Are dolls like family or like toys?

Toys, objects. That whole sort of thing. They're no more family than my computer is, on account of them being inanimate objects.
Yes, they are expensive, yes I have spent a lot of time on them and yes they are my characters or whatever... but they are just resin in the end. I'm not exactly going to give it a seat at the table for dinner or worry about not spending time with them.

 

For sure!

I guess the word "family" isn't as emotive for me as it might be for some. They're a bunch of people whom I'm biologically related to, through either random fate or divine plan. Either way, it was not a choice I made. I like my family, and even love some of them, but I don't automatically love all of them just because they are kin. Some of them are total ass-hats.

OTOH, I have some friends to whom I feel much closer than I do to my own parents or siblings. I really love my cat, she is a great friend and companion. But she is not "family". I chose her, and she is a cat. I would never think of her as an ersatz child. That would be to dishonour the catty nature of the cat!

Likewise, if there was a fire, my dolls would be amongst the first things I would grab, after cat, laptop and personal papers. They are there to greet me when I get home, and although I know they're just hunks of resin, their presence cheers me up, as a friend might. They are precious to me. But they are not family because a) they're not people and b) I chose them.

 

Well, the discussion is rather interesting. I never thought about my dolls this way: I just so-called pl;ay with them. And besides I love them, but my husband and parents are more important for me.

 

I don't consider them family, nor do I consider them toys.

 

I wouldn't call them family in the 'what to save in a fire' situation, but they're definitely more than toys. They're more like sentimental toys. In a fire, you could try to save your photo albums and stuffed animals and sentimental objects, which could include your dolls. They're not family, but they're not toys. They're.... a family of toys.

 

They're very expensive and beautiful toys to me, but they also represent some things I wish I had. Like a big family...

 

My temperamental models.
aka not family but not toys.

 

To me I suppose...they are a little behind my real family. It's probably because they shell my mindchildren (OCs) and believe me, I am very strongly attached to them. And since the 'piece of resin' is shelling that mindchild, it 'becomes' it in a way, so yea u_u And in a disaster, I think they'd be from the first things I'd grab hold of. I mean, you can just stuff them in your blouse/pants or something, I don't think you can stuff your mom/dad/husband/wife/familymember in there (maybe your child in your blouse if it's a baby...but I think you get my point) so I don't really...see why you can't save both? But if it came down to choosing only one, I'd choose my family then I'd go cry my eyes out forever for my mind/resin-children u_u
Well, that's just my opinion though and I respect it if other people just want to think of their BJD as just 'toys' =v=)b

 

My dolls are family (i can't imagine spending this much on a toy) and frankly, people who treat them poorly like children treat toys scare me. I bought a tiny BJD from a lady at a convention once. She said to me; "oh, i don't need that thing anymore" and called him ugly. I was appalled. What kind of person can have something like that and not have any love at all to put into it?

 

It's not only because of their value that I don't treat them like any other plush or toy. But family they aren't.

 

I may never be able to have kids in the future because of an accident I got into a long time ago, so yes I call my dolls my family, and I'm not embarassed to call them my family either.

 

To me my dolls are characters I develop and create I can't draw, or sculpt, but I can make each doll unique and special. Even when I have the same sculpt I make them their own personality, and give them a back story and even family. My family is fine with my dolls and how I spend time and money on them. Of course I am 55 years old and raised my 2 kids to be their own person so why shouldn't I be as well. In fact daughter and my daughter-in-law are both in hobby. So we all agree they are wonderful. Hubby likes tech toys, and son collects stuff as well. So we all have a hobby or two we love. I am sorry for those who have families that see this as a bad hobby. It's not cheap, but it I think keeps many of us from doing stuff we would greater upset our families over.

 

They're not toys but not quite family either. They hang somewhere in between for me. I spend a lot of time with them and I invest time in them, making clothes or styling their wigs or taking photographs just as i invest time and love in spending time and memories with my friends. When I'm lonely or sad or feel like suffocating from problems I can't trouble my friends with I can just look at them or do things with them and not feel that way as much anymore and they've made me feel a lot better on many occassions despite not really solving my problems. So yeah. They're not 'just toys' as far as I'm concerned but neither are they living people that I may call family. c:

 

Most of my dolls represent characters that I have created, roleplayed or admired, so it's not necessarily the physical objects that I am attached to, but what they represent. The dolls themselves are just hunks of plastic; it's the characters they represent that are so dear to me.

