Posed Doll Hands vs Poseable Doll Hands

I find ball-jointed (pose-able) hands disturbing for some reason. So for me, fixed hands all the way.

 

I have only recently been introduced to jointed hands and have two pairs. I LOVE them! I wish I could replace all my dolls' hands with jointed ones. One pair is from Granado (though they were recently discontinued) and the other is from Spiritdoll. The Spiritdoll pair needs the elastic tightened because he really can't hold anything right now, but the Granado pair is fantastic.

Here are some pics of the Granado pair:
DSC_1329 copy by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

DSC_1323 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

 

Personally, I would never want jointed hands for my dolls. I think it's cool that they can do so many poses, but I think all the joints look so unnatural. I much prefer a pair of really nicely sculpted posed hands, or even extra hands in alternate poses. It's easy to dress a doll so their main joints don't show and they still look realistic in photos, but all those finger joints just ruin the realism for me. That, and it seems some people don't bother posing them often and it kind of freaks me out seeing them bent in all sorts of random directions. XD

 

Hehe I wish the fingers could pose without seeing the joints so obviously. I would rather go with posed hands than jointed ones, i love the idea of being able to position hands however i want, but they just look so skeletal to me. The breaks in the fingers really distract from the rest of the doll in my opinion. I much prefer option hands or modded hands because hands for me tend to be a focal point and i rather they look smooth and natural.

 

I prefer hands that aren't jointed since I personally think it looks better. However I see the advantages of jointed hands and wouldn't mind to have some to be able to choose how to pose them at times

 

This. I do have a pair of jointed hands for my Unidoll Ark but he's never wearing them nowadays. I had to trash his gloves a while ago (faux leather, it just went to pieces) and without gloves I don't like them. Not because they're ugly or anything - I just don't like the joints.

 

Honestly, I am torn in this matter. Right now, I am equipping my dolls with jointed hands, as I consider them to be mostly changeable action figures (which means, they own several set of clothes and other stuff). Therefore, they have to be able to do certain things with their hands. But jointed hands are also pretty expensive.

Jointed hands can be quite fiddly, especially when the fingers do not want to cooperate and stick out in different directions. Of course then you have the perfect pose with perfect lighting, hair is all straigt, but you missed this little, nasty detail.

What I think would be nice: If companies offered sets of hands in different poses (similar to action figures), but with a somehow easier hand changing system. No magnets, as these often like to fall off the arm, but perhaps a peg system? Or with a threading system? There could be such an intermediate wrist piece as it was quite common, but with a threaded peg sticking out, onto which the hand with the required position could be threaded onto.

 

I don't have a problem with joints at all (we are dealing with ball jointed dolls....there will be joints.), I'm at the point that unless a joint is particularly ugly (read, square), I don't even see them. What bothers me about jointed hands (and this is coming from someone who owns a lot of jointed hands) is how annoying they get after awhile. They're so freaking high maintenance. The fingers tend to contort themselves into all sorts of unnatural positions when you're not minding them, which you have to do every second. And there is nothing worse than jacked-up fingers in a doll photo. It's the only thing I can see - and people post them all the time! I've trashed whole photoshoots of hundreds of photos because one finger is out of place. And just try dealing with more than one doll with jointed fingers in a photo. It's awful. I generally leave all of mine in a "default" fist position when they aren't being actively used (gestures or holding items) just so I know what they're up too at all times.

Then there is the thumb problem...again, I own a lot of hands from different companies and the thumb just isn't right on any of them. I get why, it's hard to make a joint that works the way the human thumb does in that scale....but when you're trying to get a decent pointing, hitchhiking, holding or pretty much anything pose with a thumb that can't do what a thumb is supposed to do, it's back to being annoying and awkward-looking.

My other peeve about them is that they really aren't compatible with every doll, and you have to get the proportion right or it looks odd. And really, it's less about proportion (because that's much like beauty - in the eye of the beholder. I like big hands, so I look for bigger hand options) and more about fit. And it's hard to blush jointed hands so color is an issue as well.

All that ranting aside I still like them...There are things that normal doll hands just can't do, and not every company makes alternate hands for their dolls. You won't always get a fist hand, or a "victory" hand and just try to find one that's making a rude gesture....plus if your doll smokes and drinks coffee and tends to hold things like weapons all the time, jointed hands are a huge plus. And not too many hands can pull off the grace and creepiness that DC jointed hands can. Added bonus for only being jointed at the first knuckle....which makes them that much easier to control. I love those hands.

