Buying Full Package: Is it less personal?

Of course there is nothing wrong with getting a fullset if it speaks to you. But I am yet to see one that would satisfy me more than what I can put together myself.

 

It really depends on what kind of person you are. For me, all my dolls are pre-existing characters, so yes, settling for a fullset to suit one of them would make it less personal. I also feel that picking out everything and customizing them from head to toe is how I bond with them. But for other people, that may not be the case at all, and then a fullset is just as personal to them as anything else. There's nothing wrong with buying a fullset; similarly, you can keep or change anything you like on it. That all said, the question isn't if it's wrong, but if it's less personal, so I said 'yes'. Again, in my own case, I wouldn't buy a fullset unless it REALLY fit my character (I wouldn't settle) or unless there was no other way to buy the doll and I loved the sculpt (like with some LEs).

 

I think it's a fully individual choice.

I'm a writer and artist and most of my dolls will be recreating characters I have written and/or drawn before. I've done my first face-up, with acceptable results (but I need to practice again doing eyebrows as I wasn't happy with my first attempt), so I technically can do what I want to achieve what I want from my dolls. I'm also learning to sew and if I actually put my mind to it rather than letting myself be lazy, I could at least clothe my dolls myself too, even if all I'm ever good at is basic things rather than the elaborate things I want.

I technically have one "complete" doll, which is a hybrid across two different companies, with a face-up I'd done myself, a wig I ordered specifically for him, and clothes I purchased specifically with his character in mind.

His girlfriend's head and wig should be arriving tomorrow, with her body to follow sometime next month. I'll be doing her face-up myself and will likely have made a simple dress to clothe her in by the time she arrives.

Conversely, I'm going to ask Dollmore to do a face-up on my Zaoll Luv I'll be ordering (which I'll be hybridizing with a boy body if it works), not because I can't do it myself, but because the character the head will represent is extremely important to me and since I am technically still learning face-ups, I would much rather have a nice company face-up I've asked for specific things from than sort of fumble my way through my own.

I'm still undecided whether or not his son, a Dollmore Sona, will have a company face-up or not. But the Sona's friend, a Dollmore Vian, will be exactly like one of the company photos of the doll, because I loved everything about it. The face-up, the wig - everything. I want that doll to be mine.

If Soom ever does another birdie mini, it'll depend on what the face-up and costume looks like whether I order my first true "full-set" - from wig, to eyes, to face-up to costume. If that particular 'character' Soom marketed doesn't speak to me as, "yes, that is definitely my little tengu child character I want", I'll just pick and choose the elements I want for my tengu child. If the full-set speaks to me, I'll buy the full-set.

I don't think that my being open to the idea of buying a full-set makes me any less creative than someone who doesn't want full-sets, ever. And I'm sure I'll be just as happy with something that spoke to me as something I created myself. After all, the hobby is about having a doll that is exactly what you want, isn't it?

 

Mine are all fullset, but I don't think that makes them any less personal to me. I used to wonder if getting them all fullset was a good idea or not, but I figured to hell with it. Once you get the doll, you can go ahead and customize him/her over time to suit your tastes. Having a fullset is akin to having a spring board in my opinion.

And just as a side note, I love your avatar! I'm so in love with Vocaloids, and the Kagamine twins are my favorites!

 

Well I think that if you buy the fullset and don't change it it's less personal because then you really did nothing but hit the buy button and make a story for them (not saying it's wrong and I'm not saying that it isn't personal, just that it's less personal). However as soon as you start changing the look of that doll it becomes personal IMO.

OT: Okay I didn't even notice you avatar until Sakuri said that and I immediatly went to see, I'm totally a Len fangirl

 

Of my (soon to be 5) dolls, three of them are full sets. and 4 of them have the company face-ups. I don't see anything really wrong with it though I am aware my dolls won't nescisarily be as unique as other peoples (having said that, none of my guys are wearing their default clothes/eyes anymore). Alot of people do buy the dolls blank and without clothes but for me it's easier to get the defaults (which I normally love anyway) rather than to spend extra for custom face-ups.

On a seperate note, if you get enough full package dolls of the same size you could always swap some of their clothes round ^^

 

If ever existed a fullset that suited both my tastes and characters, and I could afford it, you can bet I'd be all over it! As it is I can't afford fullsets anyway, and I can sew + paint so I'm cool with the nekkid dolls. :3 The only reason I can see it being "less personal" is if you just bought it because you didn't know any better or you were lazy. If you truly love the fullset, it can't NOT be personal

 

Really depends for me. I got one fullset doll at home: Cherish Doll's Limited Cynical Baby Cathy. I found her absolutely adorable and wanted EXACTLY the doll I was seeing on the pics on the Cherish Doll site.

The other "extreme" is my Celaran. He's really fully customized: head by D.I.M. (Minimee after my own design), body by Unidoll, wig and eyes by yet some other companies, face-up by Eviechan from them German doll-forum, and his clothes are gonna be made by me and my aunt.

If you like a fullset doll and buy it, that's your personal taste. Just as well as fully customizing a doll (or even making your own doll). So, nope, I don't think buying/liking fullset dolls is any less personal.

