Doll as a living child order. Reborn dolls are almost real babies

A child appears in one of the most ordinary families. An excellent healthy boy, height 59 centimeters, weight 3.5 kilograms. Mom does not have a soul in him, she dresses him in beautiful suits, cradles, rides in a stroller. Her son is just a miracle, he does not cry, does not get diapers dirty, does not wake up his parents at night, because he is a doll. The most naturalistic of all possible is the reborn doll.

She is distinguished from a living baby only by her fixed, glassy gaze and the absence of breathing. Reborn hair - thin mohair, vinyl body, glass eyes. He is part of a huge collection of handmade dolls, made to order and sent to his "mommy" in a wooden box by mail. "He's not alive!" - the uninitiated exclaim with resignation after the first impression, and horror comes to replace tenderness.

It would seem an innocent toy, but why does it realize the primitive, most terrible fear of any mother - to see a child who does not move, does not breathe, does not blink?

Games People Play

Manufacturers of baby dolls talk about the beneficial effect of their "wards" on the mental state of women. Picking up a heavy and so similar to a living baby doll, a woman experiences the same feelings as when she sees a real baby. Childless ladies realize their maternal instinct, mothers of adult children remember their youth. At the Moscow exhibition in October 2011, girls over 30 gathered around the demonstration tent. Despite the fact that the cost of a reborn doll starts from 20 thousand rubles, there were many who were interested. One - bought a "brother" for an existing reborn, the other chose a "daughter" for herself.

The collector Inna Bogdanova, the mother of an adult son, already has 70 puppet children. They live in the living room of an ordinary Moscow apartment, she combs their hair, dresses them up, but, of course, does not take them out for a walk. “This is my hobby,” says Inna, “I always wanted to have many children, but there was no way.”

However, more and more girls and women are having "reborns" not in addition to living children, but instead! A doll is bought a crib, a stroller, clothes for the season, the reborn is bathed daily, smeared with cream, photographed, and the photos are posted on the Web. The forums are filled with posts about - how we walked, suggestions - Rate our suit, and even questions - How do you sleep? The usual conversation of young mothers, isn't it? The only concern is that we are talking about the non-living.

49-year-old Linda Jacobson, a collector from America, the birthplace of reborns, admits that she compensates for the need for small children by buying herself naturalistic dolls. “We go to the park, I take them with me when I walk the dog, I take them in a stroller or carry them in a sling or cradle them in a blanket, and many people think that my babies are real.” Linda is very happy when people on a walk take a doll for a living child and are interested in his age and name. But when a woman is asked about real adoption, she replies that this option is not for her, it is very difficult and too expensive.

Baby dolls have become very popular all over the world, the most famous incident related to them occurred last year: an Australian police officer saw a lifeless child in a car, rushed to the car, broke the glass, and what was the surprise of the policeman when doll!

Where did they come from?

There are several versions about the origin of reborn dolls. According to some reports, these babies "began to be born" in the United States in the late 1980s. According to others, it turns out that reborning began to develop after the appearance on the market of dolls by the Spanish company Dolls by Berengeur. These kids" were positioned as play dolls, and then began to be used as mannequins to demonstrate children's clothing. They are now a collector's item. The most famous Dolls by Berengeur doll is the baby doll La Infanta Leonor, an exact copy of the daughter of Prince Philip of Asturias and his wife Princess Letizia. This doll was a huge success and was sold out instantly.

Then master puppeteers began to appear, giving dolls that already looked like living babies a truly human plausibility. Reborn in English means "reborn" or "born again".
First, the artists worked on ordinary play dolls, then there were sets - the basis for creating toy babies. Now you can order a doll of any race, sleeping, smiling, and of different "ages" - from premature babies to first graders. In addition, there are fragrances that give the doll the smell of a child. And lately - here miracles! - masters have learned to imitate breathing and heartbeat.

Reborns came to Russia in 2007-2008 and have already gained wild popularity. At first they were purchased abroad, but now their own masters appeared - Daria Panova, Galina Gaisina, Lyubov Firsova.

Legs, pens, paints, hair...

