Too young for the hobby?

I am only fourteen, and I feel that age is but a number. I think that having the will to save up for a BJD alone shows that you can successfully care for one once you finially get it~. It's about commitment and perserverence! Maturity isin't all there is to it.

 

Well, I'm almost 16 (Sure doesn't feel like it x,x ) But I've wanted a bjd since I was 14... I started saving around my 15 birthday, so, I've been saving for about a year, now, and will have enough money for my first by winter time. Like evryone said, it's all about your maturity level, and I'll admit, a couple years ago (12 and under), I could probably be trusted holding one, but not owning one (And probably not be allowed to move it's limbs, in fear of breaking them off >__>'' ). Now that I've matured a bit and I've had to save up ALL the money to buy it (exept shipping, thank you for that, mom (It would have actually taken another half year or so to get that x,x) ) so I know that I'll take supremo good care of him, knowing how much money a lot of money actually is. (You can say, 'oh, that's a lot of money' but actually having to save/work for it brings it to a whole other light, which I'm sure most of you know. ) so, I think as long as you know the worth of what they cost, and what is put into getting it, and the metality of being able to take care of it, and not break it super quickly (and hopefully never) I think younger people should be able to have them.

 

Well just to add my 2 cents again, my five year old daughter just got her first BJD for her birthday, and her two years older sister has had her first since Christmas. They play with them respectfully and put them up either with my dolls or on another safe surface when they are done. My older girl has brought her to meetups, and the baby took hers out the other day on an outing. They see how I play with mine and they get it. Children mirror what you do, and I love my dolls but mine are played with! My girls get the difference, they will even say "Is this resin or plastic?" about dolls they are not sure of.
I had expensive dolls my whole childhood, I grew up loving the feel of quality things.

 

I think its okay for kids that are over the age of 12 to own a bjd. Kids under 12 might not know the value of a bjd or how to take care of it (cleaning, restringing etc.) It depends on the knowledge of the kid and maturity, and if they can take good care of it. I mean no one is gonna buy something expensive for someone who is unreliable and doesn't care about the value because it didn't come from their money.

 

I don't think it's a matter of age, it depends on the personality of the owner if you ask me. I know some people in their twenties who don't take care of their expensive possessions and leave them lying around to get scratched up and damaged.

When I was 12 years old I always took care of my dolls. I was so protective of them that I often wouldn't let other people hold the more delicate ones.

If a child or preteen is responsible enough to take care of their video games/systems, ipods, cds, etc. I don't think they are too young to have their own BJD. Especially if they have someone around to teach them how to take care of it properly.

 

I've had expensive dolls my entire life. (Not many, but I still had them!) I was only allowed to play with them once I understood that "expensive" meant that Mommy would be very upset if they got hurt because we couldn't afford to take them to the doctor. (I was pretty young. Five-ish.) In my experience (my own and what I've witnessed), it's a matter of explaining things in such a way that the child will understand the value.

Then again, I've had to do that for a few adult friends too. ("She costs as much as an PS3, so be careful.")

 

Although I just got my first bjd...I feel that people who BARELY know about bjds and think they can just buy one without researching first shouldn't get one. These are delicate works of art that should be properly cared for. Before I got my first bjd, I went online and researched more about them and how to care for them, especially since this is a very large investment.

Their level of responsibility and maturity are what matters, not age. If that girl is responsible and mature enough, then I say she should go for it! (with a little research first haha)

But it's their choice and their money, so it's not my problem...but I still don't think they should just get one without looking into it first.....

 

it's all about money. BJDs are expensive. their accessories are expensive. so far if the kids (or their family) could afford it. thats OK.

 

After Tuesday night, I'm thinking "too young" is any age where the person is incapable of being gentle with or without guidance. That can be any age between birth and death. I brought Josslyn with me to work that night and I let an 8 yr old sit next to me and play with her. I told her to be gentle and not to touch her face. I patiently answered her "why?" because she really did want to know, and she was the picture of perfect play. She has dolls that she has to play gently with apparantly so I really think that if she wants one she'd be ok. I also let two 4 yr olds hold her; you could see them trying so hard to stay still and keep their curious fingers away from her face. If they had someone willing to show them how to handle it and patiently answer their questions, they'd be fine with one. Unaided, though, they'd probably damage it without meaning to.Children love to learn and they*will* learn if they are interested and motivated. They know how to use the internet and if they don't already know how to do a websearch for information, they're learning how to in school.

I don't think the cost should be factored into the "too young" decision. If you can afford it, you get it and it doesn't matter whether you scrimped and saved, asked for it, borrowed it, were gifted it, won it, etc. There is no desert involved and a company doesn't care; they won't make A's doll any more special than B's just because the person had to work harder and the other just asked for it. That's a personal matter.

 

I'm not sure when my daughter will be old enough for resin, but when I get my doll come spring, I'm planning to get her a plastic ball-jointed doll. A small part of it is 'Here, this is yours, leave Mom's alone', but most of it is that she's not going to learn to handle things properly without some kind of practice. There's a certain fairness aspect too. I got a DSi for myself with this year's tax refund, and got her a Leapster. She no longer clamors for my toy because she has her own, and she treats mine a lot more carefully than she did before she got hers. I anticipate that the behavior will carry over.

