I personally think it makes sense to have a good reason or purpose for any big purchase, dolls included. But I don't think whether that is: "wow! so pretty, I want it, no I NEED it!", or a detailed plan of the character you want to make, matters very much. Just buying one without either kind of motivation seems a little senseless to me though. In the case of sheer infatuation, I always wait on purchases and make sure that initial love doesn't wear off. When its worth the wait, you know you really want it!
Some dolls, I get because they fit a character I have in mind and I have been on the hunt for them (or they are already on my wishlist), so there's already some sort of plan for them before they arrive. Though to be honest I've learnt from some past dolly experience that nothing is really confirmed until they arrived. But yes, normally I get a sense of who they will be and their wigs/eyes/outfits are usually more or less ready before they come home. Some dolls, weren't planned and were more of a on-the-spur decision, like my Luts 2015 Summer Kid Delf, he wasn't in the dolly plan but the moment I saw him, I knew he was perfect for a character that I was never planning to "dollify" LOL. It's like he's the one telling me his name and who he is instead of me giving him a character. But still he came home even if I had to made some changes to the dolly plan and story plot, even if it didn't make sense LMAO. And then there are a couple which I fell in love in first sight and brought them home even if I didn't have a concrete plan for them at the point of time I got them, like my Loongsoul Ghost Lin, but I figured I had time (a few months) to think up one before he came home, which I did, although he isn't 100% completed yet. (in all honesty none of my dolls are LOL )
I like to have a vague idea of what to do with them: a little bit of a personality, or a color scheme, or even just a general aesthetic. Of the dolls that I've purchased, none of them are actually for characters of mine yet? But I do know when I start hunting for dolls to shell, my plans are going to have to be a little more concrete!
It's kind of a mix for me. I do typically like to plan things out. Like I have solid plans for a handful of the dolls on my wishlist. I know what characters I have in mind for them and, at least theoretically, I'm prioritizing the ones who I have a character in mind for. However, there are definitely quite a number of dolls I sincerely feel I must have in my collection one day that I do not really have any ideas for and, try as I might, I sincerely cannot think of anything. I am also learning, as I work on my first doll, that the plans I make looking at a doll online can vary wildly from what I end up doing once that doll is in my hands. I had a very specific image of her character and, while I chose a character I wasn't particularly attatched to just so I wouldn't feel too discouraged if I could not recreate her in doll form, she has strayed pretty far from her original designs. I'm presently getting her a body with much, much wider hips than I originally wanted for her. Even better, because the person selling this body preferred not to do a split with the head, I am now getting a head I sincerely had never even considered out of the blue. I sincerely just do not know what I will do with it, but I've kind of started thinking maybe that's okay. For me, doll plans are nice to have, definitely, but sometimes it's fun to just fly by the seat of your pants and let your doll make some decisions.
I've always been a bit of an impulse buyer but I'm really taking my time with BJD decisions. I think the cost is major a factor in that, but also if I'm going to start shelling some of my OCs then I want to get it right. I know I can always re-shell them later but I'd rather do the research now than suffer the heartache later if at all possible. I know there will end up being some changes of mind ultimately, though.
I usually extensively plan my doll before buying, as most are preexisting characters. The caveat is that I'm not the best at visualizing the appearances of characters in my imagination (I'm not sure I could even do family members either, to be honest), so while I have an idea of what features I might want to look for in a sculpt (high cheekbones, aquiline nose, cleft chin, etc.), I couldn't give you a sketch. I can visualize behavior and things the character might say, and I can visualize all the parts independently (just high cheekbones, just cleft chin), however. This is actually what got me into dolls (initially action figures) in the first place. I cannot visualize characters or people and their body language, but if I create them in real life, having that physical representation helps me hold a consistent concept of them in my mind. (It's hard to remember a character's style if you can't visualize them wearing it, for example.) I hoped dolls might provide more consistency to my writing. So in a way, the doll sculpt becomes how I visualize that character, because I cannot create it independently myself. So, this is a long tangent, but I think it explains why planning the doll is very important to me: the doll must be "just right" because I cannot mentally correct my vision of the character if it doesn't match the sculpt. As a result, most of my dolls were planned not only for their appearance (how "right" they felt for the character), but also poseability and other doll features I like (realism and open mouths are two qualities I tend to gravitate toward). Because they are characters, I also tend to have a general idea of the style I want the character to have, but until I sew the clothing I cannot picture it on the character, so evolution may occur. The only dolls which weren't planned in this way were my on-topic non-SDs and other off-topic BJDs. My non-SD on-topic dolls are my Ancient Tales Rachel, my Dollshe Grant Philippe, and my Planetdoll Riz. However, they were planned extensively in other ways. My Ancient Tales Rachel was chosen due to her similarity to Waterhouse's Juliet painting. Unlike my SDs, she had no prior personality of her own, but she was planned for appearance. My Planetdoll Riz was purchased as sort of a "test" doll for a mod and dyeing project I had in mind. She turned out well enough (but completely different than I intended), and became her own character, although she's not as fleshed out as the dolls that are shells of an existing character. My Dollshe Grant Philippe was probably the least planned, and I haven't attempted the idea I had for him, so I won't go into it here.
