First time...

Our two boys had rather drastically different first outings ... ^^;; so here we go.

Vyvyan's first day out:

Where did you go?
It was one of those outings (with my mother and sister) that began with the simple intent of dropping by the fabric store to pick out some nice cotton prints, then turned into a catch-all shopping trip that included Costco, grandma's house, and two antique/novelty stores. XD;;

Was it a good/bad experience?
Definitely a good experience overall. Vyvyan got a lot of love that day, especially from the antique store owners, who kept stroking his hair and peering into his face while they talked to us about him. In fact, the only negative point I can recall is realizing exactly how heavy a big BJD can get after holding him for prolonged periods of time. x.x I hope I'll get used to the weight eventually.

Did you regret doing it?
Nope. I'm just looking for an excuse to take him out again. 8D

Also, what were people's reactions?
Although no one got his gender right, the shop owners all gushed over how beautiful the doll was, and my grandma and aunt loved him. We placed Vyvyan in our shopping cart while we were at Costco, and the funniest moment was seeing a little girl, who was also riding in a shopping cart in front of us, craning to look at the doll and pointing him out excitedly to her parents. Also, a woman stopped me as we were about to leave and asked a number of questions about the doll, including the rather amusing "Are these the latest trend?" Why yes, don't you see all these other people around me also carrying dolls in their arms? Oh wait, those are groceries. *facepalm*

Good times, good times ... but not so much for this next one.

Alystair's first day out:

Where did you go?
Alystair was actually purchased in-store from the Dollzone dealer located in Beijing while Mom and sis were vacationing in China. With just a few days left before leaving for Dalian (my dad's hometown), Lys only got a brief box-opening ceremony before being shoved into a suitcase, well-padded with clothes and other cushiony articles. And then off they went, and all was well for the flight from Beijing to Dalian. Four days were spent in Dalian without incident, but Lys didn't get unpacked because there just wasn't any time, and then the day came to fly back to the U.S. -- and Lys had his run-in with customs at the Dalian airport. -_-;;

Was it a good/bad experience?
Ahaha ... it was just plain stupid, really. And maybe a little bit funny, in hindsight. Funny, because seeing a small human shape in the luggage X-ray is an entertaining experience. Stupid, because the customs official had a surplus of paranoia and absolutely no sense of humor. He had my mother open up the suitcase and remove all the padding so he could see the doll. Then he sniffed it, and opened the doll's shirt and pants, and knocked on its chest to see if it contained anything. Yes, ladies and gents, he was apparently checking for illegal substances hidden inside a doll. Anyway, the last straw came when he tried to remove Lys's face protector. Mom scowled and politely told him not to because the doll's faceup was extremely delicate and easily damaged. The customs official stopped, but he was quite brusque and rude the whole time, and Mom grumbles to this day about the horrible man in Dalian who was trying to molest our boy.

Did you regret doing it?
There really wasn't much choice in the matter, haha. But nobody liked, especially not Alystair. ^^;;

Also, what were people's reactions?
All the other customs people at Beijing and LAX had amusing "WTF" moments when they first saw the doll's silhouette in the X-ray machine, but were perfectly cool about it afterwards. There was just the one guy in Dalian who had far too much time on his hands. *shakes head*

 

The first time I took an SD-sized doll out of doors was not very interesting.

Where did you go? - Dolpa

Was it a good/bad experience? - It was so-so, but Japanese people really don't see things you carry and like to bump into them, so I was going a little nuts trying to avoid that. (So now you know, if you drag a suitcase through Tokyo, people WILL walk into it, no matter how big it is.)

Did you regret doing it? - Kind of. I didn't really take her out and I wasn't there with other dolly people and then I had to lug her around the whole damn day.

Also, what were people's reactions? - Not much, since I was around lots of people with strangely oblong bags, but in general I would say that people were annoyed (in public) with my giant oblong bag. I did try to hold it in a good way ... a little diagonally with feet at the bottom and head at the top. But it was still tough.

Yeah, not very interesting.

 

You know, I can't remember? I THINK it may have been when I took my first boy Tsukasa out at dusk for a winter themed contest photoshoot... I had him in snow and everything without giving it a second thought. I try not to take my dolls outside, though. They rarely, if ever, leave my dresser.

 

Well, I've only taken Marcus out into the real world, and that was to the park down the street. I guess it was a good experience because nothing bad happened. xD
As for any regrets, I loved every moment of it. Just wished I had more creative ideas. x3
For reactions, I got a couple of curious stares and one girl asking to see him. That was about it. ^^
I guess it was really good, seeing as it was my first time going out with one of my dolls.

 

First time out was garden, and I took a blythe on holiday, ended up kinking some of eyelashes and taking only couple of pics. I think taking them out would produce good pics, but I'd rather enjoy myself more.

