Selling/Buying Preferences: Blank or Face-up? Owner pics purchases?

I'm lazy and fail at art. I'm also in Canada so finding an artist without crazy shipping prices is annoying. So, I would prefer a doll already have a face-up if I bought second hand. But, if the price was right for a blank doll, I'd probably go for it.

 

I prefer to buy dolls blank because I enjoy face-upping.

But I do like looking at owner photos before purchasing a doll. Some doll companies are terrible about showing their dolls from multiple angles. Also artsy lighting vs normal room lighting can affect the vibe a doll gives off.

Selling, I usually leave the face-up the doll has on, but offer free face-up removal or re-do. I am pretty flexible since I have the supplies on hand anyway.

 

Since I have absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever, I don't do my own faceups... My crew end up painted by someone else regardless. Given that, if a second-hand doll has a face-up that I like I'm happy to leave it as-is. On the other hand, if it doesn't have one, or has one I don't like, I'm not particularly bothered by that, either. That's what commissions are for.

When I've sold dolls on, I've always left them as-is. If they had a faceup when they were with me, they keep it through the sale process. If they didn't have one, they're sold without. Rather or not a faceup stays or goes is up to the new owner.

As for buying dolls because of the way they're painted or styled... I've never bought one for that reason alone. First and foremost, I have to like the sculpt itself or I'm not going to give the doll a second look. Even the Volks one-offs in my crew are sculpts that I wanted to begin with. I just happened to be lucky enough to come across specific examples of those sculpts that were really, really well done.

 

If I'm buying a doll new, I almost always buy blank (because I'm cheap )
Buying secondhand, if I like the faceup I'll keep it, if I don't I'll wipe it and paint a new one.

 

I actually prefer to buy dolls with faceups and half my dolls I bought because they inspired me instantly when I saw them with a faceup. I like the fun of adopting a doll that has a history already and figuring out who they are. But I've recently designed faceups to be done and I've enjoyed that as well.

 

I've bought dolls with artist face ups and I've bought blank heads as well. It just depends on the situation. I wouldn't usually change an artists face up. When I buy a blank I usually spend a lot of time figuring out who I want to paint it because I have no talent at all to do that. My siggy picture came with her Val Zeitler face up and I hadn't even thought of getting that sculpt, but fell in love with it when I saw her up for sale.

 

I bought my first doll with an artist face up because I really liked it.
The two others came blank (the third one was a rescue) and I found an artist who made an amazing job on them, exactly the way I wanted them. In the end, I prefer blank, because I enjoy creating a personnality from the start.

 

I’ve bought blank and I’ve bought dolls with faceups. A Volks Head I bought because the faceup was gorgeous and it clicked with me right away. I even bought her a body. Another doll I wanted either blank or with faceup and found her with faceup. When I opened her she clicked with me (I love her tiny freckles and teeth). I compare her with the company faceup (realpukis) and the company faceup on my limited one is so...meh compared to her.

I’ve also bought blank and that can be really hit or miss with me. Sometimes I just can’t click with them and they sit around blank forever until they are sold.

 

I very much prefer having a faceup because I am not a faceup artist. I tend to let the doll tell me who they are, and the faceup helps with that. It is not to say I won't buy blank, or that I haven't bought dolls to immediately strip the faceup from, but for me it helps with the visualization and characterization.

 

Definitely prefer faceup. I think it helps sell a doll, to see what it really looks like (or what it can look like). I just can't look at a blank doll and feel impassioned. And yes saves work and everything else. Clothes etc even better.

 

It doesn't matter to me either way. If a doll comes with a faceup and I like it, it stays. I've never bought one on the basis of its faceup alone, but I've gotten ridiculously lucky and bought sculpts I've loved with faceups I've also loved.

There isn't an artistic bone in my body, but I love commissioning face-up artists! I like to have a varied collection, so my own personal rule is that unless the dolls are supposed to be related, I can't use the same artist more than once.

 

I prefer blank dolls.
Once I bought a secondhand doll fullset but I threw away the outfit, changed the eyes and wig, and erased the face-up to redo my own. It was really a waste of money! But I really wanted this doll!

 

Bit off topic, but do you mean throw away literally? Because you can sell fullset outfits.

Also, blank. I got one of my dolls with an already done faceup, but it began to grate on me, not because it was bad (in fact, it was quit close to what I wanted), but because it was just off enough from his character to bother me. Even though he has one of my cruddy faceups now, I feel that it suits him better.

 

These days, whatever I buy is generally something that caught my eye on Y!J, so with that very specific market in mind....

I prefer the doll to come with a faceup. I'm not good at doing it myself at all, and I have very little free time, so I prefer to spend my limited time doing something fun with the doll, rather than fighting with paint etc. If I really don't like it, I can wipe it and try for myself.

I am willing to spend a bit more for a doll with face/up, clothes, eyes, wigs, etc., because those are things I would have to spend money on anyway. If I can get them without paying extra shipping, that's a plus. If I really don't like the wig or the clothes, I can always sell them.

