Things you DONT look for in dolls?

I agree about the closed eyes. I love picking eyes for my dolls, so closed eyes take that away. I also don't like dolls with very exaggerated body proportions. While I love images of them and love how they look, I image getting clothes for them would be a hassle. Especially in cases where the top half of the body requires a different size from the bottom half (i.e. body can wear 1/6 scale tops and 1/4 scale bottoms).

 

This thread is so fascinating to read. I like sculpts with option heads with open / closed / partially closed eyes and option ears ( human, elf, mermaid). Anime and realistic are equally fine though I lean toward the older more Anime sculpts. I’m not a huge fan of exposed teeth but small teeth are ok. I like smiles, frowns and neutral expressions.

My face deal breakers are fangs, tongues sticking out, and O faces.

 

Heh. Most of the responses in this thread are rules I would have agreed with even a year ago. But my tastes just keep on changing.

I used to HATE doll teeth. Then I got Doll Leaves Hedy and Dollmore Trinity Elysia (Alicia), and now, they're growing on me.
I used to avoid smirks - now, I have two smirking heads on order from Jane's Dolland.
I didn't like the AP "O-face" until I saw someone's doll with an amazing face-up and a tongue piercing. Now I think they're rad.
I always said I'd never buy a boy doll. Ha ha ha ha. SartoriaJ Matias is calling my name...

I do still have a few "Not for me (for the most part)" rules:

• No single-joint dolls (she says while owning multiple Dollmore dolls and LOVING them).
• No more vinyl - this is pretty much staying a hard and fast rule. The staining. I can't get past the staining.
• I avoid anime unless I am also paying for a face-up. Cuz anime face-ups are hard. *whine*
• Generally, the more joints, the better. If there's a choice between a 1-part, 2-part, or 3-part torso, I'll get the 3-part torso every time. (However, I've seen some dolls that I feel kinda jumped the shark on that one. I'm talking 6 or 7 joints in the torso. They look like snakes to me.) Neck joints? Yes please. Oh, shoulder joints? Sure, I'll try those.
• I don't like one-piece torsos at all. I get it. It's an aesthetic. But my girls got to MOOOOVE.
• PashaPasha. I'm sorry. I don't know what it is. I just can't with those dolls.
• Companies that don't sell optional hands and feet, or they don't sell them at the same time they sell the dolls. I gotta have my hands and heel feet! If I can't buy all the optional parts the same time I'm ordering a doll - I'm not ordering. *cough cough* Migidoll *cough*
• Sleeping faces: I like to buy eyes. I like to swap them out. If there's no eye hole, where do I put the eyes!

 

I tend to ignore anything smaller than 1/4 scale for some reason

 

Admittedly, I don't think any amount of customizing would make the AP "O-face"tolerable for me. Just seeing anything with a semblance to it sets off a visceral trigger response. In regards to PashaPasha, I'm of the same opinion with them—although I do recognize what turns me off about them. Their expressions, especially the puckered lips, reminds me of King Tut's mummy. I love Ancient Egypt, but that's not something I want to be reminded of every time I look at a doll

 

It's been very interesting reading the replies for me as well - I'm really surprised that teeth and open mouths would not be as popular to have on dolls as I thought! I always thought teeth showing is something conventionally "special" that adds to the sculpt. Same with dreaming (half-open) eyes, I guess our own wishes colour the expectations. But I also have my own unpopular preferences - I would never want to own anything similar to popovy dolls (the bony bodies make me shudder for a few reasons); I wouldn't mind an o-face on a mature sculpt at all, though (so, no Unoa o on the default bodies but AP I think is a fair game)

 

@cobaltconduct I share your unpopular preference! The emaciated, model-like bodies are definitely not for me.

 

I personally dislike dolls that
1. Stick their tongues out
2. Have unnaturally extremely huge bosom like those anime characters that seem too sexualized
3. Child faces with mature bodies that's just disturbing unless you switch the head to a child's body then it's fine
4. Dolls with interchangeable male parts
5. Extremely big eyes, but there are exceptions to this for me
6. Dolls with multiple eyes on it's face that scares me
7. Closed eyes sleeping dolls but there are exceptions to this

I think that's about it

 

Other users have already mentioned this a couple of times and I can only agree with them: I don't like overly buff bodies. I don't mind muscular bodies at all (I'd especially love more muscular female bodies) but I don't like the extremely buff ones. Especially if they come with super broad shoulders to boot. It makes the head look so tiny.

