Playing Vs. Collector Mentality

QFE.

I couldn't not play with my dolls. I'd feel guilty. For me and them; they deserve the attention. They are little wonders, and I get so much pleasure out of the time I spend playing with them. And even though I know rationally that they do not actually have souls, personalities, etc -- they always look happier after we've had a good solid playing session. I have never bought my dolls with the intention of ever reselling them, either, so I couldn't care less what I do to their resale value. So long as we are happy. And if the faceup wipes off, I will get it repainted. I have some gorgeous customised dolls, repainted exactly to my specifications by people whose work I adore.

The one-off/limited thing etc has never, ever entered my mind when choosing a doll. I buy purely based on the sculpt matching the character that I'm after, who usually already exists -- if I see that character personified in a doll, that's the doll for me, and that's all there is to it. (I have some moderately rare dolls -- and I also have dolls you can buy basically off the shelf.)

If it was the only way to get a sculpt I wanted, I would buy a one-off and wipe the faceup (and sell the outfit) if it didn't suit. I respect greatly the artists who put their time and effort into creating that finished product, but ultimately at the end of the day if I buy the doll it is mine to do with as I please. I probably wouldn't do it if I knew someone who really wanted that doll exactly as it was... but that's not an absolute either, especially if there really wasn't any other way to get it. They want what they want, but I want what I want too, and I am just as entitled to it as they are.

Sure, it may be sad to think of all these One-Off sets and LE sets that are split up and no longer what they once were.. but you want to know what makes me really sad? MIB toys. Toys were designed to be played with and enjoyed by people, and keeping them MIB denies them their one and only purpose in existing. That makes me way sadder. And I feel the same way about BJD -- they were designed to be played with and enjoyed by people.

 

I have a One-Off Toppi from the L.A. tea party last year. I keep her stored more often than not, due to my fear of damaging her faceup. On the other hand, I've changed her eyes and wig, and sold her original outfit. Her outfit was actually sized for an SD13 girl and didn't really stay on her MSD body very well. I'd have kept it if it were the right size. Her eyes was also a bit too large (18mm Zouks) and have been replaced with 16mm in another color (still trying to get 16mm in the right color) I love her original wig but she only wears it for special occasions since it is a fairly easily damaged style.

I don't know if Toppi is really my most valuable doll persay in terms of retail price, but she is the most irreplaceable, which is why I play with her the least (though I have taken her out to events three times now.) I'm hoping to put up a new shelf soon in a shady corner where she (and my other dolls) could at least sit out on display if not be photographed and played with all the time.

 

With many LE's, I think it is true that their value is less if they are split up.

But still, I repainted my Jun and stuck her on an SD10 body. A part of me cringed when I "ruined" such a lovely fullset, but to me it was totally worth it because Jun is just a perfect Ryoma.

I've also made my Shirou an SD13 girl, and sold my Hewitt II's stuff and put him on an SDC body. I haven't repainted any other LE's but I would, if I didn't think their face-ups suited them.

How willing I am to split or otherwise "mess with" a doll is directly related to how attached I am to them. If I really love a doll so much that I wouldn't even consider selling it, then it doesn't matter if I do something to lower their market value, especially if it makes the doll more perfect to me. But when I get a new LE doll I always wait awhile and make SURE that I want to keep it before I split it up or otherwise mess with it!

 

I play with all my dolls--I don't care how expensive they are. I have them to enjoy, and tucking them away in a glass case or shelf isn't fun for me. What's the point of spending so much money if it isn't fun? Besides, I don't care about resale value since none of mine are going anywhere.

 

I only have one doll, but I don't really see the point of spending that much to look at something on a shelf. I love carying mine around with me, or snuggling with him when I read a book ^^ Heck, if the face-up gets messed up, it can always be re-done.

I also adore the idea of second-hand dolls. I love that they aren't perfect and have history. It makes them endearing and gives them personality! If I ever get a second doll, it will be second-hand.

 

I'm another one doll person, and I'm his 2nd owner. He's a DZ, so not 'expensive' compaired to most dolls, but he's expensive to me! I got him cause wanted to 'play' with him. Having him just to look at & collect dust doesn't make sense to me. If his face rubbes off, I'll find a faceup artist to re-image him. I like to think that if I ever manage to get a Hound I would treat him just the same.
I have other collectables that I know I've de-valued by taking them out of the boxes, but as I never buy things with the idea of re-selling in the future I don't care. But I do keep the boxes for when I move house.

 

I play with my resin dolls; all of them. Before I discovered ABJ dolls, I collected antique French and German dolls from the 19th century. I arranged them in little vignettes with antique accessories for display, but their clothing is too delicate to play with or even to remove in some cases. I think of myself as a kind of curator for my old dolls to preserve them for future generations, but my resin dolls are for fun. There are plenty of people around who probably buy resin dolls as collectors and who keep them "mint in the box" for posterity, but that is not for me. I feel perfectly free to mod them, wipe off their limited face-ups, throw away their boxes,and play with them, just as the little girls who owned my antique dolls did in the 1880's.

