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Realistic-Idealized & Mature Vs. Stylized Youthful-Dolls: Which Do You Prefer?

Apr 1, 2008



    1. I really don't think it does (at least not across the board--maybe in your own case, I don't know), because while you've started gravitating towards more realistic dolls others (like myself) may have done the opposite. I still don't think there's a big age breakdown between realistic and stylized doll owners. HOWEVER, I do think it's normal for tastes to change as time goes on, and we're exposed to a wider variety of things. The trend for realistic dolls has really picked up over the past couple years, so there's a lot more choices out right now. I know my own tastes have changed somewhat over the past almost five years--not just in individual dolls, but what I do with them, how I relate to them (I've moved in the direction of more stylized dolls and highly story/character driven 'play'). I think if we stick around long enough we all sort of evolve as hobbyists.
       
    2. I can't remember if I ever replied to this thread or not before, but I have to say for me, as someone who is 29 and who has been involved with this hobby since 2003, that as I have grown older and spent more time collecting, my appreciation for realism has changed, in that I more and more actively DISLIKE the hyper realistic dolls. They're an instant turn off for a company for me.

      I love artistic stylization, and I don't want my dolls to look like perfect tiny people. I want them to look like interesting dolls. My tastes really have not changed over time. My favourite companies then are still my favourite companies now. I've simply just gotten more set in my ways.
       
    3. In your opinion, has the BJD market changed, is there now more demand for "mature-realistic looking dolls"?
      If yes, what do you believe brought about this change?

      Generally, there are so many new owners [including myself!] that I think, across the board, demand for bjds have increased and companies are trying to meet said demand.

      Do younger (10?-18-years-old) BJD-owners prefer the younger, "less-realistic" looking dolls? Why, why not?

      I like stylistic dolls. Don't get me wrong, it has nothing to do with age, I lust after mature looking ones too! Its got to do with artist style. I am a very stylistic artist, and as such, my dollies reflect my tastes. I don't like them too off though, pulips and blythes have never been my thing. I like mature dolls though! I can't stand youthful looking dolls for some reason. Unless they're kids.

      Regardless of age, do you have a preference (realistic/and/or/mature vs youthful/and/or/stylized)?
      Stylistic dolls. I prefer mature though!
       

    4. I wasn’t necessarily suggesting that as people age, people’s appreciation for realism turns
      favorable, but instead just “adjusts” differently because you age. I thought this because you
      mentioned that you had in a past post thought that you favored all types of sculpts, but now
      that you are older you see yourself having different thoughts? It was similar (yet opposite) for me,
      I thought I liked all types of sculpts, but now that I am older I think I prefer more realism
      (at least when it comes to large resin dolls, I still enjoy stylized dolls of other types).

      I do agree with you that as you are part of hobby overtime, your likes for that hobby “evolve” in some way.
      Therefore it might not actually have to do with age or aging, but with how long someone’s been
      in a hobby and the individual’s own background that affect the way that person enjoys it.


      That is very interesting; I think that as Taco suggested it, it might just be how the hobby evolves
      for us (or how we evolve within the hobby) and not truly how old we are. But maybe it does have
      to do something with the likes and dislikes of a person before the hobby itself – I’ve been an artist
      all my life and although I grew up watching anime, I always gravitated towards realism in my own work.
      Maybe it’s just how much people enjoy reality in the real world that affects the way the hobby works for
      them, or maybe it’s just something else entirely. I guess there will never be a sure answer to this type of
      question as long as we are all different.



      Thanks to all who have replied to this thread, it is still quite fascinating trying to figure out how age
      and reality within this hobby relate to each other. J



      - Enzyme
       
    5. I see what you're getting at -- I misunderstood and thought you meant that getting older meant gravitating towards more realistic sculpts. I'm still not so sure it's age, but time in the hobby. It's hard to stay exactly the same in all ways when you've been involved in something for a long time -- that's what I'm discovering now in terms of what I'm doing with some of my characters and storylines (ok, not sculpt related exactly, but same basic idea). I also agree that previous tastes and how people come into the hobby can play a part as well. There's also plain old more available at the moment, so people who have been around awhile might not have had some of those options when they started out, but are able to get them now and are taking advantage of it.
       

