"But its just a doll.."

Well heck. I'm crazy, I think they have their own personalities ... and given the numbers of them that seem to increase no matter what I do, I think they mate and reproduce when I'm not looking!

In all seriousness, this is absolutely one of my favorite peeves about the hobby. I *like* treating them as though they were alive. Note that I said "as though"... I am quite aware that they are made of very high-quality plastic. But I have them in order to PLAY. To ADMIRE. To keep me company while I putz around on the computer. To... IMAGINE what this or that little face might be thinking if it were alive, for realz. And to work on in order to create even more beauty out of an already beautiful thing.

My kids look a lot more like me than my dolls do, mores the pity. These aren't my kids, they're my buddies.

Relax. Enjoy. Life's too short to worry about what everyone else thinks you ought to be doing with your hobbies

(Except when it comes to practical advice like what not to put on the resin so that it won't melt in your hands... that sort of thing IS what is worth worrying about!)

 

I think you can treat it however you like. Whether you treat it as a piece of art, a child, or even both (like I do), it is important to YOU.

 

I see it as an artistic expression of myself. I also see it as a way to act out scenes from the book I'm attempting write. Of course, this will likely make me look crazy if anyone catches me at it...

 

i dont have one yet, so i can sort of see where everyones opinions are coming from.

That said, they are EXTREMELY expensive and when i do have one i will probably treat it like a child - ie completely freak if someone manhandles it or it falls off something.

IMO you dont just get $300+ just handed to you, you have to work hard for that money, so why shouldnt you treat your dolls as more then dolls?? if that makes any sense...

 

To me, out of the 9 dolls I planned, only 2 of them do I call my "children" so to speak. There's my Angel Region Jade, who is "mommy's little boy" and there's my Angell Studio modded Vera, who is "mommy's girl". (sadly they don't get along >_>; )

My two other msds are boyfriends to these two dolls. One of these boyfriends I love dearly, and the other I'm growing to like (after a year and a half :\ ) but I'd not call them my children cos I don't have that kind of feeling towards them.

As for my SDs, all of them are based/made into fictional characters of stories I write. Altho I spoil my El horribly, he's a character of an ex-friend and so totally not my child. I won't even say he's like an adopted. Probably more like a crush!friend that I'd spoil with anything and everything XD My other four are more like companions/housemates of my mind to me, some far more dear than the others, but all well loved.

In my opinion, as long as the doll means something to you, and not just a trendy bandwagon accessory, then it is more than a doll^^. Some people take really good care of their doll collections, even if they're just on display in a casing all the time. At that point, their dolls are more than just dolls too

tldr : If you care, then it's more than just a doll :3 The doll doesn't have to be like a child or a character.

 

I'm not really sure as how I see Echo. I mean well I care for him, make/buy him clothes... that's the same thing you do to child. But I wouldn't go around and push him in a baby stroller. Although, when I take him to the store we stick him in the child seat with his legs poking out. ^^' But that's more for giggles.

And when my manager demanded that she see his man-parts, I felt so guilty to be showing that in public. That and they laughed and pointed.

But wether we treat them as a child, sibling, or an art piece we still love them no matter what.

 

Child...? Eh, no thanks.

For me, she is both a dear friend and an outlet for personal expressions.

 

I call them the "resinkids" or "resinfamily" because they are kids and together they do make a family, not because I think of them as *my* kids or *my* family. I'm not the parent, but I am the carer and I feel like I have adopted them, since all of them have been pre-loved at one time or another.

I think of them as pets. Creatures I look after and I provide for, but they give me companionship in their own inanimate little way. It's not the same as friendship, because friendship is a two-way street and I know that my dolls are made of resin and can't go and make me a cake if I'm down or make me a mixtape just for laughs or put stupid photos of me on Facebook, but they comfort me in the same way that my dog comforts me. They can sit on my lap for a while, or my shoulder and I start to feel better.

 

I`m glad no one has pointed that out to me that they are "just" dolls, or else I`d freak out! They are my precious babies! Objects with the soul, personality and spirit of my comic and novel characters, and thus a BIG part of me. They have more value individually than any of my possessions put together, so if any come with the "but" and "just" to me, I`ll show them!

