What attracts you more: the head mold or the faceup?

Oh, definitely faceup, but there are certain headmolds that are just more attractive to me. Even with a headmold I don't usually like, a talented faceup artist can transform that dislike into complete love. That's part of the whole customization process, I think, taking what would otherwise be a "standard" blank head and bringing it to life, working with the mold to enhance certain features or mod it to enhance others.

I'll still naturally gravitate towards certain molds, though - School As in particular, will always grab my attention first, even if I don't like the faceup. I may dismiss it afterward, but they're my first focus. =^^=;;

 

I am also relatively new to this, and therefore, my entire appreciation of a dollc omes from her face up, but even more so from looking at the body. For me, the decision whether to purchase a doll hinges on a type of body he/she has. Face up matters, but I think it can be changed easily. I honestly cannot tell one head mold from the next, except that I know that I do not like extremely small heads. May be appreciation for a headmold comes with time--that is as you collect longer, you learn to distinguish one headmold from another and can formulate your likes or dislikes?

 

Usually the mold 'cause mostly I imagine it with a different face-up, still face-ups can really get me!
I think I am a mix of both!
I loved/love Chocolate with every single make-up she has/had. It is beacause it is Mir mold that got me and not only the default face-up (that was almost all I got when I fell in love with Mir ^^')
Mikael I think I love him for both, but I'm specially in love with this face-up he has... still, I think he'd be pretty with others as well ^^
I didn't fall for Shall's face-up itself 'cause it was too strong to the personality Vanilla has but the mold fit Vanilla very well...
I dunno... I'm a mix of both.

 

I think it's the same, because whether it's the faceup or the actual head/face you are still thinking about it aesthetically, and thus, shallow.

I think that the faceup, to me, is as important as the head. I mean, I want it to look nice by highlighting the features the head already had. I am sure that there are some headmolds that I don't like but I do like the face, or that there are heads that I loved but I don't like the faceup.

I do think though, that at the end of the day the faceup makes or breaks the head mold.

 

You too? I'm a Werethinker also. XDD

But you do pose an interesting question. I usually fall in love with a head mold after countless pictures of it with good faceups, bad faceups and even no face ups. Versatility is a big thing for me. XD; I stalk Shan's headmold list.
When you look at a blank head, what do you see? I see potential of characters, with different faceups, eyes, wigs, modifications. If you look at a blank head and see...a head then that's okay too.

A faceup can make or break a mold. Especially the faceups done by a company. Let's have an example. Kun. Kun is just gorgeous. *waits for Kasita to show up and be fangirly* XD On YJ after the limited release of Kun she was going for a good steady price (moreover for the limited wig) and then the standard was out and the price diwndled and not many people had Kuns, they were more drawn to the popular molds. Then the great customisers put up Kuns on YJ, like Robin's egg and the BJD world went . Now the asking price is a bit more.

Humans are superficial creatures, no matter how much we deny it. XD It applies even for attraction to inanimate objects. Cars, for example, their designs are based on consumer taste, what look the target demographic is more likely to buy. The way a car looks can help it's sales or drop it like rock.
Same with BJD. Let's say you like goth faceups, for example sake, but you're not really a fan of the Isao headmold. You browse YJ and you see a customized Isao II head with dark brooding eyes and modded lips with vampire teeth. Care not you never really gave the mold much thought, but the overall look of the head makes you want it.

It's not about being shallow it's about personal taste. XD

 

personally, its the sculpt for me. Though face ups do make a HUGE difference, some sculpt will just... never appeal to me... Like really huge eyes... I'm really not a fan of them ^^"
(of course, once in a while there are some that I have to admit are gorgeous)

Also, I would prefer customising myself to get the look I want, this I prefer to choose a sculpt that I think will look good in the face up I have imagined for him/her.

I have also seen some really terrible ones... qouting what tammie said,"breaking the mould" T^T
So at the end of the day for most people I believe is the face up. Afterall, it is the very first impression that one gets. (i think)

 

The headmold. Because even if it's a super lovely faceup, if I don't like the headmold I don't like it and will not want the doll. The faceup is important to completing the look of the doll, but the sculpt is more important imho.

