Why do some collectors choose to not go to meetups?

Do you feel you're too old or too young? Not really, I heard the age average is 20 - 30.

Do you think you or your doll won't be liked? Well....I'm assuming some people feel like a hierarchy exists. All I have is a DoD Shall, who would be somewhat "plain" in terms of BJD world, so I think there will be a lot of people at meetups who are either hard-core modders or hard-core limited edition buyers that won't be too impressed with her.

Do you think your outfits aren't worthy of showing off? My outfits are definitely not going to be worthy of showing off--I'm trying not to buy from stores and I'm starting from 0 sewing skills and only the good photos are going to be photoshopped on my flickr, so even if I do choose to go to a meetup, it wouldn't be for a year or so anyway.

Do you think you're not worthy of showing off, or afraid of what others will think of you personally? Well, I don't really care what others will think of me personally, and

Are you afraid to bring your doll out, for fear of damage or theft? Definitely. Looking at the list from DoA of lost or stolen dolls at conventions and even Dolpa makes me think these are not uncommon incidents. This would probably be the number one reason why I wouldn't want to go.

Did you or someone else have a bad experience? Well, yes. From my experience, there are numerous times I went to a con and approached someone sitting at a table with their dolls out on display, and they never seemed too friendly--they kinda glare at me. I didn't know if it was because I didn't have a doll myself or they were just very touchy about their dolls. I would try to ask questions and they would answer me rudely as if they were insulted that I didn't know anything. I even got scolded once for trying to take a non-flash picture--I don't understand why you would set the dolls on display if you didn't want someone to look or take pictures. I've also heard multiple horror stories from my other friends about how catty people can be at meetups at cons, sometimes to the point of being jealous enough to ruin someone else's doll...

Are you afraid it will be silly because you have no doll? If it's a general convention, not really, but if it was a specific doll meetup, yeah, I think it would be pointless for me to go without one.

Are you nervous it would make you want to purchase new dolls? No, I'm very picky about what I want and satisfied with just one.

Are you expecting, with all the youth on DoA, a group of immature, loud, sex-crazed teenagers who'll grab your doll without asking and strip it naked? (Heh.)

Not really. She's a girl doll and she's not really a...sexy mold, so I don't think I have much to worry about. Maybe if I got good enough at sewing and they wanted the outfit? xD

 

I personally love dollfie meetups.. there are a lot of great people and not to mention a lot of great stuff on sale for a fraction of the original cost! You get to see a lot of beautiful dollfies! Sometimes however I do feel a little too old but thank goodness in my dollfie group there are so many people in different age groups! I can also see why some people don't attend. I have seen a little bit of drama between people and also sometimes you can feel threatened because some collectors have such amazing and beautiful rare dolls so you can feel quite a n00b or maybe inexperienced. I can see how it would be really hard and intimidating if you are a shy person. I think everyone should try to attend at least a meetup twice! Maybe you didn't like it the first time but give it another go!

 

I would like to go to meetings for sure but I would be afraid of my Doll, maybe someone touch it without my permission or it get damage and so on. I'm shy and not talkactive in the first place. I feel old for sure sometimes but I have my hobby and I'm never to old for this. I plan to go to a convention and I still think about to go with my Doll but I think I will go without because their are a lot of peoples and I don't want my doll to get damage or being stressed of being afraid of my doll.
but I will look around for clothes and so on and Dollfies I never really have showed interest in this hobby when I was on conventions so I'm going to do it now. maybe I will go to a smaller meeting with doll if I have time to go, I will see.

 

Do you feel you're too old or too young? Neither. When I used to go to meets, there was a wide range of ages. So I don't worry on that score.

Do you think you or your doll won't be liked? People have their own quirks and tastes. I don't love every single person I meet or every doll I see, so I'm in no position to demand that from others. You love what you love. Just as long as we can all be civil about it, that's ok.

Do you think your outfits aren't worthy of showing off? This isn't a worry, either. My dolls have better wardrobes than I do!

