A Guy with dolls?!!

I didn't take too long to get my dolls out of hiding, the biggest step now was to hang huge photos of my work with dolls in my room and an even bigger doll living-room from the wall! Most people dig it 50/50, some don't... a handful totally dig it. I had to ditch a few friends because of it or ignoring them mostly because they spread the word negative so I get calls and suddenly they have to squeeze in 'how my dolls are' like: whatever, gtg!

http://tiriaq.deviantart.com/journal/Revealed-some-more-spots-of-my-home-514886035

one of the photos from the journal above - unfinished project but already looking nice: very small but ever so comfy living room

 

I would love to know how guys got into the hobby. What drew you to it?

I think it's great when guys collect dolls, and it's NOT something to be ashamed of. One of my best friends is a guy who collects Gene and other fashion dolls. He's one of the people I can talk openly with about my own hobby.

 

How I got into the hobby is extremely long winded, but the gist of it is that ever since I was a child there was something I wanted to accomplish, and watching Rozen Maiden as a teenager gave me the idea that I could do so through dolls. I had put off the idea for ages (because at the time I hadn't known much about dolls until recently when I saw a Dollfie Dream and found my way here to resin ones). While my original reason is more or less moot, I'm fond of the idea of ball jointed dolls in general.

I like that I can use them to give a physical existence to some of my characters and ideas. My drawings aren't that great and 3D modeling is tedious (for me) and if I'm gonna spend the money to get them 3D printed I might as well put the money on a doll that can actually...you know, move.

Mostly in it for the customization, really.

 

I haven't had any weird responses as a guy in the hobby, or at least none weirder than I imagine girls get when they mention dolls. When I get excited about tiny doll dresses I've gotten some pretty hilarious looks though. :P
I am not straight though, so plenty of people have assumed that I'm only interested in dolls because of that which I think is rather silly.

 

I'm a guy with dolls. My first dolls were just dolls from different countries. The first pair of dolls was purchased in Spain about 38 years ago. And they were to place as mantle pieces on top of a pair for floor speakers. They are a pair of Flamenco dolls that stand about 30" tall. I then continued to purchase others as I visited other countries. Several years ago I adopted a few that stand about 5' tall. I even placed one in my mothers camper to help make other people think that she was not alone when she traveled. It worked perfectly. In 2010 as I was doing some research I came across the Japanese Volks website and since I could not read Japanese I just clicked on the links and after a few minutes I fell in love with one of the dolls. It took me until this past January 2015 to finally adopt her. I thought I would be content. Boy was I mistaken. I now have a WISH list of BJD's that I would like to find. I may very soon have a few of these dream dolls.

My mother loves my dolls and it is interesting when I come home to find out what I dolls were up to when my mother is there. Everybody in my family knows I have dolls. Several of my friends also know. In fact the people that visit my house get startled when the walk into my living room because they do not expect to see anybody in there. Some people at work know of my dolls, however non of them have seen my dolls. A few of these friends have seen photos of them.

 

Middle aged dude with a long greying beard here.

My wife and teenage sons like my doll collection, friends not so much. Even my closest friend makes some reference to them pretty much any time I decline an invitation to do something "traditionally manly" like camping, fishing, poker nights, etc. Female friends are split about 50/50 between thinking it's cool or creepy.
I guess I have two strikes against me, being a straight male and in my 40's.
On the bright side I am old enough and self confident enough that I continue to do as I please and disregard stupid remarks about it or whatever judgements my peers may harbor.
On the downside as much as I would love to go to a meet and see everyone's dolls and meet some other collectors I'd feel like I was trespassing; people here have all been super welcoming but I've seen enough chatter about creepy old dudes at cons to make me a bit leery of showing up at a tea party with my ZZ Top beard and one of my precious princesses. That self confidence I referenced above doesn't usually leave the house with me.

 

Young dude here! I actually have 4 dolls with one on its way. My girlfriend is super supportive and actually got into dolls because of me.
My roomie sometimes thinks they are creepy but only because she doesnt like them staring (Plus one is headless haha)

 

Gorst I had to chuckle when you mentioned your "ZZ TOp beard" my brother Richard also has a ZZ Top beard and is in his 60s. He is very masculine, but he collects stuffed animals and NOBODY complains about it.

My brother got started when he was sick and his daughter gave him a Tigger stuffed toy as a get well gift. Now he has stuffed animals in every nook and cranny of his bedroom and livingroom.

He also has Barbie dolls which were left over from when my niece was still a kid. He kept her dolls because he raised my niece alone, and so he spent many hours playing dolls with her. We joked that he knew every piece of clothing and accessorie and which doll it went with. He is definitely NOT ashamed of it.

 

ParlourGoddess That is awesome, thank you for sharing!! Your brother sounds like a kindred spirit of mine for sure!

No shame here either, just acute anxiety. I'm not embarrassed about my dolls so much as worried that I would make other people uncomfortable at a dollie meetup. Maybe by the time I am sixty I can put that fear to rest as well.

