selling/buying a "character" along with a doll

I bought mine second hand and kept its name, but added another to add a personal touch (I guess) and it sounds nice with her own name

 

i guess depend on the personality of the person and not the personality of the doll.

 

Have you ever done so? Personally, I've never done that. I do take the doll's history into consideration when I'm coming up with a character, but I never keep the same character that the previous owner had. More often than not, I don't even know what type of character the doll was to the previous owner.

How would you feel if you sold a doll and the buyer kept the name or character personality of that doll? I wouldn't mind at all. If they liked the doll and the character, that's fine. I've never sold a doll before, but if I did, I wouldn't use another doll for the same character. The characters are too attached to the dolls in my case, and I wouldn't mind at all if somebody kept it if I sold the doll to them.
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Personally, it wouldn't bother me if someone kept the name and character of a doll I sold, as long as they didn't turn around and claim it to be their OC and that I stole it or something ridiculous. If anything I'd find it amusing, as nothing about them is particularly interesting or outstanding. Buying a doll with the intention of keeping the original name and character is not something I would ever do.
I can see how some sellers would find it offensive, especially if they were selling the doll to re-shell the character and were very attached to the character and story. I think the way to go would be to ask first if the previous owner would mind, if one wanted to keep the same character and name. I mean really, there's nothing stopping anyone from doing it if they really wanted, but it would at least be courteous. I also think that sellers that are attached to the character should remove any character defining characteristics from their doll if they don't want those aspects adopted by the new owner.

 

In some cases I think it's fine if you keep the name, or even personality, if you have the previous owner's permission to do so. Since people also change only the mold of their character and then sell the older one, I think it's not okay to keep the name and/ or personality the same without asking, I guess everyone understand this, since it would be simply copying some other person's work. I would be very offended if someone copied my character without my permission, no matter if I had sold the doll or not. Also, even if one is allowed to keep the name and character the same, I think they at least shouldn't go and claim that it's their work, even if they added some details etc. But if the new and previous owners are fine with it, I don't see a problem here.
Personally I don't think I'd buy a character along with a doll, name I could maybe keep, if I thought it fit the doll best. I also highly doubt that I'd give away any of my characters, I'd just feel weird seeing someone else have them. But as I said before, I don't mind others doing this, if everyone's happy with it.

 

I enjoy seeing "characters" of people's dolls despite the fact I don't have one myself. When people create characters they are defining a doll they own and advertising such doll in the public sphere. As such, this will attract people not only to the doll itself but also to the character since many character dolls are customized. If a character doll appears with those same customizations then the buyer may very well think the purchase is of the character itself and notsomuch of the doll unless the customizations are removed. Some, however, cannot be removed. An example of this would be scarring.

Personally, I feel once a person sells a doll that doll is gone. How the second owner interprets that doll and chooses to use that doll is of no concern to the seller. I feel for those who become attached to the "character" of the doll moreso than the doll itself, but if the character is that important it's important to remove character-defining attributes even if that requires wiping a face-up.

 

I'd be furious if someone kept the name and personality of a doll I'd sold- if they asked me I'd have to say no. I might allow them to keep the name, but certainly not the character. Typically I ignore whatever character my doll may have had before- when they get to me, they're something else entirely.

My characters are NOT for sale - I guard them more jealously than the doll itself! I honestly don't really think it'd be possible though- take Harry Potter for example. We all have our own versions of what we think the characters are really like- however, JK Rowling is the only one in the entire world that really knows them- they are and always will be essentially hers. I feel that way about our doll characters. Many of us are writers as well and these characters come from novels, plays, poems, and short stories that we've had- often long before the doll was even a thought. There's no way someone else could manipulate a character the way it's original creator intended- it just wouldn't be the same, even if it was the same name, backstory, and personality. No one else could possibly know everything there is to know about that character- the nuances and subtleties of a character's personality are essentially that of the author/creator's. Every single character of mine, has a little piece of me in it- even if it's my complete and total opposite, you'd need to know me inside and out in order to know what the opposite of that would be and manipulate it accurately- does that make sense?

On the fame subject, again take Harry Potter- there are a zillion Harrys, Hermiones, Rons and Dracos running around the internet- but not a single one is the 'real' character. Only JK knows them well enough to have them truly be what they are. So it doesn't matter how many replicas there are, there really can only be one original...

So yeah... those are my thoughts on the subject...

 

Teruchan: This is exactly how I feel. Once my doll gets here (secondhand or not) its my doll, born again. I then will give it a name and a life. If I sold a doll and someone wanted to keep its previous name I would say "Sorry, no." The name and 'soul' of the doll belongs to me, even though I sold the dolls shell.

 

I won't keep the doll's name, neither the character.For me , buying a second hand doll is just like buying a new doll but it has some experience, it's odd for me to keep the old things and I did ripe out the past of my secondhand doll , not even to contact the seller after the deal is done. And I think it's a kind of offense if the buyer keep my setting on my doll

 

I think it ok, if the seller want to sell this character.If not then he/she should not put it in the product description.And that the seller do not make pay a extra to buy this doll 'character/soul'...Personally I would keep my doll personality and story to me,and the owner can do whatever he/she wish with this new doll.

 

Having bought a number of pre-owned dolls & also having sold many of my new ones, I've never had a problem with anyone wanting to keep a character or even a name. Really though, I don't ask about a doll's character nor do I talk about mine.

