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

I don't have any doll friends and don't want any. I think if I was friends with another BJD collector in person, she (or he) would tell me about new releases and I'd end up buying more. I have no space left for dolls. I have 10 SDs just stuck in a closet because I got a cat, and there's no room in the house for another cabinet. I think a BJD friend would have been nice when I was new to the hobby and loved chatting about new and upcoming releases, but now it would seem kind of pointless.

 

Perhaps a little bit. I don't know anyone in real life who are into a similar hobby and I'm hesitant to let people know about this one especially considering the cost of the dolls. I think I've always had odd hobbies that none of my friends had so I'm use to it. I've considered going to a meet but when I think about it, I don't think I'll get much out of it personally. For customization help, I'm ok with using online resources and I'm willing to take the risk in doing customizations myself instead of finding someone to do it for me. It might be nice to meet a friend to talk about dolls with but I don't feel any need to go out and find one. I've also read a lot of stories of drama and stuff that can happen with meets and them not being too welcoming to newcomers. Now I wouldn't say I'm old, but I'm too old for that kind of thing.

I guess overall it'd be nice to have someone in person to share the hobby with but honestly, I'm ok without it. This might be because my roommate is willing to listen to me ramble about my projects and new dolls and stuff though

 

I actually find forums harder than in person meetings, since at least in person you can kind of just all chill in a room together doing your thing, even if you don't have much to say (which can be just fine!)... Whereas online, basically if you don't speak, you don't exist xD and I am a lurker by nature (see my epic post count), so yeah. I have no online dolly friends really. :c

I am the worst at being social... But look haha I am posting! I'm still trying! x'D

 

I did for ages, as I have no doll friends, but then I started opening up to the people around me who are super supportive. My boyfriend and my best male friend and I have a group chat on facebook, and I post stuff about my doll in there. They don't share the hobby but they have unusual hobbies (my boyfriend updates credits on obscure movies on imdb) so we support each other in that way.

Honestly, I feel more alone online. I haven't made any friends on DoA. I'd like to make friends on tumblr and through blogs, but I don't post enough on tumblr and find it really hard to find bjd blogs. I'm not really active enough online yet to "attract" other people.

 

I do. A lot most of the time actually. I don't make friends easily and I am a bit of a recluse. I am lucky that my sister loves and has BJD as well and that one of my best friends loves and has a few BJD as well. I don't get to see him too often sense he lives hours away. I have met two people who have BJD of their own in person. The first girl I met was wonderful! She mods broken dolls and makes them into beautiful art. I met her a few years ago when I got my first doll so I didn't have much to ask her sense I didn't know what to ask. I remember being so honored that she would let me move around her dolls hands and position him in different poses. The only thing is, I was kinda scared too so I only moved his hands a little lol. I never saw her again after that sadly. The second person I saw at a convention last year and I kinda knew her from the forms here. It seemed like I was not that welcome and that I was taking up her time by talking to her. Everyone is different and not every person is going to be like the first wonderful lady I met. Hopefully I can make new doll friends at that same convention this year when my group presents our panel this year.
If there were a few nice BJD people that lived around my town or in a neighboring one close by, then maybe it wouldn't feel so lonely.

 

Sometimes I feel lonely to be honest. Mainly when I was really excited about ordering my Doll and no one really was there to share with me my feelings. My husband support me in this hobby and I am very glad about it but it is not easy to find friends in forum, but at least I always try. In RL I am very shy, so it is a bit of a problem to talk to people. I have also one internet friend who would maybe share the hobby with me but the dolls are very expensive for her and she don't get the support of her husband and family just like I do. :/

 

Sometimes, yes. I don't know anyone locally who's into dolls, though I will admit to being a total loner. Generally speaking, socializing (especially in a group situation) just makes me uncomfortable. I wouldn't really call myself shy, I'm just entirely picky about how I spend my time and who I spend it with.

As for the forum, well.. I'm not exactly active here. There are so many people, it's too easy to just get lost in the shuffle.

 

This, too, but, it's fine, not having rl doll people, and I am connecting to a few particular folks here of late, which has been nice.