 

Haha BOTH! They're not quiiiiite my family but I don't see them as just toys either. My dolls are their own family and I suppose I feel like im their "caretaker" since I do have to dress and clean them but they aren't part of MY family. I do see them as just objects but because of the characteristics I have given them they are more than just "objects" so in the end, while they are not part of my family, they are on the borderline i suppose. ^^

 

All the dolls I have are my family. Every doll has her (his) soul, and each lives her (his) life. I love them all, like they are children, and they are very precious for me.

 

For me is something between a pet and a precious-memory-related object (:

I can figure it answer like "what would you save in a house fire?", after mother, my dog I feel family too, and so my BJD before all the rest

Conclusion: I have a few itens more expensive in the house, but they are something special for me.

 

I love my little girl like family and though i get a lot of crap about it, i still see her as family to me. Now don't get me wrong, i'm not saying she's "alive" but i still care for her as if she was like a daughter in a way. I talk to her and brush her hair in the morning and dress her to go out and everything, even washing her every 2 days to make sure she doesn't get dirty. To me i could never give her up because she is my first doll and my favorite and to me caring for is almost like caring for her is like caring for a daughter or a younger sibling.

 

My doll isn't family in the strictest sense, nor do I feel that he's merely a toy. Somewhere in-between, I suppose. He's treasured and thought about when I don't get time to spend with him, and I do try as much as possible to make time. I realise keeping him proximal to me when I'm upset does wonders in its own way. I do agree the emotional feeling I get is probably the same as that of a pet-companion. Irreplaceable, I might like to add: even if he was taken away and I buy another with the same sculpt it just isn't the same, just as getting another cat of the same breed and colour.

cool scary guy encapsulates it perfectly: He's more than a toy although he isn't real (no doubt it's the emotional attachment, 'security blanket' feeling that counts in this 'relationship'), and he would be very missed if he were gone.

My family doesn't give me a hard time since I only own one and currently have no plans for any more. College is starting soon for me but selling him to pay my college fees is unthinkable.

 

Some of them, I consider family, others are more like close toys. Whenever I think of moving away or doing something big, I actually take a few of my dolls into consideration, like you know, where I'd put them, or which ones I'd take with me.

 

Oh god. I already think of my car as almost like family. XD I talk to it when I get out and I've given it a name and I often make comments about how it's having a bad day or it doesn't like cold weather or wahtever, like it's a real living thing with feelings. I almost treat my computers like pets and I am extremely attached to my art tools, especially my brushes...

I can't imagine I wouldn't get as attached to my doll. ;u;

 

For the longest time, I disapproved of the hobby. It wasn't until I spent a few years looking at them and think about it that I've decided to start into it. I'm a cosplayer, so I know how expensive it can be and my extended family and school friends think I'm nuts for dressing up all the time and sewing clothes. But I love my costumes and I love dressing up and being with people I love who share the same hobby. I know I'll feel the same way when I get a doll. Your family should just learn that your hobby makes you happy, and leave it at that!

 

I see it as both. They are by my side when I'm down and feeling blue but when I'm excited and overjoyed I can spread the love and dress them up. I make them feel special. Much like I would family but with the creative control having a 'toy' can give you.

 

...My doll is certainly not a toy. He is more of and art piece... but one that i can hold and admire. I won't see him as "family" either. He is more... a part of me. A physical avatar for a part of my imagination...

 

Toys! Though not in a reckless way...I love doing photoshoots of miniature scenes and hopefully my acquisition of new tinies will allow me to do such. >w<

 

I have always been one to impose feelings on inanimate objects. I would count my dolls as a kind of "family" but they won't take precedence over my real family and pets in a life threatening situation. I would be upset if I lost them, but the truth remains that people and animals are alive and I should focus on taking care of them.

 

Table decorations. XD

Eh, they're more like pets, really. Pets that won't die if you forget about them for a time.

 

Toys. Expensive, beautiful and very well loved toys. I'm a bit sentimental about them, because they're resemble my characters, and I love my characters dearly, but at the same time, they're not actually my characters. My characters live in my fantasy and my dolls are only a physical shell for them.
So even if I dropped my doll and it broke into a hundred pieces, I wouldn't cry over the loss of the character. It could always be reshelled in a new doll. I could more likely cry over the lost money. Haha.
But none of my family or friends are against me collecting. They're all very supportive and my mother is even collecting herself.

