Safe on-the-town display -- how do you show off your dolls while keeping them safe?

I carry them in doll bags, and when I take photos, people think I am woriking. It works perfectly!

 

It vastly depends on where you live. In my city, there are all kinds of crackhead freaks & tourists & street-preachers & wackos & winos doing MUCH weirder shit on the streets than a grown woman with a doll and a camera! The crackheads have their own problems to worry about, so they're usually no bother. The tourists pause-and-gawk, but they expect oddities in San Francisco, so they move on. And... I also live near an art school, so it's not uncommon to find people crouching with cameras in front of just about everything.

For large dolls, a carrying-bag is a great investment. The kind with the built-in straps & the pillows. Strap 'em in, add a face-bubble to protect the faceup, & you get peace of mind even if you're sprinting to catch a train with 2 limiteds on your back. You can get by carrying him in the crook of your arm if you're not going far... or else a little wheelie suitcase, or a really big tote bag, or whatever he fits into. But if you & your doll are planning a career of outdoor adventures together, a good carrying-bag is worth it. (I personally like Iplehouse's carriers.) :>

 

Me: *carrying my bearded SD17 sized doll.*
Ignorant Person: *Shrieks* Ohmygawd, is that a baby?!
Me: Wouldn't you feel horrible if it was?

What kind of person sees a skinny bearded shape in another's arms, and, considers it might be a child, but then, thinking this being is my child, my beloved infant, with whatever circumstances he might have that made him tiny and thin, and believing that, shrieks at us?
I'm not the biggest fan of the general public.

 

I take my dolls out often and never had any negative comments. I do see people looking though. I took one into a bar once and a couple drunk ladies were very interested ..especially when I mentioned he was anatomically correct. They just had to see. Then one asked if they sold some in her size so she could date him..lol.

 

I've taken my SD boys out a few times, but usually not for a leisurely stroll with a doll... once, I took them both to a Chinese restaurant to meet with a friend who was considering buying her first BJD. We set them on a chair at the end of the table, and the little middle-aged Asian lady serving us kept looking at them as she walked by. Each time she lingered a little longer, with what looked like an expression of horror on her face, but finally after our meal was done she came up and asked if she could look closer and then smiled and said, "Very beautiful boys."

While I was unlocking the car after lunch, some two women waiting in the car beside mine were watching me. The larger boy was in my bag (head and shoulders sticking out, but I don't think they saw him) but I had my 60cm elf sitting in the crook of my arm.

The younger woman said rather harshly, "Is that your baby?"

But the older one, maybe her mother, asked curiously, "What is that exactly?"

I just smiled and said they're artist dolls I use for photography and I just came from a meeting with a colleague for a new project.
Nothing like making things sound a little more "real-world cool" than they are to help shrug off the rude ones.

In September I took my 70cm boy to an anime convention. (I was dressed as Grell, he was dressed as Sebastian, from Black Butler.)
I did get a lot of people cooing over him, saying, "OH EM GEE IS THAT A DOLLFIE?!!112 PLEASE CAN I PET HIS HAIR?"

But the majority of the responses there, surprisingly, were more like:
"Oh, wow, he's... creepy. I mean, cool. Wow..."
Or: "Is that a... puppet? Gawd, that's scary..."
Or my favorite, whispered behind my back: "Oh my gosh, that puppet is going to eat us. DON'T LOOK!"

This probably had a lot to do with my own costume, though, rather than his? With big spiky teeth and bright scary contacts, etc, the whole package between the two of us was a little intimidating.

 

I'm actually considering taking my Feanor with me to the medieval "Christkindlmarkt" (uh, some kind of Christmas market/fair) here in town. He's wearing those beautiful Renaissance clothes so he might fit in quite well, actually. Totally depends on what kind of mood I'll be in next week, though, when I'm going. And on the weather. If it rains or snows a lot - don't think so.

Edit: Oh, the only reaction I've had, so far, personally, was when I carried my Tharesion home on my arm after a meet. The people in the subway didn't look - they were too preoccupied with themselves, I guess - and my building's caretaker who did take notice of him said "nice doll!" so ...

