Difference Between DD and SD?

I have heard that SD are heavier because of the resin, and the faces are obviously different, but what else?

 

 

 

 

Update: Thank You Guys SOOO MUCH!!! I would've never learned all of this as quick as I have. I'm still quite amazed at everything I have learned!!!

 

Thanks ALL Of you guys for all your responds!!!! You've all been so helpful! After reading your responds, I felt very ditzy(of course I am knew to this) I thought I knew enough about dollfie dreams but NO. That goes for SD's too! It was like,*La,la,la,la,la readin the responds---- " kinds feeling you know? Any way, thanks again guys for all the help!

Edited May 5, 2014 by Guest

DDs have an internal armature, while SDs are held together with elastic. The armature gives DDs some pretty great posing, but on the other hand the elastic seems to be easier to tweak/replace if something goes wrong or the level of posing vs "cuddliness" isn't to your taste.

 

Also, the vinyl on DDs is kind of springy, and bounces back into shape after most bumps (gouges from sharp objects are still possible though.) The resin on an SD is more brittle, so is more likely to pick up dents, scratches, or chips when dropped or bonked.

 

The vinyl does have a disadvantage compared to resin though: vinyl, especially the matte DD vinyl, is porous and therefore prone to absorbing dyes and pigments from clothes and props. It can be fixed (with zit cream of all things), but it does take time, and it's really hard to tell what materials will stain and what won't. Sometimes an SD's resin can pick up a bit of pigment, but it tends to stay on the surface and can rub away in a minute or two with a magic eraser.

 

Those are the differences I'm aware of, but do make note that all the dolls I currently own are vinyl (two DDs and now an Obitsu50), so most of the resin info I've kind of picked up from osmosis rather than firsthand experience. Hopefully one of our resin-veteran members can fill in any gaps I left.

DDs are also anime style in body as well as face. If you look at volks in particular their SDs have a much more "childish" body with very little in the way of breasts and curves. While DDs are much curvier, although can have small breasts as well.

 

From first hand experience, resin dolls are a bit finnicky to pose because they are strung with elastic. This can result in some poses being simply impossible and other times the arms snap back. DDs on the other hand are comparable to action figures when posing them. There are obviously some limits because of their design but nothing that can really limit you.

 

I've also found that the community is a lot better for DDs than it is for SDs. Closer, tight-knit, and overall friendlier. Not that this has anything to do with the dolls themselves.

 

The market is obviously a lot bigger for SDs, with a lot more companies making dolls in that size. So arguably SDs are better for variety. However, DDs (I have found) are much easier to customise into characters. The only downfall I can see is that you are restricted to the anime style, and restricted to only females so far if you don't use a different body.

Most people here say resin BJDs are more fragile than DDs, but I find the opposite to be true so far. The only breakage my resins dolls have suffered so far was a broken finger during shipping (due to poor packaging ). DD internal frames can be rather troublesome, sometimes something snaps, or becomes loose (hands, feet, forearms falling out), and it's more complicated to fix in, my opinion.

Most people here say resin BJDs are more fragile than DDs, but I find the opposite to be true so far. The only breakage my resins dolls have suffered so far was a broken finger during shipping (due to poor packaging ). DD internal frames can be rather troublesome, sometimes something snaps, or becomes loose (hands, feet, forearms falling out), and it's more complicated to fix in, my opinion.

 

I suppose in a way it's a bit like Mac OSX versus Windows: One (DD/Mac) is a bit more "idiot proof" in that it's harder to mess up in the first place, but once something really is busted (especially internal hardware) you're kind of SOL. Conversely, the other (SD/Windows) is touchier to little "user errors" (not being careful in your web browsing for the computer, rough handling for the dolls), but can be repaired by the end user and has better third-party compatible parts available. Which is better depends on your tastes, and may even be on a case-by-case basis for some people--sometimes you just can't find the head or body you're looking for in vinyl, especially in the case of more unusual skintones or fantasy parts.

As many others have illustrated, DDs and SDs have a lot of differences, and each with their own pros and cons. I've owned several SDs (one currently) and now have two DDs, so I'll try listing my personal pros and cons for you =3

 

Dollfie Dreams

Pros:

• The Posing -OH GOD THE POSING. It's magical, it really, truly is! These girls can bend and hold just about any darn position you can feasible put them in! I've only handled a couple of SDs (or resins in general) that can even begin to come close to them, and none are as good.
  