 

I agree with points 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6.
And I also add tentacles, double faces and cyclops to my "No".

 

I don't like closed eyes, I want to see the eyes, even if the doll is winking or dreaming I need to see the eyes.

I don't look at anthropomorphic dolls, cute little ears are okay, and some facial features, but full on animal heads are a nope for me.

I just want tiny humans, so most fantasy dolls are also out of the running for me... although some vampires slipped in. Vampire's are mostly human except for the teeth, and I like dolls with teeth.

I don't like big breasts on my girls. My 69 cm Loongsoul girl is an A cup, and I filed down my Bobobie Ophelia's chest, my Ringdoll Alice is fine, she can fit clothing easily enough, but Ophelia strained every shirt, and the really super large busted girls are just not something I would want to own.

I don't want the anime style dolls either. I think they are adorable, but they don't fit with the rest of my dolls.

 

• SD and SD-inspired bodies. They're uninteresting and unappealing.
• Ribcage joints that sit at the waist (looking at you again, Volks). There are a couple of instances where I don't mind this, but they're the expection.
• Diaper joints. Not a dealbreaker since I'll still pick them for the extra mobility if given the option, but they're almost always ugly and I wish there was more variety in 3-part torso jointing.
• Very realistic sculpts. Again, some exceptions, but I have no interest in most of them. This goes double for rugged, chiseled, masculine faces.
• And while we're at it, facial hair of any kind.
• Some fantasy skintones; I can like them, but I'm picky.
• Very small eyes.
• Ugly breasts (not the same thing as big breasts, but unfortunately they end up together more often than not). It's frustrating because if they're too round or close together they look bad naked, but if they're too natural-looking or far apart they look bad clothed. Finding a happy medium is hard.
• Overly big heads compared to the body. Not the same thing as bobbleheads, where the effect is intentional.
• General poor anatomy and proportions. Long ribcages, perfectly square abs, sausage fingers...
• Barbie anatomy. Alternatively, lazily-sculpted penises.
• Overly muscular uncle bodies. Some of them look like parodies of themselves. It's particularly bad when the sculptor wants to give the body huge tits but also wants to maintain an inverted triangle shape, which leads to a ridiculously wide upper torso.
• Very short or long torsos (this turned me off Ye Maozi's body).
• Those ugly-cute babies (like QBaby and Kkner).

 

An interesting question! This thread is fun. I've been enjoying the replies. Interpretive questions are a nice dive into individual preferences. Obviously there is a doll for everyone, and an audience for every kind of doll. The diversity is our collective strength.

One look at my list will tell you I have diverse tastes, and not necessarily one cohesive aesthetic to my collection. But I do have an overwhelming bias towards fantasy dolls. That said, there are some things I usually avoid:

• 'Generic'-looking faces. It might just be me, but I swear a number of companies have collectively made the same four or five heads twenty times over, and the only thing that truly differs is the faceup style. Granted they are not the exact same, and just many artists tapping into a similar aesthetic, but by golly, they sure look it to me.
  
• Overly muscular bodies. Past a point, it looks unnatural. I do think these can be handled well by the right photographer, but I don't have a personal use for this style.
  
• Plain, undersculpted bodies. Bodies that look like a rectangle, where the bare minimum was done but not much else. Usually the pectoral muscles / breasts look unnatural, the abdomen and groin are undersculpted, the elbows, knees, and wrists are awkward and ungracefully tapered between moving parts... It may be functional, but dang is it unpleasant to look at. I tried to get by with these kinds of bodies early-on in the hobby, and realized within a year that I just couldn't do it. It is worth noting that some of these do have decent articulation, and can easily outpose their more expensive counterparts. They are not without their merits. But for me personally, it was tipping the aesthetics scale too far.
  
