Different Shell

I think it's fine. Originally my Denzel was in a BC sculpt, but I was getting tired of him being so small - plus the BC wasn't swinging as a boy very well x3 When I got a BF Niky to be Jacob, it ended up not working out, and after a while of consideration I opted on moving Denzel to the BF Niky. Worked out good! I don't feel guilty at all; I wasn't as fond of my BC as I used to be, so I've sold her now. I'll miss having a tiny to cuddle onto everyone, but once I've stocked up on bodies for my floating heads, I'll be getting a Yo to be someone's daughter. :3

 

I bought a Ryu planning to turn him into a character I had... right around that time I'd been having trouble with Hayden as an El. Despite him being my first doll, I eventually realised it was only the sentimental 'first doll' thing that was stopping me from selling him and buying a different, more suitable doll.
Then the character I was planning for Ryu didn't work out... and I realised he'd be more than perfect for Hayes. And to think I was only going to make him a BW dreaming El XD
So yeah, accidentally, lol.

 

I have a character that was intended to be MSD sized, but I recently decided to make him a tiny instead. I did feel wierd about it at first, but I'm happy with the decision I made.

Plus, I see sales threads all the time that state the reason for sale as character shell-changing, so yeah, it happens. Don't feel bad.

 

The dolls know what they want, sometimes they make do with what you need and when things are ready they switch. I know Xavier's spirit was sharing the Bram doll with him, finally I found the exact Xavier and when he got here his spirit left Bram and took over his own body.

 

It's a hard decision for sure to change shells because you already have so much feelings attached to the current one. If it bothers you you could always say that the MSD doll is a more grown up version of your character-kinda like an alternate universe kind of thing. If you don't have to sell your current doll the character inhabits you could have little Emiko and big Emiko or start your MSD Ami over from scratch(not necessarily wipe the face up or anything but change the wig etc) in one fell swoop so you have no chance at going back. Once you get used to the idea that your Ami is a new character then I'm sure you won't feel guilty, especially if your new shell for Emiko fits perfectly!

 

Oh man, I've been in this situation before, and since I still haven't resolved it for sure I guess I'm still in it.

My Cain is a 70cm boy, and I really, really wanted to get him a manservant/butler (since eventually he'll be all 19th-century) that would be taller than him. Problem is, that means a Sabik, and ... Riff just isn't a Sabik.

In addition, I found a 60 cm doll that really looks like Cain, more than Cain does now.

The only problem is, I'm afraid of turning Cain into Riff and getting a new Cain - it's such a depressing thought!

So, I know that doesn't offer any advice, but you're not alone on being torn, trust me.

 

You are not alone, GrowlyGal. ^__^ If you haven't checked out the other threads on DoA on this topic, I found a couple for you. Valentine also kindly posted additional links in the second thread.

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136640

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50964

I've done upgrades myself, but most of them failed. All the new dolls either didn't seem right or wanted to be different characters. Only the last one I did, my current doll, was a success. And it was well worth it!

 

Originally my kill_U 2nd was going to be a reincarnated character. When he first came home, I immediately thought he reminded me of one of my mother's Japanese kabuki dolls!! When it turned out he was wrong for my original character, I was able to make him into my kabuki character, and he is absolutely perfect for it. So it was a happy mistake.

SoulDoll Paris became my arrogant and self-confident Tournai...



And the kill_U 2nd was then free to become Shakkyo, my also arrogant kabuki boy. I also upgraded his body, from a Volks SD10 to a Custom House SD13 sized boy, which suits him much better.



Linda S.
galatia9

 

I just recently found a larger body that would work for a character.

Hippolyta is the 'big sister' of the family, but all the children were i-elf dolls, which are all the same super-tiny body.

She needed an 8-12" (20-30cm) pouty elf-eared neutral or female body.

But Bobobie Sprite is Hippolyta, though she is less pouty (now that she has clothes & wig on, at least ), has different shaped ears, and is 16"/43cm tall.


And Hippolyta-little's body gets to be the 'new baby' of the family, and I haven't found out the sex yet, much less the name.

So I've gone through it; Sprite-Hippolyta arrived on Friday, and it's now Monday; the character/spirit has entirely made the switch.

Before I'd seen Sprite, though, I'd never done a 'switch' and was nervous.


Ann in CT

 

I've done it a few times. The first time, I changed my DiM R-Asiam to a Soom Rian. That wasn't a size change, but a totally different look. Ever since DoT Homme Ducan was released I was really feeling that he'd be perfect for a character I already had a smaller doll for. I thought about it long and hard, but finally made the switch and I definitely have no regrets. It was tough letting go of the little guy, since he was a Tender Too and my first "dream doll", but I'm glad that I did.

 

In the past, I thought very seriously about swapping my Dreaming Shiwoo out for a Volks SD10 F-17. I felt that his current shell was too tall in relation to my other dolls and I had essentially modified his face to look more like a Cecile/F-17 anyway. However, I decided not to do it because the F-17 head was really not a good fit for the SD10 body and I had become so attached to Kaspar the way he is that it didn't seem worth the trouble.

I am in the midst of another shell swap, but its the same shell in a different skin tone. I sold my white french resin Roda and have a white urethane Roda (and Dreaming Roda head) on the way. I'm a bit nervous that I won't be able to capture the subtle expression that her first faceup conveyed, but other than that I've discovered that I haven't had any negative feelings about it.

My girlfriend and I have dolls that are characters from different generations in our story, so some of them are still children even though we've given them older bodies. We didn't want to have to buy MSDs and then swap them out for SDs later, so we just think of each doll as an avatar representing the entire personality of the character throughout his lifespan rather than an image that has to be accurate in relation to others within a single slice of time. We don't really do photostories, so it doesn't pose a problem.

 

This is the same with me. My Little Junior is meant to be an older character and I began to get bothered that, although I saw him as an older version, he was such a tiny guy. So I've decided to put a hold on getting my dolls as MSDs and going to get an older version of them eventually instead.

I'm still sticking with the same company though, for the benefit of having a similar style of face. He's still going to be a Customhouse (at the moment I'm thinking Lain looks like an older brother of Mars but could be bent to look like Ares) and I will still keep my LJ Mars...

I think I'll always see my Mars as 'Ares', but at the same time, his character is so much more adult than his mold and deep down, I know that it has to be done.

 

I don't think there is any problrem in re-shelling a doll as long as you're setisfied with it!.