• Weight - DDs are super light weight! They're great dolls to have if you want something you can take places with you where you'll be required to hold them the whole time. I took a Senior Delf to a con one time and my arm about fell off after just an hour or two @_________@;
  
• Easily replaced parts - Like others have said, the interior armature of the doll can break sometimes, particularly on the older ones, BUT Volks is really great about offering individual doll parts for sale! Beyond hands, you will NOT find that with Resin dolls.
  
• No Yellowing - Unlike resin, vinyl doesn't yellow with age, which is nice! This means that if you get a white skin doll, as long as you can keep it clean and unstained, it will stay white.

 

Cons:

• Staining - Vinyl stains INSANELY EASILY. Clothes can stain it, your recently washed hands can stain it, looking at your doll the wrong way WILL STAIN IT. Granted, once you get used to handling them you really start paying attention to just how oily your hands are getting and you learn to vinegar wash any new clothes you get. I wear gloves if I know I'm going to be handling them without their clothes on for any extended period these days, just to be safe =P
  
• Limited Selection - if you're sticking purely with DDs as far as vinyl goes, the choices are pretty darn limited, particularly if you're not the type that likes to get in on their limited editions that they raffle off. Most Resin companies come out with a new mold fairly regularly, the big ones will do at least a couple a year, so there is a never ending variety to choose from. Not so much so for DDs. They'll come out with new head molds for their limiteds (from what I've seen), but you generally can't buy those anywhere but used for crazy inflated prices.
  
• Fragile - Unless you've replaced their 'skeleton' with those metal coolkat custom parts, it can break sometimes, at which point it has to be replaced, generally.

 

Resin SDs

Pros:

• Weight - SDs are much heavier than Vinyl dolls, but many doll owners actually prefer this. They can make for very cuddly dolls that have a sort of reassuring weight to them that makes them feel like more than just a doll. As long as I'm not having to carry her all day, I love how heavy my Delf Soony is when I've got her in my lap or just handling her in general.
  
• Customization - I've found that Resin is much easier to shape and customize than Vinyl is. A bit of sandpaper can go a long ways towards completely transforming a resin doll, and much faster than the same material on Vinyl (did it to mod my DDH-01. Never again!)
  
• Variety - Because so many companies make resin dolls in this size class, you can find just about anything you could possibly want. Anime style, semi-realism, crazy over the top fantasy...it's all there!
  
• Easier to shop for - Since DDs tend to have pretty unique (and over the top, if we're talking DDdy bodies), they can be hard to shop for, in my opinion. Granted, Volks made clothes are freaking amazing quality, so that kinda makes up for it, lol, but you can't always find stuff that will fit them at other companies. With SDs you tend to have more options clothing-wise, because there tends to be a pretty standardized range for them (not in ALL cases, of course. Delf's weakness is their huge butts, for example, lol). But since resin SDs are so much more common, chances are you can always find a seller who at least has the same body type that can say that the clothes they're saying will fit that doll for sure.
  
• That new resin smell - it's delicious.

 

Cons:

• Yellowing - Over time, Resin will 'mellow' and shift color subtly. You generally don't notice til you happen to sit your doll next to a brand new one, lol. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, it gives the resin a warm, mellow sort of look with normal skin colors. White skin, unfortunately, can turn a little green with age. When yellowing is bad, though, is when it's caused by direct sunlight or extended exposure to flourescent lights, which can cause uneven yellowing or even strange tan lines if your doll was wearing clothes at the time. Granted, this sort of stuff takes TIME and direct exposure, so if you're the type to leave them out on a shelf in one place for days or months at a time, I definitely recommend not leaving them in a room with flourescent lights or a window that will shine light directly on them. If not though, i wouldn't worry.
  
• Posing - Even the very best resin SDs have posing that is inferior to DDs. Fairyland is SO CLOSE with their Feeple bodies, but relying on the elastic means that they'll never quite make it (though they have wonderfully articulate double joints and torso joints, plus you can get jointed hands for them, which is awesome).
  
• Part Replacement - Unless the part you broke is a hand, it's next to impossible to replace a part for any resin doll. Making resin dolls takes long enough that it's just not feasible for companies to keep up on making spare parts for people that break them, unfortunately.

