How long does it take for you to find the perfect shell?

When I first got into the hobby, I tried to shell characters and found out the hard (expensive!) way that dolls can straight up refuse the plans you have for them.

No, this doll won't wear the wig you bought for them – nothing but the first wig you put on them looks right.
No, this doll refuses to be cute. Get all those frills and ruffles out of here!
This head looks perfect for a character? Maybe in photos, but not in person.
This head is also perfect for a character, but looks wrong with all the other dolls? Its days are numbered.

I've learned I can approach a doll sculpt with a concept, but have to work with the doll, and while I handle it, the character comes through in ways I might not have considered. For example, I have 3 heads on Volks SD17 bodies, and each body handles differently in a way that affects the characters, even if the bodies are theoretically identical.

I have a few ideas for doll characters, but am waiting to come across the right head/body/hybrid combo to start exploring the idea instead of making my previous shelling mistakes

 

This is so, so true! Now, as I remarked on page 1 of this thread, I’m one of those people who will let the process of shelling a character take as long as it takes (up to an entire decade in one specific case.) And this has worked out beautifully for my large-ish collection lo these many years. But…I once brought home a rare head to be my perfect androgynous character, which I’d been planning on for years. I found him the perfect matching body, and was so excited to get started building him the excitingly creative “new romantics” wardrobe of my dreams. I carefully spread out the stunning fabric, laid out the pattern pieces, and I remember walking around that table with scissors in my hand for half an hour…but I couldn’t get myself to make a single cut! That’s how much this doll was rejecting this character. So he happily became a forest and animal loving (very male) mori boy instead…with an appropriate, quickly and easily made naturalistic mori boy wardrobe. No matter how careful you are with shelling, sometimes these dolls will just laugh in your face and insist on going their own way.

 

It’s hit or miss for me lately, but I had amazing luck with my Leon (he’s non-resin). I saw his potential, got him home and found a decent wig and beautiful eyes, and he’s sitting in front of me all these years later still bowling me over with how fine he looks.

Other times, I get a doll in, get it painted, and… the spark dies. I got lucky with Leon, but he’s wasted here. I need to show him more love for how good he’s been.

 

Oh dear. Like, for a while, I went hardcore into only purchasing dolls or saving up to purchase dolls to fit characters I had in mind for my stories. But at some point, the waiting game of finding the ideal representation of my character started to take too long or I was never satisfied even if I did encounter the dolls I thought would fit my characters. And like what others have said, it gets expensive. Getting the doll, making sure the face-up is just right, getting the right eyes, the right wig, the right clothes, the right shoes, the right accessories. And that's just for one doll!

I finally ended up shifting my mindset in the hobby of just purchasing dolls I liked as I noticed waiting to find dolls that fit my characters also interfered with my creative writing process. Like, when I was finding dolls to fit characters or thought I found a potential shell doll for my characters, the creativity flowed. But then when I got disappointed because the IRL dolls did not meet my expectations or realizing the ideal shell was an inaccessible Grail doll, it stagnated by creativity and even made me not want to write anymore. And same with outfits and accessories. If I had come up with a storyline around a dolly outfit that inspired me (let's say a particularly hard to find Victorian or Steampunk or Gothic LE outfit), but that outfit was no longer available, I just lost my creative inspiration as the image I had was around that particular outfit.

My friend (who was also into the hobby) and I would make backstories for our dolls and everything which helped with making some fun stories (both written and photostories). But when she started selling her dolls and her dolls' clothing and accessories, it kind of killed off key characters in my stories as I no longer had access to those shells to help maintain my inspiration. It's funny how that ended up happening, but it really affected me in my creativity and they weren't even my dolls to begin with.

So I guess it is a never ending process. Especially when there is always going to be a new doll or a new outfit that might inspire you or be the better shell for your character. It will always happen. Hahaha.