How does your family react to the hobby ?

I haven't really told my family yet, haha. I can see my mom not minding the hobby itself, she's used to me collecting toys (anime figures, My Little Ponies, Beanie Babies, etc.), but I know she wouldn't be pleased with how much it costs. I don't think my dad will care either way. He mostly cares about whether I'm happy or not, so if this is what makes me happy and I can afford it, then that's all that matters to him.

My coworkers (who are pretty much a second family to me) all think it's awesome and always asking me how my boy is doing. But I also work in an art supply store, so everyone I work with is especially interested because of the creative aspect of the hobby.

My partner's family is much like my dad, in which they think I should do whatever makes me happy. My partner is into dolls too (she's the one that got me into it), so I think they're happy that we have something we love to do together as well.

Overall, I think I've been pretty lucky with the reactions I've received so far. That is, until my mom finds out. LOL.

 

My mum has been hearing about it a lot lately since I ordered my first doll. She's amused and supportive. She picked up some fabric for a bedding set I'm going to make him, so I'd say she's pretty cool with it. My brother collects figures so he also sort of gets it.

 

My mom is okay with it i think. At first when she saw my doll she said she was pretty. And then came the cost question ^^' she just bought a new laptop so i just said you could get a laptop for the cost .. xD she needed to go and have a cigarette to calm down. XD
She witnessed me selling some anime figures before and i made some profit as they rose in price. So now she sees them as an investment rather than waste of money because she knows i can get my money back :3


My sister is into anime plus i got a partner who is Japanese culture crazy same as me. He warmed up to her though he tries to shake it off by laughing all the time XD

 

My mum is a bit weird about it. I spent a few minutes showing her Littlefees and she said she loved them, but the second a pair of eyes arrived for my incoming Demetra, she lost it and told me I was wasting my money... and her sister agrees. It's a little disheartening.

On the other hand, my dad couldn't care less. He does kendo almost for a living, and he cops enough flack for it (it's not a cheap martial art to practice here in Australia) so he understands spending money on a hobby you love and enjoy. He's a little creeped out by them (moreso by my flatmate's Monster High dolls) but he tolerates them. His mentality is that it's not his money being spent on them, and they're not cluttering up his house, so whatever.

My partner's pretty creeped out by them, but he must tolerate them to some degree because he's bought me two dollies and is about to help me pay for a third...

 

I'm the resident weirdo in my family, at my age, the relatives all snicker and laugh, sometimes...you would have to see me, I'm mean looking, so it's bizarre seeing a big old grouch, cooing over the dollies

 

My mum doesn't mind the thought or look of them. She said "oh, it's a doll, it's pretty" and that was pretty much it. I think she got freaked out when I showed her a video of someone changing their doll's wig...though. And the eyes, they freak her out a bit.

My dad doesn't care about them, really...not at all. He accepts that I like them, but he doesn't care.

 

My family is in general very supporting and we're all a bit weird. In 2012 we went to Germany for vacation in our car, and my dad and step mom spent around €400 on Steiff teddy bears. My mom was very excited about my dolls since she's kind of into dolls herself, and my other relatives didn't really having anything to say. My cousin wanted to get a BJD a few months ago though, and her dad forbid her to, so I guess he's not into the idea. I'm very lucky, since I know a lot of people have problems with it.

 

How old is your cousin, if I may ask, kind of sucks being forbidden to have a bjd, maybe he was blown away by the price.

 

My mom used to have a beef about BJDs due to the price and me being very clumsy in handling, but after achieving my goal which the reward was a Volks FCS doll, my mom eventually accepted the idea. No one else in my family really cares, other than I love dolls.

 

My mom is supportive enough. She paid for half of my DZ boy and 1/4 of my Soom Chrom, and bought my DOC Petsha in full. I would consider myself extremely fortunate in her support (both financially and in speaking). She did get angry at me for buying my Luts Moonlit Song Bory Unicorn over the summer, though. She thinks I have "enough" and doesn't want me to have any more, ever. We will see about that!!

However. She doesn't support the upkeep of the hobby itself. For example, if I want to buy a new wig, eyes, or outfit for a doll, Jesus take the wheel and have mercy on my soul. We have gotten into literal shouting arguments over me spending $9 on a pair of eyes. It is extremely perplexing to me that she allows me to buy the dolls, which are so much more expensive, but hates me buying the cheaper accessories. I suppose it must just be the concept of the additional expenses that has her worried.

The rest of my family doesn't understand any of the aspects of my collecting. I collect BJD, Disney collectibles, Monster High, and Sailor Moon/magical girl items. My room is covered wall to wall in toys, and they are generally creeped out by it. They know what everything is worth though, which concerns me, and are consistently asking me "when will you sell that stuff?"

They also think my boys look like girls and mock me for that, as do some friends. While annoying and slightly offensive, I still consider myself blessed in the way that I can even participate in this hobby, and that I do receive the support that I have.

 

DollAbbesse, She turns 13 next month. From a hobby point of view she might be a little too young (even though I barely was a year older when I got my doll) but I don't think that's why her dad forbid her to get one. I think it's about etc the price and the fact that it's a doll and dolls are linked to children. I think that if she did save up for one herself then she should be allowed to get one, because of the hard work she put down, but yeah...I've never really liked her dad though, he's always so judging.

 

My mom and dad have always been supportive of my doll love. My extended family didn't even know until this Christmas. They saw them sitting under the tree and asked me about them. My aunts and uncles were pretty interested in learning about them and thought they were actually really cool. I was happily surprised that they had such a nice reaction to my dolls

 

Well, I believe I'm lucky. My parents some kind of like my girls. Daddy helped with making a house for them. Mother is always interester in new outfits/furniture/etc.
When travelling I usually take a girl with me and my daddy usually asks if the girls feel comfortable/cold and so on .

 

For me, my family is pretty supportive, although my sister hates them and has a slight fear towards dolls. My mum was all for me getting my first doll but shocked at how expensive they are, same with my dad, he was really curious about them.

 

My closest family accept it. husband finances my hobby, he says he's happy if I'm happy, even if he's broke now (joke..well sort of lol). My dad also helps me buy the dolls sometimes, I'm very lucky!
Now there's my other family: uncles, brother and sisters-in-law, etc etc. They're not as happy as I would like them to be but I couldn't care less obviously they are shocked about how much the dolls cost but I just don't care

 

My mum thinks my dolls are beautiful and loves them, but not nearly as much as me.. I have never even shown my dad my dolls! He knows I like monster high dolls and other childish things but if he found out I was spending hundreds of dollars on dolls I'm sure he would have a heart attack lol

 

My mother refers to them as "your creepy dolls." However, I've always bought them with my own money, so she never had much to say about them beyond that. hehe

 

Very sharply. Especially my mother. She constantly threatens to throw it away and doesn't understand this hobby. She believes that it is for children. I explained to her many times that it is not so, but all to no avail.

 

They think I'm stupid for spending money on dolls. But as i buy all my stuff second hand and save a ton of money -who cares!?

 

I've been explaining it to my parents for the past month now since I'm aiming to have my first doll arrive here right before I move out. They're both more curious than anything, though I'm sure if I ever told them the true price of what I'm buying they'd freak out a little. My dad is a carpenter and he wants to start making doll furniture to sell, so I think that's really cool of him. they both support most of the things I do though, and they've honestly had a while to get used to me having expensive hobbies after so many years of me making cosplays for anime conventions.