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Doll Names : Orginality vs Characters

Sep 16, 2007

    1. I prefer to have original dolls, just because they give me more freedom to do what I want with them (change their wig, eyes, faceup) than a character doll would. You can't really go "Oh yeah, my doll is *insert name* from *insert series* except his/her hair and eyes are different!". It just wouldn't work.

      That said, I don't see anything wrong with character dolls at all. I've seen many that look amazing, and I think that as long as the owners are happy with them, its fine. ^^
       
    2. Originality has it appeal for me because it creates a sense of superiority. I'm sorry, but from a psychological point of view, it does. I can sugar-coat it by saying it creates a warm, fluffy glow inside that makes one feel special. Which it does. But when you boil it down to it's most primitive nature, it's all about status. And considering the cost of our BJDs, one has to admit, it is a bit of a status symbol whether we like to admit it or not. And this is coming from someone that is totally broke right now. Ha-ha-ha-ha!

      Having said that, I will be honest and say my doll isn't a character doll, and almost her entire look was indeed emulated from what I saw in the actual Volks showroom in LA. At the time, the dress selection was limited (not LE limited, but low on stock) so the only outfit that looked good on my doll (and fitted the image I had of her) was from the display doll. And though I usually try to stay away from copying other people's ideas, it just so happen that the display doll at the time had the exact look I wanted for my doll.

      Having said that, I am very Golum when it comes to my doll. Although her look was emulated from a display doll and I'm really not the sort of person to be petty about such things, I cannot help but feel a sense of "Mine! No one copy her! She's mine! My precious...." And that is why even now her picture is not posted on this site.

      I admit, there is a hypocricy in my actions. Why be possessive when the very essence of my doll's look came from copying a display doll for that matter? It all goes back to that feeling of specialness, of superiority, of privilegeness.

      And to go back to what someone else said before on this thread: Although we may strive for originality when it comes to our BJDs, it cannot really happen because unless you have a one-off or a severely LE doll, chances are that the same combination of eyes, wig, clothing, shoes, and model itself has been created by someone else without even the intention of imitation. One can be given the one millionth clone of a very accessible, standard doll but will find some flaw or quirk to it that will make it special, different, one of a kind so that the sense of mediocrity will be elevated to specialness once again.

      In regards to someone copying my doll's look, I will find it distressing even though her look is not original. However, I would accept it due to her look's circumstances. However, her full name is totally original and I would find it most distressing if someone took her name without the permission I would never give. :)

      I'd say, if it's mass produced, it's fair game. When it's totally one of a kind, back off...please... :))
       
    3. I have a doll and a head both are based on my characters because of my lack of spelling ability both names are rightly unique including surnames to my knowlegde that is. Dispite being my own creation I did find it weird buying different colour wigs for my girl from what I have oringally gave the character but I just have to remember she is my creation and I can mod her look easily.
       
    4. I think Dollfie's aren't so much named to be that character, as they are named after a character. Even if you buy a dollfie to be a character you love, you can always see the dollfie taking on a separate life of it's own.

      The reason I bought my dollfie was so she could cosplay with me! But i named my Tori after Tori Amos, the singer, and she has some of tori's traits but she also has her own. Think of it more like naming a baby then a toy.

      I also think if people want to keep their "original" names then go and copyright them, cus nothing will ever be simply original, a name is a name. It's not a multi-million dollar company. If you named your child that, then fairgame, you can't tell people not to copy.

      The only thing that shouldn't happen is if someone reproduces an original character, from name to outfit etc, and takes credit. Shame in them.
       


    5. Well, your last name isn't taken but I've had a Ciaran for quite a while & never heard the name before I found it in a list of Celtic names. It's pretty amazing that even unusual names are often duplicated so I just don't worry about it.
       
    6. Hummm, interesting idea but I can't fully agree. Originality doesn't of itself create a feeling of superiority. Originality is more the result of free-flowing ideas which don't neccessarily have anything to do with status. It's an exploration of one's inner world, bringing something deeply personal into physical form. Unless you think your ideas are better than everyone else's, I don't see how this creates any sense of superiority. It's a personal journey which can't really be compared to others' as each is unique, arising from life experiences & all are equal in validity.
       
