A shell? A new character? Or a blank slate?

When I first got my Terra, her personality and style was supposed to be mori girl. She was supposed to be a sweet forest dwelling girl who loved nature. Yeah that was pretty much thrown out the window after having her for a few months. Then I changed her wig and eyes and made her a punk type girl who had a really bad attitude. That lasted for a long time and now she has a curly twin tail wig. She is my pouty princess who is kind of a rich, spoiled girl who gets anything she wants.
But lately I've changed her eyes and she looks more sweet.

I don't think this is a bad thing to do. I mean afterall, it's your doll! Do what you want! And chances are if you decide to change the character, it's because you were having bonding issues in the first place and want to make a change. Also, sometimes, it just feels good to make a change! I like to refresh every now and then. I'm actually thinking about giving Terra a new faceup

Original Terra:

IMG_3782 by animagic4u, on Flickr

Second Terra:

A shirt for Terra by animagic4u, on Flickr

Most recent:

Take Me to the Distant Shore by animagic4u, on Flickr

 

Guess I'll answer your questions first:

1. Have you ever given a doll a new face-up or a new wig and completely change the "character"?
Hmm, since I've only had my boy for going on two months now, I can't say I have.

2. If you have, can you talk about your experiences?
I do want to get him a new wig and clothes in the near future. Judging he's currently wearing his very Chinese fullset and wig, that will definitely change how I see him, though I can't say much for "character", as he hasn't got one. At least, not as of yet.

3. Is this considered something "bad" to do? Does it affect you bonding to the doll?
Hm, a few people might frown upon it, but I think most are in the camp that one of the most engaging things about owning one of these dolls is precisely how flexible they are, and the endless possibilities they present in terms of customization. I haven't seen it (that I know of), but I bet there are people who might just stick to one doll and rotate all sorts of wigs, clothes, etc, etc., because it's entirely possible.
As for bonding, hm. I'm pretty sure it does. The whole process helps you get to know your doll better and learn what works and doesn't work, so that comes naturally. I'm hoping it does to me, at least! Although I don't think of "bonding" as a strictly BJD thing, so to speak. I do understand the concept of getting attached to something on a deeper level, but to me it happens with movies, mostly.

4. Any before-and-after pics?
Not yet, sorry!

The truth is, I don't really have a pre-made character for Taylor. In fact, I don't even know if his name will stick. I like to think of my toys and dolls as their own characters, and to create their personalities from themselves. Though lately I've hit kind of a roadblock, in that I realized I have no idea what I actually want to do with Taylor, and the little I was thinking of doing with him is turning out pretty similar to a character from a random story I started imagining just for the fun of it... And now I'm very confused.

 

1. Have you ever given a doll a new face-up or a new wig and completely change the "character"?
At this point in time, no, I haven't. However! I do have a few who are lined up to do this. Two are from a set of fantasy dolls I'm fully reimagining; the current wigs/eyes/faceups don't really match what I'm thinking of doing to them, so I'll be doing some extensive reworking there. I don't have set "characters" for those ones, though, just a general theme I'm working from. Additionally, I have a third who's shelling a particular character from one of my newer groups; I thought her sculpt would be a good fit, but it's not quite right for that character. However! Since I won her in a raffle, I have a bit of a soft spot for her, and once her current character is reshelled, I've got a new one in mind for her. And lastly, I have a secondhand boy I've been working on, who was supposed to be just a cheap, easy, no-pressure test to see if I could bond with an SD. He turned out to be a project doll, though! My original plan had been to hold onto him for a while as a test, then find an unmodded version of his head sculpt and a nicer body to reshell his character. After spending so much time restoring him, however, I can't see myself selling him, so I've already plotted his future transformation into a new character!


2. If you have, can you talk about your experiences?
I haven't yet, but I definitely talked about the plans a bit up there.


3. Is this considered something "bad" to do? Does it affect you bonding to the doll?
Personally, I don't think so! It can be a positive toward the bonding process, or in the case of my SD boy I mentioned above, a consequence of the bonding process. Some might see it otherwise, but if a character's not working, I personally think revamping the doll is better than just giving up on it.


4. Any before-and-after pics?
Not yet, since I haven't started! I'm sure there will be at some time, however.

 

1. Have you ever given a doll a new face-up or a new wig and completely change the "character"?

I do give my dolls a basic character, but I tend to look at most of them as ACTORS who can take many parts. I will totally change their looks (not the faceup), just everything else--eyes, wigs, outfits, styles. They will sometimes be dressed in historical period clothes. Sometimes fantasy. Sometimes modern. Sometimes Pirates. They will take on a different character when they are dressed differently.

