What Do You Look For in a Doll?

Hmm, well so far none of my dolls are very poseable, so I am beginning to look more at poseability.
I look for: a neutral expression, realistic adult faces, a classic Greek profile with a perfectly straight nose, a realistic body shape ( I LOVE the Iplehouse EID women), I like a doll with a full mouth, and beautifully detailed realistic hands and feet.
The thing I cannot find is a sd13 male doll with really wide shoulders, but slender and relatively undefined muscles... like an ancient Egyptian wall painting, but I keep looking...

 

First of all, I only like female dolls and I rule out cartoony/anime sculpts right away BUT I really like when the anatomy is a bit exaggerated or unusal (4 legs on DC Alberta, wide hips on Dust of Dolls). The body needs to be graceful and feminine (with smaller breasts, NO balloon boobs please!) - there are many sculpts that look quite stiff and the whole figure doesn't "flow".

I like the face sculpt expression to be a little mysterious and dreamy - with open eyes and a very gentle smile that's not even really there Good examples are Zaoll Luv and Souldoll Juliana.

 

There is a similar thread here - The Deciding Factor--What are you picky about? - so this one may get merged.

I don't think I've actually answered this question before, so I will! My criteria:

I only go for the 55-65cm range.*** My crew is from a single storyline, and they are all have the appearance of youths or adolescents. So I have a pretty specific overall look for them - they're not young children, or grown adults.

For heads, it's important that my boys look like boys -- not androgynous males, not grown-up men. All head sculpts have to look good overall from all angles, especially from the profile, and be reasonably full in the jaw/cheek. I'm not terribly drawn to sleeping or slitted eyes - I like eyes to be open and clear. But... apart from that, I really don't have a fixed formula for head sculpts, and my current crew are all over the place. If I'm attracted to the head and it fits these minimal criteria, well, I just have to decide if I want to own it!

I'm actually more picky about bodies than heads, after being very impressed by Volks and Dollstown bodies. I like youthful, subtly muscled bodies: girls with small breasts and gentle curves, boys with sleek muscles and lithe bodies. (Voluptuous females and ripped males don't interest me.) Aesthetic detail is very important: the contours of the limbs, posture of the hands, subtle muscular definition. Double joints must also look good if uncovered -- joints ARE part of aesthetics too! Realism of posing is important, even above versatility. I like double joints, but choosing between a double-jointed body that has awkward posing and/or mediocre joint aesthetics, and a single-jointed body that can pose more realistically even if it has a more limited range.... I'd go for the single-jointed body.

I also like heavy, substantial resin. I'm admittedly biased towards Volks and Dollstown bodies, so I've difficulty appreciating any doll less substantial than those!


*** Note: this is only my planned crew. Unplanned dolls (like the tiny who blindsided me and ended up coming home) do break the mould -- and they must have very good reason to do that!

 

Oh man, I have the same bias. Volks and Dollstown are my favorite companies and I want my dolls to feel heavy. I also don't like overly muscular bodies; my dolls shouldn't look like they spend all of their free time in the gym working out.

Back to the topic:
What's important for me is character. My dolls' heads have to have to have character. I don't like one in a million faces and I don't like them to be bland/neutral. I also don't want them to be androgynous. Boys should look like boys or men, girls like women.

As for the bodies and heads: the dolls I'm attracted to are well sculpted and their joints don't destroy the overall line of the body. I'm not really fond of double joints for this reason.

When I look at my crew, I also notice that I'm partial to slightly open mouths and dreaming heads. Sometimes I don't care for a sculpt at all, but as soon as they release a dreaming version, I HAVE to have it.

 

Honestly, I care the most about the faces. If the face isn't attractive to me and doesn't fit the character the doll is being bought for, nothing else about the doll is going to convince me to buy it. The appearance of the body is also pretty important. When I saw Iplehouse's nYID bodies last year I knew I had to have one, but I would probably still be waiting to buy one if they hadn't released a head mold I loved. My favorite size usually falls within the SD range of measurements. Other than that, I don't take many pictures with my dolls so I'm not as worried about poseability, and I don't have a preference for a type of resin. I like both more realistic (but not too realistic, I guess) and more stylized faces. When I first got into the hobby I worried a lot about choosing dolls with fairly standard measurements because that meant I would be able to find clothes for them in more places, but these days I don't worry as much about that because I'm a lot more confident in my ability to make things for them if needed.

