Do you care if other people like your doll?

I don't care if people like my dolls, they're mine and I'll love them no matter what. But it does annoy me when people just come up and say that they're creepy or something like that. They don't know anything about BJDs, so how can they judge? However, I just came back from a vacation and I brought Colin with me. I think we both enjoyed the odd looks people gave us! : At least people didn't bother me unnecessarily.

 

I care about whether or not the people I really care about like my dolls, because I would like to think that the people who love me will love my dolls as well. (: But if they can't I won't judge them for not being able to, I just hope they don't start to distance themselves from me because I collect dolls. (In that case I guess they aren't very good friends.)

 

I'm not into bjd's for the sake of other people or their compliments. If someone happens to like any of my dolls that's great (not that I really post images of them anywhere lol). Since I'm the only one pouring money into my dolls my opinion is the only one I care about.

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I heard secondhand that one of my modified dolls was condemned as fugly. I was actually proud of that. So no I don't care what they think, but if they like them I'm happy.

 

Oh my goodness! Whoever said that needs to have some respect...some people just aren't nice I guess.

But I'm glad you decided not to let that bother you. You shouldn't either. It's your doll and you can do as you please with her/him.

 

When I look at a doll, I see what they COULD be like. I choose sculpts because I see what they can become. When I show others the images they don't see all that and they can't envision what I mean. Considering that, it's not a strange thing that people aren't attracted to certain sculpts the way I am. But they usually see how it fits once the doll is all finished up and looking the way I meant them to, and then all of a sudden they're not as much put off by the same doll.

 

I think they are a blank slate even if they come with a default faceup, and it's up to you to make them into whatever you want.
If you buy a blank white canvas, no one should complain if you use something other than paint to cover it and make your masterpiece, because afterall it is yours not theirs. Same with dolls.

 

My thought process is that there's enough cool stuff in the world that if my doll--or even dolls in general--aren't your thing, you're sure to find something out there that you DO love as much as I love my dolls. As long as you're not a jerk about not liking something ("Ugh, why would you want a doll with eyes like that? So creepy!! Ew!"), I'm totally cool with someone not liking my Harriet. After all, they probably love something that I don't like.

 

Finley, I agree with at least the posts in this thread that I have read. I had been in this same boat many times and it was not just with dolls. It went all the way to the cars I selected and drove. I finally decided after about 10 years for following the crowd that I was going to buy and make the things I wanted the way I wanted them to be regardless of how other people thought about them. I figured that I wanted to enjoy my wok and hard earned money the way I wanted to ad not what everybody else wanted. Buy or make things the way you want them to be. And be HAPPY!!!

 

I can't believe someone would say something like that about yours! Sure, they're unusual, but that's what makes them amazing!

I've gotten a few compliments on some of my dolls, and I'm sure others just kind of blend in, and I don't really mind. Sure, I do think it's nice if someone else also appreciates the work I'm putting in, but it's my work, for me, and in the end I'm the only one who really has to enjoy it. (I'm terrible about setting up to take and post photos anyway, so it really is "all about me" here!) If someone doesn't like a sculpt I chose, or an aesthetic option I did (wig, eyes, etc), it's not their problem and it's not hurting them at all to just scroll past if they see a photo of one of mine.

I used to care, to at least a certain degree, and I think time in the hobby has helped with that. The first convention meetup I went to, my dolls were indirectly condemned as terrible because "all dolls from China are awful and a waste of money," and at the time, I only had Chinese-made dolls. Now my collection's a mix of Chinese and Korean (and for no reason related to those awful panelists--I just found a bunch of Korean dolls I liked, and found a way to afford them), and I think if I encountered the same attitude at a panel again, I'd probably at the very least start arguing back with them, if not steamroller their entire panel...

 

Thank you vicemage, a couple of mine are very unusual but they are what they are and I like what I did to them.
Just as all things, BJDs are evolving, it's a global market so you can either find what you like or alter what you have to make it your own.
You don't spend your money to make other people happy you do it for yourself. BJDs are made customizable to become whatever you want them to be. I love my weirdos!!!

 

In the case of artwork and writing, which to me are forms of communication for ideas, whether others "like it" can be useful feedback on whether I've been successful creating the kind of image or narrative I want to. But in the case of a bunch of expensive dolls I own because I, personally, like to look at them........er, no. Or not very much, at any rate. The exception would be if I were doing something doll-related that was for the consumption of others (like sewing an outfit or taking faceup commissions), in which case I'd be interested in making it appealing, but if it's just personal doll ownership then there's really no reason to worry about this.

It's awesome if others do enjoy them, of course!

 

Yes. My Mystic Kids Francis is very feminine looking and I'm trying to get him to look more masculine. My dad always teases me that I should just make him into a girl.

 

I don't care but I love it when people compliment mine. Especially since my dolls aren't very professional looking or high quality OR expensive.
I just like having a doll in the first place.
BUT I'm scared of accidentally offending another person.

 

For me at least, if I'm spending my money on something that is intended solely for my enjoyment I don't really care if somebody else likes it or not as long as I'm happy with it then why does anybody else's opinion matter?

 

For me it's not so much a matter of caring if someone "likes" my dolls as much as it is ... I want them to appreciate the value they hold for me. I do miss even in my own doll club having someone who is as gone on my fave company to relate too but thats the whole hobby... Too many types to contemplate liking all of them.

There is one girl in the club that personally I would never own 90% of her doll choices.... (Doll Chateau and anything 'freaky')... not my style (I'm an Iplehouse person)... but I get a real kick out of 'her' love of her dolls so in that way I can 'appreciate' them. This is how I hope others who don't 'like' my dolls will be.... I sometimes also try to draw comparisons to things 'haters' like but I don't... looking to find a way to link my likes with someone else's for the sake of 'understanding' at least.

Only exceptions... ppl who are genuinely afraid of them (something I have yet to understand but deal with)...

heh hope that made sense?

 

My husband (who doesn't care for dolls in general) explained this really well to our mutual friend yesterday:

"But why would you spend hundreds of dollars on that?"

"Well, you have an AR-15, right? How much did that cost?"

"About $6-7 hundred."

"OK, why did you decide to spend that much money on a gun?"

"Because I can hit targets with it."

"OK, you spent a lot of money on something you love so you can enjoy it. She feels the same way about her doll."

 

lol your friend does know more dollars won't improve 'his' skill right? LOL... but ya I always think about the ppl who have a room full of Lego or better yet 'the train' ppl who have a whole little universe in a basement. No one would expect kids to be allowed much free play in a train collectors room and not too many ppl look down on them like they do doll collectors.... (wonders if this is a 'sexist' thing maybe?)

 

He knows. :P But for gun enthusiasts, having lots of kinds of guns is part of the point.

Like us and having different sculpts, or even BJDs and other kinds of dolls.

I do think this may be a gender thing--my parents didn't think there was anything weird about Hubby collecting Lego sets, but when they saw my play dolls, they wondered why I was acting so "immature."

 

lmao okay I had no idea about hubby's lego when I said that ... but it's just so damn common lol... And I sure hope you corrected them about how they are not "play dolls" 95% of kids would not get near them to play with lol never mind be able to buy them. I really do wish I could figure out the "stigma" that seems so bound to 'dolls' in particular. O_o It's not just rude & prejudiced it's just "bizarre" when you think about what IS acceptable...O_o