What do you prefer: Personality first or Sculpt first?

Sculpt, then face-up, then eyes and hair, and style of clothes.

As I get to know the doll, their personality becomes apparent, sometimes immediately, sometimes gradually, sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes their full personality is only revealed when another doll arrives who is a catalyst for it.

For example, Nesta didn't fully emerge as the snarky-and fashion-conscious-older-sister until Hannah, the tomboy, joined the family. At which point Cressida also emerged as the peacemaker forming a buffer between them.

Teddy

 

I pick a doll for its looks and give it a personality

 

Sculpt first.

I have to fall for the look of a doll. I can always make up a personality and story later! I have OCs and I like the look of characters from stories that aren't mine... but I don't want to re-create them in dolls. (I'll just buy a Hot Toy or a Tonner for that!). For my own characters-- I have an endless amount and can probably make my dolls play parts if I wished, but I prefer to play about with my dolls visually and no stick to one character and one look with most of them. Some of my dolls have adopted their own look which they don't deviate from much==so they become their own characters, which ultimately are my characters!

I have bought some dolls because they reminded me of my characters or established characters I like... but they still aren't those characters shelled!

I know... weird! But we all have our own ways of deciding on what dolls we want!

 

I usually do personality first, because that helps give me a general idea of what I'm looking for in a sculpt. It helped me pick out dolls to shell Johnny and Chloe, and it helped me find dolls that will eventually shell Ylla, Niki, Anne, and Roger.

That being said, sometimes I break my own rule. Twice I've wanted a sculpt so bad that I just threw together a personality and then bought the doll. That happened first with Alistair, and again with Johanna. It's also happened with one of my grails, Marzanna. I want an MSD-sized Angel of Dream Skull head so bad I can almost taste it, so I have a personality thrown together just in case I ever find one. I put the personality together specifically for Marzanna, because you never do know when that grail doll will come home!

 

The general consensus here seems to be sculpt first. For me the personality develops over time and living with her, also the clothes she wears, hairstyle etc. I have to admire the people who develop a personality first and find the doll after as I don't think I'm capable of doing that.

 

Sculpt first for me! Most of my roleplay characters are Anthropormorphic characters and there just aren't enough bjd sculpts for me to represent them. As a result, I almost always opt for sculpts and then decide on their personalities afterwards.

 

Sculpt first. I have to love the doll's look before I can really start planning their wardrobe and personality. And, sometimes the dolls persona shifts. My Lishe used to have a more innocent feel, but she's grown and changed in the ten years I've had her.

 

I shelled some characters last time (for three of mine), and I feel a bit like I trapped them in to the body of a doll, when they wanted to be free to wander the world in my head!xD So now they are free, and I like it best when the personality comes from the doll naturally over time. : )

 

Sculpt first then personality
Fall in love first then compare with other sculpt! decide which one I want to get XD

 

Depends, really. I already have characters for the dolls I would like to own, but back in the days when I found out about BJDs, I did not have any characters, and I just wanted a doll.

I find it easier to find a doll you like and make a character after the doll. But I enjoy to have a character and find a sculpt for it way more. Though, it can be frustrating, the 'perfect' doll for one of my characters simply hasn't been made yet it's been two years of digging around and I barely found one sculpt that resembles my idea of him, but it's not 100% a perfect match like I feel with the rest of my characters and the dolls I have planned for them.

 

Sculpt first, I'm so picky as it is I can't imagine what would happen if I had to match a face to a character! I like to have a basic idea of what I'm looking for expression and physique-wise, and perhaps what type of world/story I would put them in, but other than that I find it's better to give myself more freedom. I know I will end up changing things anyway.

 

I personally buy a sculpt first and then decide how I want them to look and their personality. Although I like to use them more as artwork than actual characters to roleplay with and such.

 

I go with sculpt first because I feel like it makes it easier to figure out who they are. I think if you have aa exact character in mind that has to look a certain way, then you may never find the PERFECT sculpt for them. I think its easier to maybe have a slight personality in mind and pick faces that remind you of what that character could be. But I think it is easier to get the sculpt first and base their personality from there

 

For me it's been personality (character) first. I have this story in my head and I love to see it come to life through dolls!

 

Sculpt first and then personality if it even comes to that. I'm more on the crafting/sewing creative outlet rather than the story/character creative outlet.

Basically right now, I just have a name for my doll and that she's a little bit b*tchy (if you can consider that a personality).

 

Oh personality and all of that first; as others said, it gives more of an idea of what I'm looking for in a sculpt when I have the personality and all of that figured out beforehand. I mean if one day I found a sculpt I just loved so much I just had to have it, then yeah I would come up with a personality later. But for now it helps me feel more connected to the doll when I have an idea of who they are first and a sculpt that works off of that.

 

Personality first. Of course sometimes I fall in love with a certain sculpt but usually I plan my dolls based on my OCs

 

Sculpt is a base for character. I think that mold is first. But it doesn't mean that I can't get doll with ready personality. I just like to make image myself, but sometimes I fall in love with work of another artist. I really don't search mold for personality, I search personality for the mold. It's improvisation. You know, It looks like me and doll decide who it will be.

 

Personality first, considering all my dolls are just avatars of my original characters.

 

Personality first. My dolls are literally just the shells of my characters. If I don't have a character for a really pretty sculpt, I won't get it.