Manly Men or Gentle Boys doll preference?

All of my dolls/the dolls I'm planning are "gentle boys". Some are more feminine than others, but I think it all comes down to the fact that I love really slender bodies like from dream valley and doll chateau (I would kill to get my hands on a DC Y-body-02) no matter how they dress or who their character is. I only have one doll on the way who's a "manly man", but he is dating what you could I guess call a gentle boy haha

 

Uh... somewhere in the middle? I want my (adult) male dolls to be unmistakably masculine but I don't like the whole perma-frown scowl jowl thing some of them got going on. I like the look of earnestness/gentleness in masculine features. Like Iplehouse Ron (and his predecessor Evan) both got that masculine face with the slightly-parted lips that make them look wistful/pouty and I am so there for it.

 

Somewhere in between is nice...many of the softer sculpts look like children which won't work for my OCs and too many masculine sculpts look like they're always squinting lol

 

I deliberately built my collection around diversity from the very beginning, so I have both manly and soft in my collection which is just the way I like it. It all depends on their character. They range all the way from the very soft fem-boy Georgie, to the uber elegant semi-soft Willow, to my kindly faced angel with the killer bod, to the super masculine stag-inspired ruler of the realm. All types are welcome here!

 

Body-wise I'm partial to thicker and more muscular builds, I remember searching endlessly to find an MSD boy in my budget that was buff enough for me (Withdoll boys!!) when ordering my first doll.

Head-wise, I remember when I first fell in love with BJDs as a middle schooler, I only cared about the super masculine, chiseled jaws of Granado. I still love Granado, but nowadays I've noticed I've been more interested in more elegantly masculine sculpts, if that makes sense? I recently ordered a Dollzone Obi head (bunny guy ) and he's got this lovely but quiet manliness about it, I think. I only bought the head though because I'm not as into the build of the body he comes with (just a hint too skinny for me!) so I have a new body search ahead of me lol

I've also noticed I don't mind the baby-face buff boy look in a lot of mature 1/4 boy sculpts, I think it's because I'm a 20-something year old with the baby-est face on earth jdhkjfsljgfksldfds I think I see a bit of myself in these round face dudes, which can be kind of comforting!

 

To which I answer; why not both? I enjoy all sorts of body types and faces, and my characters are all different in similar regard. So, in my collection, you will find absolute manly men (like Durga, my IH Leonard and Kohei, 5th motif Venitu), with their big beefy bodies and facial hair and ones that walk a fine line (like Yasuo, my Soom York) who is big and bulky but his face retains a hint of elegant androgyny, especially when coupled with his incredibly long, lush black locks. But also ones that fall on the softer end of the spectrum (say, Naoya, my mblue XiHyeon or his father, Kentarou, mblue Laaon) to ones that push the boundaries towards the feminine end of the spectrum (Yukihiko, my Switch Seolrok) who is actually on a modded female to male body as he's supposed to be not only effeminate but curvy, with a slight hint of breast no less, so nothing different would do.

Bottom line, I love diversity... every body and face has its own aspect of beauty and I love celebrating that.

 

Definitely depends on the boy! I've got both ends of the spectrum represented now, and I love them both-- and sculpts that bring in elements of both. I love realistic sculpts that look like adult men, but that doesn't mean they can't be gentle.

 

Manly men 100%. I do not want them to be hyper realistic though.

 

Honestly I appreciate both. I am only collecting 1/4 size dolls, and it seems like most of the man/boy dolls in that size lean on the 'pretty/cute/baby-faced' side of the spectrum, which I actually really like for my own collection. But I love looking at photography of the more muscular/chiseled SD guys even if I know I wouldn't personally want one.

 

@dolleigh I feel the same: I really appreciate the effort and skills that go into creating some characters or photos of those realistic hunk-like BJD boys, expecially into the poses, accessories, wigs, faceup - they are so awesome looking.

