Living dolls: Spanish firm makes eerily realistic human, alien babies
A Babyclon Animatronic baby is displayed at the Bilbao Reborn Doll Show, a trade fair featuring hyperrealist silicone and vinyl babies, known as "Reborns", in Bilbao, northern Spain June 11, 2017. REUTERS/Vincent West
BILBAO, Spain (Reuters) - Want a doll that looks, moves and feels almost exactly like a newborn? Or how about a baby Avatar, or a half human-half piglet?
The whole range was on display at a trade fair in Bilbao, northern Spain showcasing "Reborn Babies" made by Spanish company Babyclon, one of a small number of firms worldwide that cater to a particular subculture of collectors who value the dolls' unsettling realism.
Some of the basic silicone dolls cost almost 600 euros ($670), while high-end models equipped with motors that make the doll appear to breathe or suck on a pacifier cost nearly 5,000 euros.
A Babyclon Animatronic baby has its batteries recharged during the Bilbao Reborn Doll Show, a trade fair featuring hyperrealist silicone and vinyl babies, known as "Reborns", in Bilbao, northern Spain.
REUTERS/Vincent West
As well as human babies, and ones that look like the blue aliens from the film "Avatar", the company makes baby chimpanzees, tiny mermaids and infants with elf-style pointed ears.
(Reporting by Vincent West; Writing by Mark Hanrahan in London; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Silicone models depicting babies from the Avatar feature film are displayed at the Bilbao Reborn Doll Show, a trade fair featuring hyperrealist silicone and vinyl babies, known as "Reborns", in Bilbao, northern Spain, June 11, 2017. REUTERS/Vincent WestHeads and limbs of silicone babies are displayed at the Bilbao Reborn Doll Show, a trade fair featuring hyperrealist silicone and vinyl babies, known as "Reborns", in Bilbao, northern Spain June 11, 2017. REUTERS/Vincent WestA baby made of vinyl is displayed at the Bilbao Reborn Doll Show, a trade fair featuring hyperrealist silicone and vinyl babies, known as "Reborns", in Bilbao, northern Spain June 11, 2017. REUTERS/Vincent West
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