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Have you ever disliked a sculpt or company and then ended up falling in love with it?

Jun 9, 2016

    1. When I first got into BJDs I thought Doll Zone Carter was the ugliest doll. Guess who's on the wishlist now. xD
      Specifically, Carter-1, the version of Carter with both eyes open.
       
    2. Sometimes pictures do not make dolls look all that great. For the longest time I did not care for any Volks doll or Fairyland’s Littlefee line until I saw the dolls at a Bjd meet. The littlefee dolls were so much cuter than in pictures. I don’t have any little fees yet, but I do have an SD and two MSDs from Volks.
       
    3. I agree! I didn't dislike them, but I wasn't too interested in Peak's Woods until I saw some in person.
      When looking to buy a doll, it's a good idea to look at other collector's pictures of the sculpt you like and see how it looks with different faceups, eyes, photo lighting, etc. It's surprising how something as simple as changing a doll's eyes can make or break its look.
       
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    4. Originally wasn't a fan of MiniFee mainly because I didn't like the range of motion and how wobbly it seemed. To be fair it was a much older doll and I didn't know any better. Knowing what I do now though I'm a filthy casual.
       
    5. I disliked Rinku when his concept first came out and the edited "what he might look like" picture, but now that his prototype pictures are circulating I fell in love...and I caved to pre-order him.
       
    6. Originally getting into the hobby i never wanted minifee although it wasn't because i though they were ugly or anything quite the opposite actually i just though they were too expensive and that there would be no way they were worth it. now though i have so many minifees my collection is now mostly minifee. I find that i am mostly looking at minifee.
      I did have the same feelings for the doll chateau as most people now although i still don't have one they have piqued my interest especially after receiving Gem of doll Rae.She's Queen Bee in my doll collection ... after my MK Lillian
       
    7. I was 'introduced' to the hobby via seeing Volks in Japan, but for a long time I thought their sculpts really off and went for other doll companies. Gradually though I started falling in love with Volks, and now they are the only dolls I buy. More to keep my spending in check than because I don't like other companies' dolls though^^; Among Volks sculpts the one that got me was MSD F-21...I really disliked that sculpt for years, and then somehow she grew on me and I just had to have one. She was my first MSD FCS :)
       
    8. This has sort of happened to me! I never disliked Venitu and Fifth Motif, I just really didn't understand the appeal at all.

      For the most part that's still true, but I recently discovered the beauty that is the gesture hands.... They're so absolutely gorgeous that I want a pair even though I have no intention of having any SDs.
       
    9. I felt this way about Resin Soul. Poor website photos really don't do a lot of their sculpts justice. They're actually pretty nice, and unique in terms of fantasy features. No other elf sculpts have knife ears to rival blood elf's! They're very high on my list of companies to buy from now.
       
    10. I never used to like Fairyland at all cuz they were everywhere and seemed kind of generic but then I feel in love with the Soony elf sculpt and I have it in Feeple60 size now and I want more sculpts from the company!
       
    11. At first, Fiona was my least favourite sculpt from Alice in Labyrinth. I didn't like her huge eyes or the shape of her mouth. To me she isn't as realistic as the other sculpts.
      However, the more I looked at her, the more I realized she reminded me of an anime character I like: Cosette from "Le portrait de petite Cosette" This is because of her face as well as the blonde wig and choker used in the company photos. I like Fiona more now and I'm thinking of getting a Fiona head.
       
    12. I always said I disliked dolls with childlike bodies, but then I saw the adorable unibunny Lamoon by Vilitunes and totally fell in love. Just goes to show that there are always exceptions to the rule and it's so easy for your mind to change!
       
    13. Yup, this has happened to me, though not from one extreme to another. Like actually quite many in this thread, at first I wasn't very fond of Fairyland dolls. If something is popular the popularity in itself isn't the problem, but sometimes I grow tired of seeing same stuff in my Instragram feed etc. all the damn time. I like variety. Of course in this case I didn't particularly like especially Minifees that much to begin with. I thought the sculpts only seemed different from one another and suffered from the infamous same-face issue. Then again, looking at the general bjd population that isn't a rare problem, even when comparing different companies to each other. Of course now that I've been into this hobby for a while I spot differences and nuances better but there's still a great pile of sculpts I acknowledge exist and I still can't them apart. But humm, Fairyland has quite a fanbase and their sculpts' overall look is what people like. So on the other hand they've created great dolls and the 'same-face issue' could at least partly viewed as well established look.