 

The headmold is what does it for me. There are just certain molds I love, and others I don't much care for. ^__^; Though, I must admit that a good face-up can help me see what other people appreciate about a headmold I never gave much thought to.

 

I think it's a mix of both for me. I can be persuaded by a faceup easily, but I try to keep in mind that it's not permanent, as faceups get smudged or chipped or dirty looking as time goes on. But if you get a doll because of it's faceup, you're also being influenced by the mold a little too, because you know it can look like that with the right face. If I see a head with an awesome faceup that I just LOVE, I'll probably be prone to getting that doll in the future even if it's one with a bad faceup, or none at all, because I'm aware of its potential. ^^

 

Deffinately more headmold for me, since I am aware that there are a certain set of facial features that I adore on a doll: Wide eyes but not super-bug alien eyes, very narrow and angular around the chin, and pale.

I know that I prefer dolls in long wigs- really short short wigs turn me off no matter what doll is wearing them, as do wigs that give the doll an apperance of an overly large forhead.

I do prefer natural color faceups, if I'm doing them myself.

 

It really depends for me. I know that no matter what, I will love a Soo, an F08, a Byakuren, and a few others. However, for most other dolls, their faceup is what does it for me. My boy, for example, is an Isao (which I'm generally pretty indifferent to), but he was a repaint listed on eBay by Satoko Ohno and I fell HARD. I can't look at him without swooning, but there are Isaos that I can just walk right by. I guess it's all in the faceup, in his case.

What's weird, though, is with Es; the SD13 Mimi headmold was never my very favorite, and I'd really like to redo her faceup to be less childlike someday. But there's something about her that said "I AM your first doll. We work together, you and I." And she was right; I couldn't have had anyone else. But I don't know why; it's just something about her. Did this happen to anyone else?

 

Another vote for headmold. Since I stubornly insist on doing my own face-ups, photos of the doll faced mean little to me when buying. Though, I do like to see a range of what others have done with a mold, I'd never buy a doll based on a face-up. It would be wiped anyway.
If, however, I'm just looking for pretty pictures, then I pay less attention to structure and more to presentation.

 

The sculpt, definitely... Especially if I know what sort of look I want a doll to have. Faceups can be very distracting, though, and not necessarily in a bad way, but even the most marvelous faceup won't "redeem" a face mold that I don't like. It's like looking at people's faces; makeup can change the way you look temporarily, but, I mean. It's not going to miraculously change your face. If you have a round jaw, you're stuck with a round jaw, short of surgery anyway, and so on and so forth. It's the same with dolls. Besides, I assume going in that I'll have to do esthetics on a doll.

 

Headmold all the way.

 

i guess i look at the face up first because owners don't really post up pictures of plain head moulds so i don't see those often... but if i like the face up and how it looks on that head, i go looking for the plain head mould.. XD good face ups just tell me that that particular person is good at face ups~ i tend to look at head moulds and imagine how it would look with different face ups.. :O

 

Definitely the headmold. If my dolls ever get non-default face-ups, I do them myself. I am reluctant to "fall in love" with a doll just for its face-up, since face-ups are more subject to wear and damage and needing to be re-done. That said, I do love looking at various face-ups on a headmold to help me find what look I like for it.

 

Face up, I guess. I've seen beautiful molds completely ruined by a weird faceup, and ones I dislike transformed by the right artist and colors. I think wigs and attitude have a lot to do with it as well. For instance, I'm really not a fan of Dream of Doll, but there's one Tender Too here on DoA that I just can't stop drooling over.

 

The mold, it's obviously a bit more permanent than the paint. The face up is really important still, but if it's messed up it can be redone..a bad mold is stuck like that unless you want to spend a lot of time sanding it down, but even then it may not be completely salvagable.

 

Mixture of both, but the faceup/wig honestly makes or breaks the doll's ambience and personality. I would have NEVER considered Tender Too from the DoD site, until I found this picture:

http://www.rinlocke.net/bjd/misc/ha050510-06.jpg

And decided he was perfect for my boy.