Rough Play

My dolls are very very played with, not only by myself but by my two daughters, aged 6 and 4. They know not to be too rough with them, in fact before she is given a doll to play with my little one always asks "Is this one resin or plastic?" My older one has her own, and the younger one has one on the way. I love my dolls and I love to play with them. Of course some are not real play material, in fact there are a few that I don't even love to take to meetups, like Jadis my Elfdoll Polaris, her elf ears are so delicate.
I have friends who can attest to the fact that I've said at some random place "hold on, I think I have a doll in here" and have pulled a tiny out of my purse. Yeah. this is a true story.
Whoa Kiyakotari, that is pretty awesome load to be toting! I feel burdened dragging three or four of them to a meetup!
The worst injury I ever inflicted on a doll was actually during a tame photoshoot. Fortunately it was to Snake, my Elfdoll Mir, so he just tells everyone he got his other scars in a bar fight.

 

I am careful to keep my dolls out of direct sunlight and if I'm not playing with them, I put them in carriers or throw a dark cloth over them, but other than that, I'm not overly cautious with them. I consider them as my personal interactive toys, not delicate collectibles. The ability to play with them is the very reason I bought them.

 

I figure a doll is a doll, most of mine I've done the faceup on and I love to have them out and playing with them, I don't always get time tho so they do tend to sit on their shelf and look pretty, I'll move them around a little, since they're in the sitting room if visitors are due I make sure they're looking their best, maybe put a couple of faceupless ones away (they kinda look odd if you're not used to them) I find people are nearly always interested and will come ask questions - so a nice display makes that a bit special.

Dolls are meant to be played with, resin's tough - I can see why a super rare limited might be locked away, and I don't have any kind of problem with folks who feel they need to treat them with kid gloves - that's just their way of caring - it's just not how I do things. Mine are hiked outside for shoots, things are blutacked to their hands for posing and more shoots. I am more careful with Kryss who has a limited faceup, he's never allowed to fall if I can help it (not that the others are either but he's never left standing while I go move a hair from someone's face like the others are) always kept safely but by no means left in his box. I want to enjoy seeing him on a daily basis without having to haul him out of a box and pack him away again. The others I've done the faces on - and I'm confident enough with it that I can fix dings - so far I've been lucky no breaks - if that happens I figure I'll be onto the company begging a replacement piece.

As a kid I never saw the point of collector dolls who couldn't have their own 'life' (coz I'm a sucker for the whole 'bjd as person' thing - not deluded, just how I do things - my friend collects dolls as well, not bjd, but we have a great time swapping stories and ideas about our original characters) I kinda think the aesthetic of the BJD is intended to be a part of the family, cared for resin person rather than art Piece that is to be kept pristine.

 

Hahah, I wish I could be like this with my doll. I try not to make a big deal about keeping her away from everything all of the time, because I don't want her to be a closet baby, and I want her to feel sort of like a friend, but the klutz and the perfectionist inside of me sort of act against that. I can't leave her standing somewhere and walk even a few feet away, because I'm so worried that she'll fall down. I figure it's sort of amusing to watch actually, because I try to walk away, but then I'm pulled back by this invisible thread to my doll and keep hesitating ^_^;; I actually had her standing on a table once at a friends house, and something bumped the table and she fell flat on her face and her headcap came off. But ALL that happened was a little tiny spot of the sealant on her nose came off. You might think this would reassure me to her sturdiness, but no...
I carry her around with me everywhere, though. If that counts XD
So, yea. I guess not everyone can be carefree (hmm. Not the most accurate word, but you get it...) with their dolls, but I find it to be the better standpoint, and I sort of wish I could...

 

My dolls are my toys. So, if I didn't actually play with them they wouldn't have much purpose to me. I am careful about faceups though. I am not skilled in this area. I want to keep how often I have to pay for faceups to a minimum. It saves me money and the time they would be away from me.

 

THIS.

I have my dolls kept like this, and tweaking them when I walk by or petting their hair or whatever makes me happy. So they get a little yellow (mine are mostly all older dolls [over 4 years] so they're kinda yellow to begin with), they still make me happy and I don't intend on selling them anytime soon.

 

I don't really handle them rough... but like u all say... xD I brought my kiddos here to work in my bag. Like my handbags(huge one) or back packs or even my sling bags. Except for the tiny one I will put them in another mum made small bag with cushion inside for them. I don't put extra padded cushion nor what cause I know that they will be fine. xD I took bus sometimes or even trains with humans packed up inside squashing me but I still manage to protect them. LOOL

I don't really take them out much to shopping malls except if there is a doll meet or my friend wanted to see them. I don't mind letting my colleagues to hold and carry them as long as they are doing it in front of me. They did fall for a few times but none scratches nor chip off on them which proof they are tough. I can handle them with care and be gentle to them at the same time.

 

This has given me so much more confidence - I always was worried I'd break my doll, and have got annoyed at my sister before for knocking him over, but I guess they arent all that breakable, as long as you treat them with care. Thank you!

 

Me and my doll friends refer to our dolls as 'grubby dolls' as we manhandle them so much and theyve always got marks and dirt on them. I like my dolls to look pretty grubby and I like to handle them roughly; taking them out, taking photos, dressing them up...thats how I play with them. I have only ever had one break (fingers) since I started with dolls in 2006. That was when one was sat on a shelf out of the way and it fell off! I carry them round by the neck, stuff them into bags. I always think I can re do their face ups or clean them up, sand away chips...with that attitude nothing has actually happened to them! I do tend to keep them out of the sunlight though as yellowing cant be reversed!