Each reborn doll is unique, so it has a name. date of birth and passport. It all starts with a blank - mold, they come in several types. Mold is a set of head, arms and legs. Sometimes there is also a textile body stuffed with filler and weights to give the doll weight. The surface of the workpiece is degreased, cuts are made for the nose and eyes, and the most difficult work begins - painting. The dolls are painted with acrylic or oil paints. First, the “baby” is given a natural shade, and then the master applies a unique pattern to the skin of a living child: veins, capillaries, marbling, spots, and so on. To fix the result, the workpiece is covered with a special varnish, which also gives the skin some roughness and adds realism.

The next stage is the "implantation" of mohair hair. This is a very painstaking work: each hair is glued one by one to the doll's head. At the final stage, glass eyes are inserted, the body is stuffed with sintepuh with plastic or glass weighting agent.

Psychotherapy or neurotic attachment?

In America, in the state of Illinois, there is a school for expectant mothers, where pregnant women take a “young fighter course” - they learn how to deal with children. Many future mothers have never seen a newborn baby up close, and using dolls as an example, the school staff quite intelligibly tell the "students" about children, explain the principles of care, teach them to hold, swaddle, put on diapers. Women confirm that after such lessons they feel much more confident, because reborn is very similar to a living child. “A one-day-old baby looks like an alien,” says one of the mothers, “if I saw my Zach for the first time without preparation, I would be scared, he is so fragile and awkward! But at the courses we were shown newborn dolls, and I knew that the first puffiness would pass, the legs and arms would not be so compressed, and my baby would become handsome! Pregnant women admit that they really liked "playing with dolls", they imagined that this was their already born child, and the maternal instinct began to "work - in advance.

But many psychologists insist on that. that such games are nothing but sublimation and escapism, an escape from reality. There is nothing reprehensible in the dolls themselves and their collecting, they can really have a beneficial effect on the psyche, but immersion in their life, replacing a living person with a toy, neurotic attachment lead to the fact that lovers of baby dolls become patients of psychologists, and sometimes psychiatrists.

A terrible tragedy occurred in the family of Muscovite Anna: her child, a little son, died in a car accident. She could not forgive herself for this, she could not survive the grief alone, and for a whole year of treatment in the clinic she did not give anything. Doctors advised to give birth to another child, but their patient was not able to cope with her fear and pain of loss. Then one of the experts advised me to buy reborn. The girl followed the advice, and the masters made a doll - an exact copy of the deceased baby. The toy was supposed to be a medicine, a softening of the transitional stage between the awareness of the tragedy and later life.

Anna began to gradually come to her senses, taking care of the reborn. The depression is over, and it's time for a new stage - to prepare for the birth of a real child. However, time passed. and Anna did not even think of leaving the doll, the girl transferred all her love for her son to her. “I won’t be able to have a baby anymore. she says, “I will always be afraid of losing him, but with a doll it’s not scary, I like to take care of her, walk with the baby, it seems to me that his cheeks turn pink on the street.”

Modern toys are simply amazing in their diversity. Our children do not play with banal soldiers or barbie dolls. Each specialized store offers a huge selection of educational toys, soft cartoon characters, constructors and so on.
But which toys are the most original? What inventions amaze with their realistic appearance and an incredible number of functions. These are modern reborn dolls.
Many people now collect not Barbies or teddy bears, but these dolls. Babies with realistic face painting and anatomy faithfully reproduce the features of the face and body of a living baby. It is impossible to find a more realistic toy in the world.

Silicone reborn dolls - a crazy fantasy or a must for those who want to become a mother?

In Australia in 2008, a very ridiculous story happened. A police officer noticed an unconscious baby in an empty car. The child showed no signs of life. The man had to break the window of a very expensive car to save the baby. But it turned out that it was just a doll. On the one hand, the owner of the toy is not to blame for leaving the reborn in the car. On the other hand, the policeman is right, because he wanted to save the most valuable, small creature. Who is to be blamed? A crazy idea from the developers? Each person has their own opinion on this matter. Therefore, the creation of reborns can be called a very scandalous event. After all, such situations happened repeatedly.

Another sensational story about Internet fraud. A woman who allegedly gave birth to a very sick child posted a photo on the Internet, and indicated an account for donations. People who seek to do good in the world did transfer money to a scammer. But very soon there were so-called reborners who are well versed in these dolls, they know the creations of all artists. They recognized the famous doll in the sick child.

The theme of silicone reborn dolls has simply taken over the world. Psychologists put a stigma on doll collectors. People are horrified at the sight of reborn. And others are ready to give crazy money for one copy, telling people about their sense of beauty. After all, reborns are often dressed in real baby clothes, hugged, and even taken care of. By the way, the weight of the dolls is also no different from the weight of ordinary children.

