Factory of children: babies who are not capricious, do not cry or grow up

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

These babies look so cute that they make you want to pick them up or gently stroke them while they sleep so peacefully. However, these children will never wake up. They are not even alive. Spanish company Babyclons creates hyper-realistic dolls that not only look like real babies, these "toys" breathe, drink, eat and suck a pacifier, they are so close to the image of real children that the catch is not immediately discovered.

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, this is perhaps the only thing we do," says director of the company Christina Iglesias. This company was founded 8 years ago in order to create various paraphernalia for filming. And in 2013, they launched their new brand, BabyClon, which created babies.

The idea to create such a brand belonged to the artist 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.

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

In total, the factory employs 10 workers, including Sylvia and Christina. Each employee has his own desk and all the necessary tools are at hand. "The hardest part is that the work takes a lot of time. We start the sculpture out of a very hard plasticine, which allows us to create even very small details. And this initial sculpture can take about two months."

When the plasticine sculpture is ready, it is poured with a mixture of aluminum and fiberglass, and thus the shape is obtained. Now, using this form, 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. 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.

Although BabyClon dolls are mass-produced, they are 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 the customers. The doll's face can remain more or less the same, but the color of the hair, eyes change, sometimes even the gender of the child is changed."We often have special requests - like, to draw a child's freckles or a birthmark in a certain place. Sometimes customers bring photographs of their children, who have already grown up, so that we can make a similar doll. It's like a 3D photograph. I think it's cute," says Kristina.

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 saw and write, then this is another € 300 plus. A child avatar will cost as much as € 2,500. And the most expensive model (€ 3,500) is the one that breathes, sucks on the nipple and opens its mouth. The truth is, because of the batteries inside the doll, it cannot "drink and write".

So who's buying these kids? “There are two kinds 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 to certain artists to paint."

Christina assures that their dolls are very durable and can last about 30 years. Even if you coddle and change your clothes 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 cupboard behind the glass, as some collectors do, then once a year shake off the dust from them - that's the whole concern.

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

One example of the work of hyper-realistic dolls is articulated dolls by Mikhail Zaykov - he creates more adult versions of dolls, but this does not make them one gram less adorable. Each work of this master is a real work of art.