Shifting 'characters' from doll-to-doll?

[Obscurity]

This thread is kind of a sister thread to THIS (http://www.abjds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=923) one, but I think it's different enough to warrant a new discussion.

Here's the deal - I want to know what everyone thinks and feels about shifting characters from one doll to another - AS IN: Having a character who is Doll A recreated into Doll B, but rather than selling Doll A, one uses Doll A (with faceup, etc changes were applicable, of course) as the "shell" for another character?

Does that make sense? Has anyone ever done that before? Thoughts?[

[Shankula]

This thread is kind of a sister thread to THIS (http://www.abjds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=923) one, but I think it's different enough to warrant a new discussion.

Here's the deal - I want to know what everyone thinks and feels about shifting characters from one doll to another - AS IN: Having a character who is Doll A recreated into Doll B, but rather than selling Doll A, one uses Doll A (with faceup, etc changes were applicable, of course) as the "shell" for another character?

Does that make sense? Has anyone ever done that before? Thoughts?[

I've found that I have to actually get rid of the first avatar for the character first...or at least have them in the house at the same time, almost like to pass the torch, then the first moves on to their new home. I did exactly that with BV1 and BV2--the faceup on both (I enhanced the Gena, BV2, to look like BV1's faceup, which I had done myself) was so similar and distinctive in style that I just couldn't see them coexisting and couldn't bring myself to essentially destroy the first doll's personality. Does that make any sense? Her new owner doesn't post BV1 as 'Black Violet', which I am really thankful for--but she gets to enjoy her beautiful, unique faceup--and the major attitude that goes along with it!

[Akari]

I've done just that a few times. Once when I switched Bunz from a Shiwoo to a Red. I couldn't bring myself to let go of the Shiwoo since I'd had him for so long, plus I just adore the mold. So instead I made him into Kenya. :)

Also, originally my Vampire Elf El was Atsushi because I needed a character for him and Ryou needed his twin brother. But eventually my roomie traded me her El for another of my dolls and he very easily slid right into that "shell". That left the Vamp without a character. I very briefly debated on selling him, but it was hard enough to get that head to begin with, so I decided against it. It took me a while to find the proper character for him, but eventually it came to me and everybody lived happily ever after. The end.

Hope that made sense. XD

[Voodoo]

Cornelius was changed from a Callas to a Karon, the Karon was originally Noureddine who was replaced with a Chiwoo. The Chiwoo also didn't work out for Noureddine and is now a completely different character. I've given up on finding the right doll for Noureddine at the moment.

I'm pretty fluid/fickle with my characters.

[Brightfires]

I did something like that with Ptolemaeus... Originally, he was going to be my BW Vampire Elf Yder head, and I'd given the head a face-up with him in mind. It never really suited him, though. The Yder's expression was just wrong. Eventually, I found his current form, a Vampire Breakaway, and that suited him better... So I was left with a snaggle-toothed elf with no personality.

He became Ahnju, a completely unplanned character, when I got Ryuko.

[Fyredancer]

I'm totally going to do this with my Stefan-boo, eventually. He's going to "grow up" into either a School A or a boy Emma (if I ever make up my mind), and his current self, an MSD Schulze, will become another character after a repaint and a wig and eye change. :D I'm excited about it even though that's still probably a few years off.

[Nightingale]

I'm going to get two f-22 (kun) boys to become my twins. The one their replacing is my MSD Mario, because he finally gets his twin bro so I want him to be older for it. I 'unno I just love the older twins more haha. Though I doubt I'll have the heart to make Hakuji into another character... So I'm just odd like that I guess. haha

[Wotan]

It's happened to me with the one pre-existing character I have (the other two dolls I currently own, and all future planned purchases, have characters based on the particular doll, so their characters won't be switching dolls). When I first started shopping for June, I looked at the CP El head, saw some weird pictures at Leekeworld that made me think I didn't like the sculpt, and got a Lishe head instead. Without many choices at the time for a body, I settled on making her into a DD2 hybrid like Alexis. I did the faceup for June, got her eyes and wig-- she was all set for a body.