 

Durability on Resin is kinda strange. One minute they're falling five feet off a shelf and face planting onto hard floor without sustaining a single scratch, the next they tip over sideways and end up denting their nose, losing a finger, or chipping. On the plus side, Resin does have a 'memory' to it, so if you can put the dented piece into boiling water, a lot of the time it'll pop right back out, it's neat! But yeah, for Durability I couldn't really put it as a pro OR a con, because it goes both ways xD

 

That's all I can think of for now, though I'm sure there's more, or people will argue with my opinion, haha! Keep in mind that this is all just from my personal experience!

So far I'm agreeing with almost all that has been said in this thread ^^

I'm still a new DD owner and I've only owned MSD sized & smaller prior to this...I'm also not active in the BJD community so I might be wrong about things! Regardless, here are a few things that I've noticed~

 

 

• Taking them apart, putting them back together & switching out parts is verrrrry easy. Sure, it's a bit nerve wracking but at least you don't have to thread elastic though parts only to realize you've put them on in the wrong order... Well, you don't have to unless you have the first DD body type...
   
  
• Posing! It's been said before, but it was seriously really ~*~ magical ~*~ for me when I first took Youmu out of the box and was testing out her posability. I can do complex poses without having to suede, restring or do anything really... It might just be me, but I find it a bit easier to stand my MSDs compared to standing my DDs. I'm not sure if it's just my inexperience/ the difference in their center of gravity& height/something else though :'D
   
  
• The buying process when you buy directly from the company; you either buy Dollfies that are completed or in parts. The basic sets come with faceup, eyes, wig & nightie.The way different BJD companies handle fullsets vary, but they are either xx price for what you see --- or a limited sculpt with suggested options, you can choose whether or not to get the face up and whether you want the outfit, wig, etc for extra $$ Buying a 'basic' BJD usually results in free eyes and little else aside from full body pillows & bubble wrap to protect the doll in transit.
   
  
• Dollfies have a limited selection of basic head sculpts, plus the price difference between limited sculpts and basic sculpts varies a lot -- but usually has a huge markup;;; I'm more used to seeing bodies being more expensive than heads haha.
   
  
• Price; Dollfies seem like they retain their original value & have more value as time passes compared to BJDs. It could be because only Volks makes DDs, and so their competition is very slim. BJDs on the other hand have a large amount of other companies as competition and now recasts, so unless its a super rare sculpt it's harder to get back what you originally paid for a BJD.
   
  
• Weight... Well, I don't have an SD sized BJD, but both KOSMOS & Youmu's weight feel similar to the weight of my MSDs. Despite their similar weight, I still have a bias towards how solid my MSDs feel in my arms.
   
  
• Different resin colours is both a blessing and a curse. Having many different skin options is awesome~ But colour matching resin can be a pain -- even if it's a normal skin...At least there's always the option of airbrushing/blushing/altering the hybrid part to make it match a bit better...

 

 

^^; That's all I can think of at the moment, sorry for the textwall;;;

DDs are also anime style in body as well as face. If you look at volks in particular their SDs have a much more "childish" body with very little in the way of breasts and curves. While DDs are much curvier, although can have small breasts as well.

 

From first hand experience, resin dolls are a bit finnicky to pose because they are strung with elastic. This can result in some poses being simply impossible and other times the arms snap back. DDs on the other hand are comparable to action figures when posing them. There are obviously some limits because of their design but nothing that can really limit you.

 

I've also found that the community is a lot better for DDs than it is for SDs. Closer, tight-knit, and overall friendlier. Not that this has anything to do with the dolls themselves.

 

The market is obviously a lot bigger for SDs, with a lot more companies making dolls in that size. So arguably SDs are better for variety. However, DDs (I have found) are much easier to customize into characters. The only downfall I can see is that you are restricted to the anime style, and restricted to only females so far if you don't use a different body.

 

 

Thanks so much! This basically summed it up for me. I also agree that the DD community is very close-knit and friendlier than the sd community. Giving some of the happenings(cant remember the right word) I have faced over the SD community . I also agree with the fact that the SD market is larger than the DD market. But that also makes it more possible to buy super adorable and fashionable clothes for your DD's. SOme SD clothes look SUPER adorable on DD's even more than they would on SD's themselves. Much of your post I agree with actually, Thanks so much! If I were to say everything I would agree with on your comment, well mine would end up being very long.... Thanks for basically filling in any to almost all leftover blanks!

