Would you loan someone your doll or ask to borrow one?

Only to my housemate last year, and maybe my girlfriend. My housemate's girlfriend borrowed them a lot since she's also a photo major and used them for projects. She was incredibly careful with them and they never left the dorm.

 

Maybe, to another dolly lover. I'd probably look them up on here first and see if they've done this in the past and see how it went. If they did not have a DOA account I would most likely not lend them my dollie. By no means should all BJD owners be registered here but the basic level of characters of people on this site are good ones. Mostly everyone respects and cherishes these doll and knows their worth. But hell no to family most of the time. My sister, yes, but her room is right above mine, cousins? No.

My friends don’t really care/ think they’re creepy. But I know I would not lose a friendship over a broken lent doll but I don't think I'd want to replace him. But that's just me, if I have a bad experience with something I usually don't want to see/hear of it again. I couldn't look at the new one without keep thinking about the first version of him and his broken little resin body . These dolls are material objects but I’m the kind of person that gets attached to some material things especially after I've put so much of myself into them.

 

sounds like the people who actually have let people borrow them have had mainly good experiences. That's cheering.

 

I left my mini with a friend while she was in the hospital, to be her support group in my stead, and at the moment my favorite, Tian, is in another state visiting with his boyfriend. *laugh* But both of those people are well aware of the value of the dolls, and I know they are treated with the utmost respect.
I would not simply loan a doll out to a stranger, only to friends I already know I can trust.

 

Never. Not even to another doll owner. Some things are just too personal, like all my boots, corsets & dolls, to ever lend out.

 

I would lend anything I own to my best friend and I know she would do the same, and I'd have 0 worries. In fact, her doll spent about a month with me just cause. We got into the hobby together and lived together for a long time so whats mine is hers, and whats hers is mine, in a matter of speaking. Even if my doll got smashed to bits accidentally while in her care (this is so unlikely), he is completely replaceable whereas our friendship is absolutely irreplaceable.

As for anyone else, well it would depend. I don't really know of many people who would WANT to borrow my doll. I don't know my 'doll friends' well enough to lend them anything of mine (they're all just acquaintances really), and anyone else I know wouldn't really want to. My grandma loves the dolls but she doesn't sew or anything so would have to reason to borrow, but if she did of course I would trust her. I'd give her a few warnings like don't overly touch the face, don't let him sit in the sun or somewhere he could fall, but other than that, nah I wouldn't be worried.

My biggest concerns would be lending to someone I might not see again like some friends or relatives that I only see rarely. They could always ship it back but too many people are weird about getting around to that kind of thing so forget it.

 

I have lent out my dolls for a few different reasons. Sometimes they just want to visit with another owner and/or their characters, sometimes it's for story-making, and sometimes it's been for fitting custom-made garments or the like. I also loaned a blank resin head to an aspiring faceup artist, to play with faceup techniques and ideas. I wouldn't lend anything to anyone who didn't understand the extent of the responsibility they were taking on, and that generally means it must be another BJD owner. I have also on occasion had dolls loaned to me for similar reasons.

 

Yes, my dolls sometimes go on location in their modelling work... usually just to the Orangebabydolly house to model jewelry, or sometimes to Kellyhime's house to fit-model a pattern. These are houses where I spend lots of time anyway, so I trust them implicitly.

But I would only lend my dolls to another doll-person, and only a trusted one. I do have some non-doll-owning photographer friends who're interested in photographing the dolls outside my home... but generally they just ask me to be the wrangler, because they don't want the liability, & they don't know how to pose the dolls as well as I do anyway. It's just easier.

