Do your families know the cost of / support your dolls?

No, heck no. I think my folks figured out they weren't cheap when I was living in my brother in law's place temporarily and needed a girl shipped there. I politely told them to back off, because I don't do make up or any other luxuries. I buy cheap clothes when I need them and while I love purses, I keep that in check and buy them rarely. These dolls are my one nonsense item. For other people it might be $50 here for make up, another $150 on clothes, etc. I have a little more debt that I would like at the moment, but for the most part I pay for these girls myself by donating plasma and selling other dolls to fund new ones although I am satisfied with my current crew. I just got Marie Antoinette, and I don't DARE show her to my folks or post her on my facebook with any information about her. I do not want a friend or family member looking up to see how much I spent on her. There would be no end to the cruelty that would come from peoples' mouths.

 

My mum was good from the start, when I was saving up for my first doll she wanted me to pay for it through her creditcard (so she could get points lol! ,The doll was close to $900) And then I just send her the amount. Same with my second one, I had the money (and then some, but I like to keep a big surplus) but I didn't want to spend it all at once, so I was going to do a layaway or wait a bit.. she paid for it in full (again, points) and just had me send her so much each week. It's got to the point where now she had ordered one for herself ! (With me ofc dealing with the company)

My dad.. yikes I wouldn't tell him the cost. I can just hear him saying "HOW MUCH ?!" But he does think they are nice looking..

My sister's don't really care, they've never really said anything about it.

My brother only likes one of my dolls.. 'sun cee' by ringdoll. He even posed it and put his blunt in its hand (rip) but when he saw I had more he told me to stop spending money I didn't have (jokes on him, I don't spend what I don't have). Haha one night he called me up drunk telling me I have to watch dolls like that, they're the kind that will come alive and kill you.

 

More or less, I never give them an exact amount, but they know my larger dolls can be in the ball park of the $600 range, maybe a bit over, but my mom knows I try to get them on sale if I can, so she sees I try to be frugal when it comes to purchasing them. She also knows they are collector items so she doesn't complain that much.

When I first started collecting BJD's my mom was a bit wary of the prices of my dolls, but I don't really buy much else for myself other then the dolls and doll stuff. I'm careful of my spending except for the dolls that can be expensive, so she supports it and even tosses money my way to help me pay for some of them when it comes to holidays and my birthday.

 

If I can pay my bills, my parents usually wouldn't care, since I make my own money. They don't ask the cost, and I don't tell them. My cousin used to collect BJDs (I never got to see their collection), so maybe that's why they're more used to the idea.

They're more worried about the dolls taking up space, since I keep all the boxes. My mom's scared of knocking them over too.

 

Lol no. My dad thinks anything I like is by default a waste of time and/or money so it's not like I talk to him about what I collect. Not really close with anybody else in my family, so dolls don't come up.

 

Spouse and I talk about doll purchases the same we do with any other large purchase. Anything more than like $200 we run past the other person. This is mostly a "hey, I'm thinking of getting a [dress] from [indie designer]." "Okay, cool." exchange.

Everyone else gets a "they're expensive" unless they're asking because they want to start collecting.

 

Damn I feel this

 

It's ironic that my parents are more supportive and interested in my hobbies now that I'm an adult than when I was younger living at home - my mom thinks my dolls are beautiful and my dad will listen to me talk about the hobby, my sibling seems disinterested but lets me show off new clothes or dolls when I get them. I guess since it's my money and it makes me happy there's not much my family can do to disapprove. But 10 years ago it was "you're too old to have dolls" "they're too expensive", etc. I'm lucky they're supportive now, just wish that same attitude had been there when I needed it back then, it led me to hiding away my doll and feeling embarrassed for liking them. The same doll I hid away my mom now cheers me on to make my own clothes for, so, like in all things, time can change stuff.

 

My mom knew & loved my dolls, tho she didn't get the aesthetic of some of my 'wilder' ones, bc she was a doll collector herself. My older brother also loved all my kiddos & was a doll collector too, tho he hadn't branched into bjds yet. My other siblings know I collect 'expensive' dolls, but aren't interested/don't care as they aren't collectors & we don't tell each other how to spend our own money.

Other family members don't know anything about my dolls & I don't share bc they think most, if not all, of my hobbies are childish/useless and I frankly don't wanna hear their mouth. Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

I think my dad is well aware.I don't really hide it. He also thinks that the clothes and accessories are more expensive than the doll itself due to the detail and how much miniatures of things usually cost. He has an interest in miniatures and dioramas along with other hobbies, so he can definitely tell that the dolls and their accessories probably cost a lot. He does tell me to get a case if I want to display them outside or protect them since he also thinks I'm treating it as an investment, but I don't think it's good to mix hobbies with investing.

