Have you always loved dolls? [Poll]

No, not at all.
I had Barbies and some other dolls as a young child but was fairly uninterested in them and always found porcelain dolls and baby dolls creepy. I much preferred stuffed animals.
I one day came across BJDs and for whatever reason they caught my interest, the rest is history.

 

I have always loved dolls, as well as action figures, matchbox cars, my little pony, and plushies.
My most played with dolls were Barbie and crew, She-ra, Molly from MLP, a Lone Ranger Ken, all 5 NKOTB dolls, and the Ken doll that my best friend and I customized into Frankenfurter from RHPS often guest starring whoever my current favorite ponies were. Needless to say with such a diverse crew a lot of strange and epic adventures followed.
I've found a similar enjoyment with coming up with adventures my bjds and adding in my love of crafting/sewing/painting and something to help me feed the creative muses and I feel like they are perfect for me. Now that I've started building my diverse family I don't know that I'll ever stop.

 

I've always been a doll lover! Bratz were my favorite as a little kid (I still have a few), but Barbie/Kelly and Polly Pocket were also collected and beloved. I also had a few baby dolls, Winx Club, 00's troll dolls, and these anime dolls from Japan. I fell hard for American Girl when I got a little older. I used to have 4 of them but just have Josephina now. High school me loved when Monster High came out. I still have my first release Frankie! At the time I also had an interest in Living Dead Dolls, Silkstone Barbies and Tonner (specifically the Harry Potter ones) but never got any.

Also I collected fairy figurines as a kid and I still have most of them. Always loved fairies and mermaids which is why I vibe so much with Fairyland

 

Not really as I am more into other "for the boys" toys when I was a kid but I like how creative the doll lines is when I was young and since I'm a guy, well boy by those times, as toxic is the masculine culture and toys are based on gender before, I am not supposed to even look at them. "Those are girly toys in glittery pink blah blah blah touching one of those will make you ... look away " This is how most "retro" parents teaches their young sons in a toy shop.

Now I am an adult and have my own child, I let my child play what she wants besides toys are toys and be played by anyone. Boys playing with dolls will not make him gay nor Girls playing trucks will make them lesbian, it disgust me that some parents are still blinded by gender segregation that are imposed by toy manufacturers.

The funny thing is, the toys that I played growing up with are generally considered as "dolls" geez, but anyway, how effed up my childhood is, I am glad that I was able to find BJD and I am inlove with them and I could care less with whatever other says.

Note : apologies for somewhat rant

 

Totally grew up with Barbies as well. I was frustrated though as I couldn't find a doll that looked like me let alone was my own ethnicity unless I was willing to pay $$$ for a niche selection of dolls that were still like a tanned version of blonde Barbie but with dark hair. Got into porcelain dolls around the same time too but I think I liked how porcelain dolls kind of looked realistic (well, at least the nicer quality ones) and since I had relatives that were also collecting porcelain dolls sometimes I would get one for Christmas or my birthday which was pretty awesome being one of the poorer relatives.

I think it was about 13 years ago or so that I discovered Asian BJDs through the magazine Haute Doll (it no longer exists) and other similar dolly related magazines. Then I was lucky enough to visit the Volks USA Store back when they had a showroom in Torrance, California and my then boyfriend/now husband got me my first BJD. Totally got hooked into BJDs from there.

I still purchase a Barbie every once in a while (totally got one that was definitely my ethnicity and am looking at getting others as well) although I no longer collect porcelain dolls after nearly all of my porcelain doll collection got pretty smashed up during one of my moves. It was a rather traumatic experience as even though most were under $100 (I think only one was over $100), I just remember thinking how my parents would save up to buy me one or how an auntie made sure I had one like hers and it was kind of painful losing all of that in one go. BJDs, Nendoroids, and Barbies are at least a little more sturdier than porcelain dolls so I find comfort in that. And in worst case scenarios, a little more easily replaceable if need be. I'm hoping to get my nieces into BJDs as they are already showing interest in Barbies. So yay to the next generation!

 

As a kid I didn’t really like dolls that much. I had a few barbies, but I preferred other toys (mostly Littlest Pet Shop). I did admire some clothes on collector dolls, but I never felt like I really wanted one.

I didn’t start getting into dolls until I came across YouTubers customizing a bjd and then a couple of views. And then I thought “these dolls are gorgeous!” and finally got one of my own last year.

 

I only tolerated dolls as a child, I was a tomboy and they were not my first choice for entertainment lol. After I discovered BJD's I realized how interesting and beautiful dolls could be!

 

I checked both "not interested as a child" and "other", because mine is sort of a different experience. I actively disliked dolls, because family members would push them on me as something "appropriate" for girls. Instead of playing with them, I'd steal all their accessories and play with my animal figures instead. I purposefully destroyed a Barbie on more than one occasion (something I feel oddly bad about now). Eventually family members joked about how much I hated dolls and anything pink, and I came to resent that, too.

As an adult, completely allowed to control my own gender expression/identity, I lost the hostility toward them. I still wasn't very interested until I saw BJDs, which were completely unlike anything I had seen before. Years later, fashion dolls came out that younger me would've actually loved (Monster High, mostly, before they changed the style to be more kid-friendly) and I got into those, but now I'm almost exclusively into BJDs.

So tl;dr I hated dolls as a kid in reaction to gender norms, but BJDs and some tomboyish fashion dolls got me interested as an adult.