• Thin, fiddly parts. I like to travel with my dolls. I like to pose them and handle them and change them up. If I have to worry about all the things I might break off, this is not a doll for me.
• Dolls that don't hold their center of gravity. This one's a bit more subjective, but hear me out: at smaller scales, you can do almost anything with figure design and face few consequences, aside from potential brittleness. But scale that design up and gravity becomes more of a factor as your parts get heavier. I struggle endlessly with my largest dolls, but sometimes against all logic, there are less heavy dolls that do not want to cooperate no matter how tight their strings are, how much sueding they have, etc. etc., and refuse to be more than off-balanced. What this feels like in practice can range across designs, but in general, if I see a doll that looks too long and thin to comfortably hold its own weight, I avoid it.
  
• 'Light' tan. Not all lighter tans; a particular shade. I'm talking the tan that is barely there, that looks more like badly-diluted chocolate milk, or lots of resin yellowing. Don't get me wrong; the human skin palette is diverse, and every colour tone should be an option. But admittedly, I've never felt that this shade particularly reflects some of the lighter non-Caucasian skintones all that well, or even a Caucasian tan. Personal perception. Interestingly I will be forced to take on this colour in the future, because I ordered a limited doll in it, thinking that the tone was darker. Whoops.
  
• Oversized breasts. Having options is important. Different characters and designs will call for different things. And there are people out there with large natural endowments. But their bodies fit to that shape accordingly, regardless of type/weight, while resin is a static material. To my eye, past a point, it stops looking feasible. And small breasts can fit into many more clothes. I do own a Dollfie Dream Dynamite, but in resin, I go for at least a semi-realistic silhouette.
  
• 'Normal' and White skin. Bweh? What? You read it here first. Sometimes those are the only colour choices you get, and sometimes they fit the design you have in mind. But otherwise? If there are alternative options, I go for them when I can. Nothing against the shades. They're just the defaults. And defaults are boring. At least if you're a fantasy / scifi collector.
  
• Huge eyes and chubby cheeks on SDs. I don't know why, but past a point, very large eyes and round cheeks on SDs look out of place to me. It subtracts from the maturity of the doll. There is absolutely no rule on what size your design has to be, but so many SDs are mature that it's a subconscious default. Then again, I know I own and have owned sculpts that technically break this one. 'Big Baby' SDs are a good niche; they allow collectors who may have trouble with the smaller sizes to enjoy a classic aesthetic.
  
• 'Meh' posability. Do you know what I hate? Genuinely can't stand? Paying $$$ more than a chunk of my other dolls for a so-called 'premium' product that can't stand and may struggle with other, basic posabilitiy functions, like elbows, ankles, slouch or standing with the legs in two different places. I won't name names, but a certain company soured me big time last year over what should have been a major grail. They had said they improved the flawed design factors. Not a thing had been changed. I know that art dolls and action figures are technically two different things, but dang, why pay almost 1K for something that can't pose worth a dang versus my $16 hunk of factory plastic?
• Three-part torsos on most things bigger than YoSD. Not all of these are badly executed, but they often seem to be a 'pick your poison: aesthetics or posability?' scenario, and I say, why choose when a two-part torso usually has both at no cost of function? The worst is when the abdomen part is actively slippery, twisting itself around and folding forward out of place. This is usually a stringing + suedeing fix, but man, some of them are temperamental, and the slightest loosening in the strings sends you back to square one.
  
• 5000+ 'extra bits' / X-rated 'addons'. I don't know how much I can say here. I've had one male doll with posable junk. One. It was just a standard feature of the body. You can sculpt as many of them as you'd like; if it's a nice body, I'll still buy it, but they'll stay in the box while he lives here. And since I have Dollfies now, I'm obligated to include them. We've already established that standard bust sizes are good by me. As for certain third-market bits, no thanks.
  
• Pinheads. I've technically owned a couple of these- as in, they were complete from the company, designed this way. Not hybrids. But I can't wrap myself around them. If the head looks too small for the body, it bothers me. More than minor resin differences between two companies or batches. More than a neckhole that's too large for the neck. Heads that could have been 'properly' proportionate but are slightly off drive me nuts.

...I think those are the main ones. TLDR: Posability and aesthetic are both important, and finding the right balance is a crucial part of my purchase decision-making. I will always look for owner photos, if possible, and see how a doll is rated in stability first before dropping $$$ on something that is visually appealing.

Here's to many more intriguing replies!

 

I've been collecting for over 15 years. I no longer look for dolls with white-coded facial sculpts; I already have plenty of them. If I'm to get a doll now, it must have a PoC coded face.

