The Deciding Factor When Choosing a Doll - or the things that are the deal makers

After a long time watching these amazing creatures in the internet , I got the decision to settle some of them at home. And I searched google for my doll again and again. I did even know nothing about the size, type, companies. And many dolls were very charming and beautiful. But only One of thousands I saw - was my love at first sight. Which factor is this? I have no idea...

 

For me it's kinda inexplicable. Here I was shopping around and I'd settled a few times on certain sculpts I'd be happy to have, but it was never the "Have to have it!" kind of feeling. And then I saw Little Monica's Haazel sculpt and something just clicked. I've never had that feeling before. I saw his photos and something in my heart just fluttered and I knew that he'd be coming home to me.

I daresay if I ever get that feeling again (and that may be how I decide between wanting and actually buying a doll) price won't be a barrier.

 

To be honest I kind of impulsed my first two dolls.

First doll: I wanted a female doll that wasn't too big and wasn't too small. I wanted her to look cute and have a nice company face-up. Posing was also very important to me because I wanted to take nice photographs of them. Nothing professional but just casual pictures that made me smile. I ended up with a YOSD full-set girl I bought from E-bay after I looked up second-hand BJD. It was a tie between her and a sculpt from that very same company. My partner decided he liked the outfit of one of the dolls better so I went for that one. Stupid because the sculpt is actually more important but little did I know back then. I don't regret it but I've contemplated selling her a few times.

Second doll: I was going to go to a doll convention in the near future and I was worried that a YOSD doll was just not going to cut it. Hence my silly brain told me to get an SD-sized girl. Off course a certain company enabled me by releasing an event that featured their harder-to-get SD girls around that time. Before I knew it she was ordered and on her way home. I actually changed my sculpt choice from a happy girl to a more melancholic girl halfway the production line. When she arrived I had no idea why I'd done that because her sculpt actually keeps dampening my mood, I think it's the company face-up she has. She lies here naked in her box with not even a decent wig at the moment yet I can't part with her. We'll see what the future brings.

Third doll (not yet ordered): Remember those two sculpts on Ebay I had to choose between when buying my first doll? Well, the other sculpt I didn't pick at the time keeps haunting me. I love that sculpt so much for some reason but I'm not sure if I want her in the same size of my first doll. I have plans to purchase her in a different skin tone and a tinier size than my YOSD girl. Not sure if I will actually do it but it's an idea that has been plagueing my mind for a while.

I'd say the following things are important for me lately when judging if a doll is the 'right one' for me.

- Connection: the 'click' sort of speak
- Poseability
- Sculpt
- Default face-up
- Availability of clothing and wigs for the sculpt
- Pictures of that doll by other users
- ...

 

It's all about inspiration for me. Does their sculpt inspire me to sew, craft, and photograph? Do they fit my idea of a character in a story or comic I'm working on? Will the quality match the price? I love looking at sculpts that don't have many owner pictures oddly, so it has to inspire me to want to do enough projects to make the time I spend on it worth my while since I have barely any free time. I'm picky but when a doll speaks to me I listen, research, and ultimately obsess over project lists until I realize I've been inspired, and if that inspiration lasts until I save up my money then I'll buy him/her.

 

I have picked the rare scale of mature tinies and in scale children, so first they must fit that criteria. Having a character develop in my mind or a name is also a factor. Certain unique traits, like elf ears or dreaming eyes, and being available in tan help inspire me to try to figure out who they are. What the body looks like and posability can also influence my choices.

 

It's just falling in love with it for me. I see tons I like, and I keep a list. But, then I just fall in love with one. It's worked out a lot better for me than the ones I thought so much about.

 

I loved the face sculpt of Aya, and how close she was (only a few days away!), and her skin color... And I could not stop thinking about her, it seriously consumed every second of my day. I couldn't even look at other dolls. It was a weird time in my life for sure :P I obsessed over her so much I had to impulse buy her.

 

I think for me, if I keep on coming back to that doll in my searches to the point where I'm finding myself starting to squirrel away money for it even when I know I don't need another doll to add to my collection. And if it was or is a limited edition doll, I get anxiety at the thought of how difficult it would be to purchase afterwards in the secondhand market. I've seen prettier and more well made dolls than what I have currently in my collection both in person and online, but the ones I do have I think more of something I am proud to pass down to the next generation and don't regret how much we've paid for them.

 

I used to be a lot more impulsive with my purchases and would buy anything that I liked and fell in the tiny range. I've ended up selling off quite a few dolls that way, though. Now, when I like a particular doll or sculpt, I "sit" on the decision on whether to get it or not for quite a while. After looking up things about it and seeing information/photos from other owners of the doll I like, I kind of confirm to myself that I'd like to have it.

A dealbreaker for be would be size. I only like tiny dolls, so anything taller than 30cm generally doesn't appeal to me.

