The Deciding Factor--What are you picky about?

There are a lot of things that will factor into my decision of a first doll.
Joints were the first thing that put me off for a certain doll. I like them to be rounded, so when I photograph, there won't be ugly, ridiculously unrealistic spots.
I like the face to have an expression to it. Some dolls seem kind of empty in emotion.
I want a doll with a mature body. Normally, I wouldn't mind for one a little more childish, but I want mine to have some curves because I plan on using her to be an anatomical model for artwork, so it really has to fit the picture of what I want my art to look like.

This really shouldn't have such an effect on me, but I turned down one or two dolls with beautiful sculpts just because the face-ups were way too...lacking. I know I won't be able to do one myself, at least not for a long time, so I'd like one whose face I can properly say I really like, including the make-up.

 

fore me its the lips and nose, eyes are inportent but not as inportent as lips ore nose...

 

THE Eyes and the make up usually make it crucial.
THE BODY as well

 

There's a reason I only have one doll right now... I'm really picky about the whole doll. Eyes, nose, face shape, mouth, body... I want perfection! Luckily I've found it in the iple EIDs, so now I just have to decide which one to buy first. ^^

 

Smiling sculpts not frowning - the mouth needs to be neutral at the very least adn preferably smiling

Open eyed, not closed or part closed.

If the face sculpt is childlike the body needs to be too - no big-boobed mature sulpts with little-girl faces.

Open mouth with teeth showing is a bonus, so are relf ears but neither are make or break.

Teddy

 

I'm picky about everything now that I think about it >.< Which is why I only have one doll~
Heads - eyes, nose, lips, face shape - all of these matter to me. I like pouty lips and elf ears~
A faint smile is also nice...

What really bothers me is this one joint so many dolls have. I have turned down so many sculpts because they have this thigh-waist joint that makes it look as if the doll has underwear on.

Also, like Teddy said, little girl face on big-boobed body - no, thank you.

Initially I wanted a YoSD, but the ones I like didn't have gender - which also incredibly annoys me.

 

I also agree with the little girl face on the big boobed body. I prefer younger bodies to go with younger faces.

 

Assuming I love the face (and I don't love the face unless I love everything on it,) I am most picky about posability. After spending what I consider ridiculous amounts of money on some big dolls, I found only later that their posing is positively pathetic. I will never again get a doll that has a reputation for poor posing. I also have purchased a few dolls that had so-so faces but incredible bodies, but they didn't wind up staying with me after all.

So I gotta love the face (which isn't hard for me!) and I gotta love the posability. A lot of companies are making bodies more and more aesthetically pleasing, removing joints in the process and the posing suffers! And this drives me mad. I don't think I would buy a doll where a company has done this. Posing is just too important to me!

 

Proportion is the deal breaker for me. I dislike heads that look too big and heads that look too small. If I love the head, I will keep it and look for a smaller or larger body. I have found that photographs, both company and owner photographs, aren't always accurate in portraying the true proportions of a doll. I spent several months last year, trying to find a body for a head I bought, basing my choices on photographs alone. It was very frustrating and time consuming. I ended up, finally, with the perfect body but now also have a extra head and body that didn't work for me that would be difficult to sell for the money I have in them.

 

There are few things that would prevent me from purchasing a particular sculpt. For facial features, I don't like small eyes, eyes that are too close together, wide lips, large noses, prominent chin, or happy smiles. I've liked some of those on other people's dolls, but wouldn't want to own one. As for bodies, I don't like a lot of muscles or overly bulky bodies. If you consider the doll as a whole, the one thing I dislike the most is a head that's too small for the body. What I consider too small is what would be considered normal on a real person - I like a slightly bobble-headed look.

 

I am picky about face expressions. I prefer dolls that don't have that blank stare to them&#8230;it makes them look like so lifeless. So I try to avoid dolls with large eyes. It also depends on what kind of feeling the doll gives me&#8230;is it giving a kind smile? Looking smug? I guess I could go on forever and ever lol.

 

I'd say it's probably poseability. Most sculpts are attractive in their own way, and faceups can help capture the look you want, but poseability is something that cannot really be fixed. I'm not talking about the slight improvement from restringing or sueding. I mean poseing features that are designed in the sculpt. It really makes a huge difference to me. No matter how beautiful the sculpt or body, I absolutely cannot stand dolls that cannot stand! Or sit in a natural way, or hold their arms out at relaxed angles.

 

The ONE thing that I am SOOOO picky about, is how a doll's FACE looks! I prefer dolls that have adorable/cutesy smiles or mouths. Dolls that frown or just look extremely sad aren't my thing. I think they're beautiful, but I just couldn't buy one that didn't appear at least some what "happy."

 

I'm picky about expression. Usually, the dolls that look perfectly beautiful or cute lack emotion and feel a bit... empty. (that being said, I do have a Liselotte, so I don't know XD)

My tastes have changed considerably while in this hobby and I find myself starting to prefer dolls with narrow, slitty eyes over the standard deer-in-the-headlights looks that a lot of dolls have. Especially for the girls. Dolls like Iplehouse Asa, Volks Pearl, Dollstown Elysia and even Secretdoll Persons 8 and 4 catch my attention now.

 

For me it's definitely the eyes and the overall feeling I get from the face, the body doesn't really matter too much for me. I tend to like more rounded or big eyes, but not too large. I don't like eyes that are too closely spaced or set wide apart. I tend to go for sculpts that either look sweet and innocent or look rather thoughtful or/and melancholic. Though I do own dolls that break this 'rule'....

 

Generally speaking, the cheeks and the overall shape of the head.

 

Definitely mouths. I have actually thought about it a lot and it seems that most of the sculpts I don't care for have mouths I don't like. I enjoy an interesting nose and face shape, and I'm open to any eye shape from huge to narrow to completely closed....but if the lips look weird I won't buy it.

When it comes to actually getting a doll, I either look for features that line up with my characters, or go for unusual or cute, and since cute for me can be almost anything that leaves a nice large pool of dolls to choose from XD

 

The whole sculpt proportion has to work together nicely, but the biggest thing I'm picky about it the nose. I hate overly pointy noses and noses that have no shape or detail. I want them to have a nice profile

 

Eye shape. There is a certain curve in the upper eyelid that makes my right hand unvoluntarily move the mouse to the "buy now" button.


Major trow-off is a very long, very pointy nose.

 

I tend to be pretty varied in the sculpts that I like. I typically dislike a lot of teeth because they look unnatural or uncomfortable to me. I like angular or realistic... There just has to be something about the sculpt! XD know that seems odd, but I just have to feel drawn to it. It can be beautiful, and it can work for a character I've got in mind, but if I don't feel a click with it, I don't want it.

For me symmetry in the face is a must. Uneven eyes will not cut it for me. And I typically don't care for dolls with closed or half lidded eyes.