Which Came First, Character or Doll?

The 4 SD guys I have, I bought because I loved the sculpts. Only one of them has a character so far. For me the character delvops as I customize and play with the doll. I like to see how the doll moves, how different wigs and eyes look before I get into building the character. I hope that makes sense lol.

 

Most of my MSDs rep my existing characters, with the exception of my RS Wu (he was an impulse buy) and my Unoa (she was an inspired impulse buy). My tinies were purely so I'd have something portable to take pics with.

 

My doll has always come first. I fall in love with a sculpt, then the character/style comes after.
My 3 dolls have been impulse buys but they all had names/characters/styles before they arrived to me.
I spend the shipping wait thinking about it! Haha. Makes the wait more bearable!

 

Doll is always first then sometimes a character comes, but sometimes the dolls become chameleon actors in my mind-plays, or just stay their own un-know-able and mysterious selves with no specific character at all.

 

For me when I first started getting bids I just bought the dolls. Whatever doll caught my eye. But now 10 years into the hobby I'm much more decerning . I've built a story around my favorite dolls and want to get characters from it. So I only buy dolls that fit aesthetically and go in the story. Well mostly.... I will still create new characters for new dolls that really catch me

 

For me the character always comes after the doll! I have to spend some time with them to figure out who they are

 

I think I saw a couple of dolls that I really loved and they had so much personality that I designed characters in the chance that I might ever get them. From that stemmed another character who only came into being after I got my first doll, and I created 2 more from then- they were both before I saw sculpts to match.

 

I tend to come up with the character first and then found a sculpt (within my budget) that fits the character i have in mind!
Or if there is a doll that i really like i know i want to have i normally hold off on getting it until i can think of character i could make them into if i really can't wait to get them

 

My MSDs are doll then character, my SDs are characters that've been shelled. A part of me tells me that I should've done it the other way around for the sake of my budget, but I like the presence they give and I get to talk about their character if someone notices and asks about them C:

 

I choose the doll I like first, and then design the character according to the facial features

 

For me it was the doll. I had a character planned out but the doll I bought didn't fit that arc,,, I am currently trying to work out her character

 

I think this is different for everyone so i wanna know about you guys

I personally have characters in mind first and then look for a doll that fits the image i have in mind and then, struggle choosing a doll because i have 5 different character ideas

Though recently i found a doll that i fell in love with and didn't have a character in mind for it, but still wanted the doll because it was gorgeous!

Tell me about your experiences!​

 

My dolls don't really have a character attached to them because I find that more often than not people get sick of a character or doll because it no longer suits that "character" so I just prefer to attach a certain style or aspect to the doll rather than a character so I can make the most of my dolls! I usually see a doll and immediately start brain storming their style and cute outfits that would suit them~ So to answer your question the "character" (or style in my case) and the doll happen at the same time!

 

I like to write stories and draw, so I generally have my characters first and then choose dolls to represent them. It's my goal to shell my main OCs so for now, the character needs to be in mind before I buy a doll.

 

Mostly the doll... Saskia took over a year to develop into the gilded age lady she's currently dressed up to be, Hyacinth took a few weeks after her arrival and even though I had a character for Essie when she arrived... that's mostly because it took six months for her to come home to me! My fourth doll is a change, I did set out looking to reshell a particularly beloved childhood doll and I think she'll work... but not gonna lie, I did mostly pick her because I saw her and went "Oh, she's amazing".

 

For me, when I see a doll that inspires me, the character just flows out, but for the most part I just browse sites until I find a dollie I like, then make a character out of the sculpt.

 

Depends on everyone. For me, it’s characters first. Writing and drawing was my first hobby and therefore, my dolls reflect characters from my stories.
I did fall in love with some dolls and got them without any characters in mind. Well, it didn’t work out for me and I ended up selling them.
Characters for me.

 

Character first, easier to work with someone familiar, and characters are usually the one who link/invite the next character in. Sometimes I get the impression of a character testing out the shell whenever I look at shop pics.

Granted the doll also partly affects the way the character behaves, I end up with a younger version of one character

 

I only have one doll who represents a pre-existing character (and he's a character I've had for over a decade), and I think I'm going to keep it that way. I just have way too many characters to properly shell.

The rest of my dolls I got/will get just because I like the sculpts.

 

I have one doll that I bought just because I loved the sculpt and wanted to own it. His character came after I bought him (and is still not 100% set in stone). For my other full doll, one of my floating heads, and all other future planned dolls they're all based on previously established original characters that I've had for over 10 years.

That being said, I wouldn't totally rule out buying another doll before they had a character attached. I just prefer to shell OCs because I [currently] don't necessarily have the space or funds to spend on other characters and having physical representations of my OCs was a huge draw to the hobby for me in the first place.