      When sort of OT there.

      I like Littlefees, Pukifees and especially Realfees right now. I'm planning on getting a Realfee Mari as a graduation gift for myself later this year. I'm looking forward a posable body and a sort of a live breathing fantasy creature to photograph. The posability of FL bodies is a major thing in luring me onto the FL side. Littlefees btw got me into looking closer at yosd's. I'm not that much into child dolls, but I've found myself creating some images and stories in my head a couple of times, sooooooooooooo... :D
       
    14. This happened to me quite a bit, especially before In started doing faceup commissions and got to see a lot of molds in person. Quite often company pics or default faceups don't do the dolls justice or - on the other hand - give you the wrong idea of what the doll really looks like.

      I thought Minimees were totally creepy, and the first customer who wanted me to paint her MNM had to persuade me alot.
      Today I own 3 Minimees and some other realistic heads … whoops.

      Iplehouse Barahan. He seemed like the most unattractive IH doll ever.
      Then a friend of mine brought her new blank Barahan to a meet, and I loved him! (he became mine 2 years later)

      A lot of the Volks SD molds, especially Michelle and Hasekura. With Volks, it's mainly about the faceups for me.
      The are several Volks molds on my wishlist now - and Hasekura is my current grail. :whee:
       
    15. I used to really think Doll Chateau were freaky and just *shudder*, but now I really like them! Maybe not sold on all their sculpts, but I really hope to own an Elizabeth one day <3
       
    16. Haha I feel like we all share the same story about dollchateau.
      Me too. At first I thought they looked little weird and when i saw the spider body I was turned away from dollchateau... eventually it became one of my favourite doll companies and the spider on of my grails lol. Unfortunately I dont own a dc yet but I am looking to get the k12 body! With the alan elf head xD
       
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    17. Kind of, I really didn't like the Ringdoll K when he was released, but now I kind of like the sculpt.
       
    18. Doll Chateau is definitely mine! When I first started looking for BJDs I looked at DC and was like "Yeah...no" but then as I kept looking my first doll ended up being from them!!! >< Now I just love the weird look of them!
       
    19. I had the same experience with Doll Chateau! When I first got into the hobby I thought their sculpts were creepy, but now Amos is high up on my wishlist.
      I actually had the reverse happen as well with 2DDoll. I had one of their sculpts as a grail until I kept looking back at her and realized that she was almost TOO anime and that finding clothes that fit her without going through the company would be extremely difficult.
       
    20. I wasn't interested in Fifth Motif Venitu at all until I saw owner pictures with different faceups. The way he was styled and painted in the promo pics did nothing for me.
       
    21. I have to revise my last post on here. I have fallen---sunk to the dark side.

      I just ordered a Minifee.

      Mind you, I'm not really fond of most of the popular sculpts, either because of their wide-eyed look or child-like appearance. But then...I discovered the Mika/Mir sculpt. The more narrow, slanted eyes, and more mature (in comparison to other MNFs) face...I developed an interest. Also, after seeing this one Feeple girl (one from their 60cm line) modeling a cute black dress on Etsy, I ended up getting really curious. It's got me coming with with ideas that I won't explore with others in my crew (different colored eye bases, getting creative with color schemes with dye, etc), and I can't wait to work with her :kitty2
       
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    22. yeah... back when i was a youngling i was into cute dolls, & i didn't like doll leaves sculpts. i thought they were weird... but, after i've grown up, i realized that they are actually quirky & pretty in a different way, & i love them. in fact, my first msd was a doll leaves...
       
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    23. When Volks first released SDC Sora, I couldn’t believe how ugly she was! Her eyes were too wide-set and she didn’t have the “cute” look that all the other SDC girls had. So in 2014, when I got my SDC Mina head, I bought a Sora on Mandarake for her body. I figured I could just sell the head. I didn’t like her anyway so isn’t be safe. Well... it turns out Sora is MUCH cuter in person than in Volks’ photos (I know, I know, surprise!!). If I had had the money to buy another body, I definitely would have kept her. I was sad to see her go. Now she’s on the wishlist for someday.
       
