Selling a doll with the expectation that it'd stay the same character?

That is so sad... It sounds to me like they really love that doll, and are only parting from it because they really need the money. I've done that myself before (although without the character stipulation it's not fun. I hope that they can find the money elsewhere.

 

I do have one in my own crew (Kessari-) who more-or-less stayed the same character he'd been with his first owner after I bought him, but he's the only one over here who's ever retained any trace of his "former life"... and even then, his backstory and evolution went in different directions with me than they probably would have if Neph had kept him. He's always been very much *mine* in spite of starting out with a bit of prior history.

That said, once you sell something you no longer have a say in what happens to it. As a seller, you have to let go. It's up to the buyer to make of the doll what they will... And as buyers, we shouldn't feel obligated to stick to a former owner's ideas if we have other plans of our own. Your doll, your choice.

 

I think it's applicable if the owner has spent time painting the doll with unique details, adding sculpted parts, etc. They still can't force the new owner to keep the identity they created for the doll but like you guys said, it can be a selling point? It might be neat to have some sort of backstory for a scar or something, especially if it's a highlight of the doll's features.

Otherwise, I think it would be better to let potential adopters to imagine what the doll could be and how he/she would fit in with their existing crew.

 

I agree that someone who wants the story, name, etc to stay the same is probably not ready to sell the doll. If I really liked the name I might keep that but I would feel guilty about taking the backstory of the character. It would feel like I way copying their ideas and pretending that they were mine when they aren't. Also considering I'd probably have something in mind for the doll unless it was an impulse buy.

 

If I buy a doll, I buy the doll, not the creative responsibility.

 

I might keep aspects of a character for a doll I bought second-hand but to entirely keep a personality or backstory just seems odd to me. All us doll owners are very different people and even two people who own the same doll mold with similar faceups will see their dolls quite differently. One person looks at an El face (for example) and sees bitchy where someone else might see pouty or angsty.

It would be boring if everything was always the same.

 

Eh, that's weird to me. If I buy something, it is mine. All aspects of it. If I want to change the look, style, name, etc. then I will because it is legally my property.

If someone is that emotionally attached to something, they'd may as well just keep the darn thing.

 

Frankly, when I sell a doll, I give up everything about this doll. The next owner can do with it what he or she wants. That was even clear to me when I sold my horse (and he is a living being, no just a piece of complicated plastic). I trained him to dressage grand prix-level. But I could have done nothing if his next owner decided train him for Western reining.

Maybe if the owner gives his doll for free to someone he or she knows. Then this may work. But with a normal sale - never.

 

That really would be going too far. I'm buying a doll, not a character, and I would not buy a doll if it came with conditions like these. If you sell a doll, you forfeit all rights you have on it, up to and including deciding what its character is like.

 

I feel that wanting the new owner to keep everything as-is would put off a decent amount of buyers and would be impossible to control after it leaves your hands. Once a doll I'm selling leaves my home, it is not my concern what the new owner choose to do with it. I only hope that the doll makes them happy

 

I've bought dolls secondhand and then one way or another discovered the character they were meant to be originally (usually through old forum or blog posts). Somehow it's always super awkward, and I feel like the doll I'm seeing in old photos isn't the same as the one I'm holding at home.

I don't think a buyer should be obligated to keep an old character, or that a seller should feel the need to demand that. I mean, it'd be fine if the buyer did decide to keep the old character, so long as the original owner was fine with it. Like, I suppose, if a well known hobbyist sold a well known doll and was alright with selling the character along with it. But if you're not willing to let the new owner do something new with the doll, then you might as well keep it. Like, I mean, if you sold a character doll and demanded it to be kept the same, then either you're planning to later try to buy it back (and what if they decide not to sell?) or you're planning to reshell the doll because you love the character... and then there are just two of them out there?

Idk, it doesn't make sense to me.

 

I think selling a doll and expecting the new owner to keep your character would be like selling your home and expecting the new owner to keep living with all your paint colors. It's unreasonable. Once you sell something, you lose control of it.

I probably wouldn't buy from someone who wanted me to keep their character.