Bjd Meets are kind of depressing, am I the only one?

Honestly? I'm there for the people. I'm just so happy to meet other people in the hobby, many of whom I've been friends with for years now.

I've often organized a lot of meets as well as attended plenty that others have organized, in several areas (Richmond, VA ; Washington DC; RTP, NC and expanded NC Zoom meets). Going to meets is such a huge mood-booster for me (and I do still consider myself an introvert, I'm just an outgoing one....so I get hype and then burn out for like two days after a meetup). I'm not going to judge people for what they bring, I'm just always curious to see what people are working on or what they're interested in or hey, what they do for a living. I like talking shop.

I still sometimes also get a little nervous that my dolls might not be awesome enough, but I try to brush that off and bring the ones that are easiest to transport anyways.

 

I have since moved and grown as a person and have gone to several local doll meets and had a blast

 

Aw, this makes me sad. I'm a total weirdo and completely accepting of it. I would be the strange old lady running around, squealing over how gorgeous everyone's dolls are. Probably why I haven't been to a meet yet - I don't want to make anyone feel awkward.

So if you ever go to a meet and see a crazy lady (covered in cat hair) squeaking at cute everyone's dolls are - probably me.
(Those cat hair rollers are defeated by five cats...)

 

I tried to go to one a long time ago as a teen but I spent every red cent I had on this $800 doll and literally had no money for anything to even make her look nice. I thought people would think I’m disrespecting the sculpt by not giving her the best of the best. Sock dress, bad face up, no shoes…I felt too embarrassed so I never went, even though people in this community are the kindest I’ve ever met. Nobody would have made fun of me, it was all in my head.

 

Nope, I don't find meets even remotely depressing! If my dolls aren't as nice, no problem! I'll maybe work towards making them nicer for the next meet, but I'm just happy to be around others who enjoy dolls. It's also great to be able to enjoy others' dolls too without having to drop a couple hundred dollars to hold one! The biggest issue with meets though is finding out you also need to own a certain doll from a company. I've bought 3 dolls because of this strange phenomenon...

I haven't had a chance to attend a meet (other than a 2 person meet with my bff) since like 2015 and I sure do miss them.

You will almost definitely not be the only one running around squealing. You'll be in good company.

 

I think the company you find yourself surrounded with can really make or break a meet.

The first doll meet group I went to, I felt really excluded all around. The majority of the people attending came off as 'nitpicky' and only one person was interested in my doll(s). One woman actually had the nerve to call my one girl 'old and boring'. A few other... odd things happened, but I won't dump that laundry here lol. My husband and I only went a handful of times before giving up on it. That group really made me think that doll collecting wasn't for me.

The second doll meet group I went to, I adored that group. This was primarily a vinyl doll group, for the most part, but they didn't exclude anything really. They were all so sweet and funny. Everyone expressed interest in everyone's dolls. People would try to take pictures of everyone's dolls to post. My husband and I went in being afraid that our dolls would be ignored, and it was the opposite. We even were able to participate in trades, we got some gifts... We had so much fun with that group, I'm sad we had to move.

 

The few I have been to were all positive experiences, one local to where I lived (and hadn't appreciated to the fullest at the time) were huge, probably avg 20 who took 3+bjds each... my first meet there I saw my first Soom fantasy SG, a Beryl in all her glory which changed my direction on what I really wanted from my bjd collection. The majority were friendly, open and lots to stuff to do and talk about.

The other meet wasn't local and needed to spend a moderate amount to get there and the location wasn't cheap but the company was excellent, another wide range of bjds to look at and handle even though there were only about 8 max of us (all brought multiple bjds), all were friendly and never felt left out even when the others were closer to each other as they were in the same locale.

Making me really miss bjd meets now! Havent been to one in years.

 

This is one of the reasons I fell out of love with the hobby! it was very "in" at the time to own at least one MNF, and it was both a mix of not having "pretty enough" dolls/clothes/accessories etc due to limited funds (looking back the things I made for my dolls were pretty good, but back then I certainly didn't feel like it) and not having enough dolls to "count" as a member of the group, or having the "wrong" dolls. (I did end up with both a MNF and a LTF, but it didn't solve my problem.)

I did meet some really nice people through doll meets (and some people I don't talk to anymore). I kind of miss doll meets. But I totally get you.

(realizing now I made a lot of ""s, sorry if that's annoying but it really is a case of having to use bunny ears, because I really don't agree with it. Bear in mind this was my local community ca 6-7 years ago)

 

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I had an impromptu doll meet with a mutual from instagram. I was super anxious on how to approach her and I was dreading it. I only brought my YOSD at that time while that mutual brought their TaeKook bjd. Of course their bjd looks a whole lot better than mine but after some encouragement from my sister, I took the courage to approach her and we just talked.

We talked about where she gets her stuff for her bjds, how poseable is their body etc. So rather than thinking that mine is not beautiful, I took the chance to learn more so I can make my bjds beautiful in the future

 

I haven't been to a doll meetup yet but yea id want my dolls to look Presentable. It'd be hard if I compared my work to others but I'm sure I'd feel better if I asked for advice

 

The first meet-up I ever went to was just meeting with one other person in the area at an art supply store. we went and had coffee and it was really chill and helped to ease me into the hobby. I'd recommend this approach for anyone that has anxieties like I do. Just be cautious and meet in a public place, and make sure people know where, who, why, etc.

 

You’re not lonely too ( ´･֊･` )
but I think we shouldn’t compare with other ～just look at what we have and how unique that our dolls is ～♡

 

Never been to one but I heard it was kinda boring .always wanted to go to one and see myself ..