When the doll comes before the character....

For me, I usually I have a character already in mind and then look for a sculpt that fits him.

But I HAVE done it the other way around as well. I got my Jie Doll Michel with a certain character in mind and realized I didn't like the character as much as I thought. After 6 months of owning him, I totally wiped him and started over. It was so weird, trying to figure out who he was, At first, I thought Persian pretty boy type with attitude...nope. Maybe dreadlocks or braids hobo type....nope. Flashy leather club sexy beast....nope. I was about to give up, couldn't even get a wig that felt right. Then one day, I was playing in my sister's wigs, since none of mine were fitting. I stuck a long blond wig on him, just goofing off, never would have thought it would be good...and he clicked. Mithra was my gorgeous, coffee drinking, street corner guitar playing, sweet but naughty tramp artist. He just FELT right.

So in that case, I'd say just try stuff out on him. Play around with his faceup (if you do your own), try different wigs, go to a meetup, ask if it's okay to try different wigs or eyes in him (from what I've seen, most people at meets are just as excited over new dolls as you are and usually have no problem letting you test things out). Maybe even send him to a faceup artist (if you're a risk taker) and just tell them to do whatever they feel like doing, see if that helps.

 

I had an idea of my boy's personality while looking at the photos on the website that I ordered him from... but when I got him, even though it was the exact sculpt and face-up as on the site, his personality was not what I had planned. My boy is a snarky, confident lady's man who loves to show off, and not the cool, collected, confident guy I'd thought he'd be. The first thing my boy did was kick me! His eyes just look perfect when they're off to the side, giving a sly look. He doesn't look right with them any other way. I was trying to sit him up on a chair and he fell -- he actually fell into the "French Girl" pose! He looked so cocky about it, too! I judge character based on how they sit themselves (like when they fall or shift, and what times they "choose" to do it), their facial expressions, and how they look in photos. (You know how sometimes dolls will look angry from certain angles/because of the lighting? My boy always takes perfect photos when he's surrounded by female dolls. No matter the angle, he looks so proud of himself.)

For my girl, I explained during my order that I wanted her to look gentle, shy, and sweet. Funny enough, that's exactly what she looks like! She kicked at me, just like my boy, when taking her out of her box for the first time, but she didn't make eye contact, and honestly, with how her face-up and mold are, she looked almost scared? It just wasn't the same as with my boy. She sits very stiffly because she's so tightly strung, and it's nothing like how my boy will lean casually after I pose him. She stays exactly how and where I put her. I'm still figuring her out, but she seems just as I'd described her in the first place. Her wig always falls into her face and covers her eyes, like she's shy.

 

I usually develop a character and pick a sculpt based on that, but there have been times that I saw a beautiful sculpt and a character came to mind as a result. Either way, every doll I've bought so far has had a character when they arrived. ^^

 

Usually, I have a character in mind when I buy a doll, but sometimes I "rescue" dolls from the marketplace without thinking about who they're supposed to be. It took me two years to find a character for one of my dolls! When I originally got her, I made her a boy -- but we weren't getting along well that way. (She YoSD Sized and sexless.) Last year I decided to make her a girl, and over the past year I've been figuring out just who she is. I'm now super happy with her... she's even the star of a comic of mine!
So I decided, if I don't click with a doll right away, I need to just wait it out. Sometimes dolls are late bloomers!

 

It's a bit of a mix and match for me. XD;

Caleb and Mikael were both cases of the doll arriving before the character formed.

Wraith was preplanned as "This is what I want to match this character."

The Captain and Cloud were both cases of "I'm going x-direction with this doll." only for the doll to arrive and NopeNopeNope all over the place/turn out to be a really poor fit even though one would think that it could've totally worked. Never in my wildest dreams did I figure that I'd wind up with a Cloud cosplay! I honestly didn't set out for it/plan for it.

I guess I have an awful run of "I love this sculpt!" and winging it with character.

