How have your dolls "grown up"?

Heh, my three big favorites have pretty much "matured" a great deal over the years. While I did reshell them into literally taller dolls and changed their faceups, the "grow-up" was pretty evident through wardrobe upgrades.

Their most recent group pic:

Informal Formal by Yela Gatchalian-David, on Flickr

The same characters back in 2021

Spoiler: Only one of them still has the same face sculpt

The Core Group by Yela Gatchalian-David, on Flickr

 

I don't re-shell my main cast. Once they have the role it is theirs for life. But, they do grow up.

When they first started in my story they were sophomores in high school. Photographing the dolls, and doing faceups was all fairly new for me, as was sewing up clothing for them. After the first year I began to change things about them. Once a year after the major photoshoot where I take all my pictures for my web comic, I scrub them up, modify some of the face-ups, make a new clothing for them. Their clothing style has definitely changed through the past three years, different hairstyles that suit them better as they age, some gained tattoos and piercing's, every year they get just a little bit older. The next photoshoot s going to be the last school year for my starting cast, they will be graduating and getting on with their adult lives. It is fun for me to watch them 'grow up'.

In the beginning some of them had little siblings being played by my YOSD's. They would look older now so I have some of my MSD's cameo as the original sibling characters, but they aren't actually a re-shell, they are just playing the part for the photo shoot only. The MSD's are their own selves, they are just tiny actors.

I do have quite a few seniors and uncles in the story, and of course my 62cm guys can't look as mature as them, so I added a supernatural element to my story as to why they won't get any taller. I will still change up the clothing and style to reflect them becoming more mature.

 

Considering that my dolls are literally the ageless elves of Tolkien, they can't really age physically. But they would reflect the different ages of the world around them through wigs/clothes. They definitely went through a "let's try on all kinds of clothes! even modern day!" but now I am getting the vibe from them that they would really to pare it down to truly fantasy looks and perhaps pass on those modern day outfits to other folks. So I guess their tastes have matured.

 

I would say that my dolls are kind of frozen in time overall but also that they do sometimes change ages over time... Just not always in one direction.

I tend to think of all times I know of simultaneously (in my general experience of life) and I think of the doll characters that way too. I like thinking about how the past and the present and the future are all intertwined. Each doll shell can represent one character at a range of different times, so sometimes I will go through a phase where I feel the character is 20, then maybe 16, then maybe 30, and it's just an ongoing exploration or thought experiment. I make small styling changes that fit my ideas in the moment.

There is at least one occasion where I have had basically the same doll character represented at two different ages. Right now I have Dimitri and another doll Hawa, who is just a version of him twice as old.

As for letting them grow and change over all the years I just follow their lead and go through different hairstyles, clothing styles, faceup changes as time goes by. Sometimes I change a doll a lot but still feel like it's the same character and this makes sense to me because even if it's not so much about outward age, time does pass, and with the passage of time we all change. I try to just follow a stream of gradual changes with them all that make sense to me.

 

One their character is set, mine have fixed ages.

My first BJD, Alphie- over there in my icon picture, a Luts CP Delf Chiwoo is perpetually ten years old, His elder brother Jean-Claude (Volks SD13 SchoolA) is perpetually 13 (and perpetually disgusted that a ten year old is taller than he is).


The eldest in the family, Sera (Elfdoll Soah), is somewhat undefined in age as I've never really been able to settle on her exact age - somewhwere in the 18 to 22 range so it's never been specified exactly. Old enough to be guardian to all the younger ones is the only settled part.


Teddy

 

The little pet (Nendoroid Amaterasu, hehe) now hangs out with their younger children who are MSD sized, hehe!

 

My dolls have evolved quite a bit over the years (almost 2 decades now …) - mainly due to me acquiring new skills and changes in taste. The characters have developed accordingly, but they are timeless beings who don't age. Its more due to their style that they look childlike or more mature. I've retouched and redone their faceups quite a bit … wanting to try a new technique or giving them a different facial expression.

I'm oh so guilty of reshelling - especially the main cast of my ancient storyline: Lil, Storm, Zooey, Kinga, Parker. I've finally let the story be the story, enjoy my dolls and let them develop in whichever way they want.

Spoiler: Proof of madness - reshelling ramble …

Kinga past (Elfdoll Nabee)
Echoes from Another Time by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

This character even had a super dark face painting in the beginning, couldn’t find a photo …

My Elfdoll girls went through a lot of trouble on behalf of reshelling other characters who looked more realistic for poor oldschool Nabee

Kinga present (Elfdoll Sian)
Hygge time by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

Kinga future
Realising I only took one single photo of „Kinga present“ in almost 10 years (see above),I’ve decided that I don’t actually need a doll of this character.


