Would you purchase a handicapped doll?

Well, the mods haven't decided if that doll is on topic yet so it's probably best not to discuss it too much. But to answer your question:
For me it's all to do with the character. If I'm shelling a character with obvious physical disabilities, then I'd certainly buy a doll with whatever handicap I had in mind. There are a number of dolls on the board who are blind, using a wheel-chair, etc.
Dolls with fantasy parts are very popular- just look at Soom! Again, if the doll fitted a character I had in mind, then I would be very tempted by the fantasy parts. Otherwise, I wouldn't be. Fantasy parts are usually very expensive and I couldn't justify buying them without a character to fit.
Usually I like to make my own fantasy parts, or buy them and customise them to fit the character better. For example, one of my dolls, a selkie, has webbed fingers that I made myself. I also have another character in mind, a merrow, which is a bit like a mermaid. I would want to make his tail myself.
I think dolls being sold with physical oddities is a very good thing. The more diverse the market, the better! Plus, it's good to see dolls being sold that are more representative of the general population. I applaud any doll company that makes an obviously disabled doll.

 

It depends on the disability - Some would need to be incorportated into the sculpt, some could be done with simple modifications, and some (Most!) wouldn't need any physical signs at all.

As for dolls who'd been designed to be disabled by their sculptors - Yeah, I'd prefer that they didn't come with option parts to make them able-bodied; It subtly sends the message that the disabled body is somehow "other", and in the same category as wings, horns and tails, rather than in the same category as being tall or short or the like.

EDIT - To answer your first question, yes, I'd buy a doll who had been sculpted to be disabled, though I'd be wary that it could look like I was somehow fetishising the disability in question if not done well.

 

But what about those who are interested in the head sculpt but have no interest in a physically handicapped body? I think offering either option allows the highest range of customization for the buyer. I know if there was a head sculpt I was really after and it wasn't offered separately, I'd be really annoyed if I had to buy a body I had no interest in and due to its different look would probably be harder to either split off or sell secondhand.

I have no problem with people having disabled dolls. It's their doll, they can do whatever they want with it. There are much greater and worthier causes to get offended over in the scheme of things than some random person on the internet's doll. I don't really see myself ever having a doll like that, or one with fantasy parts even, because for the most part they do not interest me and I do not have any characters who have them. For a while I had been thinking about making a doll of a character who is missing his left hand, and thought it would be an interesting mod to see done. In the end, I never made him, but that is about as far as my interest goes.

 

I would probably not buy a doll with physical limitations as part of the sculpt because it would be a reflection of another person's art and not my own. If I wanted a doll with physical limitations, I would prefer to mod/make it myself.

 

I think the recent conjoined twins doll is beautiful, and although I don't see myself taking the plunge and buying the doll at this point, I wouldn't rule it out.

For me, as time has gone on, I've realized that I would get bored rather quickly with a slew of dolls with all the same body type. I would have a lot fewer dolls if that was all that was offered. I've got dolls with horns, wings, hooves, sculpted scars, armoured bodies, anthros, a centaur and a scorpion body. I've got a pear-shaped girl and my eye on several others; I'd love to get one of Doll Chateau's tall, lanky male bodies into my crew. In addition to all the fantasy options, I would actually love to see more representations of real variations in the human form, including differing body types or medical conditions. I see no reason to treat different body types like things to be swept under the rug, ignored and unseen, and I appreciate that more companies are celebrating the beauty in the differences that exist.

If I like the original body enough, I'd see no reason to get the "normal" option parts; it wouldn't matter to me whether or not they were offered.

 

Depends on what it is really. At the moment I don't have use for one, and would rather the doll had the option to not get the extra parts, or get extra parts, depending on what kind of doll it was. I agree with Kim in that it makes the doll more versatile, and you're likely to get more people to buy it, if they can get exactly what they want without having to jump through hoops to get it.

