Do you want an exact same doll as others?

^This. I like turning these dolls into something I haven't seen before (which doesn't mean that there isn't something like this already out there, just that I haven't seen it). And the main thing I love about these dolls is that every single one is unique. Having an exact copy of a doll kind of defeats the purpose, for me.

 

Not usually? But sometimes I see some blushing or a faceup detail or a nice outfit and it inspires me for similar things for my own. Certain animal dolls are exceptions of course, like black cats and the like. Mostly I have my own ideas for how they should look.

 

If I see something I like on another doll I'll usually take note of it for future inspiration. Otherwise if I only like that sculpt because of how someone else customized it, then I usually pass on it or if that specific doll gets put up for sale I'd get tempted to buy it.

 

I'm not sure if this falls into the same category, but there's this one sculpt that I love. Everytime I see this particular doll, I immediately think that I have to have him. It doesn't matter how he's styled. He's just amazing and anyone who owns this doll does such amazing things with him that it really makes me want one of my own. The problem is I can never seem to recognize this sculpt so when I see him it's like I'm seeing him for the first time. I fall into this trap every single time without fail and I don't realize it until I search for the sculpt name to add him to my wishlist. What's crazy is, I already own this doll and I've customized him to my liking. Somehow he doesn't resonate as a sculpt I own. Perhaps, on some level I'm really not satisfied with the way he looks and I keep being drawn to him. Maybe, it's time to update his look. He's had the same faceup for years.

 

I agree with the overall sentiment that while I might really admire and love looking at what someone's done with a particular doll, I would want my own dolls to be unique. I feel that the customization and uniqueness and variety, even with the same sculpt, is a really big part to the appeal of BJDs in the first place. While I might sometimes zoom in reeaaaallllyyy close to some face-ups for ideas or figuring out a technique (like how to do eyebrows), I would never want to copy exactly.

 

I see a lot of other people’s dolls I would love to own. . But unless it’s a company fullset, I wouldn’t think of making my doll just like someone else’s. It seems less fun that way.

 

I've had other people's faceups/styling convince me that a certain sculpt will work for my purposes, but I haven't had a "must have an exact copy" moment, except for company faceups/fullsets.

 

I've never seen a customized (by the owner) doll that I liked so much that I wanted to copy it, but I had a few people tell me (many years ago) they either did try to copy one of my dolls or wanted to, but couldn't (due to the amount of customization done on the particular doll). I was very much dumbfounded, because I find my aesthetics to be very specific and not all that appealing to the majority of people, particularly when it comes to these dolls (the general old-BJD aesthetics, basically). So to have people tell me they went and tried to copy one of my dolls, from face up to wig color and hair style, was perplexing. I was also a bit surprised because there had been threads discussing copying other owners dolls for years, and that action being frown upon was made clear on many of them. These were a long time ago, but even then people didn't really see copying others' dolls as a cool thing to do. I didn't really mind too much, because the one person who had a face up artist recreate my doll's face up on hers (same doll, similar hair color), didn't come close so their doll didn't look anything like mine. The other doll is too heavily modified by me, to even have most of the facial feature look remotely the same and the default doll, so they didn't really try with that one. Nonetheless, I was a bit shocked; I would never do something like that and then let the person know that I wanted to copy their doll customization, after-the-fact. If I ever truly admired someone's dolls customization that much, I would message the owner and probably tell them how much I like their doll, and if it was okay to borrow ideas from them but not straight out copy the entire look of their doll, and then tell them about it. I guess some people might see it as flattering, but I only see it as really confusing thing to want to do. DX

 

I have absolutely fallen in love with dolls that belong to other people, but I've never wanted to replicate them. If one of those dolls were to go up for sale I'd be there in a heart beat, but there's something about the idea of directly copying that doesn't sit well with me.

 

I've definitely taken inspiration from people here on DOA and on the BJD amino, but my doll and the rest of my concepts are completely my own. I'd be devastated if someone copied my plans for my Little Monica/Mirodoll hybrid on the way, like her vitiligo, her hair, her backstory, so I avoid doing the same to someone else.

 

Funny enough, I actually lose the urge to get a doll if someone is already doing the same concept as what I wanted in a sculpt- not just because I, as a creator myself, have a very strong inclination against copying ideas, but also because if someone else does it that means I no longer have to!