 

Everybody in my family knows the price of the dolls including those really expensive ones; but they don’t really know how much does accessories/clothing and others stuff cost (they have a rough idea of those cheaper ones), I don’t think I will tell them how much those cost by itself

Before I started collecting BJDs I have been collecting Barbie’s since I was a little kid. When I started this hobby at a young age and it’s actually my dad who bought me my first few dolls, and the most expensive doll I have (about $3300) is a new new year’s gift from my mom. I have been saving up my pocket money to fund this hobby after that, it was quite hard for me back then to get all the dolls I want because I don’t allow myself to pay by layaway (don’t want to get into any trouble).

In general, I feel very lucky to have them not questing about it and supported my hobby even my mom hates most of the dolls I own x

 

My mother is really supportive, she bought me a few dolls, helped me go to doll festival, etc etc.
My brother is a little weirded out, though.

 

That would be a no and a no..haha!!

 

As with most of my hobbies, my family just sighs in resignation! I have always paid for my own supplies apart from smaller birthday/Christmas gifts, so they do not have any issues with it. My sister has actually shown interest after I showed her some photos!

 

I only really talk about the hobby with Mum and other than an occasional playful eyeroll when I'm gushing about some trivial detail, she's incredibly supportive Her usual reply to my anxious wavering over prices is "it's your money, do what you want with it" - though I daresay if I was being irresponsible that would be different (I always make sure I have enough plus emergency ££ for whatever it is I'm buying, dolls are no different!)

She's a creative soul herself though, so she gets it

 

So I need to play this loose on the term of 'family'. I don't talk to my Father anymore and my mom passed away right when I was getting into the hobby. She loved the idea of dolls and supported me. I even had her on a video I took when I opened my first boy. She fell hard for him.

But now I live on my own and I don't talk to my dad anymore. I haven't told my in-laws about them in depth. I did tell my Father-in-law. He has traveled to Japan a lot for work and loves the fashion. He has let me nerd out a number of times. I need to tell my Mother-in-law, she enjoys the culture of Japan and has threatened to do a family trip there. If this happens, I am going to doll stores, and my in-laws will suddenly know how much I love BJDs, anime, cooking, ... and everything. I grew up with adopted family from Japan so it's like coming home for me.

I've shown my sister my doll. She thought the anatomy was odd for the boys, but she did think my Yosd was the cutest thing in the world. I'm really lucky I've had a lot of support from extended family. Parents can be a sore subject for people, but I'm glad the family I married into are my favorite people. It also helps my S.O loves dolls as well. To the point he wants one we can modify one day.

 

My husband knows. Others in my family know that they are expensive but not how much. My husband is supportive and the others aren't too interested but have their own hobbies. My brother collects sport shoes and my sister collects vacations.

 

Not really. They know my dolls are expensive, but they don't realize the value of my collection ^^'
Even I didn't realized it before I made a spreadsheet with all my dolls in order to keep a trace of who costs how much.

They also aren't really supportive, but neither they denigrate it. It's more that they don't care.

 

Uh, I collect action figures and other such "obvious" collectibles and my dad said "I think you have enough toys," when he spent the night. I know I'd get a spot take of he knew how much some of them were. My mother has decided I'm eccentric and has just stopped asking. My sister keeps trying to find me cheap shelves...

My fiance is a keeper though cause when I started talking about them, he went "oh you need help buying them? How much?" When I was going on about plans for dolls when I didn't even know what size I wanted to find them in, so I guess it balances out.

 

Back when I was on speaking terms with my Mother, Younger Brother, and Father.

My mom thought that my dolls where cute and it's my money so do what you want on it. She would eye one of my LittleFees and call him Ang from Avatar. I hope I'm spelling that right
I eventually gave him her because I owed her money and she was happy about the exchange.

My brother didn't really care when I started collecting. Were 14 years apart. Now that he's a young adult. Boy I feel old there. He enjoys looking at them but has no interest in collecting them. But then again he's into toner dolls and fashion dolls and I have to admit walking into his room, if I was a thief I would nope so quickly in his room, yet I collect myself! They are everywhere.

My father I think I spoke to him once about it and he told me it was a waste of money. I just responded there's worse thing to spend my money on and that shut him up fast.

The husband doesn't like the cost and he knows that it's the most expensive hobby that I have. I can tell by his facial expressions. But he doesn't complain after all he loves to fix and collect Apple 2s and we both collect and play video games. I'm trying to get him into the hobby to enjoy it with me since he also loves anime. That is a WIP. I got Snow Miku just to see what he says and he likes her and will hold her but that's about it. I hate to say it but I'm wondering if I get a bigger bust anime looking doll to see if he'll be interested.

The BFFs are supportive of my doll hobby. My oldest BFF, since middle school is the one that got me into the hobby. Enabler!
My other BFF just likes looking at the clothes that I make for them, when I make clothes for them. She has a doll phobia. I can only show her the neck on down. I understand that not every hobby is for everyone.

Everyone else that I tell/told my dolls about have mixed reactions. But they are acquaintances for the most part and their negative comments don't count. I just tell them what a supervisor told one of the other coworkers just like I told my father. I copied his tag line "There are worse things she(I) could be spending money on. Smoking. Alcohol. Drugs...."