Manly Men or Gentle Boys doll preference?

I like both, but if i had to chose, I'd say Gentle Boys!
I am not sure why, but then again, my preference for "real men" is also Gentle Boys over Manly Men.
I couldn't tell you why, though!

 

My preference in people are those that blur the gender lines. So softer, more feminine men, or women that lean more towards masculine presentations. But not full on, somewhere in the middle. I've been told it's a bi thing lol (it could also be that I'm nonbinary myself).

This lends itself to my preference in dolls - the leaner, less built guys appeal to me more. I don't want my guys to look like children (and to me, anyone below like 25 looks like a child at this point), but I definitely don't want them to look like they spend every waking moment in the gym either. Think like...Dream Valley aesthetic lol.

 

Hm.
If I had to choose, I guess I'd pick the softer approach? I personally really dislike the absolutely ripped asthetic most big male dolls have. Just why do their muscles look so defined? And their big muscular thighs/fore arms.... kind of bother me too.
Unfortunately, I seem to gravitate towards the 70cm+ dolls where this design choice seems to be the default. The only one that I've found that doesn't conform to this asthetic and is 70cm is the body from Vings. Of which the preorder I also missed. Unfortunately.
But I found out I'm also not really into the boy dolls either. They don't click with me.
In the end, I think I adore the 68cm sculpt the most, but the dolls that they release in that size just seem too young for my tastes and they don't speak to me.
I'm just kinda stuck going for the freaking ultra muscular dolls.
I'm still hoping I will encounter a doll one day that ticks off all of my boxes, but it seems unlikely.

 

Don't really dig the realistic and/or heavily muscled guys. I prefer my male dolls more stylised, and yeah that usually means softer features. Tho I did go thru a phase of really wanting one of the big Iple boys from my og stint in the hobby - them Akandos my dudes, them Akandos....but in reality, I prob wouldn't have kept them in my collection as they pretty, but def not my style.

 

...neither? I like masculine boys, haha.

I don't think "manly men" and "gentle boys" are opposite ends of a single scale - it's more complex than that for me. When categorizing dolls (male and female), I kinda have two sliding scales in my mind: "grown <-> child", and "realistic <-> stylized". On the grown/child scale, I prefer youths (teens, adolescents) -- bigger eyes, softer facial lines, willowy and youthful bodies that are still a bit soft and androgynous, but not prepubescent anymore. On the realistic/stylized scale, I kinda fall in the middle -- realistic but idealized, a little bit stylized but not completely cartoon/anime-ish/exaggerated.

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle of both scales, but I have trouble defining it, even in my head. XD I've actually had a very hard time finding 1/3 male heads and bodies that I like. Boys from Luts, CP/Fairyland, Crobidoll and Dream of Doll are too stylized. BL boys a la Switch and Kanadoll are a bit more realistic, but too soft and not masculine enough. I'm even less interested in manly males -- both photorealistic ones a la Iplehouse, SartoriaJ, Impldoll, and more stylized danmei/bishonen types a la Ringdoll, Soom Idealians.

Thankfully I've been able to find a few dollmakers whose boys I like -- Dollstown, Migidoll, Elfdoll, Bimong, Rugged Realism and a few other small KR and CN artisans, with Volks and Dollshe's classic guys kinda on the edge. They hit that sweet spot of being masculine yet with the potential to be a bit softer/androgynous, and well out of childhood but not quite hitting all the archetypal-man traits.

 

I like a muscular body that is soft rather than veiny. So I like a gentle manly man, I guess? Pretty boys who aren't necessarily twinks are the ideal for most of my boy dolls. Though I do definitely have those gentle boys who aren't muscular at all, too.

 

I always thought the shoulders three times as wide as the waist is the male equivalent of when a gal's waist is smaller then her head. It's ridiculous. I'd be all for my testosterone guys if they got a little closer to a plausible proportion. But the fem guys often go the other way and go too child like to fall into really the "man" territory, but definitely not and I'm not super Interested in collecting teenagers personally. They all have something special though and for me, I do want one manly one (albeit closer to achievable proportions) And a bit of a brawnier soft boy for the purposes of characters.

 

Grown up men and women, at least teenagers or older. I'm definitely not into anime or kid looking dolls at all.

 

I prefer masculine builds with gentle boys faceup..

 

A bit of both, really.
I like heads with sort of mature or interesting features - Ringdoll K and Loongsoul He Yi and Cang Yue have really nice noses and profiles but I'm not sure how I feel about the Loongsoul 73cm body's rippling muscles.
As for the more child and teenage sculpts, I don't mind them being on the gentle boy side - I've got a SDC Miko with the most angelic face and a SD13 Isao who I'm still deciding on a look for.

 

hmmm i like more androgynous boys so maybe gentle but not quite? between the two tho id def get gentle as i collect msds and theres not many...manly men in msd size

 

Both. All.

All boys are good boys. XD

I prefer a range. I think it would be boring to have all of my boys look similar and it’s a goal of mine to have as many different body types as possible!

Magic Mirror Levon & Iplehouse FID Oscar (muscle type) are my thicc bois. But they have a height difference! Which is yas.

Soul Doll Joelle and Doll Leaves Berg are my thinner ones.

My next wtb is Harucasting Day, and I think he’s a really great in-between.

 

Personally I prefer the softer boys since I think they are childish in a cute way (the biggest dolls I have are 1/4 scale and they tend to be that way). However, I have to say that the manly men are appealing in their own way, but since most if not all of my crew are character dolls based on OCs, I don't have much use for them since I don't have a lot of "manly" characters.

 

I dunno, somewhere in the middle perhaps? To be honest I don’t have a particular preference just based on the criteria stated, I like what I like and it’s usually down to a ‘feeling’ more than anything.
I’m the same with male humans, choice is based on character/gut feeling more than purely physical appearance as to me (being artistic) bodies are just a series of shapes….some more visually pleasing than others. For example I find Jason Momoa attractive as there’s also a certain feralness about him that appeals to me then on the completely opposite end of the scale I adore Olly Alexander with his cheeky grin, then there’s ever lovely Mr. Keanu Reeves who is in a category of his own…….

The two BJD boys I have don’t really fit either category, they aren’t overly manly but they also aren’t soft and delicate.

 

There's definitely a spectrum here and my vote is going for "excessively feminine domestic terrorist" boys

 

I like in between I think. He has to look manly enough he doesn't get mistaken for a girl, but soft enough that he doesn't look like a man on steroids. There are times I like a sharp defined muscular face and there are times I like a gentle face that looks like a kpop idol. Although, not all idols fit into that soft image. Sometimes I suddenly want an androgynous face, so i can switch the doll between a female or male if i change my mind. The sudden urge to buy an androgynous face doesn't happen often. I guess what i prefer is based on the concept I want for my doll.

 

That depends on the character I'm trying to breathe life into. In my crew there is a gentle chubby young man and a rough evil hard-faced guy with sharp shapes.
Both have an equal right to exist. I love the variety of shapes.

 

I prefer gentle boys certainly

 

Can.....can I just make fun of my past self please? *major foot in mouth*

I currently own both masculine beefy boys and super pretty girly boys....and everything in between. I just like all the boys. And girls. And ALL the types. Just...gimme everybody.

 

I love owners' pictures of their manly dolls, but could never see myself owning one. I prefer smaller boy dolls like msd boys. Mainly because I'm all about cuteness when it comes to my dolls