How to find IRL doll friends?

Isn't there a location shout-out thread here on DoA?
I checked FB when I moved here and was ready to socialize with local doll people. They had a little group and met occasionally but a few of us made it a regular thing. We've been meeting and presenting at local cons for over 3 years. Sometimes you have to create and host the meets to have them
I like both online and RL doll socializing for several reasons.

If you don't see a FB group or meet doll peeps at local cons or find local meets posted here, you could always start a FB doll page for your dolls and see if it drew in any locals.
Good luck!

 

I actually met all my BJD friends through anime events! Haha. I don't know if that would help in your situation, but perhaps there will be people who share a different hobby with you that are also into BJD???

 

All of the suggestions so far are great! Especially if you live in a college town, a bulletin board at school would be a smashing idea.

Also, has anyone mentioned dolls shows yet? Depending on where you live, there might be some nearby or in your town a couple of times a year.

 

I think hobbywhelmed suggested a fantastic approach. You're obviously extremely busy, so you don't have to start a club. You're just looking for a friend or two who are also into BJDs, right? I think the key is using the term "BJDs" because those of us inside the community will recognize it right away, while those outside the community won't give it a second thought, and you'll be none the worse for wear and won't have to deal with judgy jerks. Why not post a note on the bulletin board that says something like this:

Into BJDs?
Looking for friends on campus who are into BJDs/art dolls
and would be interested in getting together occasionally
for meets, swaps, crafts, customization, and deboxings!
​

Or with whatever wording you would want, obviously. Make sure to include those little contact tear-off strips at the bottom, and just leave it at that. It's worth a try, I think! Maybe you'll find another student who does have the time to organize a full-fledged club, and she/he/zie could make sure to have the meetings on nights you're available.

What do you think you're going to do?

 

i actually have a few friends (i mean 2 ) who have seen my doll and the doll things we do and actually really like them. One of them said they wanted a doll but of course the price is outrageous even for smaller ones. they're supposed to be getting job and i hope they join the bjd fun :3
the other friend is into j-fashion namely, sweet lolita, and thus most of her monies go to that.
shes really passionate about it too. i dont think she'd put it aside for dolls seeing as lolita is just as expensive as this hobby :I

as far as how to make any more friends i am completely clueless i mention that i collect dolls every now and again but the conversation never goes further than that

 

That sounds awesome, Razzy! Good luck, and let us know how it goes!!

 

I actually have a few friends who are already into dolls but they are slightly getting out of the hobby and getting into a hobby that I once loved a lot. I am fine with online friends. I have almost no time to go to meetups anyways so it wouldn't matter if I met new people or not. I have quite a handful of friends who has great knowledge in bjd that I can ask if I had any problems. I think they were the ones who actually got me to really invest in this hobby. It is definitely nice to know people who enjoy bjd even if they do not own any dolls themselves.

 

I recently made flyers for the bulletin board for my school. I attached pictures of my three dolls to it, so I hope that helps. I'm going to post them today, so hopefully I'll know how well this method works. I really wish, however, that there was a way on DoA to search for locals. My only other idea was to go to the anime club, and scout for people there, since a lot of BJD lovers are also into anime. There were people at my out-in-the-sticks high school who were into BJDs, so statistically at a campus of 17000+, there's a good chance of finding some people who enjoy BJDs. But other than the anime club, flyers, and carrying or displaying a doll, I can't come up with any ideas. I'm having a hard enough time making just plain friends, and finding BJD lovers is going to be so much harder since a lot of people hide the hobby and since hobbies don't exactly come up so often in conversation...

 

The first doll person I ever met, even before I got an account here, I met in my college oil painting class. She's absolutely wonderful! we discovered our overlapping interests when I mentioned that I really liked these cool dolls I saw on the internet. And she knew exactly what I was referring too. :3 It was great

And as luck would have it, my second IRL is actually my currant college roommate (Different college) we were discussing things when she mentioned she painted doll faces and I asked if they were by chance bjds. It was a prefect match.

