Fan Art/Tribute Dolls: Your Feelings

I don't mind tribute and 'fandolls'. I would even be willing to buy one- though it's unlikely I'd make my own due to laziness . But if a company came out with a character I loved with a mold I loved I would certainly not mind.

The only fan dolls I wanted to do, but it fell through, was Trinity Blood Isaac MnM, and on Y!J I saw a vinyl Akari from the manga/anime Aria and she was so cute! I wouldn't mind her in resin.

 

I'm all for them, probably because my Dollzone Ying is Jezabel from Count Cain/Godchild.
(Well, we're working on that. He still needs a lighter wig, and I'm slowly building his wardrobe.)
My next doll will be Cassian, from the same series.

I don't think it's an less creative of me... These are characters I love, characters that actually brought me closer together with my best friend, through RP... They're characters that mean a lot to me, even if they aren't mine. (I do plan to share him on Kaori Yuki's twitter one day, once his outfit is complete, and his wig is right. )

I also have original dolls. Florian, my RS Mai, is mine, and any other MSDs I plan to get will me mine.

But Jezabel, Cassian, and some day Cain are just my little fandom projects, and they make me happy.
Nothin wrong there. :3

 

I haven't really thought about it in terms of creativity or cleverness. With my fan dolls, my thoughts ran along the lines of "Hey, I can have such-and such for a doll. Shiny!"

It can be a bit of work trying to replicate a specific look though, especially if the character is from a visual medium that does not care for the laws of physics. I'm thinking along the lines of hair and clothing that can stand at nigh on impossible angles.

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with it at all, it can even open some people's eyes to something they never knew existed before, thus gaining the creator more revenue in the long run. And I think the very well done fan works can be incredibly creative and must take more work than something of their own creation.

 

I have to agree with that one, I personally prefer original dolls, not that I think creating a doll based on a character is wrong or that it is not difficult as I am sure it is and takes a lot of time. I just like being able to have something that you won't see everywhere else. I feel sometime fan art or characters made to resemble other peoples work, can give something less value or make them to... normal I suppose, I am more prone to wanting a doll (or customizing a doll) so that is is specifically for me not something you can see ten to 20 images of the same thing done over and over again.

But again at the same time, I am sure not all the dolls will look the same or even at times be close to one another even if they are based on the same character as everyone has a different opinion on how the character looks ect I dont know though maybe I am too wary or mass production.

 

I like seeing character-based tribute dolls, but I don't think I'd ever do it. I don't have any characters that I really want to create, and I think it would get too time-consuming or difficult.

I prefer my doll's looks to be more spontaneous in nature. I feel that with tribute dolls, there isn't a lot of room for spontaneity; like, people are going to know if you decided the character doll doesn't have the same eyes/wig as they've been written or depicted to have.

With original creations, if I decide I'd rather my doll be one way than the other, I can do that and no one would ever know, and no one could point out that my doll is blond rather than brunette.

As far as my dolls are now, the first one is the only one who was truely spontaneous, though the others come from her story. That being said, Stephen and eventually Nouna, had changes to their look. But no one can say I got their eyes or hair color wrong becausse they're my characters, and unless I mention it, no one will know.

 

If it was a company /selling these types of dolls/, we'd have a problem. But people just doing it on their own to show their love for something doesn't seem to be a problem to me.

 

I'm a cosplayer - I must admit I've never liked the idea of slavishly copying the costumes on film/anime/TV - a lot of that comes from the WORK involved! In order to cosplay successfully (that means, so that other cosplayers stop, gasp & grab for camera - or else so you place or win the Masquerade...) you have to be soooo good at recreating - dye your fabric, make your weapons &/or jewellry, figure out the underpinnings so that what you see hangs properly, etc etc etc.
It's very similiar to my SCA days of making period garb - which I had to document as authentic in order to enter for Arts & Sciences.
So the idea that creating a cosplay of, say, Aragorn (sooooo much work) or that incredible Boromir which is I believe JID size, being somehow less creative = LOL
Then characters from fiction - I mean, some authors may be meticulous in describing how their characters look, but most are NOT. So making a cosplay (or a tribute doll...) of a character from a novel requires some original designs.
As for the doll's own personality, character, etc, there is NO reason not to have an original character that cosplays all these other characters. I've got a whole town of original characters LOL & they are cosplayers - later will be forming a theatre group (so they can put on some of my original stories). So each of my dolls will present MULTIPLE characters.

