No "character" doll owners

I have quite a few dolls (60ish), but none that have storylines or characters. To me they are beautiful pieces of artwork, and I treat them as such. There is no right or wrong way, as long as you love your dolls that is all that matters.
Oh, almost forgot. The vast majority of my dolls don't have names - I have a crappy memory, and I gave up on that a long time ago. People who can remember names, characters, plotlines, etc. for large groups of dolls amaze me.

 

I konw about BJD almost 2 years now and finding many owners like to give their doll name or anything else ...But actually i was....not into it. I had attempt to give my doll a name when i got my first BJD,but finally i found the name was needless because i dont want to treat them as any character.
The fact tells me that they just the doll made by resin,But the key point is that i really like it.

 

I personally have characters/names/stories for all of mine, but I know a couple people in person who don't. They just call their dolls by their sculpt names, put them on a shelf and enjoy them by looking at them, rather than playing with them. That's not wrong - it's just two different ways of doing things

 

I've got one doll without a character. Just a name. Not even much of a personality. She's more of an art doll to me. Especially since she's french resin and feels more delicate than the rest.

But the rest have little random backstories and personalities just because it's fun for me.

 

All of my current dolls (except for my boy) have been bought without a prexisting character in mind. I like having the freedom to wait and meet my doll before working things out like a name, wig colour, eye colour and style. I tend to have a list of names I like, but nothing is set in stone until I meet the doll.

 

Well, my three big boys are kinda "character" dolls. Though I don't make up stories for them. The stories already existed, I just got the dolls to get a better feeling for the characters - what they look like, especially. They basically just sit around looking pretty. Sometimes I take them out for photoshoots (like next Saturday when I'm meeting up with some other doll owners from my general area). Sometimes I change their wigs or clothes but except for that, they're way less "active" than most other dolls here, I guess.

Then there's the three little ones who got names but no characters. Well, except for Loki but the mischieviousness comes with the name, really, in that case. I even only changed Cassie's name from her sculpt name - Cathy - because I know a Cathy in real life and it would feel odd to me to have a doll of the same name. Buds - I figured it was a fitting name for a flower faerie. I do like naming my dolls, however. Most of the time, I don't really care all that much for the sculpt's name, so I change it to something I like.

 

None of my dolls is bound to some kind of character. I choose names which I like and which seem to fit to the doll and even if I gave them a name which belongs to a certain character, I don't necessarily dress them like this character. My Lusion doll is named after Emily the Strange, because my girl looks quite gloomy. I thought that this name would suit her very well. But at the moment she's dressed in pink and wears a scarlet red wig. I like to style them differently and which would not be possible if they would be bond to a certain character.

 

I'm always changing ideas for my dolls. Most of them keep the names I gave them, but their characters are not really set in stone.

 

I imagine it's a real freedom to have no character or back story for your dolls, it gives you the freedom to dress them in anything that takes your fancy and change their look entirely whenever the mood strikes you.

When i first started to buy BJDs I never intended to have names/characters/backstories, i just wanted a beautiful Lishe to dress up in 18th century fashions. That was a long time ago and although I no longer own her, Lishe kind of morphed into a character and created her own back story, I guess that's just how my imagination works. Give me something that looks like a human being and I will project a whole life onto them!

When I got my PW Skiya, she reminded me so much of a character in an adventure story/comic strip that I have been labouring on in my spare time for years. I had pretty much given up on the comic because I never have enough time to finish it, but Skiya became Miss Tabitha Plum in my imagination and my enthusiasm for the abandoned project suddenly sparked back into life. Since then, every other doll I have acquired has taken on one of the characters from that story and it has given me the kick I needed to keep working on it.

I may still never finish it but having these dolls cast as the characters has taken them out of the comic's storyline and so they are now so much more well rounded and "real" in my head. I guess it's like an actor researching where their character was born and what they like to eat when it will never be featured in the play, it just makes them come alive.

It is a bit of a shackle though. I see lovely outfits I would like to buy, but non of my characters would dress like that! I decided I want to change the wig on one and do something goofy but her characater is a very staid personality and doesn't like change. It causes problems that I am trying to relax about. Yes, they represent my characters but I'm trying to relax a little and remember to have fun with my dolls first and foremost!

Go ahead and buy your dolls, get him/her home and have fun, that is the main thing. Enjoy your doll however it works for you. Don't get brow beaten into thinking you have to name it even if that doesn't appeal to you. Just enjoy

 

I never start out with a character for my dolls when I buy them. Once they get here, though, I get a feeling for how I want to dress them, name them, find wigs, eyes, etc. My dolls don't have a big, elaborate back story, but more of a feeling of their personality.