Then there is a bonus to jointed hands i never really thought of until recently...my first doll took what I thought was an easy fall from a standing position on carpet and broke his hand. I was/am a little devastated. And I just keep thinking that it never would have happened had I had his jointed hands on him. Because of the flex they wouldn't have broken. And if they somehow did...well who cares, he didn't come with them. My other Kara Klum almost always has his on, and I'm never worried about finger breakage...now I probably won't change them back to his original hands again. Just in case.

So, jointed hands are a yes for me - as long as I have the doll's normal hands to revert back too whenever I get too tired of dealing with all the crazy. And it never hurts to have extra regular hands in every possible position...just for funs. And breakage.

 

I tried a pair once, and loved them off the doll as a form of sculpture, but once on...they were very hard to get to pose correctly. Fingers sticking out at odd angles, fingers refusing to stay straight. I was always fiddling with them to get them to look right. I still think they are awesome, but not for me. However, I do prefer the DC jointed hands/feet and would love to own some. So sad they only sell the 1/4 hands by themselves....

As for the posed hands, I take what comes with the body. I do have preferences, but am to lazy to try and find matching hands from different companies that look better. Same with the feet.

 

I like the idea of jointed hands and I might get a pair someday to try them but I prefer fixed hands because the idea of having to restring something so tiny with my clumsiness and horrible eye-sight freaks me out too much. Fixed hands also look nicer in my opinion.
I do really like Doll Chateau's partially jointed hands, I think they're the perfect blend of articulation and aesthetics when it comes to jointed hands (and with some fingerless gloves they might look even better).

 

I had a pair, once. The concept was really cool, but the execution not so much. Like others have said the fingers just twisted around every which way and looked really unnatural. There are probably better sculpted ones out there now, but I'll stick to regular old hands. I couldn't imagine having to restring all those little bits

 

I have one pair of jointed hands, which I do enjoy (and I even had to string them myself, so that's saying something), but I would not want them for every doll I own. I think they are fun in certain circumstances. As others have said, they can be QUITE fiddly to pose, and like to snap into odd...dead spider sort of poses that can make you go when you notice them.
On the other...um, hand... there are some really beautifully sculpted fixed hands that pose realistically and gracefully without too much effort. It just depends on what you want to do with them.

 

I feel the same. The joints look skeletal an detract from the aesthetics of the doll.

 

I'm perfectly fine with the standard posed doll hands. While I think poseable hands would be neat for a couple of my dolls (and I have seriously considered getting a pair), generally I find the posed hands to be more aesthetically pleasing and don't need an extra pair of hands for ~$100. I always seem to have something higher on my priority list.

 

I like what they're capable of, but like others have said they look skeletal to me. It just doesn't do anything for me aesthetically. I suppose in the case of hands I value form over function. If anyone ever develops some soft looking jointed hands without sacrificing functionality, I'd be all over them in a heartbeat- if they'll fit on my doll of course.

 

I'm not a fan of them to be honest. I like the different hand sculpts, all the pretty shapes to them and I don't like the look of jointed hands in the slightest. Extra articulation is always nice but I pick aesthetics before any of that. I hardly like visible double joints!

 

I really don't like jointed hands with all the knuckles jointed, but doll chateau's jointed MSD hands that just have the top knuckles jointed look really cute to me. It's not that visible joints bother me, I like the joints of bjds and I hate it when people photoshop them out, but jointed hands with all the knuckles jointed just look way too robotic. I don't know what it is. Sculpted hands generally look better most of the time, I think.

 

Well, I find already posed hands a little boring but easier to look pretty but jointed hands have to be my favorite.they can be a pain to pose but I have a lot of fun reworking poses if I don't have much time to stop and play with my doll. Blushing is also a little bit of work but I'm glad I got Tetsuya a nice pair of jointed hands.

 

I like the jointed hands, their joints don't bother me at all. I would love to change all my dolls hands since could be more interesting, I admit that they doing weird posings could get on my nerve but what have stopped me until now is the color and price. I just always have something else to buy than spend $70 on hands and I want to get more dolls with fantasy colors, that would be impossible to match now. Maybe on the future but it bother me the idea to buy for some of the dolls and others not.