Opinion on Fairyland, over hyped or not?

I think when a brand of doll becomes super popular, it's easier to develop the mentality they are overhyped. It's quite a common trend for people as a whole to diminish or criticize what's popular imho. I see Fairyland get knocked for same-y face molds, and not "worth" the price. But I've heard the same argument over Volks dolls as well. Don't get me wrong, I love Volks dolls, but I am not going to argue that a lot of their sculpts look very similar. I also get that paying $900-1200+ for a fullset doll is a lot when there are cheaper alternatives out there. So yeah, that's a lot of 'overhype' if that particular brand of doll doesn't really do it for you.

If you like any of the FL dolls, get the doll. You will thank yourself later when you're genuinely enjoying the doll you bought. No matter if people think Fairyland is overhyped.

 

I would say "Overhyped", but it seems like the hype has been fading since I joined the hobby. Likely because now there are just tons of choices that are more accessible, more consistent in quality, and more poseable without sacrificing aesthetic beauty. For example, you can easily find a beautifully sculpted doll that poses better, is completely free of seamlines, and has consistent quality for less than half the price of a Minifee.

Dream Valley, Coral Reef and Charm Doll come to mind. I guess it isn't so much that Fairyland is overrated but that a lot of extremely high quality, gorgeous dolls are underrated just because they don't have a popular brand name associated with them.

I would say if you're not totally in love with them aesthetically, there are plenty of other choices out there that would probably suit you better! But if their aesthetics just click perfectly with your sensibilities, they might be worth it for you.

 

In the size I collect fairyland dolls are very close in price with other companies so I honestly don’t see them as overpriced. I guess when you add options like resin color, sleeping plate, other hands and feet, or full set items it adds up, but add ons with other companies would still be comparable I think.

 

Whatever opinion others hold is down to personal preference at the end of the day and as some have said it shouldn’t affect your own views. There are plenty of very popular BJDs out there I think are ugly as hell but I know that’s just how I see them, others think they’re beautiful!
I voted ‘kind of’ purely because there wasn’t a ‘not really’ or ‘it’s a matter of personal taste’ answer and ‘no never’ was too blinkered an option.

I own a few Fairyland sculpts, mainly their tinies and adore them. They feel nice to handle and they usually have such expressive faces without being overly sculpted that way. Only recently have I acquired a couple of minifees and they are newer sculpts as I’m not a huge fan of their older ones but that, as I said, is purely my personal preference. I’m not a die hard fan, I just happen to like some of their range.

I don’t think they’re over-hyped any more than several other well known companies I could name. They’re popular yes but that’s more down to price, ease of acquisition, ease of finding clothing for and the general appeal of their sculpts to a variety of collectors. Tastes change, especially as you learn more and/or grow older and you’re allowed to admit that. What appealed to you when you began collecting isn’t always what catches your attention as the years go by. We all fall in and out of love with different styles, doesn’t mean anything more than that.

 

Is Fairyland overhyped? I voted yes, but I feel Fairyland is not overhyped in general, but MiniFee's are overhyped to heaven and back. While I love the fantasy aesthetic of Fairyland fullsets, the basic dolls do not appeal to me at all. I have mentioned before in other threads that I have had an interest in owning a ChicLine one day, but that's where my particular interest ends. The huge heads of MiniFees are a major turn off for me as a strictly mature mini/fashion doll collector.

 

I voted "kinda" as someone who does have several fairyland feeple dolls, albeit mostly the older ones and all event heads. I've had issues with the magnetic hand/feet system, wobbly heads, loose head caps, etc. which makes me feel a bit meh given the price of fairyland dolls.

I don't blame them for the same-face syndrome as it seems to be working well for them from a business perspective, but I honestly really miss the old CP sculpts and styles, including the later/ rarer Delfs right before the transition from Luts. Also wish they kept the older bodies too

 

I don't know their sculpts don't appeal to me. Lots of people love them though so I assume it's because they are well loved.

I don't understand what makes themselves popular but I guess my tastes are just different.

 

I like Fairyland but they are definitely overhyped - and overpriced, IMO. My last two minifees (from 2021 I think? I'd have to double check...) for hybrids that had... underwhelming quality control. One of them, my a-line, I had to send to a friend to have her shin drilled out more, since the hole was so small due to flashing/unremoved resin, I couldn't restring her myself... no idea how Fairyland managed to string her in the first place. There was also flashing in my moe's pelvis between the legs and she didn't have a butt magnet, which frankly felt very cheap of Fairyland. Considering a full doll is $400 and a lot of other Korean msd bjds are closer to $250-$300, it's quite a noticeable difference and I'd have hoped for more care for quality control, especially since I ordered in-between events...