Some of my dolls don't really lend themselves to dramatic changes. But they could also change character according to different situations, even if they don't look all that different.

I do tend to keep the same name for them... Otherwise things would get a bit crazy!

2. If you have, can you talk about your experiences?

For instance... I have a set of Iplehouse dolls. Their base personalities are that two are half-brothers and the elder has a relationship with the EID woman. I have another EID guy who hasn't quite been worked into their storyline. (And I make up the characters and storyline to suit the dolls. I rarely ever shell a character I've created before getting a doll as the dolls are just never close enough to the characters I think up.)

The storyline is sort of historical/19thC... but then I recently dressed them all up as Pirates. They got different characters as there was no way the base characters would be dressed up as pirates! So I had my couple be aristocratic and my lone guy be the Captain as he looked the most stern and aggressive and the younger brother (and SID) was just one of the crew...

3. Is this considered something "bad" to do? Does it affect you bonding to the doll?

No judging! There really shouldn't be anything that is "bad" to do with bjds, as long as you are enjoying your dolls.

Bonding--that's so up to the individual. It doesn't bother my bonding. I've never sold a doll and I got my first bjd in 2004, and I love them all!

4. Any before-and-after pics?

Can't really post a ton of pics in a discussion thread... only one. So that wouldn't work (and I'm too lazy to collage them all together!).

If you want to see my dolls with very different looks and outfits, you can check out "My BJDs" link at the end of my Signature.

 

Even though I don't have a doll, here's what I think. It's not a bad thing, to me, it's very normal. We change and evolve and our character develops. It's the same with out dolls, even if they are inanimate objects (although I sometimes wish they could come to life), they can still change and evolve because we change and evolve with them. I hope that made sense!


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Have you ever given a doll a new face-up or a new wig and completely change the "character"?
Yes I did.

Can you talk about your experiences?
It was the best option for the both of us
Before I actually had him I was in love with his face up and all, that why I put up with a lot of trouble to get him. When I got him I really thought he was an ugly big headed doll. Especially compared to the other one I had at that time.
At that point the whole changing began. First a small adjustment to the current face up, different wig. Had a custom wig made. Changed the whole character...... It didn't work. At that point I was actually planning to sell him.
In the end I shipped him off to a customiser to give him a final chance. He got a complete overhaul

Is this considered something "bad" to do? Does it affect you bonding to the doll?
No I don't think so. It actually made me bond with him.
I don't think I will do it with my other dolls since their personalities and looks seem to be right. But my LTF Shiwoo might actually be the next one (not thinking about selling though).
I also experienced it the other way around. I'm trying my very best to give one of my dolls his old face back, since a touch up from a commisioner turned out horrible. He needs to be him, if you get my point.

Any before-and-after pics?



It became an only faces collage, but the style of clothes has also dramatically changed
1st Hayden "original style" pervious owner. The doll I fell in love with
2nd Hayden, still with original face up
Final form

 

My DollLove god enjoy had 3 face ups till now. Her first was made by her first owner(I think). The first I tried on her was nice and friendly and the last turned out more dark and a bit evil. I'm thinking of painting her again. It never affected the bond to her and I'm amazed that she's so changeable.

 

I changed the eyes of my half of same mold twins from blue to brown. It relaxed Taffy and made it easier for us to find the individual things he's in to.

 

1. Looking at my resin family, I have never changed an existing character into a completely different character. Once I've introduced a character into my stories, I don't change them, apparently.

However, sometimes it takes me quite a while to figure out what a BJD's character is and introduce him or her into a story. I might change their appearance several times before then, trying to determine who they are. It can be a long, slow process, because I want to be sure. And I mean YEARS! My Ninodoll Bada has lived here since 2010, and he still hasn't been introduced as a character in one of my stories. He's been tried on three our four different bodies, and has had several faceup incarnations, plus an alternate head, but he finally looks the way I want him to. And I THINK I almost know who he is now.

2: N/A

3. Despite my answer to 1, I do NOT consider it a bad thing at all to change your BJD's character and make them into a different person. I think it's a great idea, and that it would be a lot of fun. In fact, sometimes I wish I could do it! But I genuinely like the characters I've formed, and see no reason to change them. If I want a new character badly enough, I will just have to buy another BJD. (Aww, what a shame, right?)