 

I got a porcelain baby doll as a child and I begged like a madperson for my parents to buy her for me because she was so beautiful. But int he end, she wa sporcelain and not very good with her joints and I was too scared to play with her. I just put her in her cradle (box) and ended up leaving her there. Years and years later I finally sold her...and you know...to this day I feel guilty of it thinking back on how hard I begged my parents to buy her for me...wow...I'm feeling really bad thinking about it. I think I should give the money back to my parents that I made from her...

But now yea...I wouldn't get any expensive dolls because I need to feel a connection to them before I buy them. I understand collecting them form a collector's viewpoint, but for me, collecting dolls are different from stamps or coins. I think it's because they are reflections of a human and thus I feel a connection to them...so yea, I play with them.

 

I love to play with my girl; I drag her nearly everywhere with me! I love to play with the dolls, and of a faceup is ruined, then..that's what a repaint is for.

So, in few words..yes, I play....

Though I can see why some would not.

Kim's views on caring for a doll or other loved toy seems to me just loving them for another ideal...one that can, in its own way, be just as beautiful.

 

I'm a collector type, sometimes, but not usually to the point of keeping things in their original packaging...

BJDS, to me, just need to be handled and posed and changed clothes and wigs and such...

ALL my dolls are limiteds and one is a One-Off. I didn't buy them to keep in a box! I sometimes wonder if I should... but I think I'd hate it if I did feel compelled to keep them all wrapped up and put away--or on display only.

I have Barbies that are still in their box. I hate it sometimes, but I have enough Barbies out of the box to play with. But I don't care for playing with them that much... too much of a pain to get outfits and change clothes and I don't pose them or take them to meetups or take photos of them... I could, I suppose... but I just don't. It's not part of my relationship with my Barbies, I guess!

But BJDs are different. I guess it's the influence of all of you out there, with your lovely photos and having the Gallery open for all. And with all the Meetups and the beautiful clothes and shoes and wigs and all... And I'm happy to be influenced to actually PLAY with my doll! I love the interaction. I have lots of stuff I've collected and just sit there! I don't need MORE! It's so fun to be doing something different with my BJDs!

 

QFE!


I wouldn't buy a doll that I wouldn't have fun playing with. . . the entire reason I'm so interested in dolls is because my best friend and I like to play with them together XD (make up stories, pose them, dress them up, etc.)

 

I'm more the play than collect type myself. I have one doll at the moment and while I'm careful with him becuase I'd like him to last, he doesn't live in his box. Sitting him on the couch arm i can watch movies with him nearby and pose him to mimic crazy antics i see on the screen or capture poses i think are worth remembering.

I collected MLP beanie babies and I'm sure I ruined a few in my day playing with them but they brought me more joy having amazing adventures in the dirt and kiddie pool then than they could by being in perfect condition on a shelf today.


To me BJD's are toys and tools, one way or another they are meant to be handled. However whether it's with gentle touches that preserve them or more exuberant ones that leave them intact but with signs of wear the point is that they are to be enjoyed individually.

 

I just about cracked yesterday. I finally told my mom about Tanal, and she asked me if I had a good case to keep him safe. At the time he was in his most common spot when not actually held, perched on the back of the sofa (also the first place I sat him after he got here). So I told her I'd kept the box he came in. What drew me in irresistibly was the combination of a new, reusable canvas and the playability of them. As other people have said, I have enough dust collectors already, and any doll I've had that I couldn't play with frustrated me, thus my collector Barbies were never displayed, but instead shoved to the back of my closet.

Of course, I doubt I'll ever get any limiteds or specials or such, or even face-ups by anyone of note (unless I get a lot better myself and can make a name), so that doesn't hit. I would feel weird about playing with a limited simply because of it being an elite whatever, but if I bonded with them I wouldn't be able to resist (especially brushing hair, I have an obsession with brushing doll hair). And I fully intend to do all my own face-ups, and any mod work, so that's a moot point.

 

I like playing with my dolls-as in,taking them to meet-ups, taking pictures of them, sewing for them, having them on my lap..etc, but I also love building a little set, dressing them and then just pose them and let them sit there and stare at them. If I had more room,I'd love to make a little display for them, and yes, maybe that would be behind glass. But as soon as I'd feel like playing again, I'd open up the display, get one of the dolls out and play with it. So, I guess I'm a playing collector? XD XD

I play with all my dolls the same,btw. I own a Scarface Cecile, and sold his outfit, repainted his lips, replaced his eye and wig etc..because I didn't want a Scarface Cecile, I wanted Sumiya. I'm a bit more careful with him, as in,touching the face and taking him to meet-ups, but he gets just as much play as my two other dolls.

