the way I do.

 

oh gosh, that's horrible. please don't listen to other people nonsense, and that's me putting it nicely.

there are so many sculpts to choose from, how sad would it be if we all had the same one. the best sculpts to me will forever be the ones I like the most. it's a real shame people can't be muted in real life.

 

Some may be of better quality - like posability and resin quality - but for someone to say a doll is better than another because it has a custom face up and a fullset or is limited edition, is just silly. The great thing about this hobby is how customizable it is! You aren't stuck with one thing or another and if you like the things it comes with, great! If you don't, that's great too! Sometimes I feel my own dolls are plain or boring in comparison to other dolls who have elaborate outfits or huge back-stories but in the end, I still love my dolls for who they are and what they mean to me. I'm sure all your dolls are absolutely beautiful!

 

Some dolls pose better than others, and some resin is sturdier and more stable (does not yellow as much/ as quickly) so I guess in those aspects one doll or brand may be "superior" to another. However I don't think a certain aesthetic is superior to another, or a certain price point is superior, etc. I like some dolls more than others, and some I think are really unattractive, but that is just my own personal taste. The only inferior dolls, to me, are recasts. Don't listen to people who say your dolls are inferior. Those people have to put down others in order to make themselves feel good. It's sad, really.

It's hard to pick a favorite doll, really. But here's a pic of my girl Valentine taken the day I got her last year. She is my grail doll and I never thought I'd ever be able to own her.

 

I wouldn't think of any dolls as inferior, unless they were so badly made they couldn't stand, but I guess I probably would see a few as superior. Not because they were expensive, or rare, or full sets or anything, but because the owner had spent a lot of time making them look really unique, modding or doing amazing face-ups, and making fantastic outfits that tied the whole thing together. As far as I'm concerned a fullset in a special colour is just the same as a basic doll in a common colour, while they might be limited, they aren't special or unique, but a doll that the user has made his or her own is far more special to me.

And this doesn't mean I'd look down on people for owning dolls that didn't make me think 'wow, that's so well done'. My dolls are still works in progress, as I'm sure many other peoples are, and not everyone has the time/talent/budget to make their dolls exactly how they want. So long as you love them and have fun with them, that is all that counts, and matters way more to me than whether your doll is rare or limited or whatever. If you enjoy collecting rare dolls and fullsets and just put them on a shelf and never play with them, that's fine if it makes you happy, but it's not something I want to get out of the hobby, I want to play with my dolls, customise them, make them my own, and so people who do that too are the ones who impress me most.

Ignore anyone who looks down on you and calls your dolls inferior, they aren't worth being friends with. Enjoy your dolls for you, and ignore anyone who says stupid things.