Your dolls and posing (or lack thereof)

I have one who poses well and one who doesn't pose well. Johnny (AoD) poses like a rock. He sits when I want him to sit, and he stands when I want him to stand. His arms may need a little sueding some day but for now they're good.

Alistair (DoD) does not pose as well. When I sit him down his back joint wants to pop back so that he sits at a weird angle. His arms are also stubborn. He will DEFINITELY need sueding some day. He makes up for it by being more steady on his feet. Johnny can get into a standing position without any problems, but STAYING in the position is another story entirely!

I have a Bobobie, a Xaga Doll, and a Resinsoul planned for the near future, so this post may be edited.

 

Since I work and have school I don't have much time for photography but when I do I like to put them in really elaborate poses.
I only have two dolls so far, an Iplehouse Akando and an Ipopodoll Ramiel, of the two the Ramiel is better at posing than the Akando. I think part of the reason the Akando is so bad at posing is because of his heavy resin but he still is very difficult to put into a sitting position sometimes.
Which dolls are the best and worst for you at posing?

 

Iplehouse:
I agree with the Iplehouse dolls generally being poor posers. I have an FID scale one, and the weird ratcheting notch pieces inside the hip help the hips take poses that a lot of other dolls cannot easily do, but overall, I've found that most of their support notches on the smaller dolls are just too shallow to easily hold a pose. Their legs are really crumbly too, and most of the ones I have seen cannot stand independently without a doll-stand. Iplehouse heads also don't really have the range of motion I would like them to have, they're mostly restricted to looking from side-to-side. The torso joint is very stiff and offers no forward movement whatsoever. The Iplehouse bodies look very nice, but I've found them very blocky and prone to coming unposed. I would personally say they're maybe like a 3 out of 10 for all-around posing.

Souldoll:
I quite like the way my Souldoll poses, the shoulder joints are too simple to hold any sort of pose, but the elbow and knee joints are very solid and heavily notched. They look very strange when they sit because of the very simple thigh joint and they cannot spread their legs and hold a pose, but because of the heavy notches at the back of the thighs the sitting position never comes undone. Mine are able to stand unassisted in light wind without having been restrung for 5 years.

For holding complex poses, they definitely have some flaws, mostly the shoulders and the oversimplified joints. They're also strung fairly simply, which tends to make them pull to one side or another and they can look pretty "doll-like" sometimes, but the N.L Kid body is a great stander, and very well balanced (they can also stand unassisted in a strange crouching pose as well, which is kind of weird), and because the joints do tend to be oversimplified, the ones that do lock are actually able to bear some weight which helps with holding things. Could definitely benefit from sueding the shoulders though. I would say they're about a 5 or 6 out of 10 for all around posing, but are excellent at standing.

 

I've had Iplehouse old Super hero EID and new model type, I didn't like them at all and decided to sell one of them and changed another's body to Spiritdoll Herculean male body which poses very well even though it is massive and heavy. And it can be purchased with jointed hands as well. So far I have done very good posing tests with him. I really want a HID by Iplehouse, but so far I have seen owner photos which does not impress me at all, the guy looks as bad as EIDs so now I'm hesitating a bit.. :/ La legende de temps 75cm body looks much much better so maybe someday I'll test it instead.

 

SpiritDoll: GREAT.
I have a 75cm Herculean with jointed hands too, and he can sit up straight, slouch, touch his face, hold the back of his neck, pull a knee up close to his chest, rest a foot on the opposite knee, and he stands on his own beautifully without boots to support his ankles. I use him to brace other dolls who don't stand well. He's three years old now, but the locks in his chest and hips plus his stringing are good enough that even without sueding, he never keels over if I leave him sitting alone. The notches inside his shoulders will (sometimes) let him hold his arm up in front of him without falling, but the heavy resin sometimes defeats the notches. He has a tendency to slouch when standing up straight, but that's fixed easily enough.

