Display or play

I actually both play and display my bjd collection. When I have some time, I like to dress and photograph them, but most of the time, my dolls are on display.

 

voted for 50/50, at the beginning years I prefer play with them more, but with more and more collections and less time, I have to only display some of them, also changing outfits for all of them will take me at least half day so tired

 

I display mine when I don't have them out, but I don't have any dolls in my collection I don't want to handle. That's just not the way I do the hobby; when I did have a doll I was too intimidated to handle, I couldn't enjoy her at all, and eventually sold her because having her in my collection was too much stress.

 

My niece loves my dolls (Hopes to get her own one day soon) and so I allow her to play with some of my older or more sturdier dolls. She knows to be careful and only play on the carpet. There are some, like my SD doll and the MSDs that she can only look at if only because they're too big or too floppy for her to handle.

 

I always keep mine out to play with! I would feel bad displaying them and not spending time with them, haha.

 

I like to keep my dolls put ho when I'm not playing with them to prevent yellowing but at the end of the day, they are dolls and I can help but fiddle

 

Once I get my Cynical Yujin, he will probably be on display a little bit more. But my current boy is both. But by play, I only change and pose him from time to time! Sometimes he comes around my room with me and will sit at my desk or something haha

 

I can honestly say my dolls are both display and play. For the most part, I don't get a lot of time to interact with them, so they are kept safely on top of my dresser; dressed and posed. When I do have time to take them outside for a photoshoot, or even to work with me if they want to show off a cute new look, I'll take time to get photos.

 

for me play is to change their clothes and take pictures, if I can't take pictures they stay on display. I don't touch them for anything else, if I don't change their clothes and I don't feel like taking photos then I don't touch them. I can go for months, even years without touching them but I don't recommend that. I have found out that the less you touch the dolls, the faster they age. When I was active with them they were totally fine, when I got busy I didn't touch them for a whole year and I came to find them with damaged face ups, yellow skin, yellow items like white sneakers turned yellow/green and their string got so floppy, they could barely stand. I try to change their clothes at least once a month now and always touch them, move them here and there. They need attention lol

 

Newbie question here, but what constitutes as "playing" for BJD? : 0
I love their look and would love to make them for characters and dress them up but is that not part of display?

 

@woresan To me 'play' means to dress them and to take photos of them. Sometimes if I'm having a really bad day, I also like to take out all of my doll clothes/doll shoes/doll wigs and just try on different looks on the dolls- always brings me in a better mood :3
That's how I 'play' with my dolls- but I'm sure other collectors probably play with their dolls in different ways. They're your dolls, so just enjoy them and play with them how you want to :3

 

The definition would seem to vary a bit from person to person, but personally, I'd say that if you're just putting together a look (or two) for your doll to make it complete as a character, then that's "display." If you make/buy/change between multiple outfits just because you enjoy doing it, that may be considered "playing" with them. So I guess to me, playing with a doll is anything that goes beyond the basics of what's necessary to display them.

 

I mostly display them and occasionally change their clothing. I do not handle them as often as I want to out of fear of breaking something!

 

I only intent to play with them. I do not have extra space for any kind of display atm. And yep, I also do not have money to spend on a doll that I can't play with. So, play with them all is my answer.

When I'm not playing > They sleep in the boxes.

 

Definitely a bit of both. My collection is very small, able to be housed on a single bookshelf. As I go in and out of the hobby, they either stay on the shelf however I've set them up last or I'll pull one down to play around with, "Play" ranges anywhere from redoing a faceup for the 30th time, making clothes/wigs, taking pictures or simply sitting one on the couch with me or holding one in my lap. Really thinking about it, I don't think I could have one for display only, eventually I'll want to take it down from the shelf.

 

I definitely play with my dolls, though not nearly enough they would say. My dolls are my children. I keep them behind glass to protect them but they come out for play time. I have always had dolls in my life. They are part of my life. I do have a few "keep sake" dolls with which I don't play as I don't see them as my children.

 

I would have them on display if I wasn't playing with my dolls. I think buying such an expensive doll deserves to be played otherwise they would be sitting on a shelf feeling all lonely. I like to sometimes keep them on my desk when I'm working, boosts my motivation.

 

I'm a bit too touchy to not play with my dolls! So they always end up either sitting by me while I do homework or read, and I'll often try to photograph them or sew/crochet them new things. But while I'd love to say that I dress them up beautifully and pose them whenever they're not being handled....I'm admittedly also a little too paranoid about yellowing, and so my dolls always wind up back in their boxes by the end! So no pretty window seats for them yet!

 

I love playing with my dolls every bit as much as I love displaying them. I play with them all on a regular basis...each one has a large wardrobe, I make things for them regularly, they all have in-depth storylines, and they are all displayed in elaborate settings I’ve made throughout my home. I love having them out where I can see them constantly and pick one up to play with whenever I please. Being very interactive with my dolls is what keeps me happy in the hobby.

 

I mostly like to play with my dolls but I feel like if I had a really rare or expressive doll I wouldn't want to move it too much lol