 

it varies from everyone someone think it is amazing but the others think not
but i think it's a kind of art

 

I think every doll is creative. Maybe I personally wouldn't have done it but creative nonetheless. Some people don't have the want or the ability to create a character uniquely theirs. But the dedication and the love is what makes the doll special.

I do think that tribute dolls are creative especially from a book. To take something from written word and make it tangible takes time, takes effort, and takes a lot of love for that character. Plus, with the written word, people 'see' the character in their mind differently than maybe another person. The doll becomes the manifestation of how that person sees that character and that is interesting to me. I might not have seen that same character in that way. Does that make sense? I think dolls taken from movies and TV series are also creative. To take something and make it your own ideal version is such an awesome thing. Again it shows love for that character. Maybe what's shown isn't the exact way that person would do it so they create their own version.

Then again, I'm a touch biased since I own a MnM. That's love right there.

 

I don't see anything wrong with recreating a character in doll form. It doesn't show a lack of creativity, simply a devotion toward the character portrayed by the doll. Personally, I would love to have a bjd that looked like Loki from the Avengers/Tom Hiddleston simply because I love his facial structure and character.

 

I don't have a problem with recreating a character in doll form if that's what someone wants to do. It's not something I would really do because I don't have that much money so I'm concentrating on working on my own dolls. It's easier for me to write when I have a visual reference. I DO dress them up as characters that kind of worked into how the characters act (like when I dressed up Daniel Hays as Zuko from ATLA).
I do have a problem with people getting mini-me's of an exact face of a living person. That just seems a bit- off to me.

 

I personally like seeing peoples different interpretation of already created characters, be it 2d or 3d art. I actually have a couple character's in the works based off of my favorite anime (OH NO WEEABO DFJKSDHF) characters.

 

I wasn't originally planning on having a character doll, I thought the concept was neat and there were some that really pulled it off well and you could tell effort was poured into it, and then there were some that were kind of slapped together... But when my Bernard came home only a week from Detour(only my second time going to Detour, mind you, I'm actually new to all of this 'Anime' and 'Manga' and stuff, the only thing I really go gaga over is Pandora Hearts which is apparently not very well known, and I found that on accident while searching 'Alice in Wonderland' on Yahoo XD ) I had the 'brilliant' idea of dressing him up as Gilbert Nightray, my favorite character from Pandora Hearts, to combine my two greatest 'obsessions' as it were XD
He wasn't meant to stay as Gilbert, he actually had a different name and ideas, but then he came and I spent so much time blushing his skin tone, trying to make his faceup as accurate as possible in a different medium, and then spending countless hours to make his outfit (which I didn't actually get to finish by Detour as my sewing machine decided 13 hours in a row was its limit and kept trying to eat his jacket after that, but after getting that far I was determined to finish sometime, dangit!). In short, I spent way too much time on making him Gilbert and neglected my own costume for Detour XD

But then he decided to stay Gilbert after that and I've been having some issues as far as dolly-attachments go. It's one thing to cuddle Promith or Kle on my lap while I'm reading a book or on the computer(yes, I can and will have my dollies on my lap when I'm indulging in quiet and relaxing activities, it's not like I'm going to all of a sudden jump up from the computer or the chair and fling them across the room in doing so, although it's only my larger dolls I will have on my lap, my little Faeries stay safe on the shelf) and do fun little things with them in photostories now and then, but to do anything like that with poor little Gil-dolly feels, well, weird... I have taken a few artistic liberties in his 'creation' as it were, and there were certain parts of his outfit that I couldn't make or find so had to improvise on a bit and they actually ended up a lot fancier looking than just the straight metal pieces they originally were... So in these ways I sort of view him as my doll but he is still not my character, so it feels weird to have him grouped with my other dolls in a photograph or as part of a photostory because I am always wondering 'is this in character of him?'(although I do have one photostory for him that is an in character as I have gotten, I think) or I look down and see a dolly that is in need of some dolly-affection and then halfway through the chapter of a book with him on my lap I all of a sudden feel like one of those rabid fan-girls who take things too far and have to set him aside on the shelf to read. So in a few ways he's kind of the one suffering for being a character dolly...

I started this with a coherent purpose in mind but then I started rambling, sorry if this is long, but I think it gets my message across?

