What do you like in a sculpt?

I love wider opened innocent looking eyes, a soft smile.

 

Generally speaking: high detail and a good sense of realism. Sad eyes are a plus. Everything else is dependent on what I'm trying to achieve.

 

A sharp v-line jaw is always a plus for me. I also like happy, kind eyes. Small, cute noses. I don't personally like my fave sculpts to have visible teeth or an exaggerated expression, though I admire them on other dolls

 

I love sculptss with a subtle smile, that look happy. Bonus points for slightly opened mouth with a little bit of teeth showing!

 

A nice nose and eye shape. That is what usually catches my eye about a sculpt.
If both are to my liking then the doll will make it to my wishlist.

 

For female heads I like sculpts that stand out from a company's general aesthetics, like Mio from fairyland (to me) looks quite different from all the other minifees. I don't look for something particular as long as the face is harmonious, but with a twist. Then female bodies I love tiny but realistic waists and small chests.
For male heads I like realistic faces and chiseled jaws, strong noses, thinner lips. For bodies, long legs, large shoulders... detailed hands and feet, big bonus if there are veins on them . Body builder bodies isn't my type but I've recently added an f.i.d from Iplehouse to my collection and I'm actually enjoying the big muscles look for his character .

 

There are so many beautiful head sculpts out there that I usually base my choices on bodies, because I find that those are often less defined and refined than heads.
Generally I love harmony in bodies, so they can even be not very realistic, like some pear shaped ones, but for me they need to have their own defined style that makes them perfect, maybe perfect for being fantasy creautures, but still pleasant to look at as a whole.
As for details I love well cured sculpts of hands and feet, recently I was almost ready to buy an artist BJD that I found very unique and harmonious in her curvaceous body then I noticed her hands and they looked roughly shaped, especially compared to the beautiful body... so I passed on her, hopefully the talented artist who made her will release a new version of the doll with improved hands.

 

I love cute and small noses that still look adorable from the side! I actually like realistic looking dolls a lot but at the same time I'm in love with dolls with big eyes that look rather unrealistic so for me it depends on what character I want the doll to be.

For the body (for girls), I prefer the body to be feminine with thin and elegant looking fingers and a nice waistline and for boys I pretty much prefer an androgynous body type!

 

The face in general is important to me, if everything goes like I imagine for a character. It can sound strange, but beautiful hands also make difference to me...I like delicated and long fingers and sometimes they are hard to find in 1/4 dolls.

 

I love the face. Body is also important, but face more so. I love more gothic face ups, and freckles. I like bigger chests on girls, and abs on men. I love jointed hands and if not jointed, then longer, gentle hands and fingers. I like closed mouths and wide eyes, also pointed noses. And elf ears are always a plus!

 

It really depends on the character for me. I have a doll coming in the mail that has small squinty eyes--because that's what matches her character. On the flip side I want a doll with large doe-eyes...again because that's what will match the character. I like both but for different characters/reasons.
Overall, I like sculpts that have defined 'long' chins. I steer clear of sculpts that have smaller chins or bigger foreheads. I don't like the facial features to be squished in a small area. Overall I avoid too mature looking sculpts, I just prefer cutesy ones instead.

 

Head sculpts have to be unusual, out of the norm. What I really like are:
Anime style-super cute!
Non anime heads must have unusual ears, no 'regular' ears (but they can be modded)
Anthro sculpts -so irresistible

I am more strict about the head sculpt than bodies. I do prefer slim bodies male and female, but if the head only comes with a specific body, I'll go with it. I'm trying to make it harder to buy anymore dolls, so they also must be msd or smaller.

 

I like wider eyes over narrow slits generally, and the really puffy lips that are popular with some artists now are a turn off. I also like the more mature looking faces/bodies, the childish ones hold no appeal to me.

 

Head sculpts:

• Stylized but not overly cartoony
• Sleepy/half closed eyes
• Rounded, realistic noses
• Super plump lips
• Neutral or soft expressions
• Rounded face shape/jawline

Girl bodies:

• Semi-realistic
• Small, yet mature breasts
• Wide hips and thick thighs
• Realistic hands
• "Plumper" build

Boy bodies:

• Semi-realistic
• Realistic hands
• Build depends more on character

This was just off the top of my head, but I'm sure I can think of more later

 

I like a good variety, since most of my characters are very different and not related, but the most common similar traits I see in my dolls are:

-Small eyes with sculpted tear ducts and eyelids. For SD, I like 14mm and smaller, often 12mm.
-Thick lips with a defined cupid's bow.
-Visible brow bone. I don't like sculpts with a very round head that don't have defined brow bone, chin and jaw
-Ears in the right place. It sounds funny, but I have seen so many sculpts whose ears are way too low, almost on the jaw or way too high, or even sticking out way too much. That always bothers me.
-Medium to large nose. I have a few who have that teeny tiny dainty nose, but generally I prefer more realistic.

In a body, I like:
-pose well straight out of the box
-aesthetically pleasing proportions and details
-hands with bones visible!
-two part torso with the joint along the ribcage

 

Head sculpts in general:
• good spacing between eyes
• eyes not too large
• thick, full lips
• sculpts are slightly asymmetrical
• almond shaped eyes
• thick eyebrows on faceups
• hooded lids
• a good mix between stylistic and realistic

Boy sculpts:
• well shaped nose
• strong angled jaw
• defined brow ridge---but not gorilla brow strong
• nude lips

Girl sculpts:
• either a subtle pout or smile
• somewhat rounder eyes
• very subtle faceups
• slender cheeks

Bodies:
• have to be within ideal proportions (7 1/2 to 8~ heads tall; not a fan of the bobble headed look)
• they need to have arms proportional to their legs and body (seen too many short arms)
•KNNEEESSSS!!! They need to look nice sitting and standing
•prefer hourglass figures for female bodies
•prefer more muscle definition in male bodies
• long legs

Some minis like my pukipuki obviously don't follow these but for the most part my dolls have a sort of similar pattern going on with them

 

A haughty, sullen or vulnerable expression. Realistic above all.

 

I like sleepy or dreamy eyes.

 

Teeth showing (even if it's in a creepy way), long legs on females and cute hands an feet!