Is their overlap between your doll hobby and largest timesink (job, whatever)?

1a. Is their overlap between your doll hobby and whatever endeavor occupies the most of your time?

Other things could occupy my time?

1b. If so, is your greatest time investment making BJDs/BJD things (dollmaking/accessories/faceups/mods whatever)? Perhaps for another type of dolls?

I don't have a day job right now, largely because my health is affecting my ability to find or have one. I am very fortunate to have the luxury of spending my alone time as I please. At this point I spend pretty much all my time with BJD related activities. Daydreaming about BJDs while cooking dinner still counts, right? I give myself time to rest but most of the time I keep busy by sewing and doing face-ups for my dolls, and enjoying the online community.

Before unemployment my greatest time sinks were divided between working on my dolls, painting and working part-time waiting tables in a nightclub. Dolls are figures of people, and I previously painted images of people and worked in an environment with a lot of people, so I think everything is very connected.

2a. What about any continued education? Does your college major/post graduate degree/vocational school degree/apprenticeship/certification/whatever relate in any way to your doll hobby?

I actually did go to art school, and majored in watercolor painting. We were given a lot of freedom in the upper level courses and I chose to focus on portraiture and figure painting. As I was leaving college and falling out of touch with classmates I began to feel especially depressed and isolated, which is what drew me to BJDs in the first place. I justified my first doll a little bit as an "artistic tool" -- as my relationship with painting faltered I ended up pouring most of my creative energy only into my dolls.

 

I work at Fabricland and am a full time Animation student. So while at work I'm shopping for fabrics I could use for doll items. And at school I've been contemplating 3d modeling a head.

 

I'm a doctoral student researching a really niche area of criminal law. If there's a less doll-related occupation I'm having trouble thinking of it! I can't even help with business/legal issues because I'm not a real lawyer

 

You would think mine doesn't because I manage a hardware store, but I have bought so many things at my store for dolls. Besides sandpaper and masks for when I do blushing, I've bought a bunch of stuff for prop making. I've also got a gift shop in my store, so I've also managed to snag some cheap jewelry and other odd bits and pieces I've managed to use for my dolls. My store also has just about every size S-hook, so I've got ready replacements if I ever loose one.

 

1a. Is there overlap between your doll hobby and whatever endeavor occupies the most of your time?

Somewhat. My time is pretty fluid (I don't/can't have a job), so I can devote as much or as little time as I desire on a given day. Provided I have motivation, which can be dicey. Most of my time is spent on a different project (a comic I'm developing), but my dolls make a nice distraction when I hit burnout on my main focus.

2a. What about any continued education? Does your college major/post graduate degree/vocational school degree/apprenticeship/certification/whatever relate in any way to your doll hobby?

My studies don't relate. I studied paralegal studies out of high school, but my knowledge is outdated at this point. And my main focus point is computer programming. Nothing doll-related there. Unless I want to build a website about my dolls, it doesn't do much good specifically for my doll hobby.

3a. Do you think having a background/education/experience/unrelated endeavor makes it harder for others to understand why you like dolls?

I think so. But most of it falls more within how I've presented myself to the people around me for my whole life. So they look twice when I now say I love my dolls and want to collect more.

4a. If your work or education background is very different than your doll hobby pursuits, can you stretch yourself to think what perspective dolls or doll collecting has provided you, and vice versa (work perspective on dolls)?

I like to draw and create stories, and the dolls I have are extensions of that to a degree. Someday in the probably very distant future I would love to get bjds of my main characters in my comic. That would be a true dream come true for me. Eventually. Maybe. Hopefully.

 

Well I'm on the middle of my GCSEs and it's hard to find time for my ball jointed dolls. I'm also a keen crafter and make jewelry which I sell to fund supplies and stuff. It makes it difficult to find for both things so I quite often split my earnings in 4 parts. That means that I then use 3/4 of my earnings for my crafting to be able to make more money, and then the rest goes into my BJDs. It sure can be hard doing both.

 

By all rights, I should probably not have much place in this hobby, lol.

 

I am a prop maker and set dresser. I go to work and build sets and props.
Then to unwind I go home and build tiny sets and props! XD

 

Completely unrelated. I don't tell people at work about the dolls, as I'm not sure what reaction I would get. Most people at my workplace are not creative types, they're more straight laced and analytical. They'd probably think I'm mad!

