Are dolls like family or like toys?

Mine are more like pieces of art than anything else. I put a lot of time and effort into designing how they look and doing their face-ups. They do have names and personalities, and i play with them sometimes, but mostly i just have them to enjoy looking at.

They're a little bit more than that, they mean a lot to me, but i wouldn't call them family.

 

I dont have any yet (i am waiting for two) but i feel like they would be more of family then anything. My boyfriend however insists that if i name and take care of them and take them everywhere with me that it means im a crazy lady and needs to be put on that show "My strange addiction".
Oh well haha.

 

My thoughts and feelings are similar to this answer. My dolls represent characters I created. Good or bad, all of my dolls but one (which I am not that attached to and plan to redo) have been customized with at least a faceup by me. I spend a great deal of time planning them and making them look just the way I want them to look. Because of these things, they are special to me and are more than toys. However, also partly because of these things, I would never call them family. They are not alive, and I do not believe they have souls. It's nice to have non-living things I can own and do whatever I want with, but they don't offer the companionship or mental stimulation something with its own mind can offer.

As for how my family and friends react, most of them like the dolls or don't care either way. I guess, as much as I like my dolls, I do not enjoy talking about them all the time or carrying them around to non-BJD events, so the people who would dislike them know I have dolls, but they have not been around or heard about them enough to make a fuss over it.

 

My dolls are...well, they're definitely not like family, but they're more than just the other dolls and plush toys that I collect. I think I agree that I see them as representations of characters. Though the dolls I have right now are dolls that I bought on impulse, the other dolls I have planned are based upon characters in different stories that I have written in the past 10 years.

How do my family react? My father's amused by it. My mother, who was never one for dolls, has started collecting them as well because of my dolls. My best friend collects as well. My aunt and grandparents don't understand but outside of telling them I got them when I get the money as a present it doesn't affect them and they don't need to know if they don't want to know.

 

My dolls are special toys, I'm attached to them as I would be to a pet or even a family member, but when it comes down to it, they're techinally replacable and I care much more about what happens to the living bits of my family then the resin ones. They are pretty much third on my list though, after my family and my cats.

My friend sees her dolls are pretty important, maybe not as important as I do, but she adores hers. Most of my family doesn't really care, my sister thinks they're creepy, but my mom regonizes them as the boys and puts up with my occasional ramblings on them. I think she's just super pumped that I'm actually intrested and involved in something. My friends have mixed opinions concerning them and I respect their opinions and don't push it if they don't like them.

 

my dolls are like family i was in tears when i thought i might have to sell them.my brothers the onley one who dislikes the he says there to expensive but i remind him of the three game systems he has and all the games and extras that go with everyone has somthing of there own they spend mony on shoes,purses,clothes,cars,games we just choose to spend our money on dolls next time they rag on you remind them of the money they spend on the thing they love it your life do what you love

 

Not gonna lie, my dolls are like my friends rather than anything else; whereas my puppy is my family, but all the same, I don't know what I would do without my dolls or my dog. I carry my pup's old dog tag around with me at all times so I can think about him, and if I go on vacation I have to take a doll with me or I'm not comfortable. Of course my dolls are replaceable, but I'm horrendously sentimental.

 

My dolls are toys, not family. Well loved and pampered toys. I do develop an emotional attachment to them but not so much that I can't put the needs of my family first. We recently bought a new house and, even though my husband told me that I didn't have to, I sold a few dolls and accessories to help pay for some of the expenses. My husband completely supports my hobby because it makes me happy.
As far as the OP- If I understand correctly her parents are paying her college expenses and asking her to contribute? She doesn't have money for college because her money has been spent on dolls? If that is the case then I agree with her parents that she needs to sell some dolls or find some money somewhere for college expenses and not expect them to foot the entire bill while she is spending on hobbies.

 

From my collections, some are more like playthings... I can drag them around everywhere.

Some are more precious so I do not drag them everywhere and they are well taken care of. They are more like non-replaceable art pieces.

There is none that are like "family" since they are not real but I do have attachment to them as they are not replaceable.

 

Hm... I would save my family and pet before them, but I would mourn if they did get destroyed. I guess that the bond are like your first stuffed toy as a child. Not just a toy.
There is one doll that is his own personality instead of one of my characters. I would mourn more over him, I think, because he would die, so to say, not just lose his body.

 

For me , they like toy

 

In my opinion, dolls are not family. They cannot return your love or care for you. They are not living beings and shouldn't be treated as such, as doing that can easily become mentally unhealthy. That's not to say I don't value them above most all my other possesions or play with them, but I know where to draw the line between sentimental toys and beings.

 

I call them as if they were part of the family, but I consider them two very special toys.

 

My dolls are very fancy playthings. I like dressing them, building personalities and taking photos of them. They are in no way family. I would be very sad if I lost them but I know I could re-create them eventually.

 

I love my dolls very much and they're very special for me, but they're only toys.

 

Even saying that they're "like toys" seems a little off to me - they aren't like toys, they are toys!

 

For me, my BJDs are very special posessions. In my view, they are not easily replaced (possibly because I happen to fall for LEs). But even if I lost a non-LE and replaced it, I know that I couldn't replace it perfectly and in the end it would be a different doll.

I am in college as well and I don't tell my parents how much my dolls cost. It's my business, and I'm on my own now. I work hard and save carefully to obtain my dolls. For example, even if I'm not scheduled to work, I'll go in and pick up a shift and dedicate it to my doll fund. Doing this just a couple times here and there really adds up a lot. I hope your parents will understand how important they are to you. Good luck

 

They are lifelike, beautiful toys. I'm materialist.

 

Karma is like my family. I adore her. She never talks back and never judges me.

 

I'm not sure what to really call my little one, never had a pet so it's hard to compare but a toy? That she is not. Maybe not exactly family member but she's every thing but a toy