 

Yes. If it fit the character I had in mind or I can create a character for it than absolutely. I don't have a long answer for this, it's just as simple as that. Dolls sculpted to be handicapped are the same to me as dolls NOT sculpted to have a handicap. If they fit in my story, they go on the list and, if they don't, they don't.

 

Ah - I was thinking of a setup like the Soom MDs, where you get the anthro parts and the human parts and the head, all as one package. Of course I've not got a problem with people buying heads and bodies seperately, that'd just be... Precious.

And as for;

Why must everything on the internet eventually come back to people being offended? I was genuinely just saying that further normalising the idea that able bodies are default and disabled ones are optional add-ons (Again, this is when I was thinking about a company selling the able- and disabled- option parts as one set).

 

Yes! I love love LOVE the new DC girls! But....I don't bond with girls, so won't be getting them. However, I think the conjoined twin idea is awesome! I don't see this as a "disabled" doll, I see them as unique.

Honestly, I think it's kind of petty and discriminatory to say it's "wrong" to have a disabled doll. There are dolls of all skin tones, genders, ages, etc, why wouldn't we want to continue showing all aspects of humanity? It actually seems, to me, worse to rule out a doll just because it is "disabled". What does that say about our perception of humans who are differently abled? It's like saying it is "defective" because it's different.

As for people taking it wrong and assuming you have a fetish or obsession with the disability because of it? That seems extremely far fetched to me. I have a doll that is an angel, but it doesn't mean I have an angel fetish. I have a doll with fangs but it doesn't make me vampire obsessed. Why should a doll with a disability or physical abnormality be any different?

Personally, if a disabled doll caught my eye and fit my character, I'd be happy to adopt him! I wouldn't buy one just because it is different, but I also wouldn't rule it out.

 

I`m enamoured with the new Doll Chateu girls ! I love the concept of siamese twins , and the interpretation behind this idea is even more unique , because their joined at the hip , facing eachother , instead of being joined at the arm/torso like most of the siamese twinf I`ve seen are . If I would have the money I would buy the body and put different heads on it (the sculpt isn`t my fav) and sell the other two heads at a later time , or buy them separate bodies . I wouldn`t mind the fact that this doll doesn`t come with normal parts . But I must add , I don`t see the fact that they are conjointed as a handicap . I see it as a concept .

And as for fantasy dolls , I like those with human part option in general.

 

I just saw the new DC girls, they are beautiful, however if I was going to purchase them, they'd have to make an outfit that actually covers them. I think having them half-nude is a little odd because I couldn't ever carry them around. It is a great concept though. I forget what company it was, but another company had a set of conjoined twins but they were joined at the hip and each had one leg. So those were neat.

As for the question asked: Yes I would and I have. I have a mermaid doll (she came with human parts, but even if she hadn't I would have still bought her) She is absolutely beautiful and I love her. Her posing ability is horrible. She can pretty much just sit (which is hard for her because of being so top heavy, so she likes to fall down) and I can move her hands around and head and that's about it. She has no torso joint which makes it a bit worse....but her beauty makes up for it so I don't mind.

I also have a doll with horns and paws (they are removable) but I loved the horns and that's the reason I bought her.

I just purchased two more mermaid dolls and two dolls that are some type of half-human, half-some type of fantasy creature. I am in love with different types of dolls (especially the fantasy ones) so it doesn't bother me. Most dolls I've purchased have come with human parts...I like that option but I'm not one who restrings dolls, so the chances of me ever changing their parts are very low at the moment.

 

Yeah, the DC girls don't seem disabled at all. Conjoined doesn't really mean that.

It depends on the disability the doll had, that would determine whether I bought the doll or not. And the deciding factor would be do I think it's beautiful.

I actually came up with a design for amputee limbs for dolls once. But I'm not a sculptor so it doesn't really count for anything...

But a beautiful doll is a beautiful doll and there's no reason NOT to make beautiful disabled dolls too.

