Do you have a plan for your doll before buying?

I have to have a plan or I would try to buy every doll that looks pretty (which is like at least 75% of them lol).

Planning helps me differentiate between "that's neat" and "that's gotta be mine" I'm not 100% on the mark about this all the time, but it does cut back on my doll buying desires at least a little.

Like there's definitely a few dolls on my "I like you, but I haven't decided what I'd even do with you" list. Like I've wanted Ninodoll Bada on and off for a few years and I finally found what I wanted him for recently.

 

At first I was trying to find dolls for existing characters I had based on written descriptions and the general vibe from the character. I got my first doll with a specific plan in mind, but then he got here, and I kept looking at him just thinking it didn't really fit but trying to think of a way to make it fit. I wound up feeling uninspired with the whole original idea, so I just decided to let it go and figure out something completely new as it came to me. None of my little anthro/animal dolls have a character rn because I didn't have one and I think that they'll probably come by slotting into someone else's story, but they're cute and I love them for that. My Dollshe Saint head was a semi-impulse purchase, I knew I wanted him one day, but I didn't think it'd be anytime soon, then they decided to offer him one last time before discontinuing him afaik so I felt like I had to get him. I didn't have anything in mind for him except that I want him to be connected to my other Dollshe boy, and I still don't, he doesn't have a body yet, or a face-up, so I know that as I move him closer to being a complete doll the character will come to me. I tend to have a plan for which dolls I'd like to have, but now-a-days I might have a general idea of a feeling the character might give off and that's it. I feel like the freedom helps things come together in a way that I'm more excited about and happy with, even if sometimes it makes finding clothes etc more of a pain.

Plus it forces me to slow down, I don't try to rush and buy a bunch of clothes, wigs, accessories, that might not even work for what I thought. I can't afford to buy all of the bits and bobs before the doll arrives so I feel better about this and under less pressure if I just work the character out once the doll is in my hands. I find that the characters I make this way end up being better anyway most of the time.

 

Most of the time I do. Sometimes I will just love the sculpt and not really have a plan yet. However, I usually do have at least some idea of what I want them to look like (wig color, overall style, etc.).

 

When I first started the hobby? Yes. Now I just buy any limited secondhand dolls with low prices and fantasy parts that may fit well with the rest of the family without planing beforehand

 

I always try to have a vague plan in mind, just to make sure that I’ll have a direction to go at the time when they arrive. I would hate to be completely lost once I have a doll arrive otherwise I’d feel like they didn’t have a purpose if that makes sense.

 

Sometimes I do, in that case wigs then eyes and then onto the body and ever hanging looks/clothing

 

When I buy doll, I ask myself
will I regret if I don't buy them now
how hard it will be to resale it in case of lost of interest
that is all the plan.

 

I have a clear plan for each of my next dolls. The color of their hair and eyes, the colors they will wear, the style of clothing, what character will they be (temper). It helps me avoid repeating myself. But it repeats every time. In fact, I want to get a blank doll in my hands once and decide everything after I see her in person. But it should be a quick buy. While the doll is traveling from a company or from another seller, I usually already have time to think over the character in all the little details.
I didn’t have a situation when the doll irl didn’t fit the invented character. I may change something a bit, but it did not differ much from the original version.

 

For my most recent purchases [three FID Iplehouse and a Switch], I have given them names, personalities and general concepts. I know what I want to do with them once they arrive and have stories in mind. In the past, I've purchased dolls and just let them 'speak' to me when they got here. It was a cute idea in hindsight, but I found that I sorta' struggled in staying interested with them, because ultimately, they were impulse buys and I couldn't find a way to connect with them other than just finding them beautiful. So, moving forward, I'll probably always plan and flesh out a character before buying a doll. It's what works for me.

 

Hi,
I've recently adopted a precious boy, well I wasn't planning on buying a new doll but when I saw him I could not pass up the opportunity
I honestly tried but couldn't.

