They get dirty doing meet-ups (About dolly respect)

If you're going to take your doll to a meetup or convention and allow people to touch them, they ARE going to get dirty, no matter how "clean" the hands of the people touching him are.

When I go to Michigan Meetups, I freely allow people there to handle my dolls, but regardless of that, they usually ask anyways, or only move them a small amount to make room for another doll to sit down.

What I find really helpful at conventions is this: Pose the doll in an intimidating way. Put it on a Doll Stand, dress it in fancy clothes, make it look like a piece of art rather than just a doll laying around. People are more apt to gaze on it from afar and admire, rather than come up and touch. The only people I really let touch my dolls at a convention are other people carrying around dolls or people who come up to me and exhibit a vast knowledge on them... because they understand that these are delicate things and you don't run fingernails over their faceups or anything.

... and as for me personally, I try never to touch a doll without permission.

 

I actively ask people not to touch Bella's face, and when I handle her I'm usually wearing gloves (but then I always wear gloves in the house 'cause it's so fscking cold asftrlwktjr). I mean, they can play with and pose Bella. That's no problem. But if their hands are dirty or they touch her face, then I digivolve into 3bi1!screamy!person.

 

Just a QFE on this point. I noticed when I had my crew all dressed up in their fancy outfits at the last few meets I've been at, most people just looked, instead of touching. It was rather interesting to see.

~Anrui

 

Eh.. To an extent I can see not wanting your things to be manhandled at a meet. I mean, I am also into video games and whenever my friends and I have LAN parties it is general manners to not just be reckless with other's things. Granted, most dolls are more expensive than the most top of the line gaming console or gaming rig depending on your preference. However, the same rules should apply..

It, however, infuriates me beyond comprehension that people who are generally reputed as being careless and such are always referred to as 'stupid kids' and we are careless, reckless, haphazard, and all sorts of other horrid, horrid things without any of you ever meeting us. I, for one, am so very careful with things when they are someone elses. I never even JOKE about doing something dumb with them unless the person is a very very close friend (like "Omg I'll release all your pokemons!" etc) and I NEVER actually do anything mean.
In the case of dolls, I don't think I'd ever be bold enough so as to actually touch someone's doll for fear of being blamed for something I didn't do, or didn't do intentionally.

Stuff happens, and it has nothing to do with anyones age, origins, or otherwise.

If the person is well-intentioned that's all you should care about. Yes, some people are careless... just tell them the worth of the doll is more than enough to take them to court over it, and bluff (or not?) and say that you've obviously got the disposable income to take them there.

I do also agree that if you dont want your dolls dirtied and touched that others should honor that request. I personally would ask for a collateral of something that the person couldn't leave without, if I didnt know them and they were in a wide enough space as to run off, and they wanted to hold something valuable of mine, doll or not. Because if you arent at a DOLL meet, who else in the building is going to take you seriously when you're screaming "STOP!! MY DOLLY!!" in a crowded space?

As far as the posing.. if you don't want people to do it, then specify that they ask first. I see nothing wrong with plopping one doll into the lap of another if no damage is done and you'd agreed to let them touch/play with your doll. Your doll is a doll. At the end of the day that's what it is, and why should you be snarky and put off others from having HARMLESS fun?

For changing characters, well that's lovely except they CANT change your character without your permission, and if you state that they are using pics of your doll without your permission I am sure the mods will do something about it.

My two cents..

 

In general, I do not like people just grabbing my dolls. Not that I am particularly happy when someone holds my doll with a feather-light touch, because they are more likely to drop the doll if they do not support it well.

On the other hand, touching face-ups is just a no one. In general, it is polite to ask before touching a doll.

Hell, I even try and remember to ask before taking a photo. And I love taking photographs.

 

That is disgusting. .. I would never leave a doll with people to man handle personally. People are really dirty... ick.

