[Poll] Expressive sculpts, yay or nay?

I put my vote as more expressive than not. I do find myself more drawn to dolls with a bit of a smirk or smile. Maybe because I think a smirk exudes confidence or just because I like smiling people haha.

I think a doll with a bit of expression helps emphasize the characters personality where a doll with a more muted expression might not. So the sculpts I pick is based on how I normally picture my characters. Kasumi and Tori are both meant to be a bit goofy and mischievous so a smirk/smile suits them. I actually got the IOS Valentine because I thought the laid back flirty look was perfect for Tori. Hazuki's sculpt, while not smiling, is perfect for the more intense expression I imagine her to have most of the time. I'm also planning to get the DF-A Max for Mika because I really like the confidence in his smirk.

While there isn't anything particularly wrong with a strong expression on a doll, I haven't found one that I really like. Several of the wide grins look a bit too stiff to me or a bit creepy. I also tend to think of how it limits what I might be able to do with the doll and how I might not want a really expressive face as it's fixed expression.
I do really like Shoushou Doll Niko's face with the wide smile though haha.

 

They're artist heads by Torii Souji under the name That Doll!

I generally find that tinies are a lot easier to find with big wild expressions anyways Sometimes minis have expressive sculpts but large dolls are quite a bit harder to find with very extreme expressions.

 

I had a hard time choosing between "more expressive" and "most expressive". But I chose "most" because these are the dolls that are the most exciting to me. I still have neutral and in-between dolls that I love, but I actually find that expressive dolls can be more versatile for photography than the bland ones.

 

I said it depends, but at the smiles on my dolls were what drew me to the sculpts in the first place. I know constantly smiling dolls freak some people out, but I don't see it. When they smile at me they make me happy.

 

I am one of the few, the fabulous, the most expressives. I agree with both of the above. Extreme expressions interest me more than neutral faces (I think most of the "expression" you get out of a neutral face after giving it a faceup is projection or photo mood) and pretty much all smiling dolls make me smile too. Even the evil ones. Especially the evil ones. I mean, have you all seen Fairyland Pong (v1)? How can you not be happy looking at that face? and the sleep face which is literally this XD Best alternate face ever.

I to wish more companies would do as Unoa does (I love Unoa, I have a lot of their fps), but sadly I don't see that happening any time soon. Alternate heads are the best, a few of my expression heads are intended to be extra heads, like Ringdoll Mona (crying girl) or AOD Heidi (? I think that's her name) who is going to hopefully be my third Harley Quinn head. My other two Harley heads are neutral heads I've forced into smiling heads with a faceup. I've done that a few times, also modded other expressions into dolls. Like this

Spoiler

all johns by Vampire Angel13, on Flickr

I may have taken that one a little too far. (also he needs more heads)

 

I mean this in the most complimentary way possible: your John is the first doll that I thought of when I saw this thread! His character design is so memorable and all of the expressive heads are executed beautifully. I would LOVE to have multiple expressions for my dolls but I am reluctant to commit to purchasing multiple heads for each of them... maybe someday it will happen!! Hats off to you for making your vision a reality

 

Thank you! I'm always happy when someone likes John because after his first mod (on his third head - I was to scared to mod the first two) I was so sure people would think he was ridiculous and that I ruined a beautiful doll (I find K to be the most beautiful). So I very much appreciate your comments!

And I totally understand that this isn't for everyone - after doing something I normally don't do (the math) I realized that counting the two bodies he's had, all the heads and the body that came with one of the heads I use on a different doll, John was by far my most expensive. Like, at least twice what my next most expensive was. His one saving grace was that it happened over several years and not all at once! lol *dies*

 

I love seeing dolls that have emotions visible: smirking, smiling, pouting, sleeping. I generally dislike the dolls that are sobbing, o-face, or look pained. But I love big smiles like Fantasia Canary Smile! I do find that with big emotions the quality of the face up makes an even bigger difference in how nice the doll is to look at because the eyebrows, etc need to be just right so that the face looks natural.

Interestingly, most of my current dolls have more neutral faces, but I hope to branch out more into emotive dolls. I just got my first sleeping only head and I love her. I thought that I would find her restrictive to photograph, but I've not found it more difficult than photographing my other dolls with their static more neutral faces.

