1. It has come to the attention of forum staff that Dollshe Craft has ceased communications with dealers and customers, has failed to provide promised refunds for the excessive waits, and now has wait times surpassing 5 years in some cases. Forum staff are also concerned as there are claims being put forth that Dollshe plans to close down their doll making company. Due to the instability of the company, the lack of communication, the lack of promised refunds, and the wait times now surpassing 5 years, we strongly urge members to research the current state of this company very carefully and thoroughly before deciding to place an order. For more information please see the Dollshe waiting room. Do not assume this cannot happen to you or that your order will be different.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Dollshe Craft and all dolls created by Dollshe, including any dolls created under his new or future companies, including Club Coco BJD are now banned from Den of Angels. Dollshe and the sculptor may not advertise his products on this forum. Sales may not be discussed, no news threads may be posted regarding new releases. This ban does not impact any dolls by Dollshe ordered by November 8, 2023. Any dolls ordered after November 8, 2023, regardless of the date the sculpt was released, are banned from this forum as are any dolls released under his new or future companies including but not limited to Club Coco BJD. This ban does not apply to other company dolls cast by Dollshe as part of a casting agreement between him and the actual sculpt or company and those dolls may still be discussed on the forum. Please come to Ask the Moderators if you have any questions.
    Dismiss Notice

What gender of doll do you prefer?

Nov 13, 2020

?
  1. Male/Masculine

    141 vote(s)
    33.5%
  2. Female/Feminine

    184 vote(s)
    43.7%
  3. Androgynous/Unassigned

    114 vote(s)
    27.1%
  4. Doesn't matter

    68 vote(s)
    16.2%
  5. Other (tell us in the thread!)

    11 vote(s)
    2.6%
Multiple votes are allowed.
    1. Thank you for sharing your viewpoint! To me, the first of those dolls is anime style and the second is more... anime inspired? But I totally get where you're coming from.
       
      • x 2
    2. Ah, interesting! I'd agree with you that the first one is, but I definitely don't perceive that in the second one. I love finding out how different people see things - thanks for sharing!

      That's part of the reason I find the male vs. female doll discussion interesting though too.. I think I perceive a lot of the male dolls as listed when they're cutesy, but I think a lot of my real life pals would think all my doll preferences are female/feminine.

      I've not found a great outlet for it because I don't think I've seen any BJDs that actually meet my mark for it, but you also mention extreme lankiness... I'm a huge fan of Tim Burton characters, like Victor from the Corpse Bride, and have always wanted to make dolls like him. I'm mind-blown by the armatures created to make that movie.
       
      • x 3
    3. So far in my collection I only have female dolls. (Disclaimer I've only been in the hobby for a little over a year). Most of the male dolls I see just don't interest me. I see them and have a hard time conceptualizing a character for them. I try to think of a character(s) for a doll as part of the decision making process to buy them or not. Also a number of them are just not masculine looking enough for me. Finally a lot of their outfits just don't do it for me either.

      It was just recently that I saw a male doll that I really liked. His name is "Falcon" with the herculean body made by Iplehouse. Unfortunately he's sold out. :( However I do like "Rex" on the superhero body. He's a big doll though(68 cm). If I were to buy him someday he would be the biggest doll that I would own.

      May'be i'm just picky when it comes to male dolls. I do in the future want to own one. I don't think there is anything wrong if you have one preference over another. To each their own when it comes to this hobby.
       
      • x 1
    4. I really enjoy male bjds for some reason. When I entered the hobby I thought that I would equally be interested in male and female dolls, but that just wasn't the case. Most female sculpts I see just haven't really caught my eye. I love seeing female bjds in people's pictures, but I can never imagine owning one myself. I've realized that I just like looking at handsome/pretty male dolls.

      Out of the dolls I have now/ordered I only have one girl out of four guys. Looking at my future doll plants I don't really plan to add a bunch more girls to my collection, but honestly who knows. I may start preferring female dolls in the future.
       
