Mobility vs. Aesthetics

Aesthetics > mobility in my case; I don't need my dolls to do elaborate poses, and workarounds exist as needed (wiring/sueding/string adjustments, etc.)

As for the other question: Iplehouse SID with the small bust is probably the absolute best looker I've ever come across -- very natural, very versatile, and a decent poser to boot. Functionality-wise, however, I can't think of anything that would ever top what Fairyland does; my Feeple65 girl is just so easy to work with. More involved mechanically, but the result definitely pays off for day-to-day use.

 

Poseability. But I think I ride the line down the middle, I want it all (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Aesthetic wise, and purely so, I'm in love with Doll Chateau's A Body 5 and 6. Those spidery proportions... delicate limbs

As for my ~best of both worlds~ I have high hopes for my Ringdoll RGMbody-3 Super excited to have it in my hands.

 

I'm a bit in the middle, though I prioritize aesthetic. I am willing to sacrifice some mobility for a nicely detailed body.

 

Aesthetic for me. I can't justify paying so much money for a body if I'm not in love with the sculpting. But of course the doll still need to be capable of doing the basic poses! It's kinda pointless if he/she can't even stand or sit well. Naturally it would be ideal if the body is both beautiful and poseable, but as long as it can do all the basic poses I'll choose aesthetic over poseability any day.

 

Gonna join in on the "middle ground" party here, haha. Solid posing does a lot for me, however. It's okay if joints maybe look a bit funny for the sake of functionality because more likely than not they'll be wearing an outfit to cover them.

 

Aesthetics matter more to me. I don't really care how well a doll poses. I don't spend time trying to make my dolls do anything more than sit or stand.

 

I regretted buying my first doll looking only at the aestethic. She is beautiful, but I think she is too stiff for my liking.

 

For me, mobility is far more important. Now of course, I won't buy a buy that isn't pleasant to look at, but my fascination with this hobby is in the ability to pose the dolls.

I do not own a body yet, so I can't tell you which is my favorite for posing, but I adore the look of Soul Doll's Zenith 64cm Girl and DollsTown 17 Yrs Body. ​

 

Team mobility all the way! I bought my first girl because she got quite good reviews for poseability first. Her darling face was second, and I've had a friend describe the aesthetics of her knees as "horrifying"...yeah. My second doll looks beautiful, but I'm going to have to fight her to get her to come out of her default fetal ball. She came way too tightly strung and I'm still a bit sad that she doesn't have the extra joint in her torso to allow for a more natural posture like my first girl does.

 

Definitely aesthetics come first for me. I like the posing too of course but I have to really love the sculpt.

 

For me, aesthetics are important in that I want the overall proportions to be balanced; big heads on skinny shoulders, arms that are too long or too short, excessively long torsos, tube-like limbs and so on are all very off-putting to me.

Beyond that, though, while I will eagerly marvel at beautiful, nuanced sculpting in photos, but if it's going to look stiff and lifeless on my shelf and in photos then it's not a doll I care to have around. After all, most body details will be hidden under clothes anyway. (Hands and faces are another story, of course.)

I chose my first doll, a Dreamingdoll Elva 16 girl, based on the body's reputed poseability. Her range of motion is indeed fantastic, though she's due for a restringing as she's gotten a little floppy. For looks+mobility, I love the Senior WithDoll body.

Also, my partner's Dollmore Glamour Eve has fantastic arms--mobility joint in the shoulders, relatively attractive double-joint in the elbow, and beautiful, delicate hands. I haven't looked into whether any other Dollmore models have the same arms, but I love them.

 

Aesthetics for me usually, unless the mobility is REALLY annoying. (like the double jointed arms on the resinsoul bodies arghhh I HATE THEM)
I have discovered I actually prefer single joints, they might not look as nice but I find they pose slightly better for me, so go figure. I'll sacrifice some appearance in elbows and knees if it means the final pose will look natural and right.
So uh... is that aesthetic or posing? because single joints aren't that great at posing, they just LOOK more natural to my eye with my current dolls. My single jointed dolls look more relaxed than my double jointed boy who looks stiff and awkward.