 

One of my favorite dolls that I own is my Edmond. He is a limited Volks SD13 Chris that was repainted (at not a cheap cost) by one of my favorite customizers. It would be extremely costly and possibly impossible, for me to have him repaired or replaced if something happened to him.

however... I don't leave him in a display case. He's always sitting on my desk where I can see him more often! I also play with him just as much as my other dolls. Perhaps I'm use a more gingerly touch when getting anything near his face... but other than that?

as to loss of value, IMHO, the doll only looses value if the faceup has been damaged on the face-part of the doll. Ie, if there is a small stain from a wig that isn't veiwable when a wig is on, I don't care about that. (and hopefully most people don't). HOwever a scratch to the lip paint, etc, would definitely devalue the doll. Many people when a faceup recieves significant damage, feel that the doll should then be repainted or repaired.

With VOLKS One-offs, I feel that the dolls are still very valuable even if they dont have their outfits, simply because they are painted by well-known doll artists whose work is very very hard to come by. I mean, like, lets say a Shirou painted by MIKEY one-off. That doll is still going to be very valuable without the outfit, IMHO.

I'm actually very against this type of "completest" attitude towards limiteds and dolls. To me, the doll is the most important part, in reality, the face itself is the most important....
not the outfit or whether the doll has every paper it came with. I get discouraged when people feel that a limited is worth significantly less just because it doesnt have it's shoes or something. To me the doll is the thing.
and these dolls and this hobby, have always been to me, much more about customizing and getting your dream doll than having a complete set limited kept in a box. I was trying to get away from that when I left other doll "fandoms". It makes me sad to see it creeping up here more.
Life is short, I want to enjoy things that I have as much as I can, I guess.
If it was easy for me to have a display case near my desk (where I could see it) I wouldn't mind doing that, simply to avoid dust, as my dolls do sit around when I'm not playing with them.... but they wouldnt be in the case "instead of" being played with. They'd just be in there "until" they get played with next.

all that being said, of course everyone plays with their dolls differently, and if they want to keep their doll in the box and never play with it, that's their choice. I personally though would not spend the money for a doll unless I planned to at the very least enjoy it out of the box.

... I never buy a doll with the thought of the resale value, even though I do part with my dolls sometimes. I also never buy a doll because it is limited, though sometimes the limited-ness adds to the appeal of the already lovely doll.

 

I play with my dolls - I take them out on travel excursions and if I go on holiday, one or two of them go with me and my dogs!
The have become companions of a sort - it's a great life for them - not just sitting in boxes or on shelves gathering dust. That idea depresses me.........

 

I am a very hands-on person with my dolls Forcing myself to wear gloves while playing with them would be very stupid for me because I'm always nudging them around and fussing with their hair or clothes. I treat my most expensive the same than my cheapest. That doesn't mean I don't be careful around them; two have faceups that cost me a pretty penny and I love them to bits, but I do understand that as time comes and goes so will the pristine condition they come to me in. Stuff will happen to them, but I do take measures to try and avoid it.

I wouldn't consider myself a 'collector' as I buy them to fill a certain character role for the most part; I would see myself as a collector if doing that lead to making entire casts or I simply started getting too many dolls that I needed to make specific room for them. So as long as I can rest all my dolls on two bed tables and a desk, I'm just a girl playin' with her dolls. :3

 

for a while after i got my narae, i was terrified of touching her. it got to the point where she ended up back in her box under my bed. for a while, she was a pretty piece of resin that i ooh'd and ahh'd at but had no special bond with.

i fell in love with her all over again after i started actually handling her regularly and giving her "personality" of sorts.

i can't remember where the thread was, but i remember someone calling them playthings that look like art. i agree. also, they're so realistic and alive and human-like that it's difficult not to "bond" with it as you spend more time with it, almost like forging real human relationships, as ridiculous as that sounds.

i don't know where i'm going with this. x)

 

Not enough money for me to get any limiteds or the pricier dolls. All of mine are off the shelf, so to speak. And they get ruthlessly played with.
Not like thrown against a wall ruthless, but embarrassed endlessly by outfits and situations.

 

Agreed. ^^ My boys aren't mint. They've fallen, their faceups have chipped, scratched, and dulled, but they're still beautiful. Faceups are just paint, I'm going to get them painted again. While I'd never do anything to hurt them on purpose, I don't treat them like they're breakable either.

What I own, I do what I want with. Period.

If all I did was keep them mint in a box, I'd find no happiness in keeping them. To each their own though.

All dolls may very well one day become yellow as a lemon. ^^; That doesn't bother me too much in the end. One day, I'll get really wrinkly. XD What can you do?