    7. I have a Sooah doll on layaway. I didn't have a clue about what to name her, her personality, etc. and didn't believe that I would have one until she arrived in my home. However ..... a series of books that I recently finished took hold of my imagination until I could no longer deny that my doll will be named after the Herione (female main character) of this series. I just had such a strong feeling about it, that I couldn't dismiss it. Now, even though my doll has acquired a name, personality and some kind of a background/history (as far as the character in the book is concerned), I truly believe that she will evolve past this "character" into something of her own. After all, a book only goes so far. Even if we base our doll on an already existing character (be it fictional or non-fictional) we still don't know EVERYTHING about that character. There is so much more left to the imagination. So in a sense, we still have a great deal of originality left up to our doll. There is only so much information that can be acquired and attributed from those characters to impart to our dolls, but there is a stopping point, at which point our own imagination and originality takes over. We may not know everything about their past and we certainly don't know everything about their future, so we can let our dolls evolve into something more than their "character". So even in taking on an already existing personality (fictional or non-fictional), I truly believe the dolls still take on a life of their own........
       
    8. Yes, Ciarans & Ciaras & Rowans & Dorians are big right now, at least among dolls. It's sort of like all those Madisons & Mackenzies & Tylers being born a few years back. People think, "surely such an outlandish name must be unique", until they run into 300 other people who read the same fantasy novel or comic or Celtic-names-list that they used for inspiration. So unless you're the sort of person who flies into a rage over, say, somebody else choosing the same color blue that you chose for your doll's eyes (and if you are, please seek some blood-pressure medication, so you don't go piff)... then just relax & enjoy the name that you chose as perfect for your doll, whether or not anyone else has it too.
       
    9. I totally prefer the original names. I'm sure that more people have put the same name to their bjd but I prefer it. I don't use nothing (books, mangas...) for inspire me ^^;
       
    10. I'm one for original dolls, but that is based on the fact that I just don't like cosplay. I like the idea of molding my doll to be what I want it to be. I don't look down on cosplay dolls or their owners in the very least, though I do wonder what happens to the doll once the owner decides that they don't like that character anymore. But that is for another time.

      I like the idea of making my own character and giving my doll its own unique personality and name. I tend to use not so common names or names that just kind of appear in my head for them. I don't think I'd be totally offended if someone mimicked my doll, just because they can never actually get my doll's personality, story, etc. They can't.

      All they can do is have a look alike. That's it.
       
    11. I don't have a character doll yet, but i'm planning on the neat future 2. And at a later future it will move to three.

      My first (I'm hoping fingers crossed and all) I get teh fox pet doll from dz. and he will be my kyubi, from naruto. :) Baby kyubi. :). The second one i have planned for around April May of next year, is a baby kisame also naruto. Then next x-mas will be big Kisame.

      I love kisame to death hence why i want his character as dolls. I think it would be fun to have a sharkman running around my house terrozing it. :). plus he will go well with my cosplays. He's my favorite character and I don't feel it being a restriction so much as like a fanfiction :). you can change things just make it fit why the character changed that thing. exp: kisame in non- akatsuki clothing/ before he joined, or he's in the "real world"

      Kyubi is a bit of a different story, I just saw the fox and he screamed to me I'm kyubi fear me.

      I will also have by the end of this year 4 orginal character dolls. they are formed just from whatever personality flows forth from the dolls. I picked them for liking the mold, then waited till they got home and they told me who they are. I choose names this way too. :) Whatever fits. But also my orginal character dolls all cosplay also. Not that they are the character they just dress up like characters. :) usually from the same show I do for that particular con.

      Now on the using the same name, no one owns a name even if you were the first one in this community to use that name for a doll, doesn't make it your name. Cause I'm will to bet it was a name before you used it. If someone was to sent me hate mail claiming i stole their character cause I used the same name and they claimed it first, I'd tell them stfu. That's how I feel about that.
       
    12. I named one of my dolls after a video-game character I like, Kai Setsuna, because I think it's an awesome name (kanji loosely means "the power of the moment"). But the doll is not based on the character at all.

      Personally, I don't have and I don't like "cosplay" character dolls. They're a bit like fan-art to me; cute, but not as good as the real thing.
      To be completely honest I haven't seen very many well-done ones, and that may have contributed to my opinion. ^^;

      I have 'cosplayed' my original character dolls for fun or for conventions (I dressed one of my girls as Shinku from Rozen Maiden for a local con. It was just as fun as dressing up, myself), but I've never kept them that way for very long.
      I like doing original stuff with my dolls. They each have somewhat vague characters because I don't like the idea of restricting myself to one set of looks and personalities. But that's just the way I roll... >.>
       
    13. I don't have any dolls yet, but...

      I'm planning on making two dolls Axel and Roxas from Kingdom Hearts 2, because I *love* the game and I love those characters.