I also don't care how well a body poses, if it's hideous I am not gonna be able to live with it. Twiggy shapeless legs that just look like cylinders, boxy or really distorted amateur looking bodies (I like artistically exaggerated bodies but i'm talking like Mirodoll's old msd girl body with the huge shoulders and weird chest or BBB with their boxy bodies that don't quite look right) those are big turnoffs for me. Also big ol' unrealistic "I strapped two beachballs to my chest" boobs will make me automatically nope right on outta there.
I demand a certain level of attractiveness to a body, even if it's gonna be covered in clothing, I'll KNOOOOW it's ugly under there and it'll bother me.

So if a body looks nice, i'll forgive quite a lot of posing issues.
Ideally though, i'd like a nice looking body with serviceable articulation. Not excellent, not perfect, but the ability to sit in a relatively natural manner and move arms and head correctly.
As long as there's SOME articulation, i'm fairly happy.

 

I just snorted! These models crack me up. It's great when the whole body is anatomically 'correct' and then it's like they forgot how boobs work. They're just solid watermelons on the ribcage, right?
Fun to look at, but I could never own one myself.

 

It's an very interesting question.
I'm reather new to the Hobby and own 3 Girls, 2 of them are my YoSD Twins and the other one is my DIM Flowen MSD Girl.
I did have 2 Boys from my dear friend as well, cause i'm working on their Face Ups right now.

So if i'm looking for the Doll, first of all i look at their faces. Cause i didn't have much experience i tried to buy a full Doll. So it's less stressed with Neck Size and Color Comparison etc. Anyways. If i found the perfect face i look wich Body Options i have.

I try to get a aesthetic Body with much posing ability but as the same time a Body who can easyly (sorry don't know how to write it xD) stand on its own feet.
But at the same time i like realistic looking bodys. For female it's nice breasts but not to big. I really don't like these balloon breasts xD


I hope you can get what i tried to say?

 

I like a balance between that. Enough joints to pose nicely but not too much, like a doll body with a 5-part torso which I saw while searching around. My doll body now has a 3-part torso and I think that's good enough for me. 2-part will probably look prettier but I'm not too concerned since it will be covered in clothing for photos.

 

Lol, I like boobs to look like boobs. Those things don't even look like fake boobs, it's like someone who'd never seen a woman designed some of them (cough cough 12 year old boy cough)
I saw what I think was an old dolfie a while back and I spat out my drink laughing, I mean holy snot it was bad. Not just horrible prepubescent boy designed titties but the whole ribcage and waist section was like some sort of 3d caricature and not a good caricature, one drawn by someone who was blind and was using their foot to draw it, with a blunt crayon.

 

I like a good balance. I don't want amazing pose if the body is ugly with weird proportions it looks clunky, and I also don't want a beautiful body that can't even stand or sit on its own.

When I choose a body, I look for natural posing abilities. It doesn't have to have gymnast posing abilities, but it does have to be able to do natural posing without seeming stiff or awkward. I want it to aesthetically please me and fit my doll's character. It's a plus if it looks good nude but looking good in underwear or topless is most important.

Best body I've owned for posing is either Impldoll, Loongsoul or Doll Leaves. For aesthetics is probably Spiritdoll Elegance or Iplehouse. Best for being pretty and posing well would be Luts, Doll Chateau and BlueBlood Doll.

 

Mobility all the way! Sometimes pretty bodies are nice, but I absolutely love posing my dolls for many different poses. Plus, I like a little bit of "flaws" in my dolls, and funny joints bring some, but in a nice way.

 

I thought I would be mobility all the way, but aesthetics turned out more important than I thought. For I while I refused to get a doll body that didn't have a 3-part torso, but I caved and got a 2-part torso body that fit my boy. Still, there are certain things (single joints, 1-part torsos) that are an insta-nope from me. And I (usually) don't mind clunky looking joints. But round ball boobs, chocolate bar abs, and just flat out off torso shapes have me clicking away. I also like nice looking nipples, weird as that sounds. It shows care, I think, and I'd rather have no nipples than weird ones.

