How to Tote Many at a Meetup or Convention?

I've also seen people use scrapbook rolling bags for their dolls and they can get a substantial amount of dolls in there and then be able to stack another smaller bag on top of that. I would try it but I have actual scrapbook stuff in my rolling bag already! LOL!

 

If you are travelling, I would be leery of using a camera-bag that looks like it contains valuable camera equipment.... There was that doll theft during New York Dolpa a couple years ago, whereafter the dolls were discovered abandoned on the street, still in the camera-bag, clearly cast off by a frustrated thief who was hoping for something that'd be easy to re-sell. That was a wakeup call.

I happen to have large doll-bags around the house because I have lots of large dolls. The big bags are a good investment if you carry big/multiple dolls often.
Iplehouse's EID carrier is great, because it's sized for 70cm, but it's double-wide ... tall & wide enough to fit multiple smaller dolls in there. It's still a manageable size to carry.
Also, Soom's giant Mecha Angel carrier is the pinnacle of portable storage... sized for 80cm, and also good 'n' deep, so you could fit 1 SD + 3 MSDs + fill up the remaining space with 7,500 Pukis. But it's such a long bag that you have to be tall to carry it comfortably.

Or: Friend of mine uses a baseball-bat carrier, which will carry many 70cm men all stacked together like baseball-bats. Soft-sided, but easy to find at any sporting-goods store near you.

 

I often use my pull-along suitcase. The medium sized one is just tall enough for my 1/4 to stand in, while the largest one is the perfect height for my 1/3. That one is also wide enough that I can fit all 4 of my dolls comfortably. I also saw a rolling computer bag/suitcase at my local Meijers that looked the perfect height and width to sit several large dolls comfortably, and maybe tuck some smaller one's into the computer pocket.

 

Huh, interesting ideas. The camera bag thing is pretty scary, I must say. I'm trying to mostly see the hand carry options since thew other thread's more towards plane travel (which isn't needed yet). :3

The diaper bag is another good idea I didn't think of. XD I saw some blowing ball bags I've been questioning if dolls could sit in it (it should be able to handle the weight) but they don't normally have shoulder straps.

Baseball bat bag is another one I never thought of. XD Makes you think how tall those 70cms really are!

 

Yikes, Jenny! I hadn't realized that. Hmmm...maybe I'll just use my tripod bag for local meets...

 

I agree with not using a camera bag.

When I was looking for a laptop case, and at the same time, looking for tips on keeping it safe, every site I went on said to not use a laptop bag if you can avoid it. Use a sleeve, and put that into something unassuming. Yeah, it's one extra step to just shoving it into your bag, but if you don't need to draw extra attention to yourself, it's good to know.

That being said, maybe try looking for something that doesn't look like it could be holding something expensive. Camera equipment bags, and laptop bags are probably a bad idea, because they aren't just going to stop thieves from thinking you have over $1000 worth of dolls - they're going to think you have something else that's equally expensive.

My suggestion would be a messenger/hobo bag that is meant to be a book bag (they usually sell them in places like Target, or other such stores in the back-to-school area. They tend to be relatively large, saggy, and probably will fit a few dolls. I bought one a few years ago, and it's still holding up; I've transported Emma in it, and she's been fine.

 

I use a Dollzone carrier, but usually only for meet-ups where I intend to bring all three of my dolls. It's long, tends to bump against everything and it's a horrible shade of pink. I don't like it all that much, but I got it free with my Floy so beggars can't be choosers. >__<
It does however fit my 70cm, 60cm and 40cm when it has to... Well sort of. It's kind of staring to fall apart from being stuffed full of dollies all the time. I've taken to stuffing my 40cm and 60cm (not at the same time) in my purse which is a trusty old messenger bag from Old Navy to give it a break. They seem to do just fine with the bag probably because they have plenty of crumpled receipts and random papers for padding in there.

...I think it might be time to start looking for a new bag. ^^;

 

Messenger bag isn't too bad of an idea, I'm just concerned about the bag being able to take the weight well and it being wide enough for the doll butt.

It certainly would be more inconspicuous!