Do you think you're not worthy of showing off, or afraid of what others will think of you personally? As I've stated before, I've come to terms with the idea that someone might not like me or what I do with my dolls. I'm not in this to impress people or win popularity contests. I'm in this hobby because I think BJDs are beautiful and fun. I love mine, and enjoy seeing what other people do with theirs.

Are you afraid to bring your doll out, for fear of damage or theft? Theft not so much. But damage does sometimes worry me, especially when there are small children about or I see someone is kinda careless with the dolls.

Did you or someone else have a bad experience? I've heard and seen some pretty bad or potentially bad situations go down. When you get a group together, chances are there might be a bad apple or two in there. And sometimes things just happen. But I can't let that spoil the other 99% of good people I've met and fun times I've had.

Are you afraid it will be silly because you have no doll? While this doesn't apply to me, honestly I WISH that I had gone to a meet before I got my doll! I think that it would have been wonderful to have a better idea what to expect.

Are you nervous it would make you want to purchase new dolls? Not really. While seeing a doll in person is often better than seeing one online, I don't fear it will make me lose my head. I could see the most gorgeous doll at a meet, but if it doesn't fit my crew, my story, or my budget, then I can't get it.

Are you expecting, with all the youth on DoA, a group of immature, loud, sex-crazed teenagers who'll grab your doll without asking and strip it naked? (Heh.) While the grabbing without asking would irritate me, I have no problem with people stripping my doll. At every meet I've ever been to, a doll ends up getting stripped at some point. Meets are great places to see a doll's joints and sculpting, to see if certain clothes fit. If those "sex-crazed teenagers" got too out of hand, I have no problem with stopping things and retrieving my doll. After all, it IS my property. I haven't had anyone kick up too much of a fuss when I reclaim my doll.

Why don't you or someone you know attend? I didn't quit attending out of fear or lack of interest. There's a lot of really great people that I do miss seeing at the local meets here. However, RL gets in the way sometimes. There's been several times I've had scheduling conflicts. Not to mention, last few times I've looked in on the meetup thread, they've been meeting a bit out of the way for me. So distance is a consideration, too.

There's several factors that basically have kept me from meets for quite awhile now. However, I never rule it completely out and would like to catch one sometime in the future. One day, one day. . .

 

Well, I've decided I'll go to meets, but leave the dolls at home. No one in my group seems to care what dolls I bring. If there are pictures posted from the meets, the only time I see my dolls in them is in my pictures, so I don't think anyone likes them. No one asks about them, or even takes a picture of them.

 

Do you feel you're too old or too young?
I do feel like I'm too young. I did just celebrate a birthday, but before then, I just passed the age requirements for DoA. A lot of people think I'm older since I'm tall and well-spoken, but if meet-goers find out my age I feel like they might think they're baby-sitting me. That really does upset me too, because I feel like I would make good company just as long as we aren't talking about 401(K)'s or anything of the sort. BJD hobbyists' attitude towards kids and teenagers are off-putting to say the least.

Do you think you or your doll won't be liked?
Not every person I meet will like me, and vice-versa. I'e come to terms with that. :P It's not humanly possible.

Do you think your outfits aren't worthy of showing off?
I dress pretty casually for the average pre-teen/teenager. The only thing I would be insecure about is my shoes. They've gotten so ratty, especially my favorite pair. I usually wear over-sized sweatshirts anyway so the only thing people would be able to really see is my jeans. Not to brag or anything, but I love my jeans. So to actually answer this question: no.

Do you think you're not worthy of showing off, or afraid of what others will think of you personally?
Eh. I feel like my girl and I are average. I'll never be the hottest thing around, and neither will my doll, and I'm okay with that. As for what people think of me, I can't say that I wouldn't care, but I'd try to take it in stride/with a grain of salt. We're all on the same 'we play with dolls' level, anyway. The same thing that could be said about me could probably be said about that person, but I wouldn't purposely give someone a reason to dislike me. I'd like to think I'm polite in public settings and events like these.

