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

Not to a stranger, of course, but I do have some friends that I would trust enough to lend out my boy to. None of them have BJD's themselves, but they know how highly I value him (and that he cost me 600&#8364 and they're all of the uh... artsy type and understands to appreciate and care for the beauty that he is.

 

My friend and I have a couple of dolls that we lend eachother on occation for short 'holidays'. One of my pukis is the sister of hers and it doesn't seem right for them to always be split up so sometimes hers comes and stays with me and sometimes mine stays with her. My other puki is 'friends' with her DZ Leo and they also have the same arrangement. I think I would miss my bigger dolls too much if they went anywhere though I have allowed her to take some to a doll meet that I couldn't attend myself. I got to enjoy the pictures and I knew my dolls would be perfectly safe!

 

I don't really think it's 'cooties' as you put it, wolf. That's a little far-fetched;;;;; You may be a trusting individual, and may be lucky enough to be in a circle where people will treat your dolls or anything else as you would yourself treat them. However, you cannot deny that dolls are extremely personal items and are also extremely expensive. Those two reasons alone are rather basic and easy to understand. Additionally, people may not wish to share so intimately their ideas/whatever they pour into their doll. I myself am incredibly protective. Nobody touches my doll but me. That's just my nature, not only with dolls, but with all things. I must protect myself from creating opportunities for disaster.

Keep in mind, it is also a HUUUUGE liability should something go wrong. While not entirely fragile, bjd are still rather delicate. I would be very hesitant to take another person's doll even if they offered to lend and I knew/practiced their care methods.

It's just not something I'm comfortable with. ouo b

 

I wouldn't. Not to anyone I currently know anyway.
My best friend's dolls stay with me virtually half the time, but I typically won't lend my boys to her. It has nothing to do with me not trusting her or thinking she'll harm them; she keeps her own dolls in very good condition. Some of the people who stay with her and the other people she chooses to be friends with however...I just don't feel comfortable leaving them in that house without me protecting them.

Sometimes it's less about trusting the other person and more about not trusting their situation. ._.

 

I'm not very good at lending stuff to people, since I've been screwed over too many times. Also, I'm an adult, so the whole "showing we're BFFs by swapping stuff" phase is long past, thankfully. None of my friends would want my dolls, nor would I want anything they collect. On the topic of someone creating something for my doll, I'd give it to them for commission services (faceup, custom clothing, etc) and nothing else.

 

To a trusted friend that I know could properly handle and take care of my dolls? Sure.

To a stranger who I barely know and have no idea what they would do to them? Absolutely not.

I could count the number of people I would let borrow my dolls on one hand and never have to worry about running out of fingers. Pip, my Baha, is currently staying with a very trusted doll friend since she wanted to do a photoshoot with him. And my best friend, who is also in the hobby, lets her girl stay with me all the time.

But as far as some random person asking me to loan them my dolls? They could forget that. I've heard horror stories about that kind of thing, and besides, what would possess a person to ask a perfect stranger if they could borrow something like a doll? Call me crazy, but that just sounds sketchy to me.

While it is true that dolls are objects and can be replaced, that still doesn't negate the attachment that's there or the fact that we sink lots of blood, sweat, tears, and money into these things. I for one wouldn't want to see anything happen to something that has that kind of value.

 

I think it would depend. If I really trusted the person to take good care of the doll I would. Like if it was a close friend who I knew could be trusted with my things then I don't imagine I'd have a problem with it. Although I do not think I'd lend her my Lucian (yes terrible, but I play favorites)...I'm just way too attached to him to want to lend him out. Even with the most careful people, there can always be accidents, and I would freak out if an accident happened to him.

If it was someone I don't really know that well, I'd tell them I was really sorry but I just didn't know them well enough to lend my things to them. Even if they're an awesome clothing maker and offered to make clothing for my dolls, I couldn't do it. Sounds like something to be skeptical about.

I agree with other people who have even said they couldn't/wouldn't want to, have a doll loaned to them either. I would be so afraid that I'd accidently mess their doll up. If a friend told me they would loan me their doll I'd absolutely tell them I couldn't. I'm just way too clutzy anyway and when I'm trying to be more careful, it makes me clumsier...and I always try to be really careful with other people's expensive belongings...so it just wouldn't end up well for me.

