How long did it take for you to find out your doll's personality?

It differs from doll to doll with me. Some just fall right into place. But my first doll for instance, she took 2 years of makeovers and I even had to sell her once (and buy her back) to figure out what on earth she was.
Some molds just easily adapt a clothing style and a personality and others are so diverse that they can do pretty much anything and then it's a bit harder to find out what they are.

 

It depends on the doll. Some are of pre-existing characters, so they already had personalities. Others I got without a specific character in mind -- in those cases it can be almost immediate, or take months, or even years before I settle on something that is 'right.' I've found that the best thing you can do is experiment and see what clicks. Sometimes it's the clothes, but sometimes it's as simple as the right wig or set of eyes. You never know what might make a doll suddenly click. I had one that I had had for a couple years and she had a lovely custom faceup. However, I could just never quite figure out where she fit. It wasn't till I wiped her faceup and gave her a new one, that she suddenly started to really settle into a character.

 

I create them all before they arrive. However, it can change once they're in my hands.

 

I make up who they are, where they are from and stuff like that before hand... But once I got the doll they start changing... Like my doll Harley who is a grey skinned Resinsoul Mei, she was planned to be blackhaired, an assasin, and also a circus freak... No emotions and such...
Now her biggest dream is to own a pretty dress, she looooves pink, and she is half demon x'D

The thing that she liked pink came after three weeks after she got her face-up, I gave her a pink hat on, for fun and she wouldn't let it go x'D oh my...

My Soom Amber doll is also slowly making her own personality... Right now she looks a lot like my self personality wise... But I'm sure once I get her lover home (Soom Monzo) she will change there too

I think the personality of a doll changes all the time, and developes constantly

 

I think it depends on the doll. My first doll and I had a somewhat troubled relationship - at the time I thought he was gorgeous, but when I got him home, any character I tried for him just didn't fit. (And from it, I created two new characters who now are destined to go to specific dolls when I get them.) In the end, it worked out that he'd just be a nameless changeling. (And subsequently the guineapig for when I feel the need to change wigs/eyes on a character.

All my other dolls have settled into their characters fairly easily - a few were pre-planned while others were spur-of-the-moment purchases that have been developed while I waited for the dolls to arrive. With some modifiation, the characters fit.

 

I've found that it can take quite awhile for a doll's personality to reveal itself. My first doll, Helena, had difficulty in showing her personality. Something I didn't have nearly so much trouble with for subsequent dolls. She's only now beginning to show her personality due to the arrival of another doll that has brought it out. I still happen to own one girl who is floating about personality wise, but I think she may settle soon.

 

It really depends on the doll. My tiny, Rory, came out of the box "hollering" his name, full of attitude. Nicolette, my Rainy Girl, took two months to talk to me. Florian took about a week (and hasn't shut up since!). Sarielle had another name entirely for a while before she became who she is. I'm not one of these people who will open the box and make a split-second decision as to whether to keep the doll or not-I'll give them all the time they need.

 

Actually in my case, me and my friend aregetting twin boys, we still can't work out thepersonalities/characters. The dolls are in production so I guess we'll have to wait untill they arrive : D

 

It took me a while and I'm still not 100% sure a month on. I'm having a hard time settling on a wig and a style for her, which seems to influence "who" she is to me quite a bit. With the other two I have coming, they already have personalities set out in my mind, whereas the first one didn't. I'm not sure if these personalities will still hold once the dolls get here though.

 

Immediately. Most of my BJD are already given characters. The time I saw what fitted my vision of them into BJD, the time I knew all at once the sculpts they would be and with which personalities. My own creation characters came out from my writings and since the first line I knew how their personalities were going to be and in which sculpts. So personality came first in every of my cases.

 

Most I have an idea for before i buy them, it's why I buy them. But some are just pretty and I figure them out later. Or not at all. Sometimes they are pretty just to be pretty.

 

I still haven't figured out my girl's personality... it bothers me... >.<

 

It can take a really long time for a doll to "settle in" in your head. I had my first BJD, Megumi, for a YEAR before she really started coming to life for me.

Now, Chae-ri, my newest? I knew her from the moment I opened her box, and her personality just sort of grew itself. Even now, almost a year after that fateful box-opening, she's my constant companion and dearest imaginary friend.

So, it can vary a lot. Don't give up.

 

It definitely differs from doll to doll!

They are like people... some have personalities you recognize right away, others are more complex or difficult to know!

How long? Some before they arrive (and some of those change a bit after, some don't), and some take years!!!

 

Sabine was pretty obviously herself right after I dressed her and gave her a wig. ^^

 

As of no I only have one doll, and I didn't have a fixed character for her... but it didn't take me long to figure out who she was.
Though my first impression of her changed after I did her face-up, so now she's really herself it seems.

 

With most of mine, their personalities started coming through during the process of painting their face-ups; as each face was coaxed into being from my brush, they started to "speak" to me. Picking out the right eyes, then the right wig, then an outfit from my stores and supplies brings out further nuances of who they are, and I usually spend a couple of weeks or more working with them, trying out various looks and photographing them extensively whilst fleshing out the character and personality. Then I'll play around with the newcomer and one or more of my other dolls to see how they play off against the other cast members and see if any interesting sparks occur, throwing up possible plotlines for the story.

It doesn't always work; sometimes I have to redo the face-up maybe two or three times and go through many different permutations of eyes and wigs before I hit on the right look for that doll; I had a vampire elf Yder who got stuck with the nickname "Enigma" for over a year before I finally found the right look for him and he "told" me his name was Lysander. And I'd had my Bambicrony Kumi for a couple of years before I tried putting "him" in a different wig and a pretty little dress and realising "he" was a she called Sophie.

I recently reshelled a character of mine from an elf Chiwoo to a LuWen vampire. His character first developed whilst doing his original face-up on the Chiwoo head, and I'm now rediscovering it with his new form. The personality that's coming out is still Satin - but changed, which is pretty much what you'd expect from someone who's been changed into a vampire.

 

I created my Mars-boy before he arrived.... and the doll ended up not being him at all. It took me two years to find the perfect character for him- and one I had him, I knew. He is now the perfect doll- I couldn't have imagined him better!

I think that it can take a while for a character to form. Don't rush it if you love the doll sculpt. Give it time, and it will come to you!

 

it was different for my dolls. Some of them got their own personality and style before/right after the arrival and it didn't change ever since. Some of them had a couple of changes on the way, but eventually got the set image for them. Once the character is set, it doesn't change much. I can change wigs and clothes, but they would all be the same style/colors. (I know, kinda nerdy lol but I'm not much into customization AFTER the image is fully set, only UNTIL it is set.)

However, there is still one doll I don't know what to do with, and I've owned this doll for many months already (almost a year). The original "image" does not inspire me anymore, because... Once I saw a doll with a similar style, that looked much better and more appropriate than on my doll, and was very discouraged because of that, even though my doll was like this before the new one appeared. I don't know why it happened to this particular doll, maybe I already had some doubts about its character.. but anyway, now I'm searching for a new style of this doll.
I would hate to sell this doll just because someone else had created a better character than me, because I love the sculpt and didn't get that doll on a whim, it was carefully planned and I'm still attached to it. So I'll keep looking for the new image, and hopefully will find it eventually!