Shelling OCs vs Dolls You Like

Definitely a mix of OCs that need to be shelled, fan dolls, and dolls I just *like* where the character gets created around the sculpt!

Vince, Marigold, Party Martian, and Bambi are dolls I fell in love with for how cute they were and then created characters around-- Vince is pretty basic, he's just a living doll who will wear anything I think it's cute to put him in, whereas Marigold has a whole world and other OCs that I haven't shelled that are her family... and Party Martian and Bambi are kind of a couple even though they're not perfectly scaled to each other? But when I got the chance to bring her home, she was just one hundred percent his girlfriend. I had wanted to find a partner for him who *would* be really well suited to him in scale, and he fell in love with her just like I did even though she's a real amazon next to him.

Jack's my D&D character from a campaign that never got to finish, and I've also written about him since he didn't get his resolution at the table. With him it was ALL about finding a character who looked the most like the guy in my head and the art I've made and commissioned of him, and I struck gold. And then Deanna is heavily based on a friend's character from a different role playing game but I sort of translated her into Jack's world so *he* could have a quest buddy. And I've got a couple new super tiny mature tinies, Downfall and Istraeth, who are NPCs for a game I would love to DM who really took on such a life of their own beyond how they'd feature in said game.

Pete and Billy are sort of in a nebulous between-- they are very much *named after* characters they're styled to look like, but are also based on OCs from an old abandoned writing project, who were kind of side characters I never found something I could DO with, and then they've since kind of grown into themselves as something totally different since being shelled as dolls. So they're... all three, depending?

Eddie's a fan doll through and through, but my own *take*. And two of my floating heads are fan dolls, though one of them I'm waiting for the artist who makes his body to do another run and the other just has a bust to be displayed on...

 

I am mixture of both. Mostly because I make characters that ARE the doll I want to buy. A good example of this is my anthropomorphic fox character Force who is literally a Force Fox doll by FallinDoll that I'm planning to purchase. Two more good examples are my anthropomorphic cat character Charlotte and anthropomorphic deer character Rudy who are literally Pipos Charlotte III 2021 and Pipos Deer Rudy (27cm). Other than that, if I want one of my bajillion OCs to be a doll, I'd rather make the doll from scratch so it will look as close to my OC as possible. However, making dolls from scratch will have to wait until I can actually DO that sort of thing, lol.

 

I usually like to pick dolls with a character in mind, but sometimes I just can’t resist a sculpt even if I don’t have a character for it. Either way, I try to create a character for the doll in the end; whether it’s new or one that I already came up with.

 

The dolls I have so far are moreso dolls I picked out because I enjoyed the sculpt a lot, and then I made a character around them.

I do have OCs, but only one or two specifically I'd like to see in doll form, I just haven't found quite the right sculpt that fits them as my art style unfortunately isn't to the level of fitting the more realistic / semi-realistic offerings on the market! I know that I could still shell them despite that, but it would feel a bit off to me.

 

My ocs have facial features that arent common in bjds- and I'm too fixated on them looking right to ever consider shelling them before.

My current dolls; I just liked the sculpt and the character grew from there! I do have a few sculpts that I've loved that I thought would make great fan dolls. I think if I ever reach a point of completion with my crew that I'm happy with, I'd like to try shelling those.

 

I buy dolls that I like and then create OCs for them afterwards. That's the best of both worlds for me.

I originally joined the hobby with the goal to shell pre-existing OCs, and tried that with my first doll. Right out of the gate it didn't work: I didn't pick an appropriate sculpt either in appearance or "vibes", but I was also a newbie who didn't know what my doll tastes were, and my expectations for the doll (and myself) were too high. Whereas I bought my 2nd and 3rd dolls because I liked them, and then figured out a character for them -- and I enjoyed these dolls much more. So I ditched the idea of shelling pre-existing OCs and sold my first doll. I still love creating characters though, so it was just natural that I created an OC for every doll, using the doll as inspiration.

My doll OCs are now a single cast in a shared story and world. I don't bother shelling pre-existing OCs anymore: no interest, don't want to try a second time. In fact, my doll OCs have become so important to my imagination that I've pretty much stopped thinking about all my non-doll OCs -- at least for now. On the other hand, I find myself kinda locked out of buying dolls that don't fit in with this cast. I once tried to get into tinies, because I liked certain EU-based doll artisans who make quirky pet/creature dolls and fashion 1/6s. I bought one 18cm tiny, thinking I might start a second doll collection... only to discover that I didn't have the mental bandwidth or desire to deal with that. I quite liked that tiny doll, but I eventually sold it and went back to my 1/3 cast. I still look longingly at those tiny dolls, but I'm not gonna try to start a second doll collection -- not for a long time at least.

So I guess I'm stuck in a narrow lane: I buy the dolls that I like, but they have to fit in with the existing collection, and this bar has just gotten higher and higher as the collection has grown. It does mean I miss out on many sculpts that I like, even ones that may fit in, because I can't see them enhancing the crew and the story. But I love my dolls and developing their story, so I'm actually quite contented about this - I'm having lots of fun playing with my dolls and developing their story.

 

I've just shelled my two OCs, and based on limitations of money, space, and diversity options, I'm calling my collection complete.

However, I've ordered an extra doll for the purpose of a body upgrade so that leaves me with the choice of either selling her with the older body swapped in, or I let her be the experimental doll who will tell me who she wants to become. I also dream of owning a very poseable and mature 1/4 or 1/6, perhaps something more stylized than what I currently have. Most likely, it will be an artist doll that catches my fancy.

 

I don't shell OCs...the dolls give me OC ideas when I get them! It's as if they were whispering into my ear, telling me who they are.

 

This is how I do it.

I tried to shell OC's way back at the beginning of my collection and no doll was ever *perfect* enough to represent my OCs.
So now I let the dolls inform any characterization I come up with for them.