taking out your dolls

I wanna take mine to resale shops with me. ^^ I'll get her checked at the door so they CAN'T say I'm stealing her, and I'll take her to the toys section to see anything and everything I might be able to get her, like furniture, dolls clothes, etc.!

 

There's a remake of the Child's Play (Chuckie) movie coming out in October- I plan on bringing my orange-haired boy with me to the theatre when I go to see it, bawahahaha ;D

Otherwise it was my YoSD boy who's been out with me the most. Though since I finished him right before Summer, he's only been out maybe three times because it's waaaayyy too hot and humid for my resin boys otherwise :c!

 

The only place I would take my dolls out would be to anime or doll conventions. Around where I live I would get laughed at or even get my dolls damaged. The only way I would bring them around would be with my friend or my boyfriend. Atleast with one of them I know they would have extra protection if I had to set my dolls down for any reason.

 

I take mine to local doll meets or comic/anime conventions but they travel to them discreetly on public transit. Otherwise my dolls have only been to my best friends house (she also partakes in this hobby) or my front/back yard. I've carried an MSD around in my tote bag in case I found something at the mall and wanted to check the size, but no one sees him really. He'd get taken out for like a minute to check, then back in the tote, safe and sound.

I'm 23, I realize carrying around a doll in my arms would look bad and while I'm used to that from wearing lolita when I was abit younger. It's just annoying and I'm happy just to have them in their bag or at home.

 

The only times I take out my dolls are for doll meets or if I want to take photos of them outside. I'm scared if they'll get damaged so I prefer not to take them outside too often.

 

I see alot of people in here are scared of what other people think of them, but personaly, I don't care what this stupid town I live in thinks of me, I'm weird and diffrent, get over it. I can understand people's fears over damage/yellowing. Yes I carry my dolls with me frequently, normally only one because I have mainly SD and larger. Most of the time it is when I go to thrift stores/antique malls, I carry them frequently enough that I now have people who know me and if I carry a doll they haven't seen before they have to stop and see them. I have people stop all the time asking about them, most are turned off when they hear the price tags, but others are totally facinted. Just recently a guy (what was odd is he was dressed all gangster style XD) stopped me and asked me about them, I answered all his questions and then he turned back to a woman he was with, she had been to scared to ask me, but he was like "whatever", which is kinda cool.

 

ok, so right now i'm in my sophomore year of college and live in the dorms. Now I know there is a thread here about taking your dolls to college but it focuses mainly on dorm rooms and such. I live in a single (thank god) so there's no problem there.

my question though is what about bringing your dolls/doll with you to class?

How about other places like the mall, movies, shopping?

Any stories or tips/warnings would be much appreciated.

(note: i go to ISU which is a pretty big 4 year college so there are lecture halls and tiny desk/chair seat things)

 

I'm in university too, and I'll be honest... I will never, ever bring my doll to any of my lectures. Ever. There's no room for them, more importantly, there's no NEED for them. All they are is a distraction (unless you're in an art school and the artistic aspect or construction of BJD's became relevant to your classes, that I totally understand). Also - university is the beginning of my professional life. I intent to make as many connections as I can for a job placement, and toting a large (or small) doll around is probably not going to make a nice molecular biology professor think that I'm the perfect candidate to be his research assistant during the summer, running some of his thousands-of-dollars-a-piece experiments for him. (That being said, I did run into an antique porcelain ball-jointed doll collector while working at one of my summer placements, and I even got her interested in ABJD's, but by that point we were pretty good friends and this conversation came up during one of our lunch breaks when I mentioned I needed to go to the post office)

I don't bring my doll to other places either, unless there is a doll-related meet, or if I want to do a photoshoot, because again, they'll be more of a hassle than anything. I constantly have to worry to make sure they're not getting squished or mangled in my purse/bag (or rubbing their face-up off and losing their eyelashes all over my shirt if I decide to carry them in my arms). I have brought them out in public a few times for meets held in public places and it was very nice, lots of polite people with questions about them, but dolls were the main subject of the outing so they weren't distracting me from some other purpose.