Case in point, I tend to build my dolls around a style- I wanted a tan pastel kid, I made one. I wanted a goth kid, I made one. I wanted the monstrosity that is my albino raver child, you get the picture, he's here now. Generally, I want these because I haven't seen any of them in the exact way that I envisioned it. So, to show the actual point- once I saw a sculpt and said wow, that would make a really cute Sleepy Boi and I kinda want one. Then! Found someone who had that sculpt as a Sleepy Boi! So while I had already started to flesh out a character who is a chronic napper, I no longer had the same desire to shell him into that same sculpt! So now I just admire the doll while being able to focus on my own~

 

Yes I wanted dolls exactly like other dolls but I’ve never really completed a single doll
Or anything anyways and I wouldn’t wanna stick with one exact style , I don’t have any characters for my dolls or anything and my main reason for wanting dolls is to play dress up so a certain one look is too boring for me

Although my husband he’s not really a bjd owner he’s just a bystander and sometimes a doll
Will catch his attention and he would stop
Me and would say I want that doll , that exact same doll and everything .. ask the person how much? And I’m like it’s not even for sale
He’s got 2 dolls now and he actually make plans better than me like when he sees people’s doll clothes that are nice he’s like can you buy that for my doll ? He doesn’t know anything about the hobby so I do everything for him


I guess it’s cause he’s into action figures and their action figures usually all look a like with other collectors unless they customize them
So he doesn’t really care if dolls would look alike ..

 

(Good question!) I usually have such specific things in mind that I can't settle on a "everything about this doll!" scenario (except with FeiHuaDeng from Telesthesia - I ordered her fullset and have her on layaway with BJDivas because she's gorgeous). What's far more likely is I'll browse a specific doll on Instagram and I might like how the lips were styled on one person's doll, but the eyebrows on another person's doll, but the wig still someone else is using - or, my own idea for a wig. Oftentimes I just go through stock of real people for face-up inspiration.

Or still yet, sometimes I'll see a company concept for a doll and think 'a lot like that, but with a blue/gray/stormy theme' vs. the company's take on it (for example, red/gold/fire).

It depends, but generally I tend to lean toward super specific stuff.

 

Ohhhhhh similar situation has happened to me, but im on the other side of the story.

I did a lots (like reeeeeeeaaaally a whole lot) of modification on one of my AODdoll Ruofeng, and yes he is my very frist doll (now he is 10 yrs old) and i absolutely adore him and he is the love of my life. The main reason I did that is just want him to be the only unique boy to myself.
While ago after seeing my boy's picture, some one approached to me and asked me about if she could get the detailed list of how i modified each part of his face also the artist who did the modififaction and Artist for the make up, so she could have a exact same doll as mine because she love my doll so much.

I was very torned about this situation, part of me feel happy that I must did something really good on my boy so somebody really like him to the level that wants a exact same one. But also i feel sad because I want this type of modification to only be mine. So in the end i refused the request and let the girl know I want my doll to be only mine, and she respect that and never ask back.

I know the way im acting can be a bit selfish, but part of me also does not like the idea that somebody could just copy my boy's face modification(which i spent v long time decide how to make it happen and where to modify). My raction to this kind of request is strict no, but im sure there are people thats more than happy to share their doll modification and makeups to others. Be sure to ask permission first and then do it.

I also had experience that fall in love with perticular collector's doll, but in this case i would first think about maybe i could purchase the doll from the owner when its available than getting a exact same looked one.



Spoiler, this is what AODdoll Ruofeng's original sculpt looks like：

Spoiler: AODdoll original Ruofeng

And this is My boy Koi:
He has modification on almost every part of his face feature

Spoiler: Yes he is also a RUOFENG but with big modification

 

I have a couple of dolls I purchased that are limited fullsets. I bought them because I adored everything about them, from their face-up to their outfits. So I've kept them mostly in their outfits looking like the promo pics on the sites. Maybe the only thing I've changed are the wigs, but only because I put them in wigs that match the color scheme better. So, I guess they aren't “original” per say, except for the characters I invented for them, but that doesn’t bother me much. If there are other owners out there who keep their dolls in their sets and look just like mine, it’s cool with me.

I have seen dolls whose style is really interesting, like their clothes and such. If I like the outfit I might hunt on Etsy or eBay to see if I can find something in a similar style. And I send my dolls to certain faceup artists because I really love their style that I’ve seen on other dolls they painted. But I don’t copy someone else’s doll exactly. At least not intentionally.