Are dolls like family or like toys?

My dolls are just a "toy" . I have to keep the right detachment between me and objects... they are something creative, an hobby, I don't want they became too much important or too dear to me. I want to be served by these for my entertain and to give me more breaks in my everyday routines, to give me some fun and with the utility that after using them, I can return to my duties. They are a soothing thing that help me to return to my everyday life more relaxed.

 

My mother likes my dolls, she even sew new clothes for her which makes me happy actually. And I see my dolls like my kids, I mention her like she is my daughther when I am talking to someone about my dolls

 

I've always had a quite strong affinity for my original characters in my writing so to me, having a doll is like having a physical extension of those characters, a shell for them to live in. Definitely for me a BJD is not 'just a toy', but is a physical body for an intangible idea.

 

My dolls definitely aren't toys to me like Barbie dolls were back im my childhood. I don't play with them the way a child plays with dolls.
As I am their creator and they are all created with much devotion, I think a part of me has become what they are. I believe that everything done with love is no longer soulless.
Of course this means that they are very highly ranked.
If a human destroyed one of them forcefully in an arguement this person would be literally dead for me.

I wouldn't call them family, because the word family has a bit of a negative connotation for me. In contrast to a family I can choose the company I want, dolls love is unconditionally. Friends are unreliable, dolls are always there.
Of course a real partner and a real good friend can't be replaced. But in all phases of life where there is no such person, dolls won't leave.

 

Definitely family. With the amount I spend on them and all, it goes definitely a step further than just 'toys'. Naturally they aren't real people, but every single one of the dolls I have or plan to buy is my oc, all with a 200+ page written story about them and the world they live in. Long story short, to me they aren't real in my world but real in theirs just as much as any game character or so. Not to mention that they bring me more comfort and calmness lately than the actual people around me.

 

Dolls are my therapy

 

While I adore my dolls, to me, they will always be objects or ‘toys’. I guess for me, it has to be a living thing to be considered ‘family’ like a pet. But by that thinking my plant on my desk would be considered family. So who knows. All I know is that my dolls are a very important part of my life, but in the end they still are objects and expensive toys.

 

Toys that rarely get handled anymore due to RL.

 

I see my dolls (I have other types, not just BJDs) as collectables. They are not toys and although I love having them, they are not the most important things in my life. Having said that, I've never sold a doll. I think most people who know I have dolls think it's weird, but that doesn't matter to me, I like having them regardless of what others think. They are beautiful pieces of art.

 

A bit of both and also neither, but also, as dds27 above me said, therapy. Each of my dolls are well-thought decisions, and some have been in my life even longer than my platonic soulmate has--some characters have been occupying my daydreams since even longer. There are names and stories to each of them, and they provide me wonderful company when I'm lonely. They're just objects, but still very important to me. If I were to lose them, they could be replaced, but I'm sentimental enough it wouldn't be the same.

Edit: Friends! That's the word that exists haha. They're my inanimate companions.

 

I definitely see them as family, but I also see them each as a unique piece of art and an outlet for creativity. There is so much time and energy that goes into building up your doll to being exactly who you want them to be, and I feel like a lot of people outside the hobby have a hard time understanding that because they just see the price tag and a doll that doesn’t really have that connection to them like it does to yourself. I was in the same boat recently with having to sell a few of my dolls for financial reasons, so I get where you’re coming from with not wanting to because of how you connect with them. I was fortunate enough to have some dolls I was willing to part ways with due to random aesthetic reasons, but I can imagine how hard it would be if you didn’t have that going on. I hope you’re able to keep your resin family together during these tough times! Maybe you could try to explaining how you feel to your parents so that they’re more understanding. It’s a somewhat hard topic to navigate to someone who doesn’t quite understand, but passion for something usually ends up translating well if you’re able to explain it with the right enthusiasm and joy. Good luck!

 

Not family and not toys. Would say they are more like art for me. A very pricy piece of art I like admiring and posing.
I like to think they are the fantastic creatures that inhabit my house.
I don’t have pets atm, but I would love the pet more for sure, and think of the pet more as family.
I live by myself so nobody really says anything about my dolls. Hardly anybody comes here. My parents know I collect them and also know the price, but support my nonetheless coz they know I love them. Also it’s my money I’m using to buy them anyway.

 

Echoing @Lillyevergold my roommates definitely see my dolls are art pieces and for some of them I agree. They’re beautiful works of art. But as someone who cannot have children but LOVE them, a few of them definitely feel like family—like little resin kids to me. Idunn and Malice definitely feel like young family to me and I love them very much. It depends on the doll what my bond is with them!

 

@Kurr
I know a lot of people who think of their dolls as their kids. Even a friend who recently go into the hobby by my influence.
Nothing wrong with that, if that makes you happy.
I think the reason I don’t think like that myself if tha fact I don’t want to have kids. They being real kids or dolls. I just don’t see myself as a mother. Love all my dolls, very very much even than.

 

To me they are my family, my everything

 

To me they are a mix of both, they are not toys because they make me feel something more special than that.
Yet, I do not dare say they are family because for me my family is my family (including my dog), so they’re not important like my family.
However, if I had to choose something, they are in the middle of that spectrum so they fall into more of a friend role.

 

It's kinda hard to think about lol. They are toys in the sense that they are objects, and also an amazing creative outlet and hobby. That's why for me I'm not 100% sure that toy is the right term, I'd say their more a hobby and comfort objects. That leads me to the "family" portion. Yes I do know that they are just objects, and even when I call them "comfort objects" I still use the word "objects", but the comfort they give me is insane. I get very attached to meaningless objects and have ever since I was little, and I am very aware that it could become an issue if I don't keep it in check. But I have never felt so strongly towards objects as I have with my dolls. I hold them, hug them, cry to them, cry because of them and what they mean to me, talk to them, etc.... They really do have a huge part of my heart and are all my mini friends haha

That being said, I do agree with most of the other responses that in an emergency, they are just objects. So if there was a safety thing, living beings (family and pets) come first. However if there was a situation where I could save one kind of "object" and my family would also be safe, yeah my dolls would 100% be the first "objects" that I grab over anything else in my house.

 

To me, my dolls are my own little family. They'll always be there for me They're all little pieces of myself and I love being around them.

 

I'd say they're more like pets. Substantially less bitey and scratchy (as I detach my cat from my arm) and substantially more needy in terms of clothes and the like, but it's a similar emotional space.

 

Neither. Dolls are a canvas to project things onto, to change and shape in 3D instead of 2D, like one may do with drawing, or writing. It's quite possibly the most expensive canvas in the universe.