Doll Chateau (with extra joints): AMAZING.
If you can tolerate more joints than the actual human body has plus stylized bodies, the Y-body-3 (68cm female body) is super flexible thanks to extra joints at the wrist, ankles, and neck, plus long peanut joints (hope that's the right term) at elbows and knees. That means she can fold her arms and knees flat without a lot of trouble. She has jointed fingers only at the base of her fingers, so you don't have to fiddle with them forever to make them look right. She can strike dance poses, wrap her arms around other dolls to give proper hugs, and basically sits more naturally thanks to the extra joints. If the extra joints bother you, cover them in clothing because I'm not sure if better posers exist. She could stand easily and hold poses even with those crazy joints when I first got her, but now she could really use kips or new elastic.

Presently there are quite a few extra-jointed DC dolls, male and female, in that size range, but I can't comment on all of them as I only have the Y-3.

5StarDoll: NOT GREAT.
You asked for best and worst, and that's the only reason I mention 5StarDoll as they're the worst in my collection. I have 43 and 61cm girls, and the resin is too slippery with no locks, so they're constantly tipping sideways at the ribs or thrusting a hip out and collapsing. I can never bend the arms or knees and hope to have them stay like that. They are fairly flexible, but there's no chance of them holding a pose, and they often need boots and inflexible (pleather) pants to stand upright. I've sueded the 61cm girl with no improvement.

 

I second the Doll Chateau bodies for posing. I have an Isabel on a K-11, and even with the stupidly tight stringing (you need to full on buy new elastic straight away) she still shows a great range of flexibility.

 

iplehouse are notoriously bad posers - If you like dolls that size, the male impldoll idol body with 3 torso joints is fantastic for posing. Strangely the female impldoll idol I have is not a very good poser - I think in general you sacrifice poseability for aesthetics.

The other really difficult dolls to pose, which I've had, are very small dolls (I think fairyland is the exception to this, but I've not owned them) and small fantasy type dolls or dolls with very delicate limbs, as the elastic tension makes them quite flicky without hot glue sueding.

 

Leeke muscular body (68cm) is horrid for standing/posing. Khale constantly has spinny legs and his knees tend to buckle easily. I barely trust him to stand even for quick pics. He's fine for sitting though and he can slouch very nicely/naturally. His resin is quite heavy and the joints very smooth so that likely has a lot to do with his issues. The body looks great and the details of the sculpting are awesome. Standing/posing, not so much. I'd give him an optimistic 4/10.

My Blue Blood Doll and JeiDoll (62cm) are tied for best standers/posers in my group with my Unidoll and SoulDoll boys running a tight second. They can stand easily even in bare feet and their arms will hold poses easy. They still have their original elastics (they're about... 5 years old?) and they will still do whatever I want easily. I'd say they're easily 8/10.

I hate to say it because I love my boys, but my RS mini boys are not the best straight out of the box. I have the old single jointed body and the slightly newer double jointed body as well as one of the hooved bodies. The resin is very slick and the elastic they come with not the best. That being said, restringing with thicker elastic and sueding of the joints improves their standing/posing 100%. For straight out of the box, I'd give them a generous 5/10. After sueding/retringing I'd bump them to 7/10.

My AoD minis are by far one of the best standers/posers I have and I have a FL mini, too, which most people say are the best. I can plunk Moswen down and walk away with no worries about him falling over. I've stood him on unstable ground, a bed, rocks and he was fine. He's also still got his original elastic and is getting a bit loose (he's 8 years old) but he'll still stand wherever easily. Mind you, these boys are all on the old 3-part muscular body that AoD no longer makes. I can't speak for their newer version bodies as I don't own one. I'd give my AoD boys a solid 8/10.

For tinies, my ImplDoll is excellent at standing/posing. He stands easily and solidly and looks adorable while doing it. My RS boys stand easily but their arms are quite snappy, which is likely a stringing tension thing but I'm too lazy to re-string them as it doesn't bother me too much. I'd give my ImplDoll boy a firm 8/10.

My Batchix Clever Littles are my worst tiny posers but they are also the original artist casts when she was working out the bugs of the design so it's probably not entirely fair to say they're the worst. They can't stand unaided and posing is dodgy at best. Again, my guys are the prototypes so this should be taken with a truck-load of salt.

