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What determined your dolls character?

Apr 22, 2019

    1. I've been on the hunt for finding the perfect sculpts for my characters for a long time now. For me it's not just the face, though that's a major part in my decision, it's also the body and the height.

      Orville has to be shorter (50-62cm) than Jena (68cm). Yasu will be somewhere in the middle, probably around 65cm. And Mark will most likely be 70cm unless I decide to make him shorter than Jena. My other characters are up in the air at this point.

      In regards to sculpts, they have to have the right emotion, the right feel.

      I can't shell Orville, for example, in a doll that has narrowed eyes because that'd come across as too aggressive for his personality. On the other hand, Jena would do well with a more serious expression so I can't shell her in a sculpt with rounded or big eyes.
       
      #21 Threewinds, Jun 11, 2019
      Last edited: Jun 11, 2019
    2. for me its mostly the style and clothes i chose that build the character, as well as the eyes, i think eyes are a super under rated part of a lot of bjds characters!
       
    3. A promise to my friend 4 years ago that I would make our first OCs into dolls one day :XD:
       
    4. I'm a sucker for a smile. Only 1 of 7 I've ordered isn't smiling and that was cause I feel in love with that they were a moth. (monsters act as bonus points)

      Other than that, hands are a big thing for me. There are certain hand positions that just don't match my tastes. not a deal breaker, but it helped me decide between two dolls once.

      Mostly cause my characters always tend to be on the cheerful side. In the words of a video game character I love, a smile better suits a hero
       
    5. I recently decided to work on my own character. My first two dolls are characters from games/shows. I got inspired by reading the forums that I wanted to create my very own doll’s character. First I decided on the size. My first doll is 70cm and I love him but he’s just very unwieldy for me. Next I looked for the sculpt since I was looking for a very sweet, soft face. Price also played a bit into it since I just got into the hobby and I want to make sure I can afford clothes/accessories/wigs/etc. for my new doll.
       
    6. I conceptualized the character, then I started looking for a sculpt that best fit that character. The only exception was with Rosencrantz - I fell in love with Dream of Doll's Camine and spent months figuring out what kind of name and character would best suit him. Everyone else I made to fit him LOL
       
    7. My first doll had a character first that I used to pick the sculpt. My other two were picked because I liked that sculpt and the character came later
       
    8. A few of my dolls are based on favorite anime characters, though they've evolved into my own characters. I tend to develop characters and personalities for them once I have them in my hands.
      I've given myself the added challenge of having all my dolls be mature tinies and smaller children. So scale is a factor in my even considering ordering a doll.
       
    9. All my dolls are OC, so when I started in the hobby, I would plan a character first and then find the right sculpt for it. For the past years, I gave up on that and just plan the character usually starting from a sculpt I like.
      But 95% of the time this is what happens: the doll refuses to fit in what I have in mind and as I try things on them, they start unveiling themselves as they want to be like and thus I discover their character.
       
    10. When I bought my first 10 dolls or so I had characters that I wanted to shell and would hunt around forever for the perfect match. These days I just buy the dolls that I adore and characters come naturally. I feel much better about collecting this way. It feels like the doll gets to tell their own story instead of one I crafted and force them into. I also find bonding with those dolls comes much easier. It's less forceful because I adore the sculpt already and I don't feel disappointed if they aren't working for a prebuilt character. I feel like we've all been through a shell that didn't work. We try and force it because we are already invested. Eventually, we have to admit we are wrong and part ways with the doll or reimagine them into a different character. Both of which can be hard and even painful.

      Sometimes, when I see a doll that I just have to bring home, they have already started telling me their story. Sometimes, it starts with tibids of personality and a name. There has been a few times where things don't come together so quickly and I'm completely fine with that. I have one girl who is really shy. I've had het for a few months and she still hasn't revealed herself. I love the doll and I know she'll be in my collection for a very long time. There's a doll I'm waiting on who was a bit of an impulse buy. She started revealing herself to me before I decided I was going to bring her home. I don't know why but it felt like she pulled me in and said she needed to be here with me. In the end I feel like there's really no wrong way to doll collecting. What ever works for you is going to be right.
       
