What are your Favorite Characteristics in a Doll?

I don't think I've seen a similar topic to this; if there is a topic like this then feel free to delete or merge!

 

I'm curious to know if there are any physical characteristics that draw you to a particular doll head.

 

Also, and excuse me as I'm having trouble figuring out how to word this, do you find yourself drawn to a character doll because of the character or the general appearance of the doll head regardless of whether or not you know/like the character?

 

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I love smiling dolls with a mouth that's slightly parted! Lucy is the exception to this rule though - there's something about her expression I love, even if she looks slightly unamused.

 

Sometimes I feel more drawn to character dolls when it's a character I know and love. Lucy is the exception again

Most of the DD licensed gals I've adopted have been because of how the doll itself looks, without knowing the character at all. At least, not until later. Even at the very start with Rin-chan, I bought her because her promo shots looked so good that it made me overcome the "she costs how much?!" factor and enter the lottery - never having played Fate/StayNight. It wasn't until a couple years later that I watched her anime and played her visual novel.

 

I'm pretty happy with it being that way, too. I can appreciate the doll on its own merits as a sculpted work of art that way. It lets me decide in an unbiased manner whether I'd like to have that doll in the family. For dolls that have come out where I already know the character, I find myself nitpicking them to death and that's no fun. I'd rather like something for what it is, rather than pick on it for not matching my preconcieved notions of a character. It's a lot easier to go the other way, knowing the doll first and matching the anime girl to the personality the doll turned out to have for me.

 

As for what facial features I like, I can point to sharp eyes being one thing in particular. These are usually associated with smart women with an air of badassity about them, who, through their talents, can take care of themselves. Doll head examples include Rin Tohsaka, Saber, and Alice Kuonji. The opposite also holds: heads with big round eyes like DDH-04 I tend to shy away from.

I would have to say that for me it would be a mixture of both. When I adopted Ericka (Neris) I knew nothing about shining hearts. I was just looking for an affordable (go ahead and laugh, I am. ) girl to start with. while browsing I stumbled on to her and fell in love with her expression. In the case of Asuka, I am a complete eva fanatic so it was one of those favorite character things Same with my Saber, but I could easily see myself adopting Saber even if I knew nothing of the character. I just love her mold that much.

For me it's mostly eye shape and mouth shapes combined. I'm mostly inclined to like dolls with longer more mature faces, so a lot of times rounder heads turn me off.

 

My favorite things are sharper/ less narrow eyes on girls. It just doesn't happen very often, but I love it when they do. Kanu is a great example of that. I'm also a huge fan of not blatantly obviously smiling mouths when looking for a doll. Because my characters smile occasionally or look happy without smiling.

 

I'm also finding myself partial to nyan mouth xD

 

I guess mouths are a huge thing for me.

Mouths - More serious ones. I agree with keijogirl in that I don't like the blatantly smiling girls. They feel more limited in emotion somehow. The serious ones can look grumpy or smiling or other emotions based on light and pose and from where you're taking a picture. The smiling ones always just look like that one expression.

 

Eyes - In general, more cat-shaped. But there's been a few exceptions, based on the rest of the head.

 

I like the heads designed by Misaki Serika. Every single head we have in the house is a Misaki Serika head. All of the other designers I find some sort of fault with the heads or don't fall in love with the heads as much. This isn't a conscious thing. I don't just buy a head because it's a Misaki Serika head. I actually didn't find out that most of them were by him until well after getting them.

For me It's more of the expression on the face that has come to be my favourite,

as Iv'e notice in recent months that in different light or poses that the expression will change dramatically.

Claudius was is a perfect example from one angle is very bold and proud but in an another angle look all to sweet and innocent.

I tend to like Kousuke Kitahara's work. My short list of DD favorites is almost completely dominated by him. I only really observed that after the fact. Misaki Serika is an honorable mention.

 

I like eyes that are sharper and less spherical. I can use a wider selection of eye sizes and it is easier to adjust them so the doll doesn't have a wide-eyed stare. Neutral mouths are easiest to work with as well, since they are more flexible than in mood than a sculpted expression. I like narrower faces, but the chin shouldn't be so pointy that it could pop a balloon. I usually prefer slimmer cheeks, unless the girl is MDD--then I want slightly chubby cheeks that look pinchable.

 

(As an aside, anyone know who made DD Ryomou Shimei?)

I actually have no idea what draws me to or turns me off of a sculpt. I would say that for the most part I like sweet girls, but I also love my Sabers and I'm attracted to 07 and Alice among others. Also Ryomou and Kanu are smexy. I have extremely varied taste. Out of my first four girls, none of them shared clothes since they were all extremely different.

 

Girls that do nothing for me include both Idol Master girls so far. I don't like either of their mouths, but I do like their eyes. I dunno. I guess maybe I like a certain face layout?

Hmm, I think in general I like cute or sweet faced girls. Tsundere or sharp eyed/mischievous isn't my style so much. Frowns, smiles, both are good. Um... I really like custom face-ups too. Other than that I have to just decide whether I like the sculpt or not!

I was lucky and my all time favorite sculpt happened to be a standard one. Tamayuki's 03 head is just adorable, eyes aren't too big or too squinty and a mouth that is so little and sweet. I'm sure that more than a few people thought I was weird when I would protest that the 03 was not a sad sculpt. It confused me how much of the time Yukino was seen as a sad girl. The 03 has so much more potential than that. I really can't think of anything that I don't like about this sculpt.

