Does any doll you buy have to fit a story?

Wow. That's a really good question. I feel that you should love the doll you buy. If one doll fits your character but you don't feel like you'll like them, maybe it'd be better to go with the other doll and maybe create a character for them.

 

My first doll was bought to fit a character of mine and I plan to get another for the same reason. In the mean time I have one doll with me and one ordered that I bought because I liked the sculpts. They do not fit into the world my characters are from. It's a bit odd having to deal with that since the dolls in physical form interact, but their characters do not.

 

The first doll I bought, a Luts Bory Boy, I got solely because I really liked him and the way he looked. As soon as I saw his picture on the Luts website, I just knew I needed him.
As for Jasper, Wren, Blake, Doe and Daisy Bell (although, out of that group, I only own Jasper), I thought of the characters first and then purposefully went out looking for suitable sculpts to match what I wanted. It just so happened that I love each of those sculpts anyway, so it's not as though I'm buying a sculpt I dislike because of the way a character is supposed to look or anything - all of the dolls I plan on owning are dolls I think look good.
Although, when it comes to Scout, I had always wanted a tiny but couldn't really decide which Puki to get as there were a few I didn't mind but none that really tugged at my heartstrings. When I looked at the Pukifees, however, I knew I really wanted to get Bonnie, so I slotted her into my character story as an excuse to buy her. xP
I guess it's the same with Jehn and Enigma, also. I had really gotten into the Unoa Lusis sculpt, came up with the character, named her Jehn and assigned her to that sculpt. As for Enigma, I had always liked the Supia Rosy sculpt, but couldn't think of how she could fit into my story or anything but one day this character just sprung to my mind and I just knew she was a Rosy. So now she's on my wishlist too. :P

So, uh, after all that babbling I guess I'm trying to say that I never buy dolls solely because they're pretty (although I did with my first one), occasionally I'll have a character in mind and purposefully go out looking for a suitable sculpt although it's always a sculpt I personally find cute and, if I like a sculpt enough, sooner or later a character will ransack my brain and make me want to buy it! XP
I always have a character in mind before a doll comes home.

 

For me it kind of depends. :/ Some of my OT dolls had characters set up in my head before they came to me, yes, but some didn't....so it varies for me. I don't think I'd ever not get a doll I loved because I thought it 'wouldn't fit in' with the rest of my characters/dolls.
The doll I'm saving for now (he'll be my 1st bjd) didn't have a character set up before I decided I wanted him, so I wasn't like 'searching' for a doll to be a certain character. His character is gradually growing in my mind as I wait to be able to order him though. ^^

 

I actually initially got into bjds for the sake of giving my characters their own tangible bodies to represent them. So, yes, I am definitely one of those people that won't ever buy a doll just because I like the sculpt. Of course, I have a lot of characters, and they mostly live in the same universe, so if there's a sculpt I really like I'm sure there's a character that will fit perfectly for it.

 

Yes, they have to have stories. If i fall in love with a sculpt and buy them without a preplanned character (as is the case with my two MSDs on the way), I'll make up a character before they arrive! XD

 

Originally, I bought my first dolls because I liked the way they look. I am the type of person who personifies pretty much everything I own with a name and often a character (my car, my computer, my tablet... the list goes on), so it was only natural that I gave my dolls names and characters. Then, I realized that it's kind of fun to tie them together and create a story for them.

I've found that many people buy dolls based on stories that they have already created. It seems very satisfying to find a doll that matches this character that you yourself have created, and it brings that character to life.

So really, it depends on you. If you're the type who wants to treat your dolls as characters with personalities, or if you just want them to look pretty, then so be it.

 

Yes, but my dolls are personifications of characters I had already created. I buy them to fit the character. I don't, or at least haven't yet, bought a doll just because I think it looks lovely.
Also, usually my characters from completely different worlds. They don't need to tie in at all.

 

Nope, mine do not need to fit a particular story.

EXCEPT for those which are parts of particular stories, if that makes any sense. I have two groups of character dolls from my two favorite anime series. Those have to "fit" the overall look in some way, whether it be in height, general agreement with facial characteristics, or so forth. I'm not ultra-picky but I don't want them to be seen as just "cosplaying" their characters, because that's not the idea.

However, I also have dolls just for the heck of it, too.