What is a reborn doll made of?

eyes glass, acrylic
mohair hair canadian, american or premium
mohair eyelashes
body, hands, head konfarel (sintepuh), glass or plastic granulate

How are reborn dolls made?

This is a whole science called "reboarding". Master artists received the title of remodelers.
To create a reborn doll, it is not enough to have a great desire, imagination, or, as some say, "a sense of beauty."
For this purpose, you will need very expensive kits, thanks to which you can create

1. hair
2. eyelashes
3. the doll itself.

What fixtures are needed? There are just a lot of them:

1. mold - blank
2. oil or acrylic paints
3. solvent for oil paints
4. 3D gel
5. numerous tassels
6. sponges and other helpers.

Now the masters stock up on time and patience. This is a very laborious and painstaking work. Just imagine that each hair needs to be carefully threaded into the head. The skin of the doll should be exactly the same as that of the baby. But the most difficult task is to make realistic folds on the body. Some designers even manage to make characteristic spots on the reborn body, create diathesis or a bruise from a blow on a small arm or leg. All this information will seem to someone a brilliant direction in creativity, and to someone - a sick imagination.

Reborn manufacturing process

1. the factory doll is cleaned of paint
2. slits are created for false eyes
3. the doll dries out for several days
4. dyed in a dye bath
5. age spots, blood vessels, freckles, a blush or rash are drawn on the skin
6. the paint dries up again.

Now the doll has received a natural color. The main thing is not to overdo it with the details, because the slightest mistake will give the doll the appearance of not a real child, but a bluish marriage.

For your information, reborning is 20 years old. Over the years, techniques for painting reborns have been constantly developed. Any paint can be used here. The main goal is realism.

1. synthetic dyes
2. gouache
3. oil paints
4. oil pastel and more

Some specimens even need to be "baked" in the oven in order for the paint to set.
The next stage is the firmware of hair and eyelashes. As a rule, reborn masters use mohair, angora or alpaca. The last stage is washing the head with tint paint. Now the doll's head gets a natural look.
Then - the master inserts the eyes into the head of the doll. Many reborns have closed eyes. It all depends on the idea of ​​the master or the wishes of the customer.
When the child's face is ready, then the assembly of the parts of the entire doll begins. To do this, you first need to fill the body with filler.

Reborn clothing is not that important. Some people dress the doll in the clothes of their older children. Someone does not feel sorry for new things from expensive children's stores. But is it worth treating the doll like a living being? This question constantly worries people since the advent of reborns and to this day.

The uniqueness of each author or all children are different

Of course, there are no two identical reborns in the world. Serial products of dolls of this or that artist suggest some similarity of their characters. But no more.

An interesting fact is that the creators of reborns are women. Most likely, in the world you will not find more than one man who is engaged in this painstaking work.

This female work can be deciphered in different ways. Love for children, the inability to have children of their own, the loss of a child, the desire to make other women happy...

For special realism, many craftsmen add a special flavor that is similar to the smell of baby soap. Thus, a person whose children have grown up a long time ago can fill the void, and remember what a baby is, and once again enjoy the unique children's smell.

The other side of the coin is the complete lack of mechanics. The doll does nothing. It just looks original. The eyes cannot open or close, the reborn cannot move. You get a look in which there is no life, and if you chose a child with always closed eyes, then it’s scary to think ...

As you know, babies are distinguished by their mobility and activity. Here it is not. If you decide to buy such a doll, you should think many times whether it will add an atmosphere of lack of life and even some kind of depression?

If very soon you will have a child, then reborn can be a good tool for an inexperienced mother. You will learn how to swaddle your baby, how to dress quickly and much more. Most likely, only in this case, reborn is of great benefit.

You can also buy reborn as a gift for your own child. Most likely, the baby will play with the reborn mother-daughters, learn to take care and care. Although some psychologists argue that such a toy negatively affects the child's psyche.

Reborn is expensive not only due to its uniqueness and painstaking work of the master. It's about the high quality of the materials. The average cost of a reborn is 30 thousand rubles.

How much does a reborn cost?