But I prefer my boy to be extremely girly and share his clothes with my girls. For this purpose, I got him a petite SD body with the same measurements as the girls. I like his soft face too. When his head was (for about 2 years) on a girl body, I couldn't stand the impression that somethin was off and he was a boy trapped in that shell. Now, even though his clothes and long blond wigs haven't changed, the awareness that he's male helps.

(side note: I have just ordered plenty of accessories such as a white shirt, a tie and other clothes that will boy'ify him. I can't wait!)

 

I like both, it'd be too hard to choose just one. But I also like diversity in my characters. I'd get too bored having all soft boys or all macho men. Ideally I'd like to have 3 boy dolls, one that's macho, one that's soft and mostly into fem clothes, and one that can switch between the two or be more androgynous!

 

I don't personally like too manly dolls at all. I mean, I do like to see them around, but I couldn't imagine ever owning one. I am actually rather annoyed that there's not much variety in different BJD companies' bodies. All of my male characters tend to be more feminine or androgynous than masculine which is why I would not shell them as too manly dolls.

I am also quite dissapointed that there are mostly pretty and handsome boys around. I would love to see some more personal-looking dolls! I'm also longing for chubbier body options, I think that would be really nice and create more diversity. I can only dream...

 

in between! gentle but still a full grown man

 

Gentle or in between, but not to manly. Or at least I think so? My most manly mens are Fifth Motif Venitu and ANother Secret doll I'm (on Dollstown 18y body).

 

Definitely not manly men! I've got two boys so far (+ one floating head which may end up never getting a body, so I'm not sure if gender applies to them), both quite androginous and gentle, and all male dolls on my wish-list have more or less the same level of (not) manliness. Atm I collect dolls no taller than 62 cm, and they are usually youthful and don't have very developed bodies, which is just what I need. Well, I may want to have more mature-looking male dolls, but I don't like muscular bodies, strong jaws and all that (both in real life and in art). I'd like to see more boys in all scales that are subtle or chubby. And since the previous persion mentioned him, Fifth Motif Venitu looks like a dream doll to me (probably the most masculine I'd want to own), if only he wouln't be that big... and hard to buy.

 

I prefer manly men. I definitely want my male doll to have masculine features. It's a personal choice and feel that the sculpts out there are sometimes too soft looking.

 

This was largely coincidence, but all three of my boys are the softer type. Johnny is of a slight build and has a mild face, and Wozzeck is...well, a tiny! Alistair has visible fangs and thus might look like Mr. Macho at first glance, but inside he's a big cream puff. I guess one could say I like my boy dolls like I like my men; I like them to be men-men, but with a definite soft side.

 

I have a mix. Most fall on the more masculine side while a few have definitely been mistaken for girls. I tend to go for the softer boys, but still mature.

 

For me it really depends on the type of character I'm thinking of making the doll. I like both manly and more soft boys so I don't think I really have a preference, though I do really love the crafting that goes into doing more chiseled face sculpts! Square jaws are just lovely

 

I like either slightly manly, but more soft friendly boys

 

I like both, but if i had to chose, I'd say Gentle Boys!
I am not sure why, but then again, my preference for "real men" is also Gentle Boys over Manly Men.
I couldn't tell you why, though!

 

My preference in people are those that blur the gender lines. So softer, more feminine men, or women that lean more towards masculine presentations. But not full on, somewhere in the middle. I've been told it's a bi thing lol (it could also be that I'm nonbinary myself).

This lends itself to my preference in dolls - the leaner, less built guys appeal to me more. I don't want my guys to look like children (and to me, anyone below like 25 looks like a child at this point), but I definitely don't want them to look like they spend every waking moment in the gym either. Think like...Dream Valley aesthetic lol.