As many others have illustrated, DDs and SDs have a lot of differences, and each with their own pros and cons. I've owned several SDs (one currently) and now have two DDs, so I'll try listing my personal pros and cons for you =3

 

Dollfie Dreams

Pros:

• The Posing -OH GOD THE POSING. It's magical, it really, truly is! These girls can bend and hold just about any darn position you can feasible put them in! I've only handled a couple of SDs (or resins in general) that can even begin to come close to them, and none are as good.
  
• Weight - DDs are super light weight! They're great dolls to have if you want something you can take places with you where you'll be required to hold them the whole time. I took a Senior Delf to a con one time and my arm about fell off after just an hour or two @_________@;
  
• Easily replaced parts - Like others have said, the interior armature of the doll can break sometimes, particularly on the older ones, BUT Volks is really great about offering individual doll parts for sale! Beyond hands, you will NOT find that with Resin dolls.
  
• No Yellowing - Unlike resin, vinyl doesn't yellow with age, which is nice! This means that if you get a white skin doll, as long as you can keep it clean and unstained, it will stay white.

 

Cons:

• Staining - Vinyl stains INSANELY EASILY. Clothes can stain it, your recently washed hands can stain it, looking at your doll the wrong way WILL STAIN IT. Granted, once you get used to handling them you really start paying attention to just how oily your hands are getting and you learn to vinegar wash any new clothes you get. I wear gloves if I know I'm going to be handling them without their clothes on for any extended period these days, just to be safe =P
  
• Limited Selection - if you're sticking purely with DDs as far as vinyl goes, the choices are pretty darn limited, particularly if you're not the type that likes to get in on their limited editions that they raffle off. Most Resin companies come out with a new mold fairly regularly, the big ones will do at least a couple a year, so there is a never ending variety to choose from. Not so much so for DDs. They'll come out with new head molds for their limiteds (from what I've seen), but you generally can't buy those anywhere but used for crazy inflated prices.
  
• Fragile - Unless you've replaced their 'skeleton' with those metal coolkat custom parts, it can break sometimes, at which point it has to be replaced, generally.

 

Resin SDs

Pros:

• Weight - SDs are much heavier than Vinyl dolls, but many doll owners actually prefer this. They can make for very cuddly dolls that have a sort of reassuring weight to them that makes them feel like more than just a doll. As long as I'm not having to carry her all day, I love how heavy my Delf Soony is when I've got her in my lap or just handling her in general.
  
• Customization - I've found that Resin is much easier to shape and customize than Vinyl is. A bit of sandpaper can go a long ways towards completely transforming a resin doll, and much faster than the same material on Vinyl (did it to mod my DDH-01. Never again!)
  
• Variety - Because so many companies make resin dolls in this size class, you can find just about anything you could possibly want. Anime style, semi-realism, crazy over the top fantasy...it's all there!
  
• Easier to shop for - Since DDs tend to have pretty unique (and over the top, if we're talking DDdy bodies), they can be hard to shop for, in my opinion. Granted, Volks made clothes are freaking amazing quality, so that kinda makes up for it, lol, but you can't always find stuff that will fit them at other companies. With SDs you tend to have more options clothing-wise, because there tends to be a pretty standardized range for them (not in ALL cases, of course. Delf's weakness is their huge butts, for example, lol). But since resin SDs are so much more common, chances are you can always find a seller who at least has the same body type that can say that the clothes they're saying will fit that doll for sure.
  
• That new resin smell - it's delicious.

 

Cons:

• Yellowing - Over time, Resin will 'mellow' and shift color subtly. You generally don't notice til you happen to sit your doll next to a brand new one, lol. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, it gives the resin a warm, mellow sort of look with normal skin colors. White skin, unfortunately, can turn a little green with age. When yellowing is bad, though, is when it's caused by direct sunlight or extended exposure to flourescent lights, which can cause uneven yellowing or even strange tan lines if your doll was wearing clothes at the time. Granted, this sort of stuff takes TIME and direct exposure, so if you're the type to leave them out on a shelf in one place for days or months at a time, I definitely recommend not leaving them in a room with flourescent lights or a window that will shine light directly on them. If not though, i wouldn't worry.
  
• Posing - Even the very best resin SDs have posing that is inferior to DDs. Fairyland is SO CLOSE with their Feeple bodies, but relying on the elastic means that they'll never quite make it (though they have wonderfully articulate double joints and torso joints, plus you can get jointed hands for them, which is awesome).
  
