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As I said the last time I saw that chart... I like my Volks guys just fine. I have no complaints about the dolls. But Volks as a company kind'a gives me the creeps. gonk

Then again, while I do play the character game with my crew, I'm very much one of those "dolls are dolls" people, so maybe I just don't have the sort of mindset they're gearing their marketing towards.

Okay whoa, I cut that quote up. It's on page 3 for those who need to read it. Sorry Wine-lo-wich sweatdrop

Here's some fun stuff I remember from my Psychology class a few semesters ago that might help:
The imagination is one of the most unique abilities humans possess. This is not to say that we are the only ones that can play pretend. Anyone who owns pets understands this. These dolls intrigue the imagination as do so many other things. One can't say only sane folks who make up backstories for their dollfies are writers. One can have an imagination but not the patience to sit down and write.
Dollfies are embodiments of our imagination, if not decoration on a shelf, or both. As children many of us had imaginary friends. Just because we did, didn't mean we were mental. In fact, an adult can have an imaginary friend(s) and be perfectly sane. The only time this is considered a disorder is when the interaction with one's imaginary friend interferes with life's responsibility. This includes if a small child stays home because s/he must take care of a sick imaginary friend.
Speaking to the imaginary friend, whether it's an image your brain projects or a resin doll, is merely an exercise of the human imagination. There is no difference between thinking a conversation between you and your ImF (let's abbreviate) and verbally expressing it, except that others may be involved in the audio. As we age, these exercises tend to be less verbal and merely mental. Also, the ImF takes the form of those we are familiar with (i.e. going through the conversation you and your boss will have when you quit) and this can include fake people, characters (i.e. an activity with a story's protagonist). As adults, we are trained to fear ImFs due to peer pressure and life's responsibility.
As children we leave our ImF behind because we're made fun of on the school yard. It is a cycle. The thought of ghosts scares us. Our parents, in order to save us from our fears, tells us there's no such thing as ghosts. This concludes that there is no such thing as something we can not see, in a child's mind. In turn, this particular child will pick on the child with an ImF. This second child will hide away the ImF and slowly forget. In the end, turns out, the ImF gave the child mental strength to fight fears, fears like ghosts.
What makes the child sane when s/he speaks to the ImF? It's not a difficult concept. The Insane do not know their Insane, this excludes some cases, though. A child may not "believe" that their ImF isn't really, and this may mean they just don't want to because the ImF may be more fun than real folks. Creative kids usually find real friends who share their ImFs and more. If the child truly doesn't comprehend that the ImF is not real, the you have a disorder in the making. Letting this alone can lead to a person getting trapped in a fire because they went back for their ImF/Dollfie---let's face it guys, if it's over $100 in value, the insurance company will cover it especially with proof a collectors' guild and whatnot.
Some people do not have the social skills to venture beyond their ImF. They get by with what they can.
I don't think there are many people like that in this guild and if there are then that means there is hope--their conversing on the internet!!!

What does the doll hobby mean to you? You ask.
Well, it's a hobby. I sit up at night and sew in my dollfie's hair. My friend and I go out and "play" with our dollfies and we refer to them by name and as though they have feeling and likes/dislikes. We tell one another we talk to them but we don't while we're with one another. Why? Well aside from peer pressure, it's rude to talk to an ImF when there's a real person with you.

By the way, if there are any random typings like "sklfhklfgfd", that would be my hubby come up behind me and pressing the key board for my attention and I missed them when I looked through. heart
And he just threw a pillow at me.

Inorite?
I have no idea. I guess maybe being sold? OH NOES, THEIR SOUL IS LOST.
Volks should add something in that like "WHEN YOUR DOLL DIES, YOU MUST BUY ANOTHER ONE".

Maybe Volks sends two men in suits wearing white gloves to your door to announce the death of your doll?
Oh Volks. rolleyes

LOL! Funny stuff right here.

I've never seen some of the models listed in that chart.

To be honest it took me forever to get into the doll fandom, because even though I enjoyed looking at the dolls and could envision fun times of crafting things for them, I think there are people who take their hobby way too far. These people scared and still scare the crap out of me, and I didn't want to be tied to any hobby where such weirdness existed (I had a friend who was very weird about her dolls, which helped cultivate this feeling). However after joining DoA, and getting involved in creating my own dolls, I discovered that there were plenty of casual doll lovers, so I ended up buying one myself.

I am still not into back-stories and such, but I did name my doll, and his sculpt lends a certain level of personality to him. I mostly enjoy the doll hobby to make dolls, make doll clothes, and take photos of them in said clothes.