Are dolls like family or like toys?

I think they’re more like art pieces that I keep on display. Not so much like toys that I play with. I don’t think of them as family or sentient things by any means - they’re just really beautifully made objects that give me joy, and that’s enough for me.

 

Hmm, I guess I'm in the "My dolls are my art" camp. I do call them 'my babies' or 'my plastic children' because of all the work and care I put into them, but I definitely do not think of them as a substitute for a real child or human company. They're also too fancy to be mere toys though I do acknowledging that is what they technical are?

 

Hard to explain…but to me they’re not only a toy but like my child and friend ~~

 

Definitely like family... more so than my actual family (except for my partner). Her mom and sister know about them and are just fine with them. As for my "family", the only one who's opinion ever really mattered was my mom, and she's passed now.

 

Both toy and family. They are too priceless and special to just be a toy but I do like interacting with them and playing with them.

 

They’re toys to me. I’ve never really had feelings for an inanimate object that would equate to how I feel for my family. Or even any acquaintance, for that matters. They’re just things that can be replaced, if need be.

 

Though I may not consider my doll family in the normal sense, I do feel a bond between me and her. It's more of a friendship kind of thing. Like someone who is there for you, but as a friend and not necessarily someone who is related. Nothing like a child or a sibling or anything for me.

 

I believe their more than just normal toys but also not family.

 

I view mine as articulated toys that are meant to be art pieces. Though if you were to ask me if my SD boy is more like family, I'd say maybe. I feel a huge connection because I put so much of myself in him, so the idea of being forced to sell him really hurts. :'( I think I could live with selling all of the others except for him.

 

they're art pieces but also special to me so more than toys but not quite family...something in between perhaps.

 

For me my dolls are collectibles. I love them and don't feel bad for having them but if I had to sell I would.

 

If I have to choose between toy or family, mine are toys. Very, very precious and sentimental toys since mine have characters and background stories that represent people in real life.

 

Little inanimate friends, but I feel the same way about pretty much anything with a face. Toy Story brainwashed me as a child. D:

 

That is similar to what they are to me. But also they provide me with some therapy for my depression and anxiety order. They are still inanimate objects, however, and therefore have no souls. To me, saying a doll has a soul, is like saying my toothbrush has a soul. They are not spiritual beings or beings of any kind. They are inanimate objects.

 

magical art dolls maybe? I do look for a bit of life in them.

 

I would say precious toys to me or art pieces I cherish

 

Same for art pieces I care deeply about. I do call them my children and selling any of them would be heartbreaking. But I couldn't see any doll I own to be completely honest, all are important to me in some shape or form. BJDs especially with how much time and effort they take

 

I see my dolls as family, but also as art pieces. My sister views my dolls as expensive art pieces. If my relatives and parents knew about my collection I'm sure they will strongly disapprove. I wouldn't be surprised if my aunt or mom threw them out or donated them. They have done this in the past with my stuff. My sister doesn't even have anything left from childhood because my mom sent everything to a different country that my mom thought she would move to, but another aunt residing there threw our stuff out. I'm not sure what my step-dad would do to my stuff. I know though he would insult me about it. My older brother donated my doll house I had. If my mom thinks buying eyeglasses for my sister and me in the past is a waste of money I think she would be way more angrier about the bjds I have which I don't understand because she has many pairs of brand name eyeglasses and luxury purses.

 

I don't consider my dolls toys. I am more careful with my dolls than I would be with a toy. My dolls are more expensive and more fragile. Also, I get emotionally attached to them but, they are not family. In an emergency, such as a fire, I would make sure my husband, children, and pets are safe before saving anything else. That being said; I would cry if anything bad to happen to them.

 

I would not call my dolls toys nor family Because I don't think I relate to those words in the conventional way.

First off, I don't have a single family member I like. Family to me equates to constant psychological suffering and resentment (to put it lightly even) and while there is some suffering and resentment in my doll practices it's overshadowed by positive emotions.
I know the intention though is to ask if I view them as people I love, and I do. Currently they are really the only people safe to love, and I am well aware how many people seem to look down their noses at that sort of emotional thing. I don't really care, it's just the reality in which I can function.
But if we don't use the word "toy" in a negative, patronizing way, they are certainly toys as well. Toys and imaginative play are a huge part of healthy psychological development in children and they help me to soothe and express myself as well as think about and understand myself and the world around me.
When it comes to the level of importance of my dolls, yes, intellectually I know they are not living people, but I mean... Barely the feelings are very strong and they are the only thing that has helped me in my many years of chronic loneliness. In a catastrophe would I jeopardize the life of my pet or any living loved one to save a doll instead? No, absolutely not. Would I risk my own life? Eh, probably. Would I feel a horrible horrible emotional wreck if I had to lose them in some unfortunate way? Yes. I've had to sell dolls for financial reasons and its not a great feeling, and it requires mental hoop jumping to cope. I feel like I see a lot of petty judgement around the internet about what people are willing to sacrifice to survive and be worthy of this or that and I think it's a bunch of garbage. There are consequences for every type of decision in those matters, but I think it's wrong to pressure anyone to sell off or otherwise give up the things that are meaningful to them in their life when it's harmful for them to do so.
People say dolls are replaceable, but to me they are not. Yes a doll is a doll, but a doll I have made all these memories with is something else. It's a product of my circumstances and it is what it is I realize I'm in a minority with my level of attachment but I wouldn't be interested in this hobby for any other reason.