Your opinion on dolls who are made into celebrities or fandom characters

As with everything, it's ultimately, not to mention entirely, about what works for you.

For me, I'm in awe of some of the character dolls that use minimee heads. I love the detail and how fabulous they look - but they're not for me personally. (Love to look at, and admire from a distance, but would never actually want to have for myself...)

That said, it was the sudden desire for 'character dolls' that got me back into dolls in 2013. Overcome with the NEED for Hansel & Gretel (Witch Hunter) dolls, I set about hunting down the bits and pieces I needed to make them complete and, despite not having had anything to do with my dolls for 3 years, I had a fabulous time! So many of the sites had changed, there were many, many new sites to investigate, I had to hunt and hunt and hunt for pieces I was happy with and, again, it was just great.

These dolls (and to me they're doll versions of the characters and, by choice, are not based on the actors) got me back into the world of BJDs and, because of this, they actually mean more to me that most of my other, far rarer dolls.

 

Go for it! After all, the whole point of BJDs is making them look the way you want.

 

Still wanna eventually do my teenage Holmes and Watson but their gonna be OT dolls because affordability. Eventually I'm probably just gonna break down and send them off to a commission artist for their face ups.

<s>I really would love a Tony Stark SD though... A girl can dream.</s>

 

I love them! I am dying to work on my MegaMaiden X and dreaming of when I can afford Zero.
I like to see fan dolls, but I personally prefer characters to actors. No matter what though, I love to see a well done doll that means a lot to someone and makes them happy!

 

I don't think I could ever make a fandom doll, but that's all preference- I prefer OCs, but I have seen a particular replication of Danaerys Targaeran on DoA somewhere and I love that doll- what a beautiful perfect warrior goddess angel wahh so in love. Anyways, I just love all dolls, especially when you can see that a ton of hard work is put into them.

 

I couldn't really see myself doing it as I like the idea of my dolls being their own people with their own personalities but I don't have a problem with them cosplaying :3

 

Arashi Uchiha you just missed the Robert Downey Jr minimee GO. At least one of the group is turning her boy into Sherlock. Ikke777 who ran the GO did a 3D printed head and I think she is selling them. You just may still be able to make your dream guy!

 

I appreciate that but right now he's still just a dream. I don't have the room for an SD right now. When the time is right I'm sure he'll come.

 

I enjoy looking at dolls made to be characters I recognize, I think it's a lot of fun to look at other people's interpretations of the characters. It takes a lot of effort, talent, and creativity to make a good doll replica of a character. Some times I have completely different ideas on how the character is (if it's a fictional book character), sometimes I'm completely stunned by how wonderful a doll character turns out (like the Cloud doll from the Highlights section, the photo of him tracking his doll through EMS made me smile for days! ).

 

I can really enjoy a well done fandom BJD... There was this David Bowie from Labyrinth on DoA which blew me away! I'm not sure if I wold add one of them to my collection though.

 

I think both fandom and celebrity dolls are cool (says the girl with long-term doll plans to do both, haha). I like when my hobbies and interests can overlap, and shelling different characters or people who are significant is something that this hobby can definitely accommodate. It can also present a fun challenge if the celebrity doesn't have a minime sculpt out there; trying to find sculpts that closely resemble real people is more difficult for me than finding dolls to shell my OCs into.

 

It's not really my cup of tea.
I personally think it's more fun to create my own characters.
But i enjoy to see certain game characters, for instance Sephiroth

 

It's not for me but I love looking at pictures of them.

 

I used to think it wasn't how I wanted to spend my money, but fandom dolls can be as amazing and intricate (and expensive!) as a well done cosplay. I have plans for a few, and my roommate already got her first game-inspired character doll... and he's coming out amazing!

The ones I plan on making will be "chibi" -- 16-25cm, depending. I want a couple minis, too. >A<

 

We all enjoy the hobby in different ways. Fandom / celebrity dolls were never on my list since I prefer to concentrate on shelling my own characters, but I'm not against other people doing it. Some fandom dolls can be quite expensive to put together, so I just hope it's not a passing phase for the owner for his / her sake.

 

My most expensive doll is Loki based on the Marvel fandom. I adore him as I love the character Loki and I adore the actor Tom Hiddleston. I do not think I will ever get sick of him. He is a gorgeous doll and I love him not just the character he portrays. He is my version of Loki though and differs from all the other Loki's I have seen. It is fun to create your own take on a known character.

 

Personally I prefer more of an 'inspired by' take on a character/celebrity, rather than making a to literally be that character/celebrity. My first ever doll was actually inspired by a modern take on a character ^^

 

I like fan art and did have Huayi’s Lestat (Tom Cruise) mini me floating head. Every kind of dōjinshi is very coll.

 

I think it's pretty interesting to be touched and love someone else's creation so much you want a little piece of it for yourself. My dolls, for years, were only OCs, and played parts in little stories I wrote and roleplay. I stopped doing dolly things for years for a lot of reasons, and what brought me back was a very large urge to make Pearl from Steven Universe into a BJD. I had tried once before to make a BBC Sherlock doll, and was even part of the MNM GO for the Cumberbatch head, but I didn't bond with him at all and wound up selling him to someone who wanted him more. This time feels much different; the show means a lot to me and thus, I want to have a little piece of it with me.

 

It really depends on how well they're done. I understand not everyone is a master craftsman or even all that good at crafts period, but when I see dolls of characters or people I love and they're...not so good...it makes me sad. Now there are some, like the Rumpelstiltskin (Once Upon a Time) and David Bowie as Jareth (Labyrinth) that were just amazing. I don't even like Once Upon a Time, but the detail and effort were exquisite; you could feel the love the creator had for that character. If I felt like I could do justice to the characters (and had the money) I would definitely do some character dolls, I have a whole dream arsenal I would love to create so I could create my own scenes and stories with them. Is it really any weirder than buying franchised versions of the characters? I know they're OT here, but there's a robust and often overlapping industry for figurines and toy-line dolls designed around preexisting characters; how is it any different from custom making a doll, beyond price? Parents buy franchised dolls for their kids who love certain characters, or make outfits to customize a child's already beloved doll into the character, even for a little bit. This is just a more expensive adult scale of the same thing to me. We love it, so we imitate it.