Do you believe that some owners mistreat their dolls?

I think that a certain amount of care and love should be taken with these dolls. They should be an object of pride, able to be taken out, displayed, toyed with, photographed and the like.

If you are doing something which could cause unrepairable damage to your doll, I feel that's abuse. For example, leaving your dolls in a hot car for hours at a time on a Summer day. Boring into a sleeping dolls eyes with a Dremel or adding elf ears however, IMHO, is modding, which can be necessary, ergo, not abuse.

 

Maybe there are careless, ungrateful brats who treat their dolls like cheap toys but that's entirely up to them - it's their right to do whatever they want with their own possessions, however expensive or exquisite they may be. Just as it's my right to think that those spoiled people need a slap ;P

 

I suppose that you could call some things abuse. I personally would never leave Oli lying around on the floor or let a little kid play with her. (I've taken care of alot of kids. I Know what they're capable of. dun dun dun...) anywhoo... it's not like you can call the dolly abuse hotline and report it. it's sad but it's their doll. they can treat it the way they want to

 

Wow, it saddens me that the one and only collection black luke was damaged. ;_;
Yukia, so this girl does no longer own him anymore??? Post 69. She just kind of popped up and never posted anymore pics a while back.
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227011&page=4

I am sure alot of us would be interested in seeing picture of his new condition, he's a very loved sculpt.


Anyhow on another note, if people are willing to pay that much just to have their dolls destroyed I feel that is a waste. But if that's what they wanted then they have every right to do whatever they like to the doll. When it comes to personal property there is nothing you can do..

 

Well a random remark in another thread sent me looking, because I'd never heard anything about what happened to Black Luke. I'm heartsick - because he was so absolutely incredible, so intensely beautiful. Something is bound to happen to every doll, eventually, but... wow.

I hadn't ever approached this thread before because, well... I DO think some people probably deliberately mistreat their dolls. There are some really sick people in the world. And it makes me so distressed to think about it.

That's an interesting twist on the Black Luke case. Was the original owner *deliberately* mistreating him or just being an ignorant, clumsy twit? Because as sad as it is either way, it would be far worse if this person was hacking away at a doll that was unique, in the actual meaning of that word "ONLY ONE."

 

I believe some people may mistreat their dolls. I had a friend I met at a convention, I will not say what convention nor their name, but they just let the doll sit on a display table and it fell and she set it back in the same place. Not to mention she did a really horrible face up. I don't know if you would consider that mistreating a doll, but the poor dear looked like she hated her life. I just wanted to cuddle her and steal her away and make her pretty and happy and give her all the love in the world. But I couldn't...now THAT is dolly abuse! When you see a battered dolly and you get the feeling you just have to take him or her home and treat her better than any of your other dolls, then that my friends is dolly abuse.

 

Well I sort of agree but at the same time I don't. I look at my dolls as children because I can spoil them like such, it's like they have a life of their own. They also keep me company in the hospital during those long stays. They aren't just my possessions, they are my babies. And yes, I did spend hundreds of dollars on them, and yes, I do consider it abuse when you mess them up. Which is why my babies are safe and sound and spoiled rotten.

I also believe it is abuse when you just see them as possessions. And if that is the way you truly feel, then you really don't need to own one, but that's just my opinion.

 

pink_dollie>>> There wasn't news on my part...maybe I should PM? But another friend of mine who owns a few DOD dolls is saying that my friend's been scammed and that it was a fake because the feet and hands' hooks are S-hooks...? We aren't sure. My friend does believe that her Luke might be a fake now. She went online to some forums or something(China based) and apparently there are 'a few' people owning a Black Luke too. O.O|||

Baakay>>> I'm not sure what to say. But if let's say the Luke is really fake and that the previous owner, like my friend, believed that Luke is real and the one and only one, then I'll say that she might be deliberately mistreating him. Since he's a one-off and all, all the more one will care for him more right?

I feel that we're going off-topic on my friend's Black Luke... My friend is totally believing that hers is fake. But she does love him all the same. She's trying the warm alcohol method to see if it could un-green him.