 

Hm.
If I had to choose, I guess I'd pick the softer approach? I personally really dislike the absolutely ripped asthetic most big male dolls have. Just why do their muscles look so defined? And their big muscular thighs/fore arms.... kind of bother me too.
Unfortunately, I seem to gravitate towards the 70cm+ dolls where this design choice seems to be the default. The only one that I've found that doesn't conform to this asthetic and is 70cm is the body from Vings. Of which the preorder I also missed. Unfortunately.
But I found out I'm also not really into the boy dolls either. They don't click with me.
In the end, I think I adore the 68cm sculpt the most, but the dolls that they release in that size just seem too young for my tastes and they don't speak to me.
I'm just kinda stuck going for the freaking ultra muscular dolls.
I'm still hoping I will encounter a doll one day that ticks off all of my boxes, but it seems unlikely.

 

Don't really dig the realistic and/or heavily muscled guys. I prefer my male dolls more stylised, and yeah that usually means softer features. Tho I did go thru a phase of really wanting one of the big Iple boys from my og stint in the hobby - them Akandos my dudes, them Akandos....but in reality, I prob wouldn't have kept them in my collection as they pretty, but def not my style.

 

...neither? I like masculine boys, haha.

I don't think "manly men" and "gentle boys" are opposite ends of a single scale - it's more complex than that for me. When categorizing dolls (male and female), I kinda have two sliding scales in my mind: "grown <-> child", and "realistic <-> stylized". On the grown/child scale, I prefer youths (teens, adolescents) -- bigger eyes, softer facial lines, willowy and youthful bodies that are still a bit soft and androgynous, but not prepubescent anymore. On the realistic/stylized scale, I kinda fall in the middle -- realistic but idealized, a little bit stylized but not completely cartoon/anime-ish/exaggerated.

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle of both scales, but I have trouble defining it, even in my head. XD I've actually had a very hard time finding 1/3 male heads and bodies that I like. Boys from Luts, CP/Fairyland, Crobidoll and Dream of Doll are too stylized. BL boys a la Switch and Kanadoll are a bit more realistic, but too soft and not masculine enough. I'm even less interested in manly males -- both photorealistic ones a la Iplehouse, SartoriaJ, Impldoll, and more stylized danmei/bishonen types a la Ringdoll, Soom Idealians.

Thankfully I've been able to find a few dollmakers whose boys I like -- Dollstown, Migidoll, Elfdoll, Bimong, Rugged Realism and a few other small KR and CN artisans, with Volks and Dollshe's classic guys kinda on the edge. They hit that sweet spot of being masculine yet with the potential to be a bit softer/androgynous, and well out of childhood but not quite hitting all the archetypal-man traits.

 

I like a muscular body that is soft rather than veiny. So I like a gentle manly man, I guess? Pretty boys who aren't necessarily twinks are the ideal for most of my boy dolls. Though I do definitely have those gentle boys who aren't muscular at all, too.

 

I always thought the shoulders three times as wide as the waist is the male equivalent of when a gal's waist is smaller then her head. It's ridiculous. I'd be all for my testosterone guys if they got a little closer to a plausible proportion. But the fem guys often go the other way and go too child like to fall into really the "man" territory, but definitely not and I'm not super Interested in collecting teenagers personally. They all have something special though and for me, I do want one manly one (albeit closer to achievable proportions) And a bit of a brawnier soft boy for the purposes of characters.

 

Grown up men and women, at least teenagers or older. I'm definitely not into anime or kid looking dolls at all.

 

I prefer masculine builds with gentle boys faceup..

 

A bit of both, really.
I like heads with sort of mature or interesting features - Ringdoll K and Loongsoul He Yi and Cang Yue have really nice noses and profiles but I'm not sure how I feel about the Loongsoul 73cm body's rippling muscles.
As for the more child and teenage sculpts, I don't mind them being on the gentle boy side - I've got a SDC Miko with the most angelic face and a SD13 Isao who I'm still deciding on a look for.

 

hmmm i like more androgynous boys so maybe gentle but not quite? between the two tho id def get gentle as i collect msds and theres not many...manly men in msd size

 

Both. All.

All boys are good boys. XD

I prefer a range. I think it would be boring to have all of my boys look similar and it’s a goal of mine to have as many different body types as possible!