 

@Loptr and @Lumenade - I giggled reading both of your lists. That's almost literally everything I look for in a doll.
More for me!

 

Hear hear!!

 

To be fair, pretty much all of my rules have exceptions! I even have or want dolls that break one or more of them.

 

I posted earlier in the thread about my "absolutely not"/dislike features... but what about features I don't dislike, but just don't look for when I browse for dolls? I don't look for fantasy features. I love my bog standard humans so my dolls have to be completely human in head and body. Not even elf ears or vampire teeth - if the sculpt doesn't have a human version, I can love it as much as I want, but I won't think of buying it.

That was the story of my only 1/4 doll... When Dream Valley released Achelous Lost in the Vortex, I was quite attracted to the head sculpt but it had fantasy ears, so buying the merman or even splitting the head out was never up for consideration. That is, until I discovered there was also a human-eared version of Achelous that I could buy separately and put on a human body. The doll was back on the cards, and I ended up buying it.

I just remembered that I do have an elf-eared BJD head... It's my faceup practice head, and I will never be at risk of falling in love and turning it into a full doll. (And even if it had human ears, it still has visible teeth - which is one of my deal breaker features and guarantees it'll never be part of my crew. The perfect faceup practice head! )

 

I'm going to interpret this as "things other people seem to care about but I usually don't," rather than my turn-offs. so:

- Joint visibility. This is a big one; I've never cared if extra articulation renders a doll's joints visible; I'd still rather have it. It's a doll! I know that! I don't mind if other people do!

- Dolls with teeth. Some people really hate the idea, and while I prefer closed mouths in general...I don't mind a well-designed and unobtrusive set of teeth. Maybe it's my experience with antiques where open mouths + teeth get very common around the 1880s-1920s?

- Having a body that's easy to find commercial outfits for. I love to sew- bring on the weirdly shaped dolls! I don't think I've ever bought a garment for one of my BJDs, actually.

 

-anime dolls
-childlike dolls, that being said, I have found one I like
-dolls with slim shoulders and way broader hips and thick legs/thighs
I like curvy dolls but I think the proportions should be more symmetrical than that
-Too round or big eyes
-Most dolls smaller than MSD
-Big boobs that are just two half spheres on the chest, looks so unnatural

 

What turns me off on a doll, whether it be a BJD or a Barbie, is limited articulation. Dolls with only the basic five points of articulation at the head, shoulders, and hips I tend to ignore unless it's a doll I really like. I recently got a Chelsea doll with scoliosis and she only has the basic five points of articulation. However, I overlooked that fact because of her uniqueness. Same with my first BJD, an anthropomorphic bunny. He also only has the basic five points. I overlook it as well because he's my first BJD and I love him very much.

So yeah. If the doll only has the basic five points of articulation, I'm not getting it.

 

When I was looking for an adult male 1/3 scale BJD, one of my requirements was "athletic, but not idealized." I'm glad I didn't take a sip every time I spotted a doll with a bodybuilder or manhwa muscle physique. My liver wouldn't have handled it.

 

I really like features that lend themselves to versatility.

 

I don't look for anatomical correctness in BJDs. I know it comes with the territory, so my options there are extremely limited. I don't mind it with my mature dolls, but I wish there was an option to get child dolls without molded anatomical correctness. I have a couple little girl BJDs, and I'm so uncomfortable changing their clothes and especially taking off their underwear.

 

Perhaps it might help to look for "tenshi" or "angel" bodies if possible. Those tend to be genderless, like Volks's Tenshi lines

 

I mostly collect tiny children 1/6 and smaller. I do find the giant heads annoying but trying to put tiny eyes in tinier doll heads makes me appreciate the heads that have a little more room. I would totally consider a mature 1/6 to 1/4 if I could fit it in with the rest of my tinies as a parent or something similar but scaling can be weird.

 

Man, theres a few

• weird thin lips... (the bottom to big while the top really thin)
• Open mouths like wide open mouths
• Child-like faceup on muscular bodies...
• Tiny heads on big bodies.
• Female's with crazy bewb big proportion..
  