Jin past (female) - was ED Sian
Mask Shop by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

Jin Soo present(non-binary) - is ED Nabee
Little Jin Mooves the Qi by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

Lots of changes: My first doll Leto then and … then:
Then and now by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

Spoiler: Another look

Leto by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

Leto 2025
Mini-Meet Barbiecon Hamburg by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

 

I consider my dolls to evolve, not that they age, but they become more solidly who they speak to me they are over time.
I sometimes miss taking photos before they evolve, and I hate when I do that, because its like missing your child's 1 yr grow-up photo! But when the inspiration hits, there's no going back!
I have had a project simmering in my head of creating a photo album of each dolls evolution, because it is interesting to see the changes over time.
One of my girls has developed a bit of a kink and really likes 1940's baby-doll dresses and play parties. She is mature enough to welcome the innocence of childhood! None of my other kids could pull this off, even if I forced them to.
So your question draws importance to this simmering project, and being sure to document the changes! I'll come back and add to this thread in time with the results! *taps follow*

 

My dolls have fixed ages, but some have changed over time. For example, my Volks MSD F-29 was originally supposed to be Ellie from the frst The Last of Us game. Then I lost interest in the series, and I was no longer keen on having a character doll. As i didn't want to wade into the secondhand market, I eventually revamped the doll into Aster, an original character.

 

I sort of have characters who've grown up in multiple sculpts. I have an HDF Bory, MDF Bory and SD Bory all representing the same character at different ages. In the same character I've only had one character change sculpts to better fit the character's age and that is Mauro "Mo" Maldonado: formerly a Spiritdoll Ecchium and currently a Little Rebel Sarang.
I also have two dolls in both "real" and "chibi/super-deformed" form: an LR Andre//Dollzone Mini-Mo and LR Jelle//Impldoll Popo.

 

When you're an old fart, and have been around this place for as long as I have, every thread seems to give me Déjà vu. There probably is a thread like this in the game section. I feel like I have spammed to death, but it might have been the photo-request area; too old to remember well now.

I have so many dolls I've modified the dickens and back, but none of them I have "up-graded," nor changed sculpts nor rebodied. I am too cheap to do those things (and a sentimental old-fart!). I rather just mod the heck out of them. DX

My most recent was my Limhwa Limho Mano, I've modified him throughout the years. Very slowly at first, all his face has been heavily modified with both subtractive and additve mods. I'm including comparisons of the earliest photos I own of all my dolls, vs what they look like now.

My Limhwa Limho Mano, I got him for myself as an X-mas gift in 2007, I received in December 18 2007, because he was in-stock at the only USA retailer back then and the only way to get him, if I recall correctly (I believe Limhwa didn't sell/ship internationally herself, back then). The first photo to the left is the earliest if not the first face ups I gave him; he has gone through multiple throughout the years:

Spoiler: The Hoard Of Dolls I've modified More Recently

From newest to oldest in the order, I've modified these, most of them this year except for the MYou tiny dude!

DIM Minimee based on (OG 2005) Resident Evil 4, Leon Scott Kennedy head sculpt, I've modified the dickens out of as well, and gave him a "better wig," than the 1st one I made for him, that isn't pictured in these:


DIM Minimee based on Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass, also modified a bit, just the eyes (they were huge mods, but only proportionately). I need to restyle the wig I made, it looked better before but time sure doesn't forgive terrible storing methods:


DIM Minimee based on Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Kadaj, the first wig style attempt at his one I butchered, good thing I was able to do a half-decent job on the second attempt. He needs better eyes, the middle ones are custom made for me, Masterpiece eyes, which I still own, but I find the irises too large. The newer eyes have even larger irises, but that was on me, I requested the iris way larger than needed, for no reason other than stupidity.


DIM Minimee based on Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth. I ordered him individually from DIM, not in a group. I made his wig and have modified it over time as well, to get the bangs at the right height with the widow's peak. Sadly, I am not a hair stylist and that was not heat-resistant fiber. DX He still long ways to go, but I learn along with the modding process:


This is a Fairyland Chic Line Rou, I fell in love with his body, so I didn't care that he looks zero like Sephiroth in the face. I just had to have him, and I gave him a thousand pounds of eyeshadow to compensate, for not looking like Sephiroth. Pastels were really not my thing. I am a paint on canvas artist, so it was only natural that paint was what I should have stuck with since the beginning. I also made this Sephiroth's wig, and it also needs a lot of work, but tinier wigs are a huge pain in the back, instead of comparatively to their size. Lol!


Lastly, my newest and probably my last BJD purchase. My MYou mature tiny Bettina male. I made his eyes smaller and gave him smaller iris eyes. His orinal Bettina eyes, I got with him are on the left photo, with his face sculpt default with my crappy face up. The middle photo is the first eye mods I did on him, using filler putty (for fixing/filling flaws on scaled plastic models), and the last is the newest mods I gave him with Aves Apoxie Sculpt. He is wearing (MYou) Alan's default eyes, which are also 9mm, but have tinier irises. The putty was a good option, for none-permanent mods that dissolve with isopropyl alcohol, but I prefer to remove/change the mods when I want to, and not every time I wipe my dolls. I redo their face ups way too often, to feel satisfied with dissolving mods. ^__^;;

 

The danger twins in "chibi" and "sd" form