Then, two things happened. First, I saw the SD16 girl body, and it was perfect for June. Second, I saw an El head in person; the pictures at Leekeworld didn't do the head justice at all. The body was the first thing to come home, since the stars aligned for it (income tax return came in right around the time there was a run of SD16 girls on the DoA Marketplace). The head came soon after-- Osaka needed a CP boy body for her original Nanuri head, and her husband wanted the Nanuri '07 head. She got an El, I swapped the Lishe head for the El head, she got the body, and the order was enough for the event head. The fact that the El head was a perfect resin match for the Volks body was proof that it was meant to be. :dance

[Daniel Falls]

I think that this would depend on the individual. A doll is just another doll, but it's the owner who gives it personality and identity. If the owner prefers to shift characters from doll to doll, then it's up to the owner to make that compromise. But then again, Im assuming that everyone has this some sort of compromise to face. In all likelihood, there are also people who don't even think twice about shifting character's from doll to doll, whereas there are people who would never do so and wouldn't be able to accept the change.

As for myself, I think that Id have to at least change the wig and eyes of the doll in order to shift the character, since its usually those two features that separate my dolls from other similar dolls. For example, my Volks Williams still has his default faceup but many people have commented how he looks so different because of his non-default eyes, wig, and clothing. His personality and character is much affected by what he wears.

[MaddPuss]

I'm actually trying to do that with Jay. I'm hoping to get him from the elf ani to a lu-wen. If I can ever manage to get my hands on a freakin head. ~_~ I'm also hoping to get him that domuya flexi body. But, his hair may either stay white or go black. His eyes are gonna go to one silver and one purple most likely. >_> Or one green one. I haven't quite decided yet on the other not-silver eye yet.

[Osaka]

I've actually been debating about doing this with Rei. Hound, as lovely as he is, was never my first choice for Rei, but at the time there was nothing better to be had without breaking the bank. But the sculpt has never really suited him--he looks too sweet and serene, while my Rei is really not that sweet. ^^; But, I've gotten so accustomed to Rei-as-Hound that it would jar me to have anyone else as him.

But, if I did replace Rei to be more of what I always envisioned, I would get an Elfdoll K in a half-a-heartbeat, and Hound would get to be someone else. Who, I'm not sure. ^^;

[Faireyangel]

I'm in the process of doing this right now.

I shifted a character out of my Lati Green Coco and am planning to "put" her into a CP MNF Marcia. The Coco is a completely different character (opposite gender, even!) now. Yay, for unisex bodies! ;)

It was actually fun to do. Different eyes, clothes, wig, personality-- it was like suddenly having a new doll. :)

[MosaicWolf]

Hm. I've not ever done it myself. I'm one of those nutjob artistic types that, at least on some level, has a personal relationship with imaginary characters and inanimate objects. So, for lack of a better term, a doll and I enter negotiations at the time of purchase, a sometime lengthy process that may not culminate until I can declare a doll 'finished'.

This is kind of helped along by the fact that about two-thirds of my dolls are original characters. And by that I mean they originated with the doll. I suppose it's possible I may want to move one of them at some point. But it hasn't happened yet.

I do have a character that I've chosen to make two different dolls of. A younger, teenaged, version, and an older adult version. I haven't figured out how that's going to work yet. lol

[kersuru]

Like I said in the other thread I will be doing a character doll switch but to answer your question of using my first doll... Nah. I think it would remind me too much of Yuuki and I don't have any plans for any SD boys. It would be kinda creepy/weird for me, I would have two Yuuki's - Yuuki and newly created ex-Yuuki clone.

