Others Handling Your Dolls

I’m okay with others handling them, if they are curious enough to want to hold or pick them up they tend to understand the value of them. I just say not to touch the face or wig. My daughter is the only one that will pose them sometimes. I think if most people walk into a room with anything displayed in cabinets with glass doors they understand it’s something that should be handled with care.

 

I'm usually alright with adults and older teenagers holding mine as long as I know they're not going to be disrespectful, just usually warn them to not touch the face. Younger kids is a no for me, unless I'm sure I can trust that one.

 

Im not exactly a fan of others holding my dolls but I am not opposed to it. It depends on the situation, the persons maturity level and if they know the cost value of the doll in question. For example, my long term partner is allowed to hold them because he knows the cost value, the significance to me and also semi-financially supports my hobby. But he always asks before hand and makes sure to be respectful of the doll in question.

But when it comes to random strangers I don't allow the dolls to be touched or handled. I have taken dolls out in public before and when people attempt to touch or ask I explain that although I understand the curiosity I wouldn't appreciate the doll in question being handled due to the expensive nature of the doll and I don't want them becoming damaged. Usually people are respectful. When they are not I have no issue walking away and explaining that I have boundaries that have been violated.

Other collectors and friends? I haven't been to a doll meet-up in many years. But I assume I would have no issue with it. Friends? Depends on the friend, maturity level and respect.

 

I don't think so, but I will say that someone very kindly letting me hold their BJDs did help me get interested in the hobby.

 

I would only allow my "doll friends" handle my dolls, because they know how delicate bjds are and even if a doll falls and is not damaged, the face-up or body blush could get nicked, chipped,or smugged. So I always tell my family and friends, my dolls are not toys for children or for rough play. Overall, it boilds down to how much one trust the other person. When I handle my dolls, I use the cotton gloves that musuem curators use to prevent any dirt oils getting on the resin.

 

I have no problem letting my mom, my partner or my friends handling them, they understand that they’re delicate and would’t be rough with them.
As for people at doll-meet-ups, I’ve never been in one but my first thought would be that since they themselves own dolls or are planning to get one, they can mostly be trusted.
Other people, idk, depends on the person I guess ? I’ve known young kids and teens who were more careful than some adults, so its not always a factor.

 

I've never had a problem with it. Most people who don't like dolls, won't ask. People who do are very sweet to them.

 

I finally handled my dolls this year to sell some because we finally moved, but to a smaller place. So I decided to sell some dolls to make space in our smaller space. Anyway to get to the answer as I was holding my doll i got the sudden thought I need to share my joy and wanted my sister to handle the doll, but she was at work. I don't think i would mind my sister handling the dolls, but i don't think i want anyone else to handle my dolls.

 

I've let my sister (adult) hold mine. She collects fashion dolls and was interested, and she ended up sitting for half an hour with my Liebe Klum in her lap. I might be able to convince her to join the resin club yet

I don't think I'd let any children (not that I have any in my immediate family) handle my dolls. I had a cousin hurt a pet when I was a kid and that incident scarred me deeply...

 

I can relate with the cousin thing. When I was little my cousin kicked my dog and yanked her fur. It's something I can't ever forget. It was shocking. I thought about a little more and I think if the kid had a pushy parent i might let the kid touch my doll for a little so I don't have to deal with the parent. Just ti avoid any conflict, but I don't think I will ever get into that sort of predicament. Just maybe hold the dolls hand I suppose.

I don't want to get in the situation my sister got into when my sister let a kid hold her dog and the kid kept asking for my sister dog and took my sister's dog to her mom and wouldn't give him back. I think my sister had to spend like about 10 minutes trying to get her dog back. My worry would be the kid would ask it's mom for my doll and i feel obligated to give the doll to avoid conflict.

When i was younger my mom forced my sister and me to give most all our toys to my cousin. We didn't have much toys, but we had to still give most of it away. We got to keep a few from what I recall. I think I got to keep my barbie because I recall i still had it for a few more years before my sister accidentally broke it while we were playing (we played really roughly with our toys like swing our dolls pretending they were gymnasts or put it under a lamp to try curl its hair). I think some plush toys too. I recall i still had my teddy bear.

 

Depends on the person, and depends on the doll.

My family understand they are not cheap and if/when I need them to hand them to me they are good about it. I have 4 year and 9 year old cousins that often come over and they very much love my dolls. I wouldn't let the 4 year old hold a bigger doll, she has not asked to hold any, but the 9 year old has and I have let her hold the a feeple60 before.

Other doll people at doll meets are fine.

As for strangers, when I was younger I took a doll to a convention and a cosplayer I just met ask to carry my doll around for a few hours. (She knew about BJDs and I think she was a friend of a friend.) I had to be like, 14-15? Because I said yes to letting her carry him around and when I asked for him back she was very thankful in being able to know what it was like to hold and carry one. Even though she completely had the chance to just vanish with him, she didn't. But now as an adult I don't think that I would let that happen.