 

I try to be as careful as I can with my dolls, but sometimes I feel I'm rather clumsy with them too. I have several that I handle more than others and some that I keep basically untouched becuase I'm trying to "preserve" their newness. I liked reading that you handle your dolls a lot and take them with you. It's a concept I had not considered before. I think if I had a nicer work space I'd probably bring a doll with me to work. I may as well since it seems I "live" there more than I do at home!
Thanks for the thread, it was interesting!
Jan

 

I'm somewhere in the middle, I think. When I go to meet-ups the wigs come off and the face-protectors go on. But I'm currently folding 1 Supergem, 2 SDs, 3 MSDs and 2 tinies into one wheeled scrapbooking case.

My crew sit on the island in my kitchen, which is on the dark side. Sometimes, if I'm not using them specifically, I'll put the ones that have boxes back in their boxes in the bedroom and the ones who don't on a bookcase there. But mostly they're out and about. I take them outside, though I don't leave them out in the sun and photograph and play with them often. I do my own face-ups and I've full body sanded two dolls now, so I'm reasonably confident about my ability to fix anything.

The one thing I'm careful about is preventing falls. They sit or lay down or stand with a doll stand. I don't want broken fingers or bashed noses.

 

When I traveled with mine I lacked a carrying case.... so she went through the airport x-ray machine probably 6+ times already.

I don't know if that counts as rough play but at the same time seeing her show up on the monitor looked really cool >.>

 

Every once and a while I'll get a little 'rough' with my doll with actions like 'you are going on the bed now *light toss*' and 'wow this body is so sturdy *swings around by waist*'. I generally try treating them gently but I'm not paranoid about a litte rough handling when I know that the doll can take it without damage.

 

I'm kinda ocd when it comes to certain items like faceplates of electronics and such but I've found that I'm pretty rough with my pullip except for her faceup - fairly certain that it's going to be a similar story once my first BJD comes in. Definitely not a huge fan of keeping things in boxes either, it's much nicer to be able to look at your favorite things on a consistent basis.

 

Well...I guess this would be easier by making a list...

1) I'll keep them on a shelf for days at a time where sunlight can get to them and also my kitten. (Happily there have been no mishaps as of yet)
2) I'll pick Kori up by one arm and carry him that way or swing him up to rest on my shoulder or in my other arm.
3) I take him out without a case and let him ride on my lap in the car.
4) Just carry him in the sun. (He's been sprayed though so I don't know if that counts...)
5) I have left him in a dark wig that ended up staining his head once. (Luckily that came off)

It should be noted that I only ever treat my own dolls this way and I would never think of doing any of these things with anyone else's dolls. I've been pretty lucky so far, even though I deeply believe these dolls are to be enjoyed and not kept in boxes :3 (Yay for personal opinions~)

 

I'm not really overprotective with my dolls. I take them out when I'm using them during the daylight but otherwise they stay sitting on a shelf in my closet away from sunlight and my crazy little nephews (when they're over).

Though I've noticed I'm fine with me touching the face and holding them, but when someone else does it I get nervous. Completely irrational but at least it only be my fault if something did happen.

I did have one big fall which resulted in broken fingers. I left my Chrom posed against the coffee table. I forgot about the new slippery wood floors... and well my BF put his foot on the other side of the coffee table while I was in the other room and the table scooted a bit. Well, Chrom fell onto of his hand. Never heard a noise so scary in my life as four little fingers scatter over the floor. But all fingers were found and he looks quite awesome w/ his little bandaged hand.

So dolls never left standing is one thing I'm really careful of.

EDIT: Same bf also responsible for accidentally knocking my dollshe boy's faceplate onto the tile floor from the table. He landed right on his nose but not a scratch. Still I can say I get nervous when he touches my dolls

 

Im also new to this hobby and my first doll is going home in a couple of weeks... this thread is very helpful thank you

I just have a question if anybody can answer.. uhmm if I keep them in an areas where the curtains are down and only light from a fluorescent is the only thing lighting them and occationally taking them out for photoshoots.. how long will it take for them to yellow? approximately?

 

There are only a couple I'm very careful with. My DZ Shoyo and Megi-2 cause both of them have ended up with snapped fingers due to me not packing them right and being a tad careless. The other I'm real careful with is my Yo Nono cause I spent a lot of money with her and she's a bit of a dream doll so I'm not going to treat her the way I do the others.

Now my 2 pukis, orientdoll, SwD Myu, and Yo Hinaichigo I am not as gentle with. My Myu is quite floppy stringing wise cause it's easier to get her to sit that way and I carry her around all the time. Her face up was done by the previous owner so I know when that face up fades I got a few friends capable of doing a new face up. It's gonna be redone eventually anyway so I don't see the point in being overly careful. She's built far better as a Volks and it's an old body so she's quite solid so I don't worry about her as much. The pukis are the same way. Built quite well, only careful to make sure the hands are still attached but I'll do things with them that is far from gentle.

It just depends on the doll for me. Rhiannon I can't get her anymore in the sense that DZ changed their resin and she's the old normal skin. Adam I could get him again but it wouldn't be the same. Celeste was such a large investment I'm not about to do something to her really nice face up or her body cause she's all limited for right now.

And I don't care about sunlight. I stopped caring about a month after I got Rhiannon back in 2007. They all gonna yellow to some extent no matter what so no point is going crazy unless the doll is french resin. And Shayla as a doll that was released in 2003 had a barely noticeable tint of yellow to her (got her April 2009) compared to Celeste that was brand new UV cut resin from 2009. It's not as bad as it seems in my opinion.