DON'T Call Them "Toys."

Actually....I personally call them toys.

One reason is that the Hungarian word for doll also means 'baby'. And I want to make sure that people know I'm talking about dolls and not about babies.

Another reason is that I don't really want every stranger to know just how pricey my dolls are - they might get ideas if they knew their value. This way they just think I have an unusual hobby. If I want to share more about the hobby, I'll call them 'collectible toy dolls' - this way they still know that it's not your average toy for children

I don't see why calling my dolls a toy would be offending, since they ARE in a way toys. Just not specifically for little kids

 

They're our grown-up toys! I would probably feel stung if someone scoffed at my collection in any way, though. :c

 

I think that's the general feeling I get out of the original post and even in the rest of the thread. Demanding that people not call them toys is just going to make people say it more and more.

What I find curious is that if 'outsiders' aren't allowed their opinion that bjds are toys, why must they follow your opinion in that they're not? (being general here) I mean, why yours? and not the other? It's this belief that people pick up on and say the complete opposite :/

 

This. This totally. Really, that's all I have to say, aside from you rock so hard for saying this.

 

I don't really think of my dolls as toys and I've never had someone refer to them as toys, but if a total stranger complimented me on my "toy" I would probably feel a bit odd, unless they said it sincerely. Tough call.

 

Thought about something today:

I guess I could equate someone calling my BJD a 'toy' to having someone who's never sat down to watch anime call anime 'cartoons.'

Technically sure, they are cartoons, but to me, cartoons implies something meant for kids - like Blues Clues, or something. People who have never seen a variety of anime shows might think that there seems to be a strange following of adults behind "kid shows", when anime is really mature shows that happen to be in a cartoon-form.

So, while I don't like to acknowledge anime as being cartoons, I can see how someone doesn't want to associate these dolls as just 'toys.'

 

Ah ha ha I didn't take offense Ostrich, I just didn't want you to think you were hurting my feelings, which seems to be the crux of this thread. The hurt feelings issue.
I'm kind of getting hurt feelings about the derision of toys and poor Barbie in this thread. I don't understand the need to take the joy out of everything. Sometimes it's not that serious.

 

Yeah I think technically, they are toys. I wouldn't give them to children of course, but people to "play" with them. So, I think this makes them qualify as toys. And who cares? They are our dolls and we love them.

 

I actually think it's a pretty silly thing to get upset over. Who cares if someone calls your doll a toy? You shouldn't let other people so drastically affect how you feel, especially if it's something so trivial. Someone badmouths your dead mother, that's something reasonable to get upset about, getting upset over semantics when someone sees your creepy giant doll that you for some reason are probably carrying around out in public? Not so much.

 

The funny thing is adults in Japan don't really watch anime anymore then most adults in America watch cartoons. It is considered a child/otaku thing in Japan. And many of the shows air late at night for "geeky otaku's".

 

In the US, we don't pay customs on toys, so I sure hope they are listed as "toys" on customs paperwork when I have an expensive doll coming from another country! lol!

Seriously though, I am sorta...well...old(ish). I just got into this hobby two years ago, and although I consider my dolls art, I also consider them toys in a way, because I "play" with them! It's GREAT to be "playing" again!

I absolutely do not expect most people to "get" what these dolls mean to me, and I am old enough to really not care if anyone "gets" it! I have a group of "doll" friends now, met through our local meet group, those people "get" it. If no-one else does, that's fine! Maybe I don't "get" their wine/car/electronics/golf/whatever collection.
I work in a creative field, so most of my friends are artists of some sort. If they don't "get" certain aspects of my dolls, they will understand the "art" aspect. If they scoff, well, I just don't "share my toys" with them anymore!
My dolls are a part of my life, but they are not all of my life, and the people who don't "get" it, who want to make fun of it, don't get to see that part of my life.

The best thing about these dolls is that they are not just collectible items that you put on a shelf! Most of us actually "play" with our dolls, with fashion, or art or mechanics, so they are more like "toys" than other dolls, and there's nothing wrong with playing, it's the best part of life!
Share your dolls with the people in your life who will appreciate them. Not everyone will, and not everyone needs to!

 

My dolls are my toys; the term doesn't bother me at all. Then again, I do call my car, drawing tablet, netbook, speech recognition software, and various other things my toys as well hehe. The way people use the term "toy" when talking about your dolly though, I can understand feeling hurt whenever they use it as an insult. I haven't had this particular situation happen to me, but if somebody called my dolls "stupid childish toys," I would probably start bragging about my even more "childish" collections...like my growing Uncle Scrooge comic and My Little Pony collections.

 

So, not all that different from, say, adult swim on Cartoon Network.

I think people who get up in arms over only calling Japanese animation 'anime', and calling only Japanese animation 'anime' are a little silly, since it's actually Japan's borrowing of the French word for 'animation'... Then again, I love all sort of animation, so snobbery over that makes me a little sad, too... It doesn't matter where a cartoon was made or who for, the only factor I care about is quality/enjoyability.

Which I guess is the same way that I feel about all my 'toys' as well. Of course, it just so happens that some of those toys are incredibly expensive and beautifully crafted...

=^__^=
Anneko

 

Okay, for one, LEGOS are kind of expensive, and they're awesome.

But in any case, I do consider my dolls to be toys. No, I don't play with my BJDs the way I did with my Barbies or American Girl Doll (Samantha) when I was a kid, but my resin dolls bring the same sort of childlike cheer to my room, meet-ups, and so on. It's certainly not something that could bring me to shed a tear.

 

Tone plays a lot into how I feel about this. Some people call them toys just because that's what they're used to. And in a way, they are, dolls do fall under that category and they are something you can 'play' with. But if they're saying it rudely like 'Why the bleep are you playing with toys?' then it would bother me.

 

If a guy can call his $60,000 sports car his toy, I can call my $500 BJD a toy too. It's in good company.

 

Hm, I can't say that I've had real problems with it, yet. The few times it's come up, I've been able to point to something of theirs and say, "If my dolls are toys, so is your *fill in the blank*." They sputtered a bit, but when I went through a list of why their expenditure on whatever it was, from a car to a computer to whatever, was nothing but frivolous when something nice and basic would have given them as much functionality as--At that point, they're telling me to shut up and they're walking away. It's amazing how touchy people get when you show them that they aren't better than you, after all.

 

Totally agreed, I feel insulted when my doll is called a toy.

The worst is when my friend asked : "You collect barbie dolls?"
Totally degrading.

 

To me, BJDs fall somewhere between designer toys and art dolls. Its not a Blythe, but its not a hand-sculpted OOAK either. I certainly don't get precious if someone wants to call them toys, in any tone. You play with it, it serves no practical purpose, it brings you happiness, its a toy!

I don't see how it could be 'degrading' for someone to assume when you say 'dolls' you may mean fashion dolls like Barbies - I've known adults with amazing Barbie collections that they've put as much money and effort into as any of us. Maybe you should be more specific and say 'Asian ball-jointed dolls' from the beginning if assumptions make you uncomfortable.

 

If only getting the concept to others in my age group and country was that easy...sigh ._. I do appreciate the insight tho.