Do you feel alone in the hobby? (even with the forum)

Feeling very alone. Kind of falling out of the hobby very badly. Moved away from our doll friend... We IM daily, but it's not the same as her being there. My husband and I did go to meets, but... There were some really rude people there that made us very uncomfortable, so we stopped going. Now a days I just go through fits of wanting a new doll or new clothes for my dolls. I don't even take them out for pictures anymore I'm so disheartened.

 

Even though I live in large city with an active BJD community, I still feel very isolated. Maybe it's because I am shy and like to stay keep to myself, but I still feel alone in this hobby. So, as DenaliWind pointed out, Youtube really has helped combat these feelings. I love watching unboxing videos, and feeling apart of the youtuber's excitement. It's such a great community, that isn't afraid to talk about more taboo subject matter. So, if you are new to the hobby, you should seriously check out Youtube.

 

I think it's still mainly a lot of military folks, so maybe most of the real "go getters" and event organizers have all been stationed somewhere else now. My partner used to come over to visit her friends, and she told me about going to a SCA event here, on this Island no less! That was back about twenty years or more too. She said it was so funny, because a light rain started to fall like it normally does here, and the fighters were all "Eww! Eww! My armour is all getting wet!" They even cancelled all the fighting because of it! :-D Lol, being from the western part of Washington state, the idea of big macho Knights being so upset just because their armour is getting a little wet is hysterical. In An Tir, if we had cancelled things every time it so much as sprinkled, we would never have had any events!
Anyway, the SCA folk that are still here seem to be content with just letting the people in California organize and host everything. So maybe all Hawaiian SCA "movers and shakers" really are gone.

Either that, or they've just all left and joined the local Star Wars storm trooper battalion!
Those stormtroopers certainly are an active bunch, a lot more active than the local SCA seems to be. They are always popping up at different events on Oahu, in full costume! They even attend the Anime convention, and usually have a recruiting booth set up in the lobby.

Hmmm, I just might be on to something here... That group would certainly be attractive to active, gung-ho military types... Plus, stormtrooper armour is plastic, so no more worries about a little rain on their armour. Lol! ^_~

Now then, as to your question about taking my dolls to the convention, I do. I always take Lue, my Volks Kohaku/SDC because he goes along whenever I travel. At first, I would sometimes bring a second doll, usually one that had just arrived. However, I stopped doing that after the third or fourth year of the convention. By that point, most of the BJD people in Hawaii weren't really using DoA for communicating and organizing meet ups, they had all moved to some group chat site or something. There was some talk about having a Meet up at the convention, but no time or place was ever finalized, so it didn't happen. Most of the local BJD folk are on Oahu, and since they were having meet ups and other doll outings during the rest of the year, they just didn't seem to be all that concerned about having a meet up during the convention. Even though, for most of us on the other Islands, it would be our only opportunity to attend.

At that convention, as well as the ones that have followed, I haven't even seen many dolls around. No one seems to have them displayed at their Artist Alley tables anymore, nor do I see people carrying them around at the convention either. I guess they're all just too busy with other activities at the convention to be bothered with dolls. So, I've kind of just given up on us having a convention meet up, or any other doll activities during the con. :-(

 

Things do change - it was movers & shakers in the SCA Hawaii group 20 years ago - one of those guys ended up being King of Atlantia 2 years later... I wonder if the Middle Eastern dance people are all gone too... The storm troopers (501st ) are always fun tho! Too bad the Oahu dollie people didn't want to meet up at the convention

 

Not really, but only because most of my friends are into the hobby too.

 

I don't really feel alone in the hobby. But then, I have a few friends who collect BJDs IRL, and I'm part of a local Blythe meetup group, who are very multi-doll friendly (many BJDs and Pullips show up at our meetups). The internet has also made it so much easier to connect with other hobbyists! There are tons of other message boards out there, Facebook groups, YouTube channels, and Flickr groups for sharing dolls. I'm so thankful that I'm a collector in this era, because it's really easy to find people online to talk to!

And speaking of which, if anyone is feeling particularly lonely in the hobby, please feel free to message me! I would absolutely love to talk about your dolls with you!

 

Just sometimes, first is because i don't know anyone in the hobby in my country, i never had seen another bjd doll, pullip or DD, plus i'm very shy, it cost me a lot to chat o reply treads, my sister likes bjds too, but she lives far.

