Opinion on Fairyland, over hyped or not?

I'd definitely say they are kinda overhyped. I have one MNF boy that I got in 2016 and he was my first doll, so for a while I didn't have any other dolls to compare him to. While I do love him very much, and I will say his presentation right out of the box was outstanding, I don't feel like he offers anything special in terms of quality or posing compared to my other dolls. Luckily I wasn't struck with any severe quality control issues when I ordered him, just the regular weird seams--but the fact that that was even something to worry about should say something. The engineering of his joints makes him honestly kind of annoying to handle, and until I sueded him he was always wanting to throw some weird exaggerated pose.

Other people have mentioned the same face syndrome of their sculpts, and I agree. The sameness of their sculpts is what keeps me from really wanting to add another minifee to my collection at this point--I sort of feel like now that I have one I have them all, LOL.

Combined with all of those things, I think the main thing that makes me feel like Fairyland is overhyped is the price point. Fairyland is considerably more expensive than many other dolls with similar or better quality and posing. For that I really want their dolls to be standout! (Some folks have said that back in the day they used to be, but other companies have caught up with them since--I came to the hobby a little late to witness that but it makes sense.) I love to browse their catalog once in a while but at this point unless one of their dolls was a grail for me I don't feel like I'd want to spend that much on one of them, especially when I could get another lovely doll from plenty of other companies for a lower price.

 

Well, when I first started on the hobby (about 12 years ago) I had this girl straightforward telling me my doll wasn't as good as hers because she collected all Fairyland dolls and they were the best in the market in ever sense, so maybe I've conditioned myself to not find them in any way exciting, but I think they are definitely a bit overhyped, though maybe not so much as they used to in the past, I feel like. I remember seeing a lot in my local community at an early certain point in my life as a doll hobbyist, then the focus started to shift a little towards other companies. And I didn't even know about some of the quality issues O.o

 

I’m not a fan of the minifees but I absolutely love my FEEPLE60 Celine. She is my favourite doll and I really love her body and poseability. The sculpt is basic yet you can make it really original and beautifull. My grail dream is actually a Centaur type of doll from Fairyland. But for an european who makes roughly 700€ per month is kinda hard to save

 

I personally hate Fairyland yet I have 5 FL dolls and counting.
I always told myself Id never own a minifee because they were uninteresting to me at the time and compared to most other companies I found the posing to be pretty lacking- especially compared to dolls in an even lower price range. I can't lie though, It's a love hate relationship. Minifees are so versatile and simple it's hard to say no. I especially love some of the older "retro" sculpts. As a company, I think it's quite pricy and quality control is far too lackluster. All in all, think FL is like a drug and it is overrated but who cares

 

I'm a big fan of Feeple65, especially the old boy body is great. The new one...well...not so much. It seems really tense and the muscles are too pronounced. I liked that the old body wan't mascular. It was one of the reasons why I liked the Feeple line.

However, I'm not crazy about MNFs. They are cute, but same-ish and not for me. We just didn't bond. I had one and ended up giving her to my mom who really likes her. But I like there are so many MNF sewing patterns and clothes on Etsy! They fit my DearMine boy just fine.

I never had any quality issues with their dolls or any other problems in difference of...well...let's not name names.

Maybe they are a bit overhyped now a days, but they legitimetly have a lot of fans!

 

Fairyland introduced me to the Littlefee version of the classic Delf El and I love him to bits. They were also the reason why I was able to find a better body for my floating El head via the Feeple 60 muscular boy body (not too fond of the default Luts 60 cm body sculpt with no chest joint).

In the current state...I have no idea Fairyland is considered over-hyped, hahaha. The current sculpts they produce no longer calls to me as strongly as when they had the classic CP sculpts.

 

Apologies for necro-ing the thread but I have some additional cents. I can understand why people would like the sculpting style of FL, yeah, but thinking a bit more I realized I don't really like their Minifees very much style-wise (1/4 scale is my preferred size despite me having more YoSDs, so that's why I single them out), my favorites being the elf vampires, and more so the round faced sculpts with the big eyes. I think it's mainly due to me not being keen on mature MSDs in the first place, but I also like my MSDs to look young and cutesy to some degree, considering that I find Luts' Kid Delfs more appealing to the point of temptation even when they aren't fantasy sculpts. Plus I mentioned before that Doll Chateau-esque and anime sculpts are more up my alley than FL's style as well. I think style preference contributes to me finding them kind of over-hyped as a result, likely more than the somewhat ubiquitous feel of Chloe does. Mature MSDs just aren't for me I guess.....

 

Reviving this thread because of a few discussions I saw elsewhere about Fairyland. It mentioned a few things like how a lot of BJD newbies feel like they have to get a FL as a first doll or nothing at all, and another discussion about needing FL to “fit in” with the hobby.

