W/ W/out Doll Profiles

I'm in the same camp as @Osaka. (surprise, eh?) I've been meaning to create profiles for ages, but never seem to get around to it. And when I have time and motivation, I can't decide on pics / decide I need better ones / notice I've changed something since the best pic was taken so I'd want to update it to reflect the doll's current look (as @solstelpa said, I want mine to look their best too), or would rather wait and not spoil too much yet, or ... get lost in my own plans, essentially. I do want to create them, though.

 

Seconding what someone else said above - the profiles are a relatively new feature, so it isn't surprising that a lot of people just haven't made the time yet.

I really like them, myself! But I still only have profiles up for three of my 23 dolls because -
A) some of them aren't complete enough for my taste
B) I'm not a good photographer, so getting a decent photo takes a lot of trial and error, which takes awhile
C) I do everything from my phone which makes filling it out and getting photos uploaded take that much longer, which leads me to
D) there just aren't enough hours in the day! I work full time so my free time is limited as it is, and I do want to do other things with my dolls... like sewing for them and rearranging them so... the profiles will just come slowly.

At some point at least I'll be taking photos to document my wife's faceups, so maybe that will give me a leg up.

 

I've been on the forum for a long time, and most of my dolls do have profiles, but I do have a few who don't. Here's why:

Amir was my first doll, and I still own him, but consider him "retired". Several years ago, I upgraded the character from MSD to SD, and at that time, I put the MSD in a box in closet, keeping him for sentimental reasons, though considering the new SD version to be the "real" Amir. However, over time, my crew's focus shifted, and Amir got almost no attention, to the point I sold the SD version. The MSD version doesn't fit into my crew at all, due to scale and proportion, plus since he's been put away for so long, his wig is old and poor quality (from before I discovered the importance of quality wigs), he has no clothing, and his faceup/tattoos look like kiddie scribble compared to my current skill level. For all of these reasons, Amir doesn't have a profile. If I ever go back and fix him up, he might get one, but it's not a priority right now.

Others who don't have profiles (Mr. E, Oreo, Jellybean, Minnie, Wanda) are off topic for DoA because they fall into that weird "in-between" category where they don't meet all the criteria to be an on topic BJD, yet they have too many joints to be a companion. So they can't be shown here at all, unless with another doll.

 

While the majority of my on-topic crew do have profiles now, there are a few who still don't... and that's exactly the reason why they were left out.

They either don't have faceups yet (Because I really can waffle for *years* over who I want to send one out to-), or they just aren't to a point of completeness where I feel like they ought to be shown. They're still listed on my account profile page as part of the collection, but won't have pages of their own until they're a little more "ready for Prime Time", so to speak.

As for picking who to list, I had that trouble when we were testing the system. It was really TOUGH deciding who ought to be added and who had to be left out given a very limited number of slots. While I'm under no illusion whatsoever that my crew are particularly unique or interesting, I had a lot more Favorites than space.

When the system went live, though, I noticed that there was an option to get more profile slots in exchange for making a donation towards the site's expenses. By tossing a few bucks into the kitty to help support the site, I got enough profile slots to see how well the database could handle a collection that's well into ludicrous territory. (Yes, I used to be a software tester. I had to see if I could break the thing. It's an instinct at this point.)

That's not a universal solution since money's involved, but if you have the spare funds to swing it, that's definitely one path around the "But who do I pick?!?" issue.

 

I'd like to have profiles for my guys but most need current, nice pics and I haven't found the time for that. I may not be able to post all of my guys either due to whatever the limit is and then I'd run into the problem of who gets a profile and who doesn't. I have some dolls that I think others would like to see due to their rarity/uniqueness but I need time to get everything together and time is something I'm chronically short of.

 

*snrk*

I've been here for a decade (christ on a cupcake) and I don't have any profiles due to a combination of a) lack of good photos and b) lack of time to put 'em together. I don't have a collection that's gone into ludicrous territory, so I don't have to pick and choose, but I am not a great photographer and I want my babies to look their best for everyone. My own perfectionism frequently comes back to bite me in the ass for things like that.