As for other strangers, if its a small child and the doll isn't to big and the parents explain to be extra careful I don't mind. I have even offered people in the past if they want to hold one and most of the time they are content with just looking (I really like sharing my hobbies and want people to get into them too.) I have not been out with my dolls in years so I am not sure what I would do now. If another doll collector wants to hold it I will most likely say yes.

 

I try to be gentle with my dolls but I also want to enjoy them, so I don’t wear gloves or anything. So I figure as long as the person who wanted to check the doll out was responsible and willing to follow directions and do the same I’d be ok with allowing it - although I have one new addition that is small and delicate, so I’d maybe keep the handling on that doll to a minimum.

At my first bjd con it was really helpful to get to handle lots of different types of bjds. I always asked, and everyone was quite generous in letting me enjoy their dolls and get a sense of what I wanted for my collection. I’m in the camp of people for whom handling a doll is a big part of the fun, so if I can share that in a way where the doll won’t get damaged I like to!

 

I avoid pushing my hobbies on others. If someone show no interest, I will simply change the topic.
On the other hand, when people do show interest I am absolutely one of those owners who is happy to hand a doll over for people to examine for themselves. If they are unsure or very new to dolls I will give them the "avoid touching the painted areas, but feel free to pose it and play around with it."
I find that in addition to keeping the doll safe, having that little bit of a guide line makes people more comfortable interacting with the doll.
Within that category of actually interested people I find it to be much more common for people to be overly careful, rather than overly rough with them. I never had any bad experiences. Perhaps some needs reminding about not touching the face a tiem or two, but that is all and easily managed. For some people, examining the face with their fingers seem to be a reflex.

Generally, I'm not too worried about my dolls. I make most of my own face-ups and I can fix most light damage, should something go wrong.

I would not let a child handle the dolls. Not just any child, anyway. Someone I knew to be gentle and respectful, maybe, but probably not. These are not ment to be childrens toys. They can be heavy, joints can pinch and not all the materials are chosen with safety in mind.

 

I have a toddler that lives in my house-- by NO means is she allowed around my dolls xD I love her to death, but I see what she does to her barbies!
As for my roommates-- my girlfriend can touch my dolls whenever and however she wants-- so long as she isn't covered in oil (She's a mechanic). She'll often see me handling mine, and jokingly ask to see them until I notice she's just gotten home from work and her arms are BLACK (she'll stop me if i get to close to handing my dolls to her).
My sister is getting into BJDs thanks to me, and has handled them before. She is generally kind, and always clean, and an adult, so she's good to go. I'd be suspicious if she just came in and grabbed them, though.
My long time best friend has helped me restring them, clean them, dress them, sew for them, etc so she can as well.

I've had a fun time reading these comments. lol. good idea for a thread.

 

Most of my family and friends are too afraid to touch them because they are expensive and they are afraid to damage them :,)
I would trust them but they don’t want to so nothing to be afraid of.
But i wouldn’t give my dolls to a stranger. Even thinking about it makes me nervous.

 

Sadly I have learned the hard way to not let anyone touch my things. Perhaps I've been unlucky but every single time I let strangers handle my most expensive stuff even for a second, they did some damage. People really love to drop expensive knives tip first...
I would only let someone touch a doll of mine if I knew that person closely, and only after watching how careful she is with her own dolls. Even then, I would probably feel uncomfortable.

 

I generally don't mind adults handling my dolls as long as they are respectful and know they need to be handled with care. For anyone younger it would probabliy be a case by case basis. I like to think I'm a decent judge about stuff like this and thus far it has worked out for me, at least.

 

I have not been often at all in the position where someone else would want or have to handle my dolls. The only person I feel comfortable with in handling my dolls is my partner, there is awareness in how to handle and their value and the effort put for them to look like they do.

Any family member that knows or has seen my dolls has never shown interest in holding or touching them what I prefer, the couple of occasions when someone did show interest they either held them poorly or they put their fingers directly on their faces despite me warning them 1 minute prior, or they directly wanted to see if they were wearing underwear or how their intimate parts looked like (talking about adults here).
I've also had differences in the way of handling dolls with other doll collectors, so I would say that although I'm not completely against people handling my dolls it will depend entirely on the situation and each person specifically, but I'm generally cautious and I prefer not having to deal with the situation.

 

No one outside of my family has handled my doll. With my siblings, most of them collect stuff too and know to handle the doll gently and not touch the face. I definitely would not trust a total stranger with my doll. It gives me anxiety just thinking about what could go wrong.

 

I'm generally cautious about who I let handle them. Most kids are an automatic no. However, I really like having them appreciated, especially when I've done work on them.