Planning your doll family? Did you have a plan? How did it work out?

I only bought doll that fit my original character but in rare case, I find some doll that I really like but not fit any of my OC. I wil just creat character and profile for that doll so he/she could fit my crews.

I am trying not to have more than 3 large dolls and one tiny, the less is the best. If I want to get new doll, I will have to find new home for current one before.

 

Guilty ! Haha, I have yet to get my first doll, but I already know she needs a sister and have already started looking for the perfect sister sculpt

I know many people go after their characters and even if I do have a couple of original characters, my first doll just... "came to me". She doesn't have a background story as of yet other than little bits I've been coming up with lately, I merely only know her name and that she will someday have a sister

 

I didn't intend to plan my BJD-family, but it appears to be planned by itself. Now, when the first doll has come to me - my Ariel, I'm planning to buy Rosette school Camellia, a pair of Soom MD children and Ipplehouse Bichun when it'll be in base version. And here I hope my plans will stop.
Actually for a long time I was thinking that Ariel would be my one and only BJD. But then I've seen Camellia, then Bichun (that was just too much! )...

 

Doll stories and character are like candy sprinkles for the hobby
they are like a cherry on top of your favorite flavored ice cream!
I think that they gave life for methis makes the hobby more interesting
all of my dolls has their own personalities where my story revolves ^^

 

How do YOU plan your doll family?
I'd like to have a character before I pick out a particular doll.

has that tactic changed?
Well....I'm relatively new to the whole BJD hobby so.......so far it hasn't changed much lol.

do you feel there is a "best" way to do it?
Nope. I believe it's up to the individual to make their own choice .

 

I bought my first doll just because I wanted a doll and he was the only one I had seen so far that made me go, "Eek, I need this doll!" So, basically, because he was pretty. I really had no idea what his personality would be like or anything.
I didn't actually do much with him that first year which I personally think had something to do with the fact that I didn't "know" him enough so I wasn't really bonding with him. However, a few characters hijacked my brain, I assigned him to one of those characters and, ever since then, the dolls I have bought (and are planning to buy) have pre-thought out personalities. Most of them have backstories too, as well as reasons as to why they know the other characters.
I definitely prefer it this way. I'd say it stops me from buying a million dolls just because they're "pretty~!" xD Mainly because, nowadays, I only want to buy dolls that have names, personalities, etc. -shrug- That's just me though, I'm not saying it's the "right" way to go about things.

 

I have a doll family at present, but I've drawn a bit of a line to that particular family. Two SD sized dolls with 4 tinies (2 sets of twins). I'll feel really bad for the mommy doll if I add any more kids to that. I have a couple Mini sized dolls coming someday, and they're not going to be connected to that core family. My mom keeps calling them "The Cousins," so they might end up connected in someday.

None of the dolls really have set characters when I get them, though. I usually only plan their appearance in terms of wigs and eyes, because bald eye-less dolls sitting around scare me a little. I kind of like to get the dolls and get to know them before I decide what sorts of clothes I want for them/ what type of person they are.

While I can totally understand people having characters set up for the dolls, I worry that if I tried that, I'd wind up feeling like the doll doesn't fit the character and then not know what to do with them. That's just me, though!

 

Well many, many years ago...(10yrsago)after I finished college for fashion design I started doing some illustrations, my illustrations turned into cat girls...and later I added a cat boy, fox girl and racoon boy. I always looked at my sketches and thought wow they would make pretty cool dolls. It wasn't until maybe 2 yrs ago when I stumbled upon bjd's of course I had no clue what that was then, but last year I started looking up information and this year I bought my first bjd (now I have 5, 1 on the way). My plan to recreate my illustrations. Out of the 6 only 2 are part of my illustration characters..lol..After finding DOA it has been a mad house of wanting all the pretty dollies.

So are all my dolls going to interact as a so called "family" or are they just going to exist within the same area. Seeing as my 2 kitty dolls (RS MSD dolls) may look small and child-like that is really just the size of that race...so my SD RS Ai can interact with them if she wishes. My first doll was kinda a compulsive buy, she is a Obitsu 60cm Haruka head I just have a plan to have her as a mini me doll, dressing her the way I like to dress, which is a chameleon kinda style. Anyway moving along, recently I added a BBB MSD Sprite to the mix, she will fit in with my group perfectly as well as the new BBB/RS Hybrid Ariel girl.

So even though I have carefully planned out my family which will consist of 6 more RS MSD's to complete my illustration characters, there just seems to be a lot of great dolls out there that keep catching my eye.

The best way really is to find the doll that just strikes your interest whether or not you have a planned character or not, who knows what kind of personality is going to pop up after you think you have a character doll.

Thats my 2 cents...off to go look at more dollies..lol

 

I think I agree with roserising.
I've planned mine out based on what character they look like best and will be moving down the line of my 'doll family' although they are just characters of mine with no real relation to one another. I just think it would be fun to have my characters in my room as I work on comic pages.

