Do you have friend in reality who also collects/loves BJD?

Sadly no…I’ve shared them with some of my friends and family,and they also think they are kinda weird and creepy. I live in a remote area,so doll meet ups aren’t really an option. But hopefully one day I can travel to a doll con,or meet up with some of my online friends

 

My daughter in law I got hooked soon after she married my son. She does most of my face ups and has for about 12 years. She is one of my best friends. My next best friend and sister in my heart I met because of the hobby and I have several friends because of the hobby. Of all my past hobbies and interests this is only one that has lasted over 4 years and I have made great and reliable friends.

 

Yup, my friend get me into this hobby. And then I made friends with some people who have same hobby. We meet up a few times and start being reality friend.
It is a bit hard to maintain the relationship that when I move to other countries.

 

I don't have any real-life-friends who like nor collect BJD. Some of my older nieces have shown slight, passing interest here and there, but most people I know find these types of dolls either too intimidating or off putting in some way.

All of my closest friends collect dolls, action figures or toys of some kind, but none like/want BJD. I do understand, as I have found that I probably don't like them as much as I originally thought when I first discovered them a million years ago. I still love my own BJD, and I would never sell any, but I much prefer other kinds of articulated toys and plastics.

I was still able to enjoy (and still do!) my dolls of this kind without any RL-friends to share them with. I am a weirdo however, I am completely fine liking things nobody else does. (:

 

I am very lucky to have several friends who are into BJD. A few are people i don't see very often because we've moved away from each other and can't see each other very often, but I know they are out there.
I have one local friend I actually met through DoA. I was browsing the marketplace and happenend upon a doll said to ship from the same town I am currently living in, so I sent a PM and said hi. It worked ot beautifully and we are now very good friends and as these thing tend to do it turnes out we have several other hobbys and interests in common as well.
And last but not least is my mother. She got into the hobby because of me. It very nice because since she live about on hour away it's good to have a real reson to see each other, other than just wanting to stay in touch. She is a very skilled crafter and we often share tips on how to make stuff. Sometimes we meet to make stuff together and we have done some doll photography together as well. It's awesome.

 

Yep! Several, as a matter of fact. Unfortunately I moved away from my home country so I barely ever see most of them anymore, but I've also been blessed with a BJD collecting roommate of all things. We do projects together, do home "group" orders, stalk the mailman and craddle each other while crying about customs charges. Our home is basically doll paradise land!

 

I have one friend, before I got into collecting the dolls who used to have BJDS, they got out of the hobby, but they did keep one of their Soom dolls. When I started collecting the dolls, they had already stopped, but they still do have an interest in the dolls. I have made other friends online that collect BJD's.

But, I don't know anyone that I can just have tea with while taking doll pictures in the park... That would be nice.

 

Yeah, I'm lucky in that I have two very good friends who also really like BJDs. My mother isn't in the hobby, but she does like looking at the dolls I show her and I've brought up my hobby to coworkers in passing and interactions usually range from pretty ok to actually kind of interested. Funnily enough I get the most pushback in regards to BJDs from a childhood friend but she still let's me show them off to her.

 

I am very fortunate that i am an enabler and have corrupted a few of my IRL friends to get into BJDs. They aren't as into it as I am, but they each have a few at this point, so its slow going but i'll get them there.

I am hesitant to make friends online in the hobby and then have them become irl friends. I messed up my last friendship by letting my personal problems overtake the thing that made us friends to begin with, and as such things didn't work out. I think i'll stick to having just online friends and my current friend group.

 

Only one person irl knows that I collect dolls, and only because we’re housemates. She’s not a fellow collector and has expressed that she thinks it’s a weird and worthless but ultimately harmless hobby. As an adult man, I’m just too worried about other people’s reactions to let anyone else irl know I enjoy BJDs. I get nervous even taking my doll out to the yard to photograph him in the garden, for fear of neighbors seeing and thinking poorly of me.

 

I do not, which is why I am kind of fading from the hobby tbh.

 

No unfortunately not. I’ve known people who were interested in BJDs but not anyone that actually owned one.
I’d like to have an irl friend who’s interested in dolls but I don’t mind enjoying the hobby on my own irl.

 

No, I don't. I have known some before, but I don't have any real life friends at the time.
I enjoyed my times interacting with others in real life to an extent, but since the hobby has such diverse interests and I have never had a real life friend who really likes the same kind of dolls I like anyway, it now seems like it would be a lot of energy for no reason on my end.
But people know about my doll hobby who are even remotely involved in my life. It's pretty central to me and I'm not hiding it because I don't care. I take my dolls around for photos in public periodically and usually people notice and want to talk to me about it too. Bleh lol

 

Yes I do. My best friend and my boyfriend are in this hobby. I am glad that I have these two.

 

I recently convinced one of my friends to buy her first doll, so I will soon have an irl doll friend after waiting so many years!

 

I do have friends that collect bjds and other dolls as well. Sadly, we don't live very close so don't really get to see each other very often. We had a mutual friend who actually owned a doll shop in our state (which was a central location for each of us to get to) which we would meet up at monthly, however that friend has retired and closed the shop so now we don't get together much. It's always so fun when we do get together and just talk dolls, dolls, dolls (and a little bit of how's your life going).

 

I am not good at making friends period My lack of friends doesn't bother me too much, although, I can see how having friends IRL in this hobby would be really fun from my past experience in Japanese street fashion! I used to run in some semi-local Japanese street fashion circles, and while I was almost always too shy to speak much, it was great fun running around town dressed up with people who had similar interests. The first time I saw a bjd was actually at a egl tea party back in 2016. I mentioned how neat it was to my partner at the time and he was uh...not very supportive. My current partner is very supportive and has offered to take me to meetups for all my hobbies and whatnot since I don't drive due to medical conditions. I really do hope to make some friends here that I eventually grow close to, but I have a hard time keeping up even online interactions. In both real world scenarios and online I find myself wondering if anyone really cares what I have to say since it's often a rambling mess (this comment is exhibit A lol). I'll be moving soon (into a shared space with my partner), and that will put me about two more hours farther from the bjd meetups I know of that were already two hours away from my current home. All that is to say that I don't want to try and make IRL friends if I know I will be moving away. I plan to check the meetup board and see if there's anything local as I am closer to bigger city now...but also it's scary putting yourself out there (sigh)

 

For a long time the majority of my friends were BJD friends. I had juuust started with BJDs when I was graduating from school, so a change of circles was imminent anyway, and moved out to live with my back then girlfriend.
Who, partly through me, came to BJDs as well
We lived in a back then hotspot of the hobby in our country, so things just kinda fell into place there on that front.

Nowadays the majority of people I know and interact with are still in the hobby as well, and only a few new people entered my life that are non-hobbyists. The latter group is aware of the hobby though and supportive. Life's too short to have people in your life who belittle you for your interests.

 

Two friends that I actually met in person a couple years ago. We live in the same state and will go and visit each other. It's really cool to have met a fellow doll lover and go out to a park for photos.