Are you too afraid to enjoy your dolls?

Nope, I stopped even contemplating worry about the same moment my first doll faceplanted on to concrete and I had to fix his nose about 2 weeks after he arrived. I mod, paint and re-engineer dolls for people all the time, fear has no place in that, you just have to educate yourself on what resin can and can't handle and work around the inevitable things like yellowing. They're not glass, they can take more than people think

 

No, I enjoy them regardless. I do take a little extra care with my Leeke pure rose and snow skin girls, but all that means is I don't take them to outdoor meetups (there's plenty of other places they've gone, however). Otherwise, I care for them the same as my other dolls. The NS guys and gals are especially care free. I don't take pointless risks with them, but I also recognize that yellowing is a natural part of the aging process and that there's no point in freaking out over something that will happen regardless.

 

I'm a little scared to scratch my doll. Even though I coat them, I'm always worried if the makeup would come off.

 

I admit I do handle my dolls with care but not with kid gloves, alough I am paranoid about sunlight.
They are stored in their respective boxes and only come out at night/evening. I also store them almost naked for fear to many wrinkles in the clothes. If I had more room in my walkin wardrobe I would have them out in there but they are fine in thir cardboard little coffins! lol

 

hmm, I really handle my dolls with lots of care, but I'm not overprotective
But I hate when other ppl (like my sister who has nothing to do with dolls) grabs her and touches her face of wig or something.. rrr

 

I realize that all resin yellows eventually, and that dolls do need to be stored properly because they are fragile. But does all the worry kill the fun?

Nope! I treat these guys with kid gloves, but I'm not "afraid" to enjoy them.

I don't handle them carefully out of fear-- I handle them carefully because they deserve to be treated well enough to stay perfect for the long haul. Caring for them well doesn't decrease my enjoyment of them, it increases my enjoyment of them, because I know they're in the best shape they can be in. I'm just not into the playground-and-sandbox scene i.e. cramming unprotected dolls into purses & getting food all over them at Denny's; it's not my cup of tea.

Besides, taking good care of them isn't exactly rocket surgery-- it requires no more real physical effort than it does to be careless with them. The dolls are stored on shelves, either standing on stands or sitting on couches. They stay fully draped, protected from sunlight & dust, while I'm not home to enjoy them. When I finally have playtime, I wash my hands first. When I take off & handle a head that has an LE faceup I want to preserve, I use a cotton glove. When I travel with them, they go in an appropriate carrier-bag with straps and pillows and a face-protector. If they're standing without a stand, I don't turn my back on them. When restringing, I lay them out on a pillow. If I leave them in dark clothing for weeks/months at a time, I periodically check for staining. None of this is hard to do.

Or are you the kind of person who has taken your dolls everywhere?

The two conditions are not mutually exclusive: I am someone who takes careful care of her dolls, but I also take some of them everywhere. There are some dolls who travel, there are some dolls who only travel to indoor events, & there some dolls who don't travel at all. Division of labor!

 

This is exactly how I feel.... still... My doll lost a hand (the thread (?) that ws holding it broke) and I almost went into cardiac arrest! But I fixed it and feel pretty good about it. I cannot imagine re-stringing a doll, though!

And as far as their faces go, I am so super cautious about their faces, it's ridiculous... I , too, am afraid I am going to wipe their beautiful faces off!! I could NEVER re-do make-up...

 

@Shauna - It's really not so bad! Well, depending on the doll you have. I have the new Iplehouse JID girl and she has a rather unique stringing system (she's strung on 3 pieces of elastic instead of the usual 2), which I like because it made my experience of stringing her much less harrowing (but it was harrowing at first since they sent the instructions for the old body with her!).

Just see if you can find a doll friend to walk you through it if you ever have to do it. ^_^

@JennyNemesis - Sometimes I forget that I have my doll standing on the table next to my computer desk and walk off to get something out of another room or use the restroom... whenever I remember that I left her standing alone, I always rush back and sit her down and feel like a bad doll parent. I've read all the horror stories about unattended dolls face planting, but my doll has never shown any inclination to topple over once I get her standing steady (getting her to stand can be problematic because of her wussy ankles, but once she's standing she's good as gold). Still.... I'd be so bummed if she fell and damaged her face/face up. :<

 

I'm not really afraid of taking them out or doing things with them. They've all spent time going out with me, to stores, to restaurants, or just around town for pictures. My first arrival was a WS doll and he's not as paper white as he used to me, but he's not lemon yellow either. He's been outside in the sunlight for photos before, sometimes I can take hours at a shoot, but if I take a break I tend to take them into the shade and cover them up with something while I take a break for a drink and some munchies. Or if there's a restaurant we just go inside.