  
  

 

ooo, i'm the same with closed eyes and open mouths (potential exception if they've got fangs because i'm a sucker-- ha-- for vampires). Eyes that are too small or too large, partly so they match the rest of my collection, but also just for preference reasons.

i think other than that, most of my immediate turnoffs with dolls are related to bodies. Extreme proportions (besides the occasional horror doll), visible bone structure on a doll that isn't literally bones, things of that nature. And while there are definitely exceptions, i can't say i have exactly common taste.

Oh-- and speaking of uncommon taste... the "uncle" doll proportions (also in some "fashion" lines like iplehouse or souldoll vito). The big beefy men with tiny heads are definitely in the "extreme proportions" category for me.

 

I generally look for unique features. Something that sets the doll apart from the others I already have. I also tend to prefer fantasy dolls to human dolls.

The things I will usually avoid are any doll over 45cm, dolls with lots of muscles, and dolls with heads that are very large for their body.

 

I think my big one is heads that are too big for the bodies. Like, I guess the term chibi would work here. I don't mind larger heads, but I like a sense of proportion about it all.

That being said, I still look at them and find them lovely dolls, just not for my personal collection.

 

I was thinking about this last night with regards to fashion size dolls. Just not my “thing” at all and I want to like them but they are just way too small for me. Same with a lot of dolls in the smaller size range I just too small for me. Same going for 1/6 scale sized mature dolls some of them are so pretty to look at but just too small for me.

Another thing is very fixed expressions on dolls like smirking or I guess crying a la Ringdoll Mona… I just seem to prefer neutral faces. Saying that I love open mouthed sculpts especially visible teeth and tongue.

 

I steer clear of weird proportions (head too big, arms too long, hands too small, etc), single jointed bodies/bodies that have poor range of motion, large dolls (taller than 45cm), exception being extra large dolls, like Dollmore's Lusion
Also I'm not a huge fan of big expressions like winking or grinning. Sleeping or frowning or small smiles get a pass, but I feel emotional sculpts just limit what the character can be.

 

I like teeth and closed eyes but thats just me. some sculptors are better at this detail then others. I was thinking about getting a certain doll then after some research I discovered it had chiclet teeth.
When owner pics started rolling in I was like, "oh I dodged a bullet"
the 75cm+ Clydesdale-faced males are a hard pass.
I dont like "soft" expressions.

 

Strongly defined lips and lack of a nose bridge on anime dolls.
Even very moe characters have a bridge in their silhouette unless they're chibi. It's common when realistic leaning doll companies start making anime ones. I appreciate them branching out though!

 

Totally understand not liking the fully closed eye sculpts! I just enjoy it being an option as an additional head and/or face-plate, like Fairyland tends to offer (nice for sleeping photo ops and whatnot). However, if it's just an eyes-closed sculpt with no option for an open-eyed version (dreamy or fully open, I don't really mind either), then it's mostly a nope for me as well (I say mostly as I swear a long time ago I may have found a closed-eye sculpt I actually enjoyed but do not remember the brand nor sculpt name).

My Current Passes/No-Gos:

• Thick Muscle Neck
• Huge Male Chest w/ Huge Headlights
• Muscular Female Bodies
• Private parts showing on smaller/child-like bodies
• Slim Male and Female Bodies (ones marketed as slim in the title)
• Multiple sharp teeth
• Too many teeth (more than four on the top or bottom; prefer only two, if having teeth, depending on sculpt)
• Wide Open Mouth (like anime sculpts' open squeeing mouths, big "o" mouths, and/or just horror style open mouths)
• Tongue out of the mouth/licking their lips
• Blood/Gore
• Neutral happy/smile closed mouth (can't fully explain what I mean but I've seen a lot while browsing certain companies that look like they all have the same type of expression and mouth shape)
• Most huge hands (if they don't fit proportionally or are on a super skinny/small body)
• Single-jointed knees
• Eyes disproportionally far apart
• Most animal sculpts (unless they are tinies or pets)
• Heavy Baby Doll Resemblance
• Most veins (just depends on how visible)
• Boney Rib Cages or Clavicles (in general, not have anything on the body be too skeletal)

 

I've got surprisingly broad tastes, but I do have a few Hard No's.