 

I like aesthetically pleasing, well-working mobility. So something out of both worlds. If the doll can't move, it does not appeal to me on the long run. Though I have to admit that mega-details are not that important to me. I still have my imagination, and with clothes on, you won't see it anyways.

 

A couple of weeks ago I would have said aesthetics...then I received my April Story Diana, who's body is positively BEAUTIFUL, but sucks in the mobility department...While I really would love to love her, I couldn't stand how awkwardly the body performed and so I'm currently in the process of trading her to someone who will hopefully love her!

So I guess, that's a pretty roundabout way of saying that I value both pretty highly! I have a Doll Leaves Yoko on the new teenage dream body and she is positively PERFECT; beautiful and logically built, everything about her is so wonderful!

 

A long time ago I might have said mobility, then I got my Domuya Drui and DollsTown Ariel on Leekeworld SD body hybrid...
Now I'm leaning closer to aesthetics. However, I'm still not terribly fond of none-jointed torsos. At least my Domuya Drui has a hip joint, and the Leekeworld body has a chest joint.

So, I suppose I value both equally.

 

For me, I'd opt for aesthetics over mobility (although who doesn't want a good combination of both).

 

I value both. But I think mobility edges out aesthetics a bit more as posing/balancing dolls is my idea of fun. So aesthetics 40% and mobility 60%.

 

Like many others here, I would rather have a blend of both. But if forced to choose, I would go for mobility. Especially in the torso! I love dolls that can slouch and sit naturally. One-piece, and even some two-piece torsos, are just too stiff. I'm pickier about the limbs (I love well-sculpted legs, hands and feet) but double joints are a must-have. There is a beauty to a doll that can pose realistically. I feel that at the worst, I can cover an ugly joint with clothes. But if a doll can't pose naturally and gracefully, then the prettiest clothes in the world can't help the situation.

 

I will choose aesthetic over mobility if the mobility isn't too bad. I was debating between getting a soul doll Vito freya or a feeple60 moe mirwen and I eventually chose souldoll because I couldn't get over how much character the bodies and the faces have even though they don't pose as well as the feeple60 moe.
I also like doll chateau and their bodies. But my dilemma is that I wouldn't want to cover such a unique body with clothes!
I am so obsessed with unique and interesting sculpts and I want to be able to see them so I don't want them to wear anything. But my characters do where clothes so??? I just have to undress them to admire the art work
I'm thinking of getting a doll chateau to shell a fairy character I have in mind and if I do she will be wearing almost nothing (leaf like clothing, rags, ribbons, etc.) to match with the very natural and primal vibe I want her to have. So at least with that doll I'll be able to see her body all the time. I don't want to pay a lot of money for something I never get to see when it's just sitting on my shelf!

 

I have to say aesthetics. I'm fine with sacrificing having the "perfect" body for possibility but I won't go for something I don't like the look of regardless of how much better the possibility is.

 

As I've nevet met a body that's an amazing poser but ugly, while there are a lot that look nice but are awful posers, I would choose poseability. And I want waist joints to come back! At the moment, not all of my dolls can even sit without falling back...

 

I definitely prefer aesthetics. Obviously some mobility elements are non-negotiable--double joints, movable torso--but otherwise I'm not too fussed about whether my doll can hold this complicated pose or that one. I want them to have nice bodies to look at. I'm not a fan of 3-part torsos because I find it breaks up the contour of the back too much (and I'm quite anal about my guy dolls having nice looking backs) as well results in weird-looking butts. I also prefer if the torso joint is directly beneath the pecs, creating a more seamless look, instead of the ones that start at the ribcage and therefore have an obvious line that doesn't belong on the chest.

 

Hah! My current doll is beautiful but can hardly pose at all. It's almost entirely aesthetics to me - good articulation is nice, but not at the expense of aesthetics. I like dolls because they're beautiful, I suppose.