 

I think it is definately less personal as you haven't put your design into the doll.
However I much prefer it as the doll manufacturers are far more talented than I at knowing how to create a beautiful doll.

 

Face sculpt>everything else, in my opinion. My Ha-Yarn looked beautiful with the default wig and eyes that she was wearing in the company photos, so I ask for Dollmore to include those for her when I bought her.

I don't think it's any less customization...if you like the clothes/wig/eyes/etc., that doesn't mean the doll isn't unique.

 

Hey, if that is your collector style, props to you!

Now personally I could never even conceive to do it that way. I make a point of trying to look up as many owner pictures as possible (especially box openings. Yay for un-glorified nekkid pictures!) so I can see their potential. That way I can see whether this is a doll I want to make into something, rather than just seeing the doll someone else want them to be. I mean, characterization is to me the fun part! Seeing something, working to get it, and then, voila! you managed to realize an image you had in your mind. That, to me, is the most rewarding part of this hobby ^^

 

nothing wrong with getting a full set. you could even customize the clothes of the full set(wonders why no one really thought of this it seems i know i did not read every page but still) full set can be just a start and you can mix and match latter on.

an well you can change anything anytime and if someone else wants the parts of the full set that you no longer want you could always sell to that to others. so much one could do that i did not list.

the saying gos to each there own as in not everyone likes the same things or is the same or otherwise everyone is different in there own way.

 

If the doll is a full package and it's the doll I want-fine. If not-fine. I think it depends on your finances, vision and tastes. Either way-I have an Aida Lati Doll Red full package I LOVE. But I still change him and do other looks for him. The rest are just the doll.
It's what you love that counts.

 

For me, personally the full-sets leave me cold. It's someone else's vision and that takes me back to collecting Tonner dolls and such. I used to buy dolls and put them up on a shelf and then go back to making my own cloth dolls, when I found out about BJDs it was like the perfect meeting point of those two parts of my Doll-love. Now the dolls I buy are part of my doll making as well, I buy blank or a head, and if I buy second hand I always change just about everything about them over time.

Having said all that, some people, like yourself, love Full-set dolls and more power to you! If it's something you've fallen in love with, who am I to tell you how to spend your money? I doubt you love your full-set any less than I love my hands-on dollies

 

Well, I don't see why it would be wrong to like full set dolls, if it's to your taste. However, I would caution against limiting yourself to only full set dolls. If you ever find a basic doll that you consider beautiful, I say don't let the challenge of finding things for it stop you from getting it.

 

There is no right or wrong -- just buy what you like. If you like a fullset, then that's what's important.

Is it less personal??? No. A person makes their own decision to buy it or not, same as with anything else, a head or something they will totally customize... Besides, most people will not only keep their fullset in one outfit, so some customization takes place. And even if they DO, they do what only THEY can do with their own doll, the same as with any doll... So it's personal enough, I think.

If you believe that a person MUST customize in order to make things more personal, then I guess that would make a difference. But many people don't care about that at all. Or not so much, anyway.

I've fallen in love with fullsets and I've also bought blank, naked dolls--and I treat all my dolls equally, so it obviously doesn't matter to me.

 

You know..I've always like fullset dolls..their face up and wig especially..so even when I want to buy naked doll I will search and buy for the same wig they wear on the official pictures..and will add +face up on their option. Clothes is nothing..I can always buy a new one..but wig..like PF LE..their wigs are very hard to find.
Oh and another thing..since I still live in my parents house..there is no way my parents will happy when some day a package arrive of just naked doll that worth 300$..it's better 400$ of fullset.

 

Personally, I'd rather buy fullset than separately. I bought my Lady Saiyuki doll fullset and I loved him as he was. Then my mom supplied (for my birthday) a new wig, and my sister supplied new pants. He now barely wears his original clothes, but it's nice to know they're there and that they look good on him.
However, when my sister bought her doll, she bought her for the sculpt/price/faceup. Although she came with extras, my sister hated him, and the faceup ended up being removed as well. My sister essentially just bought the doll with a faceup and wig. The girl now sits around in her big brother's clothes (my LS doll, a full 20 cm bigger), or in a few of the random things I've managed to sew for her, as well as the wig she came with. I hate the wig though. >< I'm sure I'd love her more with more stuff (say, better clothes or a new wig), but until then I don't feel like I can really bond with her, even though I was the one who did her new faceup (a rather nifty first experience that needs more practice).

 

There are no shoulds and should-nots in terms of how you enjoy the hobby.

 

To me, a fullset feels a lot less personal than choosing everything yourself. My first doll was a fullset because I figured it'd be easier to order (wig, shoes, clothes and the doll all in one simple package? Sounds easy enough). Im the end, it made him look too default-ish; The only individual thing about him was his name. I wanted something more custom, more original, something I could say was mine and mine alone. Once I started changing his clothing, wigs and eyes, I started feeling more attached to him, because he was no longer Dollzone's character, but one I created myself. It's odd, but I find it hard to really get attached to something until I add a little imagination to it.

I can understand why some people would want fullsets, especially for limiteds, but they're just not for me.