Is it "wrong" to let younger kids have BJDs?

I think what I'm going to do is pass my Puki dolls down to my little girl if I have a girl...if not I'll just keep them in a protective glass display case...which I already have. But I wouldn't give it to her until maybe she was 10-16...more likely it will be her sweet sixteen present. And then when I see that she is taking good care of it, I will get her a new larger one for her next B-day and I will introduce her to the wonderful world of DOA. XD

 

lol, i have to agree as well. It definitely depends on the child's level of responsibility and matureness to see if they could handle the dolls with the care they deserve. But also I don't know if I could ever give a very expensive one to a child. Not that they would purposefully hurt it but with kids, accident happen, and that could lead to a very sad doll owner.

Thinking back i too was horrible about really knowing the value of items. I can remember when I was about 5 and my mother bought me a nice dress for school and told me to be careful in it... well i was certainly very careful in it, but a dirt digging contest with my friends was just too tempting!

If i ever have children i would most likely let them play with them, but only with supervision until they're old enough to have keepsakes of their own.

 

If they are under about ten then definitely not - resin is bad to eat, kicky or snappy joints can do damage to small fingers or heads, and they do not carry Lion Marks so are not child safe.

The only exception to the above may well be a large sized Obitsu, but they are far safer for smaller hands than resin dolls.

For those over ten who show the maturity to look after their stuff, I would have no problems with it. By ten they should be well out of the habit of putting toys in their mouths and have started to grasp concepts of cost and worth and value.

Phil.

 

I think it's really honestly up to the person. Some children are more mature about their toys than most adults are with anything else.

For example: I have a friend in his 20's that I would NEVER give a doll, let alone anything expensive. He's gone through several game consoles in a few years, replacing and replacing, EVERYTHING! Controllers, memory cards, games, anything and everything has been mauled by his recklessness.

On the other hand, one of my friends has a girl that has never once shown any sort of abuse towards any of her toys, she never throws them, or tries to break them, and she's only 6 or so. I would sooner let her play with a BJD than the 20- year old.

 

Lists are fun to make >.>

1. Responsibility, will the child in question take good care of the doll and keep it clean/be somewhat gentle with it?
2. Trust, can you trust the child to respect the doll not for a week or a day, but for as long as he or she has it?
3. Price, it's not as important once you have trust and respect for the doll, if it's an expensive doll or a cheap one, if you know the child will take care of it as best he or she can. You still may want to start with a cheap doll if you worry about mistakes or set up rules and specific resting places for the doll or dolls in question.
4.Age, as long as the child can grasp- This is a valuable item, take very good care of it and it will last a long time- you should be okay.

Although not all kids will like them, but I dunno *shrugs*

 

I definitely think, if I was a parent, I'd wait 'till they were about 11 at the youngest, but more likely 13 - 14.
I'm not sure, but generally younger kids tend to be more flighty with their interests. I know, for instance, I first saw BJDs when I was about 11 or 12 and I immediately wrote them off because I thought they were bound to be way more than I could afford. (Plus, I didn't actually know what they were, I had just seen pictures)
Later on, once I knew what they were, I was going to buy one then I suddenly went, "No, I don't actually want one!" and later my interest came back, with completely different characters in mind.

So I dunno. I guess it depends what they want them for.

 

It depends mery much of the child, I'd say.
No doubt, had I found out about them sooner (12-13) I'd probably only half understand the responsability of care that comes with a bjd.
If the child understands the difference between bjd and a toy doll, then why not?

 

I agree, it depends on the child. I definitely wouldn't give a 5 year old a BJD, but when you get up to the 9-15 age range I would look at the individual child. If my children ever ask for a BJD, then as long as I think they are ready, then they can have one!

 

My friends little sister has a BJD.
She is 11/12, but really mature for her age,and from what I've seen,
she treats the doll with just as much care as any other older doll owner.

However, most of her friends are crazy little girls who I would'nt trust with the bubblewrap a BJD comes in... so... it really depends on the child.

 

I think it really depends on the child. I know that I always took great care of my toys when I was young, and my parents bought me porcelain dolls to care for. I still have them in mint condition today! My mother even let me dust her porcelain dolls (Royal Doulton etc) and I was around 9 or 10 at the time of all of this.

If my child will also take good care of her toys and show responsibility I don't see why I shouldn't get a BJD for her. I will more likely get them a smaller doll if she likes (I assume if I had a daughter she would like them more!XD) just so she can get the hang of it.

It just depends on the maturity level of the child, in my opinion. My younger cousin (7 years old) is very careful and I let her hold my dolls. She's very responsible and careful. For a general age I would say 9/10 would be a good age range for giving dolls, but who knows? It really just depends on the child, there's not set age.

 

One word: Obitsu.

