Ponderings and rants from a doll n00b
May. 9th, 2008 05:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maverynthiaI'll admit to being a n00b in the doll community, however one of the things that bother me is BEACUSE I'm a noob. That thing is doll sizes, or I should say...lack there of.
There are 3 standards to doll sizes from super ambiguous to "exact" those are:
MSD-SD - OK I dare any non-doll person to tell me what height in cm those are...no go on..try it you might get lucky. Hell even I don't know exactly (nor do I really want to care...given this rant)
1/3, 1/6, 1/4 - This one is a bit easier to 'guess' if you know some math, however it's still not exact.
55, 60, 27, 44 - No math involved, no guessing..quick, easy, painless...
Now the core of my rant was being told to "get used to the Volks system because they did it first", well the Volks system not only is a product of an elitist mind (Only Volks matters) it's HIGHLY inaccurate if your going to buy anything for NON-Volks dolls. Not only that, it confuses newbies to the hobby as they have no idea what it means (another elitist attempt to keep new people out.) True to some communities, "jargon" is the in thing that says "Your one of us" however I think the jargon needs to be stuck to "faceups, resinkids, and other words that through the use of context clues can be figured out"
I'll admit that I've become a bit...'snobbish' to people who use the Volks system on NON-Volks items as I'm like "I don't have Volks, and those MSD boots are MARKED (as being for...MSD a type of Volks)" so I bypass them.
It was a system that worked when Volks was THE only one on the market, now you can't tell me my Mang is SD since he's 70cm and IN NO WAY would fit into SD clothes and the Soom Sabik (80cm) would just cry if that was his entire wardrobe.
Even wigs are marked with these labels..WIGS! If you don't know wigs they are based on the circumference of the head...which between doll makers VARIES GREATLY even within the SAME COMPANY!!
Now it's an outdated system since there a DOZENS of makers and they all have different sizes of feet, heads and sometimes bodies are disproportionate. You just can't stick a convenient label like that on them anymore. Clothes won't fit and people will be sad. "But ask questions!" you say, however making something as descriptive as possible is the way to go so people shouldn't be troubled asking a question and then finding out someone bought it out from under them.
In closing I don't see why this system is even used anymore considering all the makers today and all the sizes that dolls come in. I think it should only be used when referring to Volks products otherwise the basic number system should be instituted (44, 60, etc.) to make it easier on people wanting to get into the hobby as well as people that are already into the hobby and want to have an easier time finding things that fit their "SD" Dollzone Ying. (Then again I hear from some people that I'm a n00b just for even buying the 'cheaper' dolls, despite the fact Mang Ying is a sexy beast and was bought for that fact.)
x-posted to: 13doll (13 Doll Dreamland...ZOMGS a n00b community..waaaaahhhh it's not DoA!!!! D:)
There are 3 standards to doll sizes from super ambiguous to "exact" those are:
MSD-SD - OK I dare any non-doll person to tell me what height in cm those are...no go on..try it you might get lucky. Hell even I don't know exactly (nor do I really want to care...given this rant)
1/3, 1/6, 1/4 - This one is a bit easier to 'guess' if you know some math, however it's still not exact.
55, 60, 27, 44 - No math involved, no guessing..quick, easy, painless...
Now the core of my rant was being told to "get used to the Volks system because they did it first", well the Volks system not only is a product of an elitist mind (Only Volks matters) it's HIGHLY inaccurate if your going to buy anything for NON-Volks dolls. Not only that, it confuses newbies to the hobby as they have no idea what it means (another elitist attempt to keep new people out.) True to some communities, "jargon" is the in thing that says "Your one of us" however I think the jargon needs to be stuck to "faceups, resinkids, and other words that through the use of context clues can be figured out"
I'll admit that I've become a bit...'snobbish' to people who use the Volks system on NON-Volks items as I'm like "I don't have Volks, and those MSD boots are MARKED (as being for...MSD a type of Volks)" so I bypass them.
It was a system that worked when Volks was THE only one on the market, now you can't tell me my Mang is SD since he's 70cm and IN NO WAY would fit into SD clothes and the Soom Sabik (80cm) would just cry if that was his entire wardrobe.
Even wigs are marked with these labels..WIGS! If you don't know wigs they are based on the circumference of the head...which between doll makers VARIES GREATLY even within the SAME COMPANY!!
Now it's an outdated system since there a DOZENS of makers and they all have different sizes of feet, heads and sometimes bodies are disproportionate. You just can't stick a convenient label like that on them anymore. Clothes won't fit and people will be sad. "But ask questions!" you say, however making something as descriptive as possible is the way to go so people shouldn't be troubled asking a question and then finding out someone bought it out from under them.
In closing I don't see why this system is even used anymore considering all the makers today and all the sizes that dolls come in. I think it should only be used when referring to Volks products otherwise the basic number system should be instituted (44, 60, etc.) to make it easier on people wanting to get into the hobby as well as people that are already into the hobby and want to have an easier time finding things that fit their "SD" Dollzone Ying. (Then again I hear from some people that I'm a n00b just for even buying the 'cheaper' dolls, despite the fact Mang Ying is a sexy beast and was bought for that fact.)
x-posted to: 13doll (13 Doll Dreamland...ZOMGS a n00b community..waaaaahhhh it's not DoA!!!! D:)
no subject
Date: 2008-05-09 10:16 pm (UTC)I find it slightly maddening that DoA uses the term "Tiny" to describe EVERYTHING smaller than 40 cm.
So it includes dolls that are 30cm-ish and shaped like toddlers...
But also dolls that are 27cm-scale and shaped like 1/6 scale dolls...
And also dolls that are 22cm-scale and shaped like Licca-chan...
And also dolls that are 10 to 15 cm and shaped like teensy babies...
And also dolls that are 10 to 15 cm and shaped like skinny elves.
There's really no graceful way to deal with all those different size classes, but I do wish they wouldn't label them all with the term "Tiny". It actually makes it harder for me to search for clothes, because I can't tell if the seller's definition of "tiny" overlaps with my own!
no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 06:33 am (UTC)I might use a branding tag for though being more specific if it was a 13cm skinny elf from ...SkinnyElfDoll then I'd just label it as such "13cm SkinnyElfDoll" so that people can imagine "Oh, OK this is gonna fit something 13cm and it's a SkinnyElf type and not a TeensyBaby shape. So something that's 15cm and NOT from SkinnyElf but from ILuvSkinnyElfDoll can be labeled as "15 ILuvSElf" Enough letters there to make out a manufacturer. So when buying clothes you can go OH that's a ILuvSElf so it prolly won't fit my SkinnyElf.
Or just say "Hey this fits a 13 SkinnyHotElf, good luck."
Yeah, a real mess :< But if given an exact item to compare to, then it's not so bad. But when given an arbitrary item for something that's not so arbitrary (I just bought "MSD" boots for my "SD" and they are gonna fit cuz he has tiny feet").
Though I'll agree to the NOT label them all as Tiny, as you stated, you can't really get away with the classification. (Though the boards I'm on have a separate section for the 27/23 so that saves...40% of a headache)
*Looks at threads* Looks like the way they do it here is use the manufacturer like DZbb and such....