Boys owning girls...

To the few (like 5?) guys here that own girl dolls what has been your experience?

There are WAY more than 5 guys that own girl BJDs here. I can think of 20 just off the top of my head and I know three personally who live in my area!

Do you take your doll out in public? Do people look at you strange? How have other doll owners reacted?

I only take my dolls out to meets and even then I recently have only been taking them to meets hosted at peoples houses. I am not ashamed of them but I can live without strange looks from other coffee/Tea Shop/restaurant patrons and staff. Plus food stains so it is safer to meet up in a place where food is not served and in my area the best place to do that is at someone's house.

Do your friends / family make fun of you in any way?

I get a bit of ribbing from my friends but at the end of the day they all admit that the dolls are pretty cool and amazing peices of art. My boyfriend call my Sd16 Ruby Pochahauntas-Beyonce and thinks some of the sculpts I own with downward pointing eyes look slow but generally people think they are pretty cool. It helps that I do not hide them and remain cool when people ask about them. I am old enough to realize at this point that if you act like something is "normal" people will believe you and think it is not that unusual.

Do you go out of your way to dress your girl decently or do you have them wear sexy outfits (or nothing >.<)?

My girls are known locally as the Glamazons and always dress chicly and sexily. They are never nude unless I am doing a nude photoshoot (which I have yet to do) but I have done an underwear shoot which I think was pretty sexy.

Do you also own male dolls or just girls?

I own 6 SD16 girls and 2 Yo-SD girls and one asexual Sei Tenshi. I do not currently own any boys but am not opposed to it. My Girls would love to have a boyfriend, even if they had to share him!

Do you give your girl(s) a story or are they just for taking photos / looking cool on the shelf?

My Girls do have a story but it is pretty amorphous and not very developed. They are Supermodels with magically based super powers. I do photograph them frequently but they spend the majority of their time looking cool on a shelf so I can look at them all the time.

Do you keep your girl / dolls a secret / hidden?

They are not a secret at all. They are on display for all to see in my bedroom closet which must be passed through to access the bathroom so everyone that comes over can see them.

 

Yes. I'm not the only one

 

Haven't browsed General for a while so didn't see the topic until now. Remember, <15% of the users here are male, if you believe the long running poll, which at least feels about right.

Do you take your doll out in public? Do people look at you strange? How have other doll owners reacted?

Generally, I don't take out my dolls into public. If I did, I am certain I would get some stares, but that's expected. I would only bring them if I needed them for something specific (like fitting clothes) or was deliberately fishing for reactions. I do take my girls to meets, Volks visits and "nerd" conventions (anime, sci-fi, comic, etc.). Those places you get less unwanted attention. If you come across a doll owner, they generally respond favorably (of course).

But I don't really take anything into public besides my wallet, keys and phone. Too cumbersome, and you will be severely limited in your ability to buy and carry things. Even in large conventions, I will consider leaving them behind just to maneuver the crowds quickly. Having only one arm available is a massive drawback.

You could say that I'm embarrassed of them, but I just don't like to take precious items away from home for no reason--exposure to sun, risk of dropping/collision, dirt, theft, loss, etc. I don't own jewelry, expensive clothing or portable electronics besides a cheap, basic non-smartphone. My dolls are the most expensive and irreplaceable things I own, and I protect them accordingly.

Do your friends / family make fun of you in any way?

I am already considered weird and known that I do my own thing largely heedless of peer opinion. I generally do not talk about my hobbies to them and my family generally do not mention them either. My sister is a fellow doll owner and occasionally ribs me about being more a girl than she is--I was the one who started her on dolls. I have only a few very strong friends and they all know. They are not doll people so I try not to bore them--the same courtesy they extend to me with their own hobbies that I don't care about.

Do you go out of your way to dress your girl decently or do you have them wear sexy outfits (or nothing >.<)?

If you define decently as "very expensively", then yes. Seriously, their wardrobes are worth many times my own. I change their outfits on a whim, which varies with how much I like the outfit in general (anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months). I will have them cosplay at conventions. I will dress them formally for Christmas photos; I make custom Christmas cards with them to send to a handful of people.

Some outfits are sexy, some are just cute. But given my title, you can probably guess a lot of the outfits are more... flattering than not. They are never naked though; that's only if I'm doing dolly maintenance. Teasing >>> nudity. (Smart women already know that.)