 

During this fall semester, I gave a speech in my speech class informing about the existence of the hobby. I brought my Resin Sould Long with me and also had a lot of slides to show. My speech delivery was questionable (LOL), but a few girls commented that they liked him--no one had ever heard of BJDs. As I spoke one guy had his mouth hanging open--I'm not sure if he was amazed or horrified lol. One of my friends from class (an older lady) later commented that she liked my doll but found the ones in the pictures scary. I showed many pictures of ranging doll styles (pretty and scary).

After that, I showed my doll off in my art class and those folks were even more appreciative of him. One older lady who I have stuff in common with said she was going to have to get at least one--I gave her a Junky Spot business card. A young lady in art class had heard of them but all she has so far is an Obitsu--she complains that its limbs fall off lol.

I even whipped out my doll in the cafeteria to show my odd/gothic-type friends. One other odd girl had to run over to see him up close.

After school, we had to make a trip to Hobby Lobby--I was unwilling to leave my baby in the car lol. I carried him around the store casually with him sitting on my arm. I like to show off my odd-ness but it does take a level of courage. I smile in general, but tend to avoid looking people in the eye when there is something extremely different about me. From what I could tell, they were avoiding looking at me lol. Ran into one girl from my speech class (not sure if she actually showed up to see my speech). She meekly said hi, glanced at the doll, and quickly looked away and ignored me the rest of the time. At the cash register some ladies were looking at the doll. The cashier was friendly and at first confused by the doll, "We don't sell those here do we?" she asked and I said, "No this is an Asian import." She didn't ask, so I did not shove the specifics down her throat lol. So then we went home. It was a really "long" dolly day!

 

I've taken photos on local hiking trails a couple of times and have honestly never had anyone say anything about the dolls. I use a carrier (because it would be crazy to carry a SD+ sized doll any other way when you're hiking and with a large dog), but even when I've run into people while they're out no one has said anything about them. And I do regularly get questions about my dog and gear, so I think the dolls just don't come off as being of any interest - positive or negative.

 

I only own MSDs. But I bought 2 new bags exclusively for the transportation of my dolls.

My friend has many SDs, and she bought a large bag which can fit SD (66 CM or 70 CM) when doll is in sitting position. She would put mask on the doll and wrap with soft cloths, then let the doll sit in the bag. It seems easy, but SD doll is so heavy! She takes her SD doll out of the bag and sit him on the table at restaurant for photos sometimes. I never noticed negative reaction from the public. But I know people were watching.

 

^^ I really do enjoy reading all the replies, gives me courage....I guess.. I'm currently thinking of bringing my doll to church; my family (and I..) are really close and my mother holds sewing classes in the hall....so the ladies there might give an interesting reaction...also the transportation will be quite safe until I get a proper carrier XD

 

can't wait for mine to arrive and then i will tell you

 

I often wear a sweatshirt that says "Ask me about the doll" because people always stare, and it is rarely every a rude stare, more often a curious look. One time when I was taking pictures of a doll on the boardwalk on Catalina Island, a woman came up to me and asked about the doll, and told me she had enjoyed watching the people watch me as I worked my way down the boardwalk. I've gotten to the point where I'm so focused on taking the pictures that I don't even notice people watching me anymore.
Even though all of us are very familiar with BJDs, in "real life" most people have never seen one, so they are very interested and fascinated by them.
INTERESTING SIDE NOTE: When a couple watches me with a doll, it is ALWAYS the man who asks me questions about them.

 

Ahaha nice shirt idea! I was thinking of coordinating some clothes with my doll and then going out XP and a man asking the questions....weird but interesting!

 

We used to have a mediocre anime cafe here. The spirit of the place wasn't great but the Otaku that hung there were cool and it was a spot where lots of people felt comfortable bringing their BJDs around. No ridicule, no staring or teasing. Just adoration and appreciation. They shut down before I got the body for my girl but that was where I was going to take them out in public first. Now that they're gone I'm not sure. Heck my own mother teases me about my dolls xD I've been considering taking one of them with me to Michaels when I go bead hunting though. I only have MSDs though.