I met a girl before who really doesn't give a damn about what happens to her dolls. She only pampered the one and only doll she bought with her own money. The other dolls were bought by her step-father. I felt it important to say as I'm assuming(not good to assume...) that she didn't care and 'mistreat' her other dolls as it's not her money. Or that she doesn't like her step-father and is in a way taking out on them.

She only carry and cuddle and never put that one doll on the table or stand or be at a distance from her. Her other dolls, they can be set far from her and she doesn't mind. Even when they took a nose-dive off the table of around 1.6 metres in height, she wasn't even fazed. She merely looked on and asked if they're faces were alright.

In the end, it's us other owners who were panicking like hell that her dolls fell and were fussing over them.

Makes me wonder why did she bring them along if she didn't care about them.

Edit: Internet went down on me before I could finish typing...

And also the way she holds or pick them up from the tables/chairs/wherever-they-were-placed. If they're too low and she has to stoop down to pick them up, she grabs them by the neck area. My friend does it too, but her other hand is there to firmly grasp their(dolls) bottoms so her hand that she uses to pick them up by the neck is just to pick them up. Not to hold.

That girl... -sighs- She doesn't immediately hold them properly when she lifts them up. So they do dangle for awhile by their necks... If they were placed on a high enough chair/table, she grabs them by their arms/hands. And same thing. She also doesn't grasp them in a more secure position and leave them to dangle for awhile.

She's a friend of a friend of mine. So we don't really know her. And it was her first time meeting us. So I do not know if she does that on purpose to scare us, which I find no reason to, or that she's pretending to not care. But her behaviour to her own dolls is astounding. I mean the dolls aren't light(all SDs). Isn't she worried about the hand's hook breaking or the head come flying off? I've seen heads roll off bodies before due to the S-hook or something shifting.

 

You don't need to own one either. I'm sure you were living just fine before you started playing with dolls, if you had to give them and their characters up you would not stop breathing.

I think it's kind of foolish to accuse someone like me - who has them as pretty possessions with maybe a name - of 'abuse'. If I don't care for and enjoy them, I would (and do) sell them to someone who will. Suggesting I am unfit to be a collector because I am not overly invested in chunks of unfeeling resin is pretty simple-minded.

 

As someone who invests hugely in the characters I give my dolls (I don't think my dolls are 'real' or have 'feelings', though...), I agree with you. It seems bizarre to me that some people think it's 'abuse' to not think your dolls are sentient, or to not lavish them in outfits/props/other things.

 

CherryChansGifts is entitled to her own option. If she believes these dolls are like children, I'm OK with that. However, I reserve the right to my own opinion: they're pretty hunks of resin, elastic and paint. Nothing I can say, do or believe will make them alive. (If you met Melas that's probably a good thing.) Assuming I'm a bad owner because I don't cart them with me everywhere is insulting.

And no, I don't believe that abuse = lack of attention, clothing, accessories, and/or customizing and painting skills. They're. Not. Real. They don't know when you've marked them all over with a Sharpie, or dressed them in rags.

I think it's foolish to do such things, but it's from a money perspective. I also think it'd be foolish to spend $3000 on a laptop then drop it off a building. It's a waste. It has nothing to do with the doll's "feelings".

 

I really disagree with this. Just because I don't see my dolls as "children", just dolls (since, well, that's what they are) I shouldn't own a doll? Ostrich is right, that's a very insulting thing to say.

To contribute to the original topic though, I really think that people should treat something they've spent $100s on with care, no matter what it is. It's just... stupid not to. (I'm not talking about bringing a doll into the sun, or letting it stand up; I'm talking about dropping it all the time, and careless things like that) It makes me cringe to see people do that, but only because they're so expensive. I just don't see the point of spending $100s on something to destroy it.

 

Guess what. I have four dolls, and I see them as possessions. Oh, the horror of the abuse. (Furthermore, I think the fact that doll abuse is likened to human/animal abuse is ridiculous and insulting to those who have suffered from it.)

As other posters have mentioned, dolls are not real. If you view them as such, fine. I could also say that people who view dolls as anything more than possessions probably shouldn't have one because it encourages unhealthy behavior but in a similar vein, to each his own.

 

This, basically.

