Dolls Damaged During Meets?

I've only had one accident happen at a meet-up. One of the bigger dolls their knocked over my MSD and they both fell on the ground. It was a bit funny though, like they wanted to escape or so. The hardest damage done there was the bigger doll losing a finger. But the host of the meet had superglue (we were at her house) so the finger was glued on immedeatly. I also once knocked over some other person her doll. Let me tell you, your heart stops skipping for a moment! But no harm done either.

To be honest, my dolls get more damage being at home, than taking them to a dollmeet. Most people at meetups are super gentle with the dolls anyway, because they're in the hobby themselves. Ofcourse I say most people, since you always have exceptions. And you can always let them know you're not comfortable with others holding your dolls or handling them to abrubt or so. If you're really nervous taking one, then just bring one doll to your first dollmeet. Maybe a less expensive one? Or one that's more sturdy? It's also easier to keep track of one doll.

 

What do you do if someone does break your doll? Like, if they bumped it off a table and it fell and broke. Or what if they did it on purpose? I've read so many horror stories about people smashing dolls at cons because of stupid fights..

 

If someone broke/damaged any of my property on purpose (without any shadow of a doubt), there would probably be one of those moments of calm like when all the animals in the forest fall silent before an earthquake...

...Then I would probably have to apply all of my willpower and self-value (that is, to not go to jail/ruin my life and stuff) to prevent myself from actually attacking them. (Hopefully 'the Look' would be enough to send the message...) Because that isn't just an attack on my belongings (or someone else's), it's an attack on my feelings, and that is like one of the very few things I absolutely will not stand for.

Wow though I can't imagine this actually happening... People in this hobby can be so emotionally vicious though, it's scary. I don't understand it :c

 

I don't know if I live in a sugar coated bubble or something, but I have honestly never heard of this happening.
Maybe my doll group is just really mellow, but I can honestly never see this happening between anyone here. Everyone is just so nice and they really understand the limits of the dolls and what is safe and what isn't.

Even if it was an accident, I think it would be in everybody's best interest to stay calm. I know I would feel really terrible if I accidentally broke someone else's doll and would try to make them understand that I did feel bad and if I could I would make it up to them. If someone broke my doll, I'm pretty sure they'd be feeling the same, so I'd try not to make them feel so bad as long as they could help me out even in the smallest way.

 

Oh, that reminds me of a horrible moment not long ago : my dear friend Corolle and I were at a french board meeting, the event was great and we had so much fun !
But all good things have an end and we were all packing and taking the bags to the cars. It was very late and raining, we were trying to be fast. I grabbed my friend's suitcase to take it to the car as we had come together to the event and voila !!! The suitcase wasn't zipped and some of the dolls fell on the floor !!!!
I tried to catch the suitcase and then froze, some other collectors rescued me and grabbed the suitcase with the remaining dolls, and eventually the dolls on the floor.
Theye were mostly Kaye Wiggs dolls, and my friend had just got her grail doll Hope, after a long quest...
I was petrified, I couldn't breathe, I kept on saying "I'm so sorry" and I started to cry.
The other people and my friend thought I was going to faint !
It was a nigthmare !!!
Such a horrible moment, I felt so miserable, so ashamed...
Eventually, only a tiny Kaye Wiggs had an elf ear tip broken, the other dolls were fine.
My friend glued it back and I have declared it to my insurance company, we'll see what happens.
My friend should get some money from the insurance but it's still being processed.
My dear friend isn't mad at me, I wonder how it is possible ?!!
But I feel very bad about it and I've learnt my lesson the hard way !!!

I will never ever again take somebody else's bag and I will always check the zip on the suitcases !!!

 

I've only been to one convention, (a few meet up within the convention) but I brought seven MSD's with me.
They were in a rolling suit case, padded inside, individually wrapped, and were OK for all the traveling, packing & unpacking.
During a re-stringing I had one girl (Melfina) chip a piece off the back of her upper torso piece, but I "sanded" it with a nail file.
She's older, so she's still a little floppy, but if I ever swede her she should be OK.
I learned a lot, had fun, and I think my crew enjoyed it too.
In the same re-stringing, a boy of mine had his lower leg parts switched, but he actually stands better now!

