What comes first - the backstory or the doll?

Mine was doll then backstory, a Dollmore Lilis Liv. I had been looking for the perfect doll for a few months and it was between her and another and I found her on Ebay for $100 and promptly bought her. Though having her so long, I decided to revamp her story, which will happen one day. I fell in love with her as is and tried to force a story on her, but it just doesn't fit anymore. She's gone through almost 10 wigs now and I just don't know what I'm going to stick with or what I am going to do with her. She started regal and royal with long golden hair, moved to lolita with cotton candy pink hair, slid into gothic with dark clothing and choppy bi-colored dark hair and now she's been idle. Hopefully this weekend I can think of something when I make her a new wardrobe.

 

its normally the backstory for me but the whole doll coming first has happened once or twice ^^ from that rare occasion, i now have a very complicated, very thought out story and a handful of characters to go with it ^^

 

In my case as of so far its been a bit of both. For one doll there was a backstory but its because shes my wow character of five years. For the others, it has been the doll first and trying to figure out how they are going to be. Those I havent done much or anything at all with

 

Doll comes first. I don't have characters I base my dolls off of so most of them don't even have backstories. I just like buying pretty dolls. xD

 

It depends much on the situation, sometimes I already have an OC and then I search for an sculpt that could fit him, therefore he has a hardcore backstory But there's these times when I come across to find a dolly that I love and once I convince myself that I'd really like to bring him home with me, I create an OC and a backstory. I don't personally have a preference for any of these, I like both in fact and I love all my dolls no matter if they were a backstory or a doll first

 

Character and backstory first. Always. I find I can have a better connection with my dolls if I already know them before they get to my door step. Before I even buy them for that matter. I already love the dolls on my wishlist and all of them are there for a reason, and that is to bring my characters to life (In a way). Or at least so they can have a physical representation. I have only had a few cases where I saw a doll that I wanted so badly that I created a character just to have an excuse to buy it, but again, the character had to come before the purchase.

 

It depends on the doll for me.
For my first doll, while I was looking I had one backstory planned, but I fell in love with a sculpt that did not fit it so I built her a new story.
For my second doll though, have the story all planned out!

 

Come to think of it, even though there's quite a bit of backstory already once I order a doll, there's always room for additions. I found that dolls tend to have a fairly good idea about who they are, so even if they "click" for an OC, they'll always have something new to tell me that I wasn't previously aware of. (I didn't know Lauren was that much of a nerd girl until she was actually home ... I also had no idea Katie would want a cat of her own.) It's kind of like you can know a person for ages and they still surprise you every now and then.

 

For me, I am very big on backstory. Don't get me wrong, the aesthetic look of a character can grab me, but without a backstory, I feel like somethings missing. Backstories, for me, keep me very interested in a character/doll, so I guess for me I can go either way, but more so Backstory then doll.

I love writing as well, so with a current backstory, I like to add on and experiment with new ideas and scenarios for a characters.

 

So far the dolls came first and their stories come after them. My perfect example is my first doll Isaac. In his company photos he looked so sinister and evil but when he arrived I took one look at him and said 'Dude... You are SO not evil. you look more like a wood nymph or woodsmen.'

 

Backstory My Obitsu was a gift so I had to work her into a story, but my two resinsouls are based on characters I write in stories... I picked the boy closest to my heart and now all the dolls I want are based on the other characters around him, it's important to me to have them click like that. I just wish my Obitsu could be part of it, but she had to be slotted in somewhere else... Either way, Skeech's group and family will continue growing!

 

I just purchased a doll and the doll came first, now the backstory is underway. I'm so excited about this!

 

First, I had found one stunning mold and could not forgot its beautiful face, 2 weeks after that I ordered her from the company.
While I was waiting for my first doll to arrive all her backstory came up in my mind.

after my first doll, others are based on the backstory

 

I think for me, it should be doll first.

See the photo-->have some special feeling-->take her/him home-->get to know her/him-->getting more and more familiar with her/him and somehow can read her/his feelings sometimes

 

For me i usually come up with a back story as i'm making the character. Sometimes i'll have an idea of a story in my head but once i get the character finished it seems like that story doesn't fit. Then i have to either pick at it for while and change some parts or just change it completely. So, it just depends really.

 

i always wanted to have doll from certain anime. i tried to find action figures and so on..So when i saw my perfect man, he reminded of that beloved character. He was so magnificent so i decided to buy it. but the more i looked at his promo, the more i realized that he is not anime character, he has his own name and own background. when he finally arrived, i found the letter. it was some kind of "letter to my mommy" from the doll. In this letter he described himself. and you know, i really liked everything that he wrote in that letter, so when i wrote his background i combined his history and added some abilities from that anime character i dreamed about. and i think it suits him well, i feel comfortable with this background and it is seems that Soyala like it too =P

 

I find it's kind of a combination of both...I develop little pieces of the backstory and character before and add lots of details (especially personality traits) after deciding on a doll ^_^ For example, I developed a small, little detailed backstory for my coming girl, Luna (Luts Kid Delf Darae) before I chose her. After I decided on that sculpt, I noticed she had a really cute, content fact. So I gave her a personality to match ^_^ and since her big eyes remind me of a deer, I've decided that one of her favourite animals are deer! So, her nickname is Saseum ("Deer" in Korean), but I'm considering Bambi!

 

I use to make characters then find the doll to fit them. Now it's different, I see a doll I love and picture the person for it to become.

 

I can go both ways on this. Most of the time, I decide I want the doll, and then develop the character during the layaway period. But sometimes, as I'm designing one character for a doll, other characters get created too. So then I wait until a doll comes along who fits those new characters.

For example, when I saw Soom's Chrom MD, I knew I wanted him. So I started creating his character, and decided he was a rebel leading a small group of escaped prisoners/experiment subjects into revolt against the government. But then, in order to understand his character better, I also had to plan out his group as well. So I created a male character (meek mannered, addicted to something from his time as an experiment, trusting and introverted) and a female character (firey tempered, secretly in love with Chrom, motherly towards the other male character, deeply convinced that rebellion is the correct path to take). When Soom released Alex, she was perfect for my female rebel, and the male Free Choice Event let me get a bronze Heliot who was perfect for the male rebel.

I'm lucky in that I've never had a doll 'reject' a character. It might happen someday, but so far they've all worked out happily.

 

There's been quite a bit of both for me, too!

The reason I started getting into BJDs was to create shells for the characters in a series I'd written years back, but as time went on, I fell in love with a few other guys and girls that could have nothing to do with the story...
To be honest, I find the difference quite refreshing, and the first little one it happened with, is actually my favourite character....but that's a secret.