 

There are doll meets sometimes around where I live, but i dont think anyone lives close by, we meet sort of in the middle of where we live (DC)

If I may ask, where in Alabama? My family lives there and I visit them every other month or so. and thats awesome! I havent brought my boy anywhere besides the one meet i went to.

 

I don't feel lonely in the hobby at all. I was very (upsurdly) lucky to happen upon several collectors at the first anime convention I brought my dolls to. I connected with a few of them, met a few more at other meets and now those people that used to be 'doll friends' have become real life friends that I don't know what I do without! Several of them lives a few hours away but we connect through facebook, text or general chatting. I don't go to a lot of bigger meets anymore because when my littlr group gets together... we realise we aren't such a little group! :P

I'd encourage anyone who wants to meet people to go to meets, all kinds of meets. If you don't find people you enjoy at this one, go to that one! If meeting people is your thing, of course. I am so glad that I ventured out years ago to meet some of the amazing people I have!

 

That is good news, garrenn! I tell everyone who asks that I collect BJDs in the hopes that I can find fellow doll people in person. I've had friends who didn't like them and friends who were nice enough to ask more, but no fellow collectors in person. I doubt I'll find any on this island, but I move every few years so I'll try again then. I met a few collectors at panels at DragonCon in Atlanta last year, but I didn't get to talk to them, damn my awkwardness and tight schedule. I'm rubbish at making friends via forums too, so this forum hasn't netted me anyone either.

 

Thumbs up.

 

Yes, I was online harassed by one of the members of my local community for most of this year and basically made my life a living hell. My sister finally had to result to threatening them with legal action. (It's a felony in my state). This person is pretty influential in the local scene so I'm no longer comfortable going to local events for fear that they would be there and retaliate. (I'm scared they would break my dolls out of spite) Luckily my family has my back. I think they got banned here so I feel pretty safe on DOA. It's the one place I can do my doll thing without feeling nervous. I joined this hobby partially to make friends in my area but I don't think that's going to happen now.

 

Yes, unfortunately, I know the feeling. I got one of my friends into it, and she still thinks that BJDs are neat to look at, but the doll she bought has been in her box, untouched, in a cabinet, for over a year.

 

I do. I'm young, which is an immediate put-off for some people (and I don't blame them one bit!), and I'm relatively new. I've only had my first doll a little over a year, and I don't post very often. I was just getting to a rhythm in the hobby between making clothes and taking pictures when family tragedy hit and I lost most of my will to work with them for a little over three months. I'm not popular and don't get asked questions.

That said, I'm always open to making friends and chatting! I guess I just need a little more time and a lot more effort to feel like part of the community.

 

I'm a lonely person in general lol - I live in the middle Wisconsin and have zero interest in hunting, fishing, and spending my nights in bars, which is basically what everyone does here for "hobbies". There are meetups in my state, but over an hour away and from the interaction I've had with some of the people I'm not sure I would enjoy a meetup. There isn't really much appreciation for artistic/creative stuff here either, so the likelihood of meeting people who would have an interest in this hobby is pretty nil.

My girlfriend is kind of supportive. She has a handful of dolls that are just shelf babies anymore and will listen to most of my doll prattling - lol she will eventually get annoyed and get hostile about me planning another one or something.

I also rarely post online - I don't feel like I have anything worth adding or dolls that most people would be interested in seeing, so I don't make alot of friends that way either lol. I wish I could be more gregarious or open to new people!

 

Well, I'm not necessarily alone. But the vast majority of people don't understand why they are so expensive, and that's kind of annoying.
Especially those who can't tell the difference between a BJD and a Barbie, they make me very angry.

 

Sometimes yes, I feel lonely, especially "in" the forum. Because it's so hard to talk to other people when all you know about them is their dolls/doll stories, I suppose. Thankfully I've made a few really good dolly friends through tumblr and I was blessed enough to manage to pull my best friend in the hobby so I'm never alone in real life. There's also a few doll owners I managed to meet IRL as well, so it's all great! (: