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

I think they can turn out pretty cool as long as people don't expect they will always be perfect. Like my doll is inspired by Yoseob Yang from the Kpop group Beast since he looks like him and Doll Leaves is a Korean company. But when I say inspired my doll is my take on Yoseob while giving him my spin on him.

 

I'm OK with characters, but basing them off of real people unnerves me.

 

I do own a Minimee of a real person, and it wasn't something I decided on lightly.

When I was in high school - ten year reunion was this year, sheesh does time fly - I loved the group Malice Mizer. My particular favorite member of the band (Mana) frequently dressed up like a doll, and I was a doll collector at the time as well. Even back then, I'd seen some Volks dolls on Japanese fan pages made up to look like the band and I thought it was wonderful!

Years later, after I'd cemented myself in the hobby, I found a MNM Mana head in the Marketplace and something about it resonated (resinated?) with me. For a decade I'd loved this group, long after they had disbanded, and listening to their music even now brings back a strong wave of nostalgia. Malice Mizer was definitely the soundtrack to my high school career and reminds me of some of the best times I've had with old friends!

So for me, it's not all about celebrity worship or following a fad. I can look at my Minimee and reminisce about some great outings or inside jokes or other random snippets of life back when I was still regulated to the big ol' yellow cheesewagon. Ah, youth!

Edited to add: Plus, high-school me would be soooooo jealous.

 

I'm not a fan of basing dolls on celebrities.

However, as for existing characters, I have a joke going right now where I bought a Soom Limited Edition Toad, and plan to turn him into the Hypnotoad from Futurama, just so I can pull him out, shove him in people's unsuspecting faces and say, "All glory to the Hypnotoad."

I also intend to have a few of my other dolls "cosplay" as pre-existing cartoon characters, so... you know! Here's hoping that people have a sense of humour!

 

I think these sorts of dolls can provide an interesting challenge when there are many details to get right. First you have to select a doll with a mold that works for the character, and then finding the right face-up, wig, eyes, clothing, accessories can be a long term quest. I like it better when it is more based on a character and not just a celebrity, but to each their own.

 

Character dolls don't bother me too much. Actual person dolls - even those made to be in character(like a movie part)-kind of do. If I were famous I'd be majorly creeped out to think that someone had made a doll of me. Making an actual person into an object for play just doesn't sit well with me.

 

Fandom/character dolls aren't bothersome at all, that's basically what Volks does often. But real people dolls are kind of freaky, because that's actually someone and someone's face and life. Creating a doll after a real person (not just the character the celebrity plays in movies) is really weird to me, but I would never call anyone out on it.

 

I think Minimee service is break author's rights and not quite ethical. But while there are those who wish there are those who make. It's not a crime to make fanart for yourself but firms make it one by one without asking permission.

 

I don't really like celebrity dolls, but I'm not really into celebrities anyway. I have three character dolls planned based on anime characters. Getting their clothes right will be tricky since they are all mature tinies and I don't sew that well. Those three will look as much like the characters as I can possibly manage. Then there are two more loosely based ones planned as well. I like seeing other people's "fan dolls" as well. For me part of it is wanting to continue their stories after the series ends.

 

A lot of celebrities think it's totally cool when people show their minimee dolls to them. I see pics like that all the time (on various sites - cosplay & con pics as well as here).
I have said this before - what kind of makes me shake my head is those people who get a doll & fix them up (as an OC or a cosplay) & then LEAVE them - as in never changing!!!!! Now THAT I do not understand at all.

 

i love to see how people transform them into these fandom characters even though i am not in it myself. i settle with having them cosplay once in a while rather than turn them completely....which reminds me, i still have to make my Dorian cosplay as byakuya from bleach!

 

There's a picture of Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer meeting a BJD cosplaying as Death, and a hilariously cute pic of Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles meeting their miniature counterparts. I'm sure that how you reveal your tribute doll to the person the doll is portraying is just as important, if not more, as what the doll looks like itself. People are going to be more open about it if you're upbeat and polite about it. They'll only find it creepy if you act like it's something embarrassing or act over familiar with them, since you don't know them personally after all.

