Others Handling Your Dolls

I only let people touch my dolls of whom I know that they know the worth of them. So it is mainly people who I trust and I know they handle them with care. One of my besties is even afraid to move them, she just keeps holding them if I give them to her because she is so afraid something may break xD

 

Just my friend or dearest parent, who will never look my doll as children's toy =)))

 

Only other collectors/mature adults are allowed to handle my dolls. I've got a large local group and I trust most of them to be mindful of other people's dollls. I also happily share my dolls with friends and family, because most of them are mature enough to handle things with care. When I'm out and about with a doll, I never allow strangers to handle them. They can look, but they can't touch!

 

I don't let strangers hold my dolls. Only friends and family that understand how important they are to me. I had a run in the other day at the park that left a really bad taste in my mouth. Hubby and I took the kids to the park for some play time and i took a doll with me so i could get some photos in while we were there. It's a giant park, so i went to a spot away from the playground and where there were no other people. At least i thought there weren't. Anyway, a little girl came running up behind me and grabbed my doll from where i was setting up for pictures. I kinda paniced and told her to give her back and she yelled to her mom that i was being mean not lett ju ng her have the doll. The mom comes over and goes "ok, what's going on?" And i explained that i did not want her touching my doll let alone taking it. The mom looks at the doll and says "that's yours? That's totally creepy you know? You're too old to be playing with dolls. How much was it? I'll pay you for it." I told her that's not the issue and to give it back and she insisted on knowing the value. So i told her and she snatched the doll from her daughter and threw it to me. "That's disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself." I looked the doll over to see if anything was damaged and told her i had nothing to be ashamed of and that her entitled attitude was more shameful than my hobby. And that she was lucky the doll wasn't damaged. She just retorted with "it's yourfault for bringing that trash to a child's playground." The playground was on the otherside of the park. I avoided that area specifically and told her as much that it didn't justify any of her actions. Needless to say that there was no apology and she smacked her kid in the back of the head while walking away. I can't say that a child is old enough to know something because both my children have learning disabilities so i can forgive the girl, but her mother... what a trainwreck. It just makes me stand more solidly on the grounds of if i don't know you, you can't touch. But I've also been around good experiences too. I went to a dollmeet and we had met in the local library. As the library is a public place, we had to let people outside come in to look around. Most people didn't, but there was this one father and his little girl that came in. She asked politely to hold one and one of the girls said that she would hold it for her but that they were too expensive to let her play with. And the dad started talking to another girl about them and they both seemed interested. So the dad says they have ti get going and asked where he would get one for the girl, and how much they cost. He got kinda pale when we told him the prices, but gave a couple of company names. I don't think the girl got one but, what i remember from that was how respectful they were not to touch the dolls. So it's about a 50/50 chance of the people being respectful or completely not.

 

I've not really been many places with my dolls yet (plus I've gained a couple more since my last meet XD), but i would think i am careful with who gets to hold. With my little abs hujoo and plapico dragons i don't mind who holds them as they are nowhere near expensive, and they are perfect tinies to introduce people to bjds. I'm also happy for my friends to hold my resin kids when I'm around, as they know they're expensive and mean a lot to me and treat them with respect. However i have since gained an sd who I'm not sure yet how I'd feel them holding (if they can, he's super heavy XD). At meets I'm much more happy letting anyone hold any of my dolls, as they probably know better than me how to do so XD Though i do get paranoid about them/those i don't know holding my tinies as - nothing against them - i worry they can be pocketed or misplaced a lot easier

 

Family: Yes!
Friends: Yes!
Doll Meetups: Yes
Strangers: Nooooo~

I might make an exception if it's someone who comes up and is like "Ahh! What a beautiful BJD! Can I touch it?" Because clearly they know a thing or two. Or of it's an older person who appears genuinely interested and mature about it (and not likely to, you know, yank on it). But for the most part, if it's not someone who understands what the doll is and how important they are (to me), I'd be very wary.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, when folks I know want to dress up or pose my BJDs I'm like YES let's do it!

 

To this day I've only let other people hold my dolls once, which was a friend of mine who was interested to see what handling one was like. Though she doesn't hold them my mum often gives me a hand when I need to restring someone who's strung to tightly (looking at you WithDoll Clarity and Asleep Eidolon Arweil)

But other than that it's a big NO. I'm so paranoid someone will drop them or steal them or dirty them or- okay I'll stop. Basically they mean a lot to me and I wouldn't risk them being damaged or taken. Ever. It doesn't help I have very little trust in people; not due to them but my own cynicism.

