Do you believe that some owners mistreat their dolls?

Yeesh, so many people sticking on the definition of abuse. Something doesn't have to be living to be abused, people. The very definition of 'abuse' only states 'to use wrongly or improperly; misuse.' Nowhere does it specify that it only applies to the living.

That being said, yes, I do believe some people mistreat there dolls. Whether it be doing their face-ups with Sharpie(especially without spraying on a protective coating first), or simply submerging them in mud or some liquid and then not bothering to clean and air them out afterwards.

 

Yes and no......would I ever "abuse" my dolls, no. They are incredibly expensive and something I care about. However, that being said, the doll in question is their property and thus, they can do whatever they want with it.

 

I wouldn't say they do. I mean certainly some people are really irresponsible with their dolls, but I wouldn't classify it as abuse or anything. As far as I know there's no instruction manual for these dolls, is there?

I compare it to the way that some people collect action figures and never take them out of the box while other people love to play with them. Different people have different goals when approaching their hobbies.

It may incense some people to see a part of a hobby that they themselves care about being mistreated in a way, but the person who buys the doll can do whatever they like with it as far as I'm concerned, as long as they're not hurting me or my own.

 

BJDs are just objects, so I think in that way they can be abused. Just like someone who doesn't take care of their home or car, doing the necessary repairs to keep it well-maintained. Things break, so just because someone's doll was at one time broken does not signify abuse to me. If they took the time and effort to fix it, then they obviously care. I don't really see people leaving broken dolls with no intention of fixing them or selling them to someone who will. That doesn't mean people can't or won't, though. I hope I don't see dolly abuse anytime soon XD

 

Everyone plays with their toys differently. What's mistreatment for one person is love and care to another. That's just how it is and how it always will be when it comes to material possessions.

Do I believe that some people mistreat their dolls according to my standard of care? Sure! Just like I am sure that in somebody else's eyes, I mistreat my dolls.

I am very careful with my possessions in general, be it dolls, electronics, clothes, makeup, etc. etc. I like everything neat and in order, and become severely uncomfortable when I see my things dirty or in disarray. So, my dolls are always clean and always on their respective shelves when I am not using them. However, I do interact with my dolls quite often - I like to pose them, change their outfits, do photo shoots (both indoors and outdoors), change their eyes/wigs, blush their hands/feet, and so on. I keep them all on display in the den, which does not get a lot of sun, but I don't get too concerned about taking my dolls outdoors on a sunny day. Resin will yellow no matter what I do, so it doesn't bother me. Furthermore, I actually love the yellowed resin of my older dolls - it gives them character. That, and there seems to be a saturation point beyond which dolls do not yellow anymore, or yellow at an incredibly slow pace.

I respect everyone's right to play with their toys the way they see fit. But, I am very careful with whom I allow to touch my dolls (or things in general). I have a friend who is very careless with his things, so he is banned from touching anything of mine that's breakable and/or in any way important to me. I am a very careful person and handle people's possessions with the same respect I handle mine, but I generally do not like touching other people's things, unless specifically invited to do so by the owner.

Finally, there's a lot of judgement on who is deserving of having a doll and who isn't peppered throughout this thread. "Deserve" has absolutely nothing to do with luxury item ownership; whoever was able to complete the financial transaction by definition deserves the object.

 

I'd say it's sure possible to mistreat a doll. While others have made the point that dolls don't come with manuals of intended use, it's pretty obvious to me that it is hoped that the new owners will emotionally bond with their dolls and love them. That puts them in a separate category from mundane material objects in my opinion.

It is possible to abuse and mistreat mundane material objects by failing to maintain their condition through care / repair, and also through rough treatment. Stuff gets damaged and broken. Dolls, too, can then be abused and mistreated by that standard. And that somehow feels worse than mistreating a car because dolls are not mundane objects.

Doing photoshoots or handling dolls gently is no problem. I sure do cringe though when I hear of people handling their dolls roughly, leaving them where they could fall or get stepped on, or not cleaning them up properly.