 

Chemistry. I must feel that I like and can bond with the doll.

 

[h=2]What Do You Look For in a Doll?[/h]I prefer MSD or smaller dolls. If I like the face-up and/or facial expression odds are I will buy it.

 

I'm a newbie at this and waiting for my first doll. What attracted me to her were her eyes and hands. Her eyes have a far away look and her hands are delicate. I'm sure my tastes will evolve over time, but right now it's eyes and hands.

 

Love at first sight that I can't get over, that pretty much sums it up!

 

I like heavy resin and a velvetty texture. I like open eyes, full lips, and expression. I like softness and posability. I like option parts.

 

Posability.
No matter how sweet the face, if the doll doesn't pose I never touch it. Too much bother, too little time.

In regards to faces though: wistfulness.
Or snark, like little Soso.

 

Posability, pointed ears, body sculpt, and especially seeing if it fits with the character I have in mind, or their family.

Mostly though, the dolls on my wishlist are "love at first sight" that hasn't abated. I review my list every month or so, and if I'm still enamoured it stays and will be bought (one day), if not, it's gone. One advantage to being too poor to afford a doll instantly

 

Facial Sculpt: Cute. I don't have a defined criteria of what I call 'cute', but it has to be cute. Not interested in manly, sexy or mature dolls. I'm not a fan of smaller-headed dolls (i.e. C-line) so I tend to look for dolls with bigger heads.

Body: Nice hands. To me, nice hands are just as (if not more) important than overall body sculpting. You can clothe an awkward body, you can't make them wear tiny mittens all the time! XD I'd be more likely to buy an elegant single-joined body, over an ill-engineered multi-jointed body. Not that my dolls pose naked, but I like them to look nice! XD If possible, also look for swivel-thighs and double jointed elbows+knees, because they add so much more to a bodies' posability. For girls, I like having a bust-size option, for boys I like having an 'immature'/less muscular option.

Ect: I'd prefer it to look okay with the dolls I have already; so dolls with odd/extreme proportions or sculpted in a vastly different style I probably won't be very interested in. I like option parts, and extra hand poses (big+) or fun additions like kitty ears, cute wings or horns. I'm not a fan of Environmental Resin, so I'm less likely to buy a doll made in it. Resin colour is not normally a big deal but I like to have different options, even though I usually prefer a pinky-flesh colour over white skin.

 

I only have female dolls and I usually focus on the sculpt of the face.

 

When I first decided I must collect BJDs (& do photo stories after I made a ton of cosplay & clothes for them) I wrote a story about the cosplayers in some imaginary little town. Each character liked certain cosplays which determined the sculpt I wanted for them.
So what I look for now is dolls that fit my characters (which often translates into dolls that look like certain anime characters). Which by the way despite the constant insistance that anime = one look - NOT true. Go check out all the different styles of anime & of animation in general. So - I've got several Iplehouse dolls who fit my characters & who also fit Bleach/Gintama/LOTR cosplay needs (IH Dexter = 2 Bleach characters; 2 Gintama characters & ARAGORN!!!)
So I like realistic sculpts that will be able pull off various cosplays. I also like poseability but since I can always do something about that (suede; wire; kip; get another body LOL) that's not a biggie. As for dolls that look 'compatible' - only a few don't - ChicLine & Idealian 51s just are the wrong scale unless the character in question is supposed to be a 'little person' (what are we calling Thom Thumb syndrome nowadays?); as are mature minis etc. But otherwise people all look different so my dolls do as well. I like the variety & it is much more realistic. I'm right now trying to get one of those 'plus size' bodies - which look like they are actually the average size for American women...