 

a bit of both
even though i'm the kinda type that know of a doll who has 'energy' or 'soul' most people said in the end he still just a toy ^^ (even though sometimes i talk to him .... )

 

My dolls are nowhere near on the level that my family, including pets, are. However, they are some of my most important objects and I perceive them as having energy and deserving of attention. As a result, I'm able to let go of many of them fairly easily if need be. Whether it be because I have no time or am no longer interested in them or because I am in desperate need of money. ^^;
I remember my time with each one and cherish those memories. I almost feel like my house is a little inn for BJDs. I'll see if I ever come across any permanent residents. :p

 

Let's try, neither.
These expensive, customizable art objects are CERTAINLY not toys, unless using the term the way some people call their Ferraris toys.....
But neither are they 'family' - my CHARACTERS may come close to being an alternative 'family' for me, & many of my dolls embody a certain character, so they are very special to me. I love clothing them, posing them, taking photos, seeing them lounging about my apartment, etc LOL.

 

Totally agree with Teleri

I wouldn't really think of the as either. The same as my guitar, it's not a toy or family but it is an important inanimate object I just couldn't be without. It's a part of me and who I am, like my dolls are.

 

My dolls to me are like little pieces of art :3

 

Rather than immediate family, i think of dolls more so like a level below pets sorta. I do understand your situation, my family hates my dolls too so they're secret right now. But if it came down to it, though I'd be frustrated, angry, and upset, I would give them up for the sake of my family relationship. But the reason it's not family and less than a pet but still above toys is because I do put some feelings into my dolls. I give them a name, a character, and clothes. So whilst not quite family, they are above toys ^o^

 

I used to think that my doll will be an art object, a thing to which a pleasure to watch, take pictures, etc. But now he has become a part of my family, part of me and my soul. I am very glad of it!

 

This. Very much so.

The dolls to me aren't as important as the characters they represent. That being said, just the fact that they embody those characters gives me a deep connection to them, and I consider my dolls to be very special. I can't imagine parting with them unless the situation was quite dire, and even then, I think it would be a last resort. They're certainly more than toys to me, and I have a special love for them that doesn't really fit into the category of "family."

I guess they're like representations of my weird brain children, haha.

 

I think a little bit of family and a little bit of toys. When I got my first bjd I showered it with tons of attention. I made it clothes, wigs, and even got some toys for the doll to play with so it wouldn't look so lonely while I'm gone off to work or something.

 

After playing with my friend's BJDs some more (I have yet to own my first doll), I would say they are toys, but not one you throw around. I love dressing up her dolls and putting wigs on them, but to me, she's like a mini person you have to be very gentle with...

 

My dolls are family! All the way! i couldnt part from them for anything!
like, if someone damaged my doll then bought me the same one as a replacemnt, it just wouldnt be the same as the other one...

 

These doll are toys the way my grandma's collection of elephant statues were toys (NOT) or the way a friend's Betty Boop collection is (some very pricey collectibles, displayed in glass cabinets), or the way my brother's rich father-in-law's Chinese porcelain collection was....etc etc etc.
Whether the dolls are family, have souls, are used for art projects, or to shell characters, or to simply be on display being beautiful, these are NOT TOYS!!!! Just because they are dolls does not make them playthings.
Just because they can be played with doesn't make them toys. ANYTHING can be played with.
Now, I will concede that if you use the word 'toy' to refer to things like your rich brother-in-law's new Ferrari, or speed boat, then sure. My 'toys'.
I believe that objets d'arte is a better term for BJDs. But the really nice thing w/BJDs is the interactive possibilities - of a creative nature. So in a way they are very like a computer (for me - seeing as I'm a writer) or a canvas for an artist.
I realize the words 'play' & 'toy' should not raise my hackles so much but in this society those words are demeaning - as is the word 'hobby'. I take creativity seriously, and artists' work as important, not trivial. So I don't like to use words that trivialize to describe creative endeavors & tools, which includes BJDs.

