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Collecting lifelike baby dolls

myarn | Oct 03, 2011 | 0 comments

Collecting reborn dolls is a growing trend among doll collectors. Typically hand crafted by a specialized reborn doll artist, these custom dolls are highly sought after. They are often amazingly lifelike re-creations of real babies. Therefore they are often referred to as life-like babies, fake babies, or twin baby dolls.

Why “reborn babies?”

The term “reborn baby” refers to the fact that the custom dolls originated from a completed doll. The manufactured doll is used as a starting point by the doll artist and re-created (reborn) as a custom doll creation, often with new coloring, hair, and clothing.

They are sometimes made to look like a real baby from a photo. In this case, they are often referred to as “fake baby dolls” or “twin babies.”

Sometimes the dolls do not originate from a completed doll, but come from a soft vinyl doll kit that the artist can start with. These are technically referred to as “newborn dolls” since they come from a blank kit, but most collectors simply refer to all lifelike dolls as “reborn dolls.”

Reborn doll sculptors

The doll sculptor is the artist who designs the blank doll kit, while the doll artist is the artisan who brings it to life as a reborn doll. A few popular doll sculptors have risen to the top of the field who design the vinyl doll kits artists use for their creations. Some of the most common are:

Adrie Stoete
Angie Harris
Birgit Gutzwiller
Didy Jacobsen
Elisabeth Steger
Eva Wakolbinger
Heike Kolpin
Jackie Gwin
Kim van de Wetering
Linda Webb
Manuela Muth
Nel De Man
Reva Schick
Rolanda Heimer
Rita Rich-Arnold
Sheila Michael

Reborn doll artists

Some of the more popular reborn doll artists have moved on to become doll sculptors, such as Reva Schick. Reva has designed a number of popular doll sculpts available in soft vinyl doll kits, including:

Ariella By Reva Schick
Melina By Reva Schick
Rebecca By Reva Schick
Ophelia By Reva Schick
Maya By Reva Schick

An increasingly popular reborn doll artist who is known for hand crafting her dolls with a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail is Karen Whitmore in Valdosta, Georgia. In her studio, Neverland Nursery, she produces amazingly detailed and lifelike reborn baby dolls.