 

My first experience taking my new bjd on an outing was fantastic. I took my B&G Elf Afra to his first meet-up at the Morikami gardens in Delray beach Fl. The japanese garden was an awesome place for a photo shoot and a big turn out of collectors made it a very exciting and fun filled day for all.

We took a quick group photo of all the dolls and then got together in random groups in search of specific spots for pics requested by the host. It was a great first meet.

My only regret was that I was a bit nervous about the amount of sunlight my new bjd was exposed to. I was a real newb at the time so I had no idea if my doll had any uv protectant over his face-up. Something I didn't realize till after my day out with him. I am a bit paranoid about yellowing so I worry about having over exposed him to the florida sun. Thank goodness he seems to have survived it just fine.

 

I took Amelia out for the first time on Halloween this year. We were going 'across the fjord' to the bigger city, Stavanger, for a costume contest. So, me, my friend Elena, and both our dolls took the ferry over and then hung out around town.

We got a lot of really cute kids coming up to us asking to see the dolls. It was so sweet. I had a great time bringing Amelia around with me.

 

Well, I ended up taking my sister's doll. Min Ki is still bald, and I don't want him to be seen like that!

How was your doll's first time outide?
It was uneventful but fun.

Where did you go?
We went to Michaels.

Was it a good/bad experience?
It was mostly good. We went looking for non-bjd doll clothes.

Did you regret doing it?
No, not at all. And I hope to take him out again sometime.

Also, what were people's reactions?
Most people didn't even notice him. A few people did a double-take.
Other than that it was like I wasn't walking around with a large beautiful doll. XD

 

I took Kome out to Michaels the day I got him. >.> My mom and I went a bit crazy and decided we wanted to make a ton of jewelry and stuff for him so we headed off there to buy beads and chains and charms and stuff... Then I ended up taking him along to lunch and I was terrified of getting him dirty. D;

It wasn't bad at all, and I take him out all the time now for pictures or when I'm going to a friend's house or a meet or whatever. Most people didn't seem to notice him and those that did would stare a bit and then ask what kind of doll he was. Pretty polite people, really.

 

I was living in Japan at the time and there was a gorgeous temple about a block away, so once I'd had Ilú a month or so I had to take him there for photos. It was pretty deserted for the most part and I got some nice shots... being a foreigner in Japan for any amount of time makes you pretty immune to having people stare at you even when you're not out and about doing something strange, so that wasn't too big of an issue either

 

Um, I guess technically it was when I took Lily to bits and took her outside to MSC her body... I did get weird looks because I was spraying a miniature torso XD

I guess her first "proper" outing was the time I took her along to a cafe to work. Nobody batted an eyelid.

 

Where did you go?
Payless, I needed new shoes and didn't want to leave her home alone

Was it a good/bad experience?
good, the saleslady there really liked her ^^

Did you regret doing it?
not at all, her wig got a little messed up because of the wind but I love taking my girl out with me

Also, what were people's reactions?
the saleslady was super nice and said she was very beautiful ^^
no one else mentioned her though or gave us any weird stares

 

First time I really think I took Caleb out was at this past Animethon. Was the first time I'd had the Captain out too(but on a separate day). Not unlike when I took Wraith out to the Edmonton Expo, there were some people who took notice, some giving praise, others mumbling to each other about how creepy my doll was. XD;

Honestly, it gives me the weirdest warmfuzzies when someone says my doll is creepy, and I don't know why that is. In some cases, I think it's because of the character the doll is based on, where them being "creepy", "unnerving" or "intimidating" would be a good thing.

I brought Caleb along with me to a Doll and Bear Show; I think he liked the attention. He had a lot of people complimenting his hair and fawning all over him. :P

I've yet to take any of my dolls with me on public transport or to the mall or something, but I'm planning on doing so eventually.

 

Vince's First Day Out

Where did you go?

The doll meet itself was the only place that he was OUT-out, though he rode in my purse through Toys R Us, so I could hold him up next to large doll furniture and such, but mostly he was down where he couldn't be seen. He stayed in his box during dinner so that he wouldn't get messy.

Was it a good/bad experience?

It was a lovely experience! The doll meet was great, and aside from his box being kind of unwieldy at the table, even outside the meet he was no problem. I'm not sure anyone in TRU even noticed him, to be honest.

Did you regret doing it?

Nope!

Also, what were people's reactions?

Well, if anyone at the toy store had a reaction, it was subtle enough that I didn't notice it. In the restaurant, he was just a big box, and at the meet, everyone either was already a doll person, or was ducking into the room because they were curious about the dolls and wanted to take a peek at them anyway. Nobody was unfriendly.


Since then, he's been a few other places, and Billy's been out but he's so little he just goes down in my purse and can't be seen unless I take him out, so his first time out was completely uneventful. And poor Pete doesn't get out...