Surely, it seems to you that such a toy child can only be bought for a crazy amount of money. Of course, it all depends on the performance of the skill. Prices for live dolls can be very different, ranging from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands.
The concept of "inexpensive" is very superficial. Therefore, we will tell you in more detail about the price. A high-quality and very beautiful reborn costs from $700. If you are willing to pay $1000 for such a child, you will get a product made of the highest quality materials. And if you treat reborn like a new member of the family and want to get the best, then for 4 thousand dollars you can buy reborn from very famous artists.

Inexpensive reborn
How to learn the skill yourself? Of course, you can study everything at home, and spend money solely on materials. What is included in the reborn kit?

1. head
2. legs
3. pens
4. torso
5. filler and other necessary details.

The set costs from 8 thousand rubles. And if you want to understand everything in more detail, and possibly become an eminent master, then you will have to pay from 20 to 25 thousand rubles for individual training from masters. Of course, this does not include banal theory, but practice. Materials do not need to be purchased separately. And you can take your creation home.

Be prepared for the fact that the first reborn will not look as perfect as you would like. After all, the same hair, eyelashes, fingernails and toenails should be the same as those of a real baby. Here you need to stock up on strong nerves and patience.

And if you are just ready to pay a lot of money to a famous master, then you will not just be sold a toy, but will buy beautiful clothes for it, and even prepare a kind of birth certificate! Help to a person, warmth and joy in the house, or blasphemy? You decide.

reborn doll masters

There are many versions of the origin of reborn dolls. Someone believes that they appeared in the United States in the late 1980s. Someone is sure that the Spanish company Dolls by Berengeur became the discoverer.
Who is the most famous puppet maker? We will look at a few examples of the most famous dolls. And of course, we will indicate the price for such pleasure. One of the most famous reborn companies is Dolls by Berengeur. And the most expensive copy is an exact copy of the daughter of Prince Philip of Asturias and Princess Letizia. The doll cost over a thousand dollars.

At the moment, the most famous Russian masters are

1. Daria Panova
2. Lyubov Firsova
3. Galina Gysina.

As interest in dolls is constantly growing, and technology is moving forward, it is possible that very soon there will be significantly more people in the world who can do this work.

findings
One can understand those women who are deprived of the opportunity to give birth to a child, or simply their children have grown up. But mothers appeared in the world who decided that reborns are an excellent replacement for a child. They buy cribs and clothes for their reborns. Surprisingly, some even manage to ask about how the baby is doing, or how mom sleeps at night. If we are talking about an inanimate child, then there are clearly problems of a psychological nature.
Agree, the biggest fear of most women is to see a small child, OWN child, who does not move, does not blink and does not breathe. It turns out that someone is ready to perceive such things differently. This is disturbing.

In this article, I would like to express my thoughts about Reborn dolls, since this topic seems to me interesting and relevant.

From the beginning, I will present brief information from the Internet. Reborn doll (from the English reborn - received a new life, reborn) is a doll created on the basis of a factory-made baby doll (less often an older child), the appearance of which, as much as possible, resembles a living baby. The process of creating a doll is called reborning, and doll artists are called reborners. Reborns weigh and look like real babies. In their creation, natural hair or maher, glass eyes, a special composition of vinyl and paint, as well as various fillers (weighting agents) for the body are used. Modern Reborns can contain "animating" mechanisms, with the help of which quite realistic "heartbeat", "breathing" and even speech are created!

The craft of making Reborns appeared in the USA in the late 80s and early 90s of the 20th century. The Internet has allowed doll artists and collectors to create their own online community. In 2002, the first "reborn" doll was listed on eBay. This expanded the Reborn market, allowing artists to open online stores, the so-called "kids". In "children's" Reborns are not bought, but, as it were, adopted, and almost never resold. The media contributed to the development of the current in other countries and continents - Britain, Australia, Canada, Europe, Africa and Latin America. In this regard, magazines, books and organizations dedicated to the Reborn doll began to appear. In Russia, this hobby has intensified since 2008.
Reborns can be made at home. To do this, you need a play vinyl baby doll, or a special set for creating Reborn. Paint is removed from the factory doll, and it is re-painted. The blanks from the sculptor (molding) are not painted, and already have their own physical features - folds, nails, etc. The painting of the body is done in several layers, and the painted parts of the body are baked in an air grill.