I'm only keeping the yder head until I can let go. *sniffles*

[Comrade Kiskalla]

SO far, I'v only done it once. I switched a char from a DD1 to a CP Soony. I had used the DD because of their more curvy bodies, but once CP put out their mature body type, and Soony was released, I fell in love and knew I had to get her for my girl's new shell. As for my DD body, I did a few drastic changes so there's was no going back for me once I decided to shell swap.

I was afraid, at first, of regretting my choice about the swap. So I held off on doing any changes to the old body until I had received the new one, and had a week or so to get accustomed to the new shell. It was only after I was absolutely positive that I liked the change that I "finalized" the switch and went to work on changing the old body.

[avacado]

I did it once with Carmine. Originally he was a Soom Namu. I didn't like the body so I sold him and replaced him with a Volks Williams Limited.

[Jenova]

I did this just once when I decided to "move" Devin from his Kawainino Ando form to a Dolkot Kiss form. The Ando was on an SD13 body; I put the Kiss on that body to maintain the same height (and wardrobe) for the character, and surprise, surprise, the Ando head was a great fit on the Dolkot body! I love the Ando mold, still, so he became a new character, Ellis, in my established setting, with a change of hair and eyes, but not of faceup. He's actually become a fairly important secondary character in the story now. :)

[Arvanah]

Hmm... let me think. Probably with my Elf Shushu I've done that several times in a sense. I originally bought her as a him to be a halfling monk named Keflin, who had actually been a MNF Chiwoo instead. That didn't end up working out very well, but I liked the doll so much that I kept him around and tried to recreate a new character for him for a while. At the time I bought Shushu I had my very first D&D story character, Cevina, shelled as an Angel Elf Soo, but when I sold all my bigger dolls I didn't have a doll of her anymore. I ended up turning my Shushu back into a girl and selling off the boy body, and now she is Cevina. So in that sense a lot of characters have shifted around and gone through my Shushu until one settled in. :oops

[gretch110]

wow this is great reading about all the shifting lol. Me I've never wanted to do that. But then again it took awhile for me to get all my characters figured out. With my first girl Kyla it was a month before I even settled on a name... although latley I've been thinking of switching some things around especially with the new boy coming into the family. We'll see in a month if that happened lol

Keep the stories coming I love all the character shifting :D

[alexiusSana]

ah.. just the thread i need! am planning to transfer wilde's character to a kid delf bory and letting his current shell to Malerice- his brother. But was having a bit of indecisiveness! Wilde's character seems very much attached to his resin- i wonder if i am able to see wilde in another mould...

[hiritai]

My Migidoll Ryu was 'Kael' when I got him, but couldn't pull off angst. I didn't want to seel him though, at that stage he was hard to get a hold of.
I sold El-Hayden at the same time, because I didn't like the NS, or his giant eyes... and he didn't look.... boyish. He just looked hot XD
So... I did sell a doll... but I did shift a character.
Kael gave new life to Hayden, and Hayden moved into the Migidoll Ryu. Best decision ever <3

[washi]

I've done this, although the change over was so 'Lightning fast wow!' I don't know if it counts. The character was Zarqa - Who I decided should be a Soom Tan Godo. I had a couple of options in mind, but Soom Tan Godo was top of the list. However, a DiM Rain head came up for sale, and he was also on the list - and given that at the time, Tan Godo was a limited that had been sold out months ago, I thouht my chances of getting one were unlikely. So I got the Rain head, with the intention of making him a very pale Zarqa and in the knowledge that if a Tan Godo came up for sale sometime soon, I'd snap him up and make him Zarqa, leaving me with a Rain head to play with (DiM Rain has been on of my favourite moulds for AGES, so I figured I'd have no trouble with that).

However, before I got the body, Tan godo came up for sale in the one a month blitz thing that Soom has. So I snapped one up, and he became Zarqa while the DiM Rain got a body and became Killer. Which suits him MUCH better, I must confess.

Mosy of the time I probably wouldn't though - I think very carefully about the head molds before I get them, and if they were that character for a while, I might have trouble making them NOT that character. However, if I did transfer a character over to a new shell, I'd probably keep the old shell and fill it with a new character. I'm a hoarder like that.