My Soom fairy boys are not the best posers. I can't comment on their standing abilities since they always wear their fantasy legs and those are not designed to be able to stand unaided. They have limited posing ability and if their wings are on, they're even more limited (and prone to overbalancing). I'd give them a 5/10.

 

ClassyDoll girl: Worst-posing doll I've had.

The old-style Dollshe body was a notoriously bad poser. The 28M Classic is much better, but just too big and heavy to be a really good poser.

My EID girl can stand up like a rock, but try to make her do anything else, and it's a fail.

My Feeple65's are surprisingly bad posers, considering how good the F60s and Minifees are.

Supia girls are variable-- sometimes you get a good solid one, sometimes they are kicky.

My Granados are all good posers, especially the old 62cm girl and 64/68cm guy.

 

Best I've owned/handled: Impldoll Model (though his hips needed a minor mod to sit better, he can do just about any other pose), Doll Leaves, Doll Chateau, BlueBlood Doll, Jie Doll, Spiritdoll, Fairyland, Loongsoul and Luts

Worst I've owned/handled: Bobobie, ResinSoul, MiroDoll, Mystic Kids (58cm girl-really stiff awkward posing), Iplehouse (Some are better than others--glamour bust just kills any possibility of bending the chest joint), Soom (Old SG boy--his elbows wouldn't stay in place and kept popping out)

 

@CloakedSchemer Have you ever owned the 66 Mirodoll body? I've heard good things about the posebility. I have also heard that it is the exception, though the stringing is still a bit off.

 

I have not had that one. I had the 60cm girl. Straight out of the box, she was so floppy, she couldn't even sit up. I sueded and restrung her and that helped tremendously, but I still felt she was kind of awkward and limited in her range of motion, especially the oval shaped wrists. If the 66cm body only has stringing issues, but engineering is better, I'd strongly recommend buying new stronger string and hot glue. That might fix the problem if that's all it is.

 

I second Doll Leaves as good posers. I have one SD guy and a tiny. Both are really solid. My tiny (16cm) has been standing unaided for months on my dresser. I also have a FairyLand Chic Line guy and he is the best posing Bjd I've ever had. I love the magnetic face plate, feet and hands!

My worst posing dolls are my collection of tinies (12-6cm). So far all of the ones I have are best at sitting! I think the joints are just not strong enough for the elastics. Some are better with wiring, and restringing them is a nightmare.

 

Resinsoul: I personally think that Resinsoul has absolutely beautiful sculpts but their posing is not the best that I have seen. The elbow doesn't pose well at all, same with the knee. They are kinda either completely straight or at a 90 degree angle (without sueding but the way the joints are set up, I'm not sure how much it would help).The rest is pretty decent. It doesn't bother me a lot that they aren't very good at posing since I like their beauty the most but I'm sure that there are plenty of people that it would bother.

 

Of all the dolls I have handled Shinydolls are the best posers. Their joints have been engineered especially for posing ability. Popovy dolls are also amazing posers.

 

I'll try to add more pictures at a later time, and more dolls, as I get them. I can only really speak on the dolls I have, so here goes:

The Best (High scores):

Angell-Studio 1/4 and 1/3 bodies: It helps that they come well-strung and with kips, but these bodies do basically anything I want them to do. Even the heavy 1/3 girls can balance on a single foot. They also have tons of mobility, and their joints have locking mechanisms to keep them in place.

http://i.imgur.com/bbZDy6B.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BMZfTEe.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9AJ7nJz.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/KqB54NU.jpg


Huajing Doll 1/4 bodies: Excellent balance and posing, well beyond the low price point. Passes my 1-foot test with ease and is full double-jointed. Not as many locking mechanisms as the A-S bodies, but excellent none-the-less.

http://i.imgur.com/1BPtAGR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/16QHiZX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/VCRqEGO.jpg


Asleep Eidolon 1/4 bodies: Probably the best 1/4 poser I've worked with (and I've had a minifee before). This little body can do it all. One foot. One foot out to the side. One foot while leaning back. And it has excellent chest joint range. it could twist so much. This body is just a pleasure to pose. The ONLY mark against it is that there is no locking mechanism in the mobility thigh joints. But, surprisingly, it does stay decently anyway.

http://i.imgur.com/omSXP6R.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YJn5Bgp.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/L3AGsiH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FCVc8iz.jpg


Fairyland Minifee: No surprises here. I don't have my minifees out anymore, and I'm not a huge fan of Fairyland's quality control issues, but I cannot deny that they are great posers. Good stringing and very light resin help. and the joints offer a lot of mobility.