Their aesthetics are very, very cute though and the posing is usually decent. Honestly I find the aesthetics + magnetic hands are their best points.

I had considered jumping onto the grey/blue event they had recently, but I wanted to see the quality of the resin color beforehand. I figure if the event went well, there should be another one... but the quality of my last two minifees really upset me and kind of soured me on new/direct purchases over secondhand. Ultimately, I am glad I didn't buy one during the event since Souldoll rereleased Devonia & Kyron in a purple resin event a little while after, so I have them on a very long layaway with Denverdoll right now. I may still consider getting a grey minifee body so I could get a grey body for a withdoll kiara head I want to eventually buy, since I think the hybrid would look nice proportionally and I love magnetic hands.

I still plan or am mulling over to eventually get a klaus, niella, minifee sircca & iset, and maybe a littlefee chloe (and maybe a feeple65 elf chloe & siean... if they ever come back...), but most would be a hybrid of some kind. Minifees are no longer really a priority for me. But regardless of if it's "overhyped," if that's the dolls you enjoy - enjoy them! It's better to have dolls you really enjoy.

I will say though, when it comes to secondhand sales... I've never really had a hard time selling minifee stuff. I can't say the same for other companies, unfortunately, lol.

 

Only dolls I own from FL are Minifees and I will say the Minifee bodies are extra when it comes to the amount of work I have to put into them to get them to pose decently. However, I really do love FL face sculpts. That being said, I voted kinda.

 

I didn't like Fairyland for a long time and the hype for them made that feeling worse. To me they all looked the same and especially the faceups people got for them were boring to me. Then I came back after a hiatus and my feelings changed. I still don't like the culture surrounding minifee and the majority of faceups people give their minifee (I think the company in this case is more striking than a lot of the popular faceup artists for them), but I think they've been really hitting on something that resonates with me lately. I also looked into their Feeple60 and Feeple65 lines and realized I like the dolls from those lines a lot more and even would like to buy a doll from one some day.

I do think they are overhyped, still, (especially minifee) but I've been able to develop an appreciation for the company that I didn't have before.

 

I say "a little". On the one hand, they have quality control issues (or did, I haven't heard of any super recently to be fair) and their dolls are, in my opinion, overpriced. The dolls don't pose super well, they have weird joints, and I see the argument that a lot of the sculpts have same-face syndrome. However.

Having thought for the longest time that Fairyland dolls were all hype and no substance, I recently purchased one of my own. I got him second hand, he's a fairyline Altis with a minifee head. The faun legs are actually really well engineered, I love the magnet hands, and the sculpting on the human body is pretty great, not gonna lie. That said, he can't even sit.

So basically, there's some actually good qualities to these dolls, and I'm happy to own one myself. But they're far from perfect, and I probably wouldn't pay full price for them.

 

I know this is always going to be a matter of opinion, but personally I do think Fairyland is over-hyped. My first BJD was a Minifee, and I had my heart set on getting one chiefly because of all the praise I heard for them over the years. So many people praised the posing in particular, saying that their Minifees were the best posers they had. I don't doubt this, but looking back I realize how subjective that is. I've now owned dolls from 6 companies and I can honestly say that my Minifee was probably my most limited poser. After all those years of longing for my first BJD, I was pretty disappointed with these limitations. For example, her total inability to sit on her legs or slouch, her difficulty even sitting at a perfect right angle, the lack of a proper thigh joint that would allow her to sit with her knees up to her chest...those were probably the things that bothered me the most. Whereas my other dolls (most of them less expensive) had most of these capabilities.

As for price, when you take into account the posing limitations as well as all the numerous quality control issues, and then compare them to other companies, I do think they're overpriced. I also agree that a lot of their sculpts look the same, at least until they began branching out recently. That being said, there are still good things about Fairyland, and each person has to decide for themselves whether a Fairyland doll is worth it to them, or lives up to the hype. They didn't so much for me, but the fact remains, I still love my Shushu to death and I never plan on letting her go (although I must admit I love her a whole lot more now that I ditched the Minifee body and put her on a Souldoll body instead ).

 

I don't think FL is overhyped. I don't like most of their sculpts and I think the body engineering is behind. But they are lovely works of art made with a lot of time and labour, and people love their dolls dearly. I also still love and appreciate FL dolls for existing.

Rather than overhyped, I think it is that other doll makers are underhyped, and I would like to see this amount of love for doll makers across the board. I love bjds so much, I want them all to be celebrated! Art deserves to be celebrated, so it's not that FL doesn't deserve it, but that others deserve just as much. What we can do is show our favourite doll makers all the love they deserve.