      • x 3
    5. I tend to prefer feminine dolls over masculine ones! I have an easier time styling and bonding with them. Despite this, the doll I favor the most is male :XD:
       
    6. I have about equal numbers of guys and gals, but I do prefer the male BJDs. I think it's because the dolls I had in my childhood were predominantly female and having a huge variety of male options in the BJD sphere opens up a whole new world of creativity.

      Anyone who says male dolls have fewer styling options or aren't as fun to dress is severely lacking in imagination, hahaha
       
      • x 5
    7. I like female dolls....for me, they’re much easier to dress. I have a couple boys who I love but they remain naked LOL
       

    8. Oh I've felt this way before too! I do find myself enjoying large anime dolls like Dollfie Dreams every now and then, but I often feel like something is a little... off? It's weird; I collect a lot of anime or anime-related products (like Irwin and Bandai Asia's Sailor Moon dolls, nendoroids, etc) and I find them SO cute and I really, really like them, but the transition into... "large anime doll" does not gel with me very well, and I'm not sure why. Maybe the difference is painted vs inset eyes? And fibrous hair vs molded hair? I have no idea.

      Re: the topic, I do find myself drawn to feminine dolls more. I have a lot more female characters compared to males, and I really enjoy dressing and designing stuff for girls, so that is probably a big reason why... though I feel like the other reason is that it's hard for me to find boys I like in my preferred size of msds. ^^; A lot of the male dolls I like tend to be SDs, but I find male MSDs rather tend to be fashion 16" sized or overly baby faced.... or I just think "oooh, this could be a really handsome girl" :') Been debating on getting a minifee klaus girl and a minifee mikamir who... I don't know if I'd get them as a boy or girl or what, but they're not high on my priority list right now.

      Withdoll recently released Theo, who I put on order, and he'll probably be my first full boy bjd.... and I've been collecting since early 2017ish? ^^; I meant to get some other Withdoll boys earlier but they only recently brought "real" resin back, so maybe I'll eventually get Aiden as well... but yeah.
       
      • x 1
    9. I might have about an even number of female/male bjds (plus one NB/genderfluid individual), but for me—males, hands down. I like them from rugged and daring to more androgynous, and everything in between. For me, I find it more fun to have bjds that are sassy, gruff, confident, broody, reserved—but not cute (unless it's an animal bjd).

      Thing is...most girls just don't fit my aesthetic. Big eyes, rounded face, cutesy—doesn't really appeal to me. Admittedly, even for the female dolls I do have (with an exception here or there, since they're based on OCs and they tend to create themselves regardless of my personal tastes) they have more angular, mature faces and narrower eyes. Really—don't even get me started on anime/anime inspired stylized dolls. That seems to be the more popular look for female dolls these days (looking at Fairyland and Volks—so many other companies out there seem to emulate that look, and it just doesn't gel with me), which is kind of unfortunate. I'd be more invested in female dolls if they made some sculpts that didn't look either really moe or like the wholesome girl next door.

      (On the subject of anime bjd—they admittedly give me that uncanny valley creepy factor. I don't get that with more realistic bjds, honestly. I think it's the over exaggerated features like oversized eyes, or the otherwise lack in details in others—no mouth/slip of a line for a mouth, tiny pyramid where a nose should be, lack of prominent eyebrow ridge or other similar features. It might have something to do with them looking a bit more like a wasted away corpse? I like creepy/horror, but for some reason those just cross the line for me.)

      Also—I actually find it easier to style males versus females. They don't have that issue of having boobs getting in the way of properly fitting shirts, and—considering I'm a fan of Adam Lambert's stage look—I have a range I can also work with. Who says guys only have to wear boring slacks, suits or casuals like plain trousers and T-shirts? Guys can look good, and rock a lot of the more frilly, lacy or androgynous styles as much as the girls. So yeah—males are my preference. Second would be androgynous/nonbinary, then more androgynous/masculine girls.
       