I have a few dolls that have taken me more than 6 months to name - much less figure out clothing styles & other combinations.

Take my first doll, for instance. He's a Souldoll Paris. When I first got him, I wanted to dress him gothy and punk, but every time I did, I thought he looked ridiculous. I started dressing him in suits, dress shirts, and other casual clothes and he looks better, in my opinion. I also get the feeling, as a character, he's generally more of a laid back kind of guy. I wish I had the imagination to come up with big back stories, but for now I'm happy.

 

My dolls aren't characters; they were bought because they were pretty. They each have a name and their dress style is based on the impression I get from the doll. Like, this doll would look cute all Victorian-y or that one looks like rainbows and bright colorful fun. Sometimes that turns into a small thread of an idea, but it never goes beyond a few sentences. However, once I decide the doll looks a certain way it's very hard for me to put it in anyother type of clothing.

When I interact with other doll owners, I just say what the doll's name is and leave it at that. Most owners are so eager, proud, and happy to tell you their doll's backstory that it won't matter that your doll doesn't have one. XP

 

I make up names and characters for my dolls, but I know lots of people, mainly people who collected other types of dolls for years (fashion, antique, art dolls, etc.), who just consider them artistic collectibles and display them. They keep them displayed on stands in either their default full-set outfits, or they buy them gorgeous designer clothes or Dollheart complete outfits. When I hang out with these friends, I don't natter on about characters and concepts, but talk about mutual interests like sculpts and doll clothes. It doesn't matter if they play with their dolls like I do, or just admire them; everyone is different.

 

All 15 of my dolls have names, characters and back stories. I've always been interested in that and I don't bond to a doll that doesn't. In fact, I've tried to buy a doll just because it was pretty, and it never works. If a name and story don't come to me or don't work as planned, I'll usually I'll end up selling it. This goes way back to childhood - all of my toys had to have names and families. In my personal collection, it feels incomplete to me not to have a name, character and story. It is no different than it being nude with no faceup or wig.

But that is for MY dolls, not other people's. I think everyone should enjoy their dolls as they choose. Some people see dolls as an embodiment of a character they love, others see them as sculptures and nothing more. If someone asks the doll's name, you can tell them the sculpt name. It's not that unusual for people to keep the sculpt name anyway.

No one has a right to tell you what you do with your doll is wrong unless it is causing harm to others. There is no harm done to anybody by not naming a doll.

 

The majority of my dolls are specific characters, but I have one doll who isn't any particular character and I change his look fairly often. I've named him, but that's about it. I'd like to have a few more of these characterless dolls, actually. So, I guess I have both! If you ever go to a meet, don't worry about not having a story or character for your doll -- chances are people will just want to look at it and enjoy it for what it is, character or no.

 

my dolls have stories, but my mother who also collects BJDs gives them names only because she knows my dolls have names. She only collects them because she wants to dress them in medieval clothing. To each their own - my dolls aren't any better than hers because they have backgrounds and vice versa.

 

I think I fall somewhere in the middle? For my first few dolls I had no characters they were going to personify. I received them, gave them a name *because I personify everything in my life* and applied an aspect of myself to them. One was for very 1920-30's clothes, another was for a very quiet 1940's look, another was more modern and artsy.

After those three then I found some doll sculpts I loved and who 'fit' some pre-existing characters I had. However, even then, they have the ability to wear, change wigs, change eyes, etc because those 'characters' aren't set in stone. (RPG characters I transpose from one story to another changing things about them).

My most recent buy was because I wanted a little 'punk' doll. She's got a name and no character other than the style clothes she wears.

I should have had coffee this morning, how confusing is that?

My dolls don't live in their own world, and they're not bound by the characters and names I've given them, but at the same time they are lightly personified. I personally don't think that owners who have dolls with no characters enjoy or play with their dolls any less than those who do. It's all personal choice, it's a hobby and you can do whatever you want in it.

 

My doll has no character either. Although, I think a name is necessary. I originally tried to make a character, likes and dislikes and age and all that sort of thing, but I never really cared about it. We all have different reasons why we collect dolls. Personally, I don't do it for story, I do it for customize and fashion.

 

none of my dolls -BJD or other - have a character or back story. Most of my dolls do have names and a sort of style in what they wear but some don't.
I do like to see people being very creative with their dolls but I don't think it is a necessity.