USA has left an amazing historical heritage.
If you ask random people what made this country so great, you will likely get all sorts of answers ranging from museums and monuments to highways and skyscrapers. However, only a handful of people will put dolls on that list.
Even though dolls were always popular throughout the history, they reached their peak in North America. From an item that was mainly focused on children, they became products that are highly collectable and sought after all over the world.
Big part of the reason why dolls became so popular (and why it happened in the U.S. in the 90’s and not some other country) is the appearance of reborn dolls.
What are reborn dolls?
Even though you can find reborns dolls in numerous American homes, only a handful of people know them under this name. In fact, you probably have to be an aficionado to understand the difference between the two.
Dolls were always created in a human image. Not sure why, but children always playing with their dolls as if they’re real person. This role-playing is precisely what made them so popular in the first place.
Reborns were the next step for the traditional dolls.
Some of the American doll lovers started dabbling with dolls. They would add, remove or modify certain parts of a doll making it look more real. This process became known as “reborning”. Despite its strange name, these dolls became highly popular and collectable in a short amount of time. Given that each doll had something specific and they were not manufactured, people loved them due to their uniqueness.
This is why they remain popular even today; whenever you buy a reborn doll, you can be certain that no one else has that same, unique doll. Over time this became a question of prestige and avid collectors are prepared to pay top dollar for acquiring some of these masterpieces.
Reborns are mostly sold online as they looked too real for the department stores. However, that doesn’t mean that the item is illegal or in any way harmful; in fact, there are some indication that these dolls may work well as a part of a treatment for certain conditions.
When it comes to prices, reborn baby dolls can be found for about 40 to 50 dollars. Still, majority of them will cost around 100 or 200 dollars and even more. The most expensive pieces may cost more than 10,000 (those that can be found on auctions that is).
How are reborn dolls being made?
Market for reborn dolls is partially regulated; while there is no governmental agency that regulates this business, there is an organization that regulates ethical behavior of the doll artists. Nevertheless, everyone can start creating these dolls and even selling them.
It take a lot of time for an enthusiast to become an expert. Creating one doll takes approximately a work week and the basic processes are pretty straightforward. However, person requires some experience to catch up with all the small nuances.
Unlike the first reborn artists, nowadays people are creating these baby dolls from doll kits which are being sold by numerous doll companies. Besides doll parts and main tools, these kits also contain instructions that will help a person start the process. In other words, all you have to do is buy one kit and started modifying a doll.
The creation process has numerous steps which include: washing all the individual parts, painting them with blue color (for veins), heating, painting parts again, adding eyelashes, hair and other small details and finally, putting clothes on a doll.
Besides these kits, there are numerous accessories that can be bought for dolls. Needless to say, you can also use them for reborns. Collectors often have a separate room (or part of a room) where they keep all their dolls. This room is often decorated to look similar as the one for real babies.
Conclusion
Due to their price and uniqueness, reborns are not regarded as the regular dolls. You shouldn’t give a reborn to your toddler until she comes of age and understands that these dolls can easily be damaged.
Reborns are a good way to teach your child about responsibilities while playing with a toy.