      #29 jade-eyed-cat, Nov 14, 2020
      Last edited: Nov 14, 2020
      • x 3
    10. If you’re interested in a non-sexed SD body, Island doll has one they call an “angel body”. It’s 61 cm, I think the head that goes with it is called “Dove”.
       
    11. I tend to like to keep it even. Though I guess most of my dolls are more on the feminine side, I’m more likely to put a boy in a dress than a girl on pants. Dresses are just more fun.
       
      • x 2
    12. I seem to have preference according to size. I'll buy anything I like, but from MSD down, I tend to favor ladies, and from SD up, gentlemen. Only in the last few years have I finally had a slew of SD ladies and MSD blokes to round out the numbers. Female YoSDs still reign supreme.

      I don't have many genderless bodies, but I do have genderless characters. They run from MSD up.
       
      • x 1
    13. I am the same way! I thought I would be okay with them not have a partner but now I have couples, trios...I think a few have made an entire family...

      Yes, Dollfie Dream and the SMART Dolls. I like the idea of them but then I get to their faces and I go "or I can buy a Figma/SHFiguarts/Nendroid and achieve the same look." I am sure I could sub out the plastic eyes for resin eyes but I can't fix the anime nose or lack of actual sculpted lips.

      As for my collection, I started out with small girls (Soom's Faery Legend line) and then I bought a SD17 boy...then another...then an SD13 boy...so I thought oh I like boys more??? But my girls have been increasing too. So in total I have: 3 (4 once I can find him a body) SD17 boys, 2 SD16 girls, 2 SD13 boys (one of them is on their way home to me), 2 MSD Boys, 2 MSD girls, 1 YoSD girl, 1 YoSD Catgirl, 1 YoSD Catboy, 1 Tiny who I coded as a boy, and at some point in the future my SD13 girl should arrive. Oh can't forget 2 girl faeries, 2 boys faeries! (The rest I have are animals and I didn't really give them genders - they're just owl, fox, cat.)
      So 11 boys (12 one day), and 8 girls. And I admit I do want to buy an SD F-45 from Volks so I guess I will have 13 boys one day.

      It is quite possible I didn't pick as many girls because I am very picky. I like a narrower eye to achieve the mature look. My one MSD girl is mature in body and face. The other...maybe less so but she is very much so a large fairy so I was okay with that. My SD16 girls are I think very mature in face sculpt. My YoSDs I liked cute. So I think that might be why I have less girls? It could be that when I was little, my doll of choice was Barbie and she is a mature sculpt. I didn't really play with baby dolls or rag dolls once I think I hit age 6 or 7. I did have some American Girl Dolls but they were age appropriate for me at the time. So maybe what I played with as a child, influences what I like to collect now as an adult? At least as far as female dolls go.

      As for dressing them, it's hard for all of my dolls except for my faeries because they can wear fashion doll size clothing. Everyone else, well, they're elves or faeries and so I want them to have that fantasy aspect clothing. Historical or fantasy or costumey clothing is what I search for and then I am piicccckky.

      I like to look at all the different types of dolls people collect. I might not want to buy the same doll but I love seeing what people do with different sculpts - a different face up and wig and eyes can make them look so different!
       
    14. Hi,
      Really interesting topic.
      I absolutely love boys or androgynous dolls.
      Have no interest in girls.
      I do admire female bjds but can't seem to bond with girls if I end up buying one.
      :)
       
      • x 2
    15. It's not the a of imagination, it's the available options not matching up to the imagination.

      I'm not going to spend a small fortune on a suit for a boy when, for example, the trousers don't come up to the doll's waist, the waistcoat is so short that a mile of shirt shows between the bottom of the waistcoat and the waistband of the trousers, the style of the jacket is too modern for the look I'm after, the buttons are out of scale for the size of the doll, the fabric is some sort of synthetic nastiness... etc. etc. etc.

