Second hand dollies- tracing their 'Geneology"

All of my dolls are second hand, I love buying them that way because I can typically trace back to who they were.
Some dolls on the MP I want BECAUSE of who they were, I'd change their stories and I'd do something different with their face-ups (Tweak it here and there). But It always makes me super curious to see what doll they were, what their background were and such. (Here's the stalker in me: The user BlackRainbow sold a Dollzone Yuu that's name was Baquir.) I LOVED that doll, and would have bought him in a heartbeat. Just because he was a doll that I first saw not too long before I started being an active DOA member.
Seeing dolls that are on the MP always make me WANT to know where they came from and who they were.

 

I'd love to trace where my secondhand dolls came from, and where mine go after I sell them on, but I always seem to end up trading with people who aren't very active in the hobby, or who're losing interest altogether and leave nothing but broken image links and mysteries. Then again, I'm not exactly active myself, so I can't really complain. Also, it doesn't help that, other than one, all of my dolls are fairly common sculpts from big companies, so it's difficult to pick them out from the hundreds of others like them.

This said - Hi, anyone who's bought a doll from me! Where're you now?

 

I have one second-hand faceplate, and I have no idea who she used to be. I've wiped her faceup and she is my Xion now, no matter who she may have been before. I have no real vested interest in knowing.

 

I have just adopted my Unoa Lusis and have welcomed her home today. I will look to see if she has had a DOA life before but she and i and together now so a new start.

 

I bought a doll off ebay and half a year later I contacted the old owner to find out more about her.

 

I actually now own my first second hand doll and while I keep track of who, and where, I got him from (Tibet) because it's cool and I'm sure she bought him right from Soom but other than that I have no interest in what she planned for him, what she did with him or any more of his story. I do wish I could see the places he traveled like a tiny webcam of what happened to him from the beginning.

 

You know, I think for me it would depend on whether the doll was owned by multiple people before me or just once.

I think I would prefer to buy a doll who was owned just once, so I could ask about the previous owner and why they chose the doll and learn how well-kept (or not) it was.

My most recent addition is a once-before owned doll who was kept out of sunlight and kept very carefully; I liked his look and the story of him so much I kept his name. I'm sure "my" Kai will be a little different than "her" Kai, but somehow it feels right for this particular doll to have that consistency. I may have given him a new home, but he doesn't need a new face/personality.

But that's just him. With another doll, I may have made a different choice and wiped the slate clean and not really cared to ask about his/her past.

So I guess it really depends.

 

Actually, I think that's called provenance, not geneology. :P If I were to buy a second hand doll, though, I'd love to see what was done with him in the past.

 

I bought my only used doll here on DoA. I am his third (and final) owner. I didn't ask why he was being sold, or why he'd been listed as rarely taken out of his box. Instead I made up a story for him. This werewolf boy was captured and enslaved until his mistress passed him on to another. When this new mistress, too, grew tired of him, she likewise sold him off. And now, instead of keeping him locked in a dark cage, starved of all comforts and companionship, his new mistress (moi!) gives him anything his heart desires and grants him the freedom to roam. lol Just a silly thing. I may write a story some time. Not that he was ever 'abused' for real or anything, but the fiction I created is probably more interesting than the reality of his likely just being an unwanted purchase.

 

Wow, some thread revival, here. XD
Upon procuring a secondhand BJD, eventually, my interest pertaining to their "past life" would be piqued beyond human endurance, and I'd search the forum avidly, poring over the details of their previous personalities and stories. Of course, I'd then feel miserable for eradicating their character and likely the inclination to "borrow" details from their prior character would grow too strong for me to resist, simply because I'd feel all crappy for wiping the BJD's history...
I acquired a Lusis faceplate, and she never had a face-up, nor was she removed from her packaging, so I highly doubt there's any complex history there! However, even if she did have a prior story and character, the character I developed for her is far to extensive and meticulous (and--quite frankly--awesome) for me to consider revising.

 

When I bought a doll second hand I was curious but decided no my boy was going to be the character I had set in stone for him and when I arrived I knew whoever he was, was gone. I cut his hair a little to make it more managable (and to not hide his gorgeous face up) and I was happy. Honestly I did find pictures of him....And I'm not sure if he was in a set of twins as I found pics of apparently him vs and evil half....And it never registered in my mind besides: "That's who Kaname was..." Not "Oh cool" just: "That's who he was." Emphasis on was. I'm not sure if he was an adult to his owner to with me he's a teenager studying to become a trauma surgeon.

