Do you only buy dolls that would fit into your doll-family?

I think it's perfectly valid to want to have dolls that complement each other, but you might want to look at the "Invaders" thread, which talks about dolls that were not part of the plan that end up with the person.
As for my self, I like a few different types, it would be a lot easier if I just liked one thing. There's elves, faeries, vampires, ghosts, pretty fashion girls, rock n roll guys, club kid girls, the list goes on. And on.
I don't know that this is so much a debate as a discussion.

 

My only rule is that if the doll is meant to be paired with a specific other doll, or put in with a particular group, it has to look "right" with them. Its proportions and sculptural style have to be a decent match, otherwise it'll drive me absolutely bananas.

 

I didn't intend to when I first got into dolls, but I've noticed that the dolls I've been buying are rather similar in build. Of course, since so far they're all AODs, they all have the same skin tone, but as I've been thinking about getting other dolls, my mind keeps bringing up 'How would this doll look next to my others? Would he/she be too tall/short? Would the skin tone not match well and look odd? How would they fit in with my other dolls?'

Like for Brightfires, proportions are a big deal to me as well. It's one of the main reasons I simply cannot see myself getting a 70-90cm doll. In fact, because my MSD is an adult character, it's rather hard for me to even think of getting an SD because I think they'd look too awkward standing next to each other.

 

My dolls fit into 'familys' but if there is a doll that I want, what is to stop me from making another 'family' for the doll to be in? But then also for me, even if they look different, as long as I can justify how the doll fits in, it stays. Luckily the dolls I like tend to have a similuar look.

 

Well... I do like my dolls to look "right" for whatever "grouping" they're in; paired dolls have to look good together, after all! Luckily, I've found that many companies' dolls look great together; my BFF's and my group based on the anime/manga Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and XXXholic are going to be fantastic, and the dolls are to be compiled from three different companies - Dollzone, Luts, and Dream of Doll. But we did extensive comparisons and poking about here and on the respective sites before we decided on molds that fit the characters we want.

On the other hand, it doesn't concern me much that my DZ minis don't have the same look as my AoD minis - I love them all a lot, and they're not characters from the same canons, so it doesn't even surprise me that they don't really look alike. ;P

 

I buy dolls that will fit my characters. In the past I would occasionally buy a doll just because I liked it, but have found that that doesn't really work well for me. I bond faster/better with my pre-existing characters, and I'm very story/character driven with my dolls -- it's my main doll activity, really, so it effects how I collect. It's all to the good, though, since there are so many lovely dolls out there, I need some way of narrowing down all the choices. Also, I prefer not to have too many different groups going at once, as it's easier for me to fully develop a group of characters if I'm not trying to spread my time and resources out amongst several different story lines.

 

As a response to the new point ayreweth has brought up, it depends on the doll for me.

For instance, I got my first doll, and she seemed lonely. She's a gentle big-sister sort in my head, so my first thought was 'younger brother/sister' rather than 'boyfriend'. Mainly, this was because I thought having a Yo-SD around would be more helpful for me to grow sewing-talent-wise than another MSD right away. Because I make my doll's clothes, the idea of having quite a few different /sizes of models available is very useful.

However, I found it difficult to decide on what gender to get for a younger sibling, and decided on younger twins.

Now, I do plan to get an MSD male eventually to pair with her, but I also want a fifth ( another MSD male) because there are simply many gorgeous male molds that I love.

So, I suppose that rather than using relationships to justify my purchases, I think of the relationships first before considering the purchases. It's not 'I want this doll to be brother/sister/boyfriend/girlfriend for this doll', but more like, 'This doll needs a brother/sister/boyfriend/girlfriend, so I will look for a doll that will fit that'.

I hope that makes sense. It's more of the idea of the relationship coming before finding the doll than the other way around.

 

Simple answer: Yes. xD They have to look good together. That was one of my biggest problems when I first got into the doll hobby; no one looked right together. Wrong proportions, big differences in face, etc. That was what eventually killed my MSD size love (well, that and a sudden distaste for Souldoll) and brought me to tinies and - LO AND BEHOLD - I have a good "set" going. xD I feel better when they compliment each other for whatever reason; same reason I dress in things that sort of match, I suppose.

 

Yes. I usually go for getting them to look good together. Especially if they're modeled after someone and I have a favorite pairing for that. But, at the moment, none of my dolls have "significant others." They're all single. Except for Valkyrie. Though, his lover doesn't exist as a doll yet. xD

 

My current dolls are all "off" from one another but that's because they are from different universes. I mean, I have my Soom Super Gem girl who is from my Warcraft character's world, and my Souldoll Double girl (much smaller than a Super Gem) who is part of my book's world. Eventually they will have their companions as I build my collection, who will all fit in with them. Now I would definitely not buy a guy companion for my book character's that was really huge--and finding a mature guy in the 55cm range is quite challenging, but it prevents me from buying the first beefy dude I adore as well! So it's a great measuring stick to reign in the purchase habits

 

My dolls all somewhat fit together because they're realistic in flavour, but I've selected each of them because they're quite different (size wise and sculpt).

 

Currently my dolls don't fit well next to each other, and I've only got 2. I have a feeling that in the future few of my dolls will "fit". I'm of the mindset that I'll get the doll I like regardless if it fits or not.

 

Nah. My dolls don't fit well together at all. C: My three minis have totally different face shapes (though the AoD and the DZ actually don't look terrible together). My Mei's the odd one out. And then I have a couple of tinies that are just too small to even be a little kid to my MSDs.

But I like them all in their unique ways, and I don't take big group photos.

 

Nope. none of mine fit in with each other but i love em anyways

 

Hmm... I sometimes buy dolls that don't fit in. Puuki being the main one. He's the only tiny that I have and will ever have.

 

So this is my question, do you only by dolls that compliment your doll-family?
Race wise, my collection will be varied. Yet, the main race and mixed race side that make up my doll family have to be consistent so that they actually look related to each other.I do choose face sculpts that are similar when I can.

If you do, what do you think makes you do this? Why does it matter? It's important that my dolls reflect the real multiracial families of my significant other and I. I'm really idealistic, so this aligns with my personal values.

 

So this is my question, do you only by dolls that compliment your doll-family?
I actually never intended this to happen while I was searching for dolls to fit the characters, but looking at all their pictures together I realized that the sibling matches (even from different companies) had similarities, and that the whole general feel of all the dolls was pretty consistent. Even if I had been consciously doing it, I probably would have kept in mind the overall look I wanted the dolls to have. Most of my dolls are related to each other in some way, so one doll isn't going to have random pointy ears or hooves or something.

If you do, what do you think makes you do this? Why does it matter?
I want my dolls to look like they belong together, like they've been around each other a while and have relationships with each other. I think if the dolls were too different, it would be harder to create a world for them in which they could coexist. Plus, since I already had characters fleshed out and was looking for dolls to represent them, I had to find dolls that fit the bill, and since all the characters have similarities, all the dolls would be unified under the same principles.

 

At first when I planned out my family, Everyone was matched with each other some how. Couples Were of proportionate heights as were potential children. Siblings had similar Facial features and coloring. But nowadays, I could care less. If I like a doll I buy it and thats that. It'll fit in somewhere, especially since I mainly buy 60cm+ dolls out of personal preference. I really like having diverse dolls, especially since to me it just looks way awesome when all of them come together.