 

lol..I no what ya mean...I figure Ya accidents happen, but I can fix just about anything that breaks on him or clean him when I get home
Even if it can be a lil exspensive to Fix..oh well Its a risk im willing to take

 

When at a meet up I never eat or drink anything if I can avoid it, and stops my hands from being dirty, therefore I keep my own and others clean. ^^ Or if I have, I wash my hands straight after. Its kind of common courtesy to do that right? If you don't wan people to do that to your doll, you shouldn't do it to anyone elses. At doll meets I don't mind when people pick up my dolls, because I trust all of them to take good care of them and to not lunge with dirty paws at them! xD
In fact, I trust everyone at the newcastle meet so much, I would let them doll-sit anyone of my dolls when they want to. ^^

 

I panic if I notice my Ducan has any marks on him from just sitting around the house with me. xD; So I don't think I could handle taking him to something like that and letting lots of people touch him.

 

Peh. It's called Magic Eraser and dirt comes off, you know? I tend to not let people hold my dolls if they don't know what they're doing, but I do outdoor photoshoots a lot and play with my dolls a LOT and so they're always getting dirty. But that's why cleaning products exist, lol.

I don't let people touch Baron unless I know them very well. Luckily, since he's one of a kind, people don't get uppity about me telling them "Touch him and I kill you." (And if you think that's not what I say, you don't know me real well, lol!) I'm more lenient on my other dolls, but now I only keep them in situations where I know I can keep an eye on them and I trust everyone.

 

At our meet-ups everyone's pretty cool, so I really don't care who touches my dolls or what they do with them, because they're in good hands at our meets. They always ask me before touching them, (since I'm not used to anyone ever asking me for anything and just taking it) I find it a little odd XD

As for a convention? I doubt I'd go anywhere at all with my guys at a convention. I can't. Too much of a risk for someone not in the hobby to snatch them, or break them and not really know their value/care.

I'm paranoid about touching other people's dolls at our meets. I get scared, because a lot of the owners at our meets have rather expensive dolls some are limited others are just the ones that you know will fall if the breeze brushes them the wrong way. I hesitate to touch without permission x.x"

 

You have to accept that your doll wont come back exactly the way it was when it left home.

I dont mind people handling my dolls. In fact I practically throw them into peoples arms whenever I get the chance. XD Or if we're going from place to place I'll give them to someone else to carry to make my own load lighter.

I'm alright with them getting a bit dirty here and there. I always take some magic sponge with me to clean them up so they look lovely and sparkly for photos.

I guess the only thing that would annoy me is if they get permanent scratches/scars on them at the meet cause that wouldnt be so easy to get rid of.

 

People at the meetups I've been to are carefull with each others dolls. As long as no one touches their face ups, I don't mind people handling them. Dirt comes off very easily, and it's not something I worry about overmuch (heck, I handle them all the time anyway). I've let people at cons hold one of my dolls before--however, I usually ask them to sit down first so they don't accidently drop the doll (they can be surprisingly heavy if you've never held one before).

 

I have my "play" doll, and I will have my "keep at home and me only" dolls...

After looking at dolls for years, I've realized that it kind of upsets me when people wander around anime conventions with their dolls, showing them off like some kind of jewelry, and then when I ask to see them or pose them, they freak out. I want to see how different dolls from different companies pose and how they work. That's part of my research into which doll to get next time.

So when I take Jacob out somewhere (and I take him all over the place), I encourage anyone who's interested to hold him and try posing him. After all, how are they going to learn?

And for the most part, people don't touch the face. (he's sprayed pretty well with sealant anyway, so any smudges can be wiped off easily), and he's got clothes on, so most of the body is covered.

 

I'm way too over-protective and paranoid to let just anyone touch my doll. If I actually went to meet ups, I'm sure my dolls would be stay with me at all times. I care about them to much to let just anyone poke and prod at them.

I understand the desire to be hospitable. However, there's really no reason to get miffed. You were trying to be kind, but in the end you did allow just about anyone to touch. You should be more careful. Mabye it's just me being naive, but if I don't like the look of you, you're not getting anywhere near my dolls. Just finished eating a giant slice of chocolate cake, and there's no sink in sight? Not gonna happen. Allergies acting up? Take an antihistamine and we'll talk. Just walked 8 blocks in the sweltering heat with a doll under each arm to the doll meet? Sorry, no.

