'Cabinet Babies' or Playthings?

It's really up to the individual as to what he/she does with their dolls.

For me, Adelheid, as expensive as she was, is a doll I play with. However, the way I play with her is so much more careful and delicately than what I would do as a kid, yet the same sort of connection is there.

Toys were a form of entertainment as kid and that's how my doll is now. I also like to have something personal with me when I go out, such as to the park

However, it also depends on the doll itself. I'm on a list for a Minimee of Elrond from Lord of the Rings, my favorite character since I was about five (only I'd known of him from "The Hobbit"). Right now, I'm saying that I would most likely tend to leave him at home (you never know though, I might end up bring him places pretty often as well), because he'd be bigger in size for one, and the nature of the doll.

Adelheid is like a little fairy who comes with me everywhere. Other dolls I may not see in quite the same way.

On the other hand, it's totally understandable that some would want to keep their dolls behind glass. From having Adelheid for a few months, her legs are quite dirty (they'll be cleaned this week) and her face-ups don't last as long due to getting dirty as well.

 

Some people have the need to keep beauty perfect and thats ok. Me I have to touch it.

Mine are a 3d art form I play with them a lot they sit everywhere have their own displays Sometimes they sit on the shelves just to keep the kittys from rough housing around them, mostly they lay around the house or stand beside my sewing machine demanding beautiful clothing other times they have to be taken outside for an adventure. If I couldn't play with them I wouldn't have them.
I wash my hands before touching them but touch them I do.

 

Depends on the doll, for me. I don't have a doll, but I have an idea of what I would and wouldn't want from from the ones I look at. A lot of it has to do with size.

If I got a 60cm/Large doll, that would be much more of a 'show doll', so poseability and having a just a few really good-looking outfits would be important. It would just be too large for me to want to handle normally, and I would prefer it be beautiful and posing and dressing in something just as majestic as their size would suggest. I wouldn't be completely overprotective about it either, though. But the 'play' would probably stay mostly to setting the doll in new poses every few days, maybe moving her around to different areas of the house, and occasionally changing the clothes/hair.

For smaller dolls like 45cm/Mini and 35cm/Tiny, I would probably want to handle them a lot more. I could definitely talk to these dolls, pet their hair, play dress-up and put on tons of different types of clothes just to see what they'd be like, and carry them around/hold them. 45cm/Mini would be between 60cm/Large and 35cm/Tiny. Tinies are so tiny, I could probably just toss them around (not literally!) and take them anywhere, even public places. But Minis, while I would play with them at home, I feel I would be more... careful? Thoughtful? With a doll of that bigger, weightier size. But all-in-all, yeah, I lean more towards a 'play' setting.

 

I'm kind of both really, I'm fairly fastidious in playing. I'll pose her and photograph her, dress her and sit her on a little plinth I have for her and only take her out in a carrier. So my play is very careful and she's always treated as the expensive item she is- as will my others when they arrive.

It's really all about how you value something. Value is measured by some people as something to be enjoyed and played with. By other people it's something to be admired and treated with reverence. Neither is the 'wrong' way. They're both equally right.

 

I personally, like the idea of using it as a plaything, perhaps not in the strictest sense of making my dolls talk to each other and acting things out (unless it's a photo story), but more along the lines of dressing, using.. posing..etc..

If I'm spending hundreds of dollars on them, I want to get enjoyment out of it.
When I'm dead I can't enjoy them despite the fact I left them in collectors quality.

That said; if people's enjoyment comes from having them be on shelves and carefully protected then who's to stop them?

For me, BJD's are art, yes, art should be protected and carefully kept, but BJD's are kinetic art in my world.. and you play with that.

 

I personally think they should be played with. After all, I spent so much money on them that I would want to take 'em around and play with them ^_^
Of course you've gotta be a lot more careful than with any other toy you've ever owned, but I think they should still be taken out and played with, photographed, toted around the house as a cute little companion, etc... I definitely plan to play with my Elfkin, as he'll be this little bitty cute thing I can carry everywhere, but I also plan to play with my Luo even though he'll be the most expensive thing I OWN. I figure, "Hey, I spent all this money on him, I'm not going to let him sit on my shelves and collect dust!!" I'll just have to be a LOT more careful with him than my little elfykins (Elfkin = 1 paycheck... Luo = 10+... if he were to break, oh dear... )
Of course, keeping them on shelves and just looking them is good too, especially if they're limited and you want to keep them safe... but I was never a girl who could just sit and stare at something pretty. I had to touch it! >w<

 

I think it's a complete waste of money to not play with your dolls. If you want a display doll, go find one that isn't so completely customizable and extremely expensive. Especially because they aren't as fragile as porcelain dolls or anything. They can break, yeah, but you can still do things with them.
And they're very much made to be posed and played with, even more so than Barbies! They can do such amazing things that I can't even comprehend not wanting to play with them.

Even if my dolls got broken or when they yellow, I'm not going to stop playing with them. They're just too much fun!

 

Mine have a cabinet, just because my husband is a bit skiddish around them and when my dad visits, he swears they'll come and get him. But I still move them around, play with them, dress them up, take pics outside and all that jazz...so I guess mine are both.

