Do you ever name and create a back story for a doll you haven't ordered yet?

This is me too.

All of my dolls have a name and a backstory but I have bjds as inspiration for the stories i write. I feel l need at least a name to buy a doll but there is an incoming doll I have not named yet but feel I need to see her in person to choose a name.

I do find that my collection needs some kind of coherence in ideas as I am trying to keep it small.

 

My rule is no doll without a character (but that is in the process of being thrown out of the window lol)! I'm really on the fence about ordering a limited doll right now, because I have no idea who she could be (yet). But I feel like as soon as I make up a character for her I Have to get her.
The name is less important for me, that usually comes after I've made up what I want the doll to be. My first doll even changed names after she arrived. My second doll is also shaping up to be a lot different than the character I had planned for her, especially the looks! They wear what they want to wear, I guess.

 

I am so, so guilty of this xD Basically, by the time I've made up my mind that I want a certain doll, I automatically start coming up with names, story tidbits and all that good stuff! My mind literally can't stop thinking about it ^-^

But that's also when I know for sure I want that doll - when it's more than just "oh, he's pretty". I already start feeling major attachment, so by the time the doll arrives, I'm usually head over heels already ^-^;;

 

I was going to take a break from buying any more dolls, but then ruined it for myself by doing some idle browsing. Came across a cute little guy that didn't REALLY call to me until I started wondering what I'd do with him if I HAD liked him more. Now I have a whole character in my head, a color scheme, and plans on how he'd integrate into my current group. I think I'm going to be buying another doll...

 

Sometimes this is actually the reason I buy a doll, I'll see it and immediately come up with a story or a name. Probably the most longterm example is that I already knew I wanted a Souldoll Liddell back when I joined the hobby in 2012, and I already had her character all figured out, but it took me several years to actually buy her. At that point it just didn't occur to me that I might not end up with her, she was a foregone conclusion.

 

I do this even though sometimes it doesn't work out and the doll takes on a life of their own when I eventually do get around to ordering them. I'm doing this now, however, with a Tiny Delf Gretel in that I'm planning on making her into a Hobbit named Poppy. I'm already planning out a diorama for her, designing her clothes, etc. But I haven't ordered her yet, next paycheck however...

 

I'm experiencing that right now and it's... an experience to say the least.
I would love to find a shell for an original male character, but when I began to dip my feet in the hobby I found a female doll on Etsy that I kept coming back to and could not get out of my mind. Since joining this site I have discovered that she was, unfortunately, a recast and I vowed to find the true sculpt. After a few hours of browsing recommended sites on the forums, I found the sculpt to be Little Snow from Doll-Zone and I was overjoyed; it felt like I was meeting her all over again.
Over exaggerated, I know, but I am excited to meet her. I am not sure of a backstory, but I have an idea that she would pair well with long dark blond hair and blue eyes, and I think she prefers the name Kaede (Maple leaf).

What I have been doing to save is
1. Take a small about out of each paycheck and put it into savings (I am comfortable with 100 each check but yours may differ.)
2. I allow myself an 80-dollar luxury budget every paycheck (including eating out) to keep my finances in check.

These techniques helped me square away a pretty lil sum. Now I am saving up for the next few months to put my luxury funds toward Kaede!
I hope this helps Thank you for letting me share my own little ideas for Kaede.

 

Technically I’ve ordered her now, but absolutely yes! Here’s praying my Mayme will be here soon!

 

I use to do that for all my dolls in the first few years of collecting, but then I felt it limited their wardrobes, their photos and most of all made me feel like they needed dolls around them as family and or friends. Now I just collect the ones I love, I keep them longer and I have more fun with them.

 

Considering a majority of mine are based on OCs/existing characters—I pretty much have a character planned out for them before I even discover the right sculpt. Sometimes I've also had a couple strike my radar that fit perfectly for an OC I haven't fully developed a look for yet (Dollshe's King Corey ended up being the perfect embodiment for Mundei before I had a full physical idea laid out for him).

Currently, there is a sculpt from Impldoll I have a character in mind for (and have had for years, but others kept taking priority) that I plan to eventually get—Plaice. He'd become Qaidan, one of my main guy Tahmos' two best friends (I already have the other, Nira—an Impl Azalea). One day I'd love to complete this trio

 

I'd like to say yes, I do; but the truth is most times it feels like the doll tells me who they are and insists on being purchased.

If I'm lucky, their demands between ordering and arrival will be reasonable, and I'll be able to acquire a suitable wig, eyes, some clothes, and perhaps a trinket or two to appease them for a time. If I'm not as lucky, they start demanding an army, a fleet of ships, and a golden throne to sit upon and rule her new empire from...

 

I've done that hundreds of times, mostly because I won't order a doll until I have their backstory and everything straight.
In my years owning dolls I have designed dozens of characters and stories that I never purchased a doll for even when I had a certain sculpt in mind for many reasons (money, size, etc.) but I think it's another lovely part of this hobby.

 

I've only had a set character for one of my dolls since I bought her specifically to shell an OC. The others have names and general themes but no backstory. The one with a specific character is actually the hardest to get stuff for since nothing really seems “right”.

 

I always have a story, name and look planned for dolls before I order them. A name is the first gift you give your doll after all. Sometimes I end up deciding not to buy a certain sculpt and sort of recycle the story/name to dolls who fit it better.

 

I'm hoping to get a doll to shell an OC so yes!