Plus, other than one friend whom I don't see very often, the majority of my friends/family and my boyfriend are all mildly spooked by my dolls (because of the price and because of the realism, a bit of both). So I'd rather not distract them too.

Tips from when I do take them out in public?

- Make sure you have a bag on you that will securely fit and hold your doll should you for whatever reason need to put it away. Especially if it's a large doll. A doll carrier or a large backpack with something like a sweater so you can wrap them up and put them away.

- Don't take more dolls than you can keep an eye on. Realistically, this is one or two. Going with this, never let them out of your sight.

- If someone asks you to hold them (and this happens frequently), and you decide to oblige, warn the person that the doll is heavy, gently lower it into their hands and keep your hands under the doll while they're holding it to catch any escaping doll bits (shoes and wigs especially) or the doll itself.

 

I agree there's no real reason for dolls to go to class, and art class you want to be aware how clean the place is.

Otherwise I take mine, usually a mini or a vinyl 60, out shopping with me. My boys hit the mall or the craft stores quite often, we'll do junk stores and places I might find something for them too. I have a couple of cases for traveling, for the different sizes while they're in the car or going to a meet location. They have a doll blanket that they sit on to keep clean, it also works for carrying if you want.

 

Honestly I'd never take my dolls to class unless somehow they were relevant (I'm an art student so this is slightly more possible then the norm). I don't really feel the need to lug my dolls about with me, and even if I just had one in a bag I'd be tempted to check on it constantly and to fuss. When it comes to class I have things to be done and just don't need the distraction.

When I first got into the hobby I'd occasionally take a doll out with me when I went shopping or such, but not so much these days. I'll take them out for photoshoots or meet-ups but thats about it.

Tip wise, I'd say if you want to take dolls with you places stick to just the one, any more and there's more chance of loosing track of them and their stuff. Personally I live to have a bag big enough to fit them into so they're not constantly on display, this also helps since it leaves your hands free and goodness knows even the smallest dolls can get heavy after a while of carrying them.

When I'm travelling with any of my dolls I tend to bring a little emergency sort of kit with me just in case, just a small case with a bit of magic eraser, elastic bands, wig-brush and the like.

 

I just took my MSD to visit my mom who lives in an assisted living complex. There were nurses and other staff in and out all day long. Everyone was fascinated by the BJD and had questions and positive comments. That encourages me to get brave enough to take her out in a more public setting for a photo shoot.

 

I'll take my girls out if I'm planning a shoot with friends or know I'm going somewhere that would have some shooting opportunities. I also take them away on holiday with me and to doll meets : )

Otherwise I keep my resin guy and gals at home where they're safe and unlikely to get knocked or damaged. I'm not adversed to answering questions should people see I have them and approach me, but I prefer not to take them to places like shopping centers, supermarkets simply because they might get damaged.

 

I'm so proud of my dolly that I actually do tend to bring her out with me as often as I can. The only time I don't bring her out and about with me is if I know I'll be in a position that requires me to use my spare hand (due to knee joint problems, I walk around with a cane, so I already have one hand occupied), if I know that bringing her might put her in a position in which she might get hurt (for example, I've found that bringing her to the house of my in-laws can be hit or miss, as the little grandshildren may or may not be present to try to grasp the doll and roughly handle her; another example is that the weather here can be extremely hot in the summer, as in triple digits hot, and I'm sure that exposing her to too much of that heat can't be good, so I tend to leave her behind if it's simply too hot that day), or if I need to look professional, etc.

For the most part, I haven't noticed any strange looks from people as I carry her around. Although, every now and then, I'll have people tell me what a really pretty dolly I have. I've yet to run accross the people who hate dolls, or are fearful of them. For the former, all I figure that all I can do is pretty much ignore them. Only because of this forum did I learn that there are people who fill in the latter category, so I decided to bring the pretty cloth bag she came in to hide her, if someone is truly uncomfortable. I respect the fact that someone has a genuine phobia of dolls, and while I won't let that stop me from bringing her around with me, I will try to do my best to accommodate such fears by putting her out of sight.