4. I have no before and after pictures, because I have no "afters". LOL!

Linda S.
galatia9

 

My doll's look is constantly changing with time. I do not find this something to worry about. I quickly get bored of the one look, though I am in love with the mold. My doll reflects my current mood, I do not become attached to a permanent shape. The doll is a tool for realization of my ideas. I believe that a doll has its own personality and something he/she may not like, or vice versa. But I do not limit myself in any way because of this. Here is the thread with some pics.

 

I actually had that happen to me, in a way. Earlier in the year, I was having trouble with two of my dolls, Fleur and Dru. Now in Fleur's case, I made her character up once I got her and gave her a ful backstory. Dru was chosen to a shell for another character in the same story as Fleur. However, earlier in the year, a friend started a tag for the Youtube BJD community about alternate sculpts for already shelled characters. And after I had answered it, I realised that neither of the current shells really suited the characters anymore.

I kept the original shells though, my Mythdoll Yue and Bobobie Pixie. They've been given entirely new characters and new looks. I'm actually working on doing some mods on the Pixie to change the doll even more.

 

1. Have you ever given a doll a new face-up or a new wig and completely change the "character"?
Yes, I have given my doll a new wig and changed his character.

2. If you have, can you talk about your experiences?
I planned to use the default wig, but tried a different one on and it just looked better. I decided to keep him in that wig and altered his character a bit.

3. Is this considered something "bad" to do? Does it affect you bonding to the doll?
It's not bad. It helped me bond with my doll better, I liked the new him a lot more!

4. Any before-and-after pics?
What april said, I'm too lazy to do a collage

 

1. Have you ever given a doll a new face-up or a new wig and completely change the "character"?
My Iplehouse Isar had both her wig and name changed. She went from a blonde to a red head, and her name changed from Daryl Odessa to Donna Katarina.

2. If you have, can you talk about your experiences?
My first two dolls were an Iplehouse Isar and a Withdoll Priscilla. Doll and Capt. After a while, Priscilla and I just weren't clicking anymore. She just didn't fit the part of Capt. as intended, so I put her in her box, and decided she needed to find a new home. When that happened, my Isar got all Priscilla's things. Doll became Capt.
When I finally found an Iplehouse Violet, she received all things that Isar left behind and became Doll.

Withdoll Pris (Capt.)
Reshelled into IH Isar (Capt.)

IH Isar (Doll)
Reshelled into IH Violet (Doll)

3. Is this considered something "bad" to do? Does it affect you bonding to the doll?
No. At least to me its not bad, although I feel a little guilty and sad about Priscilla. I know for certain she's going to find a new home. Affection for my Isar hasn't changed at all, just her character changed- which actually fits her a whole lot better now.

4. Any before-and-after pics?
Yes, I'll have to edit this with a few.

Edit:



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1. Have you ever given a doll a new face-up or a new wig and completely change the "character"?

Yes. All the time. My dolls are not intended to be particular characters, so they constantly get redressed with new wigs to become entirely new personalities. One doll, who used to be a 'free spirit' is now a definite character, and will most likely stay that way, as her new face-up pretty much restricts her to her new role.

2. If you have, can you talk about your experiences?

I like the freedom of having the dolls become all kinds of different characters, whether it be historical, fantasy, or contemporary.

3. Is this considered something "bad" to do? Does it affect you bonding to the doll?

I have no idea, but it's how I like to work with my own dolls. I find it actually helps me bond even more with my dolls when they can be all kinds of different characters.

4. Any before-and-after pics?

My Asa before, when she could be anyone I wanted.... ...and now, locked into a particular character.....



My Owen as his usual self .......... ...and as a regular guy....when I needed one....



All my dolls can become any number of characters, and that's the way I like it.

 

When I got my first doll I tried to make him like a very serious character and with a somewhat dark aura. I only bought him black clothes and a black wig too. But after some time I felt like that character didn't fit him so I changed his whole character and now he's a more cheerful and social. Little by little I'm changing all his clothes too because I don't like to see him dressed up in black from head to toe, also I changed his wig and now he is blonde. Lately I'm feeling in the mood to change his faceup too,so sooner or later I'll do that.

I don't think it's bad to change the character or the appearance of your doll if you think it doesn't fit anymore. Sometimes we can grow tired of some aspects about our dolls and a little change can make us love them back again. So it's worth the try.