Back in 2009, the “fitting in” used to be said a lot about Volks, but the majority of collectors then obviously didn’t have one. Due to the nature of forums, anyone could have their doll seen regardless of brand so I don’t this this effected people as badly then. I spent time in the hobby both with and without a Volks doll, and no one treated me any different during either of those times.

With Fairyland it seems to be a little different, the perception seems to be that unless someone has a Minifee, their doll doesn’t get seen at all. I wonder if this is a problem with social media algorithms. If so, I find that sad and maybe explains the all or nothing attitude?

Anyway, with my familiarity of FL, I would not have considered them to be overhyped, at least when I had been most active in the hobby. I can’t speak of the reported quality issues now though. Minifees were around $350 then (they are around $400 now), which was a fair price point. I thought Souldoll’s resin was nicer (for $300), but MNFs definitely posed better.

I only owned a MNF for a brief time, but a friend was a big collector of them so I would say I was pretty familiar with their quality and a variety of the sculpts. They definitely would have been worth the $350-400 price. If the quality really has gone down though, I think that’s an off putting price though.

 

I'm too new to BJD in general have any idea how popular Fairyland is, really, but having glanced at their work a few times, I was... underwhelmed, I suppose? They're beautiful, don't get me wrong, but clearly they're not my style, because there hasn't been a single "must have" for me yet. For the price they command, I feel like there's a better option for literally almost everything they offer.

My favorite Fairyland designs are of course the "creature people", like merfolk and centaurs. I think their horse half sculpt is the most beautiful one I have seen so far, actually, it's the one time I would say Fairyland has the very best take on a particular thing. Except that I'm not in love with any of the human halves of their sculpts... something about the style just isn't quite to my preferences. Even though the engineering of my Resinsoul 'taur is objectively not as nice as a Fairyland centaur, I prefer his overall aesthetic, and I definitely prefer the price I can have a whole herd of those for the price of one Fairyland doll!

I'm not sure if it's a case of "same face" or if it's simply that I don't like the style of the faces very much. But hey, if people want to clamor over Fairyland stuff and leave more of my favorites for me, I'm not going to complain! Have at it, I like being able to get the stuff I prefer without a struggle!

 

They were the first dolls I saw that got me into the hobby. I can see how it can be overhyped, but since I am interested in them, I like it when people talk about them.

 

Speaking of overhyped, they actually were during the early 2010's when the classic CP sculpts were sold on their site (after separating from Luts). But when the classic sculpts were no longer continued, so did my interest in them. It also didn't help that FL is now veering towards realistic proportions for their taller sculpts.

I miss my big head CP sculpts

 

Ive loved the 4 mini fees I have had , they are cute . The company is good at marketing them which is 100% the battle for good sales. Still im hesitant to spend 400 dollars on doll. Its a lot of money

 

I’ve already commented on this thread but feel I need to say something else as it’s becoming more of a bandwagon “let’s trash Minifee because everyone else is doing so” conversation. It has become that old faithful of ‘Now that something is popular we have to tear it down so we appear to be individuals and not following the masses’. It happens to everything and anything over and over again. People are still following the masses, only now they bash instead of praise.

Firstly this thread is labelled ‘Fairyland’ however it’s predominantly revolving around Minifee. They do other ranges you know and I’ve noticed the few (including myself) who have dolls from those ranges seem to be quite happy with them over all. I’ve also noticed any comments mentioning as such get largely ignored as they’re not fuel for the fire.

Secondly I will state that although I have a lot of tinies and a couple of Minifee myself I buy particular dolls because they appeal to me and if I find the work of a company satisfactory then yes I will be a return customer, same can be said of anything. To a degree I have a kind of brand loyalty but not in a blinkered way.

Thirdly I know the difference between personal opinion and genuine criticism. They’re not the same thing especially when it is just purely a matter of taste. We all have different preferences, we all see things differently literally and figuratively.
“I don’t like their faces” is not a factual critique or flaw, it’s just personal opinion, remember that. You’re allowed to have it but it shouldn’t be used to influence others.

Now there are always in any hobby, fandom, society or just in general life going to be Elitists and Snobs who look down on anything that isn’t what they like or isn’t a particular brand or whatever. Sometimes these people are genuinely so Narcissistic that they think their opinion is law but also sometimes they’re actually people with certain conditions who are just hyper focused and have difficulty expressing themselves or seeing a wider picture. They are going to hype up what they’re interested in as that’s what their brain is locked onto.
The nastier narcissist types will also hype up and try to force their choices onto others too usually by bullying but either way always remember you have a mind of your own so use it. If it’s not your thing walk away, the world isn’t going to end because you didn’t buy someone else’s choices!