 

With of my dolls, I've got a basic personality worked out in my head and when the doll arrives, I flesh out the details. Druella had the most defined character going in because I had already come up with character before I stumbled upon her in the Marketplace. Alwyn was originally Alice, my sister's first doll who she decided to sell after a few years. So in that case, the doll came before the character. All I knew was that she didn't like dresses, everything else I had to experiment with!

I'm waiting for new doll now and even though I've been planning doll versions of loads of my characters, this guy isn't one of them. So I've bought some eyes to play around with in him. That's the best way to figure out who your doll is going to be. Try out different clothes, wigs and eyes. Meets are great for this, since many owners are fine with you trying out those things, provided to ask first.

 

My experiences with my dolls are a lot like kokas, I usually have the character planned a little before buying the doll . But I also have a habit of rescuing dolls on eBay who have no character in mind. Sometimes the character and personality are easy to figure out, at other times they seem impossible, and sometimes the doll takes one look at the character you had for them and crushes it into fine dust.
It's best to just go with the flow of characterization, and sometimes that means waiting a while for a dolls character to be realized. I'm still waiting for my Ella to tell me who she is, and bemoaning the fact that Xavier jumped into another dolls universe.

 

I've done it both ways and they each have their merits. My first doll was an impulse buy just to try out the hobby and I created a character once I had him in my hands and was able to play with him. The great thing about this way is that the doll really comes to embody the character. My boy had a kicky leg, angry eyebrow, and came in a green box and those three things greatly influenced his character. The next girl I shelled in that story had a major story development happen simply because I couldn't find the right wig and "settled" on one that wasn't the right color. She's a much more three-dimensional character because of it.

I've also bought a doll to represent a pre-existing character. I found that one harder to do. Just finding a sculpt that fits what you've already imagined takes much longer. It's not about buying a sculpt you instantly like. It's -hunting-. Once you have that character down, you have to go through every doll you already looked at with the different criteria for another character. It can be exhausting. But once you do it and it works out and that character is out of your head in 3-D form before you, it's a -really- rewarding feeling.

 

I'm the sort that seems to be rare among BJD enthusiasts: I'm a doll-first, 'character'-second kind of guy.

My interest is mostly in "dolls" & less about "embodying/shelling a character", so... this is what makes sense for me. Most of my dolls have a 'personality' of some kind, but it's usually built around their look. I tend to think of a basic look/faceup for them & think of a (usually very basic) backstory just to inform the kind of things they wear/accessories they might have.

 

I'm also a doll first, character second girl. I need to be head over heels with a doll, before I start thinking of a character. As soon as I've seen his/her expression, I start thinking about a background story. Where does the character live, in what year, what is his life like, what is his profession etc, etc. Then, I'm thinking about how all of these experiences have shaped him into the person he's become and what his dominant character traits are. Finally, I think of a name that suits him and a colour scheme/ dress style to match with it.

But before I do all this, there needs to be something in a doll's face that intrigues me enough to spend a lot of time coming up with stories. It's kind of like watching a TV-show. You get introduced with the main character's face the first minutes of the premiere and, and next you can watch episode after episode to find out who he/she is.

 

Hmm... all the dolls on my wishlist already have characters picked for them. I like to make dolls for my old role play characters I think. The only exception is Yuki, my first. He had a sad facial expresion in my opinion so I made him the shy and alienated type. At the same time though a change of face up can really change the look of the sculpt... so it depends.

 

OP, you sound overwhelmed! Don't worry so much about finding the perfect character, eventually it just comes to you, and it's not something you have to do by an stretch of the imagination.

I almost always buy the doll before I know what character it'll have because it's so easy for me to fall in love with a sculpt. When I unwrap them, so long as it's not a floating head, a name will usually jump into my head, and once named, the personality evolves slowly (or quickly) from there. Some of my dolls, like my first one start out one way, and gradually change until the character just feels right. Others are immediately clear fresh out of the box. I almost always notice little things about the sculpt- like the eyes are uneven, or the body is quite solid and heavy, or maybe they just flop or kick a lot- that I incorporate into the character. My ResinSoul An for example has quite a thin body, and the image of this sulky, skinny boy sort of evolved out of that. The details took so long to come to me that I added that to his personality as well: he's secretive and doesn't speak much.