Another thing to consider is that when Volks releases dolls based on characters from anime and manga, they have obtained a license to do that. It's like Tonner being licensed to produce Wizard of Oz dolls or Hot Toys being licensed to make the high-detail Avengers action figures. Someone making a minimee doesn't have a license to use the likeness of a public figure or character, which is why the heads can't be 100% accurate.

Why would that make you shake your head? For some people the point of having BJDs is to shell their characters, or portray a particular person (celeb or historical or fictional character,) and the doll is then that character for those collectors. It is perfectly okay to keep your doll looking the same way once you have them looking how you want them - lots of people consider 'finished' dolls to be those that have a consistent appearance and character and never change their appearance after that point.

 

I shake my head because I don't understand how someone could never change the doll's OUTFIT ever. I understand that some people do this & are fine w/it. I just don't get it - that's all. Would bore me to tears.
& my dolls all have a consistent CHARACTER - although I've seen some collectors who change even that (the OC) from time to time! Characters do change their clothes (although the anime ones take their time about it LOL)
But each to his own!

 

I like to mix it up a bit.
I'm a passionate fanfiction reader, and many of ma favorite characters are fanfiction versions of the originals. Every story is different, but all maintain some similar ground trades. Some of my dolls are like that, they are a "fanfiction" verion of an existing character^^. They have their own stories, their very peculiar traits and their very own quirks. Even in their most in character versions (that are mostly rare), I bet, the original author would have dificuliteis recognizing them.

On the matter of celebrities, I just don't care about them enought to know their names (only know the name of my upper most favorite actors) let alone make a doll off of them.
For me it would be strange, like writing a real person fanfiction. It just does not agree with me. (I'm cheeting on my own oppinion, I have a "celebrity doll", but the person has been dead some 400 years now, and has been made into a novel character just about.... hunderts of times? Besides he is again, a very strange mix of Oc, real character and fandom doll, so what would he classify as?)

As for "finishing" them, well, the characters per se grow every time I intercat with my dolls, but the estherics remain the same. I don't change their wigs or their eyes, When I redo the face up, I try to stic to the previose idea, not the same, but similar. But they have a hughe warderobe with nearly everything their characters would like to wear, and many things the wouldn't but I love to impose on them. And some desperantly wish for in character clothes that I'm to lazy to make for them.... so the live on borrowd things. As for props..... my collection grows and grows^^.

On the other hand, I can appreciat the work and dedication someone puts into such dolls, their love for the doll, and for the person/character it represents. As long as the owner likes her/is own work, I have no problems with it.

 

The celebrity thing is weird IMO, but whatever that person likes. I don't mind the fandom-based dolls though. It's like cosplay. I have a couple of cosplay dolls I'm working on.

 

I don't have any dolls yet, but the first few I do get won't be famous character based. I don't care either way what others do with their dolls. I just did google some supernatural bjd's and OMG those are so cute!! I loved seeing them. I probably would like to one day do a doll after Lily Munster from the Munsters. I loved that show. I'd love to make her outfit and do her up. Maybe have her be a grey skin. I would enjoy that. Other than her though, I can't think of any other character I'd go out of my way to pay homage to.

 

I've seen some awsome 'character' dolls but not really my cup of tea (or the celebrity thing). I don't really mind if other people want to do it though.

 

I think it's pretty fine; I wouldn't really go as far as doing it, but I've seen amazing dolls done in the image of anime characters or people and can appreciate all the work that goes into making them that way. I've contemplated the idea of doing that myself but I found out I prefer making my dolls cosplay from time to time than have them as a set character that isn't mine. (also some cosplay clothes can be very easily be coordinated into regular outfits for the dolls too!)

 

As someone who's planning two fandom dolls, I see nothing wrong with it as long as they're made to be a certain character, not a person (I think I don't make myself clear here, oh well). I feel like having a celebrity doll is like playing with someone's life, but I see nothing wrong with having a doll of a character that person played (e.g I wouldn't have a David Bowie doll, but I would have a Jareth one)
I write and make fanart and love my fandoms, and since I love the idea of having huge action figures of my favorite characters I'm giving it a try!
It's not to everyone's taste though. It's their money so go nuts haha

 

Not something I want for my own doll collection but I'm certainly fine with it if somebody else wants to have one!