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

It's such a good feeling when close family accepts and supports our hobbies. I love that your mom told you to get another doll, she sounds great .

 

When I bought my first bjd (already 10+ years ago, dang) I was a teenager still. My mom was pretty skeptical about it since I had never shown any interest in barbies or other dolls as a kid, and warned me that I would probably waste a lot of hard-earned money on something that I would likely forget about soon. Yet she let me do as I wanted, both because I had worked for the money myself and because she thought it'd be an important life lesson on how to spend money wisely.
In the end, I was the one between us that was able to say "I told you so"

She has been fully supportive ever since the day that first doll arrived and she saw me do photoshoots and actually sew?? for him. As for my dad... he always supported every single one of my interests and plans without questioning, no matter how dumb or impulsive they were :'D As long as I did not spend money that I did not have they both were fine with me spending whatever amount of it on dolls.

 

My sister does because she's also in the hobby!

Parents...not so much. My mom has a better idea than my dad does, but it's better if I just keep it from them. They support my happiness in the hobby, but both grew up without much and learned at a young age to save money and not spend too much on luxuries, and they wouldn't really approve of how much I've spent on this hobby. They know they're expensive and that they're collector items made by artists, more than a play line doll, but since they don't fund my hobby, I don't really see any reason to tell them prices. My in-laws have seen them and know they're expensive and not toys, but that's pretty much it.

As for cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma, etc, I'm not all that close to my extended family so most of them don't even know I'm in the hobby. I think I've only shown pictures to one of my uncles who thinks art collectibles are interesting, but I just explained what they are, not what they cost. If any of them were interested enough to ask about my hobbies, I wouldn't mind sharing, but I doubt that will happen.

 

Awww, I'm sorry you had that experience.

I first found the dolls online probably close to 20 years ago and fell in love, but didn't think I could ever afford one. My sister first saw them at an anime convention and told me how cool they were in person. I ordered my first doll and within a week, she ordered her first. Twelve years, and we're both still very active in the hobby!

I hope your brother is more excited and supportive.

 

I haven't told my parents because I'm brand new to the hobby and I don't see them regularly enough. But I honestly don't think they'd care or be too surprised. One collects toy cars and the other collects dragon figures, so they get the collector mentality. They also have other expensive hobbies (homebrewing, classic car restoration, welding art, jewelry making, ect), so they don't really have the footing to judge. And my grandmother made porcelain dolls when she was alive, so they wouldn't find the doll aspect odd or creepy in the slightest. If anything, they'd probably be like, "Yeah, that tracks for our family."

I'm actually a little eager to tell my dad about it. He's very handy and creative, so I'd love to pay him to build me a case for them.

 

My dear hubby is so funny about it really. He always says, “Don’t tell me what they cost!” And he means it...he just truly doesn’t want to know. He realizes I would never hide the price from him, and he knows they’re expensive because I’ve certainly explained that. But his mentality about it is that as long as I can work it into our budget, he just doesn’t want to think about their price. Other than this odd “quirk” about my hobby, he’s super supportive about it. He’s very interested in my collection and he enjoys my creativity with them...he helps me come up with names, helps me iron out character issues, helps me build props, even doing the heavy lifting when it comes to moving in heavy furniture and display cabinets without complaint. He just doesn’t want to know what they cost.

 

I've told my mom that they're "very expensive" but never a price tag. My dad saw my dolls and told me they were creepy, and then in front of my mom the next day he acted like he thought they were cool lol.

 

My mother, my younger sister and her husband know about my passion for dolls and completely share it. By the way, it was my brother-in-law who hooked the three of us on BJD. My father, on the other hand, considers our hobby as waste of time and money, but he has a bunch of his own toys - he likes to go fishing on a boat So to each his own

 

My first doll was paid for with Christmas money from my family. They knew what I was getting and were generous enough to donate half of the cost while I saved for the rest. My youngest sister thinks they're creepy but also reads every story my friend and I write for them. She calls herself the 'fandom of one'. My mother thinks they're pretty and my father teases me about them in general, but he does that with all of my hobbies so that's not very odd.

 

My parent think my dolls cost $100-200 for SD, and a vague price for clothings. My mom thinks my dolls are pretty but I know she won't like them as much if she knew exactly how much they cost.