 

I think aesthetics rank above moility for me. My Soom Mini Gem dolls are single jointed, so their mobility is more limited but they're so pretty I dont'mind. I also have several dolls made by a small artist company that are single jointed, but the faces and realism of her body sculpts make up for that. Of course I prefer if my dolls can pose well, too. My Xagadoll is currently one of my favorites as he has double joints and an aestheticlly pleasing body. I'm planning a hybrid for my next doll, since the default body has no torso joint and single joints, and there's a double jointed body from another company the head will (hopefully) work with.

 

I much prefer aesthetic over poseability. As long as my boys can sit pretty I'm fairly satisfied. I have this weird pet peeve about the hip joint that a lot of sculpts have because I think it looks like underwear and it sort of weirds me out, so both of the bodies I own don't have that. (Yay Ringdoll Ring Teen!) They both also pose pretty decently regardless, so it's not too much of a problem. As far as aesthetic sculpts go, I really like the Soom Idealian body and would really like to be able to get my hands on one some day because they have such nice detail!

 

Poseability, but only slightly. Most of the time I think it's easy to go for both, especially with MSDs.

 

I would rather go with aesthetics.
It’s just personal preference.
But I also wish the body would have good balance too.
I’m too greedy it’s like finding a perfect foundation..

 

The face is the most important to me. Just have to make that body work. If it means that the doll can just stand in one position or sit, so be it.

 

Mm, difficult....aldo its frustrating if it fall down, or dous not want to pose as i will...
Like the minifee, but i understood there not all the same easy posers....
But faces and doll attitude is important to me too

 

Man I'm not sure I can pick one.. Obviously the ideal is both, but I think above all, since the doll is for me, I would go for a satisfying aesthetic. But then again, the mobility allows you to embrace other aspects of the hobby, like photography, so I don't know...

 

There is no doubt in my mind that I would choose aesthetics over mobility. I wouldn't want a body that is absolutely horrible at posing, but I would value looks for the most part. A nice balance of both would be optimal but mobility doesn't really mean much to me if I can't stand looking at the sculpt!

 

I don't really look twice at bodies I don't find appealing; however, I won't normally buy an appealing body if it can't pose well.

For me, there is no point in buying a doll with joints if the doll can't move anyway.

 

Team mobility here - even as a kid, I wanted dolls that posed well. An awkward joint can always be covered by clothing, but a doll that's kicky or stiff can't be worked around.

 

I used to put way more stock in mobility, but at the end of the day my dolls spend 90% of their lives standing/sitting. And my fave size is 65-70+ cm which means they are often too heavy to be strong posers ((IMO, 1/4 is the most fun size for posing))

I think my feeling now is way higher towards aesthetics. Like my only mobility dealbreaker is 1 piece torsos because a lot of my characters are slouchy grumpy types and sometimes the ability to bend the torso gets them more stable when sitting.

I have changed my mind about dolls just because I hate their nipples or like one small sculpted element so I'm definitely way pickier about aesthetics. I also have a "I hate it but I guess I gotta deal with it" relationship with how 90% of 70cm boys have six pack abs.

 

I definitely like a mix of both but I think I prefer mobility more

 

I will only buy dolls if the body options are double jointed, so team mobility all the way, for me! But I do really like aesthetically pleasing bodies, too.

 

Both are pretty important to me. I'm not likely to even look at the sculpts if their posing ability isn't good. At the same time just because the doll has excellent posing doesn't mean I will make a purchase if I don't really like the sculpt too. I guess you could say I am very picky.

 

For me aesthetic is more important than mobility, but it doesn't mean the mobility should be terrible. One of the reason why I sold my dz boy is because the mobility is just terrible, although the body is gorgeous.

 

Aesthetic all the way. I really like "art" bodies, and I don't really care if it poses well so long as it's distinctive. For example, one of my favorite bodies I've had is the Doll Chateau B Body 08/09, but it has a garbage range of motion and posability. The arms aren't even long enough to sit in the lap, chest part almost not substantial enough to support the head, can't even sit naturally on a flat surface half the time, feet are too small to balance on. The list of problems goes on and on, but I still love both my Elsia and Betty to death.

 

Aesthetic for me too. I don't think I've moved my first doll from initial pose.

