Could Reborn Dolls, Newborn Babies Be the Hot Buys for Christmas 2008?

Reborn dolls - sometimes called newborn dolls or "fake babies" - are nothing new. They have been sold for years at online sites like Ebay by individuals who carefully craft these collector dolls to look amazingly realistic. I was once a Pro seller on Ebay and saw plenty of reborn dolls sell for amazingly high prices.

I also saw the blog posts and Ebay seller pages of women who made these dolls, writing about how they would carefully open up the noses so the dolls could breath better. If you are skeptical about how well a doll can imitate an actual living and breathing infant, consider this: there have been reports of dolls being rescued from locked cars in an attempt to save their "lives". There have been dolls fitted with special devices to simulate breathing. Still think they can't look eerily close to real live babies?

You can read about the incident of the "rescued" doll, as well as other information about reborn babies and newborn dolls in a previous article I'd written, found here.

My Fake Baby and the reborn baby and newborn dolls phenomenon

Since my earlier coverage of reborn dolls, a documentary called My Fake Baby aired on Channel 4 (a television station located in the UK) and has gotten lots of buzz. You can find out about that and possibly catch clips of the show here.

What I saw at the show's site left me with a mixture of emotions. Adult women were not only buying reborn baby dolls but reacting to them much the way mothers react to actual babies - dressing them in special outfits, taking them out in baby carriages and letting strangers admire their "infants."

While this might seem relatively harmless, it didn't seem nearly so benign when I saw a clip from My Fake Baby which showed one woman looking longingly at the photo of her deceased son, tears in her eyes. She appeared disappointed by her purchase of her fake baby doll. From what I could see, she clearly didn't find the imitation of life - of a living baby - to be nearly as satisfying as she might have hoped. Instead, her grief seemed deeper after purchasing a reborn doll. For those who think that a reborn doll or a fake baby can help someone overcome the grief of losing an actual infant, this woman stood out - in glaring contrast - as a reminder that grief can't always be overcome so easily. That mother still longed for the real boy that was no longer there. Even so......

Reborn dolls and newborn babies could be a hot Christmas item for 2008

Could fake babies be the hot trend of the holiday season? This might well be true, according to ecommerce-guide.com, a site which tracks hot holiday trends and products, including what may be the hottest Christmas items for 2008. You can see the information here. Lifelike dolls are listed as being among the hot trends selected by Lisa Suttora, a trend spotter, Founder and CEO for a site called WhatDoISell.com. If lifelike dolls are hot, then reborn dolls might well top the list for being lifelike. Buyers find them charmingly realistic or downright creepy, based on comments found on Ebay and other sites and blogs. Just for the record, I find them creepy....but I do understand why some women might feel drawn to them. Some are doll collectors and see them as artistic creations. Others mourn the loss of their own infants, whether stillborn or lost to crib death or illness.

Also, with the economy being so tight and the cost of fertility treatments and raising a child being so high, I can't help but wonder if some women are trying to experience a taste of motherhood by choosing a comparatively inexpensive option - purchasing a reborn doll or fake baby. Viewer reactions and comments to My Fake Baby, easily found at blogs and websites, indicated a wide range of reactions to these lifelike collector dolls, from awe and amazement to utter repulsion.

Want to buy reborn dolls and newborn babies?

If your take is that a reborn doll is a work of art and you yearn to have one yourself, you might search for them on Ebay or doll collector sites or stores. If they are a hot product for Christmas 2008, you can expect prices to reflect their popularity. Even in a tight economy, people may splurge when it comes to some items. Perhaps newborn babies are that certain something that will get people to dig deeper into their wallets and purses this year. If Ebay's top five searches are any indication of sales potential, reborn dolls are destined to be a top seller this Christmas season. I won't be among the people buying them, however.

Sources

E-Commerce site:http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/essentials/ebay/article.php/3772151
My Fake Baby, Channel 4 clips: http://www.channel4.com/
Personal experience as an Ebay seller and community participant
Reborn and Newborn Dolls: Stunning Artists' Creations or Dangerously Realistic?:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/889319/reborn_and_newborn_dolls_stunning_artists.html