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Dolls based off/in tribute to loved ones who have passed away?

May 3, 2012

    1. My Siberian Husky Belle died late last year. She was my white wolf girl as she was a silver husky (white fur with black tips) She loved water and the Soom free choice event came just after she died. I purchased a grey Cass mermaid as my tribute to her. It's a work in progress at the moment as since I ordered her I was diagnosed with Hashimotos, my Mum had a stroke and hubby who has PTSD from Afghanistan had a breakdown, I'm also doing IVF so as soon as things settle I will complete her. I need to still get the right eye colour as Belle had golden brown eyes and I'm going to make or purchase a white wig with black tips. Blushing and face up will have to wait until after Winter as my spray area had been taken over with various crap over the last year.
       
    2. This thread is so sweet. It made me sniffle. I'm reminded of Chobits and how Minoru had Yuzuki modeled after his sister. Such heartfelt wonderful stories.
       
    3. Yes I have two. The First one is my Bobobie Mei I kept the name, because my Grandmother was May and she inspired me to do many things in my life. She past away in 2000 and I miss her so much. aso I just bought another doll my KDF Pine I wanted him because he looks so much like actor Chris Pine when he was a child and so when I got some money from My Grandmother May this year (from a savings that finally matured) I used the some of the money to buy him to be a gift from my Grandmother. It was good timing to when the money came because when I ordered the doll with the time it took to make he came just in time for my birthday this year so he is my birthday gift from my late grandmother.

      Also my mom who is not really into dolls was looking on my FB doll group for pictures and found this little angel boy doll from Doll Leaves and she fell in love and had me buy it for her in honor of my brother who passed away when he was a baby and now she has her little angel doll to remind her of him.
       
    4. My newest doll is based off of my childhood dog, Maggie. She was very near and dear to my heart and losing her was probably one of the hardest things I had to go through as a child. It took me a good six years (on and off) before I found the perfect sculpt for her.
       
    5. I named my first BJD girl, a Heeah, after my childhood friend Sunny. We lost contact but she was a very special girl and naming a doll after her feels like I still have her in my life and of course this makes my Sunny so special.
       
    6. I think I'd only go as far as a name. I have a current doll that's getting a name of a loved one, both in her honor and because I love the name and think it's really suited to her. But then again Jade's not dead.

      For me, my dolls are all part of one universe in a lot of ways, and because they are fantasy dolls, they probably won't ever be straight up memorials, but rather tributes in more subtle ways.
       
    7. If I were to ever win the lottery, I'd desperately love to put together 2 dolls to resemble my great grandparents in a beautiful photo we have of them in their youth in the 1920's...that would be awesome to me *dreams*
       
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    8. This is a beautiful thread, my heart goes out to all of you that have lost someone. I recently lost a very beloved someone too so I feel like responding here.

      To answer OP's question: I don't feel it's creepy to make a doll as a tribute to a beloved pet or person, although if it's a person I can see how giving them a very detailed resemblance could be too much, I personally prefer my possible tribute doll to be a stylized (yo-sd sized) chibi, the real her was far too beautiful, intricate, complicated and powerful to accurately capture in (and reduce to) a resin shell. A chibi would symbolize her, the things I loved about her and associated with her and my love for her, not her physical shell that could never be accurately reproduced and that, however beautiful others thought she was, she struggled with her entire life.

      That said, even if it is a close resemblance, if that is what the survivor needs to cope and the doll is not a full on REPLACEMENT of the person they lost (and no doll ever could be, let's be honest) then that is what they should do. I don't think it's anybody else's business really if someone makes a tribute/memorial. Grieving is one of the most personal things there is and one of the few things in life one can and should be completely selfish about (as in nobody else gets to determine how you grieve and remember that person, as long as you are not obviously damaging yourself or others in the process).

      I am contemplating making a tribute doll myself, like I said, or maybe even two. Late last year my best friend was killed on impact in a freak car crash. She lived in Australia, I live in the Netherlands. I couldn't go to her funeral, because I was under treatment for breast cancer at the time that couldn't be postponed (the cancer is gone now, I was on the plane to Sydney 5 hours after my last treatment).

      I had the pleasure of being friends with her for 5 years, but I barely have visual memory of her. We met in person a few times, but we mostly talked on skype, whatsapp and phone for hours every day, we roleplayed, I was the only one she felt safe and trusted to talk to about all the crap going on in her life. The last time I saw her in person was almost 4 years ago, we were making plans to finally meet up again after I got better. Maybe it's because I never got to see her or hold her IRL apart from those few times, even though I wanted to so badly, that I would like to have a little doll of her.

      I'm also contemplating with the idea of making a chibi of me, symbolizing the old me that also "died" through the chemo and the loss of my friend. Somehow it seems like a lovely idea to have little dolls of us that can be together in their doll world forever like we always promised to never leave eachother, and snuggle like we did so much online and wear all the cosplays we were planning but will never do. Somehow it feels more... balanced and better too, for doll her to have a doll me as a counterpart rather dan doll her being literally my possession and toy, seeing how she was the dominant and protective one in life.

      I don't think it's creepy or wrong, I do however kind of feel that I somehow need the approval of her bf and father before making a doll to symbolize her, even though in the end it will be my choice. It does feel right though, I already found a wig for her that looks so perfect it almost made me cry. I have no money though, and I don't know how much time I'll be allowed and if the cancer will stay away, so for now it's all just an idea.

      I hope this wasn't too deeply personal, I just wanted to share.
       
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    9. I recently lost my beloved cat, who was very much like a part of my family; he was my one constant companion for the past 12 years, and I'd hoped he could have stayed with me even longer. As I'm healing from the loss, I've started considering getting some kind of cat-like sculpt and blushing it with his markings (which were quite unique). I haven't settled on what I would use yet, but I'm hoping that FL will release a cat-themed RealFee, and I can get a Pukisha-type faceplate to add to it. I don't want to go pure animal, more anthro, and from what I've seen of the existing RLF sculpts, they'd have the right "personality" to capture my precious little boy.

      I'm not sure I could do it with a person who'd passed away, but I want to hold onto my cat's spirit any way I can, and I've been feeling like a tribute doll might be a good step. (I do already have a tribute plush, a stuffed cat from Build a Bear that has some of his fur and toys tucked inside with the heart, so it's less something I can hold and more something I can see and enjoy in the case of the doll.)
       
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    10. Yup. My first doll is somewhat based off someone who passed away a while ago. I say "somewhat" because it's a long story and it's pretty hard to explain. Anyway, it's more of a tribute doll rather than a representational one.

      I don't regret getting him, and it actually hasn't occurred to me that some might consider it creepy. As long as it's done respectfully, and you understands it's just a doll and not the real person/animal, I think there's nothing wrong with it.

      One thing that I haven't thought of before getting the doll is that giving him a physical body means that I could lose him again. There was a thread of someone's dolls burning up in a house fire, and now I'm terrified of it happening to him as well.
       
    11. Not a doll, I kind of find that a little creepy, But I have wanted to make an online store and name it "Leona's." Something like that, in honor of my mother who passed away.
       
    12. I think its a fine idea for someone, but I couldn't do it. It depends on the situation, but if it was someone I actually loved, well, then I wouldn't like the idea of a little person representing them. It seems too finite to me. Like I would want them to represented by bigger, more life-affirming ideas, like nature or something. For example, they way people plant a tree as a memorial or something. A doll seems too limiting to represent a person to me, like in the end, it's just another thing you'll have to let go of. But I understand how it wouldn't feel like that to someone else.