Second-Hand Dolls: Part of their story?

There's only one second-hand doll in my household currently, but there was a character already planned for him. Though I think if I were to get another without anything really planned, I would probably start with a clean slate. I think it would depend on the doll as well. I think just like how their personality will speak to you, they'll let you know if their previous owner should still be a part of them or not.

 

I buy mostly secondhand dolls and it doesn't affect who they become for me. I may keep a small detail, but that's it. For example, my Bobobie Ophelia was from a friend and her name was Tsubame. That's the only part of her I kept, and it's just a nickname from a cosplay group that she belongs to hide her identity. Her name is actually Lily and she has a whole elaborate backstory that has nothing to with her original owner. I always start with clean slates, because a huge part of this hobby for me involves elaborate backstories that I can write about. I wouldn't really like having a doll with a character that I didn't create.

I have a floating head that was new, and I feel the same way about him as I do with my other dolls. I love him the same, and didn't even think about him being new and the others secondhand until I wrote this post. I have a new doll coming, and the way I feel about his yet-to-happen arrival is the same as I've felt before- completely and utterly excited and impatient!

 

Nearly half my group of dolls, five of my eleven, are second hand. Of the five there is only one I know anything about his life before coming to live with me. And what I do know has absolutely no baring on his story with me, which I really do not know at the moment, because he just happens to be the doll I am having issues bonding with. I am hoping a new faceup, proper wig, and new eyes will change all that. If not he will move on either to a friend of mine or to be sold so I can buy another doll, but I digress. My main point being that my second hand dolls are just like my first hand ones and the moment they leave their former owner they are mine to create a backstory for, no matter what the previous owner had created for them.

 

When I buy a doll secondhand that's all I'm buying -- the doll. I don't care who owned it before it fell into my hands, nor do I care what they did with it. When the doll lands in my hands, it becomes whatever I want it to be, regardless of what it was before.

I would never, ever keep the character of a secondhand doll unless the creator of that character gave me permission to do so.

 

Nearly all my crew is bought second hand. And like people said before, I too start with a clean slate. The doll will tell you her/is story over time, if being owned by someone else is part of it, so it may. But to compleatly keep a perestablished character would feel strange (besides the issue of the owner that had it before), as if it was not entierly mine.
On the other hand the previouse stories of the dolls that are sold, are seldom disclosed to the buyer. I don't show an interest in them, so non of the sellers ever saw fit to tell it to me.

 

To be blunt, no.

I did amend one of my characters' backstories to add that she was 'adopted,' however. Didn't do that for all my secondhand dolls, just the first. ~ ♥

 

It doesn't matter what character the doll had before. It's my doll now, and they exist to fit my universe.

 

I have a doll that has been owned by 2(!) people before she came to me. I do not consider the previous owners as part of her story, other than that she almost was "reincarnated" when she came to me, I gave her a different look and a whole different personality. She's in my possession, and her story starts here and now.

 

I love second hand dolls. I have two and the process is always the same. I wipe them clean as soon as I get them and then I carefully sit with them and give them a new face up. Then I take a look at them when they're done and see what parts of their personality shine through. Most of mine end up being pretty feisty little guys. I see them like I do my dog that I adopted. They're mine now and I'd rather focus on showering them with love then thinking about the past.

 

I have several second-hand dolls. One I changed completely (wiped the face-up and turned into a boy); one had a face-up that influenced her current character (but she received new eyes and a new wig); one looks exactly the same - eyes, wig and face-up - as she did when she was with her previous owner. The thing is, when I saw her on the sales thread with her gentle, freckled face-up, her green eyes and het red wig, she looked exactly like my character. It's why I bought her. I never think, "oh dear, I never changed a thing about her." Instead, it's more as if her previous owner was keeping Theneva until I came by .

 

It is always fun to me to look at a pre-owned piece like an antique, a second-hand doll, or a used car and wonder, "what stories would you have to tell if you could talk?" When I do find out some tidbit, it gives the piece a bit more interest. But finding out more about some object's story is something different. That's its actual history. A doll's character or back story is created by someone's imagination.

I would feel weird taking over someone else's character and trying to fit it into my own, even if they gave me their permission. I'd much rather wipe the slate clean and make up something new; it would be much easier for me to fit them into my story that way anyway.

 

About a third of my dolls were secondhand, but it does not affect their characters at all. My dolls' characters are human characters, not living doll characters, so they're completely unaware of me or a doll world in their stories. It really wouldn't make any sense at all in their world to be thinking about owners!

If your doll's character is a living doll type, though, I think it would be cute to have a story about him leaving his old home and finding a new owner. The only thing that might be a problem about keeping the old character would be if the seller just sold the doll, not the OC they had created for him. They could be reshelling that OC, and it might bother them that they didn't give permission for their character to be used by other people. I don't think it would be so bad to keep a basic trait from the previous character. Something not too particular, like same eye color, or similar generic personality (goth boy, loli girl, sweetheart, bad boy, etc) but with the details of your own. Keeping a small memory of that past "life", but moving on as well, to really be yours.

 

It's not easy to find out information about a second-hand doll. I wouldn't mind working some things from the doll's previous owner into the story of my dolls, but I can barely find out a name (never have!), much less any character information. It's hard to just get the minimum info on the doll itself, really!!! I think maybe the sellers just aren't interested in spending lots of time telling other people about a doll they will no longer own.

And I don't really want to ask, just in case it is a sore point that the doll is being sold, or something. I would love to chat about the dolls with the seller, but it has NEVER happened!!! I'll exchange messages about the sale itself, and chat about other things, but I really never find out anything about the character the owner has given the doll...

I even check posts on DoA about that doll, but there's often not much I can use, if anything!

I don't tend to change the faceups. Sometimes I will keep the eyes the last owner sent along with them...! But if they come without anything else, they will look different enough in the wigs and outfits that I own...

 

All the dolls I own are second hand, and I am sometimes inspired by who they were when they were with their old owner.
But when they get here, they are mine and they are given a new identity.

I suppose it would be a cool idea that you assigned the dolls nationality to where you bought them from...then I'd have half the world in my bedroom xDD hehe

 

A large portion of my dolls were obtained through the second-hand market, but none of them have kept their previous names, personalities or stories. I already have something in mind for the sculpt when I am interested in buying it. I have had previous owners tell me about what they did with the doll when they had it, and I think that's really neat! I enjoy the stories about why they named them what they did, why the doll was painted a certain way, etc, even if I have different plans for the doll

 

It should really depend on what you feel is the best for you doll, after all it is your doll now so you make all the rules. There can be certain parts in their previous story that make you interested/that you like, then you can totally mix it in with what you want for him/her.

So, whatever you feel is the best!

 

A doll is a clean slate for me. Company bought or second hand doesn't matter. ^^

 

About half of my dolls are bought second hand, with most of them being just heads didn't even have a face-up or a body, let alone a backstory. Some of my second hand bodies might have more of a history, but if so, I don't know … I have bought a few dolls from friends, of these I knew backstories or plans for the character - but honestly, it never even crossed my mind to keep anything of that. Interesting idea though …^^

 

I only buy limited dolls second hand, that was 2 of them. I don't know anything about their character before I bought them, so I just set them a new character I planned for. One of my doll is kinda semi-second hand because the owner just brought him out of the box once or twice.

I know someone who named the doll after the previous owner though (but in a cool way)