 

I'm not really one for "natural" looking dolls, all of my favorites are weird creatures, so the joints blend in perfectly. I also think there is a lot of beauty in ball joints and these things that obviously make it a doll are endearing for me. However, sometimes I do dislike the look of a joints but they are only specific kinds on specific dolls, I think there's the right kind of joint for any doll. Since I like the look of a joints, I very much prefer dolls with more mobility and will only compromise on that when it's over all looks are very enticing, which doesn't have anything to do with joints.

 

When buying a doll, how much does movement/pose-ability influence your purchase?

To me, not much at all. It's nice to get a doll that can pose well, but if the sculpt fits a character I have in mind or is just really pretty, I don't care how they pose.

I feel like there are several different things you can do to increase your dolls pose-ability. And some of my dolls have multiple "enhancements". Hot glue sueding, wiring, restringing, and I'm going to try those little plastic discs that you put in their joints as soon as they arrive in the mail.

I consider it a labor of love. If I love the sculpt, I don't mind having to work a bit for better posing. But I know a lot of people are nervous or afraid of restringing, and I've even seen where people will not buy a doll if they've heard that it's not strung nicely.

So I was curious what other people thought about this.

 

I like a good balance. Outstandingly amazing posing means nothing to me if the body is blocky or has too many obvious joints, and a gorgeous body means nothing if it can't even stand or sit by itself or poses so stiffly that it looks very unnatural.

For me, the perfect body is aesthetically pleasing to me, and absolutely CANNOT have a low torso/hip joint! I love beautiful hips/stomach on a doll, and a joint cutting right across it just really ruins it for me. (I do have a few who have it, and even though I hate it, they're not usually bare enough for it to show.) I also prefer the torso joint to be right along the rib cage--it's useful, and minimally visible. I've recently learned that there is a huge difference in "poses well" and "poses naturally". I've had dolls people claimed could do any position, then been very disappointed because while they can stand on one foot, sit with their knees to their chest, touch their face, cross their legs, etc, they look very awkward and unnatural doing it--limbs with nothing between stick straight or 90 degree angle, "tube" arms and legs with no definition, back so straight they look like they'd be having spasms before long--to me, that isn't "good" posing at all. I want my dolls to look like they're hanging out in poses that are natural for human beings. And I want them to be pretty while doing it!

 

I think it very much depends on who the character will be for me. For example, with bodies for my main crew poseability is important to me so I have bodies planned that have good poseability although I have also looked at the aesthetics of the bodies as I want them to be right for the character. I would make an exception if a body was right aesthetically because I would be willing to work with it and make it pose better with sueding etc. Alternatively, for a little mouse bjd I am about to put on layaway I haven't research poseability at all because he will be used to shell a dear pet who has passed away so the look of the doll was more important to me than anything else.

 

For me, looks always come first! I almost don't even think about the poseability until after I have the doll. If I love the sculpt, I'll make it work

 

Ha ha, same with me.

 

I agree with @CloakedSchemer that a balance between looks and posability is ideal. Currently a lot of my dolls are single jointed, so they are limited in to poses they can hold. I find both the more stylized ones and more realistic ones aesthetically well sculpted. My DIM girl is one of the ones that is double jointed that I find less attractive in the way her joints are made. T'm super excited about the doll from Granado I'm waiting for right now because he's both super posable and realistically sculpted.

 

I think it's important to have both! I definitely want an aesthetically pleasing body but poseablility matters to me and it can be frustrating when a doll can't even stand well out of the box, because for me I feel like that's kind of the point of a BJD, to be able to pose and do stuff other dolls can't. But I'm willing to make it work even if they are not that easy to pose!

 

For me it's different. I wouldn't be able to love a doll which looks pretty, but doesn't pose too good. And my doll just must have the abdomen joint. I love beautifully scuplted bellies, but not when a doll isn't able to pose naturally.

 

BJD's are more "look don't touch" for me just because I love displaying my treasures and admiring from afar the grade of the body's posing I don't find to be a make or break factor. as long as they can do general posing without much fuss, i'm happy lol.