My other dolls are two NS guys and a purple one, and they go out too. I'm sure the two NS have yellowed a bit, but yellowing is pretty much the nature of the material, it would happen rather I took them out or left them in their boxes. So we go out. Taking photos is what I like to do with them, so leaving them in their boxes is silly to me. I have bags that are specifically for the dolls to travel in, and they go packed either with fabric from my fabric box or wrapped in some of their clothes so nothing bumps them too hard. So far I haven't broken anything or scratched anything that wasn't repairable by myself.

 

I wouldn't say that I'm too afraid to have fun with my dolls, but I do take great care to keep them out of any hazardous situations.

When I get a new doll I have to go through a breaking in phase of sorts. For the first few weeks I'm VERY careful with the doll. I won't want to set them down on a hard surface, any dust is a big no!

After some time though I get over that and can fully enjoy said doll haha!

 

That's exactly why I never turn my back on an unsupported doll. It's too easy to get cocky. For preventable accidents, I'd feel at least 3x as bad if my doll got damaged, just because I'd know it was my own fault for neglecting to secure them. Accidents will happen-- my aim is to avoid the preventable ones. Dolls may be able to stand like a rock, but Gravity is invisible & there's a lot of it around. The most solid-standing dolls can get sudden joint-fatigue after you thought you'd locked their knees properly. Floppy ankles suddenly betray you. Cross-breezes spring up suddenly. Tables get bumped. It's just as easy to take 5 seconds to seat/lay the doll down before turning my attention elsewhere.

But I won't try to claim that any habit develops overnight! Just remembering to always-check doll before turning away = took practice. ^^

 

Do you find yourself worrying too much about what could happen to your dolls that it takes the enjoyment out of the hobby for you?

I think there's a phase of adjustment when you have that sensation of "OMG I don't want to break it!!!!!!!" Then your doll makes it's first face plant on the floor and you're ok after that.

 

The first time I brought Urian home, I had no bag to carry him. I had to take the metro to join friends in montreal to get back to Quebec and he was outside in sunlight. I was afraid of dropping him and constantly thinking of the sun, but that moment of panic killed my "must take care of it so much I don't enjoy it annymore" instinct.

Of course, I'm cautious up to a point. My dolls are all staying in a room that is dark most of the time, sitting together because I don't have place to have them lay down. I also feel nervous at the beggining of a meetup, thinking they can fall off, but relax after a moment.

 

I will admit I'm a bit more careful with some of my dolls than others, like the ones I can't just re-buy because they aren't made anymore and don't come up on the secondary market (which is only a few) but they've stood up pretty well over the years, so I must be doing something right. I don't worry too much, that probably makes it worse.

 

I'm pretty careful with them. But not to the point where I can't enjoy them. My boyfriend is probably a lot more careful than I am.

 

Haha, yeah. I mean she stands really well, but all it would take is someone walking by and bumping her a bit for her ankles to give out and her to topple over. I try to remember not to do it, but I'm really forgetful and it always gives me a little mini heart attack when I realize I left her standing in the other room. XD

 

I've let one other person touch my doll's face; I've touched my doll's face before, though I try not to if I don't have to, and one non-doll person touching her face isn't going to destroy anything.

 

In some ways, perhaps. Jezabel (DZ Ying) I treat with a lot of care. I love him, and I wish I could take him out more, but he rarely leaves my house. Florian, on the other hand, I risk a lot with. Being a Resinsoul, I feel I have more freedom to do so.

Jezabel? He just lives in my house. He watches TV and movies with me, I snuggle with him... but I'm ridiculously careful with his joints, and have a cow when he looks like he might fall. Whenever I have him standing, I'm ALWAYS right near him to grab him if he topples... While Florian? He stands rock sold.... So I stand him on a table and leave him there, he's fiiine. : P

 

In years previous, I wasn't terribly concerned about the fragility of my dolls. When I was toying with buying my first doll, I was a bit worried, but I was pleasantly surprised and how sturdy they actually are.

Now, however, I'm faced with a choice: within the next year or two, my husband and I are going to be moving to Central America to help direct an after-school program for kids. The second poorest country in Central America. Robberies are common-place. Riots occur often. It is consistently humid and hot all year round. There will be no air conditioning. My husband says that if I love my dolls, I should bring them. I bought them for my enjoyment, so I shouldn't sacrifice my enjoyment for their safety. They are, he says, material things that can be replaced, if need be. However, I'm terrified at the prospect of having them stolen or having the humidity or something else ruin them. While I'm fully aware that they are replaceable, I would still be absolutely crushed if something happened. Thus, I either leave them safely in the states where I cannot enjoy them, or I brave the risk of all that could happen to have them nearby. Even after pondering this choice for months, I still don't have an answer.