 

I once passed my doll though a McDonald’s drive-thru window because the employees were curious and friendly, so I may not be the best person to answer this. XD

However, it was a cheaper doll and one I took many places with me while traveling, so I wasn’t as concerned about him as I would have been with most. He already had some damage and yellowing and he didn’t have any delicate clothes or accessories, so whatever.

Most of the time, I trust friends and family who understand what the dolls are and what they cost. I trust most people at doll meets or conventions. With strangers, I try to use my best judgement. I like placing the doll in their hands so they can fully see how different they are from Barbie, help them understand just exactly why these dolls are worth so much, and maybe encourage them to get their own! But if they seem condescending, rude, entitled, careless or dirty? Nope. Stay away from my doll.

@Zavrinas I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience!! You’re never ‘too old’ to enjoy fun things! I think most people who tell you otherwise are often bitter people who have no hobbies or fun of their own.

 

@Zavrinas That sounds bloody horrifying.... I feel sorry for that girl, no way can it be good for her development to have a mom like that.

I don't personally carry my dolls around outside so I've never had many encounters with strangers. If I have, it's usually in the context of a doll meet when curious people come over, or when I'm carrying my doll around at a con (got a lot of "I like your doll" comments ). I'm pretty paranoid about letting other people handle them considering my own clumsy hands have hurt them on occasion, so yeah, I wouldn't let other people touch them unless I really trusted them. And it's different if they're already in the hobby and know how important/valuable these dolls are, too.

 

Absolutely. I'm not precious about them. Dolls are playthings, what's the point of having them if they don't get played with. One of mine went home form a convention with a friend's toddler and got collected next time I babysat.

Teddy

 

@IceQueensQuest thank you. My doll and I are both fine. Yeah, it's like people have no respect for anything lately. And she's not really doing her daughter any favors showing that kind of attitude. :/

@bickazer I'll admit, i found it really hard to breathe while the girl had my doll and when the mom threw her at me. And yeah, i feel the same for her daughter.

 

I don't really like it when someone else handles my doll, so I rarely let someone hold it much less play with it. The girl I have isn't super expensive, but she still means a lot to me and I wouldn't want something to happen because I let someone else handle her.

 

As long as people can listen to the most basic of instructions not to touch the face, I’m fine with them handling most of my dolls—however, I am more choosy about who gets to hold Gunther, who is on the Dollshe 24m Pose+ body because he is both quite heavy and prone to flopping unexpectedly and most non-doll people probably wouldn’t know how to hold him. Second, Uriah is pretty much only handled by me because of his extensive tattoos—I’m careful about how his joints are moved to avoid scarring up the sealant. The rest are pretty user-friendly.

 

I will totally let my mom hold my doll. She gets the whole peice of art thing. My hubby...? Im pretty wary of having him around my girl. He once suggested i use sharpie on her to get some measurements. I do need his help sometimes when i am putting on her clothes, or getting measurements, but i never let him near her unsupervised.

As for anyine else? Absolutly not.

 

I don't really get around too many people with my dolls but like most I let close friends who understand the value of the doll and my husband touch them. I dont have any expensive faceups or tattoo work on any of mine currently so im not too worried about people handling them but i definitely wouldnt let a stranger hold them, maybe my Ondinn since shes small and rather durable for her size since im not the gentlest person with my dolls. im careful but there have been times my doll has been pusehd off the edge of my desk by a chair by accident or something. Either way i'd be quite picky and if a stranger atleast understand that these need a little extra attention to hold, i may let them.

 

@CloakedSchemer thank you. This hobby is very important to me and makes me very happy. My husband supports me in it and loves how happy i get with the hobby. And my daughter thinks it's the coolest thing ever to be able to do what i do with them (the customizing and crafting). That's all I really need.

 

Sealant will collect finger oils and grime if touched, but the added challenge with body blushing and tattoos is the friction of tightly-strung joints rubbing together. The sealant will eventually rub off and the edges will be visible. I put moleskin or thin leather in the joints of my blushed dolls both to help with posing and to protect sealant, but one must accept it will eventually become damaged with any significant amount of movement and play. I hear it is possible to do a tougher/more permanent seal job with clear epoxy, but I’ve never done it (and I’m not nearly in love enough with my artwork to put it on a doll permanently.)