 

At first I had no intention of planning a family. I have a couple dolls I want that have rough designs but no real character for them. Then I saw the senior Dalsoo by Doll Factory, and it's been downhill from there. *laugh* I plan to get a senior female and have her be the older sister. Then I want the smaller 2nd edition female to be the younger sister. I may also get a senior male and have it be the senior female's mate, I'm not sure yet. Beyond that I haven't really planned family wise, but it sort of cracks me up that I've gone this far with my little otter family.

 

My dream buy is totally dependent on a character I invented several years ago, so I've only ever thought as far as having him, and possibly grow from there. But I kind of like the idea of having him as an 'only child' for a while XD I don't think I could ever buy a doll without a specific character or association in mind. The doll family would just feel disjointed then :/

 

I've been planning my doll family for awhile hahah :P It's gonna be a slow time getting my family finished because I only have one BJD at the moment. And even though I still want to get some customizations on her, I'm already planning my next dolls ^^; I guess I think up a doll's personality/life before I get them and look out for sculpts that I really think would suit that character. This might not be the best tactic, but whatevs. I'm hoping I can some day finish my doll family.
( / a bunch of gibberish )

 

The most I can say is that I have a list of dolls I'd like ordered by priority buy. Names, personalities, and looks I can't say I have figured out. And I'm going to be one of those people who makes a doll into a character, not a character into a doll. Meaning, I have no character set for them, it will just build when they get here.
I love dolls too much it seems, and I don't even have my own yet!

 

Usually I buy a doll that fits a personality in my mind. However, sometimes I just but a doll and let the personality come to me. Sometimes I also buy a doll that might work for a character might not, take a look at it, and see. I also like buying dolls that I consider "project dolls" in other words, I have to work on them to get them to my vision. It's all relative to whatever mood I'm in. But I do know that I have at least a 6 month rule with my dolls. I.e. no getting a new doll till it's been 6 months for the old one

 

When I first started purchasing (off-topic) dolls, I had no intention of giving them characters or personalities at all. I thought it was a whimsical idea, but not for me. After they arrived, they started developing "character" without my ever planning it.

Now that I'm buying and planning on BJDs, I'm taking the same approach. I pick a doll I love, and I expect the personality will likely come afterward.

 

I kind of do it both ways- have a character in mind and the doll fits that look /character I need. I have also bought a doll simply because it appealed to me. Some of my tinie purchases were done this way- and tinies have a BIG personalities! Wren who will be home later this month (Realpuki Soso) is the fairy who helps Marigold Finch (a tiny artist made sparrow finch) who helps Marigold deliver mail to all of the dolls in Pumpkin Hill. (see my blog for more on Marigold) Wren, will be her helper/sorter of the mail . Finch Express came about because the dolls needed some way to communicate- and it is an excuse to write tiny letters and envelopes, which I find fun for photostories.

I do not have a 'family' per se, with a Mom and dad bjd, and minis for kids....the MSD's are mostly going to be pupils in the Academy and the SD's will be the teachers, etc. I suppose if I need a parent I will need to plan another SD for that...

One way I plan it out is I have a notebook for jottings of the characters and that particular doll, their accessories, time period, etc. I have another doll notebook with notes on what dolls are expected, on layaways, etc. This way I can somewhat keep track of all dolly budget money. The tinies overtook me at the beginning of the year, so after they are out of the way, I may begin the SD planning. Obsessive I know, but this works.

As far as characters, I will admit alot of times the dolls themselves come about with their own look &personality, so that creates the character, sometimes better than the one I had in mind.

 

No plans, just guidelines. Only boys, versatile sculpts, stuff like that. I want less than 4, because I know I don't want to spend that much money, and having that many is already a hassle. I used to be afraid of missing out on a doll that I would totally love, but you quickly learn that not having it isn't the end of the world.

I have two right now, and I'm going to do my best to stick to that. So far, it's working.

 

I'm like Hikari in that I have no plans whatsoever. I just see one I like and if I can afford them then that's it. They're coming home with. At the same time. accidents happen too. I get a cheap doll on sale that I want to practice faceups on...and it ends up staying cause my other doll won't let me sell it.

 

I have a wishlist, but that's it. And it's subject to change depending on if I see another mold I really like or not. ^_^ I try to find characters who are important to me (my own original creations-- though sometimes the character belongs to a friend). But... like with Crobidoll Kitten Lance, I have seen molds that I just WANT and the character/personality will come later. I won't make myself follow any certain rules... though right now I am trying to plan lovers for all of my dolls... aside from the tinies. XD

 

How do YOU plan your doll family?
Most of the time, they're characters previously either written or roleplayed between me and my online friends. This just makes it easier for me, as I'm a very creative person and have always felt like characters aren't only meant to occupy a 2-D writing or drawing space, but a 3-D realistic space as well. In other words, character dolls make sense to my leetle mind, so that's what I work with. I did that for my doll collections before BJDs too!

has that tactic changed?
No, not really, however, there are one or two dolls I might get that represent characters outside of my/my friends' stories or characters I made directly from the doll. This doesn't happen often.

and do you feel there is a "best" way to do it?
The best way to do it is the way that makes you happy! Just like everything that has to do with BJDs, in my opinion.