• Bodies that can't hold a pose (unless they're EXTREMELY aesthetic like the Dollshe DS28M)
• Sculpts that are too babyish (uberbaby MDDs are popular in the Dollfie Dream groups I hang out in and I just Do Not Get It)
• Open mouth and "mouthbreather" sculpts with the lips slightly parted (Volks and Fairyland, please...there's other expressions....)
• Highly expressive dolls in general (neutral-er faces just feel more natural to me, small smiles and that witchcraft where the expression subtly changes depending on the viewing angle are my favorite)
• Dolls smaller than YoSD (I'm so sorry to all those Pet dolls, Fashion size, and 1/12s I've bought over the years...)
• Anthro BJDs that're just an animal head on a human body (No toe beans? No FUR?? :'( Sometimes the skin tone doesn't even match the head, like it's a dude with an animal mask on...)
• Resins bigger than 1/4 and vinyls bigger than 1/3 (The weight gets to be too much, and I just can't shop for clothing for massive man meat bods...)
• Single jointed elbows

 

Size below 1/3, aesthetics leaning on sex, single joints and one piece torsos, fantasy things like centaurs or complicated sculpts with lots of small parts (I love looking at those dolls but I'm not sure if I would enjoy owning them).

 

my dealbreakers are
- closed eye sculpts
- masculine sculpts (I prefer feminine and gender-neutral dolls)
- eyes that are close together, since i actually really enjoy sculpts with a bigger gap between eyes
- no chin
- features that throw the overall harmony off the face off, usually features that are really big
- baby and child sculpts
- hyperrealistic (i enjoy stylized dolls a lot more)

 

My tastes are quite varied but I do have definite no-nos and they are:

Beachball/Watermelon boobies…..for goodness sake it’s not like reference pictures of breasts are hard to find!

Ski-slope noses especially on otherwise quite realistic sculpts and also sharp pointy noses that could take your eye out. I understand that style on anime type dolls but not otherwise.

Chubby cheeks with jowls and a pointy chin combo

Childlike baby faces on a pubescent body……all kinds of wrong!

Flat or spoon hands especially if they’re too thin for the body

That bad ‘rod up the backside’ posture some dolls have when viewed side on. It can really put me off of an otherwise nice looking doll.

 

Exaggerated hip width is one of the things I like the least in a doll. I think they rose as a counter against exaggerated boobs but are just as bad.

Boring hands. I think hands can add so much to the posing, so if they look uninteresting or aren't pretty, I'll be disinclined to buying that doll. In the same vein, I don't want the hands on the doll to be mirrored. It makes the sculpt of both body and face look unnaturally symmetrical.

Waist joints are not for me either. I much prefer the underbust variant. Not only does it look more subtle, but it gives me the range of motion I want.

 

- Pinheads! If the head (with wig, I understand some doll makers make the backs of heads smaller so they look natural with the wig on) is smaller than 1/9th of the body in terms of height and smaller than 2.5x the shoulder’s width (i.e. typical idealized superhero proportions) then I do not want it in my house. Which is a real shame, there’s a lot of otherwise nice heads that would be lovely on a body that was 10% smaller. But as an artist, the ridiculous mismatched proportions would drive me insane.

- Blobby, detail-less hands (unless it’s on a very small and heavily stylized body)

- Overly-sculpted expressions. This I struggle with because I do think dolls made with an expression outside of the resting face norm are super cool. But I think I would get tired of them pretty fast, and also my husband has a very real doll phobia and I don’t think he’d appreciate them either lol. I think the only way I like it is the context of a Chibi Unoa, with face plates that have different expressions.

- Overly masculine/old/angry-looking adult male dolls. I'm not big on the feminine/young/soft either, I prefer a nice blend of both (which is... surprisingly rare).

 

I think the idea is imitating the look of a push-up bra. I don't like that either but it looks better clothed.

 

Interesting that a lot of people dislike closed/dreaming eyes - I like them.

What I dislike:

Realistic heads - A lot of realistic heads are pretty, but they're often boring; they lack personality/expressiveness.

Open mouths, especially with teeth - SDM Dai/Mako look like they would slobber everywhere... And sculpted teeth on dolls is a one-way trip to uncanny valley territory. Softly parted lips are nice though.

Long, model-like legs - this is almost impossible to avoid with female dolls in general. Long legs and relatively short torsos look unbalanced and just... off. Iplehouse J.I.D is a good example of the torso - leg ratio I like.

