Things you DONT look for in dolls?

Exaggerated hip width is one of the things I like the least in a doll. I think they rose as a counter against exaggerated boobs but are just as bad.

Boring hands. I think hands can add so much to the posing, so if they look uninteresting or aren't pretty, I'll be disinclined to buying that doll. In the same vein, I don't want the hands on the doll to be mirrored. It makes the sculpt of both body and face look unnaturally symmetrical.

Waist joints are not for me either. I much prefer the underbust variant. Not only does it look more subtle, but it gives me the range of motion I want.

 

- Pinheads! If the head (with wig, I understand some doll makers make the backs of heads smaller so they look natural with the wig on) is smaller than 1/9th of the body in terms of height and smaller than 2.5x the shoulder’s width (i.e. typical idealized superhero proportions) then I do not want it in my house. Which is a real shame, there’s a lot of otherwise nice heads that would be lovely on a body that was 10% smaller. But as an artist, the ridiculous mismatched proportions would drive me insane.

- Blobby, detail-less hands (unless it’s on a very small and heavily stylized body)

- Overly-sculpted expressions. This I struggle with because I do think dolls made with an expression outside of the resting face norm are super cool. But I think I would get tired of them pretty fast, and also my husband has a very real doll phobia and I don’t think he’d appreciate them either lol. I think the only way I like it is the context of a Chibi Unoa, with face plates that have different expressions.

- Overly masculine/old/angry-looking adult male dolls. I'm not big on the feminine/young/soft either, I prefer a nice blend of both (which is... surprisingly rare).

 

I think the idea is imitating the look of a push-up bra. I don't like that either but it looks better clothed.

 

Interesting that a lot of people dislike closed/dreaming eyes - I like them.

What I dislike:

Realistic heads - A lot of realistic heads are pretty, but they're often boring; they lack personality/expressiveness.

Open mouths, especially with teeth - SDM Dai/Mako look like they would slobber everywhere... And sculpted teeth on dolls is a one-way trip to uncanny valley territory. Softly parted lips are nice though.

Long, model-like legs - this is almost impossible to avoid with female dolls in general. Long legs and relatively short torsos look unbalanced and just... off. Iplehouse J.I.D is a good example of the torso - leg ratio I like.

Waist joints & double joints - I don't need my doll to be an acrobat! I rarely use the full potential of complex joints. My dolls only sit or stand in slightly different positions, and single joints are nicer aesthetically.

 

I posted here previously, but here's another trait that I've been trying to avoid...

Underbust joints, the one that cuts directly underneath the pecs/boobs. I don't like this joint at all because it doesn't seem anatomically realistic to me, and since many dolls have only an underbust joint for their torso (no additional waist joint), they look really weird when bending over at that place.

Furthermore, this joint is high enough that it risks cutting across the shoulder/back musculature to disrupt the flow of the back in unsightly ways. The doll may look pleasing from the front, but not necessarily from the back. I've seen some doll bodies where the joint cuts right through the shoulder blades ... and I don't like it!

This underbust joint is getting close to a dealbreaker trait for me, especially if it's the only joint in a 2-part torso. I'm a bit more forgiving when the doll also has a waist joint (3-part torso) because the torso posing looks more realistic. But these days, when I look at my shortlist of doll bodies, underbust joints are at the bottom and I'm prioritizing other types of torso joints above them.

 

Admittedly I don’t have a lot of features I’ll never do on a doll, but for my crew in particular, needing eyes over 12mm is a deal breaker. I’ll do 14mm SI, but I send to like smaller eyes in my dolls than they’re typically made for. Even my feeple 60’s and my twigling ingenues look good with 12mm eyes imo. But I can’t do like, feeple60 Chloe because she looks wrong with 12mm’s—she needs a minimum of a 7mm Iris (classic 14mm eye). And that makes her look weird with all the rest of my dolls.

it’s been said by a lot of other people, but childish heads on adult bodies. I don’t like childish heads in general. All of the characters I’m shelling are supposed to be adults, so I don’t like heads that are too young looking.

Also anime dolls in general. I like seeing pics of them. I like other people’s anime dolls, but they look so weird with my small eyed realistic ish dolls. So I need to stick away from anime dolls. Even semi-real smartdolls look super weird with my realistic dolls, and besides which, I’m not wild on their creator.

 

@aihre I feel the same about the underbust joint... well way harsher than that. Because of the positioning it has less range than a chest joint - simply because the hinge is higher up you need some really dramatic positioning to achieve the same bend as a chest joint and it usually looks like the torso is split in two when it's set at a non-useless angle. Even for basic contrapposto you need more than what a bust joint can do without looking weird. And if you have a somewhat tight top on the doll I imagine it impedes posing much more than a chest joint which bends in a more natural place.
I honestly don't understand the purpose of this joint... If I wanted to dress a doll in a way that shows a lot of skin I'd prefer a one-piece torso, it's truly seamless and allows for much nicer sculpting, because with the underbust joint you always need to shape the breasts so that they have a very sharp tuck under the seam. I wonder if it might have to do with choosing different breast sizes more than articulation?
It's been a dealbreaker for me every time on bodies I otherwise liked a lot (like 1/3 Jiu Er Mao). The only exception I'll ever make is Dollstown... I love Jonghak An's sculpting too much to care.
I actually prefer one nicely designed chest joint over a bust + waist joint. I've gotten used to the infamous diapers on 1/12 figures for the sake of articulation, and my favorite figure has a 4 part torso, but I understand that BJDs need to make a compromise between articulation and aesthetics, so I'd rather choose one good cut over many.