      Teddy
       
      • x 1
    16. There was a time when the rules on this forum were to add to an already existing thread, even if it was necroing it from the dead, rather than creating a new one. Now I don't believe it is a "rule," although this thread might be merged with the other two that are pretty similar although a bit old. I feel like I might have already commented on there, but I'm too old to remember (and too lazy to go look).DX

      I don't prefer collecting one gender over the other, but I already own (and still collect) a ton of other dolls, which are mostly female -- because males in other doll genres tend to be super boring (for me) as all heck. I purposely only wanted to collect males when it came to customizable dolls and more so when it come to BJD, due to the expense and how many other types of females doll I already owned. Sadly, when I discovered BJD, there were no male ones that were interesting for me to purchase, or inexpensive enough for me to just try them out. I purchased a female hybrid, and that was my first BJD and the only female one I own even now. I prefer collecting male BJD, because I find them more interesting than females -- but again, I already own a massive amount of female dolls (that are OT). I don't prefer collecting one gender over other, I just like collecting toys I find cool, appealing, or beautiful (to me), gender is not important to me. (:
       
      • x 1
    17. Ok, this is actually harder than one would think :lol:
      The thing is, my preferences in doll gender strongly depend on doll selection. If I was to collect classical SD dolls I can tell you right away I'd have an overwhelming number of males - I can find a few female dolls in that size that are more on a realistic side and appeal to me, but the Asian male sculpts I find appealing left right and center :lol:
      For the most part it is due to my "doll face fatigue" - I played with dolls as a girl and have a collection of them, and the huge eyes, small nose and lips with soft facial shape kind of aesthetics had been in my life for too long. It does not matter if you are being fed the most delicious cake on the planet -if it's all you can eat you would not WANT to in a few decades. And that is exactly what happened to me - I've seen to many female "doll faces" to find them appealing to me, personally any longer.
      The Asian male "doll face" aesthetic is relatively new to me, thou, so I don't have the same fatigue for them and would happily own a few.
      But I do not collect SDs, I go for fashion BJDs, which have a more realistic esthetics for both males and females, still if I was limited to one or two companies I'd have different preferences - If I only boutght Iplehouse dolls I'd be very heavy on males, if I stuck to Raccoon and Dollmore the proportion would be exactly inverted and if I'd went with Dollshe it'll be 50/50.
      I'm not stuck to one or two companies, thankfully, so atm my wish list is 50/50 ratio - I want the same amount of males and females in my collection and I love all thous sculpts :)
      And yes, dentition of "feminine" and "androgynous" is VERY culture dependent - where I live people would struggle to tell gender by looking at most young Asian faces, even with no make up. If you show them a popular Asian boy band in full stage gear, again most people would miss identify the genders, EVEN in full body pictures :lol:and I'm not even talking about the bands that mess with the gender perception on purpose, just the regular guys - we are still at the stage where pastel colors are threatening to masculinity :lol:

      P.S. If you think male outfits are boring you haven't done your research - historically man where everything from robes and dresses, wigs, high heals and miniskirts to feathers and body paint :lol:It is only modern urban fashion that is... Restricting.
      I love designing male outfits. I haven't done a single "modern contemporary" design for a male to date thou - THAT is boring as heck...
       
      #37 Sshodan, Nov 14, 2020
      Last edited: Nov 15, 2020
      • x 3
    18. I prefer males but my boys are all on the feminine side - super masculine dolls don't appeal to me in the slightest.
       
    19. Androgynous is my favorite, but bodies can be awfully hard to find in MSD size, so those are on a someday-somehow list.

      At first I thought I was going to be more girl heavy as I love making dresses, 20th century women’s fashion and pink baubles galore;
      My first doll IS a girl, but the more I find which specific styles I like and the more companies and sculptors I find: the more boys, not girls, I find myself wanting :ablink:

      but I do have the feeling that my boys are going to be more likely to be rocking a dress than a historical suit:evilplot:
      (Mainly because I don’t want to think about having to construct and tailor one of those:eusa_naug)
       
      #39 Mirth, Nov 14, 2020
      Last edited: Nov 15, 2020
      • x 1
    20. Good to know!