Rare or popular: discuss your preference

In all honesty, I'm still not too keen on what doll types are popular or 'rare' yet.
So I've just been searching for whatever I like most or fits my character.
:]
I quite like the DOT - Homme Ducan mold, which I actually see quite frequently around the boards. But, I don't care. I plan on taking the doll and changing it into something all my own.

 

It doesn't really occur to me, it's whether or not I like the sculpt.

However, knowing my usual knack of gravitating to the expensive and/or hard to find, I will probably find myself chasing rares because I like the sculpts, whilst wishing I'd fallen for a popular mold. It would mean I'd feel a little less urgency to buy dolls if I wasn't worried that they'd be discontinued.

 

I would never buy a doll because she's/he's rare or popular!
If you are buying a doll, you should buy the doll because you like the way she/he looks, not because of the rarity or popularity.
But, on the other hand, there are people that just collect dolls, to have them as.. ornaments or because just for collection.
It really depends on the person.

 

I like dolls based upon their sculpt rather than their popularity to be honest. I have two BJDs, one from CP and the other from Volks. They both have very well-known sculpts, but that didn't effect my opinion or choice in buying them.

 

For me, I just have to see something in the doll that I want. I have to look at that thing and be drawn to it, and be able to picture it being all dressed up and made into what I want it to be. Spending $500+ on something just for popularity is not an option for someone with a smaller income like mine!

 

- Which is more appealing when buying a doll: that it's rare or that it's popular?
not many people have one and its beautiful to me or has potential to be, that is appealing.

- Would you ever buy a more popular doll knowing that it could get you more gallery views? Conversely, would you ever choose not to buy a doll because you believe it is too popular and you are afraid to be seen as a follower?
id rather get gallery views because people think my doll is unique, not because its part of the big ol "chiwoo/shiwoo/el/lishe/ducan/luke" clan. I'd rather the doll be popular for it being who I've made it, not being popular because of which doll from which company it is.

- Are you more likely to click gallery threads because they feature a CP doll? Be honest! Nothing wrong with having a favourite company.
No, i actually avoid them. Unless its a doll i already own, I'm not interested in cp dolls. I do however click on links that have dolls that are rare or that i have never heard of before. it was how i found my first doll.

- Would you buy a doll that you had not seen on the forums?
Probably not. My first doll I had only seen once on the forums and I thought she was amazing so I got her, It came to be that she was not a good doll [for me] and I soon had to sell her. I later then realized that she NEVER would have received enough attention and if I had kept her, i would have quickly fallen out of love with the hobby. now as for new releases, if its from a cmpany I know and trust, of course. but I better get that feeling that Grey[my dz yuu] gave me when i first saw his promo pictures.


Popularity does effect my decision on who to get but i wont let it stop me if I truely love the doll. As of right now, this topic is exactly what's made me wishy washy about who I really want, because everyone already ordered a dream of baby Libra.. I wouldn't want my box opening ignored like my dollzone fox's was....-.-

 

Hmmm..... rarer. The two companies I like are kind of rare around DOA. The doll I'm getting, I'm getting because she haunts me XD. If she suddenly became super popular I would be like: =_=. If she was already very popular I might think twice about getting her... though maybe not. But I might try to make her as unique as possible.

 

- Which is more appealing when buying a doll: that it's rare or that it's popular?
I prefer to choose from moulds that I like. Though having a not very popular mould I think makes you not tired of it because it is not as much seen?

- Would you ever buy a more popular doll knowing that it could get you more gallery views? Conversely, would you ever choose not to buy a doll because you believe it is too popular and you are afraid to be seen as a follower?
No I don't think like this

- Are you more likely to click gallery threads because they feature a CP doll? Be honest! Nothing wrong with having a favourite company.
No. I don't really like that company I will click on threads if they feature BlueFairy dolls or other companies I think of purchasing in the future.

- Would you buy a doll that you had not seen on the forums?
Perphaps. I think that some dolls are underrated ; 3;

 

- Which is more appealing when buying a doll: that it's rare or that it's popular?
Doesn't matter to me. It can be popular but I may not like it as much as I like the wallflowers. What matters is if I like the sculpt.

- Would you ever buy a more popular doll knowing that it could get you more gallery views? Conversely, would you ever choose not to buy a doll because you believe it is too popular and you are afraid to be seen as a follower?
No, no and no.

- Are you more likely to click gallery threads because they feature a CP doll? Be honest! Nothing wrong with having a favourite company.
CP? Not at all, unless it has like..5 pages of comments or something, I'll be curious enough to click on it but otherwise I don't look at them. I mostly click on certain sculpts I like but I do have a favourite company, well compan(ies).

- Would you buy a doll that you had not seen on the forums?
Depends if I go crazy over it.