    24. Whelp. I guess DC's dolls appealed to me more than I thought; I just received a "random grab-bag" order and nearly squealed when I pulled out a Doll Chateau box! It's probably the biggest turnaround I could possibly have had from my first time looking at their website and closing it in revulsion. (I'm even a little sad the other grab bag I ordered didn't have one of their weird little tinies in it, I'll admit I was kind of hoping...)

      It's a good thing I don't actively dislike any other dolls right now, since I've been pretty steadily adding ones I do to my collection over the past few years...
       
    25. I felt exactly the same way about Doll Chateau the first time I saw them, but now I've done a complete 180 and it's really the weirder sculpts, rather than more idealized ones, that interest me now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ For me, DC is a perfect mixture between "creepy" and "cute."
       
    26. One word: Notdoll.

      Like what the heck is up with those lips???? I know these are just dolls, but that was a real anatomical stretch there on basically every sculpt they produced. I used to be almost repulsed by them back in the day.

      Now I own three.
       
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    27. One of my favorite companies is Twigling/ Artifex Kindred. I absolutely love her sculpts, but there was one that was always very off putting to me and I didn't quite understand the face. Her Oryx sculpt has curved squinted eyes and kind of an odd face. That was one sculpt I always said that if I got her collection, I could omit. Well, anytime a Twigling doll pops up on the second hand market it's gone within minutes. A friend of mine I had met in the dolly community had posted an Oryx on a facebook page. Needless to say that beauty is now on layaway and will be coming home to me :)
       
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    28. Doll chateau, they were super weird and I might have even considered them ugly at first. Now I own one (DC Erica) and I think they are so lovely and unique. I especially love their bodies, they pose great. The faces are so unique and a little bit sad, which I've realized I am really drawn to.
       
    29. Yep ! When I discovered Dollstown company I really disliked their dolls. Some years after I finally saw their beauty behind their pronounced face and got seven of their molds. Now I only have kept three of them but they are among my favorites : a Soph B (the oldest doll i've kept), an Elysia and a J.
       
    30. For me it was Lucywen from Fairyland. I only bought her because of her outfit and the centaur parts. I wanted to sell the head because I really didn't like her face.
      But after I decided to give her a new faceup by Nomyens I really love her. Never expected only changing the faceup would give me such a change in mind.
       
    31. When I startet being into BJDs I really disliked older Luts Delf sculpts. But now I fall in love with owner photos of them all the time. I don't really know what it is about them. Maybe the eyeshapes and the slightly pointier, downward angled noses.
       
    32. Dollzone Benjamin. When I first saw him a few years ago as a head inside an egg with that particular company face-up at the time, I couldn't scroll past the images quick enough, I thought he was hideous!
      Then he came out as a full doll, with the current face-up and it was love at first sight. I had to have him and was so impressed with his character, posability (and so much more) that he became the best and most loved BJD I've ever had. I'm obsessed enough with the sculpt to have had three more since!
       
      #152 Sprouty, May 17, 2018
      Last edited: May 17, 2018
    33. Fairyland dolls in general just...didn't do it for me. Neither did Volks. To me they all looked like they were recycled sculpts and lacking in character, and it was frustrating that every time I tried to wade through photos of dolls, it was a sea of Minifees! Chloes galore!

      Last year I picked up a friend's Volks SD Mark because something about his photos (and broken knee) said "Buy me!". Getting him in my hands, I changed instantly. I adore that doll, his sculpting, his simplicity, and now I'm smitten with Volks and their aesthetic and love to poke through photos of peoples' Volks dolls and how expressive they can be. I'm going to cry for the big fat holes my wallet is going to suffer in the future.

      As for Fairyland, after taking in another friend's Minifee...I'm BONKERS for the sleeping heads. I love em. They're gorgeous and I love my Sleeping Karsh's face-- it's so soft and the way light shines on it ensures I'd have a hard time giving the head up. I'll admit I'm not so fond of the OE Karsh still and I'm a little picky about OE Minifee sculpts, but Niella is one OE sculpt I adore...one I may need to add to my collection. Maybe an Eliya, too. I'd say I've come around to this sea of Minifees. :'D
       
    34. At first I hated the Doll Chateau dolls they did not have a proportioned body and looked strange now i really like them they are gracefull and i lke them more for every time i look at them as for art you have too look a lot at it to understand.
      Mel
       
    35. Yeah when I first joined DOA Luts Juri05 was pretty popular and I saw pictures and thought it was really ugly. Then I saw one in person and fell in love, it is my favorite doll, I have 2 now. But I think its hard to take good pictures of this sculpt, some angles on it look really odd in pictures.
       
