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

I buy dolls to represent a character I already have in mind

 

I only had 3 characters that I shelled, so the others were just dolls that I thought were awesome so I created a character for them when I knew I was going to purchase them. I usually finalize their characters after they arrive and I see them in person.

 

I have yet to even get my first doll and I already have a pretty decent backstory/personality for him. But, you never know it can always change once I actually have him with me.

 

I haven't received my first doll yet but I already have a pretty good idea of what I'd like her personality to be - since she's my first I just gave her my favourite character archetype ^^ Maybe that'll change once I get a chance to hold her in my hands, though, who knows!

 

My characters choose the sculpts they want - LOL Actually had this experience - of having a doll that I THOUGHT was shelling one guy but oh NOES not really. I had to do some changing of my doll acquistion plans to fix THAT problem LOL

 

My dolls are all resin versions of original characters - the lovely lady to the left started out as one character, but eventually became another. I was having no luck in finding the right sculpt for a particular character in MSD size (I even tried a MNF Lishe, but she was human instead of elf) and I had just rehomed my SD Lishe's counterpart (intending on reshelling him), when it hit me that she could be my Kirah with a new faceup. So off she went to AngelToast to refresh her faceup and tada - Kirah! It only took the better part of 3 years to discover who she really was!

 

I usually get new dolls without them having pre-existing characters. I like the joy of discovering a hidden personality in a doll, like making a new friend and getting to know them. It can take a very long time for me to feel well acquainted with my dolls' personalities, I'd say sometimes I know them fairly well in a year, sometimes it takes a few years.

 

my first boy didn't get a set personality until i had his body home (still waiting for his head). i was trying to dress him and had him propped up on my carpet when his entire torso just pitched forward and he bent over, bum sticking out and everything. and i chided him, "i know you're half naked and all right now, but this isn't the time for that!" and that's how i started to get a sense of his personality. since then i've been able to develop personalities and backstories for all my future dolls while waiting for his head, but for my very first one it wasn't until i got his body that he could tell me his personality himself ^^

 

It depends on the doll.
- For my first, I had a OC totally created in mind that I had been developing for years as it was the protagonist of one of my short novels so she was all done and the doll fitted into it like a dream.
- For my second, my first boy, I created a vague personality but the doll didn't fit. I thought about reshelling him for half-a-year and then he decided to tell me who he was when I tried another wig and make-up xD Now I love him to bits.
- And for the last, my little girl, I think I haven't fully discovered her. She was thought to be a cute and shy child but after a year of playing with her, she has revealed as the most mischievous and funny little one.

I guess it is all between the doll and the owner, it can take a glance, a month, a year or the doll may not want to fit in the backstory you had for it.

 

I think, like others are saying, it depends. My first boy had no personality before he arrived and it wasn't until I started writing for him that he truly got a personality. My friends helped as well since they interacted with him almost daily (ah roommates). They helped me figure out what he was like. As for my others, they had basic aspects fleshed out before the doll arrived. However, since then, they have been refined and tweeked. For example, my DZ Virgil was meant to be a weapon with no thoughts or real feelings. However, he now still is a weapon but he's also curious and surprisingly good with kids, a trait that wasn't discovered until my friend got her little girl and we began writing stories about our dolls together.

 

It definitely depends for me-- usually, when I plan for a doll, I have a character in mind, and have either written out a lot about them or used them in an RPG, so I have a strong sense of who they are before they get to me. But with Vince, when he got to me, I realized that my initial ideas about him were all wrong, and it did take a little time to sort of figure out who he 'really' was.

 

I found her personality after I got her in person. So probably within a few days of owning her I figured out what her style should be, and the personality I would like to go along with it.

 

I've created their personality before they come. Though with my ebony iplehouse benny it took forever for her personality she never looked the part I had in mind for her, went through 5 wigs in the process to get her to fit my idea.
Finally I just made her a wig with some beautiful alpaca fibers I bought. As soon as I put her wig on she told me her personality and she looks so much happier about it. I couldn't be more pleased with her.

 

My first boy still doesn't have his personality, but I'm working on it! I thought I knew his personality and character from the start, but turns out I didn't haha. I'm hoping he'll come together soon!

 

Mine didn't start out with any storyline to them. My 1st came & went with nothing between us & then I got David Knucci who kept that name because his first name is the same as mine, but I really liked the name, it's when I got his boyfriend his career popped into my head that he was a model... Especially after all the clothing I'm buying him. His new boyfriend Marcus who was an Ipelhouse Drake HID, was given that name & I really liked it so its sticking but I'm not sure what he's going to be... Hmmmm

 

For me, even if I already have a set character for my dolls, once I actually have them in person it's not gonna stay just as planned: I'm gonna find out something I didn't know, some other think I though was one was is gonna be another... I just let the doll "present" itself to me. It depends on the doll and how much of their character I knew prior, though! It took me more than three years to actually get to know my oldest doll :, D

 

I was trying to figure out my boys personality the whole time I was waiting for him to come home. but as soon as he came home, I was able to "listen" to him to find out his personality. I guess I was just lucky that way!

 

I usually have all characters planned out beforehand and then I find the dolls that fits the personalities. I only have a few times where I did not know the character before buying the dolls, but I did enjoy trying to come up with a story slowly as I got to know the doll.

 

My first doll is a brat. When I got Her she was just so cute and I loved her but she was a pain in the butt to pose and she gave me so much sass and it just stuck. My second doll was a bit of a puzzle. She was easy going she fit with anything I put her in but nothing stuck really but that became her. She's a fashion person who likes to dress up but she's chill. It takes a while but just play with them it will come along.

 

I tend to create my personalities before I get the dolls and then tweak the personalities as I get to know the dolls better. Here's how my crew has gone so far.
*Johnny's personality has been in the making for well over ten years, so I was pretty sure what I wanted my first doll to be. I picked a mold specifically for that character and so far it's worked out. I did end up making him a little more reserved than I'd originally planned, as his head mold suggests a quiet personality.
*Alistair was an impulse buy, so I had to throw together a personality in a hurry. I'm good at such things, but when I create a personality on the spur of the moment I often have to go back and change some things. So it was with Alistair. I'd originally planned for him to be Mr. Macho, an uber-manly man to balance out Johnny, who dresses and looks a little girly. That all changed when I got a wig in a blind bag set from Etsy; after I put it on Alistair he turned into this glam-rock sort of character who is even more bishounen than Johnny is!
*Chloe was easy. She's got an impish, childish face so I knew right away that I wanted her to be a youthful ball of energy. Since she's green I also knew right off that I wanted to make her a leprechaun. Nothing has changed about Chloe in the short time that I've owned her.
*Johanna was another impulse buy. Through a series of events too complicated to go into, I bought two Juri 2013 heads from separate folks here on Den of Angels. Despite being the same mold, the heads are quite different; one has a natural face-up, while the other is more made up. I originally wanted Johanna to have a split personality, with one body that alternated heads. But after awhile the one-body-two-heads idea seemed less and less logical. Johanna retained her split personality and most of her traits and has not undergone any serious changes yet other than a change in hair color (I want her to be a brunette now). But the second head called for yet another quick, thrown-together personality.
*Guinevere is the character that took the fancier of Johanna's two heads. Her personality is still developing, but so far I've figured out that she loves to dance and enjoys Sailor Moon and lolita clothes like her half-sister Johanna does. I'll have to work on her some more before I know who she is completely.