Does becoming a "crazy doll lady/person" concern you?

Not particularly. I see this hobby as another art form with many aspects (face ups, mods, character creation, etc) so I don’t think it’s anything to be concerned or ashamed about, no matter how many you have. As others have said, everyone has their own opinion and, as you get older, you kind of stop caring about what others think.

Also, if someone is mean to me at all about the hobby in a malicious way, they’re probably a toxic person and I wouldn’t want to be around them anyway. Find people who love and respect you & your hobbies.

 

I'm already wayyyy too far gone - I've been a geek for years (Tolkien freak, Whovian, Trekkie, Browncoat, Scaper), in the SCA, a Pagan (witch) - started out as a Hippie in fact. So me being into dolls LOL nobody in my family nor among my acquaintance bats an eye. My very conservative cousins in fact love the dolls & think this is HEALTHY for me LOL LOL LOL I am already a crazy cat lady of course, and I've been enamored with KDramas & KPop for the last decade (along w/anime) so yeah, doesn't worry me in the LEAST LOL

 

Even though this is one of my hobbies and I spend a lot of money for my dolls, I still have other hobbies that I love and spend my time/money for. I know some people don't understand it because they are scared of dolls, but I don't want to give up my dolls and my hobby just because other people might see it strange. I mean, it's my money, and it's my life... I'm just going to keep do things that I love and spend money for what I want.

 

Well i am kinda new but i am somewat crazy now! I keep looking at dolls, and when i didnt buy any doll stuffs i feel uneasy! I have 10 yosd of different companies and a Volks Dollfie dream! Got a loongsoul yosd coming next month! But i really wish i can stop buying doll and instead spent more effort and time on my current crew. So Its kinda normal i guess in this hobby to want to get more.

 

I am not afraid! Let them call me crazy. I pay my bills, lol.

 

I'm not concerned about being named yet another 'something' for not fitting into what society seems to find 'normal'. I've always been the odd one out so one insult or weird look extra won't tip the scale much further. Den of Angels just proves we're not the only nutcases out here so as the wise saying goes 'An ye harm none, do what ye will'.

The only reason I would be hesitant to display and talk about my ball-jointed dolls openly is if it would hinder my son in any way. I know kids (and parents) can be cruel and although I'd love to teach him to be himself at all times I don't want to make life any harder on him. But until then, who cares if I'm called a crazy doll lady. I'm female, I like dolls and I sure as sushi might be a little crazy too.

Enjoy life ^__^ don't wait for others to approve of what you do...trust me...

 

I would not care because I Am The Crazy Doll Lady!!!(Insert evil laughter here).

 

I used to have a job that paid well, and I got side tracked and spent my money on dolls and also used my cc on dolls and clothes too. Then I lost the job and have no income. So I had to sell some of my possessions to make ends met. I'm always late with credit cards payment and the banks kept hassling me for the payment.
Recently, my older sister tried to kick me out of her house. Her behavior is becoming very strange. She makes a fuss over tiny things despite the fact that I do all the chores and helped driving mum with grocery shopping.
Anyway, it was that point that I got rid a lot of things. I threw away my cpks dolls and books in the charity bins. Thats when I realised that I can live without them. I now prefer simple living. I will think again before buying because moving and packing up can be stressful when you are broke. Throwing away things is the only quick way to reduce clutter. I'm only keeping 3 dolls with me everything goes. I want a minimalistic lifyestyle with less spending. Books can always be borrowed from the library.

 

Yes its a major concern. I am waiting on a bunch of dolls in the mail and I'm concerned of what my family might say once they all are here lol, or how I will display that many dolls. I went kind of hard the last month. Good thing is some have longer waiting times so atleast they all won't show up at once. I can't stop looking at other ones, I really need to pace myself because I haven't been in the hobby that long, only a few months. I don't feel that most people bought this many dolls this early on I'm waiting on 4 dolls and 2 heads... i think lol I am trying to tell myself to slow down, I can only image the hoard this could turn into.... reminds me of lularoe leggings last year, I had to have them all lol

 

I'm already certifiably crazy, so adding on dolls doesn't concern me at all.

 

Oh, I stoped trying to explain people, what my hobby really is, and stoped telling them about it. Once a person is close enough friend to come to my home and see dolls, he/she will not react in a negative way, because he/she will know me. Crazy or not - I'm me.
I really wanted to support those people, who say dolls have nothing to do with children or family replacement.
I do not have children yet and I want to have both children and dolls. There's no way they can or should replace each other.
Dolls are characters. Children are inependant persons you take care of.
I can't see how theese two notions may possibly mix up in people's heads, but I keep hearind that kind of stuff all the time:
"When you have children, you will stop buying dolls".
Well maybe, but only because children needs will have a finantial priority. Not because I will have a living toy to play with)))

Anyway, I'm ok and very happy being crazy.

 

Agreeing with some other sentiments, I'm already a bit crazy so why not just add owning a 700$ doll to the list?
I think in terms of collecting art or having an artistic hobby, doll collecting is a bit more "bizarre", but that's just how niche hobbies tend to go.

