How open are you with your BJD as a hobby?

Not very open about it yet. I used to be terrified of dolls so for me to own one now is a big step and that would probably be my angle on that story to outsiders as well.

I got inspired by a guy in my class at multimedia school. He has that disease where his bones are very brittle and break easily, so he's wheelchair bound. He used to be terrified of spiders, and one time a spider fell on him from the ceiling and he started hyperventilating so violently a few of his ribs broke. So he had to stop being afraid of the spiders because he might end up killing himself from a fear reaction. So his parents got him into having tarantulas as pets. And he ended up fascinated by the very creatures he had been so scared off. This inspired me to work on my fear of dolls and clowns.

I was bullied a lot as a teen for being weird (I'm asexual and couldn't relate to the very sex-focused lives of my peers once the hormones kicked in, as a small child I actually had a nice amount of friends that all fell away as we grew into adolescence) and because of this I am hesitant to let people in on all the weird although I try to wear "the weird one" like a badge of honor. But I will wear this badge too with time.

 

I'm a pretty cagey and mysterious person in general so I don't even run into the possibility to let people know that often. I don't really interact with people unless I have to, and even then I generally just assume people wouldn't care about dolls so I try to connect with them about media or something that we might both like. My family is well aware, and I don't care about what they think.

That being said, I don't think I'd be embarrassed about collecting dolls so much as the extent to which I collect dolls. Owning 2 dolls/figures/plushies/etc. is relatively normal in nerd culture. Having more than 20 big, expensive dolls is.... not.

 

I was rather surprised (and truly sad) so many people get such negative feedback on their dolls. It never occurred to me to hide it. Not that I could and actually most people who seemed weirded out by it were actually rather amazed when I introduced them to a bjd. I often use one of my pukipuki sweeties to win them over. A very good friend came over once and was standing in the kitchen looking strangely. When I asked why she started laughing and pointed to the table. I had trays of eyes and eyelashes out and some hands I was blushing and she wanted to know if she could come over during the next storm to see what I was creating! I honestly don't give it a thought. I'm in my 50s and learned a looooong time ago not to let morons, who usually have more mouth than they can support intelligently, influence my joys in life. Another friend's 8 year old granddaughter introduced me to her little friend with "Don't worry about her, she is like a 5 year old and will play with us and make cool stuff!" High praise indeed in my estimation and Stephanie now has a bjd by the way!! I hope that you find support and fun with others with your dolls and of course support other collector's rights to handling things their own way, but I really do find most people think they are interesting at least and few have come over to the our side quite happily. Also, I've explained to a friends super conservative bit of a party pooper hubby that the doll industry generates TONS of money internationally so I'm not the only "weirdo" out there and by the way how much do you spend on golf pointlessly trying to bat that tiny ball into a tinier hole?!!! ;-) I really think having the courage of your convictions makes a difference. I find that anyone with a passion for something, almost anything, interesting to talk to as even if it doesn't appeal to me personally. Worst case it expands your horizons a bit. I never grew out of liking purple and pink, still play with dolls and got a Hello Kitty tattoo on my 50th birthday. I'm me and my love of dolls is a big part of that. Take it or leave it but I will never EVER feel like there is something wrong with me because I grab the cats, photos and dolls if the house catches fire. I can always get another pair of earrings.....LOL

 

It might also be an age thing for some? The older I get the less fucks I give about what other people think of me tbh. I used to be a people pleaser and would avoid "weird stuff" to not appear too weird. It didn't work though so I should've just embraced my weirdness and maybe then I would've known who the hell I am now...

 

I keep this hobby to myself. The only person who knows I love bjds is my girlfriend. My family knows I am fascinazed by them as well, but that's about it. And I want to keep it this way.
The doll hobby is something I do for myself and eventhough I get joy out of sharing it with my girlfriend or people on the internet, i don't want to share it with other people.

 

I’m quite open about my hobby, I tell pretty much everyone when I get the chance because I love to talk about my dolls

 

I'm pretty private with my dolls, but then that also extends to my other hobbies as well. I guess I'm just the type of person who isn't really open about things that I do. I have a few close friends who enjoy the same hobbies I do, so we talk about it amongst ourselves on discord. That's about as public as I get with my stuff. Honestly, I don't care what people think about the hobbies I have. If they have a problem with it, then that's their problem and not mine. :\

 

I'm a really open person, but I've been quiet about my interest in the hobby. I only know 2 people that are positive about it, and I've heard my close friends have some negative comments about BJD collecting (what do they know? haha).

I hope I can be more open about it with time, for now it's easy since I haven't bought a doll yet, but once I do, I don't know how much longer I can hide it

 

It depends on who I'm sharing the hobby with. I don't really feel comfortable telling people I work with or people I've known since I was a kid. I was really bullied a lot for growing up and playing with dolls and liking feminine things so sharing it with people who have that kind of mindset is hard.