Pretty much always, I have to have a good plan; A good "reason" for buying them, if you will. Mostly I have a character and try to find a doll that works for them, but every once in a while I find a doll so gorgeous I invent a character to fit them so I can have them. If I can't come up with a compelling character or general "image" for them, I often do not buy. It needs to be a doll I will definitely use to make narrative or artistic images with. I do all my doll stuff so that ultimately I can take cool pictures and make interesting images, that either tell a story or are just artsy. If I just bought all the dolls I thought were gorgeous, I'd be out of spending money and space in a hurry, and I wouldn't get near playing with them all! There's only so much money, time and energy in my life, after all.
i mostly based my doll plans from my OC's so most of the time i based m doll plans on them, after that i plan on how to budget money and then plan which accessories i can buy together with them.
Not normally. When I ordered my first doll back in January, I didn't have a character in mind for him. I only just started making a character for him. With my other doll currently on the way, I only had a vague idea of what I wanted but nothing specific.
I'm a firm believer in planning ahead of time and organizing all details beforehand. Dolls can be quite the hefty purchase, and it's for this reason that I think proper management comes in hand. Think of it this way: When you're writing a story about something you like or enjoy, you usually make a web-map, right? Plotting out your story-line, making note of the basics, etc. For me, it's that same basic principle
As of right now, all the dolls at the top of my wish list have plans for them and I went looking for sculpts that fit those characters. There are a few on my list that I just really love the sculpts of but don't have plans, so they will stay further down on the list unless I get really lucky in a deal or something.
I used to buy my dolls based on a character. For some reason, it never worked out for me. I either couldn't find the right wig, or clothes, or those items did not fit the look of the doll. I almost gave up collecting because of the frustration! Now I buy dolls based on a set of sepecific requirements. I don't know how to describe this... I have a mental list of dolls I want in my collection like, older (10 yrs), a tiny mature male around 25-35cm, a monkey, artist made (unusual), and maybe a translucent doll in the 1/6 size range with a non baby type body. Once I get the doll, I have an idea of what I want it to look like, but nothing set. Then I start searching for the right eyes, wig, and clothing based on what I find that fits. Maybe this is because all of my choices are odd sizes and difficult to dress. Or I'm just odd.
I think having a plan is important. I try top draw out what I want them to look like. I find a picture of the blank sculpt, then I draw it and plan out their faceup and outfit. I basically create their character before it purchase it. Sometimes I already have those things planned, but I have a hard time finding a doll that fits that character that I have in mind.
I have a whole story before buying! Every purchase is really serious step (detailed character and finance plan included)
All the Dolls I plan on getting have plans for them. But thats because they are characters that are already fully fleshed out and just need a shell :')
I used to be really bad at impulse buying dolls that I just liked. I latter started getting the ones I had plans for and I found myself loosing interest in the ones that I just bought because they were pretty. I have sold off all of my original dolls except for 2. So now I only buy when I have a plan. The hard part about doing that is when I find a sculpt I love and cant think of a plan for them. Right now I am dying for an Iplehouse Dexter, but have no clue what I would do with him. I really hope he pops up as FID Size (which i do have an idea for him in that size.)
I have two dolls that didn't have plans: Victoria (IH Iris) and my still-unnamed Luts Delf Lio. I still don't have a totally firm grasp on either of them, despite having had Victoria since 2009. The other two (and the next few) are based off anime characters. One of the things I really enjoy about the hobby is sewing and clothing them. I sew and do costuming/cosplay as a hobby, and it's nice to be able to 'test drive' costumes without having to spend a ton on fabric and whatnot. That being said, I have a feeling that my EID's character will be reshelled (and the current doll will become an OC tied to Victoria), and my other SD...I'm not sure what to do as I'm not totally 'feeling' her as that character. I'm hoping that maybe a new faceup and some gentle mods may change my mind.
As a newbie to the hobby I don't have a doll yet so I'm not really sure if I'm qualified to comment here but most of the dolls on my wishlist are a reasonably good fit for my OCs. I don't have enough saved up to make impulse purchases, though I do see the fun in it.