It's interesting to read about how other people made changes like that ^_^

[Edtel]

I tried to do that for about 24 hours this week, but I missed the old character too much and brought her back. I can't say I never would, but it was a bit weird. Now I think I might get a doll for the new character who was starting to form, but it's hard to tell now if I'll ever develop her further.

[Rorek]

I want to do this in a sense. I'd really like an SD version of Ro, my very first doll. I'm completely against selling my Tender Yen head though. I love Mini!Ro, and will never ever sell him. So, I'll have SD!Ro, and Mini!Ro, but they will both be Ro. Just at different stages in his life. Mini!Ro is in about 19 story-wise, and SD!Ro will be in his mid twenties, possibly older.

I don't know if this counts as what you mean though since the old doll will still be the same character, just at a different stage of life. :sweat

[Guide]

I considerd this when it came to re-housing my character Shaun into a new body. ^_^

Shaun was a sleeping Yder head, but I wanted to 'upgrade' him into a Minimee, because the Yder- while lovely- is a bit too feminine for the character. However, he was my second full size doll ever, and I was very atatched to him, so I fully planned to keep the old Yder head until I had teh new one.

As it happened, life got the better of me and I had to sell the Yder head.... but as a theory, I think it can work well. ^_^

[aisy]

I shift characters several times when I discover a sculpt that suits them better. It has caused issues with previous story continuity

[Myriai]

I've only really tried to do that once, when Ryuen abandoned his old DoD DoC Si form (not long after I wound up selling the DoD DoC Yen and DoD DoC Too who were his two partners) I tried to switch the Si mould into another character because I just couldn't imagine selling my Si because I really did love him. I managed to make the character got him an outfit and then it simply wound up not working at all (for the same reason the Si's previous character abandoned the form--scale). In the end, the Si that wasn't Ryuen just turned into a "lifeless" doll who sat on a chair doing nothing until my one of my best friends rescued him by buying him and turning him into one of her characters.

I think in theory switching characters around could work (I am still moving Ryuen, Yukiro, and Zach into SD-sized forms and I think it will work beautifully), but trying to create a new character in an old shell just didn't work for me ^^;

[celestia]

I think the characters i've shifted doll sculpts have only ever been an 80% match and thus have not seriously considered bringing them in.

Kinder has jumped passively from mold to mold, either i've been apprehensive of the sculpt's ability or there's something not quite right about his look
I suppose such a resin sculpt has yet to manifest, so when it does, i'll be ready for him.
I even decided on Korone before i mentioned i was juggling between two separate molds.. i always apply a "what if" measure for unlikely events, just in case.

But while my characters have shifted from doll to doll as a concept and possibility for contemplation or possible evaluation, i've never shift them from the sculpt once it's arrived because by then, it's deemed nevertheless, completely perfect as is.

[GothicKDM]

Osirus is a kinda perfect example...i looked for 2 years for a doll that would suit him, he was originally a OD Tae, but he was so small and i couldnt find anyone else to go with him...he then was going to be a DZ wing...but the body didnt appeal to me and he was too tall...Now he is a Abadon and hes perfect...

I didnt keep the Tae or the DZ though because i just couldnt put a character into it, and i sold them to get other dolls XD

[mylittlefighter]

I've reused the same name 3-4 times, but not the same character... :XD
I did switch Yildi from a Megu to a Sara, if that counts. :B

[earthspirits]

I have indeed transferred names and characters to entire new "shells" (dolls), and re-homed the original doll, since for whatever reason, I came to feel that the original just didn't work as my avatar (and as I've said in another thread, these guys are just too expensive to keep if they don't work out 100%). I have also kept/transferred names to other dolls, after selling the doll I'd originally assigned the name to. It happens, since sometimes it may take awhile to find the right doll "shell" for a particular character. But sometimes a doll just "clicks" purr-fectly the first time, and they stay (along with the name & character I've assigned them). Once I tried to transfer a character into a doll I'd already assigned one to, and it just wouldn't work, she was already too well entrenched in her character to become someone else! :p All just part of the fun of this hobby! :D

