'Cabinet Babies' or Playthings?

This is interesting. I keep my dolls in a glass cabinet. My reason is I have small children and pets. If I left them out they would get knocked over,chewed on, colored on and be covered in cat hair. I also keep them out of the sun light this way. My cabinet is placed in a shaded spot in my room but where can admire them. I do take them out to change their clothes, wigs, and eyes. And on occasion take photos but for me I get the most pleasure out of starring at them. Sounds weird but I love their beauty. I do like to keep my dolls nice. I am probably more concerned about their clothes getting stained or torn. I spend a lot of money on these dolls and I like to keep them nice. Would you take a Ferrarri through a gas station car wash? No! I treat my expensive items just like other expensive items with care. In the end it is your doll do with it as you like.

 

I bought my dolls so that I could play with them. I often pick up one and carry them around, I love cuddling them, and once I month I take them to a nearby meet-up. I think I would probably take them more places with me if my parents weren't pretty against it. When I'm not playing with them they're in their beds in my room. I certainly don't treat my dolls like my stuffed animals, but I don't treat them like "breakables" either. I wouldn't have these dolls if they were meant for display only- I love being able to handle them. But at the same time I don't think it's wrong for others to keep them for display only. Different strokes for different folks, after all. ^.^

 

My doll is more like.. a model to me. She's always on display, putting on a show, no matter where she is. She's never truely "put away"- even in the closet, she has a shelf of her own and practically poses herself, waiting for someone to open the door and see her. When she's out, she's on tables, countertops, desks.. Anywhere elevated, above it all but still in the mix.

I've never shut her away in a box, bag, or other confined space. It just seems like.. a crime. Even if I had a nice glass case or cabinet, I don't think she'd stay in there long. I don't necessarily need to play with her every moment of the day, but I like when I can see her or know that others can, so she spends alot of time on my computer desk or the glass table in the main room.

The best way to put it is.. she's as close to living art as could be without actually living.

She's constantly changed, reposed, reaccessorized.. her body has more air time than a real model sometimes.

What saddens me is that somehow it seems like I'm never around to capture it- I probably have the fewest pictures out of everyone here, considering I've been here a while, too.

To truely answer the question, she is neither. She is not my plaything persay, and she's not my collectible either. She is.. a sculpture that I have the privaledge of influencing daily.

 

...My dog has creases on his face full of food too. And i love him just the same XD

Ahahaha sorry, that comment just made me laugh; it sounded pretty funny XD but seriously a good scrub will clean that right off XD

ANYWAY. Well, i guess it depends on the doll. i have some limiteds that would pain my heart to screw up; when i think that an actual artist, not just industrial paint and a robot on an assembly line, painted all the tiny hairs in an eyebrow it makes me appreciate the energy put into the doll, and i want to keep it as nice as i can.

This is exactly why i have other old trusty dolls who i don't mind getting a little roughed up, because i know i can always touch up the face or clean them up when need be.

Also, children come in all shapes and sizes and play roughness degrees: Some of the most awesome people i know were certified nutjob Mint in Package children. Doesn't mean they were dull kids. Just means they had, you know, better things to do than comb the hair on their ponies.

 

I suppose I do a bit of both myself. I do take my kids to conventions and meets, social things I suppose. I do know people who take dolls to the movies and the grocery store and that's fine but I'm not one of them. My boys spend most of their time in my room sitting on a shelf, usually one is on the bed. I can't say I've ever kept one in a box but I can see the point in that as well, they are expensive... thoughts of robbery make me think that might be safer but I'm hoping thugs don't know their value and would leave them be.

 

I usually only take my doll to events and meetings if there are any in my area. I like to share and "play" with dolls when I'm with people who share the same passion. otherwise, they just sit on the wall of bookshelves in our living room so my other friends can admire and sometimes I allow my friends to handle them gently.

 

Maybe if I had a hardcore LE from somewhere, it would end up a cabinet baby.

But honestly, I payed a lot for these dolls, and I WILL play with them. I WILL take them anywhere I want.I WILL enjoy them. End of story.

It's like a teddy for me. If my girls get a little scruffed up, in the end its more the fact I had fun with them, and I can always fix/clean them.

 

That kind of sums it up for me

 

When I was a child many of my "play dolls" were porcelain dolls and I never broke even one of them. I still have them all. I don't think dolls are "meant" for anything. Some people have the need to make dolls. Some people have uses for them. Whatever that use is... may it be something that makes them happy.

 

There is definitely some discrepancy in the meaning of the word "play." What I do with my dolls, I don't consider "playing" but I do handle them and they aren't tucked away in a glass cabinet. My dolls sit on a shelf and occasionally I will change their poses or their outfits, or I'll take them out for a photo shoot. I don't cuddle them, I don't take them out around with me, I don't go to meet-ups at all. When people with kids come to visit, I tuck the dolls in their boxes in my closet, so that they won't even be seen for the kids to even think about asking to play with them. When I think of "playing" I think of what those kids would do with their toys, and I simply can't imagine "playing" with BJDs in that way.

So I suppose my dolls are essentially display items, but they're not locked up in a cabinet somewhere, never touched or seen. It makes me happy to look up from my computer or whatever I'm doing and see how gorgeous they are and how perfect they are for the characters they're made to represent. I would never handle them carelessly or allow them to get and stay dirty and a broken finger would be pretty damn catastrophic for me.