    6. It would be interesting to learn just how much age has to do with
      how our tastes evolve. At first I thought it had nothing to do, because
      I still enjoy doing all the things I enjoyed doing while I was a child (anime,
      video games, dolls/toys). But I think that I have definitely come to like
      the more realistic manlier looking large male BJD better, than the more femme
      anime-ish looking ones.

      I think it is because there is more options now as well, but I also feel like it’s
      because I am older too – I thought I only liked large eyes in male-dolls for example,
      but now I know I truly only enjoy them if they are narrow. Giant eye-holes just
      don’t do it for me anymore. XD


      - Enzyme
       
    7. If you have other views, or opinions of why more 'realistic,' and mature looking dolls are suddenly popping up,
      please give me your insight, I am curious to know what you think!
      When I started the hobby there was fewer dolls available and that dictated my taste. Now that more mature/realistic dolls are available I'm finding myself gravitating towards them. As for why more mature/realistic dolls are showing up, I suppose it comes with the hobby maturing, and also the skills of the artists involved, and also the artists finding more potential in BJDs.
       
    8. Personally, I like them both but for different reasons. I came into the hobby through hearing about them at anime conventions so at first, I really liked the ones that imitated the anime aesthetic I was (and am) used to. However, overall, the determining factor in what doll I want to get has more to do with the character than the realism of the sculpt. Characters that are supposed to be younger tend to fall into the anime style for me as the realistic ones look too much like young children in my opinion. Whereas characters who are older seem to fall into the realistic looking ones. Overall, I think I'll always have a small soft spot for the more anime-inclined set, even if it's only a tangential influence.
       
    9. In your opinion, has the BJD market changed, is there now more demand for "mature-realistic looking dolls"?
      If yes, what do you believe brought about this change?


      I don't think it's that the market has *changed*, as much as that it's expanded-- the desire for more mature/realistic dolls doesn't lessen the desire for stylized ones, as far as I've seen, it's more that now the hobby has grown enough that people who like all different styles have been able to find it and to support different artists.


      Do older BJD-owners (19-100?-years-old) prefer the more 'realistic,' more adult-looking dolls? Why, why not?


      Well... 19-100 is quite the age range! I can't really speak for anyone else in the several age groups there... but I do think that older collectors likely have broader tastes as a group-- younger collectors are often just discovering the hobby, and often the first dolls one sees when discovering BJDs are stylized ones, so you're likely to first be drawn to one of those, before discovering others/having your tastes change or expand with time. It doesn't mean every older owner stops liking those more stylized or youthful dolls, but the longer one has been in the hobby, the more time you have to get used to all sorts of aesthetics.


      Regardless of age, do you have a preference (realistic/and/or/mature vs youthful/and/or/stylized)?

      I love the look of mature/realistic sculpts, but I also like many that aren't at all mature/realistic... I don't really like child characters so much, which affects my tastes some, but a stylized sculpt doesn't need to represent a young character, and even a 'child' sculpt can be used to represent a fantasy character who isn't a child. So there's room in my collection for those sculpts should I like one.


      Is it just a fad, in a constantly changing hobby?


      Definitely not that-- I think that this broader range of available sculpts and styles is here to stay as much as anything else in the hobby is. Now that we've got more choices, there's always someone who will want to stick to the mature/realistic look, or to mix styles in their collection.


      Is it due to the joining of a completely new audience?


      I don't think so... I mean, I think it's difficult to break down the hobby that way because there are always new people discovering it, but I'm sure there are people who collected stylized sculpts from the start but would have bought more realistic dolls back then if they could have, just as the 'new' side of the hobby includes people who have different tastes.


      Is it just because BJD companies are growing, maturing themselves, and they want to make more
      'real' looking dolls?


      That may be. I think it's natural for artists to want to grow and challenge themselves and try new things! I can see how a sculptor who had never really tried for realistic dolls before might want to give it a shot, even if it meant going outside their previous niche. Not every company will, and some sculptors will just do different things on their own time as one-off passion projects without trying to change the look of the company dolls, because to change a well-known aesthetic might be a risk they wouldn't want to take... But some companies do take those risks.