The Good (Decent scores):

Luts KDF Multi: I haven't had a lot of time with this one yet, but it's a very solid stander. Not kicky at all. Sitting can be a bit problematic, as this body really likes to lean back. (Going to compare it to the romantic body, when my Nana arrives.) However, she only barely passes the one-foot test. It's really hard to get her to balance on one foot. Probably harder than most of my other "Decent" posers. I have found that there isnt enough flat space at the bottoms of her feet, so they tend to rock as I try balancing her. This effect, more often than not, makes getting her in perfect balance on a single foot really difficult, if not impossible. She really gets high marks for arm mobility and super sturdy standing though. She stands like a rock, and her arms have fantastic mobility and hold well.

Dollmore Ballet Kid: This body is kicky and fairly unruly. A bit frustrating to work with.. But on a day when I have the patience for it, I can get her to do some really amazing things. One foot. One foot while leaning. Balance while doing a split. If you have patience to really work with it, this body can do a lot.

http://i.imgur.com/znuU7QH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/zPAu7bB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/pA0F8oh.jpg


Luts BDF: I know what you're thinking.. Single-jointed? Yes, she is single-jointed, but I think that, with some patience, she can really do some adorable and varied poses. I have her in a score threshold higher than some other single-jointed dolls, because I am impressed at what she can do, despite being single-jointed. And, I understand the draw of single-jointed-ness for the BDF aesthetic. It was intentional, to give her the appearance of a baby-like, truly BALL-JOINTED doll.

http://i.imgur.com/cGAnMlu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/G2h8yLd.jpg


Volks SDC: I think this body has a lot of potential. It's not kicky, and the resin has some grip. But I guess they arrive from Volks strung a bit too loose. I can get some decent poses out of them, for sure, but it takes some patience, because balancing on loose ankle joints can take a lot of effort. A few points are also deducted for arm mobility. There just isn't a ton of range there (that I would expect from double-jointed arms), unless you pop the forearm out of the joint.

http://i.imgur.com/sK8wJ8x.jpg

Withdoll MSD Body: I no longer have my Withdoll Rosa, but I was definitely impressed by how sturdy she was. Decent arm range and very easy to balance. Small deductions for lack of leg mobility. Basically, she was well-balanced and strung perfectly, but she didn't have as much range as most of my other dolls, in terms of joint mobility.

The Not-So-Good, but Passable:

Daydream MSD Body: Single-jointed, which is pretty behind-the-times for standard MSDs these days. Perhaps they do this for aesthetics, like Luts' BDFs, but I don't really think the aesthetic of the body depends on single-jointed limbs to remain cute. With some effort, I can get her to balance on one foot and balance into some decent poses, but she takes a lot of work and doesn't have as much sturdiness as my BDF. If she is single-jointed AND tough to keep balanced, she can't really be in the same score section, I suppose. Definitely not my worst though. She can do just plain standing and sitting OK, though, so definitely better than some other brands that can't even stand up.

Volks SD10 Body: Really, what can we expect? Old design, super heavy resin, and single-jointed. With no kips, she can't do much at all, and she definitely cannot do a one-foot balance, despite my best efforts. Maybe someone else can do more with this body if it's re-strung with some really heavy-duty elastic? It's still cute, though.

Soom Little Gem: This one's OK. The arms have terrible, terrible range of motion, in my opinion (mostly speaking of the forearms), but she is a solid stander, and she does pass my one-foot test with some effort. My main issue, I guess is the very limited mobility of her arms and legs. She can balance OK, but I just expect more from a standard MSD. Now, I am evaluating the 2014 body. Perhaps it has improved since then?

