Some questions about bonding

[SarahO]

I think bonding is important, because personally, I don't just straight up collect dolls. I pick a few exclusive dolls that I really love the look of. I don't buy for the sake of having them. Therefore, bonding is important to me, because otherwise I'm not going to do anything with the doll and I might as well just not have it.
That being said though, I wouldn't not buy a doll just because you're worried you won't bond with it. If you like the look of it and have been wanting it for a long time, I would go ahead and buy it. If you don't bond with it, then you can always sell it, after all.

[magkelly]

1.Does bonding with a doll matter to you?

Yes. If ultimately I don't like a doll it just ends up staying in the storage boxes all the time and that's not fair to the doll.

2.Do you bond with your doll right out of the box or does it take time?

It depends. Sometimes I'm totally into the doll before it even gets here. Sometimes I have to work the doll quite a bit before I am happy. I'm still working my one Delilah. I've got her 3/4 of the way to where I wanted her but I still am not quite happy.

3.What do you do to bond with your dolls?

Change the paint if need be, make clothes, look for shoes et all, whatever fits them.

4.Have you ever not bonded with a doll? What did it feel like?

Yeah, once or twice. It felt awful. That's rare for me and I hate to see any doll neglected.

[richila]

1.Does bonding with a doll matter to you?
Yes, it makes me want to do things with the doll.

2.Do you bond with your doll right out of the box or does it take time?
It is different for every doll. Cordie probably took the longest. I didn't truly bond until she became a dollhouse sized tiny on the 11cm body. Then she took over my life. I destroyed 2 -11 cm bodies with her before I tried the Picco Neemo body and now she is on a tiny mature resin body and I am more besotted with her than ever before.

3.What do you do to bond with your dolls?
I do face-ups choose or make wigs, dress them and make and find their things. Each of my dolls has their own things, dolls, pets, hobbies furniture-of course Cordie has more than anyone else .


4.Have you ever not bonded with a doll? What did it feel like?
Yes! She annoyed the crap out of me. It was no fun to make clothes for her-only a chore. No stories came to mind when I looked at her-everything was tooo hard, posing, pictures, everything. She was absolutely beautiful, but she wasn't mine. I sold her.

[Shinku_Rhapsody]

1.Does bonding with a doll matter to you?
Yes. If I don't, there's no reason to keep it. If it's for a certain character, though; it means I have to replace it.

2.Do you bond with your doll right out of the box or does it take time?
Usually to a degree. Customization and first faceup pretty much solidifies the bond.

3.What do you do to bond with your dolls?
Get them into character. Since almost every doll I get is based off a preexisting character, I customize them to the point that they have the feel of the character. Though really, I never stop developing them.

4.Have you ever not bonded with a doll? What did it feel like?
When I got my Resinsoul girl, I really didn't like her face. Once I planned what I was going to do with her, she grew on me. The one I really didn't warm up to (because she was out of scale from the rest of my YOSDs) I ended up gifting. That way, I didn't feel quite so bad. Though I kind of feel guilty that I felt worse about spending the money rather than not liking the doll.

[SoapBubbles]

1.Does bonding with a doll matter to you?
I suppose..? I've never not bonded with a doll, and I've never really put any conscious effort into bonding with my dolls. Maybe it's because I don't have that many dolls yet?

2.Do you bond with your doll right out of the box or does it take time?
I bonded with 1 doll slowly over about a year's time, and another right out of the box.

3.What do you do to bond with your dolls?
Hmm... I kind of feel like anything I actually do with my dolls helps me bond with them. From little things like just admiring how adorable they are to taking them completely apart for a good cleaning. Once I get a hold of a proper sealant, face-ups will also be added onto my list of 'bonding' activities.

4.Have you ever not bonded with a doll? What did it feel like?
N/A

[Nella]

It's really interesting to read everyone's responses.

I have a quick update to the situation in my original post. Some of you might already know this from my posts around the board, but I've decided to get the doll. She is one of my dream dolls. I'm just waiting to hear back from the seller about shipping or whether I can pick her up in person.

[Lamia of the Dark]

1. To some degree, yes. (I do buy some dolls that are destined to be "shelf-sitters" and are just there to look pretty and not develop any kind of character.)