 

Yup, like lots of other posters have said. I think the people who know me pretty quickly realize that I tend to throw myself into whatever I'm interested at the moment. I only have the one doll and won't allocate funds for another any time in the near future, but I do desire more dolls than I'd actually want to own. I guess for me, the 'crazy' boat has sort of sailed in many ways, so I'd worry more about ending up with more dolls than I had space for and that it'd become about collecting them rather than... whatever it is now. For me, a collection is a very different thing, because I enjoy it in the aggregate.

 

I gave up a long time ago on being ‘normal’, whatever that is. I’ve had a really hard time in my life, and it’s taught me that as long as I’m happy and not hurting anyone, who cares?

 

wow this is an interesting question. i never really thought about becoming a "crazy doll lady" or any such label like that. i do have my concerns about what people think of me so i'm not always forthright with my interests as i feel like it can be off-putting but then it makes me wonder am i keeping these people around? are we going to become friends or like yeah. but this seems to be digressing into a different topic related to being self-conscious about what people think.
but i'm a bit of a collector type personality in that if i like something a lot, i start to collect whatever i can get my hands on so i have various collections of small toys, albums, stuffed animals, dolls, figures, keychains, etc that take up so much space that only half concern me about what other people think because bottom line is i typically bought these items because they make me happy and doesn't matter too much if someone else likes them or not, they're mine, i bought them for me. it's my concern that yes i'm running out of space for my collection but i will try to make the room for it

not really sure i answered the question here but i'm basically working on not being as concerned with what people think of me cause in reality, it's probably just a passing moment. the ones that seem interested are slightly more likely to stick around and be okay with it (i may be generalizing here but yeah) but yeah not really concerned about being labeled a "crazy doll lady" i am a bit concerned of having a large collection of dolls but being called a "crazy doll lady" is not a concern of mine.

 

I'm really scared of becoming a crazy doll guy... my life's already pretty weird by a lot of people's standards, as are my interests, so having a strong interest in an expensive and semi-obscure hobby really isn't a point in my favour. I'm planning on keeping the doll stuff under wraps with people that aren't in my close inner circle to reduce possible outside perceptions of crazy, and limiting the amount of time and money I spend on it to reduce my inner crazy, so I think it'll be fine, but there's still that "what if". I'm glad most of the other people here are embracing their crazy, but I'm going to try not to.

But hey, at least it isn't anime merch. There's always a worse "that guy" to be.

 

Since I made the decision to embrace the hobby, I have been much more open with friends, family and work colleagues about it, and as a result I think they have normalised and accepted it now, rather than seeing it as weird when they didn't understand what it was. I now bring it up in a matter of fact manner, in context to the conversation or discussion that we are having.
People now see it as a hobby/craft for me, as much as a collection. I limit myself to 10 dolls which I feel doesn't overwhelm my smallish bedroom, nor does it imply I am a collectaholic. Keeping quiet about it didn't make me feel happy and I find that life is so much easier now that I don't make it a secret. Love me love my hobby! End of lol...

 

Some might think this hobby is weird, but in fact you’ll only know if you are a ‘crazy’ person in the eyes of your opponent if you talk openly about what you love.

I was pretty shocked in a positive way. A lot of people are actually loving what I do with my dolls, they love to talk about it and are interested in how far I came with customizing my newest doll. Most of all, I imagined the around me people as grumpy towards this hobby even though - in fact - they weren’t.

Sure, they were giving me a funny look at first, but that’s just breaking the doll hobby’s bad image.

As a person using dolls as shells for my OCs, it’s quite hard to control and keep myself from buying too many dolls. Yet, as an easy limitation, I use my room. All of my dolls are sitting or standing decoratively everywhere in my room, so when you enter my room, you’ll not notice them at first even though most of them are SDs, because they blend in so nicely. The moment I’ll notice they no longer blend, is the moment to stop buying more dolls or either sell a doll to get another.

That works pretty good for me.

 

I identify with exactly what you have written so much so, that it might as well be me writing the above lol!

My boss calls me the 'Dobby' painter lol and teases me light heartedly now about my dolls. I told him that I paint and characterise bjd dolls when he asked me what my hobby was. He asked to see photos and said they were weird but said I was very talented to do what I do. I showed him an elf....hence the Harry Potter 'Dobby' comment. He often asks to see my latest doll and is honest as to whether it is to his taste. I find it flattering that he shows interest in them.

I think I built up an expectation that no-one would appreciate them, but like you, I have found that people are accepting and intrigued. I think that they respect the fact that I talk about a more unusual hobby with them.

Body language plays a big part. Act embarrassed or secretive about anything in life, then it becomes something weird - own it and you take control. My view is that I accept others for what and who they are, and I don't see why I should not receive the same in return.

Anyway I digress from what I meant to say, which was that I use dolls as shell's for characters too ( rather than the other way round) and also limit my dolls to my room. I purposefully blend mine in too, to tone in with my colour scheme and to prevent me feeling cluttered or overwhelmed. My key dolls stay but I frequently am required to sell a doll to fund another character.

 

It did at first, but I’m more concerned with doing what makes me happy (as cheesy at that sounds lol). Like if I end up with 20+ dolls, I might look totally nuts but I’ll probably be happy, so who cares!