 

I'm sure the women at Anime North last year that watched as my friend flung himself at me almost tossing my dear Valyntein out of my hands believe I mistreat my dolls xD I'm a little more rough then I would want to be with them sometimes never putting them in their boxs, and taking Valyntein to school with me, but its not rough-ness out of disrespect, I just couldnt bare to put my dollies back in their boxs as if putting them away, hiding them from sight, and I'm proud of Valyntein so she goes a lot of places with me to show her off and show her the world. So I assume some Dollie owners could take this as mistreating my doll, but its moreso just my way or taking care of her.

Then again I'm sure there are some people whom are boarderline abusive with their dolls, I try my best not to judge, but I'm sure there are things even I would get upset to see someone doing. Thats just my opinion though

 

Dolls are just purchased objects, just like figurines, TV's, DVD's, books, etc...; they're just a lot prettier. I take good care of my stuff, but when I'm disappointed with an item, it doesn't live up to my expectations, or I'm just bored with it, I get rid of it. Most of the time I don't even bother to sell it, I just throw it away in the trash. By now 3 dolls and numerous (head, fantasy) parts have found their way to the dump-site.

 

Goodness Kuroshi, ever want to get rid of a doll, I'll take them off your hand rather than the dump site! XD

 

Good God! That is terribly wasteful! I even think it is wasteful to throw away figurines, TV's, DVD's & books because all those things can be given to charity and make someone else happy AND gets money for charity too. Let alone something that costs soo much money. I am sure a charity shop would take a BJD, OK they wouldn't sell it for it's true value but it is better then it ending up on a dump-site.

Also i am sure if you put on here "Free doll" or parts person just has to cover shipping it wouldn't even be up for a day before someone would have it off you if you really couldn't be bothered selling it. But what baffles me, is why wouldn't you have the money back since dolls don't lose too much value and you can often get $100s for them.

 

Three dolls and numerous parts is a lot of money going straight into the trash 0.o

 

I can't even throw books in the trash :[ let alone dolls >_< oh well, different people, different...way of handling their stuff ..? ebay is a good place where you charge for shipping and can give away stuff for $0.01...I did that with some books I didn't like and were taking a lot of space in my room.

I agree with some people above (Anna), "What's mistreatment for one person is love and care to another"

I'm also very careful with my stuff, especially expensive stuff like dolls. I never expose my dolls to the sun and I never leave them out in the open while I'm not around without a protection mask or in a place where animals and kids can reach (although, there are no animals or little kids in my house, I know I would be even more careful if there were any) I also recognize that I'm a 'clean freak' because I can't stand dirty places and dust so I keep the environment around my dolls (my room xD) and the dolls themselves as clean as possible (I even handle my dolls with gloves).

But some people are not like myself and while I enjoy my dolls this way, some people love to take their dolls to school or play with them in the backyard and I don't see nothing wrong with that.

The only way I would think someone is abusing their dolls is if they deliberately take their dolls and throw them against the wall/floor if someone don't want their doll anymore, you can make another person happy by selling that doll or giving it away to charity or a friend. But I don't really pay too much attention to how people treat their stuff. Now to children...that's a complete different story and I highly dislike parents who mistreat/neglect their kids. That's important to me...ok, I'm off-topic so I'm off!!

 

I'm with Karla-chan on this one. if you're just throwing them in the trash. I'm sure many people wouldn't mind a shipping charge for a whole doll. throwing it away makes my skin crawl.

 

I am the same, i don't like throwing things away if you can help it.

 

Appalling. The whole throw-away mentality disgusts me. It took planetary resources to make that doll, or whatever. If ANYONE can use it, it becomes a MORAL obligation to make sure it is made available. For a price, great. But it should be illegal to dump useful stuff. Who CARES if you bought it, it's 'YOURS' blah blah blah. I know people who refuse to take clothes to GoodWill (they hear about it from me), companies who destroy things rather than let them be resold at discount shops or whatever (I don't shop from them), etc.
Throwing your doll parts away & admitting it on this board, you deserve any scorn you get.
And you could have made money on those. Silly, wasteful, spoiled behavior.