 

I currently have 3 dolls. One I bought new, the others I bought secondhand. I am the second owner for both secondhand dolls and I know their history. The owners just straight up told me without me asking.

For one, she was bought and the owner just sort of kept her in a box in a closet for months. The owner liked her from promotional pics but didn't bond with her in person. When she finally got around to selling her, she sold her to me.

For the other secondhand doll, the owner liked her a lot but got laid off from his job several months ago. He's now pretty much out of cash and had to sell his dolls and other things. He actually was really concerned about making sure she got a good home, so I sent him pictures of her arrival and of my other dolls that were now her family. He seemed to really appreciate that.

 

I have at least two second hand dolls that I purchased at DoA who MAY have had extensive stories and characters in their past. I might be vaguely interested in finding out who they were, but all that really matters to me now is who they ARE. They get a new character, name and place in my stories when they arrive here, and their pasts are no influence on me at all. And I don't consider dolls with default factory faceups to be another character, since there may be many others with the very same face. Blank ones have no character to me until I decide who they are. Custom faceups are a little more specific to a previous character, so I usually remove them and get the dolls redone the way I want them. I've done that a LOT. I think I have kept the non-factory custom faceup on only one doll. (Wow, that is a surprise to me!)

I enjoyed reading in this thread about the people who actually became the new owners of dolls that made them love that sculpt in the first place! I had something similar happen. I remembered seeing a beautiful SoulDoll Lune at DoA, and recognized him in particular when I saw him in person at BJDC in 2006. A few months later, a friend of mine (who had been at the convention with me) emailed me and said she remembered how much I liked Lune, and that she saw a handsome one on ebay FS. And HE was the one FS! I couldn't buy him fast enough! I didn't know anything about his previous life except for his name, but when he came home to live with me, I knew exactly who he would become. His character had been in my mind for at least a year already, and that Lune was perfect for him.

Once a doll leaves here, I don't really care what happens to them. I only sell the ones I don't bond with, and who haven't been introduced in my stories. I have no attachment to them. I might regret selling the doll a little(only one that I can think of), but I haven't sold a character.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

There's definitely a curiosity that comes with buying dolls from others. It makes me wonder who they were before, and how they made their way to me. The first used doll I bought, the seller was very happy to hear I'd already picked out a name and that he was going to a loving home. He'd been the victim of an inability to bond.

The used girl I just bought I went about looking into just so I'd know her age better, and out of curiosity where a small injury of hers had occured. So it made me smile when I found her original sale thread, to see where she started. I've been thinking of giving her a new name with a nod toward her old.

 

I am pretty sure that I'm the third owner of my Topaz, and the second owner of my Cuprit, but I could be wrong. The only reason why I would want to trace their genealogy is to see how the dolls have progressed physically throughout being owned by different people - whether they started off entirely as fullsets, what parts they used to have, old face-ups. Just physical things. I have absolutely no interest in any character that they may or may not have once been, because I don't want that to have any impact on my characters for them.

 

My oldest doll Zoey was bought second hand. I dunno what it was about her that drew me in, but I knew I had to have her. So while I was waiting for her to arrive I dug up everything I could find on her. Since she was a hybrid to begin with, it was nifty to see her come together and to see her through someone else eyes.

When she arrived, she had a little note tucked into her jacket all about her from her perspective. It was such a cute notion and I think it really made me love her more. In a way she introduced herself to me, but was still more than happy to move on to a new life. She left 'Haleigh' behind and became 'Zoey', upgraded from a doc body to a Minifee body, and has been spoiled rotten ever since then.

In short, finding their history is fun. Finding it and watching your dolls become a small part of you though is the rewarding part to me.

 

I'm not sure...
I might casually check after my new doll has become how I like it, with the right face up/clothes/wig/eyes, simply put, after I have bonded.
Then I might dig a little and look out of curiosity.

 

I've actually traced dolls all the way back to their original owner, mostly too see what they've been through and their adventures. Haha, I only really did a thorough search when I bought my hand dyed Narsha boy because I wanted to know how he was dyed in case I needed to redye him.

 

Recently bought a secondhand DOD Lahoo. I decapitated him and stole his body for a floating head I had. As soon as I received the boy, he was brands new. It never occurred to me that this boy had a past history. As far as i'm concerned, his story started when he came home to me.

 

I'd rather buy new, but if I did buy a second hand I would want to know what it looked like before I got it and where it was and stuff :P