How open are you with your BJD as a hobby?

I talk to my dad about it sometimes but not too often because he thinks it's childish lol. But I talk to my friends about it all the time just not my "normal" friends and I don't talk about it to my other family members because they wouldn't really understand

 

Closed. It is definitely not a topic I bring up to people unless I've known them a while, and then I just casually try to drop it in conversation at an antique store or something. Just a little too much anxiety over it.

 

I would say that in general I am very open about my interests. But as I am new to BJDs I seem to be reluntant to let anyone know about it. I suppose I barely have any secrets so I kinda like knowing I have something that is just for me. my secret to keep, to enjoy without expectations, show and tell. I do look forward to going to a doll meetup one day but I then it is with like minded people.

I am the same. I seem to flit about with different things and some stick- figure skating, dollhouses, visiting used bookstores and others have been a flash in the pan- dance class, swimming, the gym. (I know not exactly hobbies persay but the idea is there). I don't spend big and fast as I need to see if I will stay with it. I made this mistake when i got back into miniatures.

I love that description. In real life I would say that I am professional with working with parents and co-workers but the children would tell you that they see me as a child! My best friend would describe me as unique and a less crazy mad hatter. So I think I appear as more normal online but I think that is because I don't need to act a certain way or be someone I am not.

I subscribed to your Youtube channel i really enjoy it.

 

People close to me know but dont understand. Lol I've always been a bit eccentric to them.
I'm pretty straight to the point with things so I dont have any problem with people knowing or finding out, although I dont usually bring it up unless it comes into conversation.
I guess one good thing about getting older is not caring so much about other people unless they actually matter to you. Everyone is entitled to their opinion I respect that but basically it's my money.

 

im very open with my close friends but even they find it a little odd. its not something im embarrassed about but more i just be bothered having the ‘ew but theyre so creepy’ conversation.

 

I'm pretty open about it. I just say I collect dolls and when people give me that look, I show them a picture of my favorite at the time and then they seem to understand. Or if they don't, I just shrug it off or explain how much creativity and customization goes into it. So far no one has judged me. At least not to my face

 

This is basically exactly my answer, as it’s really only my husband and my dad and his wife that know about it. I don’t really talk about it around friends unless they’re also a theatre major and would understand the reason I’d be doing something so creative and out there from the norm.

 

I'll mention it but I don' really elaborate or bring it up unless someone does. People, I feel, generally are scared of dolls so I just don't really go there.

 

I’m very open about my hobby with my friends. Some are a bit indifferent but others are afraid of dolls so I don’t talk about it all the time with the ones who are scared. I could talk about dolls all day. I don’t understand why people would be afraid of bjd’s too. They are very pretty and delicate looking

 

The thing is, that phobias don't make much sense, it's an irrational fear. I used to be afraid of BJD's. Just like I was (and to some extend still am) scared of old pocelain dolls, clown dolls and the (wooden) puppets on strings (no clue what those are called in English). To me, the bjds simply looked too realistic. It was uncanny valley, and I was sure that if I slept in the same room as a doll like that they would murder me in my sleep. I worked hard on my phobia for 4 years, and am now at a point where I own bjd's as a part of the therapy I put myself through. I was only supposed to get one, just to not have trouble breathing when we went to Japan and there sometimes are BJD's in the same cabinets as the animé figurines. Now I have 4 and more coming.

 

I am doing really well with my phobia, thankfully, so I can talk about it relatively freely and in some instances it actually helps to vocalize it.

 

I don’t go telling everybody about my hobbies because I don’t think people in general will be interested in me and things I like.
My personal instagram account is only dolls and my friends will all figure out eventually and I don’t mind at all. They are mostly from snowboarding, though and don’t really care about dolls. If they like or deslike them, they never said anything. I think because everyone knows I am odd they accept it easily...maybe.
My parents support me in every way. Dolls, anime/game figures etc (even if I’m already on my 30s and they do know how much everything costs).

I think this hobby is something supposed to make you happy. If you are uncomfortable telling other people, than fine, I can’t see any issue about having it just for yourself.
I’m really proud of my dolls and if anybody shows interest I’ll show them tones of pictures!

 

Congratulations on your therapy and wow that is an amazing step to have taken. I am in counselling right now for a few things and have had big break throughs recently but it is so hard.
Phobias are strange things. I am scared of large or sharp knives. No idea why but I struggle to cut things when I need to use them.
To be honest the uncanny valley of lifelike dolls makes me feel a little odd. I don't like the celebrity dolls that people paint that look just like them but I have mostly come across that in regard to vinyl dolls than BJDs.

 

Phobias are weird! Knives I get though, they can actually be harmful, so it seems less irrational than dolls, but maybe also that much more challenging to work through?!

To get the thread back on track:
Some people I am open about the dolls some people not so much. But the people who matter know about them and know that the dolls are important to me. They have favorites of my dolls and some they don't like so much, and that is fine. Having worked through the phobia I don't judge which ones trigger the uncanny feeling in them. And people mostly just find them a bit unsettling and not utterly terrifying like I did, so they are already at a better starting point towards appreciating the dolls than I was.

 

Yeah knives can be harmful. It is challenging to get through as you use them almost all the time. I actually have to use them at work and I can't say I afraid Snack is not coming as I can't cut the melon! But I have got better.

I have a friend who finds Funko pops really unsettling because of the eyes and yet he finds BJDS actually okay.

 

I can't say I blame him! I don't care much for Funko pops for the same reason. That, and the oversized heads. I don't like pullips and the like for the same reasons.

I'm starting to want to take a doll with me everywhere again, so more people in my new state are going to eventually find out that I am into BJDs!

Ryu

 

Literally only my family knows. I finally got the courage recently to tell my husband (married half a year, together 3.5 yrs) that I secretly collect dolls. I had been keeping my 3 BJDs in the back of a glass-covered bookshelf in my office, carefully hidden behind some books.

He was super ok with it and didn’t act weirded out (though he might secretly think it’s weird, haha). Granted, my husband plays MTG and buys expensive cards for his deck, so he’s totally cool with expensive hobbies and his hobby is full of nerds too, lol.

I think I was really self conscious about my dolls, because in my early 20s, shortly after I got my first BJD, I excitedly showed it to the guy who I was dating at the time, and he freaked out and yelled, “WHAT THE F*** IS THAT?!” And he was like, “Why are you showing me this?!” You’d think I had shown him some grotesque or overly sexual looking doll, but it was just the Lolita one in my avatar. It made me feel so ashamed, that I never shared that part of myself to anyone until I recently told my husband.

 

I actually agree with him now. I was thinking about getting into collecting them but now I am so glad I did not as I can see how strange the eyes and no mouths look.

 

I also think I'm a bit quiet when it comes to sharing my hobbies (including art, cosplay, gaming & BJDs). I don't really talk about my dolls in conversation unless I'm excited about something or found something funny on the forum. But in general I only bring up doll stuff to my family and my one close friend. They listen, but tbh, they may not understand a lot of what I say LOL.
However, I have posted photos on my Facebook and Instagram in the past so I think a lot of my friends would know that I collect dolls. I doubt many of them know the scale or cost of them (unless they are secretly in the hobby as well haha).