How open are you with your BJD as a hobby?

I don't run around screaming "I collect BJDs!" at the top of my lungs but I'm also not in the closet about it. If you walk into my house chances are you'll see a doll either in the curio cabinet or on the sewing table (you can see the craft room from the main door). If someone were to ask about it I wouldn't hesitate to talk about the hobby. Then again I'm willing to bet that not even some of my close family know I collect dolls...solely because I'm a very introverted person, I very rarely strike up my own conversation.

 

I wouldn't introduce myself as a BJD hobbyist, even if I were asked about my hobbies. None of my friends know about my doll, only my boyfriend and my family members. (Well, one of my international pen pals knows. I couldn't contain my excitement when my first doll was arriving.)

But I'm very new to the hobby, so that probably makes it a bit different for me.

 

I am very secret. The only people that know are other hobbyists. But then, I am a secretive person in general.

 

Personal/private hobby. Most people I know just wouldn't get it, so I keep it in the realm of those who share the hobby. I am happy with this.

 

Im really open abut it. If it comes up in conversations, I'll talk about it and I sometimes post about it on social media. My reasoning is that if someone is going to unfriend because of something I love, then I don't want that person as a friend anyways.

One of my best friends made me cry (happy tears) when he told me: "Anna, your doll hobby is f****** weird, but the fact that you remain your authentic self and have never changed it for anyone is one of the things I respect most about you."

 

I am more open about it! When I ordered my newest dolls I showed my colleagues at work the pictures and they were all interested! My boss even got inspired to have a new hair cut like my Hollys old wig O.o I mean whut?
Some of my students now as well, though for the younger kids I am the teacher that likes Pokemon.

I think because everyone knows that I am little bit...odd...they accept it all very easily.

When asked what my Hobby is I usually answer Cosplay, crafts and lately dolls. That is a wonderful conversation starter. Most Japanese people know what cosplay is, but nearly nobody knows about dolls :3

I am very sure they think I have a screw loose! So much fun!

 

I wouldn't call myself very secretive, and I'm open about the fact that all my interests are weird/obscure things, so talking about dolls isn't about to scare away anyone who already knows me lol. (some my other obsessions are speech synthesis and games with absurdly dense stories, so sometimes it's easier to talk about dolls than those!)

if I'm talking to someone i've never met before and i want to bring it up, I tend to fudge it a little and say I create "art dolls" and paint collectibles and stuff like that.. nobody has questioned it once I show them what i mean! (though sometimes i get a weird look up front...)

 

I'm very closed/secretive about it. It's not so much to do with judgment from others; the only thing I worry about with others judging me is that I might say something overly unpleasant in the heat of the moment if people made uninvited comments (because I dislike people who care that much about random strangers'/acquaintances' hobbies).

The reason I keep it so hidden, though, is because it means a lot to me. In my experience, if people (other than those you have come to trust) know something that means a lot to you, they can use the information for their own gain. It's simply too sad to see something that brought you great joy be turned into a tool of manipulation or what have you. It can take away your enjoyment of that thing, and even though when you are in a better place you can start to enjoy it again, this takes a long time.
Also some people, even if they'd never use someone's interests against them, might like to talk about people so much that they tell someone who is more manipulative.

So my close family members and close friends know, but I'd never tell others who asked about my hobbies until I could feel they were really trustworthy.

Edit: I also don't care much if some person I'll likely never encounter again sees me photographing a doll etc.; as long as I'm just a random stranger to them it doesn't matter to me.

 

I'm pretty secretive about it. My husband and a few of my close friends know and I've just started going to a local meet up group but I don't post about the hobby on social media and don't discuss it with anyone else. I just know that a lot of people think dolls are weird or creepy and it's not that I care so much what other people have to say but I don't really care to listen to someone be nasty about something I work hard at. I let my roommate see one of my dolls while I was sewing and he's been making fun of it every chance he gets. I don't care what he has to say so I don't justify it with any attention but it's just obnoxious and gets on my nerves when people act like that about anyone's hobbies. It just confirms my reasons for being secretive. Long story short, people being obnoxious really get on my nerves so I'm secretive about my dolls lol.

 

I'm also quite secretive about this hobby. Most of my older friends/acquaintances know, since they saw me joining this hobby and I excitedly told them about dolls and showed them my small collection back then.
But some of their reactions hurt me badly so now I know better than mention it if I don't have to.