 

I have several dolls and many of them are a-line female Minifees. I do love their faces and their magnetic hands. I also like how easy it is to dress them, get extra heads and share parts. My other minis are Doll Leaves, Soom and Luts. From that selection, I think my Minifees are easiest to pose arm-wise. They also sit, kneel and stand pretty well. I really don't ask a lot beyond that. My most poseable dolls leg-wise are my Doll Leaves girls but they are also harder to find form fitting clothes for and I don't care for their hand mold.

My primary reason for choosing Minifees is the ability to find outfits for them and dress them. That's why I own dolls. I don't take many pictures and forums are pretty much my social media experience.

If I could change any thing it would be the price but, I know it takes a lot of hard work to make a doll and it's such a specialized skill. I'm not too upset by it.

 

I don't think they're overhyped at all! For me, FL produces the most beautiful dolls on the market, especially in terms of 1/4 scale dolls. The female sculpts look young/adolescentish without looking like children with breasts. Love that the hands, feet, and head are all easy to remove. Mine can easily stand on her own two feet (no stand!) as well as sit, etc. I'm also very thankful it's been relatively easy to find clothing and shoes for her.

I bought both of mine nude with faceup (1 in stock from Denver Doll and one I'm still waiting for, straight from FL), but would love to buy a fullset at some point in the future if the entire package 'spoke' to me.

 

I agree with the sentiment that FL isn't overhyped, other artists are underhyped. Everyone is going to have their own preferences; I mostly collect slim minis, so when I see the Minifees, I think they're pretty but not in a way that entices me. I've seen some folks do lovely work on them, though. And they're a big, well-known company that's been in the game for ages. Of course folks are gonna know them.

I've never had one, so I can't speak to the quality control or posing from personal experience, but I've had many dolls across varying price ranges and tbh, haven't seen much correlation of price and posing. My cheapest doll is my best poser, my most expensive is middle of the road (one of her thighs likes to pop out), same as my second-cheapest doll, most of my pricier minis suck at posing except for two, one indie, one Volks. Sure I like a doll that poses well, but if engineering were a bigger factor in the price, I'm sure my Tian Ni and my Zeri would be a lot more comparable in price!

 

Reading the comments, I have very similar experience with @puppymush 's. My first was a minifee, because of all the praises and best poser vote. (and briefly owned chiclines) Thus I think it's overhype. I've never hold their bigger ones, but my guess it would be pretty similar, considering the joint system looks the same. I do like their face sculpt, the bigger and tiny ones as well as minifee, although minifee start to feel same-y, due to so many heads.

I was so happy with mine first but after playing a bit longer, did find it disappointing, can't slouch, limited sitting poses. She was just pretty. My 2nd one is a Little Monica little harmony and it was sooo much better, I enjoyed bjd a lot more.

It's a history now. For me, Bimong Narae has best body for posing, and the sculpting is quite nice too. and for face... all dolls are good (If i have money tree, I'll buy all them all). Consider what you'd like out of your doll @Kizumii_chan , is it a play thing? for art reference/action photo? or you like them just for being pretty sitting there. If you like the face/body or both face+body, get them regardless if it's overhype or not.

 

My sister had Feeple60 girls (Moe line) so I was able to hold and pose them and I can verify that they're pretty much identical to Minifee in posing (or lack thereof).

Same here, I was thrilled with my girl at first but the shine wore off later on. I wasn't sure if this was only my experience though, so it's good to find out I'm not the only one who felt this way...

 

I think it depends! Because what one person thinks is the best doll ever made, another won't like at all.

I have a Fairyland Feeple60 Moe line Chloe. She's adorable, the body is pretty, posing is....well, not as amazing as people say? Or maybe I just can't do it right? I love that her hands and feet are magnetic and her head has the lock/key system, so she's super easy to dress. All of that is great! But her neck drives me crazy. Her head constantly jerks to the side, it's a struggle to pose her head. That's really about my only complaint about her. And I'm neutral on "worth the value". A doll is worth what you're willing to pay for it. I have cheaper dolls who are just as nice or better than her, and I have more expensive dolls who aren't any better. I bought her because she was perfect for my character, not because she was Fairyland. I think that's the most important part: buy your doll because you love them, not because it's the popular thing to do.

 

They DO have an appeal, just about every doll collector I know ends up with at least one and inevitably it's a tan MNF Chloe! LOL! BUT I will say I have a lot of problems with their quality control. My MNF Mio has a loose head cap, and the magnetic hands don't always stay on, and Mio has a super wobbly neck too. So they are a mixed bag for sure, but there s something about the aesthetics that is a total win, and I think that's why they continue to be popular even when they aren't always the best.