Do you also own male dolls or just girls?

For now, just girls. I haven't ruled out a male in the future, but honestly I doubt anytime soon. Male DD Archer from Fate/Stay Night would be an auto-buy to match my sister's Rin.

Do you give your girl(s) a story or are they just for taking photos / looking cool on the shelf?

My original characters have their own stories, some more fleshed out than others, some sharing universes and some not. Character dolls are naturally from someone else's story. But to me a doll's purpose is to look pretty, and I won't buy a doll that does not look awesome somehow.

Do you keep your girl / dolls a secret / hidden?

Like most of my hobbies, I don't exactly keep them a secret so much as I will fail to volunteer them unless asked. You can usually be surprisingly uninformative without being obviously evasive. (Take a cue from public relations.) My family and friends know though. My 3 most recent vacations were Volks-related in some way (LA, Kyoto, soon to be NY). I'm pretty "professional" to strangers--I'm not the type to mention personal issues in small talk and I generally don't drag out interactions with strangers. So it's not just dolls that end up being unmentioned.

They are no secret if you visit my room though. They're pretty much lounging everywhere.

 

Do you take your doll out in public? Do people look at you strange? How have other doll owners reacted?

Not generally unless its to a dollfie meeting or covention for a display. Most of the dollfies I own are Dollfie Dreams and I think you will find ownership of Dollfie Dreams is actually predominantly male rather than female.
Do your friends / family make fun of you in any way?
Some head shaking and the odd "OMG they cost HOW much??" but not really. I am well known to be eccentric enough to get away with them.
Do you go out of your way to dress your girl decently or do you have them wear sexy outfits (or nothing >.<)?
Most of mine are character dollfies so they are dressed in their character outfits. As usually they are displayed prominently on the sideboard in the main dining hall of the house I ensure they are decently dressed. And it depends what you believe is "sexy" as conventions vary according to culture :P
Do you also own male dolls or just girls?
Girls only. I think my friends and family would be more worried if I owned male dolls than female ones. :P
Do you give your girl(s) a story or are they just for taking photos / looking cool on the shelf?
The dollfies I own are character dollfies so they come with the history of the character whether it be the SD Suigintou or the various character DD related to the anime or manga from whence they were sourced. The only original dollfie I own is Natsuki from the Volks Akihba Girls collection and she was bought because of a resemblance to Asuna from Negima. I am still waiting for the right set of clothes to come along to convert her.

No hiding the Dolls. They have pride of place :P

 

Do you take your doll out in public? Do people look at you strange? How have other doll owners reacted?
I've just ordered my first girl doll from the MP, so she should be here next week (SQUEEEE!!!! ), but I will very likely only take her in 'public' for doll meets. Lately, I've been thinking it would be *really* fun to do a photoshoot of dolls on the subway platform/in a subway car (like they're riding the train to go somewhere), but I'd have to think a lot about the logistics of this, & would likely only do this w/a friend, so that there's at least one person to keep an eye on doll cases, watch out for passers-by who might accidentally knock the doll over, etc.

Do your friends / family make fun of you in any way?
Nope. I've collected dolls for a long time, & several different kinds. I don't think my family really "get" it, but my friends accept it as one of my 'quirks' & are often impressed by my dolls in one way or another.

Do you go out of your way to dress your girl decently or do you have them wear sexy outfits (or nothing >.<)?
First, I feel the need to state that "dressed decently" & "sexy outfits" are in no way mutually exclusive. It's entirely possible to be both fully dressed in "street safe" clothing (meaning "an outfit that won't get you arrested for indecency, or cause unnecessary stares") & sexy as hell.

That said, my girl's style is going to be very fashionable & stylish & sexy. I have a knee-length pencil skirt in mind for her, as well as other fashionable outfits. And, yes, there will probably be some "in my undies" photo shoots with her, but I'll do the same w/my boy.

Do you also own male dolls or just girls?
Hehe, waiting on one of each right now. My doll collection in general is about 50/50 w/boys & girls, though the boys are slightly favored.

Do you give your girl(s) a story or are they just for taking photos / looking cool on the shelf?
The dolls I have now that are not BJD's all came w/a "character" or "personality". I've started to imagine the same for my incoming BJD's, though.