      For me, a character doll is just another way to express your love for a character or series. But for me to put forth the extreme amount of money to get a character doll, I have to see myself playing with the doll and wanting to "bond" with it. For example, I LOVE Sailor Moon and a Sailor Moon BJD would be amazing, but I don't see myself loving the doll the way I would Axel or Roxas.

      I don't know, it sounds odd -- An original doll, to me, has a personality that is all their own, but a character doll will always have that piece of their character's personality in them, even if they don't end up with the same personality as their anime/video game/whatever counterpart.
       
    14. personally I named my dolls after about a week of owning them. Suni got here and well I liked thats she was a soony, so personalised the name. Then Lucious got here, I realised he was seriously Luscious!! he just gets shortened to lush now, hes such a womaniser.
      I have a Elfdoll Red and Lydia on layaway, so I will name them just the same way.
       
    15. Character dolls are still open to individualising/personalising just as much as original dolls are.

      I am frantically saving for a Dark Elf Soo so I can turn her into a moon elf. She will be an original character and partner for a male elf doll I am also hoping to aquire and turn into Drizzt Do'Urden, a character from the Forgotten Realms books.

      My Hitomi was named after a manga character from Appleseed, although she looks nothing like her namesake - her name just stuck!
       
    16. Personally I prefer original names over character names. For right now I only have one BJD and he has an original name, and I'd prefer it that way to not restrict what I can dress him up as or change him up and what not. Though if I ever do gain enough money, I may buy a BJD and name it after a character and dress them like the character, but right now I like the variety of an original :)
       
    17. I have 5 dolls, 3 of which are character based from animes; Shido and Riho from Nightwalker, and Kisa from Fruits Basket. My other 2 are original characters, Dorian and Michael.

      For me both ways bring out a great creativity. With character dolls, you have the fun of figuring out how to dress, style, accessorize your doll after that main character. Then you also can have a lot of fun by switching around outfits and finding new things that fit the character. And for fanfiction writers, like myself, it's lots of fun to have your doll mimic the story you're writing at the time.

      But with original dolls, of course, you have this unlimited span of choices to make, and it's a continual development process. My Dorian was originally supposed to be based off one of my own RP characters, but he totally turned into his own personality, and I loved that about him. (Maybe the hot pink default make up from DoD helped him along. lol)
       
    18. Most of my dolls are original characters I created. But I did have a Jareth doll, because I love the movie Labyrinth and always wanted to have my own Jareth. However, there came a point where I had to sell one of my dolls because I needed some money. The only one I could even consider selling was Jareth. Why? Because he wasn't "my" doll. I didn't create him, and while I thought he was beautiful, he didn't mean as much to me as the characters I created myself, their personalities, their looks, ect.

      As for the names, I do like to try to be original, but mostly I choose names that I've always liked, and if another doll on the forum has that name, oh well. Admittedly, I do like it if my doll is the only one with a particular name. So far I've been lucky; I haven't run across another Journey, or Lore, or Evensong yet (not to say they don't exist, I just haven't run across them yet). But if I ever do, I won't go screaming that they're attempting to steal MY character (unless the doll also looks suspiciously like mine and has the same personality and history and such).

      I recently ordered one of the Feeple Puki Puki sets, and I'm thinking of naming her Wisp. I'd owned a Soom mini gem once that I also named Wisp, but I ended up selling her because I didn't play with her much, and the person I sold her to kept the name Wisp. That doesn't mean I can't buy another doll and name HER Wisp as well, though. I like the name, and I want to use it for a doll. It's as simple as that.

      Wisp, btw, is a name I borrowed from one of my favorite Terry Brooks' novels, The Wishsong of Shannara. I also love the name Quickening, which is from another of his novels, The Druid of Shannara. I use it as a penname to write fanfiction, but I intend to use it for a doll someday, as well. I like the names, but the characters will be completely my own. :)
       
    19. All the dolls I own or plan to own will all be original characters. Though I find the idea of character based dolls interesting. And I am going to have my curent boy cosplay one of the characters from loveless. So he will be my own original character who will take on that persona when he wares the costume.

      As for names, Tynan and Torin are Galic names I found in a baby book of names and I love there meanings and the way they sound. I did do a search after I got Tynan to see if anyone else had a boy by that name and I was supprised to find one. So on many occasions you can find a name anywhere outside this hobby name your doll and find that someone else has already used it. I think it is silly to worry about other people stilling your names.
       
    20. I like the fun you can have makeing an original doll.
      Inspiration is definietly a big part of it, whether you get it from a person,
      anime, book, etc. I am usually almost always inspired. Never am I moved
      to own or do something that I like, just because I like it. It's hard to explain xDD​