2. Both. Some I love immediately, some I need to find their character before I'm sure I like them.

3. Cuddle them, try out eyes and wigs, do a faceup if they don't already have one, make/pick out clothes for them, think about their backstory, take pictures, etc. (Usually they make their personality known during the eye/wig/clothing selection process, if they weren't a pre-planned character.)

4. Sometimes the doll just doesn't speak me to me. In rare cases I experience rage and hatred towards the doll. (The ONLY time that really happened was with my Hujoo Freya, though. I did manage to bond with other dolls that I was frustrated with at first.)

[SetsunaKou]

I've been kind of contemplating this thread, because I'm not really sure it's ever been an issue. I've had to think hard if I ever bought a doll I didn't like, since we only buy or make character dolls.
Then, I remembered the Sailor Moon 11" BanDai Japan dolls and it hit me that I disliked them so much, I was desperate to make a better set of them and found Volks!

1.Does bonding with a doll matter to you?
Since most of our dolls never move---but just stand and look pretty in curio cabinets, I think 'bond' is a very strong word in this instance. I know I'll keep redoing them until I'm happy with their results, so I guess that's a sort of bonding? I'm not that nitpicky with the side characters (when I like a series/anime/game, etc, I get crazy and just HAVE to make the whole cast. So, even when I don't like a character, we make a doll of them for completion's sake.) and of course, don't even consider bonding with them, but since they are there, as long as they look like their namesake, I'm happy.

2.Do you bond with your doll right out of the box or does it take time?
It has to be immediately. If I don't like it when I get it, I'll never like it. (Found that out with those BanDai Japan 11" Sailor Moon Dolls. They irked and made me crazy---I tried to carve their faces, and I tried new faceups, but they are so ugly, nothing helped. However, they were the catalyst for discovering Volks dolls and customizing perfect anime chara dolls! So I'm kind of grateful to them. However, we do still own them all, again for completion sake of having every Sailor Moon doll type ever made. But I put them in my sister's room on her dresser, so I don't have to look at them all the time and think how dreadful they are.

3.What do you do to bond with your dolls?
I guess bonding isn't much of an issue since they're just character dolls---basically 3D artwork to me. If I don't like them, I wipe their face and try again or make a new improved outfit for them. But since many are characters I don't actually care about, I don't bond with most of the dolls we own. BUT, from each series, I do have a favorite 'couple' which I MUST bond with or else they get remade, remade, remade until I'm happy. ^^ I think my Seto Kaiba doll went through 5 incarnations before this final one, which I love. ^^

4.Have you ever not bonded with a doll? What did it feel like?
Those pesky BanDai Japan Sailor Moon dolls again.....
It was awful! I remember being so excited (back in 1997) when I ordered my 'Super Sailor Moon' BanDai Japan doll from HKT. My sister ordered the matching SuperS Tuxedo Mask and we were thrilled when the UPS truck arrived a few days later.
We ripped open the box and......from the first second we saw the dolls, we were rather distraught. Keep in mind, back there, there wasn't really any internet widespread and definitely not for anime items, so they were purchased sight unseen over the phone.
When we got them, one look and I said 'Ew! They're so fat faced! They don't look like Sailor Moon or especially Tux!' And we spent so much (back then $50 a doll was super costly. Now, it's barely noticeable, but at that time, dolls were from the toy stores for $19.95 or less, apart from some collector Barbies.) So we opened them anyway, since we didn't have a choice, and they were HOLLOW! Now we were like 'AH! They're $1 store dolls!!!' We felt kind of cheated. They were stiff, hollow, badly made and ugly.
That afternoon, we spent with a carving knife, trying to slim down their faces. Then I touched up their faceups for more definition.
It was 'okay' but we carved so much, they almost had holes in their cheek/chin areas. It wasn't noticeable unless you examined them carefully, but still! And we still didn't love them anyway! I had wanted the BanDai Americ 1995 Sailor Moon doll but by 1997 they were sold out everywhere.

