What's the worst that's been said about you and your dolls?

The worst had to be from an anon on Tumblr who told me to go find someone with talent to do my face ups for me, because "yours need srs help". I knooooow I need practice. None of the face ups I've done were ever meant to be permanent. They were meant as learning experiments. I know I have a long way to go. But geez!!! Do you have to go out of your way to be a jerk to a total stranger?? Who am I hurting, by trying to learn something new?? Pssshhhhhhhh.....

Other than that, most people in the hobby and out of it are pretty supportive! Even my boss thinks they're neat. ^.^

 

I wouldn't take anything someone on tumblr said to heart.

 

Ugh, hence why I decided not to 'do' Tumblr. All I've heard about it from other doll people is that it's full of random hate and not worth it. (And I have a friend who is certifiably obsessed with it, so that's a bit of a turnoff too.)

I'm sorry some people have nothing better to do with their lives than spew negativity! How are you supposed to practice if you don't paint some heads?

 

The first meet I attended with my very first doll (which I STILL madly love and is my favourite out of all of them), I had a fellow doll collector comment in an off-hand way, "Oh, I guess AoD does make okay dolls. Not as beautiful as Volks, but anything compared to them is never going to measure up anyway. You should save up for a good Volks doll instead of something cheap like that."

I was a little hurt and upset over that, especially since that was my very first in-person interaction with other doll owners. That one tiny comment also started my disdain for all things Volks as that person wasn't the only one there who spouted some inane comment about Volks being the holy grail of dollydom and that you were wasting your time and money collecting anything else.

The Hubby calls my dolls The Creepies, but that doesn't bother/upset me as I know he's teasing. He's also a little afraid of them. But, he also recognizes the art and engineering in the dolls and he will freely admit that some of my dolls are pretty amazing with their detailing or engineering (like my Sugarble naga). My mom thinks the boys are too pretty to be boys *laughs* and she does wonder why I don't have any girls and why I have dolls now as I wasn't big on dolls as a child. One of my non-doll friends is in love with one of my dolls (just one) and teases me that she'll steal him away so they can run off to the Bahamas together. She does think I'm nuts for what I spend on them but easily concedes the point that what she spends on cigarettes in a year is much more than what I spend on a doll and at least with a doll, I have something to show for my money spent and, if need be, I could sell the doll to get money back.

 

If I don't like someobody's doll I don't comment on it, end of. People would do much better spending their time talking about things they like & are interested in. I've never had any particularly bad comments just a few along the lines of "How much?!" Even then some became understanding when they saw my girl in person.

 

My mom is the same way. Though honestly she wants me to be the doll, not play with them. I'm an adult, I pay my bills, I came back home to help her with the mortgage but she still feels the need to dictate who and what I should be. I just don't listen lol. It's hard but be strong and do what you love.

 

I've never really had anything mean said to me.

My grandma collects dolls too (not BJDs) so I think my family just assumes I learned it from her and no one makes a big deal about it.

 

I experienced something similar very early on, myself. I had three dolls by then, one BBB and two AoD, and having only just gotten started decided to attend the BJD panel at my local anime con. Which the panelists basically started off with "These are what BJDs are, you can get them from Japan or Korea, but don't get them from China because all Chinese BJDs are crap." It didn't really make me feel very welcome, as a new doll owner, and I stayed pretty far away from the local community because of that. (Luckily, those two no longer present panels at that convention, and just a couple of years later the new ones had a very exciting contest for a specially faceupped and outfitted, adorable BBB girl!)

I eventually did start going to some of the meetups, but generally only took Korean dolls when I went; I then took a long hobby break, and now I certainly wouldn't have any problem taking my Chinese dolls to any meetups (though I'm in a new city with a new group now). But the attitude of those girls really soured me on the social aspect of the hobby at the start.

 

No one has ever said anything negative to my face..
I come from a long line of collectors and doll collectors and I started collecting when I was 3 so nobody noticed when a new kind of doll started taking over.
My family and my house were featured on a reality show and of course the dolls are everywhere.
I read some hate on the internet about how crazy I was and how I cared more for my dolls than my family..lol.
I had exactly 8 minutes of airtime and they think they know all this about me...so silly!

 

I haven't really had any problems probably because I don't take my dolls out much. My boyfriend says they are creepy but he's fine with it as long as I'm not keeping snakes. My best friend wanted one after I first got one he's into the same things I am. My parents didn't like the price but I explained to them it would be a good artistic hobby and I could potentially make clothes and do face ups for people to earn a bit of money and they changed their tune. I don't really get remarks about being childish because people know I dress young and look young facially but also know I am responsible and mature.

 

I don't really tell people about my dolls if I do all they really say is "that's creepy" and that's the end. I don't care what others think of my hobbies. Most think I'm crazy for collecting tea cups.