 

Does the doll sculpt move me in a major way? Can I afford it? There are dolls I absolutely love that are forever out of my reach money-wise. I just cannot rationalize paying the equivalent of a month or two's rent for them. But there are also a lot of cheaper dolls that I see and that are in my budget range that just don't really appeal to me. If it's a lot more expensive doll I really love and I can get a head at least at a price I can afford I might hybrid and get a very old or even a damaged head just to be able to have one but most of those higher end dolls I can't even afford a decent used head so there's no point really. I rarely spend more than $100-200 a doll and I try to spend far less. Iplehouse, Soom, etc, they're just fantasy land dolls for me. I love them, I really do, but they're just not affordable for me.

 

Since all my dolls will end up being characters I have made, I try to get ones who look the most like them. Also, I'm big on bodies looking a certain way (I am not a fan of the double-hinge elbow that makes it look like a rectangle) and having good articulation.

 

I'm w/Harmony - I have characters to shell - those characters have to cosplay certain anime (& other) characters - so that makes me go look for a certain look in the sculpt. I do research, check on poseability, etc etc but the bottom line has to be, does the doll fit within my dollie world or not

 

After loads of research about the dolls I've noticed that I fall in love with jointing systems and even the tiniest differences in them divert me from dolls even to I like the face and the general body shape. For example, like the luts shape, but I don't like that the joint on the torso isn't right under the breasts ( it took me 5 minutes to get the guts to write that >//////<""") and that there isn't a lower torso/hip joint... < this is also why I'm not a fan of the moe lines in fairyland... which is obviously the deal breaker.

 

I'm very intuitive about the decisions I make, and I suppose it's never steered me 'that' wrong before. haha
I don't have much experience with bjds, in fact I've never even seen one in person and am waiting for my first one to get shipped.
I was casually perusing sites until this one sculpt, as cliché as it sounds, called out to me.
I found myself obsessing over a Seung-A over the next few weeks. She would pop up in my head in the weirdest times: at work, while driving, even while in the shower. And that's when I knew I was a goner.

 

Usually it's when I see a picture of a doll and go "What company is that from?? I need it!", then realize it's one I'm considering buying, that I cement my decision. If every time I see the sculpt it leaps out at me, it's a good fit. I usually shop for heads and bodies independently, and then figure out how to match the 2 lists together.

Also, if I don't recognize it at first, then it's a sculpt with a lot of potential for variation, which is important to me.

 

For me, I love the beautiful, realistic dolls, or the strange, bizarre dolls.
I'm really really drawn to doll chateau dolls.
But size is a huge deal to me too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

This is pretty much what I do. I research the heck out of anything I'm thinking about buying, dolls especially. The sculpt is also a bug factor. If it really stands out to me then I will start looking into owners pics, just to make sure it's not the company's makeup that's drawing me in.

 

Probably the hands. If I already like a doll's face and body, how much I like their hands would be the final thing that would make me decide if I want it or not.

 

When I first got in the hobby I just bought dolls that were visually appealing, as I thought of them like figma collecting(anime figurines), but then I realised you need to have a character in mind with each doll. As a result I felt detached from the first few dolls I bought and as of now they're floating heads that I hide away in my wardrobe LOL now the deciding factor is wether or not I have a character in mind before I buy a doll, but truthfully that's only a secondary factor. If I see a cute doll then I'll be able to think up a character in no time.

 

As most people have mentioned, the head sculpt is a deal maker. Other factors are critical, though, and may break the deal.

1. Am I madly in love with the doll from its photos? Especially if it is second hand? I have found that if I have major doubts while looking at pictures, I might not love the doll when I get it. But I have always loved a doll in person if I was madly in love with its pictures!

2. Will the new doll look right with my current doll family? I had a girl doll come home that I really liked from photos, but her legs were a lot longer and her torso was way shorter than I expected. She didn't look right seated with my SD13 boys. And dolls with tiny eyes are a tough sell, since so many of mine have large eyes and anime features.

3. Does the body look appropriate to the character when nude? Generally I dislike an unattractive nude body, but might be able to tolerate it if it is right for the character. And I do not like floating kneecaps or elbows.

4. Will it bring something new or different or unusual to the BJD family I already have? I have so many BJDs now that I don't want to bring home something too similar to what I have already. And this does not contradict my number 2 above. I want new dolls that are complementary, but not identical to what I have. A new character type is always welcome.

And if an idea for a character and a story come into my head upon seeing a doll, that can be a serious deal maker too!! I could be doomed.

A changeable expression is very important to me too, but often I don't know if a doll has it until I have brought it home and played with it for a while. I love discovering that a doll has it!!

If I love a sculpt even when blank or with a bad faceup, I know I will love it with a good faceup! This has happened to me several times now, so I know it's not a fluke.

Linda S.
galatia9