 

Hmm...maybe just a little cos I don't have any close friends that are currently in the hobby. My BFF had just recently started to make an exit in the hobby. It has made me pretty sad, especially, considering that she too had a love for Volks.

 

I'm very alone in the hobby. My close friends aren't interested in doll collecting so to not bother them I won't mention my dolls to them. Although my main reason that I think I don't have dolly friends is that I'm shy to reach out to other people (I feel like I'll bother them or something)

 

I know how you feel it's hard for me as well but I've always really liked keeping to myself I find friendships really complicated aside from the fact that every single person is different. I love animals because when you give them love they give love back and that's it. I am so happy I found doa because I am sure that nobody I know is interested in bjds.

 

I did. When I first started an ex was in the hobby and that was it.

 

I do feel quite lonely in the hobby at some times. I also feel that way in some of my other hobbies, though. Having a group on Skype that I talk to about dolly stuff helps a lot. I am relatively new to the hobby as well. I know that a con I attend regularly has had BJD meet ups in the past, so I am looking forward to meeting local people with dolls then. But every once in a while when it's just me and I don't have anyone to 'fangirl' over my dolls with, I guess you could say, I do feel lonely. It's also easy to feel disconnected (I think) when you aren't as perhaps 'involved' in the community yet, say you don't have very many dolls like some other people do, or you don't have a BJD and maybe an Obitsu, so you can't relate with people as well and it becomes harder to socialize.

 

I completely understand that, it seems like every time I bring up dolls people give me this look like... well, they just don't understand. Even my boyfriend is kind of weird about them. He's supportive enough but he isn't someone I can talk to about them. We just moved to LA tho so I am hoping that maybe I'll be able to find people who I can share this with!

 

Don't give up! I'm in a similar situation---minus the rudeness. There are meetups held regularly by a nearby group, but as the group is in another city about an hour away, our schedules continuously clash. The loneliness is definitely there.

The lack of regular interaction (for years) has left my kids on a shelf in my workroom for quite some time. It's only recently that I brought them out again---sewing, playing, traveling (just cosplayed a boy as Hiro from The Hero Six complete with BayMax and sat proud in the movie theatre), photography, just plain old enjoying their existence...

I find it's good to create your own happiness and not depend on others. Especially, if those others are few and far between.

 

i know how it feels .. i just feel alone too in this hobby .. even all my friends call me crazy because i spendd my money just for a doll

 

Yes, I do. I moved to Oklahoma from Houston, Texas, where the bjd community was amazing. Houston/Katy area has the best bjd community ever (for me), the people are more my age, they have meet ups frequently and are all excited about the hobby. The community I met here were all older women who seemed to be very closely-knit. I felt like I was too young for them and I felt completely left out...

To make matters worse, I went off to university away from that city, so now there isn't any community at ALL where I am!! I've tried finding people but no one is here, so it looks like the only way I can see some more dolls is by buying my own or driving two hours away

 

As a newbie to the hobby, I'm kind of stuck as to how to find communities >< I live in London, England so I'm sure they must exist somewhere here... the people who I am close to don't understand very well and I find I can't communicate my reasons why I want to join the hobby very well. I've already got my wish list set up of 5 dolls over the next few years ( 4 EID's/SID's and 1 MSD) but no one I know understands why.

Would be nice to show my dolls to people without having to defend myself.

Youtube has been a big help though and I actually would love to do some videos myself.

 

I do, in my country i don't think anyone actually relates the same hobby as me, and in the forum i feel lonely too as i have no online friends to talk to or anything. It's a bit weird, i see people doing this and say oh i am not lonely, i have youtube videos etc... but .. i can't make them for now and if i do i do believe they would stay at 0 views hehe...

 

I've only met one person who has owned a bjd, but I lost contact with her before we really got to talk. I tell my best friend about doll plans and show her clothes I've sewn but since she's not in the hobby I don't want to bombard her with dolls. So yes, I'd say not having someone to share the excitement with is pretty lonely.

 

Yes very much. I wish my real life friends took interest in dolls. I tried making friends with the local community but they already have their own cliques. Even at meets, it's awkward and I end up just sitting there listening to inside jokes that I don't quite get. I don't want to try and include myself in the group in case they might not like me or anything.