I find it interesting how many other peoples' perceptions of dolls were influenced by silly gender roles pressed on them when they were kids.

 

I've always liked dolls. In childhood, it's hard to remember not having one that I toted around. In most casual photos of little me, there's a doll in my arms or close by. My aunt collected Barbies, so she was really happy to share that love with me too! She had sons, so it was nice for the both of us. So, I've always liked them but didn't really have much to do with them as a teen or in my 20's even though I still liked dolls a lot. It took some convincing of myself to have a BJD, and I'm glad that I did. I didn't want one to feel too much like a toy, so my first couple were tall, handsome man dolls. After some time, I've come to appreciate and own a variety of BJDs and even include many off-topic dolls I always admired as a child but never owned during childhood.

 

I loved dolls as a child! I still remember getting original Mattel Barbie. I loved her! Then I accidentally broke her neck while dressing her. It broke me. I cried so much. My mom kind of tried to repair her but her neck was shorter and she looked weird. I didn’t like her anymore and felt very, very bad about it. It still makes me sad when I am writing it!
Then I got Bratz and My Scene. We loved them with my friends and were making endless stories with them. :3 I still collected plushies, figures and my dream came true when I bought Toy Story dolls. They look like the ones Andy had. And then I get to MH dolls, hoarded a few and then I am here with bjds. They’re like Barbies for advanced. I am super careful from that accident tho.

 

I collected Barbies as a child, and then ceased any interest in dolls before double-digits-years-old except for the stuffed animal sort. I maintained a neutral disposition about dolls with the exception of the porcelain or famously haunted which creeped me out (still do) and Chucky (who I now greatly enjoy), until my friend introduced me to BJDs 15 years ago. I attribute my long-lasting love to the total customization aspect. Having my favorite aspects of my creativity in a tangible form just means so much to me.

 

I think I started liking them after experiencing trauma from abuse.

As a young kid, I was pretty neutral about them—I didn't find them creepy and if you gave me one I would display it in my room, but I didn't actively hunt for them, either (although I've always loved Russian nesting dolls in particular).

When I was around ten or eleven I developed C-PTSD from several different traumatic situations, and around that time I started to love and project onto the idea of dolls. Dolls were able to remain beautiful through time, loved and cared for, and "untainted" by what had hurt me. Dolls didn't have emotions. Dolls didn't care if they were used. Dolls didn't bleed if they were hit. For that reason, I quite liked them and wished I could be one.

I'm nineteen now, and I really just enjoy them for the same reasons as everyone else does nowadays. I'm also just the type to project onto/become attached to inanimate objects easily, haha.

Even so, they will always hold a special place in my heart as something that got me through very tough times and remind me that I am alive and okay today.

 

I'm definitely "other," lol. I loved the dolls I had that were meant to be children, but my mom kept trying to push Barbies on me and I didn't like them. I wasn't into fashion as a kid at all, and my mom would never get me the playsets where she had jobs, so I was stuck trying to guess what teenagers do for fun at age 5 and...failing.

As an adult, I rediscovered my love for dolls, and discovered BJDs. I couldn't be happier with my little ones!

 

I've always had doll collections! My mom collected mattel's dolls of the world series when I was little (and unwisely gave one of them to me, i loved that doll to literal pieces) and as I got older I'd collect them myself. even as an extremely angsty 13 year old my family would still gift me barbies at holidays because I collected them! I amassed quite a collection of monster high dolls when that line was active, and BJDs have always been in my peripheral as the sort of ultimate doll collection.

 

I’ve always loved dolls! Some pique my interest more than others throughout the years, but bjds reign supreme
It’s taken years of hindsight to realize that I really appreciate the fashion aspect of dolls, and that’s what keeps me hooked. I was also really obsessed with filming my dolls and creating stories with them on vhs cameras! I did take a break from dolls for about two years when I graduated, but I don’t think that’ll happen again

 

I've always liked dolls! When I was a kid, I played with barbie a lot, and then when I was a little older I started watching Dollightful on Youtube. I only discovered BJDs because I saw an ad for Ringdoll's Yumeo. I'm really into them now!

 

I started liking to play with dolls at the age of about 8-9 (I preferred plushies and animal figurines before that). My style of playing always included some plot to develop and I always liked making stuff for my dolls back then.
I discovered what bjds are when I was about 16 and didn't play with dolls anymore at that time. Still I was surprised how lifelike and highly customizable they are and suddenly got a new dream. Had to wait for quite some time for it to come true, but patience is a useful trait in this hobby, after all!

 

As a young child I had tons of Barbies, though I didn't actually specifically ask for them. It was just the thing of the 90's, and relatives were always quick to gift dolls at Christmas and birthdays. I played with them plenty, but that was kind of a typical phase at the time. I had absolutely zero interest in dolls after that. I didn't become interested in any type of doll until I discovered BJDs as a teenager, which piqued my interest because of how "creative" and imaginative I thought they were. So for me..I don't even really put BJDs into anywhere the same category as "dolls" as people typically think of. To me they're something completely different and unique.

 

I mostly played with My Little Pony as a child. I did have Barbies and Bratz dolls, but they didn't take priority in my play. I didn't really gain a fascination with dolls until I discovered Pullips, and in turn BJDs. I got my first BJD when I was 16, and I've spent soooo much time with her.