Manly Men or Gentle Boys doll preference?

All of my dolls/the dolls I'm planning are "gentle boys". Some are more feminine than others, but I think it all comes down to the fact that I love really slender bodies like from dream valley and doll chateau (I would kill to get my hands on a DC Y-body-02) no matter how they dress or who their character is. I only have one doll on the way who's a "manly man", but he is dating what you could I guess call a gentle boy haha

 

Uh... somewhere in the middle? I want my (adult) male dolls to be unmistakably masculine but I don't like the whole perma-frown scowl jowl thing some of them got going on. I like the look of earnestness/gentleness in masculine features. Like Iplehouse Ron (and his predecessor Evan) both got that masculine face with the slightly-parted lips that make them look wistful/pouty and I am so there for it.

 

Somewhere in between is nice...many of the softer sculpts look like children which won't work for my OCs and too many masculine sculpts look like they're always squinting lol

 

I deliberately built my collection around diversity from the very beginning, so I have both manly and soft in my collection which is just the way I like it. It all depends on their character. They range all the way from the very soft fem-boy Georgie, to the uber elegant semi-soft Willow, to my kindly faced angel with the killer bod, to the super masculine stag-inspired ruler of the realm. All types are welcome here!

 

Body-wise I'm partial to thicker and more muscular builds, I remember searching endlessly to find an MSD boy in my budget that was buff enough for me (Withdoll boys!!) when ordering my first doll.

Head-wise, I remember when I first fell in love with BJDs as a middle schooler, I only cared about the super masculine, chiseled jaws of Granado. I still love Granado, but nowadays I've noticed I've been more interested in more elegantly masculine sculpts, if that makes sense? I recently ordered a Dollzone Obi head (bunny guy ) and he's got this lovely but quiet manliness about it, I think. I only bought the head though because I'm not as into the build of the body he comes with (just a hint too skinny for me!) so I have a new body search ahead of me lol

I've also noticed I don't mind the baby-face buff boy look in a lot of mature 1/4 boy sculpts, I think it's because I'm a 20-something year old with the baby-est face on earth jdhkjfsljgfksldfds I think I see a bit of myself in these round face dudes, which can be kind of comforting!

 

To which I answer; why not both? I enjoy all sorts of body types and faces, and my characters are all different in similar regard. So, in my collection, you will find absolute manly men (like Durga, my IH Leonard and Kohei, 5th motif Venitu), with their big beefy bodies and facial hair and ones that walk a fine line (like Yasuo, my Soom York) who is big and bulky but his face retains a hint of elegant androgyny, especially when coupled with his incredibly long, lush black locks. But also ones that fall on the softer end of the spectrum (say, Naoya, my mblue XiHyeon or his father, Kentarou, mblue Laaon) to ones that push the boundaries towards the feminine end of the spectrum (Yukihiko, my Switch Seolrok) who is actually on a modded female to male body as he's supposed to be not only effeminate but curvy, with a slight hint of breast no less, so nothing different would do.

Bottom line, I love diversity... every body and face has its own aspect of beauty and I love celebrating that.

 

Definitely depends on the boy! I've got both ends of the spectrum represented now, and I love them both-- and sculpts that bring in elements of both. I love realistic sculpts that look like adult men, but that doesn't mean they can't be gentle.

 

Manly men 100%. I do not want them to be hyper realistic though.

 

Honestly I appreciate both. I am only collecting 1/4 size dolls, and it seems like most of the man/boy dolls in that size lean on the 'pretty/cute/baby-faced' side of the spectrum, which I actually really like for my own collection. But I love looking at photography of the more muscular/chiseled SD guys even if I know I wouldn't personally want one.

 

@dolleigh I feel the same: I really appreciate the effort and skills that go into creating some characters or photos of those realistic hunk-like BJD boys, expecially into the poses, accessories, wigs, faceup - they are so awesome looking.

But I prefer my boy to be extremely girly and share his clothes with my girls. For this purpose, I got him a petite SD body with the same measurements as the girls. I like his soft face too. When his head was (for about 2 years) on a girl body, I couldn't stand the impression that somethin was off and he was a boy trapped in that shell. Now, even though his clothes and long blond wigs haven't changed, the awareness that he's male helps.

(side note: I have just ordered plenty of accessories such as a white shirt, a tie and other clothes that will boy'ify him. I can't wait!)

 

I like both, it'd be too hard to choose just one. But I also like diversity in my characters. I'd get too bored having all soft boys or all macho men. Ideally I'd like to have 3 boy dolls, one that's macho, one that's soft and mostly into fem clothes, and one that can switch between the two or be more androgynous!

 

I don't personally like too manly dolls at all. I mean, I do like to see them around, but I couldn't imagine ever owning one. I am actually rather annoyed that there's not much variety in different BJD companies' bodies. All of my male characters tend to be more feminine or androgynous than masculine which is why I would not shell them as too manly dolls.

I am also quite dissapointed that there are mostly pretty and handsome boys around. I would love to see some more personal-looking dolls! I'm also longing for chubbier body options, I think that would be really nice and create more diversity. I can only dream...

 

in between! gentle but still a full grown man

 

Gentle or in between, but not to manly. Or at least I think so? My most manly mens are Fifth Motif Venitu and ANother Secret doll I'm (on Dollstown 18y body).

 

Definitely not manly men! I've got two boys so far (+ one floating head which may end up never getting a body, so I'm not sure if gender applies to them), both quite androginous and gentle, and all male dolls on my wish-list have more or less the same level of (not) manliness. Atm I collect dolls no taller than 62 cm, and they are usually youthful and don't have very developed bodies, which is just what I need. Well, I may want to have more mature-looking male dolls, but I don't like muscular bodies, strong jaws and all that (both in real life and in art). I'd like to see more boys in all scales that are subtle or chubby. And since the previous persion mentioned him, Fifth Motif Venitu looks like a dream doll to me (probably the most masculine I'd want to own), if only he wouln't be that big... and hard to buy.

 

I prefer manly men. I definitely want my male doll to have masculine features. It's a personal choice and feel that the sculpts out there are sometimes too soft looking.

 

This was largely coincidence, but all three of my boys are the softer type. Johnny is of a slight build and has a mild face, and Wozzeck is...well, a tiny! Alistair has visible fangs and thus might look like Mr. Macho at first glance, but inside he's a big cream puff. I guess one could say I like my boy dolls like I like my men; I like them to be men-men, but with a definite soft side.

 

I have a mix. Most fall on the more masculine side while a few have definitely been mistaken for girls. I tend to go for the softer boys, but still mature.

 

For me it really depends on the type of character I'm thinking of making the doll. I like both manly and more soft boys so I don't think I really have a preference, though I do really love the crafting that goes into doing more chiseled face sculpts! Square jaws are just lovely

 

I like either slightly manly, but more soft friendly boys