      Does it have anything to do with age-group, or is it related to culture, region or other?


      I think a lot of it is personal taste, but culture has an impact. What you love in other art forms influences what you're going to love looking at in a doll, after all-- so if you're a big anime/manga fan, maybe you'll prefer those more stylized dolls (not that it's a prerequisite to enjoying them, and there are other stylized things out there too), but a fan of western superhero comics might strongly prefer the more realistic sculpts because most companies' stylization leans closer to manga. Or a fan of a particular movie/show might just want a realistic doll to look like a favorite actor/character, either a replica or just a realistic sculpt that resembles them. Someone might only want childlike dolls because they grew up with childlike dolls and preferred the look of those to fashion dolls, or they might prefer a realistic sculpt because they always hated child dolls when they were a kid and want to get as far from that as possible.
       
    10. I'm turning 40 in a couple of months, and I've been in the hobby for about 7.5 years. I really don't think age has anything to do with people's tastes in doll aesthetics. I think it has to do with the personality and interests of the collector more than anything else. I have always preferred more realistic toys, dolls and figures, even before I got into BJDs. The more real it looks, the more I like it. I love the more realistic and mature (although idealized, I admit!) sculpts like those offered by IMPLdoll, Granado and Iplehouse. Photography is one of my hobbies as well, and I love how the realistic dolls look in photos.
       
    11. I am not knowledgeable about the bjd marketplace. I only know my personal tastes. I prefer my male dolls to be more realistic looking. My female dolls are all younger in age so I like them childlike which lends to a more stylized look.

      But mostly I like odd sculpts. Doll Chateau style fantasy creatures. That's what my eye is drawn to. I see quite a few people here feel that way too... I am very new to the hobby and I can say this. I thought bjds were just the stylized, childlike female dolls. Now I'm seeing how diverse the dolls are. More diversity in style is always a good thing IMO.
       
    12. I have a whole range of CHARACTERS ranging from babies to 80+, so I have ALL kinds of sculpts ranging from very juvenile-looking SDs (Volks Kanata shelling a 14 year old boy) thru some Iplehouse EID guys. So I run the gamut. I started this hobby in 2010 - got the first doll in 2011. I WAS looking for mature looking guys, cause those are my favs and were hard to find - not so much anymore :D But I've got 40+ dolls now (for my photo stories) and they are quite a variation. Like any group of people would be.
       
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    13. I've been dying looking at Iplehouse male dolls... They are gorgeous! I think one of them will go on my wish list. Imma build myself a dolly boyfriend! Lol Where can I get a Xia Junsu doll?! That's what I wanna know!
       
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    14. I've managed to find a Changmin LOL but haven't seen Junsu nor Jaejoong :( Not for lack of looking LOL
       
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    15. A friend of mine keeps showing me pics of a Jaejoong doll she saw online somewhere. But she hasn't seen a Junsu either... I'll settle for the real thing even if I can't keep him! Lol
      I'd love to see pics of Changmin!
       
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    16. Found her link!
      [Pic] Jaejoong and Junsu Ball jointed dolls

      But that doesn't look like Junsu... =(
       
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    17. I got into the hobby pretty young (around 2008 and I'm 20 now) and I think that I did prefer the cutesy sculpts. Now I like both and it really just depends on the dolls personality. I think overall I prefer more mature sculpts now though. And I think from being in the hobby for so long, there has been a definite trend towards more mature dolls while I think the cute, youthful sculpts got even more childlike. I used to see a lot more people owning msd sized dolls and now I see more SD sized. So yeah, I do think theres a trend and I personally prefer mature sculpts now.
       
    18. When I first saw a bjds on the internet, I loved their realism. The more realistic doll was, the more impressed I was.
      But it's been a long time since then, and my tastes changed completely. I would say, that it was 180° change! xD Now I like really dolly-like dolls. With big eyes, and round faces. :love
       
    19. For the most part I prefer more realistic and mature looking dolls. Which can be hard when looking for dolls smaller than SD sized *_* Realistic dolls are what got me into this hobby, and I don't see that preference changing anytime soon. However, I do like certain more childish looking sculpts, but that happens less often.