Did you hate dolls?

maybe hating would be a little overrated. My aunt used to collect classic dolls, and I never came to like them all sitting around her house. I also never found a real interest in Barbie or baby dolls. I think what fascinateds me about BJDs is the ability to costomize them in a way no other kind of doll is able to

 

I always loved dolls. I still have two gigantic boxes of barbies, and I used to collect porcelain dolls as well (I have since given away all of them to make space for other things).
I made up elaborate stories about my barbies and I was very frustrated by their limitations (like how half the time they can't even use their own furniture and cars because their legs don't bend so well), and the fact that all the ken dolls looked so boring and square.
I think part of the reason I like BJDs is because they make up for a lot of the limitations that my childhood dolls had.

 

To be perfectly honest, I'm actually a recovering pediophobe. My phobia of dolls started when I was about two, and there were certain types of dolls that I absolutely refused to have in my room. Now that I'm older, the phobia has died down, and, while I still get an occasional relapse(depending on the doll), for the most part they don't bother me any more. BJD's are one of the few types of dolls that don't trigger my phobia(as long as they're under three feet tall).

 

I know people who don't like dolls but never hate. I have been told they are creepy. But I personally don't have issues with them unless they are clown dolls. But that is an all together different phobia. Shivers. I like dolls there is something about them that intrigues me and uses my imagination. As a kid I didn't have many friends and as an adult I don't really have close friends anymore. So dolls for me are my characters come to life in a more tangible way. For me I am closer to them than I am others. unless of course they are clown dolls then I really don't like them. But to be honest I really like dolls of all kinds. Especially the BJD's because of their customization factor.

 

I almost never played with toys, even when I was very small! Dolls weren't even a blip on my radar. If I did play with toys, they were dinosaurs and dragons, and they were always at war or making mud castles. I'm gratified to see that so many of you had similar interests

I remember getting a Barbie at about five or six. I tried very hard to like it, because I thought I should, since I was a girl. Then, I realized that if I were very honest with myself, I hated that flipping thing. I immediately bequeathed it to my little sister and didn't miss it one bit. I still hate Barbies--the shiny plastic, the feeling of the plastic, the fake faces, the awkward limbs, the fact that their underwear is part of their bodies 8C

I got into BJDs when a friend posted some great photos of her dolls on DA. I started looking at BJDs out of curiosity. "Gee, who would ever buy something this expensive?" I said to myself.

Then I saw the doll of my dreams... and that was the end for me! D:

 

Hate is not too strong a word to describe my feelings towards dolls as a child. I left polite letters to Santa, begging him not to bring me any. When well-meaning aunts would nonetheless give them to me, I'd accept graciously, and then let my little brother take them up to the backyard and use them for target practice. Young playmates suggesting we "play Barbies" were the bane of my small existence. I preferred animal toys, and crafts.

When ast year I saw the BJD that I knew I had to have, I felt all conflicted, and mildly ashamed, as though I were selling out and somehow betraying my strict no-dolls younger self. But, honestly, since caving I have had no regrets, and am sort of glad I am catching up on lost "doll time".

 

Hmmm no, not at all. I was with Barbie up until 6th grade I think, then I found out about BJD's in high school. So if anything, I actually always like dolls.

 

Did you hate doll as a child and now you cannot get away from them
I did greatly dislike dolls as a child. I never played with Barbies, or with the baby dolls made for kids to 'parent'. I did enjoy porcelain dolls, but I never played with them (or gave them characters or anything like I do with BJDs) - I just enjoyed them as art, the same as all my other ceramic/porcelain pieces.

and how did you get involve with doll in the 1 place?
It wasn't until I was around 19/20 that I started appreciating dolls more. A friend bought me a couple of Bratz dolls, and I found that I actually really enjoyed their tiny accessories, and the mix-and-match style of their clothing. Then (through the MLP forums I used to frequent) I stumbled on Pullips, and completely fell into the customisation/character creation side of the doll hobby. Then it was only a matter of time before I got sucked into the resin BJD hobby

 

THIS!!

You have summed up in one sentence what I rambled on about in my whole reply LOL

 

Hate...no, not really. I just did not care much about dolls. My plushies were simply much more loved by me.

I also only loved one Barbie which was especially designed to ride. Flat feet (yes, a real Barbie), and a mobile thumb to hold reins (she has Barbie/Mattel engraved on her back). All others were mostly annoying, as they were so very stiff and smelled strange.

These dolls became completely uninteresting as soon as my parents allowed me to do horseback riding. I always did a bit of modelmaking, but due to school and horses, I never had much time for this.

When I was finished with the real horses, model horses became interesting. And then someone had the very brilliant idea to look into BJDs as rider dolls for 1:9 horsies. Yes, we found out that they were far too big - but someone I was hooked. These dolls were so very fascinating. I found out what you can do with them.

And now I really love my boy. End of story. But I still do not like much other dolls.

 

When I was little, I wasn't really into dolls. I preferred animals to people until I found anime when I was 12. So until then my favorite toys were animals, dinosaurs and pokemon BUT, I also really wanted my toys to have posable limbs, and I'd make lots of crafts with hinged joints. I had a couple gymnastic/ballerina barbies and played with them 'cause they were very flexible...

When I found BJDs I fell in love with them for 2 reasons: They are amazingly gorgeous! They're like real versions of the illustrations I love so much. And they are posable. I don't think I would have gone for them if they weren't articulated... I can't have something that just sits there.
That they happen to be dolls was besides the point, although since I came to love BJDs, I'm more open to other sorts of dolls now.