I really do not understand the point of this debate. People shouldn't trash their dolls because that is stupid and they are expensive, but they're plastic. They are made out of plastic poured into a mold. Like a barbie doll, or a basketball.

You can't 'abuse' something that is made out of a polymer poured into a hole the same way you can abuse a person or a cat or something. I mean, come on.

 

It would be very pretentious of me to judge someone for how they treat their own possessions. I would hope that people would do me the same courtesy as I do unto them.

 

I agree with most of what has been said...Its their money and their object, If somone buys an iPhone and then trashes it that same day...thats really up to them... (Sure the effects on the environment and creation of trash isnt good...but thats really an entirely different matter)

 

Dolls are non-living hence it is not considered abuse.

The posters who posted after me. I do agree that dolls don't get 'abused' because they're non-living lumps of resin/plastics.

Abuse: 1. Improper treatment or usage; apllication to a wrong or bad purpose; misuse; perversion
2. Physical or verbal maltreatment; injury

Mistreat: To treat someone, or something roughly or badly. ~ Quoted from Wikitionary

There are other forms of abuse. But I think those 2 are more of what we're looking at. Abuse is seriously hard to use on a doll, which is non-living and unable to react to verbal and physical abuse. They just don't get injured. Unless you're doing a backstory or photostory about a doll being abused or something. Then that could be used.

To mistreat a doll, now that's something that is more likely. There are people who do treat their dolls rather roughly or badly as I had stated in my previous post(I edited some more in as internet went down for awhile for no reason).

From the monies perspective: I don't see a reason why one should treat their dolls badly or in a rough manner. I mean, you did spend a good fortune on them. They aren't like Barbies or some other dolls that can be bought anywhere and everywhere. Barbies and other vinyl/non-bjd dolls are able to withstand 'damage' when treated badly and thrown around as they are meant for kids. Bjd-owners who do mistreat their dolls, I'm very sure are not under the age of 12. I'm not really sure how old's the youngest bjd-owner. I'm just guessing 12 is a safe age for owning a bjd.

From the sentimental group's perspective: I understand that you guys hold attachment/feelings for your dolls. I do too. But they just don't get hurt/injured. You can convince me about their expressions changing and I will believe you. But seriously speaking, abuse = blue-blacks and bleeding of sorts. Resins don't bleed. Therefore, not abuse.


And now I wonder if I went off-topic...

 

For the moneies perspective...I think that is also up to the individual. eg: It might sound CRAZY to spend 2,000 dollars on a handbag but some people use those handbags as every day going out bags, and only treat the very special 10,000 dollar handbags as really special.

So again...I think all of this is relative...even the money thing.

 

I don't know... if I saw someone carrying their doll around by its face; with greasy hands and dirt all over the doll; with chips in the doll's resin from being dropped repeatedly... would it really be so unfair of me to not want that person handling my dolls (or, actually any of my frivolous luxury items?). Or is this not what you meant by 'judging'?

The way people present themselves does extend to how they treat things they own. I don't think it's always unfair to judge someone based on behaviour, as long as you stick to logical conclusions ("They don't treat their doll as I treat mine. We probably have different personal values, and I should probably keep my doll to myself") versus hysteria ("They don't treat their dolls as I treat mine. They must be horrible monsters who eat babies and kick kittens").

 

Please, I think 90% of the people in here are operating under the wrong definition of abuse. It can absolutely be used to describe actions against an inanimate object!

From Merriam-Webster
Main entry: abuse
Function: transitive verb
1 a: to put to a wrong or improper use <abuse a privilege>
2obsolete : deceive
3: to use so as to injure or damage : maltreat

Please notice that NONE of these definitions so much as hint towards the receiver of the abuse being a person or living thing. "Abuse" simply means "use the wrong way."

And under this definition, I do feel that some doll owners abuse their dolls, though it is in their right to do so. These dolls were intended by the manufacturer to be highly regarded as fashion or photography models, or to simply be coveted by collectors. I don't think anyone would cast a $500 doll with the intent for it to lugged around naked by a child as one would a Barbie or Cabbage Patch Kid. BJDs are intended for adults -- and one would assume that adults have a more refined way of treating their expensive things.