 

- Which is more appealing when buying a doll: that it's rare or that it's popular?
Well, I don't really care whether it's a popular or rare doll, as long as I love the mold, I'll get it.
- Would you ever buy a more popular doll knowing that it could get you more gallery views? Conversely, would you ever choose not to buy a doll because you believe it is too popular and you are afraid to be seen as a follower?
No way. @_@

- Are you more likely to click gallery threads because they feature a CP doll? Be honest! Nothing wrong with having a favourite company.
Not really, I don't really like CP dolls that much. I'll only click on the galleries that has pictures of dolls I haven't heard of before. xD

- Would you buy a doll that you had not seen on the forums?
I did. xD The first time I saw my AOD kim was when I saw a catalog of the dolls my friend was selling.

 

- Which is more appealing when buying a doll: that it's rare or that it's popular?
Neither I think, I usually am aware of what it's popularity is but it doesn't effect my decisions.

- Would you ever buy a more popular doll knowing that it could get you more gallery views? Conversely, would you ever choose not to buy a doll because you believe it is too popular and you are afraid to be seen as a follower?
No I have thought about it but I don't post photos hardly. I like having my petsha girl because you don't see many Petsha's but if she was popular I'd have got her anyway. I try not to think about the "will I look like a follower?" when buying a popular doll. The way I see it is the doll got popular for it's looks and I like it too so so what.

- Are you more likely to click gallery threads because they feature a CP doll? Be honest! Nothing wrong with having a favourite company.
I do choose CP and DOD a lot haha! and usually dolls that I own myself. Or are planning to buy.

- Would you buy a doll that you had not seen on the forums?
If I liked it then yes! Definatly ^^

 

- Which is more appealing when buying a doll: that it's rare or that it's popular?
Neither popularity nor rarity matter much to me, I tend to buy the dolls that I like and don't really take into consideration whether its popular or rare. I think if I had to choose though, I would rather have a rare doll.

- Would you ever buy a more popular doll knowing that it could get you more gallery views? Conversely, would you ever choose not to buy a doll because you believe it is too popular and you are afraid to be seen as a follower?
I guess hypothetically (since I don't have a lot time to take pictures of my dolls) I would probably choose not to buy a doll that has a million gallery posts, but in all honesty it doesn't really matter to me. I mean, I have owned a Chiwoo (a very popular doll) and it never crossed my mind that I would get more gallery views because he's a Chiwoo compared to any other doll.

- Are you more likely to click gallery threads because they feature a CP doll? Be honest! Nothing wrong with having a favourite company.
Not really, though I do tend to avoid going to gallery threads of doll molds/dolls from companies that I dislike.

- Would you buy a doll that you had not seen on the forums?
Probably not, because I rather see owner pictures of the dolls before I buy them because company pictures could be photoshopped or deceiving in some way.

 

As a fairly inexperienced and non-owner BJD fan, I would have to say I'm in the like-what-I-like crowd. I just look for what I think is beautiful, and if it happens to be a more common scult then that doesn't really bother me, and you can always change the wig, eyes, faceup etc. I think those things, and the personalities you impose on your dolls are what make them unique, and each would have a special place in its owner's heart, regardless of whether or not other people have one.

 

I dont think I've posted here yet ^^ And I'm bored at work and killing time so I thought I'd share my views.

I like dolls because of their aesthetics ussually. Typically I have a certain look that I like, large eyes, soft smiles, etc.

When I buy a doll I spend alot of time deciding back and forth between various molds.

My first doll was DZ demi (also in my avatar). I don't see many of her on this forum, and the stock images of her make her seem a little strange. I was really torn between her and nina, I loved both their faces. The reason I chose demi in the end was partially because she is more rare. You see a ton of nina or shoyo but very very few Demi. At the time when I bought mine there were only 2 other users on this forum who had actively posted photos and one of them was modded into a boy. I thought it was nice to have something a bit more unusual. And I'm really glad I went with demi. I really love the sculpt. It's my favorite DZ head.

My 2nd doll was DZ Mowen. I never did bond with him as strongly as demi but I dunno if that's because she was my first, or because I don't have as many wigs/clothes for him or just need to try to redo his faceup or what. It may be also partially due to the fact that he is the most popular msd dz head hands down. He has the most owners posting pics and such. So he seems a little less special in that respect also. I bought him because I loved his sculpt because it was so different and more mature than alot of the other msd at the time when I purchased him. I do think he's beautiful, but for me for some reason he just doesnt seem as awesome to me as Demi. But as I said this is only in part to the "rarity" vs "popularity" issue. I think when I paint my next doll's faceup I'll redo his also and see if it helps me bond with him at all. I've seen some truely lovely Mowens that I would love to have. And I will say one thing, even though there are so many of them, they really do all look unique and different and special in their own right. It's all in the faceup and wig and clothes etc. I spend most of my money and time and attention on Demi but if I put as much effort into Mowen he could probably make me just as happy as Demi.

but I really do find I'm polarized to wanting to go off the beaten path. Before finally settling down and deciding to go with an obitsu right now, I was leaning towards saving for a dollkot male head on their new model female body and making it a female. I considered many of their sculpts and I felt polarized to abel since there's only like one owner on this whole forum and theirs has facial hair and other things making it clearly male. I like less common sculpts and going against the grain for some reason XD.

