Why don't most dolls have a smile?

i've found that somehow, different molds look to be pulling different expressions at different angles. however, i'm kind of bored of looking at blank faces all the time, and quite plain faces at that. i think that's why i'm becoming extremely attracted to Bobobie Demon Charisma and Unidoll's Ark. they're so different, it makes them appealing, ya know?

 

Buff wrote:

I still feel that way--I don't like the toothy smile on any doll (creepy!) but Shoyo's little closed-mouth smile is darling. I tend to like sort of happy/neutral myself although Lut's SD Annette fascinates me because of her tragic look in most photos..except Jacobean's, for some reason! It seems like a mold with so many possibilities.

 

Strong expressions would be limiting, I guess... There are only so many ways you can alter a seriously smiling or frowning sculpt with face-ups or photography tricks, after all. Not so a more "neutral" or mildly expressive sculpt.

I'm partial to slight smiles, myself. Not expressionless, but not so happy as to be limiting. My Shiwoos are a pretty good example of that kind of look, I think... and depending on how I photograph them or how they're painted, they can definitely do anything from "I'm happy!" to annoyed to pretty darn depressed. You just have to learn how to work with the sculpt.

 

Personally, I like the slightly off-neutral, but not too far. I like taking my carl's head and tilting it. Usually she looks peaceful or lightly perplexed, from another she looks curious, from another she looks happy.

I think the neutralness allows it to be sold to a wider audience who can customize it into a specific.

 

They want us to get creative with their faceups that are character-based. I agree about the comment made about Barbies. Not only was it seriously creepy to have a doll permanently smiling, but it never fit any character I had for them.

And, like aquilla, I enjoy showing emotions through other things.


Tacti

 

lol, whenever i think of barbies, i think of both the barbie from the end of the second Toy Story movie where she keeps smiling and saying "bye bye now, bye bye, see you again, goodbye, bye bye now, okay, are they gone now?" and also those scary Gwendy dolls from Small Soldiers where they go commando and stab the kids and stuff, pretty scary if you ask me.

i do think more companies should make smiling dolls, or at least an optional head to choose from.

 

Nobody smiles all the time, if the dolls had a permanent smile it would be kind of creepy for me

 

I think it gives them a certain mystery.

It's like for Supermodel, we never see them smile. It adds something to their beauty.

 

Honestly, I see my fair share of smiley dolls. I think, with how expressive BJD are though, the emotion that comes off is highly based on photo angles and face-ups, I mean, look at DOD's twing~key, they look so sweet, cute, and innocent in their stock photos, right? Mine usually tends to look ready to kill somebody...

 

I guess the companies do this because most people don't wander around with giant smiles on their faces (or frowns) and BJDs are supposed to resemble people. I have seen doll with smiles or frowns and I do enjoy them. The doll I currently want has a smile, but it fits her character, she's very young and carefree and whatnot. She is always smiling and happy so the doll will have to convay that.

~Chaos

 

I agree with Brightfires that Shiwoo sculpt is versatile. Is has an interesting expression, an impish look not sad, more toward being mischievous. I don't know why the artist do not sculpt happier faces except maybe sad faces promote more doll adoptions. Even slight smiles would be nice. I find it harder to relate to a totally neutral face.

 

Smiles are creepy on dolls. And BJDs seem to specialize in a more realistic look. And most of us aren't regularly smiling.

 

I would rather have a neutral expression, or just the hint of a smile - I think the Narae Butterfly face is very appealing but that's as smiley as I would like my doll to get!

 

I think the dolls have a more neutral expression to give them more appeal and versatility. You can change a face a lot with the face up. AR Diana Pride looks angry and pouty, but its more about the face up on her. I've seen dolls look sad in a face up that had a more cheerful mold originally. I don't mind a little expression but you are much more limited in the ones with big grins or the winking head molds. In a photo they can only have one emotion.

 

I can get a lot of expressions out of Shasta on a good day, ranging from "WTF", curious, shy and all forms of cranky. If he smiled, I wouldn't be able to. He's a moody character. Emily has a sweet little smile, so I've had to adapt her character into that a little. She can still look sad, but her smile is always there. Expressionless works SO much better in my own opinion.

 

i think they do that so you can choose the mood you want for your doll, depending on the face up you can change the entire mood of a doll, depending on how the eyebrows are shaped and if you put those tiny dots on the corners of the mouth it can make them look like they have a slight smile or frown depending on if the dot is just above the lip line (where the upper and lower lip meet) or just below it

 

It's easier to paint a doll to look like it's smiling than to take a smiliing doll and make it look like it isn't. :3

 

Well, frankly, I prefer dolls who don't have a smile or a frown. Because, when given text in a photostory, or certain angles in shots, they can appear smiling or frowning without literally having that expression. Did that make sense? XD

Karrian smiles like a clown - s'why I'm changing his mold. >_<

 

I agree with what most have said already. A neutral expression on a doll makes it so they can have a myrad amount of expressions. I do like one or two of the dolls that have a slight smile to them, like Minifee Ruth who has a very sly kind of smirk.

But I think that if most or the majority of Ball jointed dolls had perminent smiles.. they would remind me of porcilien dolls, which in my opinion have this very weird sinister look to them.. x.x No offense to those who collect such dolls by the way.