I've also been on the receiving end of a loaner-doll, many times! Many of my friends have amazing collections of exquisite rare dolls that I'll never own, but would still like to photograph... and they trust me to play with their toys safely, too. So sometimes I have a "guest star" in the house, often for weeks at a time. Whoever it is, he gets his own guest-spot on the shelf, and I pamper him like a rockstar. It's often a symbiotic thing-- many of my friends also aren't the type who do frequent photos, or ever make Gallery postings, so they enjoy seeing their dolls getting the supermodel-treatment online. ^^

(In fact, right now I still have Dannyboy's beautiful Sard on the guest-shelf at home. And this is not his first visit, either!)

 

No. My dolls are too personal and expensive to me, I only let family or close friends handle my dolls unless I can watch them, so the thought of lending them out -- totally out of sight -- is pretty unimaginable! Even if they're dollie people whom I trust, I'd still refuse because I've no control of what happens to my doll in their house, like where they're placed or who gets to touch them etc.

While dolls are material objects that can be repaired/replaced, I can't help thinking who is gonna foot the bill? I don't want to have to ask for written statements insuring 24/7 care & repairs/replacement fees if necessary before lending them out. :s I definitely agree with Jessica on p.1 that I love my family & friends, so I wouldn't want to let a damaged doll come between us. ^^

 

Sure, I'd happily lend my dolls to people in the hobby that I trusted (or to my mother, if she decided she wanted to make some clothes for them ). I mean, someone's only going to want to borrow your doll if they really love dolls - and so they'll know to take care of it. I guess I'd probably want a 'reason' for them borrowing a doll though - like if our dolls 'knew' each other and were off to do a photoshoot, or if there was some clothes-fitting reason behind it.

If the doll got broken, I'd hope that the person I lent it to would go out of their way to make it right, even if they could only afford a repair job, rather than a whole new doll - I mean, that's what friends do. If a friend breaks something expensive of yours and then doesn't care, they're not really a friend, are they?

 

No I would not lend my dolls. They are simply too expensive. Plus I tend to keep my dolls in very good condition.O_O

 

Maybe I'm selfish, but no!

 

I wouldn't want to lend my doll. Yes, I may sound selfish but he's just simply too expensive. Maybe i would just let them carry him but still, i would still get worried about him.

 

i wouldnt let anyone play with my dolls, let alone loan them to anyone... no way

 

I'd only consider lending to my best friend of over a decade who is also a collector. Otherwise... basically no. Alot of people dont know how to handle them and I'd die if someone else damaged my doll, I'd rather me damage them as I cant forever hold a grudge that way lol.

 

Never in all my life. I can never be guaranteed that they will care for my doll in the manner that I do. There's too many what ifs for me. Even if its my best friend or whatever. Nobody will treat my doll the way I want him to be treated except me.

 

Sadly, I don't think I could bring myself to trust another person with my doll. Then again, I've only trusted one person with any of my things, and that's my best friend. But, knowing him, he's not going to want to borrow my boy anytime soon

 

Not risking lending dolls to someone. Get anxious enough if someone is handling one of my girls even in my line of sight!

 

Nope-I haven't and wouldn't lend out my dolls. Like a few people have said, I wouldn't want to risk the possible damage to a friendship/relationship if the doll were to get broken. Not that I would disown my friends if something were to happen to one of my dolls while it was in their care, it's just that a $500 plus doll getting broken could be a pretty big elephant in the room.
I'm more than happy to let friends play with my boys here at my house or at meets

 

I'm scratching my head a bit over the several people in this thread who are quick to say 'No! I keep my dolls in good condition!' Um, okay? Letting your doll visit with someone you trust doesn't expose them to cooties, I assure you.

We have a very close-knit doll group here in OKC, and I can say with confidence that would I trust any of the regulars implicitly with my dolls. I know how they care for their dolls, and I know I can expect mine to be treated with the same respect. My Elfdoll Wu has actually been visiting with InvisibleWings for a few months now because his girlfriend is one of her dolls. We live in the same city, and I could easily go and pick him up if I wanted, but I'm quite zen about him being with her.

I wouldn't loan my dolls out just anyone, but fellow group members who take excellent care of their dolls are not exactly strangers.