In this hobby yes Fairyland’s Minifee are popular but the same could be said for quite a few BJD makers these days, doesn’t mean you have to like or buy them. For those new to the hobby they may be their first introduction to it and a starting point to begin researching and discovering, nothing wrong with that at all….we all had a starting point where we saw something and said “Wow what is this, I must find out more!”. In my case over 20 years ago it was a Dollshe Saint, doesn’t mean I had to buy one though even if they were considered a ‘must have’, it was purely an introductory discovery!

As for the ‘same face syndrome’ argument folk keep using in this thread I’m actually wondering what people expect. Of course they look similar, that’s the particular style of the sculptor or sculptors. It’s the style they’re known for and is instantly recognisable as Fairyland. There’s only so many adjustments you can make to human type features before things begin to look alike and the more ‘sculpts’ you do the more likely this is. If they did anything drastically different then no doubt you’d all complain that it wasn’t Fairyland any more. You can’t have it both ways. Yes they’ve updated certain parts of their ranges partly due to changes in taste but also due to technology advances and on a more sinister note because of the scourge that is recasting.
The vast majority of BJD companies have sculpts that look very similar some even more so than Fairyland including those who do more realistic sculpts. Go and look or will that damage your crusade?
It’s down to the particular style of those who do the creating. Do you criticise a particular singer because their voice sounds the same on every song they sing? No because that’s their style, their voice. Do you moan about the way Van Gogh painted his most famous works? No because those distinctive brushstrokes were his style. Instantly recognisable.
Completely changing the appearance of your range in order to fit in with what’s popular and abandoning your distinctiveness (sounds very Borg) is an entirely different matter and one I have complained about as then yes ‘Same face syndrome’ applies and companies just blend in to a sea of unoriginality and blandness where anyone would be hard pressed to distinguish who made it. Currently this is not something Fairyland are guilty of.

Genuine grumbles over posing and recent quality issues are valid complaints though. I’m not so fussed about the posing aspect of Minifee mainly as I’ve not had many MSD or larger dolls to compare them with. I’ve had some really dreadful posing dolls over the years so to me Minifee are satisfactory.
Their tinies are great and if anything I find it hard to keep other makes of tinies now as they rarely compare posing wise or facial character wise. I’m not so enamoured with Littlefees though, they do have an awkwardness about them which I personally don’t like but that is purely my opinion and not a fact!
Thankfully I’ve not had the quality issues others have had but it has put me off of buying a body I need for now. I’ve had some artist cast dolls in the past that were rougher than a badger’s arse, you kind of expect that though sometimes and with the best will in the world mistakes happen but when major established companies chuck out flaws repeatedly then yes that is a huge concern! I agree totally there.
They appear to have learned from this and have temporarily closed production of most of their ranges due to the workload so we shall see if this helps with that problem.

I will also fully admit to absolutely hating the new Minifee head cap system. It’s dreadful, had to get my hubby to take it apart and all the while I was stressing in case he broke it as he’s not used to handling dolls. Again I can understand them trying something more secure and new but let’s just say that experiment is a colossal failure and should never made it to production!

So again do I think they’re ‘Overhyped’ …… No, as it’s not like you’re seeing massive advertisements for them everywhere or their name in flashing neon lights on every street corner or Minifee cluttering every store window and shelf nor are there newspapers/ magazine articles singing their praises, buses passing on the street with doll posters plastered across their sides or talk shows on TV banging on about them. To me that’s what Overhyped actually means.
Are they popular and therefore seen more frequently when you look up BJD on social media sites…..Yes, that is purely down to owners though sharing how much they love their dolls though nothing more.
Do they all look the same? ….. No and Yes as has been explained. The additional factor of similar faceups again is purely down to owners liking the way a particular faceup artist handles those sculpts and wanting that too. It has nothing to do with Fairyland themselves.

Personal preference will always be purely that, it’s not a basis to go around pointing fingers or shin kicking, try to be more objective about it if expressing it to others. Opinion is also not the same as hard fact either, you’re allowed to have it but always remember some will think differently and neither is wrong.
Hard facts about flaws, damage, incorrect assembly, structure issues, etc are the only real concern anyone should have when it comes down to it.

Those are my opinions on the subject and yes you are allowed to disagree if you so wish but don’t take things out of context or twist words, that then makes you just as bad as those you began criticising in the first place.

 

It depends. Pukipuki is the best tiny I've had at that scale, and the use of magnetic hands and feet makes the dolls easier to dress. I just wish more companies would have the face separate from the head, instead of a head cap. You can change the eyes without having to remove the entire head.