Possible to do the hobby on your own?

I tend to think that at its heart doll-collecting (and customizing) is a solitary activity, so it's a strange question for me - you have to go out of your way to make it social, so it’s certainly much easier to do it on your own!

I joined DoA three years after buying my first doll, and although I belong to a local group I very rarely am able to make meet-ups, so neither of those things has any central place in my idea of what the hobby is. It's fun to share photos here (and convenient to have local people watching for local sales options), but if it weren't fun for you there's no reason it should change the way you collect (or however else you define the doll hobby for yourself).

 

Some people like to 'show and tell' what they have made for their dolls, or photographed their dolls doing. I'm sure not everyone needs an audience to enjoy these hobbies though. Before the internet existed (yes I really am that old) artists still made art, and people still had creative hobbies. Usually only our immediate family or close friends got to see what we had made. In a way that was liberating - there is a lot more pressure to achieve something remarkable now with the internet and so much competition for everyone's attention going on. What I do love about the internet though is seeing the work of other artists and seeing other people's dolls - even if you don't comment, it's so enriching to your own ideas, so why deprive yourself of that?

 

My 'relationship' with the community is on an off-and-on basis. Sometimes I'm very active, sometimes I just want to enjoy doing tings with my dolls on my own. There are even times where I take a break of the entire collecting hobby, and during those weeks, my dolls just sit on their shelf looking pretty.

How we enjoy our hobby is a very personal matter. You say that you worry if the community is part of why you like this hobby so much. I say: just find out! Spend some time off-line and if you're missing something, you can just come back. You could also decide to stay in touch with the community, but become a member of a smaller - local - forum. That's where I spend most of my time. I know the people there for years, we get along and there is no drama there.

There are always people who will try to make your life harder and places where you can feel comfortable. The trick is to find out where the nice places are and if you're interested enough to go look for them.

 

My community where I live is tiny, and live very spread. There are few meets and I have never been to one. I started this hobby together with a friend, but she backed out many years ago.

At the moment I don't have any "doll" friends, though I do participate in discussions from time to time and look at pictures and comment. I think you can do just wonderfully in this hobby without having to share or partake in much. I can't really imagine not looking at pictures or read company threads with reviews and owner photos but... depends how independent and sure of your own desicions you feel, really.
Might be a bit hard when the time comes to sell a doll, but perhaps you don't really think you will. Researching dolls without actually partaking in the discussion is very doable, I think, if you need a break from people

Continue on for a while without the community and see how you like it?

 

Shortly after I found the hobby I also joined DOA, so I have never really known this to be a completely solitary hobby. I am fine just playing with my dolls by myself though, and if there wasn't an online community I know would still collect dolls, it would just be different. I know I would miss posting pictures of my dolls and sharing them with others.

 

I enjoy my dolls on my own. I haven't gone to a meetup in years and don't often visit the forums. It is entirely possible to go solo with bjds.

 

I have been known to rage-quit the dollie community on occasion. People have been downright nasty with me in this hobby in the past, but there's good people around too. Sometimes you just need a little space to enjoy your dolls without the drama bringing people into it will inevitably cause. There's no harm in taking a break and coming back once you feel better about things! Hobbies are to be enjoyed, not cause additional stress.

 

I think you can do it alone if you want to but I agree with the people who say to try and move past the negativity or find a different community to be a part of. I guarantee you that in a hobby this diverse, there are surely some super cool doll people you would get a long well with somewhere out there.

 

I've never been particularly active in the BJD community. I think that's evident from the amount of time I've been a member compared to the number of posts I've made
I enjoy DoA as a reference tool but I've never really felt that being 'active' in the community was a requirement for enjoying the hobby. Sure, it's fun to discuss a hobby with like-minded people but my dolls are for me and sharing them with anyone else has never been a strong driver of mine.

 

Well if you need to take a step back, then take a step back... I just recently came back to the community and although I didn't take my dolls out of their boxes much in the interim, I still love my dolls and was still doing things like customizing and coming up with stories and doing photos.