As far as worry about being more or less creative with him than with my other 'original character' dollies, he definitely took the cake when it came to his outfit and trying to figure out a design. With an original doll it doesn't matter altogether too much if you can't find something exactly the way you wanted it because you have room to improvise or alter a design. With a character doll it was kind of 'this or nothing'. There was a little bit of 'cleverness' involved in trying to recreate large pieces as something much smaller (I could find all manner of D-links in the size I needed for the back of his jacket but goodness knows I couldn't find any square-links in the size I needed anywhere I searched, so I went with much fancier looking square metal bracelet pieces I found, although the bracelet I took them from did not survive...) but overall it was a bit more of a challenge than I originally thought it was going to be.

Also, as far as originality goes, I've found very few people on DoA here who actually know about Pandora Hearts, and only one other person who has a Pandora Hearts doll(and it's a Xerxes Break doll), so in this respect, mine is the very first and only Gilbert Nightray doll(that I know of) so far and that makes him 'original' enough for me XD

Although I do wonder now and then, if the author of Pandora Hearts knew about this Gilbert Nightray dolly (the Xerxes Break one, too, while I'm at it), what would she think of them? Would she think they were cool or weird? Accurate or not so much? As far as interacting with other dolls, would this be in character? Sometimes it really makes me want to know!

Again, sorry for the ramble! Oh wow, it really was a long ramble... Maybe I'll go back and try to condense it...

 

Hm. While I understand that people feel most comfortable in a world already created that they can adhere to (i.e. Harry Potter characters, Legend of Zelda characters), I prefer original characters far, far much more. It's not that I believe that every person who makes a fan character is unoriginal, but I tend to stress creativity and using one's own ideas in arts and crafts and things like this.

I am also not a fan of character dolls, but that's just my opinion. However, if someone loves, say ... Dean from Supernatural so much that they want to make a doll of them, go ahead. I just hope that they still love Supernatural that much when they're older!

Again, this is my opinion. No one has to share it.

 

I think it shows more of an admiration than anything else. As an example, I plan on doing a fan-doll of Sailor Saturn from the Sailor Moon series. Sailor Moon is the anime that got me into anime, and Saturn has been my favorite character from before I ever saw her on the show (I did a lot of research online, lol).

Unfortunately, the available commercially-produced dolls of Sailor Saturn are few and far between (not to mention INSANELY expensive and lacking the posability of BJDs) so I'm planning on getting a 50cm Obitsu and turning her into my own Sailor Saturn. Please keep in mind that I also have several dolls that are OCs and therefore are not related to any pre-existing franchise, so I don't see it as a lack of creativity that I want to do this. It's simply in honor of my favorite character from one of my favorite anime/manga series of all time.

 

I usually pick out dolls that have the same aesthetics as my favorite anime-characters. For example Xavier, my DikaDoll Autumn looks a lot like Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji and my Adler Abelard looks like he'd suit well in a Kotetsu T. Kaburagi -cosplay (from Tiger and Bunny). And I'm thinking about getting a MSD or SD boy who could pull off a nice Ritsuka cosplay from Loveless.

So in a way, I do have my favorite characters in mind while I'm browsing for my future dolls. But when and if I dress them up to look like, for example, anime-characters, I consider it as the doll "cosplaying" as the character. When I'm getting a doll, I do come up with their own personalities I myself have created. I think it makes me bond with the dolls better when they are truly a creation of my own.

Having that said, I don't oppose if someone wants their dolls to "be" the character they look like or "cosplay". It's the same as owning a concrete version of you favorite character as an action figure, statue, or the like. Which is totally fine too, and fun in its own way. :3

 

Hahah, this was totally the thought that popped into my head in regards to the topic. I've never heard anyone accuse a person of being "uncreative" or "unoriginal" for owning an action figure or maquette, so why in the world would there be anything wrong with wanting or having a BJD fashioned after a favourite character? And that's to say nothing of all the time, effort and creativity it would take to pull it off effectively and bring the character to doll form, as others have pointed out.

I don't see it as anything that should be questioned or that anyone should feel the need to justify.

 

I agree with this completely. I would relate action figures and BJDs in this instance. You are doing tribute, not claiming it as your own. Pulling it off still takes effort and creativity, definitely.

 

Well, I have made several dolls of characters from books, video games, and anime... I don't know if it takes less creativity to make a doll based on someone else's character rather than my own original character, but it is certainly MORE FRUSTRATING to try to make something accurate to the original creator's vision...