After we 'fixed' them, they were tolerable but I still wasn't perfectly happy. However, we were such avid SM fans, we decided to go ahead and order the other Senshi. Again, we had some problems as different variations had been molds than others and after much searching and reselling, we finally had the best of each Senshi, from BanDai Japan.
I particularly remember getting the Saturn doll---she was $250 USD and that was outrageous for us, but we had to complete the set! So I found one, with a slightly dented box, and haggled until the seller agreed to $176. So....again, sight unseen, we bought this doll over the phone. A week later, she arrives and....she's like 7" tall!!! My sister and I were SO afraid we bought the wrong scale/wrong set doll and paid $176 for her!! Honestly, we didn't even open the box or touch it because we were so scared!! :laughs:
I found out by calling the seller that Sailor Saturn was shorter than the other sailors and she was, in fact, the correct doll. (I left out the point that at this time, we had never seen Saturn yet. We only saw the first 2 seasons and the 'R' movie---all of which was wasn't in.) So, we were relieved, but wow... I can still remember that feeling! :laughs: She is actually a very cute doll, but again, the bodies are HOLLOW and stiff!

That was a long story, ne? But it's the most I think I've never 'liked' a doll.

I can think of one recent experience about not bonding that I think really applies here.
My Taniyama Kisho Portrait doll was a 70cm Dollzone Yuu from JS that I purchased in 2007. He was perfect and I adored him but he was too tall for the set, once we decided to make the whole cast.

So I said, I'll get him the 65cm body. But DZ 65cm were so costly last year that I first tried the Island Doll 65cm body for him. It arrived and I detested it. It didn't have attitude, or any aura of Kiyan-sama----and it's just a body! But he was so not him in it!
I decided to just leap and get the 65cm DZ because I'd never be happy until he was back on that type of body with attitude! (Honestly, the DZ male bodies have such macho, anime like expression in their posing and 'slouching' stance.). I got it and now he's happy again. He's as he should be!
So, I think that was the one occasion where I could not bond with a doll (and it was the body!) :laughs:

[Lif]

1.Does bonding with a doll matter to you?
Yes cause if I do not bond I will not do anything for or with her. I have dolls to make things for and make photographs of. If I do not bond with her I already know I will not spend time on her.

2.Do you bond with your doll right out of the box or does it take time?
I will only buy a doll if I am 100% sure I want it. I bounded with Molly immediatly. Audrey was a dream doll of mine and altho I really loved "the doll" her character on the other hand needed some getting used to. Shes a bit more complicated then Molly which isnt strange as Molly is a little girl but Audrey is a young adult. Bit more demanding and sure what SHE wants. Not sure how I can explain. I was thinking up her character before she came but shes almost the opposite.
3.What do you do to bond with your dolls?
I will spend hours searching each evening for THAT wig she needs even if that meens shes bald or has a scruffy wig for 2 months. I make everything I can make myself even if other people are far better at it. I will have her near me when I am sitting at my desk and they ALWAYS come to our summer house when we go during weekends or summer holidays.
They become that purse you always carry around that way XD
4.Have you ever not bonded with a doll? What did it feel like?
Well I have gotten a Jolina Ballerina for Sinterklaas (like christmas but in the Netherlands) which I REALLY wanted. But we didn't really bond, not like my BJD's. But having said that I did not plan ahead and did not make up her character or anything, she does not fit in with Audrey and Molly and well...its a whole different situation I guess. I was looking forward to customising her, not to having another character. Shes not "alive" to me like my BJD's are. She might be when I finally get around to customising her. But for now shes just a pretty dollie sitting somewhere where I can see her. And she'll keep being that if I do not bond with her. But if I do I will maybe buy her a sister (disney prinses with similar body but other hair) some day and photograph them together. We'll see.

[Alopecia No Hime]

1. Does bonding with a doll matter to you?

Yes. I buy them to house my characters so they better fit.

2. Do you bond with your doll right out of the box or does it take time?

They're supposed to be my characters and to my only my very special OC's that mean something close to my heart get a roll in being a doll. Haruka being my first she was my baby even if that sounds a little weird. I spent almost two years researching BJD's Obitsu's especially...I probably drove everyone crazy with my constant questions, but I wanted to be sure that I knew what I was doing so I could keep her whole..Even with being assured that Obitsu's can (and my girl has) take a lot of abuse I was still scared to death of ruining her...Yet somehow that made me bond with her even more. I doted, primmed, hell Haruka has the most clothes out of all of my dolls. She's still my little girl. I just bought her a new wig at that and she finally feels like the school girl/future trauma nurse I had intended to turn her into. When I first got her I wasn't quite sure what kind of character she would be...But as soon as I saw her little face, held her in my hands for the first time...I was in love. I think if something happened to her I'd be distraught...Sure because she's blank and rather generic looking I could build her from the ground up again but it wouldn't be the same...The new form wouldn't have the years wear, the hand mod, the countless times I've dropped her even mean something.