My standards would probably get labeled as rude, stuck-up or a snob. However, if I want to hold your doll, you can be darn sure I’m going to go out of my way to wash my hands. To me it is only courteous.

 

To be fair if a lot of people who were handling the doll were at an Anime convention they can't be expected to realise the value of these dolls, some do, but equally a lot of them have never heard anything about them before. They just think 'ooh pretty toy' and wade in happily to have a closer look on their way around the hall, not realising that a few minutes on the drawing tables has their hands black with pencil, it's not really practical for doll owners in this scenario to demand utter cleanliness and washed hands before they let the 'general public' handle the dolls. It isn't intentional malice on the part of the public, it's just being unaware of protocol.

When I was at Japanex last year I solved the problem of only taking the girl who's faceup I did myself around the hall and allowed people to handle her. I do ask about hands but I always make a joke of it - something like 'sorry to ask, no offence intended it's just that any marks on them are a nightmare to get off' and I find that does the trick with no unpleasantness at all. In fact just mentioning it leads to deeper conversations about how the faceups are done in the first place. As far as I am concerned if I am at a public dollmeet (at a con) my dolls are 'ambassadors' for dolldom and people are going to want to handle them, because otherwise why would we take them? (I mean this from the publics point of veiw not doll owners)

Doll hobby meetups are a different matter, the people there can be expected to know what they're about and so I let my specials and limiteds be handled because I know the people are very trustworthy, and I take along either a doll who's awaiting a faceup or Kefri (my girl who's face I did) and I am happy that anyone can handle her, so if there's a newbie who's along to see what all this madness is about then I am sure that someone has a doll that it doesn't matter if damage happens. Accidents do happen and I'd far rather we rescued the whole situation with 'oh not to worry I was still working on him anyhow' so we dont put the newbie or would be doll fan off as well, rather than 'OHMIGOD I can NEVER replace that faceup you IDIOT' Which IMO does the doll hobby harm as well.

 

A lot of people like to point and squeak happily at the pretty doll. I like to, when someone recognizes my doll or compliments it, to stick the doll's hand up in a waving position. That delights most congoers but also shows "Sorry, I'm the only one handling it, thanks."

There are ways to get around it. But no, littleblackbow, you wouldn't get to touch any of my dolls at a convention unless I see that you have your own in tow. How can I know if you're trustworthy? That you know how to handle dolls? Just because you say so? Noooot really. We show them off, yes, but...I'm simply not going to set myself up for that. Another reason why I only take out my dolls in trusted situations with trusted people.

 

I dont mind people playing with my dolls, granted they have their own. Some dolls I am very anal about, my One-off Jun T for example. Then again my girl Emma who I have had forever gets played with all the time. I am anal about people touching my dolls faces.

 

Well, since I'm inherently a germaphobe and neatfreak, I handle my dolls and doll things with the utmost care. So in case of worst-case scenarios, I didn't want to bring her to places with a lot of people that might not... treat her so well.
But it just so happens that there was this one incident where I was convinced to bring my girl to a convention. And upon spotting her, one of my friends that we met up with stared at her in fascination and and suddenly reached out lightning-quick and gently stroked her cheek once and said, "It feels like porcelain."
I thought that out of all the people, I would be the one most anal about others touching my doll, but I found that I didn't mind at all. I guess it's all because I was kinda surprised that my tall, shady, intimidating-looking guy friend would be that gentle to my doll when I expected most people to just stare at her strange or run the other way as fast as they can. I found that oddly touching in a way...

I'm such a sap, lol.

 

My dolls are probably "filthy" according to some of the ridiculously high standards of some of the people on these forums.

I constantly touch my dolls, move them around my room, have my friends touch them, take them places... so on and so forth. I don't see the point in not having something that can be played with.... I don't get enjoyment from saying "WELL MY MY, look how CLEAN my doll is!!"

With that said, at meetups/cons, I don't really care who holds my dolls. I hand them over to kids, to teens, to adults, monsters, and ghosts. It's just not a big deal to me. The only thing I ever say is "Please don't touch his face, he CAN smudge. Anything else is fine though. ^___^"

And with that preface, NO ONE has ever touched his face. Simple, really.

Love.