Would you find it less personal if...

I have a Johnny Depp doll. Which I feel is similar to the issue you are addressing. I love that doll. Although at this point he is mostly a display piece, I play with my other dolls but not him, not so much anymore. He was one of my first two dolls so I used to play with him but now that I have the characters I developed my story for, he's kind of out of place but that doesn't mean I love him any less. If I ever had to sell all of my dolls he wouldn't be one to go anywhere, neither of my first two dolls would!

I thought of getting dolls and making them of my favorite characters from tv shows like Avatar the Airbender but for now I have to concentrate more on finishing the collection of my original characters. THEN maybe if I'm still interested I'll go ahead and get some more display characters.
To each his own!! If you feel that you will get this character doll and play with him or just display him but love him either way then forget what we have to say and go for it.
I don't feel like anything is "less personal" in this hobby, we all have a passion with this passion!

 

i´m absolutely feeling the same
i had a character for my first doll even before i held her in my arms..
she came, was even more beautiful than expected and was not a bit like the character i´ve invented for her.. after a while i found out that this dolls are part of my life and don´t have their own history or the life of someone who´s already existing. It´s funny.. but for me they seem to be more real when i accept that they are dolls then when i would try to give them life by an own lifestory ^^"" Sounds weird, huh ?

 

I dont think it's any less personal, what better way to pay homage to a favorite character? If the character mean alot to you then it's great to have a one of a kind bjd of them they'll bring so much joy
Taking the time to customize every detail, shows how much the creator feels towards that character that they want to re-create them as a tangible
representation!

Plus as a DD fan, seeing the limited dolls and how gorgeous they are inspires me to create one of a character that I have loved for years!

 

In the beginning, when I was still new to the hobby (although technically I still am) I thought that having a character in doll form would be a waste of a doll because it would be like forcing a personality into something that might already have its own character. But my views on that have changed. I think that pre-existing characters can be really inspirational - at least that is what I find as a writer - so if I came across a fandom in which a particular character really inspired me in some way and I wanted to have that character as a doll then I'd go ahead and do it.

Also, I think it can be quite fun trying to find the exact clothes/eyes/wig etc for the character. Plus, the same character is perceived differently by different people, so I think the doll would still be personal, because it is your image of that character.

 

*sigh*

I hate it when this keeps coming up. If it was less personal, I wouldn't have any.

I own two.

What I don't understand is why does it matter? If it's not your thing, then don't make one. For those of us who do have them, they're quite personal. We wouldn't invest so much time and money creating them if they weren't. I've seen some brilliant, brilliant character dolls; mine are small potatoes in comparison. They take so much time and effort to get right. For me, part of the allure is the pursuit of perfection -- find the right mold, the right eyes and wig, etc etc etc. The chase is damn fun.

There's no 'right' or 'wrong' way to participate in this hobby. There's no one true way of customizing a doll. There's room for everyone, and everybody has their own personal tastes as to what they want to do with their dolls. It isn't for any of us to pass judgment on the way someone else chooses to play with their dolls. I'm not leaving my character dolls on the shelf. They come to meets, they get photographed, they get posed and played with as much as my OC dolls. (The doll in my sig is one of my character dolls, as a matter of fact.) This is how I choose to play. How you choose to play is your business, but please...don't presume to think that it's 'less personal' for me or anyone else if we create character dolls.

Every single time I see a topic that starts with "is it OK to..." or "is it WRONG to..." or whatever variant indicates people are asking if personal preferences are somehow wrong it makes me cringe. Why can't we all just enjoy our dolls for what they are and stop judging?

 

I have one that I based on an existing character to start with, but after some time he just..went off on his own, got intertwined with my own story and now all that is left of him as that character is his name. I keep his wig and eye combo because it looks cute on him, but most of my dolls switch around hair colors so he gets different combo's as well, like all the others. I like keeping his name because it reminds me where I started with him, but he did 'evolve' into something of my own. So, I guess true character dolls aren't really my thing.

 

No, not at all! That's what happens to me! ... I don't think it's weird.
I am totally with you!

 

I never thought that, until I bought a doll with a "premade" character in mind.
When I got my Elfdoll K, I intended him to be Tommy, the Green Ranger, from the original PowerRangers. When he got here though.... he never really fit with my other dolls. And I treated him differently. Eventually, He developed his own personality, and ended up not being Tommy at all. Except for keeping the name. ^__^
Now he feels much more at home, like he belongs.
I think if someone felt a really strong personal connection with a character BEFORE they got the doll, then it might work.
And while I love the character of Tommy, I don't feel any real connection with the concept of the character on a personal level.

I think It's the difference between, liking the character because it's cool, or liking the character because it's in some way become a part of you.
Say someone, instead of just wathching/playing the character in a show/game, Role played with the character, and it became an extension of themselves, and more than just a character in an anime.
Having that kind of a connection with the character, Could certainly make you feel more attatched to a doll created to be that character.
So... having a doll of you own VERSION of a character seems reasonable.
While having a doll of a character just as they are? Seems iffy.
But thats just my experience. ^__^

 

If you have a special connection with that character, it can be just as personal to have a doll of that character as it can be if it were your own original character. Think of all the fangirls and how much they would love an Uchiha Sasuke doll.