Sets of body parts of the future Reborn are affectionately called “Frankenstein sets” by some master artists, and finished dolls are called “doll babies”. The arms, legs and head of Reborn in the package resemble the "dismemberment" from Dexter Morgan from the US television series of the same name. Usually, all the "shortcomings" of the baby's skin - rashes, scratches, as well as snot and saliva - are used by the creators in the form of a painting to give more realism. Some artisans create their dolls using a photograph of a real child to replicate their appearance.

The image of a Reborn doll, which almost completely coincides with the image of a real and individual baby, is able to evoke in its owner those emotions and feelings that he could experience for a living child. I have repeatedly watched videos on the Internet in which the happy "parents" of the Reborns, with apprehension and care, corrected their babies' heads thrown back. Moreover, such "parents" buy them real strollers and baby clothes, suckle them and cradle them like real babies! It all reminds me of the false pregnancy state in bitches, when they take toys, lick them and try to feed them, as if they were dealing with puppies! I am interested in the fact that in the box with the finished Reborn doll there is always a certificate of his birth, which indicates the date of his birth, height and weight, as if it were not a doll, but a living child. I saw on the Internet and bracelets of newborns, dressed on the handles of Rebornam.

As a rule, Reborn is not cheap, its cost varies from 5 thousand to many tens of thousands of rubles. Therefore, Reborns are not often bought as a gift for young children. Most often they are acquired: either by collectors; or single women without children; or those who have lost a child and want to find a replacement for him; or women who have raised children and dream of babysitting a child again.

What is the danger of Reborn dolls? At first glance, they are sweet and innocent, and are not capable of causing mental harm to their owners. But this is only at first glance.

Let's remember our old homemade dolls made of rags, straw, fur or strings. The beauty of these dolls is that in their appearance there is only a hint of individuality, that is, they are image dolls or archetype dolls - mother, girl, baba-yaga, brownie, horse, etc. Such dolls are poorly personified, and they allow the child to develop his imagination while playing with them, to supplement their figures with significant details for him. When playing with Reborn, a child can hardly change anything qualitatively in his appearance (add or subtract). The maximum that he can do is to take off or put clothes on Reborn, as well as walk with him or feed him. That is, the child from the current creator in the game becomes ... service personnel! Seeing a hyper-realistic Reborn in front of him, a child may perceive him not as a doll, but as almost equal to himself (brother or sister), but only dead. And therefore, the child may form a detached or suspicious attitude towards Reborn. And if you also consider that the mother bought Reborn for herself, then the child, most likely, will not be allowed to play with him. A child can be punished for damaging such an expensive toy, which can make him jealous of Reborn or hatred of his parents.

Known models of sleeping Reborns (the so-called "splyushki"), premature and damaged (sick). Needless to say, their influence on the psyche of the owners, especially children, is unpredictable. In their subconscious, attitudes towards Reborns can be formed: “forever premature”, “never recover”, “sick forever”, “never wake up”, which in fact are Thanatos according to Z. Freud, as opposed to Eros.

With the emergence of the popularity of Reborns, resonant programs arose in Russia and abroad, such as "Male-Female" with Yulia Baranovskaya and Alexander Gordon and the sharply social talk show "Ukraine Speaks" with Alexei Sukhanov "Vinyl Children". It is interesting that the anti-Reborn audience expressed their opinion in a purely emotional way, almost without explaining it in terms of reason and logic. The fact is that the phenomenon of the "Sinister Valley" or the effect of the ominous valley is described in science. The essence of the hypothesis is that a robot or other object that looks or acts almost like a person causes dislike or disgust in human observers. In 1978, Japanese scientist Masahiro Mori conducted a survey examining people's emotional reactions to the appearance of robots. At first, the results were predictable—the more human-like the robot, the prettier it seems—but only up to a point. The most humanoid robots later turned out to be unexpectedly unpleasant. This decline in the “sympathy” chart was called the “Sinister Valley”. The reason may be that at a certain level of similarity between a robot and a person, the robot ceases to be perceived as a machine, and begins to appear as an abnormal person or an animated corpse, a cadaver. It is this effect that all those people who are disgusted with Reborns feel.

According to esoteric literature and the opinion of psychics, Reborn may well become a haven for a restless soul or demonic energy. Such a doll can have a negative mental impact on the surrounding space, up to the appearance of a poltergeist. Hyper-realistic Reborn is able to overexcite the psyche of an impressionable child, which can lead to the development of a phobic, anxiety disorder and sleep disorders. I came across a user's statement on the Internet: "body minus soul equals corpse."