 

I have always loved dolls, I have collected since I was about 3. I didn't play with them a whole lot, I just kept them on shelves in my room. I was always mad for articulated dolls like Dollikins and Galoob Baby faces...anything with extra joints. When I found ABJD it was a dream come true!

 

nah, as I kid I disliked the baby dolls as I found their faces annoying... I didn't particularly like barbies, but I liked making dresses for them or watching other people do so.
first experience of a bjd ironically enough was when my sister got a 30cm doll of her favourite football player. I'd never have seen that one coming ahahahahahahahahahaha XD

 

I didn't hate dolls before BJD's. I just didn't have much interest in them since I had no use for them. As a kid I liked dolls, I just would get bored after awhile because of the limitations of particular dolls aimed for children. I was unable to do what I wanted with it and I couldn't exactly customize it since I wasn't allowed.

I guess I was indifferent and just wasn't interested in most dolls before I found out about Ball Jointed Dolls.

 

I wouldn't say I hated dolls, but I was definitely disinterested. At four my mother bought me a Barbie and Pink barbie convertible car set and truth be told I played with the care more than the doll. I guess I was a little too, uh, whats the word, hyper? for dolls. I simply didn't have the attention span for them. When I got older I mellowed out a bit and fell into the hobby.

 

I wasn't into dolls as a child. I preferred to play outdoors with my dog. When my daughters were growing up I did buy them lots of dolls but still didn't enjoy helping them dress the dolls and only pretended that i was having fun when the wanted me to play dollies with them.
A few years ago I saw my first Blythe doll and was intrigued by the idea of customizing them. I bought my first Blythe the same day that my first granddaughter was born. As I looked at Blythe photos on Flickr I started seeing BJD's in contacts' photostreams and eventually bought one. Then I joined DoA and discovered Fairyland dolls and became addicted! My favorite part of the doll hobby is sharing my dolls with my granddaughters because they get so excited about being allowed to play with Grandma's dollies! I know that some people are probably horrified that I allow toddlers to play with dolls that cost several hundred dollars but the dolls are pretty tough and the joy we get from playing together is worth so much more to me than the dolls.

 

I was actually kind of a Barbie maniac as a kid. I loved my barbies... I loved doing their hair and changing their clothes. I nearly died from happiness when my parents bought me the big pink Barbie house. Every Christmas I can remember until I was about 10 or 11, if I got a toy, it was a Barbie or a Barbie accessory. During the year I used to try to do odd jobs around the house, because there was always some really fancy Barbie I wanted to buy. At the time, that $20 or $30 I saved might as well have been the $600-$1000 I fight to save now for my BJDs. >.>;;

Those were the only dolls I really played with, though. I loved stuffed animals, but the dolls my grandmother gave me went largely ignored. I liked making up stories with the Barbies, and my other dolls didn't feel "realistic" enough to me for that. Usually I would be playing pretend with my brother or stealing his action figures/legos to play with.

When I was a little older, I got an American Girl doll... and I loved her, but I didn't necessarily "play" with her. I just liked to dress her up and play with her hair. I guess I just liked seeing her displayed more than anything.

I discovered BJDs on Deviant Art... I honestly don't remember what I was looking for or why. I just remember discovering hiritai's page... and from that moment on, I was in love. For around 5 years I just wished I could buy a BJD of my own, but I never thought it would happen... then, finally, I got my first BJD... and there's no stopping it now.

Of course, thanks to how totally tomboyish I was all throughout junior high and high school, my parents were stunned when I started buying dolls as an adult. XD The first thing they said was, "But you never even played with your American Girl doll!"

 

I did not hate dolls as a kid. I did, however, hate BJD's when I was around 15. I thought they were disturbingly expensive for a piece of plastic. The same way I thought anyone who paid over 25 dollars for a purse or a pair of shoes were out of their freaking mind.

Well. That state of mind is gone. Obviously >.>; XD When I saw just how customisable these dolls were... i thought "ooo, good place to direct my creativity! yay!"

 

Weirdly enough, I HATED porcelin dolls. They were so... real (irony) and they just creeped me out. They were pretty, yeah, but I couldn't have one in my room. It felt like they were staring at me... watching my every move... *shudder* Worst part was my mom would work at a stand in the mall that sold porcelin dolls every year around Christmas and she kept bringing them home.

A couple years ago though, at a convention in Los Angeles, my friend came up to me with a new doll. It was cute (OT and about the size of a Barbie) but I didn't really see the appeal. A couple months later she invited me to a doll meet up and I figured, eh-why not?, and went. About an hour into it... I wanted one. Wanted one sooooooo bad! They were on the realistic side, like porcelin dolls, but there was something softer that drew me in. It looked more like they wanted a hug... rather than like they wanted to devour my soul.

 

I never hated dolls, I loved them very much as a kid. I had all kinds, barbies, baby dolls, porcelain dolls and a few others. My favorite part about barbie was all the little miniature stuff and my favorite dolls were the baby dolls. Of course I liked other toys. Had a huge collection of toy horses, I displayed in my room very nicely. I had all these things till I was about 11 or 12 maybe? Then I discover anime and cute lil Japanese toys.

To answer the second question, I got back into dolls around age 14. Not to long of a break from them lol. But this time I got deeper into them and I mean different kind. First it started with little apple dolls than somewhow I came across Pullips and DAL's and that lead to BJD's. I'm not sure exactly how. I think i was looking at Pullips on flickr than came across a latidoll which started it all.