Does any doll you buy have to fit a story?

In order for a doll to go on my to-buy list, I have to be drawn to her for one reason or another, whether it be because I think she/he has that look or because they fit a character I have in mind. My wish list consists of dolls that have a character in mind and dolls that are simply wanted because they look pretty. For example, my grail doll is wanted because of how she looks mostly. I plan on coming up with a personality and story for her once I'm able to get my hands on her.

 

Not specific, cause I change the story all the time lol But the main story of my dolls is there are all family; sister and brother.

 

For me, not at all. None of my girls have back stories, but they do seem to magically develop personalities of their own after I've had them for a little bit. Their relationship to each other seems to develop of it's own accord too.

 

I kinda wish I could be more disciplined when buying sculpts and only look for sculpts that would properly shell my OCs instead of going: "OOH pretty must buy" while totally disregarding my actual plans. All my dollies as of know are not in any way shape or form related to my OC and their world. While I still love them, these "impulse" buys have left my wallet to empty to fulfil my plan of having at least my main characters shelled. :C

 

Not at all. I buy a doll when I like it and not because it has to fit in to a world/story of some sort. I kinda do it the other way around. I placed my doll characters into the world of my writings (OC's). I have shelled OC's, but due to various reasons they cannot be exactly as their written counterparts. I just go with the flow I guess

 

Hi, Cloudedmind o/
I'm like you, I buy a BJDoll with no previous character. I buy because I like the sculpt, only then I imagine a backstory, chose a name and such.

 

When I see a doll that I would like to buy, I never think on it as it was a character. It is over time when I start to build, little by little, stories on my head involving that doll. Therefore, I treat that doll like the character I had been thinking on.

 

My doll is a character all his own not one I shelled onto a doll. Right now it's just him but I'm not planning on buying a doll that doesn't fit into his world right now. (Not to say that I wouldn't ever.) But there's no storyline as of yet. I'm waiting for that to develop as the characters form and interact. Otherwise it feels like I'm forcing a personality onto them. I have a new girl that I have one more payment on before she comes home. I have some ideas for her and what the relationship between the two characters will be but I don't know what'll actually happen until she gets home. Maybe they'll be lovers, maybe siblings, maybe friends. Who knows! Haha.

 

Not at all. Sometimes I get them with something in mind and then they end up being someone entirely else. Or some I just love for whoever they are.

 

Actually this is one of my main worries when considering new dolls to buy. I feel like I want them to match each other and have relationships and be involved in their own little world... but on the other hand, I don't want to limit myself that way. I want to buy what I like without worrying about matching and involvement, but I end up subconsciously taking it into consideration.

 

Well, most of my dolls are loosely based on pre-existing characters I've created but they're never exact so it's not that important to me I suppose, at least from an accuracy standpoint. I mostly do it because each one has specific colour schemes and styles and it's fun to play around with those. Might be fun to have a super accurate doll one day though, would likely take some fairly extensive modification though since the majority of my characters aren't exactly super pretty like I find most bjds to be. Heh.

 

No, I collect dolls beocuse i like them. They are beautiful and I like to customice them. But they don't have a story. One month can wear casual clothes, and other fantasy clothes... One doll can fit a lot of characters

 

At the moment I don't have my doll because he fits into a story I have written. I wouldn't mind creating a backstory but when I tried I actually couldn't think of anything. I prefer it that way, so I can customise him in any way I want and change his clothes/faceups etc every once in a while. So far he's really digging his white mohair wig though and that really suits him so I'll probably leave him like that hehe.

 

I think every doll has a story, whether individual or collective.
But I also think you may want to have a doll for the simple fact that she is wonderful! And then the story will be between you and her or him.

 

i have set characters but if there is a doll i love >> LE's usually, i let them create their own characters though only koko has a specific name. It took me 7 months to name my actual child, much less a doll lol. so they still are trying to help me figure out their names. for now they are that one or this one. or their sculpt name. though i don't think the sculpt names fit any of them.

I have a doll coming in that's going to be my fae knight that I've always had in my dreams.
Though I'm not sure what i should name him. his name is on the tip of my tongue.
The others that are coming in are going to tell me who they are in time.

 

Sometimes I have a character in mind too. That means I will look for a doll that fits the character and I will come across more sculpts I like but I will look further because they are just not good enough for this character. BUT definitely not all my dolls have to fit a character. I have a lot of dolls that doesn't fit a character at all, I bought them because I liked the sculpt.

 

No, I don't have any any backstories or even a name for my doll yet. I would really like to, so he isn't nameless, but at the moment he's just Popodoll Sezz lol.

 

I buy my dolls to become my characters, but sometimes a sculpt will inspire a new character within the origional group, or a new generation for my characters~ but yes as a rule I look for doll that fit a character and dont tend to go for a doll just because I like it, I need to feel it could be my character or, as was the case with my Ducan, they tell me which of my characters they are xD

 

I wanna bump this up since I think this is actually a very interesting topic that I'm not sure is as prevalent in other types of doll collecting. This notion of "shelling characters" is what drew me into the hobby in the first place and has been my number one top priority in only shelling my absolute favorite to ensure I didn't want up with too many dolls.

Now I've reached a point where I'm very happy with my current dolls and have little interest in acquiring more outside of those on my wishlist (only three and a body for my floating DIM Robel head). However, I'm growing ever restless as I think about these final three dolls. I have pined for them for years, I'm astounded by their beauty and they fit in with my collection's aesthetics wonderfully. However, I'm having difficulties with their characters. Although they DO have characters based within the established world of the rest of my dolls, they're more of a footnote than anything. Although I like them and feel they're reasonably fleshed out, I don't feel the same attachment to them as I do the characters of my other dolls. More than anything, I just think the dolls are very, very gorgeous. The same goes for my Robel head, and now I'm conflicted over whether it's worth it to get him a body.

I know some people just collect dolls without characters at all, and I find myself envying them because I don't know if I could do the same. Can I really justify having something so expensive sitting around only because it's pretty, with no deeper meaning? Will it feel odd to have dolls with such shallow or even no characters sitting beside the others? Should I simply pass them on by even though I've been longing for them for so long? It's a strange sort of predicament I hadn't expected.

 

I like dolls to make their own characters as I get to know them.

I might have an idea in mind but as they get faceups, find outfits that go with them, etc, they sort of grow into their own "people".