Dolls and Conventions

Actually, Kyo is a head, so basically I'd be changing heads and clothes. too bad all my bags are too small for the body. He can't even sit in any. And not enough time to get one unless I buy a big beach bag from Walmart.

 

If you don't have a carrier bag yet, then go ahead and get, say, a backpack or a beach bag. Then get some thick fabrics and sew yourself a "bag" to put your doll in, and put some extra protection around them when you're carrying them around. Cons have a lot of people, so it's always good to be extra careful. :grin:

 

I brought all 4 of my dolls to AnimeNorth last year in Toronto. I took one at a time and left the others in my room. It was really cute one day when I came back to our room after the maid had cleaned it and she had posed them all sweetly on the bed. That was so nice

 

I have a messanger bag. What I do is I fill a shoe box (converse) with her necessities/favorites, place it at the bottom of the messenger bag. That gives my bag a nice rectangular shape and keeps it sturdy and such. Then I line the rest of the bag with a soft, small fleece blanket, and stuff the pillows/cushions she came with in. This makes for a snug fit, and I just slide her inbetween the two pillows, fold the ends of the blanket over her and the pillows, and shut the bag. She's nice and cozy. Of course, as an MSD she can sort of lay down. I'm sure for an SD, he'd have to sit up with his legs bent.

But yeah. Its easy to whip together a ghetto-tastic carrying bag.

Also, maybe you can keep one in a bag you carry, and physically carry the other around. Then you could swap out periodically... assuming carrying the bag doesn't tire you out.

 

I have heard a story of a doll being stolen at a con. Someone here told this story: The owner of the doll had a table set up where they had their doll posed and on display... they bent under the table to get something and when they got back up the doll was gone. I can't remember if it was the person's friend or the person himself, but it gives me chills when I think of how that must have felt...

Anyway, I don't want to scare you, but don't ever let them out of your sight! If you have to get something or look away for a moment and someone is holding the doll, just ask to have the doll back and hold him in your hands as you get whatever you were looking for! Also, just is case, guard that doll bag like you were walking down the street in a bad part of the city! Pickpockets are amazingly sneaky and even though you may notice the sudden lightness of the bag if they nab your doll, the person may be able to get away in the crowd.

Maybe these are unfounded fears, but why take the chance is what I always say.

 

I would say don't take more than you can give at least half of your attention to at any given time.

When I've taken my dolls to cons, they're out and about only when I can watch them, or one of my friends can. If I'm going solo, the doll stays in my arms. If I'm at a table, the doll stays right next to me or with a friend.

My dolls never come when I'm cosplaying, though ~_~;

Just be careful-- and if you're not sure or worried, then just don't take them.

 

I carried my girl with me most of the time while I was at Otakon. I never left her out of my sight, of course. But, I carried her 3/4 of the first day and put her in her box in the car the rest of that day, then the second day I carried her with me the whole time (including into a panel that she wanted nothing to do with), and the last day I left her in my hotel room in her box (and we accidentally left the hotel room door open the whole day! ?!?!!! But she still didn't get stolen, thank god, nor did any of our other stuff. ^^;;;; ).

Your arms get tired of being in the same position forever at one point, but otherwise, there isn't much of a hassle. No one tried to take her from me or anything like that, and I even got a few people saying, 'Wow, she's beautiful!' and 'AHHHHHH! Super Dollfie! CUTE!' ^^;

 

I carried Lysandra (SD-sized) and Artemis (Unoa Light) around with me the whole time at Otakon (aside from a little while where they filled in the ranks at the BJD Revolution, very kindly dollsat by Dizzy!) . . . my arms DID get tired, so I definitely recommend having a bag!!

When I wasn't holding her directly in my arms, I put Lysandra in a sitting position (her head and shoulders were exposed, and her knees were bent) in a shallow tote bag, with Artemis sitting on her lap. That worked really well, and I wore the bag across my body so that she was in front of me/in my sight the whole time.

As for leaving your dolls in the hotel room -- most hotels have a safe, either in the room or at customer service. I've never had anything stolen from a hotel, although of course there's always a first time. I generally leave all my stuff (aside from cash) lying around in plain sight, and haven't had any problems yet (and I do a fair amount of travel). If you're concerned about leaving the boys in the room, put 'em in your suitcase with some clothes over the top of them . . . they should be safest when out of sight.

Have fun at the con!