 

I prefer buying blank as the character already exists and I like eyebrows/lashes to match hair, and freckles/moles need to be just right. If I buy someone else's face up, then they don't really feel like they're mine.

As for selling, I've only had one that had a face-up before I sold it. I wiped it before listing it for sale.

I do have two dolls on layaway with an individual and they already have face-ups. I will probably leave them as is as they aren't shelling any particular characters.

My Dollshe Saint was the result of seeing everyone else's Saints. I fell in love with him every time I saw him, and I caved during one of Dollshe's 'final' sales. He is one of the few dolls I purchased without having a character developed for him. It took five months for him to ship, and it was during that time that I figured out who he was in relation to my other characters. I still greatly prefer having a character already made, but figuring one out around a specific sculpt was fun too.

 

I really like buying dolls that already have faceups! A big reason I bought my two secondhand bjds was because I loved their faces and previous customization work. One of them's a Souldoll Onulharu head with a Resin Junky faceup that I saw a year before he went on sale (while researching the sculpt), and I recognized him in the marketplace and had to get him! And I just bought a Lumedoll Rischa with a super handsome faceup by Jatzu, plus the coolest tattoo by Hane, and I instantly fell in love and knew what kind of character he'd be. So at their best, pre-existing faceups give you a jumping-point to work from, and they let you own work by great artists you might not get a chance to commission otherwise.

The only time a faceup would bother me is if it's for an incredibly distinct, well-known character. Like…if someone made a Naruto doll with his cute whiskers and everything. Or if it was a bjd from a popular person in the hobby, like one of Elfgutz's boys, who's unimaginable as any other character. I've seen people buy dolls like this secondhand, especially cosplay dolls, and their comments get filled with "Wow, I love Naruto!!" – Which seems like it'd kinda sting if you're trying to change the doll into your own oc. I just need some room to develop the doll as a new character! Unless I wanted a Naruto bjd for his own sake.

(Edit: I have no preference when it comes to clothes, though! I might like clothes if it's a doll size that's hard to shop for, so I'd know they'll have at least one reliably-fitting pair of pants.)

(Edit 2: …I realized another reason I prefer faceups: I have almost complete aphantasia, which means my mental visualization skills are really weak. I can get around it by drawing, or by photoshopping images together – but it means it's harder for me to imagine a faceup on a blank doll, among other things.)

 

I always buy my dolls blank if possible, but if I can get a good price on a secondhand one with a faceup (like if I'm still paying less than I would if I were buying it blank from the company) I don't mind wiping the faceup when it arrives. I like doing my own faceups, but I do really like seeing other peoples' techniques before I wipe them. I've never been to a meetup and don't have any bjd buds irl, so I don't really get any other opportunity to see other people's faceups in person.

As for selling... I've never sold a doll, but I would be interested in seeing if one with a custom faceup would still sell. I feel like blank ones would sell quicker, but that's just a baseless hunch based on which one I would jump for...

 

I'll buy a doll with a faceup if I like the faceup, but will not pay for a faceup if I don't like it. There are definitely aesthetics I can't stand, some dolls are painted to resemble stage makeup, which is... I mean, I get that the artists want them to look like pictures of famous actors and actresses but stage makeup is designed to make actors' faces be not washed out in heavy stage lighting, when viewed from the back of the audience. I consider it too heavy for a doll which I am not going to be looking at under those conditions. I also find dolls that have a flesh colored line going around their lower eyelid, with heavily painted lower lashes, disturbing. I get that it's supposed to mimic realistic human eyes, but it never looks right.

 

It depends. If the owner has the faceup I love, I would keep it. Sometime I don't like the owner's faceup but the price is good or the owner doesn't count faceup in the price I would be fun with that. If I have a choice of no faceup with good price, that's my first choice. I can pay more money if the faceup is from the artist I love or the clothes is what I am looking for. I won't buy doll with faceup or clothes from company except for Volks.

 

I do my own faceups and usually have a specific idea in mind, so I prefer blank. I've only ever bought ONE doll with a faceup already, which was unfinished and only because it inspired me and I itched to finish it.
Usually though, I find a faceup actually puts me off because I don't want to pay for something i'll just wipe. Many sellers charge for a faceup and if it's not to my taste it's a waste of money for me.

As for condition though, I don't mind problems. In fact I actually quite like restoration jobs. They're very satisfying. But the price has to reflect that work.

I don't like not being able to see a blank sculpt when buying from a company either, it drives me nuts. Faceups can hide or distort SO MUCH so while I like seeing faceups on the sculpt to get ideas of what can be done, I also want to see blank to get ideas for what the blank canvas looks like. I mean, i've seen dolls where i'd thought "ooo I like that" but then seen them blank and gone "mm actually I don't like that" and vice versa. Blank pictures are essential and I won't buy a doll unless I know what their sculpt looks like blank. It's a pet peeve of mine that many companies do NOT have blank pictures.

Clothing most often isn't to my taste either, because again, specific ideas in mind.

Selling dolls, quite often if I sell something I sell it "as is" because I can't be bothered wiping it lol. once I decide i'm selling something I don't really want to do much with it other than get it gone.