 

Oh man. XD I have no stories. I just have the doll that I wanted. I have something to create things with. Like with faceups and stuff. She just ended up picking up a personality on the way. XD

 

My first Doll that I bought I had gotten to shell a character of mine. The more I tryed to get her into this character the more I fell out of love with my poor dollie. I was really regretting my choice of buying her too. But then I desided to throw the character out the window and just let my doll grow and be whatever she wanted to be. This Mika was born! And I really love her a ton more than I ever could if she was based off of my character. I know a lot of dolls that are based around a character or plot from some of my friends but Mika just wasn't having any of it.

 

My first doll didn't have a character, or even a name for a loong time. But as I waited and pined for the day she would arrive, I developed her story. Her personality came after she did though. The next doll had a character that I picked the mold for. That's only because he was her twin, so he kind of had to look a certain way. I have more characters now that they have a world, but I purposely don't try to picture them so I can use any doll. My friend also had dolls and they are very by something like five year in age, but are the same size. Mostly we just ignore the discrepancy when they're together though.

 

How many of you only buy a doll if it fits a character you already have, or can at least fit in the world you've created?
That's me, exactly. Though my dolls are just people I choose the dolls very carefully. If I want a doll I try to imagine what the person is he/she/it and how it would interact with other my dolls. No fit - no doll.
Of course my preferences may be changed later)) I want to MAKE a doll that doesn't fit in all senses but this is another story.

 

Eventhough I don't have my dolls yet, I'm in the group that buys the dolls for the sculpt and then creates a characters/characters around them. I think that buying a doll because it fit one character is a little limiting as opposed to letting the sculpt "speak" to you as the case may be.

 

I have a very similar approach to Taliesus! I buy dolls with sculpts that I have loads of ideas for. They are not confined to one character, but become whoever/whatever I feel like at the time. When buying new dolls I try to ask myself, does he/she inspire something different from the dolls I already have and does he/she add some new element/potential to the cast.

 

I buy all my dolls because I like them as individual dolls - sometimes it works out that they are right as siblings or cousins of my existing dolls and sometimes not. There's no story, just a bunch of individuals some of which are related.

I did resist buying a slim mini (Narae) for ages because she was the wrong scale to look right with my SD size gang (she looked older than most of them but was much too small) but I caved and got one in the end, and now have several others of that scale who she hangs with.

Teddy

 

All my dolls have a backstory but there are a few storylines with multiple dolls in my group. Kinomi and Brendon have their own little thing, as do my little elven family. My tiny zombie has his very own storyline and I'm not sure if I'm going to tie it in to the others or not. My storyline is also still developing so I make changes to fit certain dollies.

I just bought an anthro kitty on the MP and developed a spontaneous character for her that turned out to fit right in with my story. But I also have a MNF Shiwoo raver planned who has absolutely no backstory or connection to anyone else. He's mostly just an excuse for me to get a gay boy.

 

Blankqueen, that's a good way of looking at it, as if each doll is a member of some kind of acting company. That way you can cast them in any way you see fit and as many times as you want. My first two are going to be models, so that gives me a very good reason to make and buy as many pieces of clothing for them as possible

 

This is nice and apppropiate, given that my girlfriend and I just finished jotting down some notes over our dolls stories!

For us, we've been looking at our dolls, planning them out and trying to budget for them both. Shes getting a girl, I'm getting a boy... She had no idea what she wanted hers to look like, I was rather certain I knew roughly what mine would look like, she wanted to wait and see her before she decided on a personality, I already half knew...

And then, looking at all the pictures, and tentively trying names out, we suddenly half-erupted in this creative flurry reguarding our dolls backstory, personality, how they relate to each other... Even little things like how they sit or reply to things that are said to them. We're loving it - making up their story is making the wait until we can afford them so much better! It gives us something to do in the long(longlonglonglonglong) time until we can get them.

So while we didn't intend to make a story for the dolls to fall into, now we have some sort of backdrop for them, and we feel like we already know them. It was interesting sometimes to see how some ideas 'felt' right and some didn't...

 

I do not have any story lines or set characters that my dolls need to fit in order to be purchased...though I think in some ways it would be nice to follow this method because perhaps it would've curbed my ridiculous spending on this hobby through the years. I've bought many of the dolls who sparked my interest regardless of whether they'd fit in with other dolls or anything else. They do end up with some personality in their presentation but that comes after the purchase and arrival.