What comes first - the backstory or the doll?

The dolls! I only started planning out their characters now when I am almost finished paying them off. I never really though about giving them back stories before. I was just sitting in the car the other day when a story idea hit me

 

Hmm, well I haven't purchased my first doll yet but it seems the doll and backstory are kind of happening at the same time. I decided I really wanted a bjd, though I hadn't decided on a sculpt. So then I started thinking, who will they be? First it was a girl, but now I've settled on a boy. And I've figured out his past and his name (Laurence) but I still don't know exactly what he looks like in my mind. I know some vague things.... he has sad eyes, is sort of melancholy, perhaps more european looking and I think his hair will be reddish blonde or a sandy blonde. But other than that I'm not sure what he will look like. I'm sort of waiting for a doll to jump out and say "Here I am!" I have found a few that I think would work very well for him, now I just have to pick one. XD

But I still would really like to have a girl doll. I have been looking at some and I think I know what girl I want first, though I don't know if she will really have a backstory. I just want to dress her in beautiful clothing I make for her. So I don't know her name yet and I'm thinking she'll just be my little fashionista that I can put in historical things or modern things. ^_^

But Laurence has a very defined story. So I guess it will vary for me. Haha. We'll see once I actually get some dolls.

 

Backstory comes first for me. When I look at a new doll that I like, I usually like it because I can see my character's personality in it. I fall more in love with it because of the backstory. If I see a doll that I have no backstory for, I try hard to think which one of my characters it represents the most, before I decide to buy it.

 

I got the doll I like first, then think of story later.

 

I must be a shallow person because I fall for the doll, then the back story comes after the doll arrives. I think I've only once bought a doll that was meant to be someone to start with, my little Doll Love, Sakuranbo is a toddler version of a larger doll I own.

 

Good question, for me it wouldn't do any good to develop a background story first as all of my dolls have always had a strong personality already & did not need me to decide who they were, trying to make them fit a specific persona just wouldn't work! My kids are so cheeky! :P

 

I need a story in order to get the doll. Since I RP, I am often looking for faces that match my idea of the character versus just getting a doll and letting the story come later. If I have my eye on a mold and simply love it, but can't think of a character, I just wait until I have to make a new one and voila! Reason to get the mold. XD

 

Hey, I fall in love in doll, not in a story behind it.
I have tried to make a doll for a charakter behind it, but it was a big mistake. Character was way too different from a doll that I have bought and created design in the end. I'm a picky person, so if something is not right, it is not taking into consideration at all. So I've decded that enjoying ownig doll is way better than making them personalities

 

I thought of my backstory first and chose a doll I think fit the character but when I actually got the doll his entire story changed. When I saw him in person compared to the online pictures his personality seemed completely different. The name stayed the same though!

 

For me, it depends. For my Adventures in Azeroth dolls I have had backstories/personalities first, bifore I have bought the doll. But for my Doll Chateau dolls, I have yet anything thought, and probably they'll get theirs when I do their face ups and pick out wigs, if not even later.

 

I had my characters first then i found BJDs and was like... oh my god, i could totally make these characters come to life!!

 

For me it's always dolls first. I see a doll I like, and once I decide to get it things fall into place. The first thing is always a name, and it goes from there. I rarely write the stories down, it's more of an all in my head thing, I just like thinking about it.

 

All my dolls came first except in the case of Huika because his maker, Heisejinyao, had done an excellent illustrated novel about him (I’m her fan). As a matter of fact, I never think about elaborated backstories because is easier to write original tales or fanfiction without the use of dolls. Unfortunately nobody can have all things or knowledge necessary to produce photostorys as good as the common tales full of action and different places. People enjoy great novels full of furniture, scenery and Photoshop effects. I want to do the best for the community but if I can’t, will be better wait until I can.

By the way if I had friends to play RPG and we had a backstory, my personal choice would be a minimee based on sketches made by myself.

 

always the doll first, if the doll doesn't catch me a lot, the backstory will be useless

 

Usually, the doll comes and then the character. Sometimes, the character comes and then the doll.

 

I prefer the doll. I want to see the doll and prepare like the character of the story I want him to be but he need also to fits into it. if I can deal with everything then I can finally create a backstory and so on.

 

For me it depends on the doll. At first i used to look for dolls based on the description i had in mind of my characters. This sometimes was hard, and i finished selling some of the dolls i got because i could not bond with them and they did not fit into character ; <. Yet some dolls that i got with this mentality fit perfect

But sometimes i just fall head over heels for a sculp, and as i think what i would do with it i come up with a brand new character

 

Backstory comes first. I look at a new doll and I see my character's personality in it. When I wait for the doll the backstory became more detail. But sometimes it depends on the doll.

 

Well I only have one doll coming in and a handful of other planned dolls, but even before I got into the BJD hobby I was always creating characters and stories for my comics/ mangas.

For me I always draw out the main character first and as I draw them up I start turning gears in me head and think about who they are, their back story, the world they live in and their supporting cast. So I normally start with the character design first and they write themselves. A lot of times I will flip-flop and change them around if their story development deems it necessary.

With my doll I had an idea of what I wanted her too look like and picked her sculpt based off that. I have most of her story in mind and have done a lot of research to take her in the direction I want but things are always subject to change while she is being developed.

 

For me, the doll will come first. She's arriving in April or May, but I'm not really a story-teller... I don't feel like I need to mold her into a story I'm creating or give her a background. Maybe it will come to me naturally the longer I spend time with her, but she's a somewhat generic model (Dream of Doll Shall) so it's not like she has specific characteristics that would give her a certain personality--she doesn't have a sulky face or dark makeup or brooding eyes. If I have an outfit design in mind, maybe it would pull a character out of her, but otherwise, I'm starting with nothing.