 

I think age is a poor indicator of maturity and intellect, I know some people aged 30+ who really should go back to playchool and a 14 year old who should run for Mayor, so I don't think you can be too young for this hobby; caring for valuable objects all boils down to how well you were brought up. Of course there are going to be spoiled brats with moronic parents to buy them "prestige" gifts they don't give a damn about (the kind of horrid families who end up on MTVs My Super Sweet Sixteen and are just begging to be slapped ) but we shouldn't tag all BJD owning kids with the undeserving mini Paris Hilton tag. I actually think younger owners might be a refreshing change on the scene because a child's imagination usually knows no boundaries; imagine the visual delights - SOOM Sard portraying a pink haired silver eyed flamenco dancing robot with a frog for a best friend? no problem .

 

Forgive me if this is off topic, but I thought it might be worthy to mention that I attended this year's Doll Free Market in Seoul and not just a few of the doll owners there were kids, even as young as 8 or 9. A few times I even had to dodge small children running with resin. It was pretty shocking for me, to say the least.

Anyways, my point is.. it really makes me wonder if availability has anything to do with it? I mean, I know that $400 for a gift when I was growing up was totally unheard of, but everyone knew someone who had one of those Barbie jeeps, right? If BJDs weren't so "exotic" and hard to come by, would it even be an issue?

Just somethin' to think about. ^^

RL example:

 

You have a good point--$400 for a gift was completely unheard of when I was growing up. I once got a Sega Saturn for a combination Christmas and birthday present. It was $200 at the time. But a console is something that my brother and I would both use, I doubt I ever would have gotten it otherwise.

But indeed I had friends growing up that had Power Wheels and got brand new TVs for their bedrooms, each kid had their OWN console... When I was in the first grade a friend of mine had a collection of porcelain dolls. I guess it wouldn't be totally absurd considering that... If they were available at Toys R Us or something.

 

I don't believe in such a thing as too young for a hobby, this hobby or any other hobby. Though I do believe in too young for a lot of interaction through an online or offline community. It all depends on how the youngster goes about interacting with people in the hobby, but children and adults can be in the hobby without interacting with people. So as a whole, I'd say there's never an age too young for a hobby.

 

I don't blame you for being curious as to if that child would have taken care of a doll like that.
If the parent didn't bat an eyelid at the price, it probably means the child normally gets what she wants, no problem; or that the family itself has that much money that they can just.. Throw it around, as it were. Of course these implications could lead to the assumption that because this girl gets what she wants, doesn't have to earn, save, borrow and pay back money for what she wants (like most of us), then does she really appreciate the things she's given?
What I suppose I'm getting to is, if a young person (such as myself) wants to get into this hobby, that's fine. No age is too young (within reason; 4/5 year olds? Silly. ). However like Rikka_Mika says, it depends on how they treat other doll owners. If that child mocks those older than him/her because he/she gets given a new doll every month and the older person cannot afford that because they work for a living, I'd find that unacceptable. But it all depends on who's paying for the damn thing ^^
/Rant.
Carry on

 

I was eleven when I got my first doll, and I was definitely not too young. I was prepared to pay her full price but my parents told me they would split the cost of her with me. However, lots of eleven year olds that I know I would not even trust with my favorite Barbie doll. It really depends on how mature you are. If a mother thinks that her twelve year old can handle taking care of a BJD then that's great. If the child still has temper tantrums and beats up toys I'm sure that no parent would buy their child such an expensive doll to play with.

(also, I look like I'm 12 when I am really 14, so it may be the same case for the girl you met. )

 

Even at 11 I was a relatively mature and quite depressed child tbh I think a doll might have helped me. I'm 17 now and I have had dolls since I was 15 and known of them since I was 14.
I personally did loads of research before jumping in. But as said before it's not a matter of age but of maturity. An incident like this would scare me. It has scared me, my younger sisters friend of 10 asked her mother for one and the mother encouraged it until she found out the price. While I have only small doubts that this little girl will care for her teh concept of her with a BJD did worry me which makes me feel hipocritical as for Christmas I plan to give my sister my unfortunately unloved hujoo. Though my sister has cared for her much more than me, she has done her first face-up(with my help) and cared for this doll so much more than I ever have I know a lot of people would be shocked at this concept but i feel situations like this you have to be in yourself and have a personal investment before you can see it as ok.

 

My friend bought his 11 year old daughter a doll for her birthday. She'd wanted one for a very, very long time since she saw mine. (He totally knew he was in trouble when she saw them xD)

However my friends daughter is extremely mature for her age. She treats fragile things very carefully, and takes exceptional good care of her pets.

I seriously have never met such a well behaved little girl with such a bright spirit. That being said, I think some kids are too young, but others aren't. There are some very great young kids out there, and some that really need an attitude adjustment. I don't think it's fair to judge them all based on their age

 

Interesting question. My daughter was 10 when she ordered her first bjd, that she saved up for herself. She chose a yosd, found that was too small for her liking, so we sold it and she had to start saving all over again for her msd, and she just did her first faceup at age 11. She learned lots from both me and other bjd sites before getting her own.
The thought of even very wealthy parents getting an expensive doll for a young kid appalls me. They will never appreciate what they have without the research, saving and patience it takes to get a bjd. It's such a great learning experience to set your eyes on a goal and work hard until you achieve it.

 

I'malittle surprised about someof the answers of this threadabout prices and children supposed to be spoiled with BJD as a too expensive item.
Most of my 11 years old son's friends have consoles (and yes, often more than one ), expensive and fragile items, and nobody finds it curious.
A Puki costs less than a DS, and only around 3 times the price of a DS game. I think it's a really great way to develop imagination, care and creative crafts, more original and rich than video games, so I don't see why it would be different to trust a child with a BJD than with a console, if (s)he prefers ?