Magic Mirror Levon & Iplehouse FID Oscar (muscle type) are my thicc bois. But they have a height difference! Which is yas.

Soul Doll Joelle and Doll Leaves Berg are my thinner ones.

My next wtb is Harucasting Day, and I think he’s a really great in-between.

 

Personally I prefer the softer boys since I think they are childish in a cute way (the biggest dolls I have are 1/4 scale and they tend to be that way). However, I have to say that the manly men are appealing in their own way, but since most if not all of my crew are character dolls based on OCs, I don't have much use for them since I don't have a lot of "manly" characters.

 

I dunno, somewhere in the middle perhaps? To be honest I don’t have a particular preference just based on the criteria stated, I like what I like and it’s usually down to a ‘feeling’ more than anything.
I’m the same with male humans, choice is based on character/gut feeling more than purely physical appearance as to me (being artistic) bodies are just a series of shapes….some more visually pleasing than others. For example I find Jason Momoa attractive as there’s also a certain feralness about him that appeals to me then on the completely opposite end of the scale I adore Olly Alexander with his cheeky grin, then there’s ever lovely Mr. Keanu Reeves who is in a category of his own…….

The two BJD boys I have don’t really fit either category, they aren’t overly manly but they also aren’t soft and delicate.

 

There's definitely a spectrum here and my vote is going for "excessively feminine domestic terrorist" boys

 

I like in between I think. He has to look manly enough he doesn't get mistaken for a girl, but soft enough that he doesn't look like a man on steroids. There are times I like a sharp defined muscular face and there are times I like a gentle face that looks like a kpop idol. Although, not all idols fit into that soft image. Sometimes I suddenly want an androgynous face, so i can switch the doll between a female or male if i change my mind. The sudden urge to buy an androgynous face doesn't happen often. I guess what i prefer is based on the concept I want for my doll.

 

That depends on the character I'm trying to breathe life into. In my crew there is a gentle chubby young man and a rough evil hard-faced guy with sharp shapes.
Both have an equal right to exist. I love the variety of shapes.

 

I prefer gentle boys certainly

 

Can.....can I just make fun of my past self please? *major foot in mouth*

I currently own both masculine beefy boys and super pretty girly boys....and everything in between. I just like all the boys. And girls. And ALL the types. Just...gimme everybody.

 

I love owners' pictures of their manly dolls, but could never see myself owning one. I prefer smaller boy dolls like msd boys. Mainly because I'm all about cuteness when it comes to my dolls

 

I am attracted to masculine looking men in real life but I prefer softer looking dudes as dolls cause I just tend to like more feminine things so I don’t bond with masculine dolls as much

 

I like both. I have some pretty masculine, and/or bearded buff men and a couple of soft, sweet gentle boys. It just depends on the character I'm trying to shell. My current avatar is clearly one of my soft boys, but I have some gruff looking guys too and I love them all equally.

 

When it comes to faces I'm ok with any, I've seen chiseled faces I liked and more gentle ones as well. Plus depending on the faceup you can also make them look a bit softer or harsher either way.

But bodies though... I can't do buffed bodies nor super lean ones (those that don't look realistic anymore), what goes to tell why I only have a Dollshe Arsene 18M male body. I despise the 6 pack, the marked ribs and the over muscular bodies and I generally would only choose a lean body for younger boys or if I specifically wanted to do a lean adult. I wouldn't choose a buff body under any circumstances.
I've looked so many times for bodies that are inbetween and I can't find any I like other than the 18M, so even though I would like to have more adult boys it won't be until I find another male body I like since I don't want to repeat and I have a character in mind that needs an inbetween body as well I'm going to have to get one that is on the lean side with the six pack and sand it with a passion or something...

 

All of my boys are young bishonen types. I just love those aesthetics for a bjd. Ideal bodies for me are between the muscular and lean. I like them to have some muscles, but not a bodybuilder physique. I still enjoy looking at manly men dolls that other owners have though.

