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For Second Hand Owners - Your stance in changing the doll's name

Dec 21, 2016

    1. Hi all,

      I was just wondering, for owners of second hand dolls, how do you feel about changing their names? I have a second hand doll and as a form of respect, I asked the previous owner if I could change her name once I get her. How about you? Do you feel like there's a need to ask for permission? Ever had an experience where the previous owner was adamant that you not change the name? What did you do?

      Thanks!
       
      • x 1
    2. No? If you pay a bunch of money for a doll, it's rightfully yours and you can do whatever you want with it. Definitely something as simple as a name change. When I buy dolls, I usually don't name them until I have their character straightened out tho lol. If a previous owner had a problem with that (and I can't fathom why they would), I'd change their name anyways
       
      • x 11
    3. My doll - my imagination - my character - my name. Dolls are a creative outlet for me. I don't think of them as an object with an attachment to a name or theme. If someone sells their doll it's 100 percent mine and becomes my canvas to work with. I would never ask permission to alter a doll I bought second hand. If a seller requested that a doll remain as sold I would pass on the purchase. I've seen sellers state a preference for any buyer who wants to keep a special face up intact. I've never experienced anything more and would think it unfair if a previous owner tried to control my creative freedom.
       
    4. I have a friend who has a hard time changing the name of a second-hand doll, because to her the doll already has a name and it would be “mean“ to the doll to just give it a new one again.
      However, I am a lot less spiritual about this, to me the doll is first and always a canvas to work with.
      I don't think it has a “soul“ or whatever reason there might be to think you can't change the name if the doll had one already.
      It's not like an adopted child that is used to their name.

      So, just change it.
      Don't ask for permission, I doubt most people care/expect or even want you to keep using the name.
      They just want to sell on the doll, not their character.
       
      • x 3
    5. Doll sculpt already have a name (given by creator), so, why it is ok when first owner change name, but bad when second owner change name? And what if first owner give doll strange name - look at doll profiles, I dont want to offend some owners, but somethimes their doll name sound very strange/unatractive because of language difference.
       
      • x 9
    6. I see it like the others.
      You Pay for the Doll, as they Payed before you.
      So the "right" to Change the Doll to your thoughts is yours and yours alone.

      The owner of one of my Twins get mad if they saw that i cut the Wig. :D
      It was just a Wig and i buy it with the Doll so what?
      It doesn't matter for me so don't worry. Do what you would like to do with your Doll.
      And if someone complain don't give a f*ck about it ;)
       
      • x 3
    7. It's your doll, do whatever you want with it.

      If the previous owner really cared they wouldn't have sold it to you in the first place.
       
      • x 6
    8. Nope, it is an inanimate object that you pay for, therefore you can do whatever you want with it. I'd seriously side-eye any seller that had such a request.
       
      • x 3
    9. I have bought many dolls second hand but I don't think I've ever purchased a doll knowing what the previous owner had named them. Conversely I think it's a bit less expected to know the doll's previous name and keep it. I did actually sell a doll head to a personal friend once and she asked me if it would be okay for her to keep his name. I told her that would be just fine! But to me, this was an uncommon situation, and it was an honor and a symbol of our friendship. Of course, she completely customized the doll with a new style and character -- only the actual name was kept. :3nodding:

      I think the buyer should always feel they have the right to make the choices about their new doll. I think it's very poor etiquette to try and control decisions made about dolls once you have already sold them, even if you aren't thrilled about some things. I understand that we can all develop a very personal relationship with a beloved doll, but if you are selling them, then it's time to let go.

      I'm not comfortable with people breathing down my neck about their previous dolls. I would certainly not purchase a doll knowing they would come with that sort of contract. ;)
       
      • x 2
    10. imo if someone is selling a doll, and you've paid for it, they've given up their "right" to request you keep it's name/character/etc because it's no longer their doll :)
       
      • x 1
    11. i think its polite to ask for permission i would do the same but as for me i dont mind if people changed my doll name after they adopted it
       
    12. Why should I ask permission to change something I now own? If the owner sell the doll they obviously don't want it any more. If I buy I doll I do so to get my own character a shell. I have bought a lot of dolls second hand, I have never asked permission to change them. For me that is kinda in the deal. I buy a doll, I will change it to what I want it to be. My Sard and my Sha was bought from really nice people and they both were "Ohh can't wait to see what you will do with him". Since they knew their old character would not stay and I would change the dolls to fit me and my characters. If a seller had that as a thing for buying their doll, I would buy from somebody else. I buy your old resin part, I am not interesting in your old character. The only dolls I would keep their characters is the Volks DD character series like the Vocaloid, Saber and so on.
       