 

Mine sort relates. I'm a Visual Merchandising Mgr at a dept store. So I play with big dolls thru out my day. I'm responsible for the overall look of the store, signage, shop creating, reviewing displays, promotion set ups & a few other things

 

1a. Is their overlap between your doll hobby and whatever endeavor occupies the most of your time?
I'm still in school, so I have a lot of down time. I also spend a lot of time at home by myself because most of my friends have moved away and I don't care to make new ones irl because I'm about to move 7 hours upstate. I'd say that when I'm not in class or working on school work, most of my time is divided between dolls, multiplayer PC games, and spending time with my boyfriend when I can because we're long distance. I just ordered my first doll and the excitement of receiving her in June is helping me to push through my work and to tolerate my unpleasant home life.

2a. What about any continued education? Does your college major/post graduate degree/vocational school degree/apprenticeship/certification/whatever relate in any way to your doll hobby?
I'm at community college now and I'm about to transfer to a university. My first major was illustration and I preferred traditional art, so it's nice to have those skills coming into this hobby. I suffer from depression and I think a facet of that is from feeling like a failed artist. I'm hoping this hobby will help me hold on to that part of my identity. My current (and final) major is linguistics with an emphasis in Asian languages, so while that doesn't have much to do with doll crafting, it is neat that a large portion of BJDs come from Asia. When I'm on very poorly translated websites, I feel like there is a market for me to apply my language skills to translating. Another possible direction for me to take my major is computational linguistics, which could be making google translate work better with Asian languages so sites like TaoBao are easier to navigate for English speakers. I'm focusing on Japanese at the moment, but I'm dying to jump into learning Mandarin. Sometimes I learn words while browsing TaoBao and it's fun to see written words in Mandarin that are similar to Japanese in meaning.

3a. Do you think having a background/education/experience/unrelated endeavor makes it harder for others to understand why you like dolls?
Not really. I think everyone has hobbies and it's not uncommon for them to be very different than the field the person works within. You can learn anything on YouTube It's also something I personally don't care to share with colleagues or acquaintances, but if I did I don't think people would care. I'm already a vegan, I don't think dolls would do much to make people think I'm any weirder haha

 

My time seems to be fairly evenly distributed between various things, so it's kind of hard to answer this? I'm a housewife, so I do spend a lot of time with my dolls during the day, but I also spend a large chunk of my time cleaning house, doing laundry, cooking every day, running errands and such. I also have a part time job at Spencers, and I have an Etsy shop. As for other hobbies, I'm really into Nintendo, ghost stories, mysteries, learning about roller coasters and space (specifically planets), sewing, photography and cartoons. On top of this, I do have family/friend time too. So it's not just one main thing for me outside the hobby.

1a. Is their overlap between your doll hobby and whatever endeavor occupies the most of your time?
Sort of. My Etsy shop is doll related, and many of my closest friends are people I've met through the hobby. My sister is also in the hobby, so family time sometimes revolves around dolls.


1b. If so, is your greatest time investment making BJDs/BJD things (dollmaking/accessories/faceups/mods whatever)? Perhaps for another type of dolls?
I do spend a good chunk of time sewing for dolls, doing faceups, roleplaying and making props or dioramas.

1c. Who thinks they'd win the most unrelated occupying endeavor?
Probably not me, though maybe the rollercoaster and planet interests are pretty far from dolls?


2a. What about any continued education? Does your college major/post graduate degree/vocational school degree/apprenticeship/certification/whatever relate in any way to your doll hobby?
I have an associate degree in Fine Arts, and I also studied theatre, accounting and childhood education in college. The art and accounting have helped with my dolls and selling/budgeting, and theatre has helped with developing and portraying my characters. Childhood education, not so much.


2b. Who thinks they'd win most unrelated educational background?
not me!


3a. Do you think having a background/education/experience/unrelated endeavor makes it harder for others to understand why you like dolls?
It might, especially for someone in a very practical, logical science based field. It might be "weird" for such a serious person to have "toys" they play with as an adult? Though in realisty, it's a very good outlet.


3b. Any good stories about surprising people when they found out?
I don't think anybody who knows me has ever been surprised that I collect dolls. XD


4a. If your work or education background is very different than your doll hobby pursuits, can you stretch yourself to think what perspective dolls or doll collecting has provided you, and vice versa (work perspective on dolls)?
If anything, it has taught me patience, which is very helpful to have in retail!

 

1a. Is their overlap between your doll hobby and whatever endeavor occupies the most of your time?
Hah, nope. I'm a software tester. I'm sure it's possible to get further away from dolls, but not sure what direction that would actually be.

2a. What about any continued education? Does your college major/post graduate degree/vocational school degree/apprenticeship/certification/whatever relate in any way to your doll hobby?
No again! My degree's in Japanese language. I... don't do anything doll-related in Japanese. x3
Again, it's possible to get further away; anyone with a graduate degree strikes me as being further out, just because they've spent more time polishing those skills.