 

I would only buy a doll with a handicap if the character I'm shelling had the same handicap (or unless I love the doll very much xD ). I guess I don't really see anything wrong with it. Though, it's not very likely that a doll from a company would come exactly how I want it. Like for the doll I have right now, eventually I will need to buy spare arms and mod them because he lost both of them, and there's no guarantee that the doll bought straight up from the company would have his arms missing in the same places so I'd rather do it myself. Then, I'd also want to keep his normal arms because he's more well known for his hands. I think though, for any other doll, I wouldn't mind that it doesn't come with the "normal" parts.

 

First let me address the twins specifically. I must say that I like Doll Chateau and I currently plan to buy at least two of their sculpts. However, personally, and I know I'm in the minority here, I find the conjoined twins doll to be a bit disrespectful. I feel they're turning this very real and very serious, often life-threatening, condition into something of a novelty to be capitalized on.

On one hand, I like that they've chosen to depict people with this condition in a semi-realistic and elegant manner. On the other hand, Doll Chateau only chose to create these dolls because of their "circus" theme. I'm not quite offended because at least the girls are not represented as a "freak show" but at the same time, everyone knows the way people with this condition have been treated by circuses, historically.

There's a large fascination with the macabre in this hobby and these new dolls will appeal to a large segment of the market. Will some doll owners portray these girls realistically? Yes. Will some owners portray them as freaks? Yes. Are either wrong? No. It's their right as the owner of the dolls. It doesn't matter what I think is in poor taste.

But hey, it sells. I can't fault Doll Chateau for trying to turn a profit. I don't like the doll, but I won't judge anyone who does.

Would you purchase a handicapped doll?
If the sculpt appealed to me, it would not matter if the doll was handicapped or if the company offered "normal" optional parts.

 

If I liked overall look of the doll, a handicap wouldn't bother me unless it would make finding suitable clothes difficult. Similarly, I wouldn't be interested in a doll just because it's handicapped. I do think if a doll was handicapped, I'd probably look more closely at it than I would a more standard sculpt/body because anything different makes me keep going back to a doll's photos. Like with the Siamese twins - I'm not a huge fan of DC's aesthetic, but the dolls were unique enough for me to want to see the pictures again sometime. I'll also be eager to see owner's pictures even though I don't plan to buy them. The same applies to other "oddities" a doll may have to some extent. Though at this point, I've seen so many winged/horned/hooved/pawed/fanged etc dolls that it doesn't surprise me anymore.

 

If it is wrong to sell dolls representing medical conditions, we should ban all blind eyes. They're representing a disability too.
Personally I like CD's concept. Why shouldn't we show that there are conjoined twins/ blind people/ people with amputated limbs? Is there something shameful about them that we cannot portray them respectfully? Why would it be okay to show scarring, even burns, but not something like what Chateau Doll did?

While I love the idea of conjoined twins, I don't really like Chateau Dolls' execution. There's something about the arms and legs that makes me not want to buy them. On the other hand, I love their heads and would like the option of being able to buy it without the body. I don't know if CD offers them sereperately, but even if they didn't they aren't really the odd one out. There are many dolls for sale that only come full package. If I want a head badly enough, I buy the complete doll and sell the body, or join a split. I wouldn't treat this particular mold differently from any other doll I bought.

 

I fail to see anything at all wrong with it. There are dolls of every other sort - horns, fins, fangs, pointed ears - why not have conjoined twins? As to dolls with disabilities, one of my boys is in a wheelchair.

As to buying clothes, my guess is they'll have to hand made.

 

I don't think a doll that's designed to have a disability is inhuman looking, - disabilities are part of the human condition, after all!

Regarding dolls representing disabilities in general, someone upthread mentioned blind eyes, plus heads with facial scars are relatively common and have been available for quite some time, and there are a number of options for dolls with mechanical or automail parts which are fundamentally just advanced prosthetics, so obviously there's a market for these dolls.

To answer the title question, I have a LoongSoul XuanYan (which has a mechanical arm) and I wouldn't have bought him (or even considered him) without that addition, so my answer is "Yes!".

 

Short answer is yes. I like variety amongst my dolls, and a doll representing a disabilty or abnormality is simply another variety.