But if a doll is beautiful (Like dollmore ipsae or lisa rubik ) I would buy them in an instant despite all the owners already on the forum XD I'll probably buy both of those dolls someday for example just because they are really beautiful. (also deadly expensive X_X lol)

I also really like mostly all of the dream of doll sculpts, and even though I like shall, her popularity is a turn of for me which makes me lean more towards E-an, plus I just love the sculpt, Similar with their MSDs I really love Too and Bee, but their popularity makes me lean more towards Twingkey ;p So I guess if I'm torn between two dolls their popularity will factor in somewhat as in what lead to my choosing Demi, but I in the end will make the majority of my purchases on if I like the sculpt or not personally. But rarity does factor in somewhat it's just not my highest priority.
------------

Oh as for if I'll click more on dolls from a certain company here on the forums and what not, Not really. Usually when I'm browsing the gallery I'm looking for a specific doll because I'm considering making a purchase or just want to see owner pics of such and such doll so I'll do search for the doll's name but never really care much for certain companies. Almost every company has at least one or two sculpts that I find beautiful. There are some companies who's style doesn't appeal to me, but I tend to think of dolls more in terms of individual sculpts rather than what companies they're from.

And the doll's "unpopularity" would make me want to post it even more. Knowing I was one of only 2 or 3 owners on a forum, it'd encourage me to post more of my dolls so that if others were thinking of buying that sculpt they could see lots of pictures of it that's just me though. I wouldn't be afraid to post it at all. It's my money and I'll buy the dolls I like even if others dont like that particular sculpt I like asserting my individuality.

 

Honestly, popularity vs. rarity doesn't even come into play when I'm choosing my doll. But usually a rare doll ends up costing more, which sadly plays a great deal in my choice to buy a doll. I suppose more popular dolls would be cheaper to make, maybe. I don't know.

But really, it's more price and preference that come into a doll rather than the popularity of it.

When surfing the galleries I really have no idea which dolls are which other than the Shoyo-2 (because that happens to be the doll I'm ordering) so I tend to pick the threads randomly.

 

No, I don't buy my dolls based on rarity or popularity, but as some popular molds have greater amounts of owner pictures, I might choose that over one that has no owner pictures. Although I will admit to relishing the caché of my U-noa L-bi, and the popularity of Nanuri '07. Haha. I am a high schooler after all, its only natural I have a faint social climbing instinct. I am not going to pretend to be above being swayed because of cool factor, though I do have very specific tatses.

 

The only reason why I go into the gallery is to look at examples of how a doll can change with face up, hair, clothes and posing. It helps me on deciding if I want it or not for my own character. See if it can do what I want it to do. It would help immensly if the one I am considering was at a local meeting or shop then I wouldn't even have to go into the gallery.

So, no. I would not buy a doll that is not on the forums. I need to see owner pictures of it.

I don't take my abjds to meetings. Most of the time I just don't want to mess up their arrangements, clothing and hair to strap them into a carrying case. XD I'm lazy is my only excuse. The same with posting pictures of them. Posing, lighting and all of that is just too much effort. I don't really care to show them off so the popularity or rarity thing doesn't even begin to become an issue. They give me joy just being doubled up on a shelf with their glass eyes sitting neatly next to them.

 

I would buy any doll I like, popularity does not matter to me.
Of course I prefer having seen Ownerpics before but if a doll makes me look like that I would also buy it without other pics^^

 

It does seem a bit bland when you see the gallery saturated with the same popular dolls with similar backstories and wigs/face-ups. But in the end, face sculpts are really what matter to me; I lusted after a MNF Shushu for a long, long time despite her status as a MSD favourite.

I still think she's beautiful, though seeing owner pics and profile shots made realize that I wouldn't bond well with her. My current favourite and "first doll" candidate is a Bluefairy TF Xiao, regardless of how her newer version isn't that popular. I think that makes her a bit special, and I really like how she looks so defiant compared to the other girls. At the same time, I adore TF Kyle and the fact that he's a wildly sought-after sculpt doesn't bother me. The fact that he shares a name with my boyfriend and resembles him is a plus. :3

 

IMO, i love to see rare dolls. i love buying rare dolls. It just makes it seem so special that there aren't many out there :3