• Part Replacement - Unless the part you broke is a hand, it's next to impossible to replace a part for any resin doll. Making resin dolls takes long enough that it's just not feasible for companies to keep up on making spare parts for people that break them, unfortunately.

 

Durability on Resin is kinda strange. One minute they're falling five feet off a shelf and face planting onto hard floor without sustaining a single scratch, the next they tip over sideways and end up denting their nose, losing a finger, or chipping. On the plus side, Resin does have a 'memory' to it, so if you can put the dented piece into boiling water, a lot of the time it'll pop right back out, it's neat! But yeah, for Durability I couldn't really put it as a pro OR a con, because it goes both ways xD

 

That's all I can think of for now, though I'm sure there's more, or people will argue with my opinion, haha! Keep in mind that this is all just from my personal experience!

 

WOW. That's ALOT of information. I just learned like a BOOKFULL of information it probably would've took me weeks to learn all in a few minutes. I BARELY KNEW ANY OF THIS!!! I knew DD's were easily stained but MAN! I'll have to be careful at how I look at my girls for sure! Only with love and peace and hopefully that wont stain! I wonder what color it would be when they stain like that.... But this had so much information to it. I doubt I would've even been able to gather this much info If I had my OWN experiences to account for! I cant really respond to how helpful this was to me, but it was REALLY helpful. Thanks so so so much. Im gonna take ALL of this in. (If I can. ) Thanks again!

So far I'm agreeing with almost all that has been said in this thread ^^

I'm still a new DD owner and I've only owned MSD sized & smaller prior to this...I'm also not active in the BJD community so I might be wrong about things! Regardless, here are a few things that I've noticed~

 

 

• Taking them apart, putting them back together & switching out parts is verrrrry easy. Sure, it's a bit nerve wracking but at least you don't have to thread elastic though parts only to realize you've put them on in the wrong order... Well, you don't have to unless you have the first DD body type...
   
  
• Posing! It's been said before, but it was seriously really ~*~ magical ~*~ for me when I first took Youmu out of the box and was testing out her posability. I can do complex poses without having to suede, restring or do anything really... It might just be me, but I find it a bit easier to stand my MSDs compared to standing my DDs. I'm not sure if it's just my inexperience/ the difference in their center of gravity& height/something else though :'D
   
  
• The buying process when you buy directly from the company; you either buy Dollfies that are completed or in parts. The basic sets come with faceup, eyes, wig & nightie.The way different BJD companies handle fullsets vary, but they are either xx price for what you see --- or a limited sculpt with suggested options, you can choose whether or not to get the face up and whether you want the outfit, wig, etc for extra $$ Buying a 'basic' BJD usually results in free eyes and little else aside from full body pillows & bubble wrap to protect the doll in transit.
   
  
• Dollfies have a limited selection of basic head sculpts, plus the price difference between limited sculpts and basic sculpts varies a lot -- but usually has a huge markup;;; I'm more used to seeing bodies being more expensive than heads haha.
   
  
• Price; Dollfies seem like they retain their original value & have more value as time passes compared to BJDs. It could be because only Volks makes DDs, and so their competition is very slim. BJDs on the other hand have a large amount of other companies as competition and now recasts, so unless its a super rare sculpt it's harder to get back what you originally paid for a BJD.
   
  
• Weight... Well, I don't have an SD sized BJD, but both KOSMOS & Youmu's weight feel similar to the weight of my MSDs. Despite their similar weight, I still have a bias towards how solid my MSDs feel in my arms.
   
  
• Different resin colours is both a blessing and a curse. Having many different skin options is awesome~ But colour matching resin can be a pain -- even if it's a normal skin...At least there's always the option of airbrushing/blushing/altering the hybrid part to make it match a bit better...

 

 

^^; That's all I can think of at the moment, sorry for the textwall;;;

 

wow. Again. SO much information from all of you guys!!! I'm SOOO glad I found DD's! I cant wait till I get mine! I've heard all these things, great things about them!!! I cant wait to test out the poses too! Curses I must wait! I cant experience all the awesomeness in store until they come. Oh well. I guess that's what Photo stories are for! Other than packing up with knowledge about them, I've been reading the photo stories and *kinda* imagining what having a dollfie dream is like with those.