-- Andi

 

Thanks guys. I had planned on carrying one of the two the entire time. I guess I could bring my backpack or my messagener bag. At Dragoncon, last year I never saw a single one, so Mike or Kyo will stand out. Neither will ever be out of my sight.

I ave carried Mike in a shallow tote bag before but fear that'll end up hurting my neck as I have to carry that around my neck. Everything else is really too small. The backpabck he'll be on his back!

 

I brought Doli and Sandia with me to Otakon... second biggest con in the US... shoved em in my bag most of the time... they were fine ^^

 

*flexes her mighty muscles* Me She-Hulk. Me no need carrier. Me carry dolls in arms.

 

If you're going to leave your doll in your room and are afraid that the maid might bump it or worse (stuff happens), you can also just keep the "do not disturb" sign up on your door all day. My group does that at cons to keep the maids out until we're ready to check out. It just keeps stuff from getting shuffled and lost and if you don't mind not having your toilet cleaned and your sheets tucked in ... ya know. It's an option.

At the con itself, it's just good to remember with ANYTHING (dolls, props, icky shoes) that there might be a lot of walking involved and not a lot of places to sit down. But just think of all the extra calories you'll burn carrying a 5 pound doll on your shoulder! Woo! Workout![/i]

 

Ohhhh just make sure that you trust who youre staying with - and that they arent going to have any parties. I actually had two rooms for Otakon - one with my dad and sister, and one with a bunch of my friends. My dolls stayed in the room with my dad because there was 1) no space in the room with me, 2) 10 people in the room and 10 peoples worth of stuff, and 3) We were hosting a party one night. Party = drunken people... drunken people + expensive anatomically correct dolls = NOT good. @_@ SO yeah - keep away from stupid drunks. o.o

 

staying with Mom and Dad as my car would nver make it down to Atlanta.

 

XDDD Thats why I stayed in my other room... muahaha and it was free too... >:3

 

Fox was there last year! ^_^ I'm afraid neither she nor I were out & about too awful much, though, as I was feeling extremely icky all wknd. Hoping to make up for that this year.

I've brought Fox to a bunch of cons, & took both her & Dinah to this year's AFO & I'll be bringing them both to Dragon, as well. If I'm carrying one, I either cradle her in my arms, or balance her sitting on my shoulder. If I've got both (which usually means I'm on my way to a doll meetup), I carry a messenger bag (lined w/ leg warmers ^_^) that the girls sit or kneel in. I usually leave the bag open so the girls can look out, but I make sure that their wigs are arranged so that if they were to fall off, they'd fall in the bag.

I never stay w/ people I don't trust, & always keep the "do not disturb" sign up (I don't like strangers touching my stuff), so I've never worried about leaving them unattended in the hotel room.

 

I just got back from a con with Hikaru yesterday. He went with me every where during the weekend--it was lots of fun, and I never felt unsafe having him there. However, I never let him out of my sight, and if I needed to set him down to get money out of my purse or something, I'd have one of my friends hold him. I brought a bag to carry him in, but I only used it once. I don't think he liked it much.

 

Yeah, I'm going alone. Mom and Dad aren't going into the con with me. I don't have any friends. So when I need to pull out cash, I guess I can hold him in my legs or something.

 

I know a lot of people here attend anime conventions to show off their dolls and work done on them, but after an experience this weekend, I've found myself wondering if anyone has attended other sorts of conventions with their dolls.

This weekend, I went for a day to shop at MARCon (Multiple Alternate Realities Con), and since I always take Sakiyo when I go to visit my friend who lives in that area, I decided, "Wouldn't it be fun to take her with me?"

MARCon is a very artsy con. It's very sf&f and so many other things too. And... Sakiyo got tons of attention. I mean, other doll people give dolls attention at anime conventions, and they'll get a second glance, but it was nothing like I got there. People stopping me to ask about her, getting my picture taken while she was riding on my shoulder, and down in the food court? People stopping just to take her picture. Nothing else. Just to photograph her.

I was very flattered, to be honest. But in conclusion... has anyone else considered trying other conventions that aren't anime conventions with their dolls? Sf&f cons, comicons, etc?

(Disclaimer: I have nothing against anime cons, btw. I'm an avid congoer. I was just curious. ;3)

 

I take Vasiley and Sumiya to fantasy conventions, and it's always a lot of fun ^^ People are really sweet, and it's surprising to find out how many people actually know about BJD, but never saw one in real life..