Waist joints & double joints - I don't need my doll to be an acrobat! I rarely use the full potential of complex joints. My dolls only sit or stand in slightly different positions, and single joints are nicer aesthetically.

 

I posted here previously, but here's another trait that I've been trying to avoid...

Underbust joints, the one that cuts directly underneath the pecs/boobs. I don't like this joint at all because it doesn't seem anatomically realistic to me, and since many dolls have only an underbust joint for their torso (no additional waist joint), they look really weird when bending over at that place.

Furthermore, this joint is high enough that it risks cutting across the shoulder/back musculature to disrupt the flow of the back in unsightly ways. The doll may look pleasing from the front, but not necessarily from the back. I've seen some doll bodies where the joint cuts right through the shoulder blades ... and I don't like it!

This underbust joint is getting close to a dealbreaker trait for me, especially if it's the only joint in a 2-part torso. I'm a bit more forgiving when the doll also has a waist joint (3-part torso) because the torso posing looks more realistic. But these days, when I look at my shortlist of doll bodies, underbust joints are at the bottom and I'm prioritizing other types of torso joints above them.

 

Admittedly I don’t have a lot of features I’ll never do on a doll, but for my crew in particular, needing eyes over 12mm is a deal breaker. I’ll do 14mm SI, but I send to like smaller eyes in my dolls than they’re typically made for. Even my feeple 60’s and my twigling ingenues look good with 12mm eyes imo. But I can’t do like, feeple60 Chloe because she looks wrong with 12mm’s—she needs a minimum of a 7mm Iris (classic 14mm eye). And that makes her look weird with all the rest of my dolls.

it’s been said by a lot of other people, but childish heads on adult bodies. I don’t like childish heads in general. All of the characters I’m shelling are supposed to be adults, so I don’t like heads that are too young looking.

Also anime dolls in general. I like seeing pics of them. I like other people’s anime dolls, but they look so weird with my small eyed realistic ish dolls. So I need to stick away from anime dolls. Even semi-real smartdolls look super weird with my realistic dolls, and besides which, I’m not wild on their creator.

 

@aihre I feel the same about the underbust joint... well way harsher than that. Because of the positioning it has less range than a chest joint - simply because the hinge is higher up you need some really dramatic positioning to achieve the same bend as a chest joint and it usually looks like the torso is split in two when it's set at a non-useless angle. Even for basic contrapposto you need more than what a bust joint can do without looking weird. And if you have a somewhat tight top on the doll I imagine it impedes posing much more than a chest joint which bends in a more natural place.
I honestly don't understand the purpose of this joint... If I wanted to dress a doll in a way that shows a lot of skin I'd prefer a one-piece torso, it's truly seamless and allows for much nicer sculpting, because with the underbust joint you always need to shape the breasts so that they have a very sharp tuck under the seam. I wonder if it might have to do with choosing different breast sizes more than articulation?
It's been a dealbreaker for me every time on bodies I otherwise liked a lot (like 1/3 Jiu Er Mao). The only exception I'll ever make is Dollstown... I love Jonghak An's sculpting too much to care.
I actually prefer one nicely designed chest joint over a bust + waist joint. I've gotten used to the infamous diapers on 1/12 figures for the sake of articulation, and my favorite figure has a 4 part torso, but I understand that BJDs need to make a compromise between articulation and aesthetics, so I'd rather choose one good cut over many.

 

Grumpy Sculpt, maybe.
All my collection untill now only have smile or neutral expression. None of the grumpy or downward curved lips attracted me at all. I don't hate them though, they just not draw to me.

 

Maybe, but I do think the underbust joint is a fair compromise of aesthetics with some posability, and maybe stability. Especially if one keeps the doll mainly in a stand and in upright poses - an underbust joint still lets them make nice upper body poses, and the stand may be doing a lot of work to support lower body/leg poses anyway.

That is not how I play with my dolls, so I find the underbust joint alone quite limiting. 2 of my 6 dolls have 2-part torsos with only underbust joint, and I always wish that they had waist joints because they're not too versatile in seated poses compared to my 4 other dolls, who have 3-part torsos with a waist joint. The pantyline joint may not be favoured by others, but I value it because I'm constantly using it for every kind of pose, including standing contrapposto and lounging and sitting realistically. The bend at the waist overcomes some of the unrealism of bending at the ribcage, so I'm more forgiving of the underbust joint if it's paired with a waist joint.