Whatever else people do with their dolls is fine. As long as they're not handling my dolls, we're cool.

 

Well, since I hang out in photostories a lot, and Danny is constantly talking to his boyfriend, He is mostly beside me on my bed. He has his own room (a HUGE cardboard box that my idiot of a guardian often breaks into my room and spill stuff in it and ruins it, Poor boy) with his 'bed' *his box* A dollie blanket I've had since I was little, and a toy box. =3

 

In my personal opinion, I think BJDs should, indeed, be handled with care, but payed attention to. It's almost useless to buy them if you're not going to do anything. I mean, it's all dependable of what you're into, but they're obviously built to be moved and not sit all of the time.

The way I think of it is this: it's the same as buying an expensive camera, or a guitar. Those are pricey items, right? Well, you see people waltzing around with these things every day (especially in city areas). Same with iPods. Those break so easily if you drop them.

So, how is that different from a BJD, which costs, roughly, the same amount of money?

Again, this is my personal opinion, and nothing more.

 

Do you feel that dolls should be kept in cabinets?Why? No. For me BJDs are not a kind of doll you buy and just stick in a glass box to collect dust and to forget. That makes me think of those cute Collector Dolls. You buy them and put them on a shelf and just forget them and one day find them and just sell them becasue they are not useful.

Do you think dolls should be played with? That is what a doll is made for! I know that they are expensive and all..... but I do not think of playing with them as if they were Barbies. I like to just opld mine (Even though it is only a head XD), take photos, and just have fun. I am careful, but that is just normal!

Should they always be out? I do not think so, but it always depends on where you store them Mine will be always out since I will store them in my closet, but at the same time they are protected from dust since it is closed and I try to keep it clean.

What makes them any different from larger-scaled action figures? I do not really like action figures.... At least BJDs you can move and pose them.... while action figures you just put them there and look at them and get bored by how you cant even make them do what you want XP
Or change things on them....


I really think this depends on why you collect them.... I collect them becasue I can make them represent what I think my OCs look like and change them and do about anything.... I also like to take photos and just look at them and try new poses
There my little resin models :3
And I would never leave them in a box becasue it takes place for nothing as I will just forget them and in the end sell them and I know it XP

 

I fall more into the "play" category. I bought a harp to play, and it makes these dolls seem cheap! And I've had more experience playing with dolls... While it will be a different form of play from when I was a kid, I still plan on taking her places, taking her picture, playing and experimenting with her fashion... There's almost nothing I can do do to her that I can't fix. I'm buying her to play with, and there's no room in my apartment for a curio cabinet! ^_^ I suppose she could go on the anime shelves with those figurines, but she's too big and pretty!

~Angelkitty

Edit: Now that she's here, I feel the need to confirm this. She sits on the edge of the coffee table or in her chair when she's not on my lap. She sleeps next to my bed at night and will soon have pyjamas and casual clothing instead of just a fancy dress. ^_^

 

I wouldn't place my doll in a cabinet for now. He just sits in a different places in my room, and I plan to make a sofa for him. I also do not "play" with him in a usual meaning but I put on different clothes, make photoshoots etc. Also I don't hide him from sun very much - of course, I do not expose him to the direct sunlight but I also do not keep him in a box. Everything gets older with time, BJDs are no exception.

But I don't know if the need to put him away would arise when I would have a little child though. Only time will show this.

 

LOL you should see my Barbie from when I was a little girl!!! She is battered and bruised and well loved (if no fingers/toes and a split neck count as love, LOL) My beauties sit in a curio cabinet inside my bedroom. They give me joy everyday just to see them. I take them out one at a time to pose them and take pictures. Boding Boding Alice is the only one who ever went anywhere. She came with me to Idex a few years ago. Two reasons, just to get the stares (although I met a lot of new people who wanted to know where I got her) and second so Val Zeitler could make her a new dress. She was transported in a hard carrying case in the car, taken out and walked with me for the whole day. We had so much fun!!!
But truly that's why we buy these dolls, to enjoy them, however we feel we can.

 

I do a bit of both. When I'm not playing with my doll, she sits on my bookshelf and looks pretty. I can understand why some people don't play with theirs, but I don't have the willpower to just let her sit there 24/7.

 

A bit of both is a good idea in my opinion. I think playing with them and acting out stories + dressing them up is wonderful (and is what I do ^^;, and then putting them somewhere to be displayed when not played with is the way to go.~

 

I think that if I bought it, I'm going to use it. I do not think that my boy should be stuck on a shelf all day, however, he's not meant to be cast into the wind either. I would never take him anywhere but a friends house or a con, and I don't let anyone else touch him without gloves and my trust. But I think it would be sad to have him just sitting on a stand all day, staring at the wall.
I think that they should be "played" with, but handled with care. You wouldn't put an actual baby on a shelf, would you? So for the people who consider these dolls as their kids, as I do mine, then think of it like that. Protect it and love it like a real human being, and don't lock it up.
That is just my opinion though, of course.

 

I try to mess with them with my more expensive one as little as I can, be it take him out for shoots or to conventions. I don't put him up on anything really, just a book-shelf so that I can minimize the dust on them but...

I like taking them outside, but I suppose it's the price that tells me how much I will handle them.