    11. Body type and face sculpt, with the former leading. I had a heck of a time finding a small(ish) doll with a powerful build; most of them are very slim. I ended up choosing between aGatti and Iplehouse, and went with the latter because aGatti's faces weren't appropriate to the character.

      I'm working on shelling a beloved OC who I've drawn many times, so I have a good idea how he should look, how his face should be shaped, how he should move. Some amount of variation is inevitable, because nobody else has exactly my character even if there's plenty of similar ones! I got lucky enough to find a doll I really like. If I hadn't, I simply wouldn't have bought one, but I'm hoping I can use doll!K to take my drawings up another notch, as well as having a blast customizing him and making him stuff.
       
    12. For my first doll, I was shelling one of my pre-existing characters. For my next dolly plans I have a vague idea of character based on face mold, body type and my current aesthetic preference. I like to play around with different wigs and stuff and not have a character be completely set in stone.
       
    13. I had a design thought out already and face sculpt was definitely the biggest factor. I'd drawn several pictures of her before I got her and was looking for a doll that resembled the drawings as closely as possible
       
    14. My first doll was more of a "personality came after I bought the doll" rather than an OC shell type situation. He just had this soft and innocent look to him, so making him really pastel and sweet looking felt natural.
       
      • x 1
    15. I feel the same.

      I am not really good at making characters myself. When choosing dolls I mainly go with what I think looks nice. However some of them are based on other characters from books so I like to think of the image of them in my head when choosing a doll. Sometimes I just see images of a doll and fall in love :aheartbea
       
    16. For me it was all about the face/sculpt. When I looked at the images online and thought, "Man, that looks like (Name)," I knew I had to look into the doll. Of course always shop around! Some dolls look close while a different doll looks even closer. :)
       
    17. I'm looking to shell out my fav anime characters, so they already have set personalities and I'm very picky and specific on what they should look like. I keep seeing sculpts that are 'almost perfect, not quite right.' It's frustrating. Right now face sculpt is the most important, so I'm going for ~70" dolls since they seem to have the most options, but comparative body size is also a limiting factor. One of my boys is 5'6 but a rather defined/muscular street fighter, and the other is 5'10 and extremely slender/graceful (and heavily scarred). This has proven problematic, because the larger/taller bodies always seem to be more muscular, and the smaller/shorter bodies are much less so... and I need the opposite, since the less muscular character should be taller than his companion. So far I haven't found any companies that make such bodies.

      I also really love vein details on doll bodies. It's not a total deal killer if the dolls don't have sculpted veins, but it's definitely a big plus. :) Since both characters have a lot of blood symbolism in their storylines, I feel like it really adds to the overall personality.
       
    18. I usually have a look in mind like most have said and try to find a face sculpt to match it. I do sketch my character, but it’s often hard to perfectly match a drawing to a 3D sculpt, so I just try my best. I also look at other people’s characters from the same sculpt to see if I can see my character in it. I try to keep the body with the age of the character and will find a different body if it doesn’t suit my character. After that, I pick all the clothes and accessories. I don’t think my doll needs to be exactly what I have in mind, so the character takes a life of its own as well.
       
    19. I usually fall in love with a sculpt first. Then after I’ve bought them either while I’m waiting for them to arrive or once they get to me I start building a design for them. Names are harder as sometimes I have to do a lot of research for the right one. The best thing is when a name just comes to me while I’m working on them. This has happened a few times with older second hand sculpts I’ve bought. I have considered making a few dolls for my OCs, but I am a sculptor and I’ve been thinking for a while that I may want to make their heads myself. Still on the fence with that as it would be very time consuming and complicated.
       
    20. For me it’s I see I doll I really want to purchase and when I truly decide to purchase I start making the character. (When I made my first dolls character I decided that all my dolls would have a similar character design. Like they'll be immortal and be leaders or ancient god like characters.)(Ex. Her character is the character of life/Mother Nature)I go on the face sculpt and start from there. Building up their personalities but making sure they fit in with the universe I created.