Although now that everyone's acquiring proper clothing this may change.

 

I did one, back when I first noticed that they existed... but really, I can't see the point of them.

I have a list of my dolls on my own profile if anytone whats to know what dolls I have, but working up profiles for each them is an aggravation I don't see the point of devoting time to, especially when it comes to hunting up pictures to post with them.

Teddy

 

I really like the profiles purely because I love organized information; I like having all my dolls/characters in one place with all the information there and sorted, so that's really appealing to me. I have plenty of pictures on hand and don't really think the profiles take too long (considering I only have a few dolls), so I end up having a lot of fun with them. I also like when other people do them because the ability to sort by company and sculpt and get a quick glimpse of different itterations of a doll you might want to buy without having to sort through a bunch of threads is super useful!

Like a lot of people said, however, I don't want to actually make the profiles until my boys are finished; Toshi is a floating head, Ilya doesn't have the right wig or eyes or clothes (and is currently away for a faceup), and my other dolls either don't get enough attention to warrant a profile or I'm planning to sell them. I look forward to having all my favorites on there though~

 

Without retreading too much:

-Finding a good location and time of day to snatch a decent portrait to crop can be difficult with chronic insomnia.
-I'm still debating on format consistency. Not fond of having to go back and make major changes on the old ones, you know?
-I don't remember who did Lily's face-up 'cause she's no longer in the community. Don't remember who modded Paprika's ears, either. Some clothing and accessories are one-offs or long sold-out. Feel bad not acknowledging these people.
-My girls represent characters dealing with touchy subjects. Keeping the explicitness reasonably reeled in to avoid breaking DoA content rules is a challenge.

That I've managed two out of five profiles is something to be proud of all things considered.

 

• I would want to do them all in one go, and a lot of them still need work/names/refining
• I am not good at taking photos and I still have yet to set up a photo area since moving three years ago
• My photo light broke
• I get fussy if I post something and it does not get "likes" or comments, so I tend to not post pictures too often.

It is mostly that last one that gets me. That and I am too critical of my own work.
Also, I tend to not put up much info about one doll in particular as my husband might try to get her story published down the line and I do not risk leaking info on her out into the world and having someone run off with the idea.

 

This, plus:

• I have 40+ dolls, I can't be bothered to work out who's on or off topic now
  
• I don't see the point in the whole concept

You'll probably find that many of the members who have been here for a very long time have taken their collections offline over the years. Many of us have no interest in the social side of the hobby anymore/are done with 'the community' aspects, we're purely in it for the dolls and personal enjoyment now.

 

I have only one doll finished and I'm not going to change her image soon. So she has profile. Others are still waiting proper eyes, wigs, makeups, etc. They do not have profiles.

 

I would like to make some, but my photo skills are very dodgy and I will have to remember all the info for them.

 

My biggest reason is that I HATE taking photos! I find it incredibly boring, frustrating, and because I don't have the patience to practice, almost all of my photos come out terrible.

I still try of course because I love my dolls' characters and I really would love to share them with others, so I do have a few photos up, as awful as they are (the only good ones were taken by other people). But it's really hindered me in putting up the rest or more than one photo per profile because I just dislike photography so much.

 

I rather have a finish doll or a semifinished doll. I have one that I want to redo her face-up and then my other girl just needs a lot of love since she is a doll chateau Katherine, she has no clothes and needs a face-up.

 

I always want to create profiles of my dolls! But I'm not good at photo shooting and don't think my pictures are presentable
This is why I feel reluctant to do it.... I hope I can do it someday.

 

As others have said, some of my dolls aren't at a point where I want to show them yet. I'm working on that this year though. Others, I just have not photographed really well enough to like the results. I'm practicing photography more too. I really like the profiles feature and want to list all of mine eventually. I do look at the profiles often and enjoy seeing new photos a lot.

 

I've got an ongoing list of dolls that still need work. That and as much as I've been hammering out the over arching idea for the place and grouping that my dolls exist under. A lot of my dolls haven't told me who they are yet either. its all terrible.