 

The 01 I like a lot too (we have five ) mostly because it is a really versatile and adaptable sculpt. The eyes are expressive but aren't huge like the 04, the mouth is cute, but works very well if it is sanded off too. Overall I just love the prevalent cartoon aesthetic that the DD offer.

 

I generally stay away from the more realistic looking sculpts (Rise, etc.) because it defeats the purpose to me of having them anime based dolls. If I want a realistic doll, I'll go track down some resins. But of course to every rule there is an exception, and for me that's Kos-Mos. The original character I have for her sculpt in my mind was supposed to be more realistic.

 

~Sister Kyoya

MOUTHS

 

Gorgeous mouth sculpts = instant get for me most of the time. Some examples are Alna (those full lips!), Mariko (that adorable open mouth) and Rise (those defined lips with the little open mouth ), and KOS MOS (once again gorgeous parted and full lips)

 

I'm also super attracted to open mouth customs (from molds that originally did not have open mouths), and I've seen some really wonderful ones. Alna, Saber, 06 head, 03 head customs to name a few. And that gorgeous Nanami custom on YJA recently! It's cool how a lot of others also like molds for their mouth shapes!

 

I also never really decide whether to get a girl because of who they are as character models since I always change their look. It's really the mold of a girl that determines if I want to bring her home.

 

Oh and WS. I love WS girls . But with the release of the semi-white I fear I will see less and less of them ;^; . Oh well means less money to throw at Volks lol

For me personally, I'm always drawn to girls with cute smiles(I mean who can resist their cute smiles) and their big round eyes(really how could anyone not like their cute round eyes), there are exceptions to these guidelines though, like the 07-head(love the sculpt), the upcoming Alice(love her faceup), Nanami(same reason as Alice) and so on.

 

I guess I am one the of few users that like these characteristics on any doll I'm drawn to .

It's hard to say why I'm drawn to certain dolls. |D I usually like "omg cuuuute" characters or characters I have personal attachment to. For my Obitsu I got her because I liked her head better than the one the 50cm body came with, so I guess big round eyes and small mouths are a factor there.

 

I kinda love moe characters.

Characters with this eye shape: http://i.imgur.com/udQMZ2N.jpg

 

I don't know how to describe it. Taller than it is wide, but not just round. I like small, cute noses and shorter chins. I prefer mouths that are somewhat neutral.

Characters with this eye shape

 

I'm also an eyes girl, but this is my type of cutie. Big round eyes that curve on the ends and are oval shaped. I nearly cried when I saw the 06 for the first time. She was lovely.

 

I tend to be draw to more mature looking sculpts (Rise and Hoshii Miki) probably because I'm looking for girls who are supposed to be my age. I have also been known to fall for pouty faces, but that's a rare exception.

 

And I really need a Tsundere girl with this look:

 

What kills a doll for me? Mouth Placement. I just can't love the default paints of 02, Amami Haruka, Asuka or Moe anymore because their mouths don't look centered to me. That said, I have seen some custom paints which made me change my mind. Makes me think this is an all in the make-up thing.

Eyes, eyes, eyes is everything xD; when it comes to dolls other than Dollfie Dreams, however, it's noses. >>;

I'd say it has to be the mouth, again XD;; Eyes are important, but they can look so different depending on face-up...that I might like a head with one face-up but not the other. Whereas with an unmodded mouth, if I don't like it, I just can't like the face at all XD

The same goes for resin dolls too uvu

(As an aside, anyone know who made DD Ryomou Shimei?)

 

According to the DD Compilation book, Kitahara Kousuke.

Characters with this eye shape

 

I'm also an eyes girl, but this is my type of cutie. Big round eyes that curve on the ends and are oval shaped. I nearly cried when I saw the 06 for the first time. She was lovely.

 

I tend to be draw to more mature looking sculpts (Rise and Hoshii Miki) probably because I'm looking for girls who are supposed to be my age. I have also been known to fall for pouty faces, but that's a rare exception.

 

And I really need a Tsundere girl with this look:

 

What kills a doll for me? Mouth Placement. I just can't love the default paints of 02, Amami Haruka, Asuka or Moe anymore because their mouths don't look centered to me. That said, I have seen some custom paints which made me change my mind. Makes me think this is an all in the make-up thing.

 

I actually love the 06 head too! Her eyes can be painted to give that sort of shape.

@DJStarstryker: Thanks!

 

That brings my DD roster to 70% Kitahara, 30% Serika.

I'm usually not a big fan of mouths that look grumpy, with a couple exceptions (most notably Sprout), but really obviously smiling mouths have to be on just the right girl, too. I prefer neutral expressions, since those can be read many different ways at different times.

 

The biggest feature that attracts me, though, tends to be the hair, even though it's one of the most changeable. I'm pretty much face-blind, so it's really hard for me to recognize and differentiate the girls based on their facial features, but most of the dolls I see on here tend to have relatively unique hairstyles/colors, so I can usually tell them apart that way. Same thing with our dolls here at home.

Well, I'm attracted to dolls based on characters that I like, but that's only a part of it for me. Another strong part is the expression. Expressions like Aoi and Alice really grab at me.

I love dolls with full mouths, big lips, and nice large eye sockets for that caught in the headlight-doe eyes effect (maybe cause i have a full mouth and full eyes :S I just couldnt get use to the volks heads where its the opposite, I am use to obitsu heads.

I prefer narrower eyes and a slight smile or neutral frown. There are always exceptions, as a strong expression can sometimes suit a particular look very well, but I think that eyebrows should determine most of the expression. I tend to lean towards more mature looks.

Small, narrow eyes, weak smiles or frowns, pointy noses and an overall mature look is what I look for in DDs.