Meeting people in the hobby

I don't know anyone who is into this hobby, and by not living in America the meetup forum isn't of much use to me. But there's one single annual bjd convention here next summer, and maybe I can meet some people there

 

I come from New Zealand and so there's only a very small amount of people on the hobby here and they're all about 9 hours drive from me. It's sad. But it's also ok because I'm quite an isolated person anyway and doing things on my own doesn't bother me at all.
But I do know a girl who is really into BJDs. She plans to get one when she has money. But she also says she's really clumsy and she doesn't want to break a doll. So she said no matter what, I have to tell her all about my doll when I do finally get one, and take lots of photos

 

I've collected dolls almost my whole life. For a long, long time I didn't know a single other soul who also collected them. Yes, it made the hobby lonely, but I find it is also something that can be enjoyed in solitude.

Thankfully I got the internet (eventually!) and was able to connect with lots of other collectors. My best friend also became slowly interested in BJDs so I got very very lucky there. Outside of her and my online friends, I also do go to doll meets from time to time, because it's nice getting together with other people who aren't disturbed by the line, "I just got my new body in the mail yesterday!"

The bottom line: I share my hobby with my best friend, to a lesser degree with friends online, and to an even lesser degree with similar-minded people in my area...but I derive the most enjoyment just from the dolls themselves. I'd be having a blast even without the connection of others, but it certainly does make it nicer!

 

I've been in the hobby 6 years with no IRL doll friends. However, since confession blogs have become popular and I've glanced through some, I have zero desire to meet anyone in the hobby in person. When the only doll site I visited was DoA, I thought BJD collectors seemed like an intelligent, kind group of people relative to the general population. I still might go to a convention at some point, but I doubt I'd interact much with the people there unless I knew them already through DoA. Lurking at one might be fun, but if I was talking to someone, some of the idiotic "confessions" I've read would be in the back of my mind.

 

For me it's even more hard - i'm from Poland but currently i'm living in Norway in very small town. While i'm back at home the time goes so fast it's even hard to meet up with most of my friends It would be nice to have a friend like this, but oh well, have to live without it for now.

 

I only have one friend in the hobby, and that's mostly because I sucked her into that vortex myself. xD And I now live on the other side of the country from her.

I don't have any online doll friends either because I'm more of the lurker type.

However, in a stroke of assertiveness I just joined the local BJD facebook group (Toronto)! There is meet coming up soon but I'm not sure if I want to go or not, as I don't know anyone there at all. I realize this is a paradox, since I won't be able to get to know them if I don't go. They seem nice enough from the little I've talked to them, but I don't know...

Otherwise I'm planning to go to Doll North (with my doll friend who's visiting from Vancouver), but that's about all I've got. :/

I would really like to meet some local people. I'm actually not that socially awkward, I'm just really bad at making new friends xD;... And I'm especially bad at shoehorning myself into a new group of people who already know each other well. It seems like this is a pretty common problem?

 

I recently moved to Vancouver, but it looks like there's no meeting or whatever - even the FB link leads to DOA thread from 2010 (which is not available now).
So if anyone from Vancouver would like to meet up or chat about dolls & stuff - you're welcome to send me a PM.

 

Just got into the hobby and have yet to meet anyone locally, though I do have a very good FB friend whom I chat with daily. We hope to meet up in person sometime this summer.

Would love to know of any meets in the Western PA area.

 

We used to have very large meet-ups a few years back, and now they are pretty rare and not that many people come. May be its because of winter, i hope it picks up again in spring

I really love meet-ups though, i think its awesome to meet people and share the hobby (especially if your family/friends are not interested/supporting/understanding)

 

Hope to be joining you at the next one!

 

Meeting others who share the same hobby is delightful, whatever hobby it is. But honestly, I've heard way too many negative criticism and bitterness towards other people's decisions and preferences in this hobby that I am more comfortable being an introvert. Many people claim that they "won't judge" and "respect other people's choices", but far too many hypocrites are emerging, and it's not something I want to be a part of.

If I did meet great people in the hobby, I wouldn't let myself get too close or comfortable, because as cynical as it sounds, people are unpredictable, and the sweetest person might surprise you.
I wouldn't be mean to you though, that's just sick, but I've let myself trust people easily in the past and regret it later too many times to do it again.

 

I went to my first meetup about one and a half years ago and since then have met a lot people in the bjd crowd. I am very lucky as there is an active community here with meetups every month or two. We also have a separate Australian bjd forum and facebook page. I'm really grateful for this as none of my other friends are into the hobby and it's great to have others you can talk to and not bore them silly with doll stuff. Thanks to bjds I have met some great new friends

 

Hmm... I generally have a very hard time meeting people with similar intrests (one person in the high school I was at came to my anime club XD) But I generally throw out hints- when I was in the fabric store I said "Mom, let's make Tim a hoodie" and hoped someone would catch on :') One day I did google "Doll Meet Wonderland" (of course, I put my actual location) and found a meet that I made my family drive me 2 hours to go to.

 

I became interested in BJD's about a year ago through having a stall at a doll market and soon learned about the Aussie BJD forum, so it wasn't too long before I was attending a local meet. I must admit I was a little shy at first because of my age (yes I'm ancient). However, as Kavaar mentioned, we have regular meets in Melbourne, so I have been very fortunate to have met some wonderful people of all ages, from so many different backgrounds, with similar interests.

i would have enjoyed collecting the dolls, photographing & sewing for them regardless, but it's much more enjoyable when you can share your hobby with a friend or two!

 

Even though there aren't a lot of other doll owners where I live, we do have a small Facebook community and sometimes I see one or two other owners at conventions. I have to think to myself "there ARE other doll owners around here, I just have to seek them out"!

 

In my opinion, sharing the same hobby in real life doesn't mean that person can be my friend. I got many doll friends in the past but now, only 3 remained around because the rest do not have the same mindset in this hobby with me. Seemed that I have my own rules and maybe as an introvert, I can enjoy company with people who support recast by any mean. Beside, I also don't like teenagers who just rush into the hobby without serious self-researches; all they wanna do is asking and only asking without reading, though the information is all over internet. It's kinda annoyed when these people pop around me. I prefer the quality over the quantity; so I'd rather have less friends but great than many boring people.

 

The internet makes it a little easier to meet and greet. Seriously though if you want to talk dolls (or anything else for that matter) I'm just a PM away. I welcome it.

 

I know there are people in my city but I'm too shy to go out and meet them still. I don't even know how I would find them, really. Either than going to a con the next province over that I more than likely won't be going to. Luckily my girlfriend also loves dolls and I live with her so I still have some company.

 

Well, in my city I'm the only one who collects these dolls. But since I live in a small country and we have an active BJD community here, it's quite easy to organize or go to meetups. When we don't see each other face-to-face, we talk on a forum or meet on facebook. I'd like to think that the friendships I've gained by joining the BJD community has evolved to something much more than just a shared interest in dolls.

Since I'm not terribly good at meeting new people, I was lucky enough to know Raouken before we were both sucked into this lovely part of the universe. Already knowing her made it easier for me to go to meets.

 

Luckily, I've always had one friend in the hobby and was living with her for a few years, so there was always someone to natter on about them with.
It's actually only last month I got the courage to go out to a doll meet, and it was awesome! I'm going again next month and I cannot wait x3