 

My first experience with BJD's was when a friend left one of her dolls with me at time when I needed a friend. Having someone trust me with one of her dolls was exactly what I needed. I watched over that doll with eagle eyes wanting to make sure nothing happened to him. I had that doll with me for 2 months and the majority of that time was spent in a public place so I made sure that he was always within my eyesight or my mothers eyesight!

I just received my first doll and I love him dearly. So far there is only 2 people that I would even consider leaving him with and that is my mother and that same friend that left her doll with me. I know that she understands what he means to me and would take as good of care of him as she does her own dolls.

 

There's only one person that I would trust with one of these precious dolls.

We're both saving for our own, we've both done research for over a year, and I find her to be incredibly trustworthy. She also treats all of her possessions with great care.
And she's only a 15 minute walk from my house.

In general though, there's very few people I lend items out too.
every time I lent an item out in the past, It took months for them to be returned.

 

I don't currently have any friends who I would let take my doll out of my sight! But then none of them are doll people, so that makes a difference. My husband can MAYBE use one of my dolls in his doll photo shoots but I ill worry the whole time.

 

Yep, I would. Some dolls I would be more or less inclined to loan but I wouldn't have a problem loaning some of my dolls out to very trusted people. It all depends on the doll, the doll's value, and the person it's going to. I love to share.

 

I don't mean shipping a doll half-way across the country (or around the world), or just handing it over to someone you've met once.

Say you commision someone to make trousers for your doll and they ask to borrow the doll in question or a similar doll to use as a model.

Personally, as a sew-er I find it easier to make a piece of clothing if I have something which I can put the clothing on to make sure it's coming along properly (and my sisters have the pin marks to prove it) and to make adjustments as I go along. There's nothing worse than getting a new piece of clothing and it doesn't fit.

 

If it were a bona-fide artist or seamstress with a reputation to protect, I wouldn't have a problem sending the doll or portions of the doll for fitting, and in fact have had folks send dolls to me for fitting. Folks send heads all the time for custom face ups, and this isn't really different.

p.s. I like haunted places.

 

perhaps it's because I'm new but I don't think I'd be willing to send a whole doll to someone, unless I was getting a specific body mod or repainting...

and while I'm not saying anyone on this board would steal someone's doll, in every hobby there are people who do end up doing just that. or they move and lose the owners address and for some reason cannot contact the owner. I'd probably be a wreck until my doll got back to me.

plus some people are just not as careful with other's stuff as they are with their own.

p.s. Me too, and my apartment is as haunted as it gets. it was a hospital that burned down, then it was a hotel and now it's apartment, the three H's of hauntings.

 

I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea to send the doll to make sure the clothes fit, but at the same time, I don't think very many people would want to do that- it's not necessarily the idea itself- more the idea of being without your dolly- and having it in the hands of someone you don't know very well. Simply because of Murphy's law and the fact that I make my own doll's clothes I wouldn't really feel the need to send my doll to anyone- but there may very well be a few out there who wouldn't mind it.

 

I'm not sure if I would or not, they'd have to have a very good reputation

 

It would honestly depend on the person, for most people I would ask the answer would be yes, of course. I made most of the clothes for my doll, and had to have her next to me the whole time to check what was going on, the one time I didn't it went horrible wrong.

However there are a few people I know where the answer would be a resounding no. Not because I don't want to share (I had that drilled into me as a child, and have never found it to be a problem) but because I know and love those people to much. I know what would happen and I love them too much to let it.

 

I would want clothing to fit properly, especially if its commissioned outfits- but I cringe when other people touch my ACB.
I might send away a body, or parts, would be horribly anxious, let's just put it that way!

 

Typically, when I make clothes for a friend's doll, I prefer to make it during a meet so that I can insure that it will fit the doll, or I ask them to send me VERY detailed measurements. I know I'd be rather wary of sending my doll to someone I've met once even if for clothes, however, if it's someone I know from a few meets, I may be more likely to offer a doll trade for maybe a week or two. That way, if the owner bales out, I have their doll as well to hold as ransom. XD

No, I'd never be cruel to anyone's dollie, but to have a doll of the other person is a bit of a reassurance that my doll will be returned to me unharmed, as I am sure the other owner would wish for their doll as well.

 

There is already a very similar thread in the GD here