I've only had one instance where I even knew the doll's name. He was a Customhouse Special Line doll where the box shows his given name. I liked his name, it just really felt right & I asked the seller if I could keep it. No problem. I have no idea what his original character was but from the moment he arrived here he had definite ideas about himself & has become an integral part of my universe.

 

I guess i would think it's cool that the name lived on, heck my very first doll kept his name and he's had it through 2 other owners besides me ^ ^;;

As for my the dolls that are characters, i probably wouldn't like it too much if someone i sold them to tried to keep them in character. Mostly because it would weird me out seeing the names that i created and the characters behind them in physical form being used by someone else x.x" Actually it'd weird me out big time. XD

Fanfiction is one thing, (because i've actually had someone write a fanfic to one of my stories and it was funny xD) but actually seeing the doll that is my character that was once in my posession, and seeing someone else call it the same name that i did as well as have it be the character that i made, would actually leave me not too happy.

I don't think i'd mind if someone got another doll and made one like mine, but that's another discussion. I don't really know how to word how i feel about it, but just that i don't like it. Selling my dolls with characters attached is a little too hard for me vs. selling my doll without the character attached to it as well.

Also, I don't think i could actually buy someone else's character dolls. I can buy them as just another doll for sale, but not one with a whole profile attached to it.

 

I'm very worrid about this. I have attachment issues, meaning I form attachments with pretty much anything. I've had my migidoll ryu head, Ian, for a year, with only a wig and some OOC eyes, and only recently bought him a migidoll body. BUT, as some of you may know, the resin probably won't match. In that event, I will probably buy him a new head (still migidoll ryu, just in the new resin), and sell the old head, but I'm worried I'll feel bad about it. Why would I? It'd be the same wig, same eyes, same face. But it wouldn't be the EXACT same head, the one I'd grown attached to.

Hopefully I'll get over it, 'cause I am NOT selling that body.

 

I'm reviving this old thread. I'm currently five days away from receiving a rehomed Luts Delf Pine whose original name I feel doesn't exactly fit the flow of the character development that I will be creating with him. However, telling the previous owner that I am not a huge fan of the name he's coming with seems a bit rude. Although I do not possess his character or background as the previous owner never told me about it, I have this weird feeling that I will have difficulty getting him to fit into my growing resin family if he has a name that stands out significantly from the crowd. I should probably just ask the previous owner (I say that instead of seller since I only paid for shipping for him and not a penny more,) but I'm nervous about coming off as rude.

On one hand it feels right to keep his name, but on the other hand I'd love to remove the name completely as he's getting a totally different look and backstory.

 

I really, truly think you're creating anxiety for yourself when you don't need to. Once the doll arrives at your door, he's yours to name, repaint, restyle, and create a character around. You say that the previous owner hasn't forced any information on you about the character or background he used to have, so clearly s/he doesn't expect you to keep that character. The name is related to the character, so I don't quite understand why you feel that you'd need to ask the previous owner for permission to rename the doll.

At the same time, I don't think you should go out of your way to inform the previous owner that you are "not a huge fan of the name he's coming with." That could come across as rude -- and more to the point, it's unnecessary. The doll will be yours now, with a new character, and it makes sense that you will give him a new name to go with his new character.

For what it's worth, the only time I've asked a seller/previous owner's permission to do anything was when I wanted to keep the name that a doll had had before. I felt that the name belonged, in a way, to the previous owner (actually, the two previous owners!), and I didn't want to take it without asking first.

 

My dolls represent my OCs that usually continue to use in ongoing RP, even if as a side character, and I would be bothered by someone taking the character too when I sell one. I'm selling the physical doll, not the story, not my writing, not my designs. If a doll has a very character specific faceup or tattoo that I don't want others using, I'll wipe it. Likewise, I never use a seller's character. I usually don't even know who the doll used to be, I just buy it for my OC.

My only exception has been when I've been roleplaying a couple and I get bored of my own OC and decide I'm no longer interested in the character, story or connections to it. Then I have offered (and once completed) to sell the doll and all character info, plus the eyes, wig, faceup, clothes, accessories and character sheet along with them. At that point, someone else is more attached to my character than I am, and rather than destroy their character's story due to my lack of interest, I'd rather just let them take that OC over completely.

 

Seconding @Cynthia in FlintHills that you've really got nothing to worry about. It's assumed when you buy a secondhand doll that you'll make it your own, so the only reason you would need to discuss the doll's former name with the person sending it to you is if you're hoping to get their permission to keep it. I'd just stick to the positives and tell her how happy you are to be receiving it instead.

 

I would never sell a personality, but I'd sell a design. That is, if I had the funds to buy dolls just to style them and all, then sell them again (I have no confidence that I'd come out even in the end so I'm not doing that).
Once a character develops a personality, they become like family to me so I would never be able to part with them anymore!

I also am not interested in buying a doll with a set personality and all. My characters need to be mine alone, and it already irks me when I co-write stories with someone else and have no control over their character haha...
When I purchase a doll it's a blank canvas no matter where I got it from, and I create their character once they arrive and figure out what to do with them.
I have honestly never even heard of someone selling their doll and expecting it to stay the same character/look.

 

Thank you for the advice, to both of you. ^-^ (As a person who's actually diagnosed with severe anxiety, the first comment probably isn't far off the mark, lol.) And that makes sense to me. It's a little difficult for me to get over the thought of not informing the previous owner about my changes to him, mainly because dolls seem so personal to me. I'm still new to the hobby, so every day I learn new things about doll etiquette. If that's the case though, then I won't worry too much. I'll only say something if she asks, or if I have a question about him down the road.