I felt safer around dolly people than I usually do around non-dolly people.
Most of them usually go straight for the face-up/tattoos/scars, want to bend the joints in ways that won't work, snap limbs back in ways that make you wonder if they chipped, lay them face down on a table and scrape the nose, ugh!!! Or try to peek under clothing, or ask the dreaded "Why do you play with dolls?"

Anyway, if I go to another meet up or convention I won't bring as many, and I'm keeping them away from non-dolly people unless they won't be handled.

 

I've been to a couple of doll meets, but my group has yet to break a doll. At my first meetup, one person's realpuki fell on the floor but she was fine. Thank goodness!

I highly recommend keeping a case for your doll (or dolls) when traveling anywhere. Try to only bring one or two, unless you know you can handle more. Sit them, lay them down, or use stands so they have less chance of falling. Usually people will ask to see your doll(s) or will simply take photos. If you're not cool with that, let people know upfront. Finally, don't leave your doll somewhere unless you're leaving the doll with someone you trust. This is especially true if you're meeting at some type of convention, as that's where I've read most BJDs get stolen.

Otherwise meets are super fun and I highly recommend them! I met one of my best friends at my first doll meet.

If someone breaks my doll, especially if it were on purpose, I'd tell them that they need to pay for a replacement part. I would pay for a replacement part on a doll if I messed it up, unless the owner of the doll absolutely refuses my offer. If you're sure someone has purposely damaged your doll, I'm pretty sure you can file a police report. Damaged property is damaged property whether it's a BJD, PS4, or a window in your house.

 

That's only happened to me once, and it was an accident. I was visiting family in a different province and looked for meet ups. My doll Lemon got knocked over by a cat, and his right hand pinky finger chipped.

 

I have been to a meet where there was an elf ear chipped. Complete accident (the doll owner stood her SD behind someone seated and the seated person moved their arm back and their elbow hit the doll sending it to the floor). The person who knocked the doll over felt terrible and cried while apologizing. The ear tip was found and re-glued.

I always have my dolls seated near me as I don't trust them to stand around for long periods of time with a large group of people moving around even if they are fellow doll people and will be careful. Sometimes it seems that the dolls have a need to lunge for the floor/ground for no apparent reason and it's better safe than sorry, right? If somebody wants pics and wants them standing, I'll accommodate them but as soon as the pic is snapped, I'll sit them back down. I'll generally stick close to my doll ready to spring into action if necessary.

 

Not the only one, my group is really mellow too, heck we worry about one another's dolls and keep an eye out for each other's dolls. The only "damages" were wigs popping off and one girl getting a headache from her own SD coming down in a dolly avalanche and clocking her over the head with his own head. All the dolls made it out unscathed. I can't imagine anyone damaging any of our dolls on purpose.

 

I was at an outdoor meet up in a park where something terrible COULD have happened.

A HUGE BRANCH BROKE OFF THE TREE AND FELL SMACK INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE MEET UP!!!!

Luckily, the blanket the branches landed on had been abandoned as the meet up had gone and no one was hurt. And no dollies, either.

Almost landed on me, though.

 

that is really scary thing to happen had there been dollies.

 

The only time I've ever had a doll damaged at a meetup was really my own fault for not being more vocal about what I saw. A girl was holding one of my guys and she kept sticking his fingers against his mouth. I told her to please stop, and explained why very kindly--too kindly I guess. When I got home I realized he had a deep, long scratch across his lower lip. I'm done being nice.

Last Christmas, though, my best friend and I were playing with our dolls together and I posed her MSD standing near one of my guys. I know I was very gentle and I am 95% certain I did not even touch her hands, but we realized a few minutes later that her finger was broken. She was Resinsoul, and they have such thin fingers, but I think I died a little on the inside. x_x
I apologized profusely, but the finger still hasn't been glued back on so I'm like "uuuugh D;" every time I see it.

 

I was at a meet, doing a group picture, and my doll's legs suddenly buckled and he face planted on the floor. Luckily his face was fine but he did break three fingers I tried to fix it, buy gloves to cover it, but I was too sour on the body after that. So I sold the body and just yesterday I got his new body, a Loongsoul 68cm body that has locking joints So glad he's complete again.