Style in terms of clothing, wigs and eyes just sort blossoms once the character's nailed down. Because I like detailed backstories, as things come to me, I simply amend the style until it's all perfectly balanced. It's pretty easy if you don't worry too much about it. If it's starting to make you feel frustrated, take a breather and do something else. Dolls are a hobby, they should be fun not frustrating!!

 

I mostly plan them out before they get home, I'm quite in depth with them. However I did have one doll arrive very quickly before I knew anything about her. The second I picked her up she just had the cheekiest face I knew she'd be quite a social character. After trying all different kinds of wigs on her I stuck with brown, as her default eyes were green she looked related to one of my other dolls- I made her his sister and just built her up from there, she came very quickly after that.

 

Heh. I used to buy dolls to fit specific characters... The first one I never managed to get him to look like the character he was supposed to be and sold him. I sold another doll that was meant to be a pre-determined character, but I realized I didn't want him even before he got to me. And then I owned another doll who came after the character - he was a "success", as in, I did complete him to look like the character, but I eventually changed tastes in dolls.

My two most successful dolls were dolls whom I purchased with the intent of making them a specific character, but I completely re-worked their character while they were being made, so by the time they got here everything was ready, but it was kind of a "doll and character at the same time" situation.

And I REALLY ran into troubles with my most recent girl. She's my first girl doll, intended to be my first main female character... Initially she was a superhero, then she was a modern alchemist (the kind that explores the connection between the soul and the material, not transmutations), then she was the daughter of an assassinated movie star (this one I saw in a dream and really liked it)... I must have switched her character at least 5 or 6 times while she was on the way, being unsatisfied with each. And when she got here, I had no clue what I wanted her to be beyond vague characteristics - and the fact that I was so indecisive I ordered two of her in different skin tones didn't help the matter!

Then I started working on a fan comic idea, and boom! Turns out she's going to be my first fan character doll - my own version of Batgirl. I think (fingers crossed) we're settling down now.

 

Besides all the great ideas people have already posted, there are some interesting discussions of this topic in earlier threads, like these:
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?533965-To-OC-or-not-to-OC-the-woe-of-an-artist
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?524662-Dolls-you-have-no-idea-what-to-do-with
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?74015-Do-your-dolls-have-personalities
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?256810-Do-you-ever-buy-dolls-just-for-the-doll
There's a thread titled "Which comes first, the doll or the character?" that I can't find right now for some reason, but it's also full of good responses. The bottom line is that there is no "right" or "wrong" way to think of your dolls' personalities, and there's no rule that says a doll MUST have a personality at all. Do what feels comfortable and fun for you!

 

I knew what my first doll would be like, before I knew how she looked.

I am buying a doll this week and he was the same way. I knew what kind of character he was and what kind of style he would have. It actually took me quite a while to find the sculpt that I felt good about being him.

But I have dolls on my wishlist that I want because they are beautiful and I am sure that I can make something up about them. I have an, annoyingly so, overactive imagination. =)

 

I don't plan a character and buy a doll that suits that character. Because dolls tend to be someone else than you had expected...

 

Um.....my first doll was character, then doll. I bought the doll because he looked like the spitting image of a very precious and cherished character of mine. He'll always be my favourite doll for that reason.

However, my grail doll.......well....with him it was just...love. I saw his sculpt one day on etsy and...I fell madly in love with him. I'd been hunting him down ever since and finally got the chance to snag one before they disappeared. He doesn't have a character at the moment, though I did dedicate and name him after my hero/idol- Alexander the Great. However, the more I plan....the more I feel like he's going to be an absolute diva. He knows how gorgeous he is and isn't afraid to flaunt it. c.c Just a feeling, I suppose..he is, after all, my little Adonis.

 

I have to say that with one exception, all of my dolls came before their character. I've tried to create characters before getting a doll, but every time it seems like when the doll shows up, it has other plans. Most recently, I thought that perhaps my RingDoll Kirin would be an easygoing, green-eyed Asian martial artist with black hair - but no, he's a fiery, pissed-off red head with golden eyes. Go figure.