Dollieh Sanctuary

This came up in kind of a strange way while I was talking with a friend of mine the other day. I mentioned that MGA killed the Moxie Teenz line, and her response was, "At least there's still Liv." Then, I broke the news to her about Liv. So, then we got to talking about what the "ideal play line doll" would be like.

So, I kind of wanted to figure out what the ideal play doll would be to a wider audience (and with people who know more about dolls in general). I'm kind of interested in designing a play doll, but I'm trying to streamline the idea a bit more. So, what would your ideal play line doll be like?

Making it as posable as you can possibly make it.

Are you aiming at kids to play with them or bigger people to be more gentle and play with them?

I guess I'd be aiming towards the latter (bigger people who can be gentle and still play). The age demographic would be somewhere in the 8 - 14 range, I think.

Personally, I'm a big fan of wrist and ankle joints. The only play line I've had with both was a Liv, but I don't like the liv torsos; they are clunky and not very pretty. I really like the torso on the 2009 barbie fashionista and the earlier fully jointed barbies(the ones with the flat feet). Also, if the doll can stand without a doll-stand that would be ideal.

And various expressions non-derpy/creepy looking eyes and please PLEASE no broadgrin smile like Barbie.

yarwel wrote:Personally, I'm a big fan of wrist and ankle joints. The only play line I've had with both was a Liv, but I don't like the liv torsos; they are clunky and not very pretty. I really like the torso on the 2009 barbie fashionista and the earlier fully jointed barbies(the ones with the flat feet). Also, if the doll can stand without a doll-stand that would be ideal.

Trust me, that kind of articulation is high on my priority list. I'll have plenty of time to figure out the refinements, since my focus right now is the body mechanics. But I am very interested to know about what sort of attributes you'd like for the aesthetics.

Alopecia No Hime, yeah... the toothy grin sculpts on Barbie tend to bother me. If the grin is too broad it starts to get into creepy Pierrot territory. I'm making note of that when it comes time for my brother and I to work on the face sculpt.

As for the eyes, I'll have to see what I can come up with. I might be able to mess with eye shape a bit in my skeletons. So, what specifically about eyes creep you out?

TieflingBoy wrote:

yarwel wrote:Personally, I'm a big fan of wrist and ankle joints. The only play line I've had with both was a Liv, but I don't like the liv torsos; they are clunky and not very pretty. I really like the torso on the 2009 barbie fashionista and the earlier fully jointed barbies(the ones with the flat feet). Also, if the doll can stand without a doll-stand that would be ideal.

Trust me, that kind of articulation is high on my priority list. I'll have plenty of time to figure out the refinements, since my focus right now is the body mechanics. But I am very interested to know about what sort of attributes you'd like for the aesthetics.

Alopecia No Hime, yeah... the toothy grin sculpts on Barbie tend to bother me. If the grin is too broad it starts to get into creepy Pierrot territory. I'm making note of that when it comes time for my brother and I to work on the face sculpt.

As for the eyes, I'll have to see what I can come up with. I might be able to mess with eye shape a bit in my skeletons. So, what specifically about eyes creep you out?

Specifically? The fact like in Liv Dolls the eyes were way too small and gave the doll a creepy or derp like look..And with the ones with blue eyes...Well the look tended to come across to me as eerie, creepy..Killer type of creepy. Long as the eyes actually look like they're the right size and aren't derpy like that then I'll be happy.

Looking at play line dolls the most I've bought, outside of Monsters, have been the 100 Poses Barbies with ball joint knees and Power Team Elite but mostly because f their face sculpts. With the Barbies I'll put up with click knees because I have a life's worth of high heel feet shoes. If the 100 poses gals had that ball waist ballerina and gymnast dolls did, and lighter and more of a range of AA skin tones, I'd upgrade even more of my gals.

On the male body side I like the Volks Neo Goh best for looks+joints followed by the "skinny" DML.

The sculpt is a very big turn on/off for me. I can reroot or hybrid but I'll pass by an ugly face. I would also like several sizes to chose from, like the Volks EB line. Tough skin too, I have well over a dozen Teen Skippers that need new bodies that would fit their old clothes but I can't really go with a soft bodied Obitsu because they might stain.

I wouldn't mind having to order exactly what I want off a website either. I'll pay more than $10 for a Barbie as long as it's the Barbie I want.

Alopecia No Hime wrote:Specifically? The fact like in Liv Dolls the eyes were way too small and gave the doll a creepy or derp like look..And with the ones with blue eyes...Well the look tended to come across to me as eerie, creepy..Killer type of creepy. Long as the eyes actually look like they're the right size and aren't derpy like that then I'll be happy.

Larger/wider eyes tend to make characters look more endearing, however I could use a smaller-shaped eye external eye socket and larger eyes to get the eyes just right. Also eye lashes might help it avoid the other derp extreme. I'll play with the crude eye shape in the skull when I start working on my 1/6 - 1/4 scale models (upholstery foam is not pleasant to sculpt and shape for that fine of detail.

DollyKim wrote:Looking at play line dolls the most I've bought, outside of Monsters, have been the 100 Poses Barbies with ball joint knees and Power Team Elite but mostly because f their face sculpts. With the Barbies I'll put up with click knees because I have a life's worth of high heel feet shoes. If the 100 poses gals had that ball waist ballerina and gymnast dolls did, and lighter and more of a range of AA skin tones, I'd upgrade even more of my gals.

On the male body side I like the Volks Neo Goh best for looks+joints followed by the "skinny" DML.

The sculpt is a very big turn on/off for me. I can reroot or hybrid but I'll pass by an ugly face. I would also like several sizes to chose from, like the Volks EB line. Tough skin too, I have well over a dozen Teen Skippers that need new bodies that would fit their old clothes but I can't really go with a soft bodied Obitsu because they might stain.

I wouldn't mind having to order exactly what I want off a website either. I'll pay more than $10 for a Barbie as long as it's the Barbie I want.

I never would have actually come up with multiple sizes ideas on my own. >.< I'd mostly been thinking of the best way to make a larger doll for kids (with the "fashionable/adult figure like Barbie" but "articulated like Monster High"). But that's a good idea! I take it Teen Skipper is in the 25cm range?

So, it the waist joint preferred over the under-bust joint? In theory, I can figure out both, but I'm not sure how aesthetically pleasing that would be once I refine the body shape. She might end up looking a little mechanical for a children's doll, if I can figure out all of the desired articulation (double-jointed, pivotal knees, decent ankle and wrist articulation, good elbow articulation, and of course the basic shoulder, hip, and neck movement plus at least one joint in the torso).

A good variety of skin tones was also one of my personal desires (since I see so many people wishing for decent skin tones). Also a good "slim" male body is a very important personal goal (I originally wanted to sculpt/render and print a doll just to help my sister in her quest to find her "perfect" male body that she can afford), but I know logically the female doll is supposed to come first (unless girls are actually interested in male dolls). I don't know about that last point for sure.