Are the BJDs rather for 'Old Children' (teenagers and adults) ???

I think its a good point about them being a bit too old for young children. Because they wouldn't always know how to look after them well and as you said, and early sexual awakening can be dangerous. Barbie has humungous breasts (in comparison to the rest of her body) but since they don't have nipples or genitalia they don't appear sexual. Kids just use boobs to differenciate between men and women at that age. I think BJDs are more teen/adult dolls because of the customization factor. I'm 17 and an artist, and it seems a lot of people here are artists, using BJDs as inspiration as well as a creative outlet. But that doesn't mean that younger kids wouldn't enjoy them too

 

Uh, I thought that was the point of ABJDs since the beginning... sort of a mix of collector dolls+customizing resin kits... so yes, for adults.Not because of the sexual issue (come on...Bratz are way more agressive, and is not like BJDs are sex dolls ¬¬U, just anatomically correct. Not a big issue), but because of breakability, customization skills, and price range. You don't give a collector Barbie as Christmas present for a toddler, right? or a customized, unique toy with delicate and breakable parts... you give that kind of items to grown up kids who can appreciate them, or adult collectors. ABJDs are just like that.

Edit: Oh, and a friend of mine used to re-act Pretty Woman with a couple of Barbies and Ken, sex scenes included.Just a silly memory I just remembered.

 

Price range definitely plays a part.

I think Volks themselves originally said Super Dollfie (and even their 1/6 Dollfie lines) are for ages 16 and up? Definitely not marketed at children.

And, at least for us outside of Japan, availability probably has something to do with it. Remember, it wasn't so long ago that the only way to get a Super Dollfie was through a shopping service in Japan - no online website, no LA store, nothing on eBay. Korean companes and English sites didn't start popping up until afterward. Even now, websites still require the use of credit cards or bank accounts for PayPal - not something the younger fans have at hand. (Lots of borrowing of parents' cards to order still goes on, of course.) So that's going to kick the ages up a notch, too.

 

Very good points, all.

But also- I don't think children are that particularly attracted to BJD. I mean, I've had kids poke at my dolls and move their arms(a very little- I don't trust them with the rest XD), but they quickly lose interest. Dolls and toys that can break and be messed up, but are easily replaced, often are more fun to them.

I'm not saying that NO kids are attracted to BJD. A lot of awesome children of DOA members like BJD. But it's more of the initial attraction, which I don't think is there most of the time.

 

I don't think so. A super dollfie is for anywho that can bear them up -with all the money it costs- and just to value what they have in their hands and just to know they have to handle carefully. I'm under 16 and own 9 BJD, and I just don't think they have to be for "old children" and nothing else.
It's just my point ^-^
and I also think that, for undies, it's better to get toys that can be replaced easly. I don't know anyone that buys a 600$ doll for her daughter or son and when she/he breaks it turns to buy it again

 

Whoa, totally disagree with the childhood sexuality thing. Heard of Freud?

It's common sense that these dolls are for older children and adults. Look at the price and their comparative fragility to Barbies.

 

I think it depends on the person themself maybe. I do think they are geared for older peeps due to cost and availability [it's not like you can just walk into ToysRus and buy them ^^;] but my 11 year old daughter has two BJDs of her own, she veiws them as little people and treats them as such.

For most I would say yes, dollfies are more for the older kids, but there are the occasional "child" who can appreciate that value in them ^_~

 

I disagree with the sexuality thing, too. The only reason Ken dolls don't have realistic private parts is that it costs more in the factory to add that little lump of plastic--it was a purely economic decision. Showing kids that we should be proud of our bodies and that our bodies are normal is healthy.

 

I think it really depends on the person. BJDs are the dolls I've been looking for my entire life - I've wanted to find 'the perfect doll' since I was very young. I was also the kind of child who never broke *anything* - I would have loved to find my first BJD then, and I have no doubt that it would still be in perfect condition.

About the realistic-sculpting/early-sexuality thing...I'm afraid I have to entirely disagree with you. Baby- and child-dolls - the ordinary plastic kind - are aimed specifically at young children, and they have perfectly realistic sculpting. Kids are naturally curious about bodies, but that doesn't equate to sexuality - that requires knowledge.

 

I'd say younger kids would be most likelt scared of BJDs- they look very realistic, but very few of them have 'normal' facial proportions and most have large eyes and very long legs. For a young kid, that's just going to be too creepy.

Then of course their is always the small parts problem- and the risk of people eating eye putty. I meantion this only because when I changed Mikos's eyes I caught my 26-year-old brother having a taste of the stuff, and if he can do it, a 12-year -old can....