In fact, the "mommies" of vinyl "children" put their emotions and feelings into pieces of plastic, which is the transfer of maternal instinct to inanimate objects, and can lead to mental or hormonal dependence. The position of limited and infantile parenthood in relation to Reborn is very convenient, since an inanimate child can always be thrown into a dusty corner if he gets bored. Collecting itself is, according to Eastern tradition, a retreat into Maya and the multiplication of an illusion that leads nowhere. It is no coincidence that many collectors have traits of pedantry and suspiciousness in character, insensitivity to others, egocentrism and fantasy thinking, divorced from reality. Therefore, before you buy an expensive and fashionable Reborn doll, consult your family and friends, read the comprehensive information on the Internet, go for a consultation with a psychologist or psychotherapist, in general, weigh the pros and cons. A rash purchase of Reborn can bring discord into your life and harm your mental health.

Kaminskaya Elizaveta Viktorovna, psychotherapist

Video: Reborn dolls in Russia:

Imitation of adult life, playing mom and dad, the embodiment of different life situations is a favorite pastime of millions of kids around the world. Role-playing games instill in children the first skills of social behavior, develop imagination and creativity, teach them to empathize, care for and take care of someone else.

The best way to try on the role of a parent is to help a child with a variety of children's equipment and, of course, a favorite doll. The “artificial baby” or baby doll has been a very popular toy for children for many years. And if our grandmothers were content with home-made “babies” sewn from scraps of fabric and simple baby dolls, today children are given a huge choice.

So what are they, modern baby dolls?

Appearance of baby dolls

Realistic dolls

The main distinguishing feature of baby dolls is the resemblance to a real newborn.

Modern toy manufacturers produce both simple naked baby dolls without pronounced sexual characteristics, as well as exact copies of babies with bright emotions on their faces, expressive eyes, fluffy hair, eyelashes and folds on their arms and legs.

"Vinyl babies" can not only have the appearance of real babies, but also be able to eat, cry, relieve themselves, and even imitate breathing and heartbeat.

Reborn Dolls, Antonio Juans Munecas to the smallest detail, they copy the appearance, height and proportions of a living baby. The more realistic the toy looks, the higher the price.

Race

Baby dolls with racial and ethnic divisions are very popular. Yes, Spanish brand Paola Reina dolls introduces children to the diversity of this world, releasing toys with different skin colors, hairs, eye cuts, lips and nose shapes.

gender

Baby dolls can be:

- asexual;

- with pronounced sexual characteristics (differ in anatomical structure, hairstyle and clothing). They are also called anatomically correct dolls. Example - baby dolls PaolaReina.

Other characteristics of baby dolls

Versatility

Most of the baby dolls are dolls for girls, however, children's specialists have proven that playing "daughter-mother" is no less useful for boys, because it will allow them to try on the role of a father, protector of the family, which will have a positive effect in his adult life.

Size

Baby dolls range in size from a few centimeters to the height of a real newborn baby. The most popular sizes are 21, 30, 38, 45, 50, 56 cm.

Production material

Baby dolls are made from:

- rubber,

- vinyl,

- plastic,

- textiles.

The pupa can be made of one material or several, for example, have a soft textile body, and the head and limbs are made of plastic or vinyl. The main thing is that the materials used are safe and of high quality.

There are collectible souvenir baby dolls made of porcelain.

Manufacturers often use fragrances to give the toy a pleasant floral, vanilla, or sweet scent.

Functionality

According to the functionality of baby dolls can be divided into:

- on simple, which:

• the head and limbs do not move;
• the head turns, the arms and legs move, but do not bend;
• limbs move and bend.

—interactive. Interactive baby dolls can smack, suck on a pacifier, eat from a bottle, burp, cry real tears, laugh, poop and pee in diapers, crawl, sing songs and speak simple phrases. These are dolls Baby Born, Little Mommy, Simba other.

Equipment

Depending on the configuration there are:

1. Naked dolls without accessories.

2. Babies in clothes.

3. with a set of clothes and accessories (diapers, pacifier, potty, bath).

Baby dolls help to establish a connection between generations, are an integral part of the play and growing up of our children, instilling in them moral and social norms of behavior. And the variety of baby dolls will help you choose exactly the doll that the child will love and fondly remember all his adult life.