      • x 2
    13. I think it is expected that you would change the name of the doll. I would think you would have to ask for permission to keep the old name. I did sell a doll once where the new owner wanted to keep the name, but I didn't mind. Even with the same name, he didn't look like my doll anymore, he went from wild beast to cutie pie.
       
      • x 10
    14. Most sellers don't even mention the doll's name at all. It's just a deal. Imho, once the doll is put up for sale, it can be considered "blank", even if sold with faceup, wig, eyes, etc. You buy it — you name it.
       
      • x 5
    15. Like many have said, once you buy a doll (new or used) it is up to you on whether you change the name or not.

      I have bought several secondhand dolls where the previous owner had given them a name and a personality, and they had also posted plenty of pictures online. None of the previous owners have requested that I not change their names because I think they understand that a new buyer, who spent enough money on the doll, can do almost anything they like with their new acquisition.

      As a doll owner, I recommend that you do what you feel is right for you. Any routine that makes you a happy and a satisfied dolly owner takes priority over what any of us thinks.

      It's your dolly, so have fun. :)
       
    16. Never did that. Most of my second hand dolls are from Mandarake anyways, so even if they had names before I bought them - I just don't know them because Mandarake doesn't care about that kind of thing. They're not selling you "My darling Cutie-Pie", they're selling you "Volks Daughter of the 13th F-45 headmold" or something like that. ;)
       
      • x 1
    17. It depends. All the secondhand dolls i've owned if I have been told their name, i tend to keep it because it feels like it's "their name" you know? Unless I really hated it. But quite often they don't tell you the doll's name, so it's a blank slate.

      I considered for a while changing the name of one of my Makies because her original name I didn't much like (she's called Sweetie which isn't a proper name) but when i tried it just didn't feel right. Her name is Sweetie and that's all there is to it. Drat.
      But I just can't call her anything else. It's her identity.

      I've never been asked what a doll's name is when I sell it but I do quite often ask sellers if their doll has a name because I like knowing their history. When I bought my RS Song I actually searched her online and managed to trace her previous owners, but could find no record of a name. So she arrived with no known name and I gave her one (well, she told me her name) but I do like to know a doll's history and there's no real reason for it other than i'm curious lol.

      I have a doll who's history is a total mystery to me and it bugs the heck outta me because I WANT TO KNOW. He's a Makie who ended up in a charity shop, I mean, how does that even happen with a ooak 3d printed doll? Because of that i'm like "who the heck donated him and why?". Who designed him? Who was he?
      I think I managed to find his original owner but I chickened out emailing him because it felt a bit stalkerish ahahaha. "Oh hi, I bought your doll from a guy who found him in a charity shop and was wondering when you bought him and what his name is" just seems like a really randomly strange thing to message someone ahahahaha.

      But dang i'd like to know.

      Like this one time I found a Tonner doll for £5 in a charity shop, in his original mailer box. Who the hell donates a Tonner doll to charity? And why just one single doll? It was so weird.

      So yeah, I like to know the history because it interests me. Particularly when they're a somewhat unique or unusual doll.
      That includes their original name and identity, even if I don't end up keeping it I might use it as inspiration for their new identity.

      Unless i've bought a doll to be a specific character, having a name already often saves me a job anyway lol. Naming things is hard!

      I think it'd be pretty wierd for a seller to give a damn what you did to an item once they sold it though. It's being sold, it's no longer your concern whether they keep the faceup or name or hack it apart, their property man.
      I do quite like to see dolls i've sold in their new homes with their new lives, but once i've decided to sell something I divest all emotional connect to it. It's just an object now, what do I care what you do with it?
       
      • x 2
    18. I expect sellers to understand that, when they choose to sell a doll, they are giving up all rights to it, creative and otherwise. As such, I'm not interested in what they called the doll when it belonged to them, nor would I ask permission to change that name. For me, it would be like asking the previous owner of your home for permission to paint the walls; they no longer live there, so their opinions are irrelevant.
       
      • x 3
    19. I have quite a few second hand dolls and I don't know any of their original names. I don't really even want to know their original name. I want to see them as the character I have planned for them and only that character. I wouldn't mind if someone told me what they had called the doll or even about the character they had created for it, but there's no way I'd consider keeping the original name/character.
       
      • x 1
    20. If I'm going buy a doll secondhand, then it will become mine to do with as I please, naming included. I wouldn't even bother to ask about the original character, as I buy dolls to shell my own.
       
      • x 1