 

I really like neutral sculpts or slightly "pouty" expression, especially for the lips, I'm not a big fan of smiling sculpt
My favorite expression is the "RBF" one, with the eyes half closed and slightly pouty lips.

 

Maybe faceplates with changing expressions could be a thing? Manufacturers could offer them as a set included with a doll, or as optional parts. But they have to look "right", which might be quite difficult. I have seen several laughing faces which did not quite hit the point, and it looks more creepy than anything else.

Also, if you do a shouting face (which is interesting for e.g. warrior figures), you need a really good grip on mouth, tongue, teeth and gum sculpting.

The problem with expressions is that they are very challenging. But maybe some sculptors like taking on a good challenge?

 

The winking dolls look weird, because nobody winks like that. If the open eye was a little scrunched, it’d look better to me.

 

I put depending on character, because the level of expression is really dependent on the OC/character that's being shelled. A neutral expression will be kind of blank for a character that tends to be mopey, cynical, or always dour. The same could be said for a snarky, sassy or always exuberant character.

Plus, I've got a special affectation for some very expressive sculpts out there, like the exaggerated smirk on IOS Belcanto, and the very serious frown on DragonShell Snake. Even if I never plan to get some of these sculpts, I also like that expressive grin on Impldoll Glenn, and the variety of very bright smiles across various different company's sculpts.

 

I tend to go for more neutral expressions, with closed mouths or (at most) slightly parted lips.

Dolls with obviously open mouths honestly freak me out a little, especially if there are teeth or tongues involved. Which, yes, means that a lot of recent sculpts (Independant artists' dolls, in particular-) that I would otherwise have liked a lot have ended up in the "Nope!" camp. There's been a definite trend towards opened mouths and teeth the last few years and I'm definitely not the target audience for them.

That said... I... might have every single one of the assorted face-plates Donn did for his Steve sculpt. Because on someone *that* cartoonish? The over-the-top expressions just WORK.

 

I picked 'depends on the doll' but I'm growing to like them a lot! I have a Charmdoll Raccoon coming and fell in love with the sculpt because of the expression. My sister has a crying/wailing doll and although I may not have bought it, she's extremely unique and pretty

 

I voted “depends,” because looking at my collection, they are mostly neutral, then some with very slight smiles or frowns, and then I have 3 dolls with very expressive faces, with my favorite being my Dollits Miso, pictured below. I kind of enjoy them all for different reasons, and like having a variety. (Stuck her behind a spoiler as to not creep out those of you that said you hate big smiles. Lol.)

Spoiler

Dollits Miso by Nikki Kelly, on Flickr

 

blank i like the possibility of customization not to mention most bjd are humans but i like ethereal beings, aliens, demons and so on so it is more easy to find a human doll and customize it to be that

 

I like mostly neutral expressions because you can do a lot with the eyes and posing to give them personality. As I get more into the hobby though I think I will start to look for more expressive sculpts, a smirk or deep pout would be fun to use for photo stories in a comic style. Does anyone have a doll with a surprised expression? I’m just thinking of the fun faces some of the off topic dolls I collect have.

 

Somewhat expressive.

I like a hint of emotion on their faces, maybe a show of teeth, or a pout, or a hint of a smile, but nothing too much so that I can still convey different emotions in their pictures with the way they are posed.

 

I voted "it depends," because for me, how a face is sculpted is way more important to whether or not I like it than the expression it comes with. I agree with others above that if the face is highly expressive, but sculpted poorly (not enough/too much detailing), it tends to fall into uncanny valley territory for me.

Most of my dolls fall into the mildly expressive category in my opinion. I like having a bit of a sculpted base because it makes them look more "alive" to me, but not so much sculpting that I can't easily change their expression with the right faceup, angle, or lighting.

 

I've tended to like sculpts that have neutral or slight expressions but I've seen a couple that have a bit more of a sly expression and those can intrigue me. I don't know why but I don't seem interested in sculpts with teeth, open mouths, tongues, etc. but... who knows... maybe one day.

I do think it would be awesome if face plates were more of an option, so expressions could be more changeable.