Replacement parts are available for every piece in the internal "skeleton" and the external vinyl "skin" through Parabox. Vinyl takes more "bumps" than resin for sure. My Volks Dollfie Dream did a faceplant that would kill a resin nose...she came through it without even a scratch. I don't treat my vinyl sweeties badly, mind you, but occasionally things happen. I know that the "spinal" pieces in an Obitsu 60cm body will eventually break from stress. It's good to know I can fix it. I love Volks Dollfie Dream...so much so that I have a Mini Dollfie Dream waiting for me at Torrance Tenshi no Sumika right now. But if a "skeletal" piece would break in her or in Yumiko-tan I'd have to do a complete body replacement. Not a great situation.

Heck, someone said a "My Twinn" is appropriate for a kid but a BJD is not. Considering the price for a "My Twinn" is comparable to a Bobobie, I'd question that logic.

For myself, I'd say if the kid is a tween and responsible, I'd start them off with an Obitsu, maybe a 47cm because they have childlike bodies rather than mature bodies.

 

I don't think I would have a problem with it, however I would tell the child that they had to pass a test first. I would get them a barbie or bratz doll and they would have to take very good care of her for 1 month - clean, hair brushed, clothing and accessories not lost, etc... And see how they do.

However, it really would depend on the child. I had a 7 year old I used to babysit for that I would have bought one for in a heartbeat (if she'd wanted one and I had money to burn LOL) because she was so very careful with all of her toys. When I moved away, I let her keep my little 1" hamtaro toys that she and I used to play with and she and her mom used to call me with updates on how they were doing.
Then again, I've known kids who could care less about their toys, mainly because they were constantly getting every toy they could ever ask for, that I would never let even touch one of my dolls.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't have a problem with a person's age and owning a doll, as long as they take care of the dolls they have.

 

A friend has a very responsible little girl that would come and stare at my BJDs with her hands behind her back. I never had to tell her not to touch. So to try her out, so to speak, I made her a hybrid with a Teen Trends body and the default 50 cm anime head. After six months, when I saw how incredibly careful she was with it, she got a "big sister" 60 cm Gretel this Xmas.

 

I think the main point is how you teach your kid responsibility. I have no doubt that a child raised in a home with one or more BJD collectors would most likely take better care of one of there own. After all, they would be raised seeing how mom or dad handles these dolls and realize the amount of love and respect these dolls call for. In a house where there aren't any collectors, I doubt the doll would be treated any better than Barbie.. Is it somehow bad for the dolls to just leave them on display for long periods of time though? I almost think of BJD's and kids like the porcelain dolls I had as a child (I think I got my first at age five or six.) Something you look at, but don't touch unsupervised.

 

This is something I'm dealing with right now.

One of my dad's friends has a nine year old daughter who is in love with asian culture. When he saw my doll he wanted to know ALLLL about it. When I mentioned it was an ABJD he exclaimed his daughter would LOVE one. The girl came over about a week later and I let her look at my girls under my close super vision. She seemed to handle them well and seemed to understand that they were a lot of money. She asked questions like Which are the least expensive etc... and she's determined to save up her money and get one. I think it's even just the idea her father is encouraging her to spend so much money on a doll she'll most likely lose interest in within a few months... I don't know, all in all I'm a bit weary about the idea of kids and ABJDs. It's not wrong... but I don't really like the idea.

 

I dont think its wrong persay... i think it depends on the mentality of the child, like my little sister, shes 5 years old, but she loves my dolls, and she knows that she has to be careful when she plays with them. Shes quite matrue for a 5 year old (seriously half the time she acts like shes 15... i think it has something to do with her ceoliax disease) , so i trust her enough to play with my boys, my brother on the other hand who is 4, i dont trust what so ever with my boys, because hes too rough and i know he would break them.

I wouldnt mind buying my little sister a BJD at least i wouldnt mind buying her one in between the sizes of a tiney to an MSD... SD are too big for her to be able to handle properly..., cause i know she would treat it well... and when she gets bored i woulkd take it into my custody lol. so yeh, she doesnt understand the hobby... however, she does understand that they are very expensive dolls and they are to be treated with care.

 

Is it wrong? This isn't a morality question. There's no right or wrong.

Also, it depends on the child, etc, everything that has already been said.

 

I have a real problem with giving young children these dolls. What do they look forward to as they get older?

When Barbie dolls first came out they were not meant for small children. They were meant for older girls, Barbie was a fashion doll, you bought or were given one doll and then collected her beautifully made, detailed clothing and accessories. They definitely were special.

Then younger and younger girls were given them, and so they got cheaper, and the clothing followed suit. They are nothing like the Barbie I had.

I could forsee the same thing happening to BJDs in time. Let the little ones admire your dolls. Let them hold them. Let them dream of someday having one of their own, if that is what they truly what. Why rush?

 

I think if I were to give one to my child I would start of with something smaller, like a puki or something of the sort. I'd probably give her/him one at the age of ten~

 

EXACTLY my feeling.
Let children STAY children. Bjds are very expensive, and break very easily too.
I used to drop my barbies off the stairs and stuff when I was young. Let kids be kids and start with baby dolls and barbies. No need to rush into bjds!