    36. I got into BJDs because of Doll Chateau: spindly, funny-looking, and fantastical. Minifees and their fashion doll-esque bodies, and Dollfie Dreams and their, er, tendency to have a lot of boob, put me off for a while.
      ... and then I nearly died when I saw the display DDs at the Volks store and grabbed a head immediately. Four years later, I'm dying for a Minifee. Wild.
       
    37. Oh yes, on two occasions actually. First it was Impldoll, I wasn't really smitten with their dolls but then I laid eyes on Alma. After that it was 5StarDoll but now I'm already looking to buy my second doll from them.
       
    38. When I first time to see my friend and her AAAAA (come from Dikadoll) I don't think s/he is adorable at all because my friend let 5A wear leopard print T-shirt. And that is my first time touch BJD doll so I may too nervous to see if it's cute Lol

      And my first doll cause she is second hand doll come from my friend's friend, she come my home without 2Ddoll official box.
      My friend (Yes, the same person I mentioned) put her in Dikadoll official box.
      I know that isn't anyone's fault but I just have mixed feeling about Dikadoll in the beginning.

      After I look for more and more dolls I prefer.
      I really think 5A is really a very very cute girl in my mind :love
       
    39. Finally found this topic again!

      This is exactly what happened to me. Seems like Doll Chateau is quite a good candidate for this kind of happening

      When I first saw their sculpts, they even creeped me out a bit and I never even took a closer view, cause they just looked so weird and disproportional to me. I always was looking for the strong and adult type of sculpt. Male, mature, realistic... that where the things I was looking for, right?... Recently I am not so sure about this anymore, because I have a special character in mind, I totally want to shell.

      And since he is a really weird cartoon character ( I have fallen for so badly...) I always had my problems with finding a good body-sculpt for him. I thought about giving him a completer personal style and transferring him to some handsome and muscular guy... but that is just not what he is. And when I stumbled upon some more pictures of Doll Chateau recently, it hit me like a rock! I have to get the 70cm boy body!

      I am still a bit confused by myself...
       
    40. I love DC from the very beginning (and I have four). It was Peaks Woods, whose dolls were too cutesy, that I couldn't abide. Then I bought a doll that I couldn't stand and someone offered a trade; a WU Lottie for mine. That particular doll wasn't so bad and I just wanted the offender out of my house so I figured, why not? After Lottie came here she soon became one of my faves and I realized it was the open-eyed PW dolls that I didn't like. Then PW changed everything, sculpts, faceup style, the whole shebang. Now I have six PW dolls and one floating head.
       
    41. Soooo many times. Though now Ive found the easiest way to know if I actually like a sculpt is to go through owner photos and see the sculpt bare and all that, sometimes the company photos can do a sculpt such a disservice
       
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    42. Being the fairyland fanboy I am, it's surprising that I used to not like the Pongpong sculpt at all....he looked too hyper. >> But after seeing a lot of owner pictures I slowly came to adore that cute little smile (he reminds me of my little bro!)
      The same thing happened for me with a lot of Resinsoul sculpts, as their early company pictures aren't the best at showing off the sculpts...thank goodness for owner pics for showing me the light! :thumbup
       
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    43. I really don't like some of DC's sculpts. The scrawny faces with the wretched large eyes and the over-puffed lips? Terrifying!
       
    44. Not so much a sculpt, but the pukifee/tinys used to creep me out. Now I have a Puki Vanilla, and would like Mio too, and I wonder what was wrong with me ! (pongpong is still terrifying though!)
       
    45. I always thought DollShe Saint seemed so distant and cold...very grumpy and unfriendly. But when I came back from a hobby hiatus, his sullen mood and grumpiness spoke to me. He's amazing in person, even blank. I want to do him justice when I paint his heads, he will take practice. I will have to seriously level up my realism in my painting skills. Thank goodness I don't have to handpaint his eyes, I'll probably commission them.
       