[St. James]

I have done this a couple of times. The first time I ordered a SP Kill_U head to be my St. James, but before that head even arrived I ordered a Gomidoll Igon to be him instead. I gave the K-Doll head to my girlfriend who made him into Nathan, but then moved Nathan into a Dollstown Mui and turned the Kill_U into Nathan's niece Maeve. *_*
The second time I ordered a Supia Roda intending to make it my girl Cassidy, but when the doll arrived she was totally wrong. Instead of selling her, I made her into Nina, a character for whom I hadn't yet settled on a sculpt. This allowed me to work my beloved F-30 into my plans as Cassidy. :blush
I also found myself unable to part with my white Camine head, even though I'd only bought the doll to get St. James a body, so I made it into my girl Delphine. :)

[Maya Cecile]

I hope I won't ever need to switch dolls, but I'm fully-prepared to do so should the face-up she's currently getting not be enough to fully please me. Lamia's head had been modified by a previous owner, unknown to both me and, from what I can tell, her last seller (she bought the head from Y!J and kept it in a box for a year and a half without really inspecting it). So, instead of that awesome F-08/F-05 chin, she's got a more rounded one -- which, while adorable, doesn't quite suit the Lamia I have in my head. As time passes I'm more and more wooed by Soony or Dark Human Soo for that particular character. But, who knows what the future will bring?

[Nightmoon]

If the character is important, then no...

I don't mind changing the shell for the character. :)

Actually I'm doing it for my character Artemis. I originally bought a Latiblue Khan but it just didn't fit, and I decided that he really needed to be bigger and more... of a bad guy. ;) So I'm planning to purchase a Dollmore Model M in the future for the character.

The Khan turned into my friends character Yuske, an assassin/mage. She's buying him off me and with that, I can purchase the doll I do want for my Artemis.

[takira]

I've done this once and it was more a matter of scale than anything. -_-;; I'd bought a MSD F-02 and made a character for her based on her sales pics...but I couldn't really find the right wig/eyes/clothes to match how the seller had done her up. Shortly thereafter my friend won the lottery for the After School Shiro, whose character was tied into my new one. Since the 60/45 cm romances appeal to me not at all, Suraiya-the-character had to find a new shell (Emma), and after finding a new wig, eyes, and style that better suited my F-02 girl, she got her own character and runs with the mini crowd. ;)

It was still a very weird transition and I really wasn't sure of it until I found my mini girl just the right Look that made her distinctive and individual, needing her own character independant of the one she'd been trying to have.

[EilonwyG]

I've done this, although I never thought I would. I thought it would be too weird. But I have a Cherishdoll Alley unicorn and a Dollzone Shoyu that have both changed character and personality. Originally, I saw the Shoyu and thought she would be perfect for my sweet, bond, druid girl. So she became my Rinoa. And the Alley unicorn was just so cute, I had to create a character and she became my Yaazi.

However, it became apparent that Yaazi might become a couple with my friend Kearsy's Aki, a feeple event elf boy, and a tiny with an SD would look really weird. So I knew I had to replace Yaazi with a mini or an SD, with the little one becoming Yaazi's daughter. So briefly my Alley had no name, while I got her little sister Naami. Eventually I came up with the name Aji (thanks to Kearsy's help).

Meanwhile, I'd been struggling to bond with poor Rinoa. She'd gone through a couple of wig changes, and I'd tried finding new clothes that suited her better in an attempt to make her work for me. She was such a pretty girl, I didn't want to have to sell her, but she just wasn't working. Then Kearsy offered to turn her into Yaazi. So, a quick horn mod and face-up later, along with a new pink wig, and Rinoa became Yaazi.