 

I think this post sums up a lot of general ways that this activity works. To some extent a lot of this activity is from people who aren't as overtly social for various reasons including having more of an imaginative/creative interiority. For me the internet makes it "social" though I have gone to the local yearly convention. The other thing that drives social interaction is what else besides dolls do you share with people. These other interests often define people moreso than just the dolls. My big interest has more to do with dolls and art as opposed to anime or fantasy so I'm not sure how I would fit in at meet-ups. So I pretty much "do it alone" and use various boards for whatever vague social interaction there is. I think if I found someone with similar interests I would be more involved that way but you would have to devote a lot of time to the boards to figure that out and with work and school I don't have that sort of time. But I think the doll activity has it's worthwhile components for us as individuals so you shouldn't stress too much over the social think. You've got DOA so that's something.

 

I love the community, but I could absolutely enjoy the hobby without it! I would do all the things I do now, I just wouldn't show it or talk about it to anyone. I love the dolls themselves and creating the characters. That's easily something you could do for just yourself. I might not take as many pictures, but that's about the only difference I can think of!

 

I started collecting dolls in general in late 2010, then BJD's in 2011. I honestly think I have been doing the hobby by myself since I started. I do have a YouTube channel and lately I have met some wonderful people but before a few months ago I never talked to other collectors (except through my videos). I never even felt like filming cause I wondered, "Why would someone spend the time watching me just to see what I am doing with my dollies?" Now I love interacting with others but I began just collecting and I kept to myself.

 

I joined this community because I have needs from it. I need to gain knowledge through the experiences of others. I work on my projects alone but use the input I have received from the social medias like YouTube for face-ups, Flickr for ideas etc. I am constantly picking up something new and am thankful for DOA's additions to my learning experience. This is a great hobby for sharing all kinds of ideas.

 

It is absolutely possible (and enjoyable!) to be in this hobby 'alone'. I am living proof -- check out my forum join date and post count. As you can see, I'm not very active in the social elements of this hobby. It's just me and my dolls for the most part. Some people see it as a social hobby, some don't. But I think maybe if you feel like being a part of a community is more important to you than your dolls themselves and enjoying them on your own terms, it may not be a good thing. For me the community has always been more a resource. I like it for information and shopping, but that's more or less it.

 

I think it's probably more relaxing to be in this hobby without a lot of social interactions. I find the enjoyment I get from admiring my dolls is enough of a reason to be in the hobby. Some people actually enjoy the drama aspect, but it's fairly easy to avoid it if it upsets you. For instance, if you stick to informational threads and discussions about specific companies, people are usually quite friendly.

 

You can go it alone. People do the doll thing differently -- some may be very drawn to the community part of things, others prefer not to be. Either way is absolutely fine. I took a hiatus for about the past year and a half where I still enjoyed having my dolls, but I wasn't on-line hardly at all and hit very few meetups. I didn't have any problems with people, I was just doing other things, and sometimes I just need to step away for awhile and regroup. I do enjoy the social aspect of the hobby--the people I have met locally have been by and large great and meetups drama free. But still, every so often it isn't bad to take a break.

 

absolute agreement with Frigid here; and what you put value on in the hobby will be what you are doing it for. Do you do it for the photos of your dolls and testing yourself artistically through face-ups or mods..?
Maybe you chose sculpts because they were something you 'fell in love with' at first sight. Just look back on what you began this hobby for, what it's done for you, and perhaps even what you want from it.
Taking a hiatus or a little break now and then can easily refresh your love for something if you reflect on it.

Hope this helps one way or another.

 

It's quite easy to do this on your own. This is the first real discussion post I've made in quite some time, I'm pretty on and off when it comes to forums. And I've only been to one, very small meet. Granted me and my girlfriend live together and collect dolls together, but we feel little need to be a huge part of the community. You can still take pictures or make clothes for your dolls. There's more to bjd than just showing off your collection to others.

 

Hi! I just wanted to add to all of the useful advice provided here. I don't think there's a wrong or right way to enjoy the hobby, as long as that is exactly what you are getting from it: enjoyment. Sure - take a step back if some experiences are clouding your view! Nothing wrong with that. And if you find that you are more social and really enjoy the community as much as the dolls themselves, maybe consider other options to get that feeling; another board, or a CraigsList ad in your area, or even your own private blog! That way you can still have the interaction craved; a different approach will get you different results. Just do what feels good to YOU. Best of luck in all your endeavors!