The Porsche of Doll Eyes Versus the Volkswagon Variety

The first thing I spend doing on arrival of a doll is figuring out which eye brings them to life. Lately I've leaned towards urethanes as default eyes for my dolls. My favorite urethanes are dollflower barring that I like custom ED milky eyes and if I'm lucky the right dropdrops come my way.

I also like high quality glass eyes when planning outdoor photos and I echo the sentiments that Hitomiya and Silver eyes rank on works of art and will splurge on them.

The only dolls I am ok with using acrylics are pukis because animetics look good on some of the puki molds, but even they eventually get glass or urethane.

I guess I'm guilty of being an eyesnob as well after having tried the different options

 

When they start making glass or urethane eyes with complex patterns as realistic as Eyeco or Masterpiece silicones, I'll convert in a heartbeat. In the meantime, it's all silicone for me!

EDIT: I always had a soft spot for The Bug.

 

If one can afford to drive the Porsche, drive the Porsche! For my dolls, every one of them has urethanes, some even get more than one pair. I did all my due diligence in the other kinds of eyes when I was starting out and nothing has brought my dolls to life more than the urethane eyes. I use Mystics, Gumdrops, Everpurple, and Enchanted Doll. I have bought a few Droprops that I loved but which didn't quite fit into the intended dolls and they've been sold or traded. I'm willing to try them again, though; often you have to experiment and see which brand of eyes will best fit a doll. Some brands excel at making a particular range of shades that others overlook, others have a larger or smaller white and will not suit certain eyewells. Urethanes are also great trade fodder and will usually sell quickly if they aren't right for your dolls.

 

The only answer to this question is that there is no definitive answer. Everyone is looking for something a little different in their doll eyes, and it's ultimately pretty subjective. You may think your doll's eyes look perfect, whereas I look at them and wonder what the heck you were thinking, and vice-versa.

I will say that I'm very picky about eye fit and placement, and I think there is nothing quite so sad as an expensive doll with expensive eyes that are too big, too small or looking in different directions. That said, I'm a urethane whore. It's InvisibleWings' fault, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I love beautiful eyes, nothing pleases me more than for eyes to glow like little gems in a doll's face. I am less concerned with realism than I am with bright colors and the ability to catch and hold light. I don't have a favorite brand, as I have yet to find just one brand of eyes that will consistently fit in every doll I own and offer the range of colors I require. I do believe you get what you pay for, but I have encountered dolls that, after trying multiple pairs of urethanes, still required the flexibility of a pair of silicone eyes.

I don't like acrylics, and I've never been quite as impressed with glass as I have been with urethanes. Perhaps my next step will be to acquire some of the truly high-end Japanese glass eyes, but for now I'm content with my urethane whoring.

 

I love eyes, they are The doll part I have lying around most in my house, I actually love all kinds for different reasons. the only kind I do not own yet are urethanes

Glass eyes: I love how sharp the colours in glass eyes usually are.
Acrylics: I love the amount of choise in colour, and type they offer.
silicone: (I got these for the first time in my soom doll) I love the way they look and feel.
custom: I own a pair of custom made eyes that were made with seashells, I have to say when you are looking for something special it is very worthwhile to lake a look in custom eye threads.

 

I, like many people who have already commented, am a *total* urethane eyes convert! I used to buy all my boys glass eyes, because I thought they looked the most life-like. (I was never a fan of acrylic... I could see the print-screen pattern in a lot of them and it drove me nuts. ) I had the toughest time finding a pair of eyes that were the right shade for a particular character of mine, though, so I finally broke down and custom ordered a pair of Enchanted eyes for him. Well... that was it and the rest, as they say, was history. I couldn't believe the colour and the depth of them! All my dolls have urethane eyes now.

 

I like your thread title xD

it depends on the doll and color I want, so I don't have a preference
I have a pair of acrylics that I think looks just as good as zouks^^

 

personally, i dont go to meetups, so i have no way to see any of these fancy-dancy eyes in real life unless i spend $70 on them when i buy them. and thats too much money for me to gamble on eyes that i realyl dont know will impress me or not. esp after i hear about how fragile urethane eyes are, i dont want to blow that kind of money on something i might not even like.