 

It will probably be able to take the weight well. Just make sure you get one with a zipper closure and not just a velcro one - otherwise there may be a chance where you can't close the bag (which will make you super paranoid). And pockets; you can't have too many pockets.

I carried Emma in a plastic bag, in my hobo-style messenger. Unfortunately, it was on a day where it rained A LOT (so happy I put her in a plastic bag rather than something else). But messenger bags have to take a lot of weight - usually they hold books, or a laptop, or both. So, they can probably take the weight of a couple of resinoids.

Here's a Target link to some.

 

Good that I found that thread. I have at the moment a 70 cm boy, and I'm going to have at least another 70 cm boy and an SD boy, so I definitely need a large bag.

Has anyone of you tried the bag from CoolCat? It looks not to small, but I'm not sure if all my dolls would fit in there.

 

*bumping it up!* I have not tried coolcats. D:

 

Having decided I need a 70 cm boy, my current carrier bag is too small now.

In a local discounter I found something I think could really work: A long sports bag with a trolley device. It has a lot of separate pockets to store items into. But no padding or holding straps.

For padding, I may probably experiment with the foamy thingy the big Iple boys are shipped with. And for holding straps - I guess I will find something here. Perhaps it is best to wait until he arrive (oh what a long wait), and to see then how the two fit in the bag best.

But I think then there is still some space left in the main compartment...

 

I´m always trying to find out a good way to carry my dolls.
I would like a bag who can hold, lets say, 2 SD and 10 MSD and maybe 4 YoSDs at the same time.
My best guess is a pull-along travel bag.

But I really want to find something smaller but who still can hold 5-6 dollies.

 

I guess the problem is, if you have a certain number of dolls, you simply also get more volume. And the necessary padding still adds to this.

Probably the combination several/many dolls - small carrier is somehow not possible?

 

If you have a lot of dolls to carry, you might want to look into actually getting a small suitcase. I know a lot of people who have modified these easily to include straps like the doll bags have so that you can secure the dolls in place, and the hard exterior of a suitcase is great for protecting the fragile dolls.

 

I was going to a convention soon and I was planning on bringing my dolls but this idea rose up
I was thinking I would carry them but carrying just my two SDs at the sam time is hard enough, let alone them and my other dolls D:
I was just going to use my sewing skills to hopefully make a simple bag, so it can go along with my cosplay, with a few compartments for each of my dollies, plus a few more probably. -w-

 

If you do, you should totally post pictures of it in the workshop!

 

I shall! I should post WIP shots too so everyone can make one

 

I use a rolling suitcase. I put each doll in a wrapped baby blanket with a face shield on too. Then place them in bag and be sure to put blankets or towels front and back of bag due to handle that is stored inside as well as to add protection for them. Works really well if your going to take so many. I try and limit to no more then 2 of any size.

 

I have a couple messenger bags, but I don't think they'd be good for housing multiple dolls without packing them in their pillows and then into the bag, which I'm just much too lazy to do. Plus I think by now it's pretty well known that people pack their laptops in messenger bags, so I think it's probably just as likely to get snatched if you leave it alone. But I wouldn't leave anything with my dolls in it alone for even a second, so unless I was in a really bad area where I was likely to get mugged (and probably wouldn't go there with my dolls anyway) I don't see the harm in putting them in whatever works best for you. Honestly, if you're gonna be paranoid then think of how suspicious it would look to potential robbers to have a woman walking around with a diaper bag and no kid. It would be obvious that she was just trying to conceal something else.

As I said, I wouldn't worry too much about what I was carrying my dolls in as long as it was something that they weren't likely to get damaged in because I would never leave my carrier alone for a second. I'd even take it in the bathroom with me and hang it on the coat rack on the inside of the stall door rather than leave it alone, even with a friend. I was at a con once where a girl lost her laptop and camera cuz she had a friend watching it while she was at the rave and her friend left it alone for a minute to go to the bathroom and came back and someone had stolen it. I don't care how much I trust someone, my dolls stay glued to me when I'm out and about.

In my opinion, if you're going to be paranoid about the kind of carrier you're using and it's likeliness to be stolen, you might as well just sew straps and doll-sized pockets to the inside of your coat and only take them away from home in jacket weather.