Do you keep your girl / dolls a secret / hidden?
HELL no! Doll collecting is (for better or worse) a large-ish part of my life, & anyone who's going to be a part of my life needs to be able to deal w/it w/o being a jerk. The sooner they find out, the sooner I can tell if they're worth my time.

 

Cool thread…
I had never even thought about dolls, until I discovered BJD. But thinking about your original premise for this thread (Boys owning girls) most people probably associate dolls with being girls. Meaning, that most of us chose girls by default. It certainly doesn’t hurt that BJD girls are stunning! And there is something about the Asian sculpts that brings you in.

On the other hand, BJD is the only doll type that offers male dolls at an equal level. Ya ever notice what a spaz Ken was! Poor Barbie!

Onto your questions…
-I worry too much about my girl's physical safety, to take her out in public. I was surprised at how common this practice was. Although, I have thought of taking her to a coffee house, or the like. Bring her a book, etc... Maybe with just one other person…If I ever get a DM Lusion, I would definitely take her out. Too much fun!

-My wife and my son are the only ones that know about Lydia right now. Reserved toleration (not necessarily negative) explains the general feel. (Our next big family gathering may be Lydia’s debutante event. And they think my fossil hobby is weird!)

Also, I was totally unaware of any stigmas associated with dolls. Another surprise! I will say, though, I have encountered some rudeness on the internet and in shops (doll shops, mind you) when I have mentioned that I am the doll fan and not my wife.

-I dress her pretty conservatively. Mostly, because that is what I like about BJD. I refer to it as "scale" clothing. Things you might see on the street, in the store. But I am branching out. I recently got a steampunk outfit, although, it too, is fairly conservative. And I pretty much limit her being naked to necessity.

-The only reason I wanted a male doll, was to get a boyfriend for Lydia. I really like BJD couples; it’s the old romantic in me (I am in my 50’s). I normally don’t react too much to BJD costs (they cost what they cost) but a $600 accessory for Lydia seemed a bit odd…(I think I just heard a “Harrumph” from her box!)

-She is an ongoing story… Her Gypsy persona arrived with her… It is why I sent for her. That, and her anklet!

-“Hidden” would not be an inaccurate word. She does spend quite a bit of time in her box. I really don’t have a good place to display her, and as noted, my wife and son still don’t quite get it (not to mention their friends). There are two upsides to this. She is still in pristine condition, and it is still really special to get her out, since I don’t see her every day.

 

Hiya, I'm another guy that collects dolls

Do you take your doll out in public? Do people look at you strange? How have other doll owners reacted?
I only really take my dolls out in public at doll meets in public places. I have got a few strange looks, but that could just have easily been beacuse there were maybe 50 upwards dolls there.
A couple of times I have taken one or two of my girls out on a long train journey to sit with, no strange looks, but very late trains. I do feel bad when they are stuck in a bag for 3-4 hours XD
And now I think about it I have taken them to a collectables shop that I often visit when I'm at university, mainly cos the staff were really interested when I mentioned them. So I have wandered around the shop with them, but I didn't attract any attention really.

Do your friends / family make fun of you in any way?
Alot of my friends have a go at me for how much I've spent, which has really put abit of a rift in our friendships. I don't complain when they have spent way more than one of my girls cost on a holiday, or expensive camera. But then again, some of my friends have shown a real interest. I guess it has helped me see how 'good' some of my friends are.
My family were a little taken back at first, but after a couple of days they have got over, and are pretty supportive.
Also because of DoA and meet ups etc I have found a whole new group of friends who share my interests ^^

Do you go out of your way to dress your girl decently or do you have them wear sexy outfits (or nothing >.<)?
I like my girls to be dressed in something I think is pretty, thats about it. They are all quite decent, nothing to skimpy, and they all have underwear. But that is why I collect dolls, because I think they are gorgeous!

Do you also own male dolls or just girls?
At the moment I only own girlies, and I have no immeadiate plan for a male doll, but I wouldn't rule it out.
Do you give your girl(s) a story or are they just for taking photos / looking cool on the shelf?
All my girls are characters from Volks Dollfie Dream line so they already have stories. I'm not much for stories, they are just for looking pretty really. I don't often take photos, but I do like to pose them etc.

Do you keep your girl / dolls a secret / hidden?
I don't keep them a secret at all, I love to talk about them! Perhaps the only people who don't know are my work colleagues, but if they came up I would happily drop them into conversation.