What Do You Look For in a Doll?

i do a lot of research on the resin. I then do research on the body; like how well/easily it poses, and how it looks in general.
Then i like to have a cute girly sculpt
I like for my dolls to all go together, but i could deffinally buy one that was off if i loved it enough

 

I love in a doll a real image. There has to be a beautiful face and a body.

 

I like long thin faces, or otherwise sharp features. A doll's promo photos also has to convey a sense of 'personality' to me beyond what the styling would suggest of a character; I suppose I have to be able to project empathy onto the sculpt. Posing doesn't matter to me as I can modify that to an extent and I don't keep my dolls all in a unifrom sort of style.

 

I mostly aim for realistic looking facial sculpts, but a large percent of my collection couldn't really be classed as such . As for body style? I aim for what suits the character rather than a specific united look for every doll, I prefer double-jointed bodies that are known to pose well. But with my RS dolls and my extremely kicky DZ Clare it's not essential...

Eh at the moment I'm lusting after a sculpt, that isn't particularly realistic around the eyes, but egads that bone structure! It's unique! And it's absolutely perfect for my idea of what Vimes (His Grace the Duke of Ankh Commander of the City Watch, Sir Samuel Vimes, the blackboard monitor and River King... To give him his full title...) looks like! (It just hasn't been released for general sale yet... )

 

I'm always looking for different things. Recently though, I've developed an interest for pouty/serious faces and subtle smiles. I guess it makes my Pongpong look more happy and silly.. Obnoxious and loud almost. She's a little girl so I guess that's ok haha .

 

Generally speaking on all of this but I look the most for SD+ sized dolls. 60 - 65 cm is the range I've come to like the best.. but my two Kid Delfs aren't going anywhere right now even though I'm not fond of their size.

I like my boys to be pretty.. pretty enough for dresses but can pull off pants/t-shirts... or ones that confuse people. They're the best. I'm not against having a manly man EID/SID and I hope to get the perfect one some day when he calls to me.

Proportions are big, too. I want my future dolls to look believable as humans but not so out of proportion they look alien. (I'd make an exception for DC's Douglas)

One of my main things is having sculpts that are expressive and can be photographed in different ways to showcase different emotions.

 

It really depends for me because I don't see myself as a 'collector' I feel more that certain girls just speak to my soul and they have to come and live with me! I like different things in different dolls. I once had a double joint body that really annoyed me as it sort of slumped and the joints would not move smoothly against each other so I had to sell her. Then at other times I have double joint bodies where the engineering is perfect and I just love the way they feel and how they can pose. I have an angelegg doll which is double jointed and she is perfection. I like lati yellows because I feel like They are like my little inner children with a kind of fierceness and cutness about them. Usually with my lati yellow fairy's I find them/ commission them one perfect outfit and then they never change clothes again. Then there are my msd girls who get changed alot and I buy most of my outfits and accessories for them. I play with them and customise them myself. I love that. My favourite size though is 1/6 scale as they feel heavy but are small enough that you can take them with you without planning or being overly encumbered.

I like very unique face sculpts that is what attracts me most. This is what drew me to dollstown seola, Merrydoll round, Lilycat, BJDtales, Dust of dolls and D.I.M and doll chateau. The face is the most important. I love resin to be slightly translucent. That said I have girls with milky skin and Ilike them just ask much. Elfdoll yumi was my first ever BJD that I was wotally obsessed with; I loved her because she was so different from the others that I had seen. I was mainly in to fashion dolls and figures before her. At the moment I am obsessed with SQlab chibi's. I have invested in extra hand parts, custom outfits etc... because I am so enchanted by them. I usually don't care about hand parts but recently I find they add so much to the expression and diversity of a single doll.

The head is the most important part by far as I'll buy heads that just sit there with no body but I just love to see the expressions. I have some in porcelain, resin and random ones that I thought needed rescuing from ebay. I like resin to be heavy, It feels sturdy, secure - all the things I don't feel in real life at times. I have a really diverse range of dolls and also love nendoroid, Figma etc... anime girls so it is basically a feeling that leads me to buying. I had dreams about lati Christmas elf miel with mystic eyes back in 2007, I didn't buy him initially as I was not sure about him and then once they were sold out I had to have one. I was desperate for him and would wake in the night and was like 'when am I going to find the "one" after several almost sales where I was just beaten to the finish I finally found one at the same as lati original price from a girl who was really happy that I was so excited for him. It's like the dolls choose you. Lati xmas miel came home and I knew not a boy but girl called Cliodna.