Are dolls like family or like toys?

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.