Would you find it less personal if...

i dont think so after all if you really like that character and then why not base your doll on them.

 

Why not? If I adored a character so much that I wanted to immortalize them in resin, I don't see why I wouldn't. I think it goes hand-in-hand with wanting to be around said character, perhaps being able to touch them, pose them, to own them. I'm sure there's a little bit of a psychological desire, a sense of control, but, in my honest opinion, there is a huge emotional aspect with fan dolls. To each their own!

 

I don't think it's less personal at all! ALL of my dolls are fan dolls. (Well, everybody but Ian. And he's named after my favorite Texas Ranger, so he's kind of a fan doll too...) Corey's from an RP, so she's basically a glorified OC, but she's still based on the Neil Gaiman character. My Shanlings aren't any less mine because they're modeled on Cirque du Freak, that's what MAKES them mine. My love for CdF is part of who I am as a person, and my dolls are an expression of that love, which to me is very personal.

Everyone experiences fandoms in a different way, and my dolls are part of the unique way I am a Cirque fan. It lets me into the universe of the books by letting me interact and bond with the characters daily. Conversely, every time I reread the books I feel closer to my dolls and want to play with them even more.

 

I don't think it's any less personal at all, but I don't have any plans to own any fan dolls...I have too many OCs that need shelling !

That said, I DO have plans to get a doll or two of my FRIEND'S characters. He and I are RP partners and we basically "share" the characters, and one of my dolls is written primarily by him but I've written for the character as well (funnily enough I had gotten the doll in question with my own completely different character in mind, decided he didn't fit, and put him away for about a year before I realized how much he fit my friend's character!) This friend thinks the dolls are really neat but he doesn't have any interest in collecting them himself, save for a possible co-ownership of one doll, though we both think some of his characters would make a great addition to my collection, so I'll be getting them eventually!


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I know this is a bad example, I wanted to make a garden sculpture based on my favourite character (totoro) because I've had such wonderful childhood memories, I could never create something like that myself, even if I did, it's not the same feeling.
My dolls however are still developing their own characteristics... Despite basing them on existing characters, they themselves will come to life with the right things.
i think if you feel it, it will be good. Don't force the character upon the doll.

 

I don't think it's less personal; it's more about being a really intense fan. I'm working on dolls of my two favourite manga characters with an idea of photoshoots being a 3-D fanart to photograph. Considering the amount of detail for their uniforms and their weapons, I can't think of something that would be more personal to work on. It's taking a lot of time to get all the details right.

It also helps that they don't exist in the same universe with the rest of the group; they will not be interacting. They're getting their own backdrop(s) and such, so they're in the own little world.

 

for myself I'd rather create my own characters for my dolls. I am not short on ideas and it feels more... yeah, personal?

I have 3 off topic dolls, one of which I kept in her original stock. I find myself rarely reaching for her. She looks like every other doll of that type out there... and while she is very pretty and based off a character I like... I just have no interest in doing anything with her. At least that taught me that I'd never be happy if I bought a fullset BJD, no matter how pretty I think it is.

Same goes for things like fanart and whatever else. I'd rather work with my own character's, not someone else's.

I don't see the appeal for other people to do this but I totally won't hate on them or judge them for it. I see a lot of people with amazing dolls based off Black Butler character, and they've done such a wonderful job! And I LOVE that show! But... I would never be able to have fun or bond or whatever with a doll like that. D:

That said, I actually want to create a doll or two from characters from a video game I really like... because I think it would be pretty fun and it's the only interest my BF has kind of taken in BJDs. But how I'd feel about the dolls and what I'd do with them when they're done? I don't know...

 

I don't find it less personal. I think even creating a character from something else like a video game, ect is cool. You do still add something personal to it. You can always change some things or add something not in the original story.

 

The only character off of whom I'm considering basing a doll is intentionally vague in his original canon. My doll would be based on my interpretation of him. So he's more personal. If it was a fully-fleshed out character I wanted to shell, it would be a different story altogether. I could still bond, but I would feel weird doing things "out of character" for them. With my own dolls, I make up what their character is, so I don't feel constrained with their clothing or style choices. While I want to match the image in my mind, it doesn't have to be perfect. I would obsess too much over the little details in a character doll and it wouldn't be as fun.

 

Originally when I started in the hobby, I didn't plan to do anything like this. (The person who got me involved, on the other hand, was almost exclusively doing existing characters!) Not because I didn't think it was original, or less personal, or anything like that; my friend's dolls were very personal to her, and they were gorgeous as well. It just wasn't something I saw myself doing. Eventually, though, I ended up with a MNM head of one of my absolute favorite characters, but planned for him to be the only one. It's taken me a long time to move forward with him, but now that I've started to, I'm suddenly wanting to do several characters around him (and "mini" versions of all of them that are easy to take to conventions and on trips, as well)!

I do still also have my dolls that are based on my own original characters, and am still working on them, and fond of them. And I even have a couple who don't have any specific character, another thing I didn't expect I would do when I started in this hobby. Each has its own way of being personal to me; the OCs are quite obvious, the character dolls are being drawn from a game where they evolved past their original storylines, and the dolls without existing characters at all are an experiment in creation. Nothing about any route is something I find impersonal, and after spending so much time searching for just the right wigs, eyes, and clothes for both OCs and character dolls, I don't think either is any easier than the other.

 

One of my favorite parts of having a doll as customizable as this is that I really can do what I want with them and make them all my own. I love creating story lines and bringing the characters to life and I feel like if I just based them off of movies or video games I wouldn't feel as emotionally attached because I didn't spend any time creating their world.
I don't judge people that do that though and I think those dolls actually look really fantastic! If they love them that's and great and I don't minde seeing them, I just couldn't own one.

 

I would find it less personal, but I've never been a big fan of producing fan art. I like to make up my own characters. However, I can see it having deep meaning for somebody. Say the character they are making the doll into is very important to them, represents a personal change. Plus, each person makes the doll their own way, and chooses to include details that they find important. So I can see it being very personal for other people.

 

I think that fictional characters (non-original) can be just as personal and meaningful to people as originals. It's easy to invest just as much time in a premade character as an original character. I have a longstanding RP with my best friend that started as a fandom RP, but moved on to incorporate OCs - so I'm going to have a mixture of both but neither will mean less to me than the other.

 

Nope! I plan on getting a character doll soon, and my friend has one. They can be just as fun, but of course, to each their own

 

I have a doll that is planned to be based on an existing character, but I don't faal uncomfortable about it, because this character is of the second plan, is not really popular and is actually little-known. What is more my vision of this character is too specific xD

 

If I think of it the way like my other dolls being OOC's - yes, a pre-existing character is less personal BUT!
Making a doll out of character from a tv-show, game or cartoon is more personal than just buying a ready made figure. You have more control over how much the doll looks like the character and you can make more fun photography with them when the character is familiar to other people. Even some non-bjd fans might enjoy your version of their favorite character. Though there are some people that hate these character BJD's, for not looking EXACTLY like the character they are based.
I honestly would rather have a BJD of a character than a ready made figure, even though they might never share a completely same facial features.
So I guess it is rather personal, even thought you have not created the character yourself.

 

I really only have one character doll I'd like to make in the future. I don't think I will consider it any less mine. Mainly because I can't get a character doll how I would want. Almost everything I create or make is because I can't get it anywhere else how I envision it. So I'm a very DIY personality that is like "well if its not out there, I'm going to make it!". I feel those that do make character dolls really really really love the characters and are such huge fans it makes them really happy. Heck even I love those dang Supernatural bjd's that girl made and I do love the show and characters, but I would never need to have the dolls myself. I enjoy the pictures. That's just my take on it.