 

The most trouble I ever had was photographing dolls at Heian Jingu in Kyoto. I had a tiny little YoSD in front of a body of water. I was crouched down taking a photo. When I turned around a group of about half a dozen Japanese tourists from other parts of Japan were taking a photo of me taking a photo of my doll. But, even that was not too bad

The best experiences? I was in a local garden area photographing my doll with a friend. We came across other collectors photographing their dolls there, too. I went on a trip with friends to Hikone Castle and we all took photos of our dolls together. No one bothered us and only smiled. I took my dolls out to a local spot. It is perfect for MSDs. I have also been in a flower shop where the owner allowed my friend and I to photograph our dolls among the flowers.

But, I am a foreigner in Japan. People may simply think I am a crazy tourist, and that is fine by me Tourist spots tend to be the best place to go since everyone is already taking photos and more interested in the scenery than in me (usually).

 

I've generally had positive experiences. Being stared at doesn't really bother me, and it WILL certainly happen if you take a large doll out in public. I don't even mind questions, but I don't want anyone getting too close and/or touching. Thankfully, it hasn't happened with my dolls, but I've had it happen in general. Sometimes I'm really quite astounded by that sort of behavior. I can't imagine ever walking up to a stranger with the intention of putting my hands on their possessions. Bizarre.

I had a rather memorable experience at the Asylum restaurant at the Jerome Grand Hotel (yes, Ghost Adventures investigated that place! LOL!). I absolutely had to take Leuca in with me, because it was hot that day (hey, this is Arizona) and I wasn't about to leave the poor boy in the car. So, in he went. Many heads swiveled in my direction as I was seated at a table, and there was a lot of pointing and whispering throughout the meal. My Mom, who was my traveling companion, thought the whole situation was utterly hilarious and insisted on taking pictures of me and Leuca at the table. It was glorious.

 

I've never had any problems with people, but as a couple people have said, it does depend on where you're going. Best advice - treat your doll the same as you would your purse - don't let either one out of your site unless you have someone who can babysit. I think the worst thing that ever happened was when I took my eyes off my girl to grab another doll, and she took a fall onto concrete. (She scraped up her shoulder but was, fortunately, otherwise undamaged.)

I spent a lovely half-hour at the fabric store, chatting with a lady about my 1/3 girl, who was sitting in the basket seat. I also took her to the grocery store with me - I had one guy jokingly call her "my helper." It was kind of fun, but a bit of a pain since I had to carry her with me whenever I had to leave my basket anywhere.

I also carry her around regularly at anime cons. Questions aren't uncommon, even there. My favorite exchange happened when I had stopped to grab a bite to eat, and my girl was sitting on the bench next to me. A guy stopped by us and asked how I "dealt with having something so creepy around" (meaning my girl). I told him I make offerings and burn incense. He laughed and went on his way.

The entire time, I'm trying not to laugh at this guy, because he is wearing an astoundingly creepy pair of silver contacts with tiny pupils. Irony, much?

I've had that happen, too. At YoumaCon 2011, a friend and I were taking pictures of our dolls cuddling, and a couple of guys (guys! and I'm not even sure if they were with the con!) started taking pictures of our dolls over our shoulders. LOL.

 

I agree that tourist spots are best for not having people stare~ I took photos of my doll outside Buckingham Palace before and I didn't even see anyone looking.
But in the town where I live, I wouldn't take my dolls out in public. Too many horrible kids everywhere. ;__;

I went to the cinema with a doll once but I don't think anyone noticed since it's dark and everyone is watching the movie.

 

Really enjoyed reading everyone's answers XD people staring isn't too much of a problem, I'm too weird to be ignored XP

 

The other day I took my DD girl out with a bunch of friends. I live in Michigan and it was quite cold out and she was in a skirt. I had someone exclaim to me in the middle of the street "How DARE you take your baby outside like that in such cold weather, you should be ashamed!" To which I silently replied by taking her by the arms and dangling her to show she was a doll. .-.