It also helps that I nearly never have non-BJD people over, but I guess if new peeps came into my life and my home I'd just mention the dolls nonchalantly once they spot them.

Not making a big deal about it and such, even though it is...

 

my close friends all know i collect bjds, so i guess i'm relatively open with this hobby. but i'm not sharing it with my workmates

 

I'm so sad to hear people being bullied for their hobby but it doesn't surprise me. People are assholes. Dolls are perfect (and often preferable to assholes).

But I'm not particularly secretive about my dolls. I already look a little offbeat (weird haircut, tattoo and piercings, rockabilly clothing) and I have weirder hobbies (I have two, formerly THREE pet tarantulas) so of the two, I tend to deflect with the spiders: Oh you thought my doll was creepy? Well say hello to my little arachnid friend!
I post my spiders and my tattoos and my rockabilly costume contests on social media, why wouldn't I share my dolls? If I still collected action figures, I'd be posting them. People make fun of all the things I do, but I've just learned not to let assholes run my life or ruin my hobbies.

 

Though I'm still very new, I'm quite open about if people ask me what my hobbies are! It's just another outlet for creativity after all!

 

I have no issues claiming to be a doll collector. I have for years even as a high schooler and in college. Do I hide it? It's not the first interesting fact I reveal about myself. I usually start with my crafty pursuits and then end with my doll collecting. I don't post on FB, but only to my sub-groups mostly. I have brought dolls to work occasionally and I used to have items shipped here all the time.

Physically, well, I have always had a designated room for my collectibles to reduce light exposure, minimize dust, reduce accidents with touchy kids so whenever you walked into my home, you'd never know. About 2 years ago, my in-laws retired and I inherited a gorgeous glass curio cabinet but was forced to place it in the foyer area because of its weight and size. So I filled it with dolls - my less expensive American fashion dolls. My BJDs are still under lock and key in my hobby room. I figure if those were stolen, it'd be less devastating to me than my BJDs. So now as guests comes to my house, they see a modest collection, not my crazy hoard! LOL!

 

I'm an introvert, so unless someone asks me the right question, and I'm comfortable enough around them already, I don't discuss my hobbies. I might mention in general that I collect dolls and knit, but typcially someone else takes over the conversation by that point, so normally I don't have to worry about follow up questions. In social settings, the friends we have tend to be extroverts, and love to talk about themselves, and I hang back and listen with a mental bowl of popcorn.

I'm in the camp of if someone doesn't ask, I'm not going to volunteer it. Unless they are in the hobby already, it invites judgement more than interest, in my experience. Especially if it happens to be family. (I'm not close with my family at all, for various reasons, including too much judgement when I didn't fit the mold they had ready for me. So even if I ever see any of them again, the last thing I would share with them would be my great loves of doll collecting, and knitting!)

Otherwise, my hubby and close friends I am very comfortable sharing my hobby with. They're also supportive of it, and don't give me any judgement about how much I spend on it. I might get a little gentle ribbing about being willing to spend money on a pair of shoes for my dolls, but I balk at buying a pair for myself. But they know doll collecting (and knitting) brings me joy, and that's more that good enough for them to enjoy it with me.

 

My boyfriend knows, my mom knows and two of my weird friends know. It's just not worth it to argue with people, what else more important I could buy with the money I spend on dolls.

 

I love dolls in general so my friends find that out about me eventually. I don't often talk about BJD in particular as I consider it kind of long-winded for people who are only mildly interested in my hobbies. Kind of like how I only talk about my pets if I find out that they have pets too.

 

Quite open. I tell anyone who asks about my hobbies that I collect and customize large resin balljointed dolls, and anyone who walks into my home will see them on display. When I used social media I would occasionally post a photo of a current project, so even extended family and acquaintances were aware of it.

I see no reason to conceal anything that is so important to you. For me, it would feel like false advertising--if someone would like to be my friend it's just easier all around if they know what they're in for.

 

Anyone who comes to my house has seen my antique and Himstedt dolls. I have them in unlighted cases. I usually only have one bjd out on display though. Most are in my wooden armoire just to keep them from light. The one on display is in a shadow space in my case. I have had all the rude comments on occasion from people, like a niece and her mother. But I really don't care what they think. It's my house, my favorite form of art.