3a. Do you think having a background/education/experience/unrelated endeavor makes it harder for others to understand why you like dolls?
Not really. People who know me at all know I like small detailed beautiful things.

4a. If your work or education background is very different than your doll hobby pursuits, can you stretch yourself to think what perspective dolls or doll collecting has provided you, and vice versa (work perspective on dolls)?
My work requires a huge amount of patience and slow, methodical thinking through. So do some of my other hobbies, actually. I'm using those same skills to work on doll stuff, but in a very fanciful way.
I'm new enough to the doll hobby that I can't say as it's affected the rest of my life so much, but I'm looking forward to the lessons I'll no doubt learn along the way.

 

1a. Is their overlap between your doll hobby and whatever endeavor occupies the most of your time?

Nope, not at all! I work at a DNA/RNA lab as a lab tech in the middle of the night!

2a. What about any continued education? Does your college major/post graduate degree/vocational school degree/apprenticeship/certification/whatever relate in any way to your doll hobby?

Nope again! I have a bachelors in physics with double minors in mathematics & astronomy, so far from dolls for sure! I hope to go back to school some day to get my masters in astrophysics.

3a. Do you think having a background/education/experience/unrelated endeavor makes it harder for others to understand why you like dolls?

Not at all, these dolls are a creative outlet for people, and everyone is different!

4a. If your work or education background is very different than your doll hobby pursuits, can you stretch yourself to think what perspective dolls or doll collecting has provided you, and vice versa (work perspective on dolls)?

Probably patience, mostly because I'm just waiting for machines to purify/dry oligos so I can do what I need to with them.

 

It’s like two different worlds for me! A lot of the ppl I work with are very surprised I am obsessed with my 4 dolls lol! I’m very serious and thick skinned in what I do so it can come as a shock a bit when they see I love dolls ahaha!

 

1a. Is there overlap between your doll hobby and whatever endeavor occupies the most of your time?

Not really. I spend 10 hours per day at work, as a research assistant at a large university. When I get home I like to relax with my cats and watch tv/read/play video games/other random things online. I'd say I spend maybe 2 hours per day on average thinking about dolls or doing something with my dolls. There's no real overlap there.

2a. What about any continued education? Does your college major/post graduate degree/vocational school degree/apprenticeship/certification/whatever relate in any way to your doll hobby?

I was an English major in college and am about to embark on getting my medical degree, so I don't really think those things relate to my interest in dolls at all, unless you count writing about how dolls are used in literature or your own fiction (which you possibly could) or think about the human body as a doll-like object (which you really shouldn't).

3a. Do you think having a background/education/experience/unrelated endeavor makes it harder for others to understand why you like dolls?

I suppose? I'm from an upper middle-class family and almost all of my relatives are very highly-educated and have high-paying jobs, mostly in the STEM fields. People like that aren't usually associated with doll-collecting... maybe anime figures, but nothing so elaborate as BJDs. I think it would be hard for them to understand/accept that I like this sort of thing (I haven't even told my immediate family). Then again, the people I hung out with during my last year of college didn't discourage me from pursuing my love of dolls, so I guess it depends on the type of person you tell. You should broach the subject carefully if you're telling someone new, if you're a cautious person like me who doesn't appreciate judgmental comments.

4a. If your work or education background is very different than your doll hobby pursuits, can you stretch yourself to think what perspective dolls or doll collecting has provided you, and vice versa (work perspective on dolls)?

I'm not sure yet; the first doll I ordered was an Obitsu and I've only had her for about two weeks. I didn't even have to wait very long for her to arrive. I can't say creativity, because my job doesn't really require that (and I feel like I have a lot of it already), and I can't say patience or photography skills, because my job doesn't require those things either. Perhaps writing/typing skills? Maybe? Because I'm answering questions on DoA? I already thought of myself as an okay writer, though, so I guess I'll have to put a pin in this one!

 

I went with "maybe" because I do make dolls, but they're crochet dolls and cloth dolls! I also draw/paint and plan on doing faceups on my bjd! So yeah I guess it's related.

 

Haha...I work in finances, and BJDs are horribly expensive - does that count? (Okay, I chose not even remotely - but my wallet disagrees. :P)

 

1. I don't keep strict track of what occupies most of my time, as it varies day by day, week by week. I do however love crafting and sewing. My dolls are very well dressed and have a wealth of props.

2a. What about any continued education? Does your college major/post graduate degree/vocational school degree/apprenticeship/certification/whatever relate in any way to your doll hobby?

My B.A. is distantly related to BJDs. I've been interested in East Asia for decades, studied it in college and have been to Volks stores in Japan.

My Master's in History involved a thesis on period clothing, which I still make plenty of for my dolls.