 

I see BJDs as beautiful dolls that we are finally allowed to play with. They are between the collectible porcelain dolls and the standard Barbie dolls. We've created them and made them into what we want, so I think it would be contradicting to keep them locked up in a cabinet.

However, I completely understand why some keep them untouched. It all depends on why you want one in the first place.

 

I feel that while yes, our dolls are expensive and should NOT be handled roughly, it's okay to take them out and do their hair, change their clothes, and some of the best fun is putting them into an outfit and posing them for shoots. These are NOT child's playthings, but they're not made of china either.

Just how I feel.

 

I think for me it will depend on the size of the doll. I'm looking forward to playing with my pukis when I get them, but the larger dolls I will probably just dress and pose somewhere high up where my cat can't get to them.

 

I'm glad for this thread, as I just bought a glass cabinet that is taller than me... with 1 doll in it and sooo much room for more! I have had my doll in his box for a year and a half because of a dusty house, bad light, pets everywhere and no room. So for me, keeping my doll (soon to be dolls) safe and visible at the same time is important. I see them as art works too, and so to me with an art background, it feels natural to display them as such.
So, after experiencing cabinet vs no cabinet I am wholeheartedly a CABINET GIRL!

 

My girl sits on my shelf mostly, to keep her away from harm. I don't see the point in bringing her everywhere, it's not really necessary to me. Because she IS expensive and she IS special. Taking her out a lot is just welcoming bad things to happen, if you think about it.

But I do like posing her. I do like bringing her to conventions. I brought her to a friends get together the other day, no one else has dolls. But it was fun to bring her along and talk to them about her. Before the party, I brought her into our market to pick up some strawberries quick for the party. People look. Some came up to me and talked. It was fun. I like exposing her to people, because I feel like I should share her. She's so special that it would be such a shame to lock her inside all the time. I even took her to the fireworks show in the city yesterday, much to the dismay of my one close-minded, opinionated friend. It was risky, but she was fine. I brought nothing but her and left her accessories at home. I was careful.

I just want to avoid the possibility of bringing her near jerky people or dangerous places. I never want to have to leave her anywhere. I never want her near water or anywhere especially dirty. No where with dogs or other animals. I just try to be cautious, that's all.

 

I play with Oli ALL THE TIME! I LOVE her, and one of the ways I express that is by holding her and taking her places. some people show their love by keeping their doll perfect and safe. just spread the love, man -___^ however it is that you show it

 

I have dolls every where in my house, some on the kitchen table, some in a bench in computer room and 1 or 2 next to my bed on night table. Even sometime I bring Béatrice(ltf shiwoo elf) at work . I know that dolls are expensive and fragile but for me what is the idea of buying something and not use it

 

I guess it's up to the owner to decide what they wanted to do with their dolls. I like playing with my dolls, but I can totally understand why some people use them for display purposes.

 

Mine are playthings. I gotta put my hands on them, make clothes, change the clothes, talk to them.... They aren't cabinet babies, hell I had to remember where I last played with Ren the other day, he wasn't where he was supposed to be and i freaked.

Turns out my daughter found him in the tv room where I had been watchign tv with him. She's put him up on a shelf. I never put him up like that, he's my peep. So I couldn't find him.

LOL! My Winny is always with me in the art studio. She's like my best mate!

 

Mine are a little bit of both.
I like changing their clothes, eyes, and wigs and taking pictures.
But when I'm not taking photos of them (which is... most of the time >_<),
they're naked with no wigs, clothes, and shoes (to prevent staining) in their original boxes or carrier bags (closed, no light going through).
I personally would NEVER display or leave my dolls out. I'm almost paranoid when it comes to yellowing.
I don't mind buying already yellowed dolls, but I don't want to get my dolls yellowed.. so yeah
If they were not to yellow, I would leave them out and make them my full-time playthings, but until someone invents non-yellowing resin, my dolls will stay in their boxes.

 

So keeping them in the box slows yellowing? Sounds like a good idea, since I'm scared of it, too. But I still like to have them out for all to see.

 

Well here's how I see it;
I remember when I was 10 years old and AG dolls where all the rage. But you had to be UBER lucky to have one cuz they cost like $100. I was lucky enough for my dad to buy me Molly (and say the dog did it =^^=) and then my sister's friend give me her old Felicity. i played the heck out of those dolls! I brushed their hair, took them outside, I even let our pets come in contact with them! But I had friends who were not aloud to even so much as touch their AG doll without having a parent in the room because the parents did not want it to become a nasty looking waste of money. I thought that was stupid at first. I thought that they should have not a care...but then I saw how molly had started to come apart and look nasty so I decided to take better care of my dolls, but still play with them every now and again. after all i still wanted my money's worth
The same applies with BJDs. They seem to have a soul to me and so i feel like they WANT you to play with them! They may cost a good $300 more than and american girl but they are still DOLLS! If you want to spend the money on one then don't just let her/him rot in a cubbord never to feel the warm touch of human hands. ;_; But still be carefull with them. i look back and cringe at the thought of my BJD touching an animal (unless it was for a photoshoot) but being outside and playing I find just fine! ^^ Besides, nobody needs another thing to collect dust!
So there is my opinion. If I offended anybody then i am sorry. i did not intend to. tata!