My husband is fully supportive of my dolls so I'm very grateful for it. In fact he's the reason I got back into the hobby by being supportive. Before I met him, only close friends know about the hobby and it was all very negative - I'm wasting my money/they're creepy. So I end up selling the only doll I had and left the hobby. At the beginning of the relationship with my husband, we went to a convention together with Volks there. I keep eyeing at the Miku on display and felt worried about what he would think since the price tag was there. He was supportive even then. I didn't buy Miku at the time because I was worry he was just saying that to be nice. As time past on, I eventually own (and sold) Miku and many more dolls due to the supportive nature from my husband.

 

My husband knows, he even buys some for me. I have never mentioned the cost to the children. why would I?

 

My family knows and thinks it's foolish to spend so much on the hobby. I'm otherwise very responsible with my money, so usually when I remind them of that they stop giving me a difficult time about it.

 

They know they are pricy, as I fondly call them "retirement money" jokingly from time to time... But I never actually tell my family or friends the price. If they ask directly, I say "You don't want to know. I paid for them, and I wish I did not know the price, so you definitely don't want to know."

 

When I got into the hobby three years ago, my mother found my (off topic) dolls wonderful, but my father found it rather funny for an adult to buy dolls. When I told him the prices he was very impressed and since then think of them as valuable art. But my mother was so shocked at the prices of some outfits I bought that she started knitting and sewing for them. She even told me that two of my dolls were moving in with her (my parents are living some hundreds miles away) for modeling purposes only, of course. Now I buy the material and patterns and translate them and get back the outfits I want. That’s so wonderful, especially since I have not an ounce of crafting talent. And it’s so sweet when my parents tell me about the adventures my former and now their dolls get into. They think my Pukifee is very cute and are loving the photos I send them but are afraid of handling her since she’s not only tiny but very mobile. When they come visiting they are greeting my dolls right after me (my father always counting them to see if I got one more), so all of my dolls are part of the family now. They even bring the two dolls with them to visit their cousins. My other relatives are knowing of them but they don’t care about the prices, if they know about them at all, and it’s really none of their business what I do with my money. But they doesn’t find it weird or creepy but maybe that’s because in my country nobody thinks dolls are creepy. Maybe there‘re people here who have doll phobia too, but I first learned on DoA about this illness.

 

My mother supports and knows the price of my dolls, she even encouraged me to order my latest doll!
My sister on the other hand is creeped out by them and can't believe the prices, so I don't really tell her when I buy new dolls.

 

My mom has been so supportive! She was slightly taken aback by the prices, but she knew that I was able to afford it (I have a solid career, and so does my partner, so we are very stable). Once I actually had a doll in my hands and she was able to see the quality and artistry, she felt like the prices made sense. She thinks my doll is adorable - he's an only child so far, with two more on order - and she's always happy to chat about outfit ideas, sewing projects, and styling for him. She has opinions about what kinds of outfits he would "like," which I think is super cute!

My partner was a little surprised by my newfound interest in dolls, but he's very supportive. He doesn't particularly care for dolls, but he appreciates how much fun I'm having with the hobby, and is always a good listener. He even helped me name my first doll, which was really sweet of him!

 

Both of my parents are supportive; it wasn't a shock to them when I told them that I was getting into the hobby of collecting dolls and doll furniture. They know that I'm not the type to spend money to go to clubs, bars or casinos, that I still watch Disney cartoons, play animal crossing, collect specific things such as vintage fawn figurines and various crystals. In fact, it was my dad who waited in line to go to Ikea on a Saturday morning to buy my glass display cabinet specifically for my dolls because I was working that day and it was he who assembled it when I came home as a surprise. I'm thankful that I don't have to feel ashamed around my family for having niche interests, it helps when I've always been an artsy kid and a little eccentric.

My parents know that the hobby is expensive, but I've never told them the actual prices of the things that I have bought because frankly it's none of their business what I do with my money. But really, I always tell them that it was expensive, but not THAT expensive. The THAT is very vague. Even if they knew the true cost, the worst that could happen is them lecturing me on saving money and frivolous spending.

 

I've always had expensive hobbies (looking at you, anime figures!) so I think everyone in my life who would disapprove of the costs shouldn't expect this hobby to be anything new

If anything, the people who know about the pricing end up impressed that I can save up for/afford BJDs. It's my own money to spend, so I don't think people really care or at least know not to be rude about it, as long as I'm smart with my management and don't end up in the red it's all good. I do omit mentioning exact prices though, and just try to keep it vague where I can, cause it can be a little embarrassing to reveal that, yes, I paid over $900 on a single doll the size of a toddler lol