They give me so much comfort, company and joy, than anyone... Because they never talk bad about me, or tell me whats right and wrong, how to dress, how to act, stop being stupid and childish, and never tell me to grow up... And they love me no matter what. And just want to be loved back.

A attack on my babies is a personal blow on my person.

(and I am pretty much a maniac, so they are my only friends... Aspergers is sooo fun.)

 

I completely agree with you. Luckily my mom has given up on trying to get me out of the hobby and is starting to see how much they mean to me. I see my girls as my roommates, and they see me as the same.

 

If at any point I have called my dolls my "kids" or "babies" it's how I feel about that character they are representing. I know I have a bad tendency of doing this with Simi and Caitlin. Simi mostly cause she's being represented in a baby form with the doll I chose and that her name literally means that in Atlantean, so calling her baby is acceptable. Caitlin gets that cause she's a little dream doll and while I could have just bought a doll to represent her adult form as she is, I got her as a child, a baby really to how old she is now (her children are only a year or so shy of the age I have her as in doll form), and so she's quite precious to me. She was a wonderful character that I just loved to death and keep getting tempted to put her in another story just so I can talk with her again. But she's called baby cause she looks like one, it's just how her mold is with her eyes.

 

Personally, I think that they can have "lifes" (if you will) of thier own, and I can treat them like I would a child, but I wouldn't really call it my child.... to me I still have a line between it having a actual life and personality and character and being a personal work of art all my own. sometimnes it can be a bit blurred, but that to me is just how I can make something so precious to me even more special....

wierd, but hopefully my two bits made some sense...

 

That I can understand, as everything is alive in it's own special little way.

 

I love making clothes - I love cosplay and wearing EGL clothes as well. Unfortunately I can't wear them all the time. So I make them for my girls. In this way they are like my models.

On the other hand, they are a bit like my "pets" as they keep me company. Moreover, if you love them, they will love you back. It makes me feel content and proud when I dress them up beautifully and take them out for photo shooting.

 

Mine are neither my child nor my pet. But I looooooove them ^^
I suppose you like an object as much as the "amount of yourself" you put in them. The doll I love the most is the one I "play" with the most.

 

I get this alot "They're just dolls, how could you spend so much on them, how can you be so protective off them they're just dolls"
Don't get me wrong, I am fully aware that my boys are made of resin, they don't breathe, they don't have a heart beat. But to me they are real, because they are characters, they have their own personalitlies and everything like that.

To start with I didn't get annoyed with people, I just told them how much they meant to me, how I had earnt my money to buy them, it was my money, I can spend it how I like and why I was so over protective off them.

Some people get it and don't say anything more. Some people retalite with "Its still just a doll" and I wonder why I bothered.

Its come to the point why I just smile and shrug!

 

My doll's more of a table-top companion than an actual "child." Writing a book at my desk, in my basement, becomes a REALLY lonely job after a while.

 

I don't think my real children would take kindly to me calling Kao a Son

Saying that he somehow seems more than "just a doll" to me.... I can't really explain why. I do the clothes making thing, and I like to mess with his hair, and he does tend to follow me from room to room.

I also talk to him lots... and he gets a telling off when he won't do as I ask (getting dressed, posing etc).... but then again I am the sort to start conversation with other inanimate objects around the house :lol

Not a child... but certainly more than a doll

 

Well of course their not children! But they're more like a close friend. You can treat them like children, who wouldn't? You paid ALOT of money on them and it's natural you have a bond with them. They're always there to listen to you so they're better then a friend. But, they're not alive so they're not kids. They're in between. We can treat them like friends and still call ourselves their "mommies". Nothings wrong with kissing them goodnight and confiding your secrets to them. They're your best friend.

 

I don't really see my doll as my child, not that I don't see why others might. But I do think I'm kinda protective and paranoid when it's around, like a child. If that even makes sense. Lol. I don't want to see her get damaged or broken, so I keep a very close eye on her when others are around. As if she were my child. :3
However, I do see her in an artistic manner, and much of an inspiration. I'm already thinking up a story for her.. And a few other dolls I'll be getting to add to the story. It's also inspired me to try and sew, get more into photography, and she can also practice my anatomy in drawing. So, she isn't just a doll, she way more then that to me! ^__^