I would never, ever dream of selling her or my other Obitsu's...Each one became part of me...Riven for example he was originally meant to be a Hujoo but then I decided I wanted another Obitsu....Then I had issues with his wig and eyes for months he was just stuck with two big blue beads for eyes and yet he was my little boy...My sweet shy boy who had a knack for trouble.

Finally he had a wig....Then eyes...And with those came Haruhi...Kaname I knew I had to have him the second I saw him.

Yuichi was originally gonna be my practice head but I saw a personality in there waiting to come out...

Yikes look at how long that is already...Sorry for rambling...But yeah only my special characters get bodies..And all of the time I fall in love right out of the box. Even the Obitsu dog I got I love to pieces. He had gotten jostled about in transit and was literally contorted into this funny looking ball but once I got him straightened out he was perfect.

Yuichi my little man who's been waiting for a body gave me mercy...I was able to pop his head right onto the 23cm body...His eyes ten minutes was all I spent and that's cause I was such a butter fingers in getting that second eye in...

3. What do you do to bond with your dolls?

I will make clothes for them, photograph them, sometimes just have them near me when I'm on the computer...Cuddle them when I'm sad or just need something to hold...I've caught myself voicing my thoughts to them. ("Oh this is so your wig..You look so adorable!" "No! Bad Riven! Fit in these pants!" "Kaname why is your hair ALWAYS so messy!?") And most of the time I just make clothes for them...I used to photograph them all the time but my set is kind of...Goofed up ATM.

I also keep an eye out for in scale things all the time. At the dollar store I found this cute set of clothes and they were surprisingly well made. With Haruka's new wig and this outfit she looks so...Innocent. It makes me smile.

I also just pose them randomly...Like Hakubi for example I can fiddle with that dog for over an hour without realizing that I was talking to someone on a chatroom and that their asking if I'm okay or still on. So many poses so many possibilities...

4. Have you ever not bonded with a doll? What did it feel like?

I've had this happen to me twice...

First was with my Len Kagamine Dal...I loved him at first, he was so cute but I was scared to touch his head to pose him for pictures, scared of accidentally ruining his face up or his nails...I eventually realized I wasn't enjoying having him around anymore...He just sat on my shelf in the background looking cute and that was no way for me to enjoy my dolls...So I put him up for sale...

The next is RS Mei..I don't own this doll not sure if I ever will. I basically said when I was talking to someone who was also getting a Mei at the time that I just wanted a doll ready to go right out of the box. I was gonna get the default face up, sew clothes myself and I didn't care about the single joints...
Then I got opinions from others about what I 'might' want to do...Restringing "Oh your gonna wanna wire her they pose better that way." All the way up to: "Better yet just order it on the Li body you'll like it better." I even mentioned my budget three times I can't afford any special wires, let alone a new body in the light tan resin...

I eventually stopped looking at Mei for weeks...When before I took a glance at least once a day and found myself giddy and excited, chirpy even...But then I looked again and I felt hollow.

I didn't like the sculpt, I was dreading possibly having to restring/suede the damn thing and most of all...It wasn't Vala...Not my elemental elf...

Raisling, Abrianna, Tanya, Markrove all of the characters I wanted to shell from my novel I want to write they still fit but Vala...She wasn't Mei anymore...

And I decided I didn't want an MSD like that if I wasn't even able to enjoy talking about her without feeling bad.

DOA members scared me out of my first dream doll...I actually cried and wanted to tell those people "Thanks a lot now I'm gonna have to find a new sculpt in the right color!" But I didn't...I fell for other sculpts, new character idea's...I still want to shell Vala as a doll one day but the right one hasn't come by yet.

But yeah..Those were what happened when I didn't bond with one.