As for mistreating dolls. Not sure those words apply to possessions/inanimate objects. One can abuse things (in the sense that what you do will hasten the destruction of said object) - but sometimes as people have mentioned the doll owner wants, for artistic reasons, to 'destroy' one. To me, this is much different than just throwing it away - there is a purpose which fulfills the owner. I might cringe (like I do when films crash cars LOL) but I see the point.

 

I'm with Karla-chan on this one. if you're just throwing them in the trash. I'm sure many people wouldn't mind a shipping charge for a whole doll. throwing it away makes my skin crawl.

 

I treasure each and every doll in my collection. The only time I would throw anything away is if it was damaged beyond repair. If I get bored with something I pass it along to someone else. Donating is good for the soul. Letting friends know you have something you are ready to let go of and see if they want it. Pass it along to someone you know who is down on their luck and could use a little something to cheer them up.
My SIL is the one in the family that just tosses items when she gets bored. It's such a horrible waste.

And yes, some people abuse/mistreat/ruin their dolls, but it is their doll so they can do what they want with it...but when they're done I'd be happy to take the dolly home and fix it up.

 

It is rare, but yes, I do think some poeple mistreat their dolls.
Drawing over them with sharpie, those who cut badly their's doll's face and don't even bother to sand it smooth (I don't count mods that are not at my taste to be mistreatement. But I have seen one or two that were really just... Stabing/scraping the doll's face with a cutter and the result was uneven and just.... .__. Ugh). Basically, someone who cause permanent damage on purpose.

Édit: I am completely speechless thinking people THROW AWAY their dolls! Tell me your adress, I'll go look through your garbage! ._.;; I kinda want to cry at the thought of limited dolls Ending up in the garbage!! D:
Are people really that rich nowadays?

 

I think just hearing or reading about someone who throws out their doll can lead to instant misunderstanding.

It could be that the dolls are not limited, other that suspected in the answers to that particular post. It could be that they are damaged beyond repair or changed by modding so much that selling them would be impossible. It could be that nobody would even want them for the shipping cost only. Imagine a doll with NSFW mods, or with extreme gore mods which went wrong - not only as in "result completely different to intention" wrong, but generally not nice to look at - would you still want the doll for the shipping cost, which is still 60 dollars or so oversees? I doubt it. And even more, presenting such a doll for sale might get you quite some flaming about how bad a doll owner you are by doing this to your doll. Plus work putting it up on ebay or in the mp. So why bother in such a case? Without having seen the dolls in question that got thrown out, we shouldn't judge.

I wouldn't want to throw out my dolls - i hate throwing out toys in general - but honestly, it is just a personal opinion.

Thought logically - there is no real difference between a doll and any other possession. We throw away so much. The doll is not different. It only differs to us as doll collectors.

 

I was going to steer well clear of this whole thing on the basis that I'm still entirely hoping the poster up there is in fact a troll, but then I saw this and I'm going to have to wade in here now.

Honestly, what POSSIBLE difference could it make whether the dolls they threw out weren't limited? The fact remains that troll or not, they're claiming to have binned something that is not only perfectly useable, but also worth considerable sums. The poster made no mention of modding, all that was said was that in a fit of entitled pique, they threw out things that they were bored with because they couldn't be bothered to sell them, so yeah, sorry, I am gonna "judge" and assume that means perfectly savable dolls and that the poster is without any concept of how appalling that makes them look to others.

I don't care how damaged a doll is, if you put up a "free to a good home, you pay postage" thread, I GUARANTEE you, that thing would be gone in under a day. I know, because I've done it.

You're right about the no difference between possessions thing though, but there again, unless something genuinely is damaged beyond repair, I really don't throw it out and even then, often it either goes to the local recycling plant or to a charity that can make some use of it.