How to Tote Many at a Meetup or Convention?

I don't own many myself, but the few girls I've seen walking around at conventions cradle them all, varying in sizes, in their arms. I would imagine that they do get heavy after a while...

 

I only have one complete doll at the moment, but when I brought him to a convention's BJD panel I simply toted him around in my backpack. I tried to be as careful as I could, and everything ended up okay.

 

With around 30 BJDs to transport (and a house full of other types of doll) I have to plan carefully if I want to take them all to a meet.

I have a wheeled sewing-machine transporter/case that I can fit a large number of them in (it's padded, and low & wide rather than tall like a wheeled suitcase), It's also jsut abotu liftable, when full of resin, for goign upa nd down stairs at stations and gettign on/off busses etc. I don't drive so this is important.

A flight bag fits neatly on top and I can get quite a few more resins in there. It has a shoulder strap for when I'm doign the stair/train/bus thing, and I can fit a carrier over the other shoulder (2 or three SD sized dolls to a carrier if necessary).

The teenie-tinies are easy - they fit into hard-shell glasses cases and silp into the outer pockets of the bags, or the leg pockets of my cargo shorts, or coat pockets.

For walking aruond at conventions - it's plainly impossible to have 30 dolls out and accessible. But I have doll size "baby-carrier" (from Build-a-Bear, dirt cheap too) that is like an open-topped backpack with leg holes in the bottom. I put it on my fornt and have an SD in that so my arms/hands are free, and I can also have a shoulder bag with some Minis and/or Tinies sat in it (open topped when I want them accessible, zipped shut when I don't. I sldom go to one-day convnetions, they're usually weekend events, so the dolls I ddon't have with me at the time are in my hotel room. Once I've seen what's in the dealer's room I can go get which ever dolls I want to try things on.

Has to be said, however, that I generally only take a few dolls to convnetions, the decuision usually based on which ones are newest, that friends at the con won't have seen yet, and which ones have/haven't been taken to previous convnetions.

Once my Lusion arrives, of course, I'll need another rethink on getting ALL my BJD's to a meet.... it might not be possible by public transport.

Teddy

 

I have yet to go to a doll meet myself, but a friend of mine usually brings a lot of her dolls with her, and she usually puts them all in a laundry basket or a little red wagon. It's too cute.

 

If I m at an event like a convention where my dolls need to travel with me, I use a baby carrige! It's a stroller/carriage convertible. I put my dolls in the carriage and accessories and my purse in the rack at the back. If I am just taking dolls to a meet up when a display table is availble, I use a sewing machine case. It's padded, meant to carry a heavy machine, has lots of pockets, wheels and a telescoping handle. Sometimes I take a secondary bag, a Trader Joe's insulted grocery bag that I bought for only $5. It is a rectangle box shape about 16 inches long. It is completely padded. I use doll box pillows to layer between dolls. this bag I can hook onto the handle of the rolling sewing machine case. At the St. Louis BJD convention we offer a free doll sitting room, a secure room with an attendent where you can drop off your dolls and pick them up later. (see the convention thread for more information)

 

A Picnic basket sounds fun to me You could fit as many dolls as you like standing or sitting depending upon the scale of the basket, plus it would be easy enough to carry, set down, and close. If you got a backpack style with room for cups and cutlery, the pockets or loops may work to help stabilize the dolls while you're walking between booths.

 

I have used a baby stroller/carriage combination but it takes up a lot of space. I also us a Trader Joes insulated bag which is padded all around and hang it over the extending handle of a padded sewing machine case on wheels. Since I have 28 BJDs of various sizes, I usually can't take all my dolls. That's why my convention set up a BJD baby sitting room. If you come to the St. Louis BJD Convention, we have conveniently located BJD babysitting room. You get a fleece lined basket to put dolls you don't want to carry around. The room has a sitter for security reasons and you can swap out your dolls throughout the convention. We also have room where you can display your dolls during a convention and the rooom is staffed with a security guard to keep them safe but on display for everyone to enjoy.

Jenny Evans, Chairman
St. Louis BJD Convention
www.stlbjdcon.com