Usually when I buy a doll I know exactly what kind of character, look and name I'm going for.
But with this one I'm just feeling lost.
He will hopefully arrive in the next 2-3weeks and I wanted to get some clothes, eyes and other things before he arrived. But I'm just so undecided. (No regrets buying him)

Has anyone else had a similar experience?
How did you go about things. Feel like I can't tell the forest from the trees with this one lol.
Will put up some pics when he arrives

 

Honestly this has been me with my last few dolls; total impulse buys XD
I rather not necessarily having a character planned for them, honestly. It can be fun to kind of figure out who they are once they finally arrive! I've been in the hobby a long time, though, so I have a lot of doll clothes built up so I can just put them in different outfits and wigs until I figure out who they are, though, which does make it easier. Of course then once I nail down their style I generally wind up buying more, lol...

 

Buying him was really out of character for me I usually don't impulse buy dolls lol
He is quite different from what I'd usually be interested in. And unfortunately all of my dolls are much bigger then him so I will have to get some smaller clothes and I'm looking forward to spoiling him
Its funny I've been collecting bjd for 2 years and haven't been this excited about a doll in a really long time.

 

I’ve found that pre-planning a doll doesn’t always work out anyway. My Luts boy (ten years ago, mind you) was designed with a specific character in mind, and once he showed up, he was nothing like that. Nothing wrong with the doll itself - but they’d shipped him with red eyes, and the wig was redder than I’d thought, and he just had this bit of an uppity attitude about him if that makes sense. So he changed completely and got a different name and story than I’d intended.

The friend who destroyed and bought him off me thought he made a good Sasori

Now that I’m waiting for my new Dollzone boy, I have designs in mind but only as a concept (pure black and white). I’ve decided not to give him a name or personality until I’ve gotten to know him. I think dolls and even stuffed animals develop their own personalities independent of what you intend. But maybe I’m just weird.

 

My dolls don't get their style character etc, until they arrive and I get to know them. If I get a new (or new-to-me) SD sized doll, I don't know if they will be a member of my main BJD family or not, I don't know who they are, or what colours, of eyes/wigs/clothes/ they will need, or what styles they will favour.

The few times I've tried to decided before getting the doll and getting to know them, the doll has refused to cooperate when they arrived so all of my dolls are an unknown quantity before they arrive (and sometimes for a while afterwards)

Teddy

 

I've only had characters planned for 6 of the on-topic BJDs I've purchased, and two of those (so far) would have nothing to do with the character plans I had for them . Two of the others I had only the vaguest of plans for: that they would be a sibling to another doll I already had (which worked out). The other two, it remains to be seen: they are intended to be a couple, and one of them still has no body, so it's hard to predict if they'll cooperate.

For the others? I get a sculpt when I fall in love with it, or when there's a really good price and I want to review and unbox it for my channel. When it's the latter, I don't even know ahead of time if it's a doll I'll be keeping, or moving on to a new home after making the videos. The weird part is, I've noticed I'm much more engaged with the doll's characters that formed organically after they arrived, rather than the ones I planned for.

 

Personally, I don't like to have everything about a doll planned before they arrive. Sure, I might have a color scheme, a vague idea of a personality, and one outfit, but sometimes I don't have any of that. And even with those things, there's still a lot of room for changes once I actually receive the doll. I'm playing around with the idea of writing a story using my dolls' characters (shelling my existing OCs has never seemed super practical to me), so that might end up influencing future purchases. My only real consideration with buying dolls currently is that they have to be different enough from the dolls I already own.

 

I always buy a doll for particular character. At the beginning of my journey into a hobby, I did the opposite. And in the end I could not figure out what to do with the dolls bought this way. Therefore now I always plan everything carefully and select right doll for the right character in advance.
But I hope everything will turn out well for your boy

 

I really like the way you view things, that really does put things into perspective
I always kinda feel bad if I don't have something for them at the start.
Also I've never really been so intensely drawn to a doll before.
Really hard to explain.
I guess he ticks boxes i never new I had. More excited to meet him then I was bringing home one of my grail dolls last year.

 

Absolutely, that is what is stressing me out right now. He is so different but I just feel really drawn to him. I really hope things turn out well too. Fingers crossed