So, I'm all for the just talk to people method. But I also know just how difficult that can be, I'm usually a super introvert. Have you ever tried sitting in a public spot at your college and doodling your dolls? That's a good way to meet all kinds of people, and someone might know what they are and be just as excited as you to discover a doll friend

 

I considered bringing my tiny in with me one day while I study in the library or eat. But, my mother said that she might bring negative attention. I also have considered carrying a large purse, and letting one of my SDs stick out of it... How do you all feel about those two things?

 

Agreed with Razzy! I think college students are in one of the most open-minded periods of their entire life, so chanarivka, I have hope that you would actually get zero negative attention about a little BJD in the library or dining hall. Most people will probably think it's cute and interesting!

I wasn't into dolls in college, but if someone in the dining hall had had a little anthro sitting on the table with them, I would have been like, "OH COOL tell me about this cute little guy! Can I hold him? OH WOW his joints move?! Look at him go!" Why not give it a try one time and see what happens?

Razzy, I think it's also a great idea that you bring a small BJD with you to the student center. You're bound to find another collector one of these days.

 

You know what, you guys are right. I just realized that I didn't think anything negative about bringing a doll to college until my mom said something. My little fox, Tessie, fits nicely in my purse, so I could easily take her along tomorrow. That's why I bought her, after all. I wanted a purse fairy, since my other two are two feet tall. Also, I had extra flyers left over after finding all of the available notice boards, so would anyone find a picture of the flyer I used to be helpful? I was pretty proud it, but it was hard to come up with exactly the right thing to put up.

 

Don't be shy! I'm in college two and I shared classes with this really cool girl for at least two semesters. We got along really well. One day she was brave enough to mention that she collected BJDs in a project and I spoke to her about it after class. Today we brought both of our dolls in to class and it was awesome. Just get out there and don't be shy about your hobby. You never know who's in the hobby.

 

THAT. Is awesome.

 

The easiest way is through meetups. No-brainer: local peeps already into dolls!

As with getting to meet any friends: common interests, like a class or club or activity where you are already getting to know people. Then just keep your ears open for hints about whether they are into dolls or might be into dolls. I was at an art workshop and someone mentioned that doll eyes were a great reference--and mentioned sites on ebay and elsewhere. I went right over to her and started talking bjds! She's not that specifically into bjds, but dolls in general, but that's cool, and we already have art in common. I've even talked dolls with her daughter when I bumped into her at another (writing) event! It was fun having this weird cross-over going between non-doll topics and dolls!

I go to conventions... for fun/interest and as a living/income source... sometimes the dolls cross-over there. I'll go to a con for one reason, but then a meetup-is planned, so I can meet other doll folk. But I'll also have my doll with me to show others, or to take out to show the doll folk, and others will pop in and ask questions and show interest or say they know about the dolls...

So there's all sorts of ways... It's mostly just making friends first and then discovering if they are into dolls at all, I guess...

 

Well, I had put up flyers about three or four weeks ago (maybe even five or six) to try and find BJD lovers at my college. I figured I'd post the results in this thread. It didn't work. I have not gotten any response to the flyers except for a story from an acquaintance who knows what BJDs are told me that she had seen the flyer, and was going to tell me to contact the person. Then, she realized that I was the person who posted the flyer. So, I suppose the only doll person I (almost) managed to attract was myself. I have not gotten a chance to take my dolls out around college because I now have so much stuff to carry that I'd be afraid that they'd get hurt if I could somehow manage to carry anything else. I'd have to say that flyers on a college notice board are ineffective. I really wish that there was some way to do this through DoA. :C I'm pretty lonely, and it's now saddening to pull out my dolls because I'm the only one who seems to appreciate them. Combine that with a lack of time, and the poor dears don't even come out anymore. I'll be putting up a new series of flyers when I get the time, but I don't think they'll help. I'll eventually post a picture of the flyers I put up for everyone to comment on. I'd love to have some other ideas. The flyers were my last hope. There aren't any meetups near me, I already asked the mods if there was anything I could do here. I've also tried BJD penpaling and tried to plan a meetup close to me, but there was no interest. I even made a tumblr post with a picture of my college and a photo of my dolls and tagged it with "bjds" and "Montgomery college"! But nothing happened...