 

I'm new to BJDs as a hobby specifically, but at least in regards to the other aspect of my doll hobbies, since I have other types of dolls I collect as well...I wouldn't say I'm secretive so much as I don't think to bring it up until suddenly I've just kind of Unleashed the Beast so to speak. While playing a board game that requires individuals to look over rules in separate spaces, I had one of my newest friends go into my room where I keep all my dolls (and taxidermy, I might add), and I didn't really even stop to think that it might be weird until she came out and made a comment about it. Whoops.

I was definitely more shy about this kind of thing when I was younger, but lately I've found myself embracing a sort of "own it" type personality, so I try to embrace all aspects of myself and the things I like and share them with those closest to me or even curious outsiders. It's all over my instagram, anyway.

 

Mostly all my best friends and my partner. Some family member and co-workers don't understand my hobby so I like to keep my hobby as a private.

 

I am very open about it, I consider it like a cool skill that I have rather than someting that could embarrass me cause it might look "childish". I don't mind if someone thinks I'm childish for it.

 

What I am not so open about is the price of my dolls, specially to people I know are in a bad financial situation. I only tell it to people who are interested, friends, or other collectors who know collecting stuff is expensive xD

 

I wish I wasn't, but I'm kind of in the closet about it in that I wouldn't willingly divulge it to friends (though my close friends that know have been pretty supportive), and I would never mention it in the professional setting to colleagues (though as a counselor, not much self-disclosure is expected form me anyway ).
I think once I get a real camera and start doing some quality photography, I'll be a lot less shy about it all due to the effect of ~stigma avoidance through visual contextualization~.

Speaking of which, I would recommend this scholarly article, "Stigma avoidance through visual contextualization: Adult toy play on photo-sharing social media." I dunno, it's just interesting for me to think about why it is some (including myself) feel like they ought to be in the closet about this hobby, when it's just as valid as any other non-harmful hobby.

 

I'm pretty open about it with family and my other half. We both have "niche" hobbies; D&D, wargames, mini collecting/painting. I just happen to collect bigger minis too! I won him over with the arty aspects I think. I can redo my doll's faceup whilst he paints some minis, and we can both have quiet time in the conservatory. The small box of eyes freaks him out, which yeah I can understand. But he doesn't seem bothered by it now.

 

I am very open about it! I’ve had a lot of other uncommon hobbies throughout my life so I’m used to it. I am lucky to also have great friends. I talk to them about my dolls all the time and they support me and listen, even though they have no interest in dolls themselves. I collect furbys as well and a lot of people who come to my house are so scared of them they don’t even care about the dolls.

 

For me it's a delicate balance. I don't want to be to open about it (because people can be very judgey), but I also don't really want to hide it. I've had some people I know call it creepy, so I want to avoid that sort of thing.

 

I wasted decades of my life caring about what other people think about me and trying to conform, and I'm tired of it.
But like another poster said, it's probably an age thing. Now that my kids are adults, I really don't care what their friends and their friends' parents might think of me. I feel I can do what I want with my life, as long as I don't go out of my way to hurt others.

If others are creeped out by my dolls, that's not my doing - I didn't intentionally buy them to creep these people out. Some of my neighbours have very ugly gardens, there's somebody across the street with curtains that hurt my eyes. They don't do that to annoy me either, they just have different tastes. So it's up to me not to let it get to me. Just like it's up to my visitors to accept or not accept my dolls.

Besides, I have around 60 BJDs, so 'hiding' stopped being an option a few years ago.

 

I don't really tell people, not because I'm worried about any kind of judgement, but because I just know most people won't get it and I'll be disappointed they don't share my enthusiasm. I kind of want to find other doll people in my area, but I'm not really very social anyway, so in the end this might be the best place for me. What would be best is if I could get my current friends into the hobby! One is tempted but the price is too off-putting. Maybe one day!

 

I'm completely open with my way to enjoy the hobby. Well, I'm not going with a big flag with me saying something like "here's a crazy doll collector" but I don't hide it and all my family and friends know about it. Maybe not much of them understand my reasons for being in that kind of hobby but don't affect me much, because they also know that for me is a super important part of my life and brings me tons of joy so they mostly respect me in that way. Of course, I try to don't talk much about my hobby with the ones who I know that don't feel comfortable with it for any reason.
Probably, it isn't the kind of conversation for have in a first date, but I have the requirement that my couples have to understand and respect my hobby as I try to understand and respect the hobbies that they have. If not, and I have been in that situation before, the relation can't work...

So good that part about the garden of your neighbors No one talk enough about how aesthetics desicions of others can hurts but thats the thing, "my home, my rules" so I think, that everyone should be agree of respect that