Dollieh Sanctuary

For the sake of doll science I am going to ask some starter questions-

Did you grow up playing with dolls? Were most one gender or another? Was there any reason why?

Did a time come when you were old enough to have a say in which male doll you bought? Who was it?

With your custom dolls do you have a preference for a gender? Are you more particular about your boy dolls?

I grew up playing with dolls and still have many of them, pretty much all girls as I was lucky to get one a year at holiday times. Smiling Malibu Ken would have been my only face option so I didn't care much. I had a short haired Barbie who fulfilled masculine roles, then a Darci with a haircut. I know I got a Michael Jackson doll as a child but the first male with any personality would have been the Heart Family dad.

The first distinct male doll I wanted was Joey McIntrye of NKOTB. Before getting in to customs I picked up a few turn of the century Kens and boys, Skate Date was bought because he has elbows and knees. Joints came first then the face sculpt.

With my customs and my ball joints boys outnumber girls and I've decided not to look in to why beyond I didn't have them growing up. Two of the Volks EB models could go either way I chose masculine. I have a tub full of guys each with his own unique face. (that is definitely rooted in all my early dolls being Superstar sculpt) And preferences go to a face sculpt (especially if it resembles someone) I don't have or a unique to me body. Most every non jointed store bought doll coming in is to be harvested for clothes and accessories or meant to be Frankendollied.

Did you grow up playing with dolls? Yes

Were most one gender or another? Absolutely, 99% female

Was there any reason why? My relatives kept buying me Barbies.

Did a time come when you were old enough to have a say in which male doll you bought? Yes

Who was it? The first male doll I bought as an adult and kept was a Na Na Na Surprise Tiger Boy

With your custom dolls do you have a preference for a gender? I don't really do custom dolls anymore.

Are you more particular about your boy dolls? I am actually more open to the idea of getting boy dolls now than when I was younger. I have one Na Na Na boy and two Rainbow High boys. Seriously considering getting a couple Bratz boys.

I definitely grew up with dolls of all kinds. Mostly Barbie’s, but Cabbage Patch Kids were a big thing, too. And My Little Ponies. And porcelain dolls when I got older.

I definitely had more female than male, mostly due to lack of options, I guess. The first boy doll I remember asking for was I guess my boy CPK? And probably a few Kens, I’d imagine.

First male doll I bought for myself was my Luts Delf Moon and I was well into adulthood by that point. I was fascinated with the idea of customizable, articulated GENDERED dolls. I had to have at least one! Of course my collection has exploded since then and id say I’ve probably got about an equal ratio of male/female BJDs.

I also sort of let my monster high and rainbow/shadow high collection expand. I’ve got more females of each because, again, serious lack of male options in the lines. But I bought most of the boys, I think. The ones that aren’t ridiculously overpriced, anyway.

I know I definitely had more girls than boys, just because of the lack of options. I always liked the boys, though, because they were so rare. It made getting one feel more special.

I do have more girls than boys, and mostly by choice. But the doll I cling to when life gets frightening is a boy. He's a Build a Bear blind bag unicorn that I named Boo Horse.

I wanted a boy cabbage patch preemie because it looked like my baby brother. But, I can't think of any other boy dolls unless Transformers count.

Transformers count. If it was meant to be a male persona by the creator/designer I would think that counts as a "boy".

DollyKim wrote:Transformers count. If it was meant to be a male persona by the creator/designer I would think that counts as a "boy".

Well, then I owned about five of the smallest ones and pined after all the others. They hung out with my My Little Ponies and Megan. I wouldn't say they were accessories, I was just in love with their knight in shining armor status. However, most of the time, the ponies saved them.

My male Transformers vehemently agree that they count as boy dolls.