 

Things I don't look for/avoid-

I don't really care for anime looking dolls, 1/4 scale, big head or big eye sculpts. Hard pass on animal heads on human bodies. Childlike dolls with huge boobs I avoid. I also pass on androgynous body types and super slim body styles. I also avoid gore, exposed skulls, deep scaring, wounds, etc.

 

I've already found a few things I dislike (there might be more):

- toothy smiles or angry/aggressive/crying/disturbed expressions (please be happy or at least neutral but not creepily so)
- tongue sticking out of the mouth (one exception so far)
- anything bloody or gorey
- as many have said: boobs/non-subtle private parts on sculpts that are supposed to represent children (absolutely not)
- huge boobs if they do not have a matching body
- overly masculine (facial hair etc)
- pinheaded adults
- overly muscular necks

 

Very adult dolls, especially the male ones. There's been a trend towards "mature" MSD-sized dolls and that's just not to my taste.
Anything creepy (example, that spider-doll that I think Doll Chateau came out with some years ago?) is a hard pass. Nope.
Not keen on anthro dolls (animal heads on human bodies). I do have a few of (off topic) Hudoo Freya, but they were inexpensive and my husband liked them. Same with human heads on animal bodies, like centaurs and such. Just not my thing.
I prefer the old-school anime type dolls and single joints. Part of that is just nostalgia--I came into this hobby via anime.
I dislike the peanut-joints intensely, but most of the doll companies seem to have gone in that direction. I understand some folks like to pose their dolls for pictures and such and that is fine. I tend to take mainly portraits, and the single joints suffice for that and just look smoother.
It has been interesting watching the hobby evolve over the years, and I think it is great that there are plenty of options available now for a wide variety of preferences!

 

- Overly realistic dolls, especially in the face.
- Sculpted veins. I find them icky >-<
- Nipples/detailed lower anatomy. It's not a dealbreaker, but I'd prefer if it wasn't there.
- Sleeping heads. There's a few I like, but I find eyes important for bringing a doll to life.
- Single joints. I like as much posability as is reasonable!
- 70+cm musclemen dolls. This one is a bit of a lie because I think they're super cool, but I can barely lug my 60cm girl around and most of them are intensely pricey.

I do like a lot of the things that seem to be common passes, though. Such as:
+ Teeth
+ Extreme expressions
+ Large chests (I like having a variety of body types!)
+ Horror-themed dolls

 

Some of the things I avoid are:

• Dolls with faces that show really extreme emotion. I prefer neutral expressions, gentle smiles, and expressions that show slight emotion (like a doll that’s a bit grumpy, playful, or gloomy looking). Dolls that look really angry, miserable, or happy in an over-the-top way aren’t my thing.
• Dolls with their tongue permanently sticking out. I don’t mind if there’s an interchangeable option for the tongue to be out, but I wouldn’t want it out all the time. I don’t mind head sculpts that have the mouth open or teeth showing though.
• Inaccurate body proportions, whether it’s an intentional design choice or not.
• Anything that looks too humanlike.
• Dolls with huge eyes or eyes that are unnaturally spaced out.
• Those pinheaded muscle men dolls.
• Super muscular dolls in general. Some muscle is fine, but I can only handle so much…

 

The thing that just is NOT my taste is the usually Chinese aesthetic of an overhanging upper lip. It's a trait of beauty to many Chinese artists, but it does nothing for me.

I also am not into wraparound eyes- eyes that aren't just on the front of the face but so long and almond shaped they wrap around into the temples. I tend to prefer more realism in my dolls eye shapes.

Also? Tiny-head Muscle Uncle dolls with huge pecs and shoulders and a TINY waist. A very specific look which is very CLAMP manga, I see where they're going with it, and it'll look really cool with like 80s-early 90s clothes too, but so not for me.

Oh forgot- Butt-out Hip Tilt. Lordosis of the spine is a deal-breaker until I have a character who is supposed to have spinal medical issues. The SEVERE hip tilt male and female doll bodies tend to be given is a medical condition when it's that bad. It's not a healthy/Typical body form and it's painful and annoying to treat.

Other things are just common picky points- joints, baby heads on muscley adult bodies, glass cutter nipples, Antigravity boobs.