I do mean it, though, all joking aside. There are a few characters that aren't of my own design that I would love to have in doll form because I have a special connection and/or affinity for that particular character. It's kind of fun and mysterious to have a doll based on a character that isn't yours. When the character is yours, you know everything about them, their likes, dislikes, opinions, and each thought that runs through their heads. But with other characters, there is that mystery factor where the character is more of a "separate" entity and not your own brainchild. I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but that's my take on it.

It's easiest to try and explain with another "fangirl" metaphor, actually. I think the same reason some people like character dolls that aren't their own characters for the same reason a Sephiroth fangirl (typically) doesn't just create her own mirror image of Sephiroth as an OC to fangirl over and claim as her own. There's something about another person's character that makes it easier to think about as a totally separate person, so to speak.

Characters I'd totally love to have dolls of? Shiba Kuukaku from Bleach, Barasuishou from Rozen Maiden, Poison from Street Fighter, Sakaki from Azumanga Daioh, Orochimaru from Naruto (old-school fan here, back when it was just hitting 100 episodes), Xaldin from Kingdom Hearts II, and Lexaeus from Kingdom Hearts CoM.

 

After watching all three Death Note films. I got really attached to EL, and I really want to create a doll based on him. I guess it's matter of choice. I agree with it, but another might not.

 

Not less personal at all! I customized a Crobidoll Thor as Souseiseki from Rozen Maiden and I just love her so much! (and I'm just about to customized another Thor as Suiseiseki too)

These kind of dolls are just too special and unique cause they are your own interpretation of the character. I agree they have a lot more work than a character of your own, but when you succed, you just feel awesome. It's like bringing your favorite character to "life".

 

I'm obsessed with Giselle Bundchen (the supermodel married to Tom Brady) and I thought about making a doll that looked like her... But I wasn't sure if that was too "creepy" or not?

 

omg, I was thinking of customizing my doll as ciel too! And i'm still going to do it because it's just cosplay in my opinion but just with dolls.

 

Depends. Mainly it depends on how much of their live is told through the [book/movie/anime/ect].
I have one guy I want to make into a doll. Larten Crepsley from Cirque Du Freak. (I purposely didn't watch the movie so it wouldn't spoil my ideas of the characters! That's how much I love the books!) Not too much of his past is told in the novels. So my Larten would be from before he met Darren aka when the series started.

Doing that gives me more 'freedom' with him. That or I'll just go off on the story in my head of what happens after the last book (but I won't go into detail. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone.)

 

For my self, the whole reason I got into dolls was the ability to customize them - Original characters cast in resin, and all that ^^ For myself, I can't say I love any characters or persons (bands in particular) enough to have them cast in resin..I'd rather buy the book, game, the music, or go to a concert instead. Especially since my tastes will probably change.

But while I don't think I'd ever go so far as to get a favourite character, or even a person-likeness doll, I still find them interesting I think it's nice that someone would pay homage to a favourite chara/person that way, and I enjoy following the progress of them being put together.

 

My doll is (as much as he could be) his own person. I wouldn't mind a pyramid head doll (I have one planned) and it would be no less personal than my Dante (whom I've modded, face-up'd and dressed myself)

 

It wouldn't really be a personal doll then. I wouldn't probably be as close to my doll like I feel I am right now (even though she hasn't arrived yet but still! XD). As a cosplay for my doll, then that's different and it'd be really nothing, especially since I wanted to cosplay with my doll on occasions for fun. But not as a default look. It wouldn't be very original and probably wouldn't bond as much.

 

Personally, if I felt really attached to a certain pre-existing character, it would be just as personal as an OC doll.

 

I personally couldn't think of anything that would interest me less in dolls. I'm a character designer, and my interest in pre made characters is for analytical purposes only, really. I can appreciate the craftmanship, but duplicating it would feel a great like desicration and pure laziness.

I can't even make dolls of my pre existing characters... firstly because I have a very set idea of what they look like, and short of a minimee, I wouldn't be happy, and secondly it seems kinda weird.... Like making a doll of yourself.

All mine are made from scratch. A story builds, as it is wont to do, and they slowly inhabit it as they arrive.

NOTE- This is how I feel about my own dolls. Not about other people's dolls. A huge part of my character design job is to study and know how characters affect people.
People grow severely attached, become obsessive. More prevalant in people who simply lack the ability to character build themselves. (not a critisim, character creationism is a talent like water colour painting. Some people are born with it, some people have to study for years, most people who claim to do it have neither studied or are born with it, but think they're awesome at it... and aren't, and the rest can't and simply don't really want to)

Having fan art, a doll made, fanfiction is a big compliment and to a designer, means a lot. It means their character has served the right purpose. To connect with someone

 

Not at all! It's like fanfiction but with a doll. I'd really like to take a doll and kit it out like Alistair from Dragon Age: Origins. While I didn't come up with his character, it doesn't really mean that I can't style him any way I choose. In that way, My Alistair wouldn't necessarily be the exact same as someone elses, if that makes sense.