 

I agree with the first part of your post--while not horribly fragil, bjd's won't hold up under very rough play from small children. However, I disagree with the last part. I don't think having genitals will wake up a child's sexuality. Nudity can be non-sexual--a fact often forgotten in US culture, it seems. These are parts that everyone has anyway. I doll with exaggerated proportions and very skimpy clothes (and there are plenty of these geared towards the younger crowd) are more sexual than a bjd with boy/girl bits.

 

*imagines warning lables on products Warning: Not for children under 5 or men under 40* hehehe

I think they're cost-porhivitive to children, the parts are too small and damagable... and with a really small child I just see tiny hands getting fingers pinched.

It'd be like that proclian doll a relative inevetably gets you when you're 8, and you treat it like it's sacred for the fear that if you break it, God will smite you. So you put it up and never touch it.... I sitll managed to lose parts on mine....

I dont think the manly-bits would bother a child though, actually... x.x I often wonder if it's not healthier for children to be exposed to the non-sexual aspect of human bodies. It CANT be right for little boys to have somthing down there and every human depiction you've seen doesnt. x.x I'd think I had cancer or somthing.

 

Just to add my two cents to the sexuality thing- Barbie used to scare the hell out of me with her hooters- so big and smooth and not at all normal. As for Action man... even aged 9 I remeber feeling sorry for the guy.

 

When I was a little girl (under age 8) I had two types of dolls - the delicate, expensive ones that stayed up on a shelf unless an adult was helping me and my play dolls that I could mess up at will. For my eighth birthday I received the first doll that blurred that line, it was expensive and somewhat breakable but also had a lot of play value. I guess that that was the age that my parents thought I was ready to move into a more caretaking role with my toys.

If there ever are any children in my life again, I think I'll take the same approach my parents did and expose them to my dolls with a lot of supervision when they are little and start fishing around to see if they might be interested in having one of their own when they are 8 to 10 years old.

Not coincidently, I think, that was about the age I also started receiving serious crafting supplies as gifts, like a tabletop loom.

Eppie

 

The original poster is from Poland, so apparently it's not exclusive to US culture.

I agree that the cost of these dolls alone would keep these out of reach for most kids. That, and they're not really marketed towards anyone younger than 16, really.

 

Hmm.. I kind of disagree. While the price is definately high enough and means of getting them prohibitive enough, there are several board members who have bought ABJD's for their kids!

One very strong memory was when Iwent up for Otakon 2004. I brought my (then) MSD Nasia boy, Hijiri. My friend (now roomie) Duckie's cousin thought Hijiri was cute and wanted to play with her (she thought Hijiri was a girl even if she DID check for parts and definately found boy parts!!). I told Emma (who was 6 at the time) that Hijiri is very special to me and she has to be careful. She understood. She was very very delicate with him and she played with him for almost a week before I left. At one point Hijiri's headcap fell off and an eye fell out (not her fault, MSD headcaps are HORRIBLE i had to tape it shut but ig uess the tape fell off) and she ran to me crying because she thought she broke Hijiri! I told her it was ok and put him back together for her and she was so happy! She was sad when I left, but the day I went back home she brought out Hijiri and "tucked him in" to his box (putting the pillows on him) and put the lid back on. It was definately very touching.

^__________^

 

Awww at the little girl!

Yes as far as the non sexual nudity in the US, well I wouldn't know, but here in the UK it is generally always associated with sexual...stuff (or it is up here). Mostly porn etc. I don't think its wrong for kids to be curious about their bodies, but they shouldn't really have to be exposed to porn and the like at that age. I don't mean these are porn dolls, I mean the way nudity is associated here, on TV and the like.

 

Somewhat OT:

Okay, I don't agree with this at all. First, my Barbie play was always soap-opera-esque in that this Barbie hated that Barbie because she slept with her boyfriend, and this other Barbie had a terrible secret that her baby was not Ken's, but the other Ken! (With the wash off beard - do you remember him?) I was about... 9? I guess? Maybe.

Second - children are aware, at least somewhat, of the difference in fairy tale and reality. I knew that my Barbies weren't real - its like tv, just make believe. I didn't think people really acted like that...

...until I got to college, and saw the exact same scenarios, only with real people. >.< But ya know, different story.

About the genitals, my best friend growing up had a baby doll with real girls' privates, and we thought it was so cool, because it just made her more real. It wasn't sexual at all.

Back to the point - I think that ABJD is not a hobby for small kids because of two main factors: A)Cost and B)Delicate-ness. How many parents would buy a doll that cost that much money and then just let a small child (I'm talking young here, people, don't anyone get offended) run around with it! BJDs are not really made for rough and tumble play. An older child could probably handle a BJD, but that would depend on their maturity and adult supervision.