 

Grumpy Sculpt, maybe.
All my collection untill now only have smile or neutral expression. None of the grumpy or downward curved lips attracted me at all. I don't hate them though, they just not draw to me.

 

Maybe, but I do think the underbust joint is a fair compromise of aesthetics with some posability, and maybe stability. Especially if one keeps the doll mainly in a stand and in upright poses - an underbust joint still lets them make nice upper body poses, and the stand may be doing a lot of work to support lower body/leg poses anyway.

That is not how I play with my dolls, so I find the underbust joint alone quite limiting. 2 of my 6 dolls have 2-part torsos with only underbust joint, and I always wish that they had waist joints because they're not too versatile in seated poses compared to my 4 other dolls, who have 3-part torsos with a waist joint. The pantyline joint may not be favoured by others, but I value it because I'm constantly using it for every kind of pose, including standing contrapposto and lounging and sitting realistically. The bend at the waist overcomes some of the unrealism of bending at the ribcage, so I'm more forgiving of the underbust joint if it's paired with a waist joint.

 

Things I don't look for/avoid-

I don't really care for anime looking dolls, 1/4 scale, big head or big eye sculpts. Hard pass on animal heads on human bodies. Childlike dolls with huge boobs I avoid. I also pass on androgynous body types and super slim body styles. I also avoid gore, exposed skulls, deep scaring, wounds, etc.

 

I've already found a few things I dislike (there might be more):

- toothy smiles or angry/aggressive/crying/disturbed expressions (please be happy or at least neutral but not creepily so)
- tongue sticking out of the mouth (one exception so far)
- anything bloody or gorey
- as many have said: boobs/non-subtle private parts on sculpts that are supposed to represent children (absolutely not)
- huge boobs if they do not have a matching body
- overly masculine (facial hair etc)
- pinheaded adults
- overly muscular necks

 

Very adult dolls, especially the male ones. There's been a trend towards "mature" MSD-sized dolls and that's just not to my taste.
Anything creepy (example, that spider-doll that I think Doll Chateau came out with some years ago?) is a hard pass. Nope.
Not keen on anthro dolls (animal heads on human bodies). I do have a few of (off topic) Hudoo Freya, but they were inexpensive and my husband liked them. Same with human heads on animal bodies, like centaurs and such. Just not my thing.
I prefer the old-school anime type dolls and single joints. Part of that is just nostalgia--I came into this hobby via anime.
I dislike the peanut-joints intensely, but most of the doll companies seem to have gone in that direction. I understand some folks like to pose their dolls for pictures and such and that is fine. I tend to take mainly portraits, and the single joints suffice for that and just look smoother.
It has been interesting watching the hobby evolve over the years, and I think it is great that there are plenty of options available now for a wide variety of preferences!

 

- Overly realistic dolls, especially in the face.
- Sculpted veins. I find them icky >-<
- Nipples/detailed lower anatomy. It's not a dealbreaker, but I'd prefer if it wasn't there.
- Sleeping heads. There's a few I like, but I find eyes important for bringing a doll to life.
- Single joints. I like as much posability as is reasonable!
- 70+cm musclemen dolls. This one is a bit of a lie because I think they're super cool, but I can barely lug my 60cm girl around and most of them are intensely pricey.

I do like a lot of the things that seem to be common passes, though. Such as:
+ Teeth
+ Extreme expressions
+ Large chests (I like having a variety of body types!)
+ Horror-themed dolls

 

Some of the things I avoid are:

• Dolls with faces that show really extreme emotion. I prefer neutral expressions, gentle smiles, and expressions that show slight emotion (like a doll that’s a bit grumpy, playful, or gloomy looking). Dolls that look really angry, miserable, or happy in an over-the-top way aren’t my thing.
• Dolls with their tongue permanently sticking out. I don’t mind if there’s an interchangeable option for the tongue to be out, but I wouldn’t want it out all the time. I don’t mind head sculpts that have the mouth open or teeth showing though.
• Inaccurate body proportions, whether it’s an intentional design choice or not.
• Anything that looks too humanlike.
• Dolls with huge eyes or eyes that are unnaturally spaced out.
• Those pinheaded muscle men dolls.
• Super muscular dolls in general. Some muscle is fine, but I can only handle so much…

 

The thing that just is NOT my taste is the usually Chinese aesthetic of an overhanging upper lip. It's a trait of beauty to many Chinese artists, but it does nothing for me.

I also am not into wraparound eyes- eyes that aren't just on the front of the face but so long and almond shaped they wrap around into the temples. I tend to prefer more realism in my dolls eye shapes.

Also? Tiny-head Muscle Uncle dolls with huge pecs and shoulders and a TINY waist. A very specific look which is very CLAMP manga, I see where they're going with it, and it'll look really cool with like 80s-early 90s clothes too, but so not for me.

Oh forgot- Butt-out Hip Tilt. Lordosis of the spine is a deal-breaker until I have a character who is supposed to have spinal medical issues. The SEVERE hip tilt male and female doll bodies tend to be given is a medical condition when it's that bad. It's not a healthy/Typical body form and it's painful and annoying to treat.

Other things are just common picky points- joints, baby heads on muscley adult bodies, glass cutter nipples, Antigravity boobs.