 

Droprops Real Type. This picture is huge so I'm linking it, but as it's full-sized you'll really be able to see the detailing in the eyes.

http://www.nokoru.net/dolls/gwyn/DSC07220.JPG

 

Currently I only use glass but with my next doll she's based off a well developed character of mine so her eye colour won't be changing so I may just invest in some Enchanted Eyes to try out a new type. Acrylic patterns would be great but they do usually look pixelated and they just give this dead toy stare to me generally. I just love the shine and wet look that glass eyes have - it's more like a human eye. If I had the money i can garuntee you I'd happily drop $100+ on some high end glass for my girl if they had the colour for her. I guess I'm abit of an eye snob for my dolls, dont really care what other people do usually... but I really think acrylics dont do alot of dolls justice.

 

It's glass only here. Urethanes feel too fragile and I hate acrylics. Depending on the desired colour I don't usually have enough choice to be picky about who made them.

I just got my hands on a pair of Antique Rose eyes for one of my new boys, though, and I think I suddenly turned eye snob. The others may get eye upgrades as opportunity permits ...

 

I'm a glass eyes sort of girl. I never really liked acrylics, and I did use silicon for a while. I mainly get my glass eyes from pupapa.com, and captured in glass, though I do have a few pairs from jr-toy-house. I just think the glass look better, more glossy, and easy to keep clean and scratch free <.< Really glass eyes aren't that expensive for the most part. I usually spend between 10-15 on a pair, though there is a 40.00 pair that'd i'd like <.<

 

I looked into urethanes myself, but I ended up with silicones from Soom because I didn't have to wait for a group order to fill or for one maybe to get started who knows when. Besides that, there's the whole $75 and up prices per pair of urethanes. $25 per pair for the silicones seemed a lot better with never having laid eyes on them. The Soom silicones photograph well, and I've found that the Glastics do as well even if they're acrylic. For me, the money and the ease of buying them were the most important factors. And, with four dogs at home, there's always the potential for eyes being eaten or taking a serious tumble.

 

I don't have any urethane eyes, but all my dolls wear acrylics. I really like the fine detail and variation of color in high-quality acrylic eyes. Most of the glass eyes I've looked at, while very luminous, are just a solid color. I like my dolls to have lines and swirls and inconsistent colored patterning to the irises just like human eyes. And they come in so many colors!

 

Well, even with shipping and custom eyes, I don't think I've spent $75 on a single pair of urethanes - it's more like $45 and up a pair. Regardless, quite expensive, I admit! I did spent that much on one pair of high quality glass, though.

If you like lots of detail, both the Droprop Real Types (as shown above) and Mystic Limiteds are worth checking out.

It really depends on what's most important to you. I like to look across the room at my dolls and be able to see at least a hint of eye colour, and in every case only urethanes give me that.

Just for the heck of it, I decided to do a comparison of eye types using my spare/going-to-get-rid-of-one-of-these-days eyes
http://s618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/timid_04/Eyes/
guest password timid4

Sorry, I don't any silicone eyes so couldn't include them. I'm not trying to convert anyone to any type, just thought this might be helpful to someone . . .

 

Those a really nice comparison shots! Thank you! The Droprop eyes are very nice.

I think I must have really good quality acrylics, or else I just have good taste. I've never had a problem with not being able to see color in my dolls eyes, except for Rylin who has very dark green eyes. Among my collection I have Volks metalics which change color from blue to grey to lavender depending on what my doll is wearing (just like real eyes) and a pair of Dollmore apple green eyes with an interesting patterning to them, the color of which you can see across a room. The Dollmore eye will actually appear to follow you if you move around.

 

Wow, impressive! I'll definitely look into the Droprops now, thanks for the lead!

 

O_O I did not know this. I just assumed it was a UK/US/Canadian spelling thing . . . You learn something new every day!

I wish my Mystics would come . . . all the pics look so amazing *sigh*.

 

i don't like glass eyes. they're so fake and i cant fit as i want in my doll's eyehole.

i do love silicone eyeco eyes, the material is soft so it's really easy to fit, and they look so real. also because they're not paper white around but more natural that i love them. they capture the light and if you use flash the pic won't be affected.
sure, they take dust, but it's easy to clean. and they're not expensive. im changing all my eyes with eyeco's. perhalps i know only eyeco and Soom. soom i don't like for example. they're too white around and they're too deep.

for example: here my chalco is wearing eyeco light green, and my dia is wearing soom linen. you can see a bit the difference.
and more: eyeco green
------------eyeco smokey
------------eyeco blue and green
------------eyeco blurple