So although I never thought I'd be so "wishy-washy" with my dolls' characters, the switch went relatively painlessly. I just don't think the dolls were who they were supposed to be until they became what they are. And even though Aji didn't have any change to her make-up, eyes, or wig, I don't think of her as Yaazi. Or Yaazi as Rinoa.

Sure, poor Rinoa is now without a "shell", and she's kind of low on my priority list, she may show up again.

[Rai_Kamishiro]

I'm in the middle of switching molds right now >.<

It's strange, but I guess if you can't help but thinking that Doll A isn't right for your character there isn't much to do but find the right doll.

[bugland]

my SO did that with my AoD white Lily. i originally purchased her for a character named Ruth, with whom i then began to have issues, so a friend of mine adopted her. problem was, my SO had done the faceup- very well, might i add- and didn't want me to sell the doll or give it away, since he had made it for me, as an individual work of art (he's very possessive- could you tell?) so we compromised by keeping the doll and sending the character of Ruth to live with my friend, where presumably she's still waiting for a new shell! meanwhile my SO has adopted "Lily" for himself, changed her red wig for a white one (stolen from my Akemi- i'm going to want it back soon!) and her hazel eyes for silver ones, sewn a very cleverly constructed tail and turned her into a mermaid named Greta!

hey, whatever works.

[InkyBear]

While I think it's fine for other people to do so with their dolls and I could even understand why they would want to, I know it's something I know I could never do. I get very, very clingy and stubborn about my ideas and such, so when I get in the mindset that this doll is this character...it all just sort of falls into place and sticks that way. This is why I feel I could never sell any of my boys either if I so happen to find a sculpt later that might better suit them. That doesn't matter anymore because they're already home.

[Artemille]

I did that once. Dashiell was my first doll, but after his face up started chipping, I questioned whether or not I even wanted to keep him. I was going to sell him and buy a different mold, but that didnt happen, so I sent him out to get a new faceup but as a different character of mine. He came back dramatically different, so there was no going back. Dashiell later went from being an El to a School C. Unfortunately, it lasted about a month before I just decided to put his character on hiatus for now.

[clem_and_mikas]

I've switched characters to another doll, sometimes a different sculpt or size are a better fit.

[Hunajasieni]

I am actually halfway of this. :D I have character named Iris who was Dollzone Yume, but then I saw Woosoo vampire elf girl I knew it was perfect for her. I got new character for Yume, she is now Myrsky (Storm) foxghost. If I didnät get new idea for character I propably would have sold her. Now I am waiting for buying new one, and actually she will have propably twin too, Janus, Woosoo vampire elf boy! :D
She just suits the woosoo mold so much better I am sure it works out. :3

[Nikittin]

Here's the deal - I want to know what everyone thinks and feels about shifting characters from one doll to another - AS IN: Having a character who is Doll A recreated into Doll B, but rather than selling Doll A, one uses Doll A (with faceup, etc changes were applicable, of course) as the "shell" for another character?

Does that make sense? Has anyone ever done that before? Thoughts?

Yes, totally makes sense and I've done it myself with two dolls that switched not only characters, but also genders! :?

When I first recieved my Volks Masha I was happy to have her be a girl (and twin to my Volks Sasha), but as an experiment, I put the Masha head on a boy body and found that I really liked the result. At the same time, I put my F-16 head that was using the boy body on the Masha body and loved how adorable F-16 looked as a girl, so they switched bodies and characters!

I think people shouldn't be scared to experiment and change things around with their dolls -- my enjoyment has definitely been enhanced by taking a more carefree attitude with them in regards to their characters.

[MimiManiacal]

I transferred my character Maddox from a Soulkid Miryu/hybrid to a MNF Shiwoo and I had to sell the doll, I couldn't keep him and just change his name.

[Somnambulist]

I think I can really only do that when a doll comes out that's a waaay better fit for the doll that I had originally envisioned. Sometimes it happens when I think I bought one doll for one character but when they get here it's a different character that actually fits the mold.