 

I don't really see the word "toy" as demeaning, especially in the context of childhood or adulthood. Toys are objects you have affection toward and play with. They can be used to tell stories or just used for decoration. Either way, my doll is a toy, and I appreciate her as that, and as a piece of art. :]

 

I agree to a point, but think of it this way. How would you feel if you created a painting, wrote a book, sculpted a figure = as a creative expression but also as your vocation - only to be told you were playing, that you had a nice hobby, that you'd made a nice toy? When what you meant to do was create something meaningful that others can relate to?

Here's the Webster's definition of toy:

1-Something that is paltry or trifling. A literary or musical trifle or diversion
2-Something for a child to play with.
3-Something diminutive (as in a small breed of dog)
4-Something that can be toyed with.

So yes, in the English language, to call something a 'toy' is demeaning, or belittling. If you toy with something, you are not serious. A toy is a trifle, childish, not important.
To individuals the word may not carry these connotations, but they are there for the English-speaking public at large to infer.

 

My family are people I care for and who care about me. I talk to them and enjoy their company. As much as I adore my dolls but they can't give me what real people give me. Dolls are pretty to look at and I enjoy dressing them, but they can never replace a human being.

 

For me, my dolls are representations of my characters. I certainly love them, but they are toys in many, if not all, respects. So while I love them dearly, I wouldn't put them in front of conflicts that come with life. None of my dolls is completely irreplaceable. It's would be hard to, but they could be replaced eventually. Try getting a job and saving up, I've been saving for two and a half years to get a doll I've been after. If you save in small amount, and do not let dolls be your major expense, I doubt your family will be able to voice any real concern.

 

For me, my doll is sitting in between the two options. I mean, sure, he's "just a toy" but he feels like family to me. I enjoy having him around. It keeps me in the happyzone. :'D

 

it's not easy question..... Wmmmm... they are my "toy" but they are not JUST dolls. Some special for me

 

it's not easy question..... Wmmmm... they are my "toy" but they are not JUST dolls. Some special for me

 

So a toy poodle is more childish than a standard poodle? Dolls are toys. A bjd (or an antique teddy, or a 70s action figure, or any other pricey plaything) is still at its core a plaything. That's not an insult, it's just a fact.

If you sculpted a rocking horse or some other plaything, then yeah, I see nothing wrong with "You made a nice toy". Toys can be art - those aren't mutually exclusive categories, so saying "it's creative!" doesn't negate the fact that we're talking about toys.

 

My dolls are a family of their own and I love them, but when it boils down to it they are just dolls and can always be replaced. Well...most of them. If we were in financial trouble I doubt I would sell them, but if it were a crisis situation they would be the farthest thing from my mind. Priorities are my kids, my pets, then personal treasures starting with the absolutely irreplaceable. Dolls come in quite a ways down that list. :/

 

Dolls are just toys. They're expensive, lovely, fascinating luxury items that I have grown to love very much, and enjoy spending time on more than any other hobby, but at the end of the day they're still (adorable) chunks of resin to me. There's still definitely an emotional attachment/sentimental value there for me, don't get me wrong, but real family includes living beings to me. 'Doll family' is a cute term that I apply to my collection of most favourite, cherished items.

If I had to save my family in a fire, it'd be the real one first, 'doll family' second. Now, if my house was empty of living creatures and still on fire, then dolls would be the next priority to save (besides myself), as they are much more difficult to replace than no-name furniture.

edit: And after reading some of the above comments, I have to agree that the terms 'art' and 'toy' are not mutually exclusive. I do consider dolls art -- it's why I love them so much - but they are also toys. Considering that the topic was about family sentiment versus toy sentiment, though, I don't see as to why art as a value has much to play in this certain conversation.

 

Dolls are toys. They are pose-able for a reason. that's their whole appeal. If you feel a more emotional attatchment to your doll than just that, that is okay too because that's also a way to play with them. It's all good fun

 

I see them more like works of art than a 'toy' per se, but like toys they make me inexplicably happy and I enjoy playing with them; ei. drawing, taking pictures, sewing for, and in general creating art from art. I do call them MY dollies and am definitely over protective of them, but I'm very sentimental about things and I put a lot of effort into my dolls and they're basically the only thing that keeps me sane and ticking for 70 hour work weeks between two jobs... Even though they are the main reason for the second job...

But without them life would be boring, and I see them as a constant that I don't find anywhere else in my life, so even though they are objectively resin, they are sentimentally almost as important if not as important as family to me.