 

For me, it just has to be a face-up and mold I like. If it has an outfit/eyes/wigs I like already, even better, but I mostly focus on the face-up since that tends to be the thing hat is hardest to change.

 

Probably my main requirement is that they will fit in with my current collection. This has effectively meant I've limited myself to only a couple of companies (and all but one of my dolls are from the same company, Soom). I photograph all my dolls together, and they represent characters from the same story, so it's very important to me that they all look harmonious together.

Realistic sculpts (as opposed to cartoonish/anime-style sculpts), as well as busty females and lanky males are some of the reasons I gravitate to Soom as my favourite brand. If I branch out to other companies eventually, it will only be to ones that fit these aesthetics.

Pose-ability is a factor, but a lesser one. I'm confident I can make my dolls pose the way I like (whether through planned shots, or modding). I wouldn't pass up a sculpt I loved just because it wasn't regarded as the best poser ever.

Quality resin is definitely a theoretical factor, but not one I've really had to think about since I always buy from Soom (whose resin is amazingly good quality). I suppose if Soom suddenly started using cheaper resin, I would stop buying their dolls (unless they also lowered their prices to compensate), so resin quality must definitely matter to me on some level.

 

Sculpt: It has to fit my character! And my characters vary quite a bit, so what I might need in one might be terrible for another. But in general, I like somewhat realistic faces (like not anime or chibi), good sized noses and mouths, detail. I don't like huge eyes with otherwise small facial features. I also like a defined jaw. Round heads that look like a ball with features stuck on don't work for me.

Resin: I LOVE environmental resin, but will settle for urethane if enviro isn't an option. I have a variety of colors, but I don't like anything too pink or too orange. With NS, I lean towards yellow. With tan, I lean towards brown tones.

Posing: Doesn't have to be OMG AMAZING!!!! But does need to pose decently, at least be able to sit up, stand, and touch the face. Preferably more, but depends on how good everything else is. I usually prefer double joints that flow smoothly or are nearly hidden (like BBD).

Body: I prefer a two part torso with the break along the ribcage bones. I HATE the 2 part with the break at the hips, and try to avoid those at all costs! I also love large hands, and if I can't get replacements hands to fit and match, small hands are a deal breaker. I like good proportions (no monkey arms, no t-rex arms, no exaggerated pear, etc). I like mature bodies. I'll almost always go with SD, unless the character needs to be younger/smaller.

Options: If I can't buy a plain, basic, blank doll, I won't buy it. I do my own faceups; and clothes, wig and eyes need to fit the character, so a fullset or doll with faceup isn't worth the extra money to me. All of my characters are human, so the doll must be human, or at least have removable fantasy parts.

Service: If a company is known for horrible service or other problems, I probably won't buy from them, or will only buy the dolls second hand. The doll may be gorgeous, but it's not worth the stress of waiting over a year with no communication only to receive a damaged doll or the wrong doll. On the other hand, hearing that a company has awesome service might make me more likely to check out their dolls closer than I might have considered before.

 

I try to buy dolls that can "match" when placed side by side. They don't necessarily have to belong to the same company, of course, but I do expect them to have a certain harmony when placed together.

I only buy female dolls, and it's better if their head sculpt looks "dreamy" and also feminine, with a soft look. I don't like exaggerated body proportions nor cartoonish head sculpts, so I look for dolls with body sculpts that can be considered more realistic, which includes the colour of the resin...
One detail I like is when the hand features are more defined.
But the head sculpt is certainly what influences the most in my final decision, since I don't buy separate parts - I wouldn't buy from the different companies anyway, because I don't want to worry about the color of the resin matching.

The poseability is not that important to me, since I don't demand much when posing my dolls. The poses I put them into are usually very conventional and not at all challenging, so as long as a doll can be left at some basic poses, that's fine by me.

The joints shouldn't be too distracting; the more discreet they are, the better.

While I do faceups sometimes when I get tired of a certain look, I prefer having someone more talented doing them for me, and so I'll prefer if a doll comes with nice custom faceup options to spare myself the work of doing it myself with underachieving results.