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Dolls that look like real babies.

These babies look so cute that they make you want to hold them in your arms or gently stroke them while they sleep so peacefully. However, these children never wake up. They aren't even alive. The Spanish company BabyClons creates hyper-realistic dolls that not only look like real babies, these "toys" breathe, drink, eat and suck on a pacifier, they are so close to the image of real children that the catch can not be detected immediately.

Silicone dolls.

The factory where "children are made" is located just 15 minutes from Bilbao, a city in the very north of Spain. “I think you can say that we are a one of a kind company. Yes, there are individual craftsmen who create realistic babies, but for this to be mass production, perhaps only we are doing this,” says company director Christina Iglesias. This company was founded 8 years ago to create various paraphernalia for filming films. And in 2013, they launched their new brand, BabyClon, which created babies.

Dolls that look like real children.

The idea to create such a brand belonged to the artist Silvia Ortiz (Silvia Ortiz). She had to work hard to persuade the boss of the profitability of her idea. It would seem, who might like silicone babies? But on reflection, Christina came to the conclusion that since it is sold by individual masters, then their idea can pay off, especially since Sylvia promised to bring the quality of such dolls to a new level.

Avatar child.

And Sylvia did not disappoint. The baby dolls produced by the Spanish company are so realistic that when you see them in front of you, it's hard to believe that they are inanimate creatures. The hair of the "kids" is made of mohair - it feels just like real hair to the touch. Silicone feels almost like skin to the touch, and the fact that the dolls "breathe", "eat" and can change facial expressions is exactly what some people find genius and others incredibly creepy. But in the end, it was these unique abilities of the dolls that made this company successful.


Dolls are made of silicone, which is very similar to skin to the touch.

The factory employs 10 workers in total, including Sylvia and Christina. Each worker has his own desk and all the necessary tools are at hand. "The most difficult thing is that the work takes a lot of time. We start the sculpture from a very hard plasticine, which allows you to create even very small details. And this initial sculpture can be created for about two months."

It takes about three months from the start of work to the first doll.

When the plasticine sculpture is ready, it is poured with a mixture of aluminum and fiberglass, and thus a shape is obtained. Now, with this mold, you can create many identical dolls, but the company has made it a rule to create no more than 100 copies of one baby. “After a while, the form loses its original properties, and it becomes difficult for us to work with the same model ourselves. We are people, not machines,” says Christina. As a result, it takes about three months from the initial idea of ​​a new doll to the first finished work.

Each type of doll is produced in the amount of about a hundred copies.

Although BabyClon dolls are mass-produced, they are still not the same. The last phase of creating a doll is painting it by hand. Sometimes some adjustments are made depending on the wishes of customers. The doll's face can remain more or less the same, but the color of the hair, eyes change, sometimes even change the sex of the child. "We often have special requests - like, to draw freckles or a mole in a certain place for a child. Sometimes customers bring photos of their children who have already grown up so that we can make a similar doll. It's like a 3D photo. I think it's cute," - says Kristina.


Hyper realistic dolls.

The prices for such exclusive dolls are, of course, rather big. The standard model will cost €1190, and if the customer wants the doll to drink and write, then this is an additional €300. A child avatar will cost as much as €2,500. And the most expensive model (€3,500) is the one that breathes, sucks on a pacifier and opens its mouth. What is true, because of the batteries inside the doll, she cannot "drink and pee".


Silicone babies.

So who buys these "kids"? "There are two types of buyers. Some buy ready-made dolls at the factory price, while others buy raw products that are obtained immediately after casting. These are either the artists themselves who want to paint the dolls themselves, or collectors who want to give them for coloring to certain artists. "


Christina Iglesias holds one of her company's dolls.

Christina assures that their dolls are very durable and can last for about 30 years. Even if you babysit and change clothes with them every day, they do not deteriorate - it is enough to wash them once every two months, and that's it. And if you put them in a closet behind glass, as some collectors do, then once a year shake off the dust from them - that's all the trouble.


Sylvia at work.

As a result, what once seemed like a controversial and dubious idea became almost the only source of income for the company. Now there are few films made with the involvement of such paraphernalia, preferring to draw everything virtually. So the company is now focusing on making babies and sometimes prosthetics that also look natural because of this special silicone.


Form for mass production.

Silicone dolls.