Even my family members, depending on which family member you are talking to, have started calling them either my children or my boyfriends XD
I don't see them as either children or boyfriends, but they do have their own little uniqueness for what they mean to me, which, for lack of a better term, I call being my Dollies, with emphasis on the MY
Although most of my family members tend to agree that BJDs in general, mine included, are creepy and freak them out

 

My dolls are important to me because they're my first major purchase. They've been the result of a lesson in saving my pennies for something I really, really want. They represent the test of how long I could keep my sanity to buy something I had wanted for four years. None of my family likes the fact that I have these dolls, and they believe I've wasted my money. They tried to stop me from buying my second. But I like them.

I don't consider my dolls part of my family, though.

 

Everyone has their own reason for buying these dolls.

Some see them as pretty models, a cute toy, or a little buddy to have around.
Ive always been the kinda person who gets attached to things, stuffed animals, dolls, ect.
Probably because my grandma did the same thing, she kept a lot of my dolls and bears from when I was a kid and would tuck them in and talk to them, lol. I guess when you get old and you're by yourself, it's nice to have 'kids'. Of course she knew they weren't alive, but it made her feel good to pretend they are.

I buy dolls for company, or a little bit of 'good energy'.
I also can't have any pets, so they're like the next best thing, lol!
I know they're just dolls, but they make me happy to have around.
Like when you've had a bad day and you come home, there is this cute little doll looking at you and you can't help but smile! It's all what you wanna make it I suppose, which is what is so great about these dolls!

 

I'm probably one of those rare people that put my doll first before anything. I have a some-what bad home life because of my mom hating the fact that I wasn't born a boy, so we never really connected like normal mother and daughter relationships. Most of my immediate family ignores my existence as well, so I don't have a deep connection to anyone who shares my blood. I care more about the well being of my dogs than my own mom, actually. My mom doesn't care for my dolls though, just as long as I don't "waste her money".

My doll is the representation of a character from a story of mine, that has been such a big part of my life these past 3 years that everything would be so much more different if it was never created. And with him being one of the main characters, I would probably be extremely heart broken if he were taken from me in any shape or form. I treat him like a son, he keeps me company while I'm alone, and making clothes for him is a huge source of my creative outlet.

This doll is more than a doll to me in so many ways. And my only doll [as of right now] was a gift to me from a close friend of mine so I would feel guilty if something were to happen to him. I know he can be replaced, and if he was replaced for one reason or another, I would still feel very empty; like a hole that cant be filled no matter what.

I get too attached to things to a point where I get concerned about my future. But I love having this expensive hobby. People call me crazy because of the extreme importance this doll is to me but....I'm happy having him next to me all the time. He always makes me smile when I look at him, something that is really hard for me these days.

 

I think they're more like Pets...who are like family to a lot of people......I mean, I'd be pretty devastated if something happened to my doll just like I've be devastated if something happened to my dog (of course I'd be more upset about my living pet but thats not the point)

 

My dolls definitely aren't like family, being not alive, but they aren't like toys to me either...

I think to me, my dolls are Art. Playable art, but art. They are each a piece of art I have put hours of work into, and they each represent a character as well as a lot of invested creative energy.

 

I believe that,
they are both to some people.

Why? My OCs I play online, or draw, or rp. They are apart of me, like an extension of me and my creative flow. So they are sort of like my children. I made them. But for the dolls, I think its almost the exact same. You feel its apart of you because you make that connection of wanting to care for it. Maybe its a maternal thing but I think once you make a character with that doll its a connection. Whether its love hate or just pure love. So you have a separate place for them as apart of your 'internal' family from which may be important to you. Some may go as far as calling them their children and caring for them as if they were alive. I don't rag on it. I think I may possibly have some connection like that to a much ... more lesser degree.

Its about the person and their connection to the doll.

 

My dolls are ........well just dolls, they certainly aren't family. They are inanimate objects and I think my actual family would quite rightly be disturbed if I treated them like people.They are beautiful, artistic collectable toys nothing else. Of course I lurve having them on display to look at and appreciate but my family and pets always come first at the end of the day.

 

My dolls are precious to me, and just like a little family. I talk with them, I cuddle with them, and I care for them. I have to restrain myself when my wife is around, or she would think I am crazy But whenever I am alone with my dolls, I admire them, talk with them and carry them around - I guess I must be insane
My wife is also kind of jealous on my doll beauties, so I can't give them to much attention while she's around - hehehe