 

I like both. A lot depends on the specific character. It's easy to find a muscular man or a tender boy, but discovering a chubby SD boy when I need it is a real challenge.

 

Definitely both. I really love my Minifee boy, but I also love my Loongsoul 68 guy. I don't like them too ripped cuz I think it looks gross, but if I like the shape of the body (long, thick legs and a dorito torso) then I will make some allowance as long as it looks good in clothes.

 

Dolls that look like little kids don't really appeal to me. I definitely tend to like the ones that run more mature but it depends upon the doll too. Minifees are a bit childish even with the big bust option, I think, but I rather like them anyway

 

I love my manly men… I just want to think about adulting at times with them and making up scenarios for my guys.

 

Mine are all cute, gentle boys so far
I just personally don't go for the ultra muscular look on my own dolls, love my soft boys!
I still enjoy looking at other people's more masc dolls, though! It's fun to see how they style them and whatnot, and I often enjoy their looks a lot. Just not what I'm after for MY dolls.

 

Manly men for me so far. I just received my first guy, and I keep thinking how much sculpting effort got into these muscles

 

It depends on the personality / age of the doll's character. Middle-aged characters demand more mature / manly sculpts, while younger characters can range from soft to sleek to chiseled. Mine is the sort of collection where you have baby-faced CP Delf Chiwoo next to semi-realistic Sartoria-J Dominic. At the end of the day, if I like a doll enough, I'll buy it, and that means a little of everything.

 

I think for me, it really depends on how much I like a sculpt and how I think that sculpt’s face would look on either body. I do tend to prefer more muscle definition in male dolls though so, in general, I’d say give me those muscles (as long as they are as proportionate as possible)! But, I would certainly be alright with a more soft/younger body, if that sculpt looked and/or inspired a more delicate frame. I just don’t really enjoy super small shoulders or super slim bodies so that’ll, most of the time, be a full no-go for me when it comes to male bodies. Though, if it was a tiny, Yo-SD, or MSD doll, I’d definitely consider a softer/younger option for that as it would make more sense biologically/physically than just aesthetically.

Also, I realized you were asking about sculpts as well, not just bodies. Considering that, it’d really depend on how I like the sculpt. There are some sculpts I’ve seen that look much better being softer than super manly whereas, other times, there are manly sculpts that look much better than the softer ones. I think it’s really an iffy thing for me when it comes to the sculpts themselves. I’ll say that I tend to not like them looking super child-like though (unless they are more fantasy-esque). Overall, for male sculpts, I’d say I’m more half and half when it comes to them being more soft or manly. It truly depends on how much I enjoy the face and its features as a whole.

 

I like a little bit of both - I love soft, cute anime men just as much as I love more masculine men, in terms of dolls. Though I'm not particularly a fan of very young looking sculpts, or very fem sculpts. Body-wise it's the same, though I have a preference for more realistic bodies.

 

Modelly, not babyish or too masculine

 

I fall in the middle now, but when I was younger I definitely fell 100% into the soft, pretty boy camp (as evident by my pfp lol). Nowadays I prefer masculine sculpts that have chiseled facial features and lightly chiseled bodies, but I'm not a fan of the huge, overly muscular bodies. I have one boy that's a beefcake, but he's definitely the exception. Generally, I prefer punky, twinkish boys with nice abs and slim faces.

 

All of my boys are gentle boys, although some have sharper faces due to the old anime style. My boys are all MSD sized, though. Easier to find clothes for them!

 

I guess I'd have to say gentle boys--my first doll was a MNF Mika on a masc body (his character is non-binary now) but since then I haven't bought any more boy dolls except for a worse-for wear Impl Triton on Marketplace as a project doll who hasn't arrived yet but is a bit more on the masc looking side! All that is to say that I guess I still have to figure out my taste with male dolls--just don't really think I gravitate toward them in general most of the time.

 

I like both gentle and a good middle ground that isn’t too muscular. Most of my characters don’t fit the big biceps and toned abs so I try to avoid getting overly buff bodies