    46. fairyland lucywen! i remember vividly looking at her company photos and thinking she looked awful, and then suddenly, like i was slapped awake, i looked back at her photos a couple months ago and fell completely in love! how i could ever think she looked anything short of ethereal is beyond me, but im so in love with those lips, those tiny teeth, her lovely eyebrows, even the tip of her blushed nose!
       
    47. not a particular sculpt, but when I first started out I really didn't like boy dolls at all, but now I love them and I just received my first boy head in the mail today, who had ended up becoming my grail, and I want many more boys now *u*
       
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    48. I used to find Doll Chateau dolls really weird, but now I'm totally in love and want to own either their K-06 or A-04 someday.. I never used to see the thrill about the Fairyland Minifees either, but I actually think they're kinda cute now...
       
    49. I really disliked Fairyland dolls until a very few days ago :sigh Mostly because it's such a "generic" doll, such a popular company, but dang. No wonder. They have such pretty sculps, I want a Feeple60 Celine SO BADLY now :chibi:chibi:chibi:chibi:chibi
       
    50. I used to feel irked by the big eyes of Volks Hakuren but in the end after seeing tons of pics on instagram that feelingdeveloped into liking then I bought him, fell in love and turns out the eyes became one of his cutest features <3
       
    51. My soom Clozel. I thought her design was really generic but over time it grew on me and I could see how unique she was.
       
    52. the first time I saw Volks Suzuna I couldn't understand why somebody would like to buy it because in my opinion, she was the ugliest doll that I had ever seen before! I believed that even with a good custom the sculpture couldn't hide its ugliness, so I started to look all Suzuna' s photos, galleries, box openings... finally I felt in love with her, and yes, I own one :3nodding:
       
    53. Fairyland Ante! Ante looked so boring to me, not cute or pretty. I couldn’t understand the popularity of Fairyland at all. However, recently I bought a second-hand LittleFee Ante just to use the body for a hybrid.

      Well, Ante sprang to life as soon as I took her out of the packaging. Even in her faded face up she wasn’t just cute but had tons of personality. I swear she was looking at me accusingly for planning to get rid of her head. Right now dare I say she is my favourite doll. And I thought I was more of a fashion doll person. What happened?!
       
      #173 D795, Aug 29, 2018
      Last edited: Aug 29, 2018
    54. I really don't like the way Dollfie Dream bodies look. Their big round elbow joints do nothing for me. However, I am a huge Vocaloid fan so when they released Miku and then Luka I had to bring the girls home.
       
    55. Doll Chateau dolls didn't use to appeal to me because I found them strange and very limiting in terms of what I could do with them, but I found myself liking their Elizabeth for her spider body, it's darkly fascinating and delicate at the same time.
       
    56. At first I found Doll Chateau disconcerting, but now they are one of my favorite companies. I love their sculpts and how odd their bodies can be.
       
    57. +1 for Doll Chateau. They've since grown on me, though I still don't have any plans to add one anytime soon. Mostly, I value the detail and creativity of DC. Their products are unmistakable their own, which is pretty cool in a world where it seems that most companies mimic what sells for someone else.

      Closest to the thread topic is my turnaround on Atelier Momoni. I just didn't feel drawn to them, possibly for the same reasons I love them now. The ears and sweet, happy expressions just seemed so odd compared to the solemn dignity of the sculpts I initially liked. However, I have come to really appreciate them, and I hope to add a Momonita to my collection someday!
       
    58. I can't join the crowd of "doll chateau grew on me" quite yet. Only one sculpt has been something I liked, the rest still freak me out.

      I guess the closest thing to a hate-to-love story I have is Leekeworld Mikhaila. I was really put off by their promo shots, but I adored her in owner photos. I don't own one and may never get her but I look at pictures of her with fondness now.
       
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    59. Doll Chateau for me! I never understood the appeal and was really disturbed by them when I first joined the hobby. I couldn't stand to look at all the extra joints. I just found the dolls really creepy. My tastes have changed and now I'm really intrigued by their creativity. I look forward to seeing their new releases. I'm actually waiting for my first Doll Chateau girl and I haven't been this excited for a doll's arrival in a very long time. I told my husband that I have all the pretty dolls I could ever want and now I crave something different, something odd.
       
    60. Boy dolls in general, Now I have one (DC Charles,) another on order (DZ Carter) and several more on my wishlist.
       
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