 

I think that's pretty cool that's some normal guys like dolls, not creepy guys who do unnatural things to dolls. Now that is weird.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MENTION=68614]Crimsincuttie[/MENTION]: Seriously, though. Who are we to say what is "unnatural" to do with a doll? As long as people (I fail to see how gender makes any difference in this) are doing it in private, it is none of our business. And otherwise, as long as they post it in the proper places I don't think there is a problem. Anyone can decide what to do with their stuff and anyone can decide what to look at, at their computer screen.
If you find stuff offensive, report it through the appropriate channels and if you find offensive material in a place where it is allowed, just don't visit that place anymore.

 

I'm a guy who's in the hobby to! (a young 21 year old guy at that)
Most of my friends are male and even my friend who's scared of dolls doesn't mind that I collect them 'cause he knows I like it. My 8 and 10 year old male cousins also don't mind my dolls. The older of them actually remembers what they look like and stuff so he knows when I change anything about them lol

 

Another male here in the community. It's been a year since I got my first doll and everything's been great so far. I also got to meet some awesome folks in the area that does meets once in a blue moon and I was actually surprised that there were plenty of guys that hang around and are even more enthusiastic than I am about BJD's. I like to build and collect models and unlike BJD's they can neither move nor can you change them into something entirely different. With BJD's you can have fun with creating unique characters, change them to how you like them to be at anytime which I enjoy being in this hobby. Personally I don't try to hide my collection nor do I deny collecting BJD's I mean when I think about it, there really is no difference between, collecting BJD's or the figma's and other action figures like the princess Lea figure that Starwars fans buy nor the catwoman action figure DC sells in stores.

 

Welcome to the guys-BJD corner then

 

A lot of guys in the hobby, indeed...

A biological male here...I'm gay though so I think it's much easier for us. I mean, I blended in easily with our local community, considering it was my first meet. It was as if I've known them for so long and I'm really thankful for that. But my family doesn't know I'm gay(at least I don't declare it, but it's pretty much obvious). They are pretty cool with it, in fact I just had cleaned my doll and had his parts was laying on our dining table. No one minded. They asked tons of questions but never made any negative remarks. Good thing they didn't asked for the price. :P

For me, it's a matter of respect. Anybody can be in this hobby... as long as you can afford it, of course. It's a matter of thinking what you have to say and consider that everyone is unique in this world, with unique hobbies.

 

I was surprised when my friend Mike decided to move to Texas from California. Mike collects Barbie Dolls and has over 400 in his collection. Calif is pretty open minded about guys collecting dolls, but I was afraid when he moved to Texas he would be ridiculed. I guess he found a group of like-minded guys, because he's very happy there now.

 

Pretty cool of you to come out for it, me on the other hand I'm being accused of being gay for having dolls. So seems to be much harder for me. I'm not afraid of the doll community but of the people outside of it, in a way that I've already noticed that some friends aren't visiting anymore. They think I flipped or something but I'm just having more fun than ever.

For me, it's a matter of respect. Anybody can be in this hobby... as long as you can afford it, of course. It's a matter of thinking what you have to say and consider that everyone is unique in this world, with unique hobbies

 

Kudos to you for still being so positive amidst getting some negative feedback from some of your friends! People don't really say that to me since I have a girl I'm in a relationship with so people are much more forgiving in my situation but I do feel for you since sometimes people can be pretty negative when it comes to something out of their norm.

I agree though, if they really are your friends then they should respect whatever hobbies you're into and just accept that. You're who you are no matter what you do or your hobbies. There are times when a stranger asks me why dolls, I always tell them, it gets my creative juices going. BJD's aren't your regular dolls as you can design, create, and write stories using them. Writing stories, creating characters, taking photos. They are just a few of the things you can learn from BJD's. These dolls are also different as they are made of resin and you can create and modify them into unique characters. It's no different from collecting sculptures or other works of art. It's just that they can move and you can play with them.

 

I would love to meet a guy who likes and appreciate's the Bjd hobby and I would be more then happy to be his friend. Iv'e noticed a certain shyness from boy's that like Bjd. I personally enjoy meeting shy people like that because they're very kind and friendly.

 

Heya, thanks for the reply. The group of dollowners in Holland is also very small, but I do mostly computer graphics anyway and to photograph outside I would need hours of traveling to get somewhere because there aren't many spots here suitable for nice backgrounds. It's true that our country has a lot of green but it's not the spectacular kind. With so much chance to rain or grey clouded days it's too much of a risk to bring 4 bags of equipment and dolls so far out.


I wish though I would get someone near that you could just share some stories and stuff with, although from my ex-gfs some of the stuff remained and it's being applied to the dolls. I've kind of changed from trying to be all tough to liking super cute things. It's the kind of metroside in me I guess that makes me so happy it's unbelievable but I can't just show it out there. I do very but rarely.
Just finished another photoshoot yesterday, it took me 1.5 hours to setup the beach setting alone and I still need more stuff, oh well. Back to editing

That is so sweet! Good stuff for a romantic movie Hope you meet the right guy!