Off topic rant-- I only wish others could be as respectful of me when it comes to my own phobia, cynophobia, a fear of dogs. Not only do many dog owners walking their dogs on the street NOT keep their dogs away from me if and when they realize I'm terrified of them to the point of hyperventilating and nearly passing out--and I wish that were an exaggeration--many of them feel the need to actually bring their dogs closer to me, because they either think it's a harmless, funny joke to watch the scared girl cry, or the misguided idea that my meeting their "friendly" dogs who only want to lick my face will "cure" me of my terror, without realizing that such actions from a dog are only seen as aggressive by me, making my phobia even worse. In fact, I can't leave my home without the company of my husband or a friend because my fear of dogs has gotten so bad that it's morphed into agoraphobia. I go into panic attacks when I'm alone, as every sound, especially the hateful sound of jingling keys that mimic the sound that dog tags make when a dog moves, makes me think some stray is just around the corner, ready to pounce on me.-- End rant.

 

I usually only take my dolls out if they're serving a purpose, mainly taking pictures or going to doll meet-ups. Sometimes I will bring them with me to fabric stores so I can see how well the print will look on them (and this ends up saving me from buying a shitload of fabric that will never work anyway). If I am going on a trip, I like bringing one with me because they're fun to have around if I'll be able to relax more.

 

I personally will bring my pretty with me when I am specifically buying things for him or going to a social thing where I know he'll be "on topic" (ie my local cosplay club). I've seen other people in this thread mentioning places like work and class, and I think I'm going to have to chime in on the side of that probably being a bit of a bad idea. The whole idea for both of those places is for people to actually concentrate and work/learn. I don't think anyone in this forum would argue with the fact that all of our pretties are very distracting, even to those people that aren't particularly interested in the hobby.
also, an amusing side note - When I have carried around my (SD-sized) pretty, the most common question I actually get asked (from those who don't already recognize him as a BJD) is whether he's a marionette... I'm not quite sure where the question comes from...
I've also seen comments about having to correct people's gender assumptions about their dolls, my usual response is "look for the mammary tissue (ie the breasts)... it does tend to work...

 

No.

I think if you are bringing out your dolls to show them off you should assume that staring and questions can be a part of that.

Personally, I see no point in bring dolls with me on errands to the supermarket or whatever, just to show my dolls off to strangers.

I would bring them some place if friends wanted to see them, or for a meetup, or for photos, or if they were part of an outfit or cosplay or display, etc. Otherwise, I don't want them damaged and I don't want to lug them about when I'm busy. I don't need them with me for company and they really are just dolls, so there's no need for them to see movies or actually DO things!

Anyway--be prepared for comments and questions and stares if in public. That just comes with the territory. Be prepared for dangers, like getting them knocked over or dropping or getting worn or dirty. Be prepared for theft. Watch for heat and sun damage. That's just stuff you should be aware of that could happen... It's not all negative. Some people will be friendly and interested. You should be polite to them because they may think all doll owners are nasty or stuck-up if you aren't.

 

I never take my dolls out if there is no dollmeet. To be honest, lugging a big doll around is very annoying and cumbersome. I just like to enjoy whatever I'm doing without having to worry about the really expensive doll in my arms. And what if I want to look through some wares? Where do I put the doll down? Far too much trouble if you ask me.

 

I used to take my dolls out for photo session, I have brought them to a mall, restaurant, and parks. But mostly outside my house. But recently I don't bring them anymore, because, I'm worried they are overexposed to sunlight. People at the city don't really bother much, some still do stare. However, none have asked about it, yet! XD

 

on my way to convention i had to get on a flight and i took Akihito with me onto the plane xD
some ppl were staring but nobody pointed fingers i dont think.
The lady sitting next to me actually asked me about him and we started a nice conversation xDDDD

 

I have never taken my doll anywhere... I brought him in my backyard once to take pictures, but I ran right back inside because there were wasps. I am really scared of bugs. >_<

I never even thought to bring him anywhere, actually. Maybe I'll take him with me to an anime convention next year. I saw a two of them at the last one I went to.