Lina Chouchou MSD Body: Just doesn't have much going for it. I really like how it looks, but there are no mechanisms that hold any joints in place. So all of them are slippery. Her arms, while double-jointed, have what is basically a non-functioning peanut. She doesn't have any motion in her elbows that would resemble a double-jointed elbow. Not sure what went wrong with the engineering t here, but she basically behaves like a single-jointed doll at the elbows. Also, I am lucky if I can get any elevation on her arm poses, as her shoulder joints just slip and let her arms fall more often than not. When posing my Lina Chouchou girl, I mostly keep her arms in positions at or below the lower part of her chest. Getting her to balance on one foot, while possible, is definitely a chore, and it doesn't feel stable at all, because she slides around. A lot. She can stand with a bit of adjusting. She really likes to lean back while sitting, though. So, her body is better than those that can't stand or sit without stands or props, but not a ton better!


The Bad:

I've only had two dolls with bodies that I'd consider pretty bad from a posing point of view.

Iplehouse KID: As cute as this little ones are, I really hate how badly my Lonnie (didn't) pose for me. Even getting her to stand required that I square her feet with her shoulders, and sometimes, that didn't even work. Her arms were also really kicky and didn't stay in most positions I put them in. (Her right arm was worse in this aspect than her left). She sat sort of OK, but wanted to lean back despite me pushing her chest joint forward. She basically needed to sit on a chair or bench. Sitting with her legs extended outward just didn't work. She was one of my first dolls though, so perhaps I was unexperienced. Maybe restringing would have helped her case?

Sugarble Sugarsleek (26cm): I love my Meyo's little face sculpt so much, but her body is probably the biggest pain in the rear, in terms of bodies, that I have ever encountered. She cannot stand unless I pop her thighs forward from her hip joints, and if I don't set her feet at just the right angle, her legs with kick and curl out. I can get a fair amount of poses out of her if I am patient, but gosh is it hard. So hard, in fact, that I wonder if it's worth all of the effort. Also, I think having to pop a limb out of the joint in order to get it to function better is indicative of how terrible the engineering is. :P I've thought of restringing her, but as far as I have read, restringing these little ones doesn't really help much. I'll probably be replacing her body at some point in the future. I really love the sculpting though, for the most part. Her tummy and little hands are darling. It's really quite a shame.

 

Best posers I've had/handled: Luts (all sizes), Doll Leaves (1/4 size), Resinsoul (1/4 size), DollZone (1/4)

Worst posers I've had/handled: Sugarble (1/6), Doll Chateau (all sizes, they're pretty but ugh), Crobidoll (1/3)

 

I have heard that Soom doesn't pose quite well, though I haven't had a Soom yet, so I can't verify.
However, my Luts doll is quite a good poser, and good at standing as well! I can attest to that..~

 

Hi!! I've been wondering this same question for a long time and after reading a lot here, I came to the conclusion that Minifee dolls were the best poses ever. However, some time ago I watched a video on youtube by Andreja making a review of Atelier Momoni (1/4 size), and I'm still freaking out 0_o She seems to pose fantastically!! In my opinion, Momoni clearly wins at posing. I'll leave the video here so you can watch it if you want:


About the worst posers.. I only have one doll, but I already can say she's the worst poser I could find, lol! Iplehouse EID woman (1/3 size), and in my case. she has the old body, so I can't talk about the new one. She's perfect asthetically in my opinion, like a valkyrie, and she can stand like a rock, but ouch! When it comes to posing... she's rigid and floppy at the same time, she can't hold any pose or even sit (why do a lot of dolls can't sit properly? seriously!). So she's always standing and maybe touching her hair. If you're looking for good poses and you don't need a perfectly realistic body, I wouldn't reccomend Iplehouse. And the other way around: if what you want is a realistic beautiful body but you don't need it to pose well, IH dolls are a great option.

 

My best posers are by far my ShinyDoll girls! They not only pose well, it is super easy to pose them because they're so well engineered. My Angel Egg dolls are excellent posers as well, and my 1/4 sized Doll Leaves girl poses well, too (though I think her joints are ugly).

Worst posers I've owned are Bobobie, and my Unoa 1.0 girls. My Soom Beryl is pretty bad, too.