Are you afraid to bring your doll out, for fear of damage or theft?
I can't even lie, that scares me whenever I take her out. Why someone would want my doll in particular, I don't know, but there's still a possibility. If something were to happen, I feel like people wouldn't even care and would probably just think I misplaced it (As if I'm going to misplace a $400 doll). Plus, my parents would probably lose their mind if they found out that my doll broke or was stolen, and the other meet-goers probably won't appreciate that.

Did you or someone else have a bad experience?
I've read about people's bad experiences, and it has been very off-putting. And he 'high-school drama' stuff that I hear about doesn't help. If I really wanted to be ignored or side-eyed then I can just stay home for the weekend and wait to go back to school.

Are you nervous it would make you want to purchase new dolls?
No. I don't have a stable-enough income to buy a doll on my own anyway, so a doll meet wouldn't do much in that department.

Are you expecting, with all the youth on DoA, a group of immature, loud, sex-crazed teenagers who'll grab your doll without asking and strip it naked? (Heh.)
I don't know why OP would use this for a question. Seems a little ageist since they're are plenty of immature, loud, sex-crazed people of all ages but whatever. Hopefully, people would use common sense before just going up and grabbing someone else's property(and doing that) . Especially now-a-days since we don't know what someone could have on them. But if this does go down, I'll make sure to be prepared with a fly-swatter.

 

Do you feel you're too old or too young?
I feel I am starting to get too old, but I appear younger than I am, so most people do not look at me any differently than the younger attendees.


Do you think you or your doll won't be liked?
Not really. Even non-doll people usually like my dolls. Their looks are very classic and not intimidating. I am much the same.


Do you think your outfits aren't worthy of showing off?
Sometimes my dolls don't feel "put together", and I often opt not to take them out if that is the case. I want them to be seen at their best always.


Do you think you're not worthy of showing off, or afraid of what others will think of you personally?
Not really. I'm as pretty as any of my dolls, I have nothing to be ashamed or shy of. Sometimes I even wear nicer clothes and wigs than my dolls do.


Are you afraid to bring your doll out, for fear of damage or theft?
Yes, this scares me sometimes, but I am very diligent with all of my belongings and have not lost anything of real value yet. I bring things to sell/trade sometimes and a few things have gone missing from my big bag of stuff, but that's the risk of bringing a lot of unsecured stuff into any big crowd. You must expect things to be misplaced, or for someone's desires to outweigh their conscience.


Did you or someone else have a bad experience?
A friend of mine brought her doll to an anime convention in Florida to get a faceup fix from a well known artist there. After the work was done and the artist gave her the head back, she put it in her cosplay bag instead of fastening it back on the body, on the mesh side where it could be seen without opening the bag. She went to a meetup later that day at the convention, and left her bag for a minute with the other doll people. When she returned, her doll's head had been stolen. It was never found.


Are you afraid it will be silly because you have no doll?
I have never gone to a meetup without a doll, but I go out of my way to make everyone feel welcome, especially if they are new and don't have a doll of their own yet.


Are you nervous it would make you want to purchase new dolls?
I have purchased, sold, and traded dolls at meetups before. I think it is a wonderful way to expand or change your collection. I encourage others to bring money to meetups; you never know what doll you may find, you don't want to be caught unprepared.


Are you expecting, with all the youth on DoA, a group of immature, loud, sex-crazed teenagers who'll grab your doll without asking and strip it naked? (Heh.)
Heh, no, even when I was young I never acted that way, and have come across very few people in the hobby who have acted that way. They never got hold of my doll anyway, they were entertained enough with their own dolls to bother mine. People outside of the hobby (especially children) are actually a bigger threat because they often touch before thinking to ask.

 

Ikr?! I went to one with my friend and they were super rude and acted like children. I mean i know that not all are like that but after going to that one it makes me feel like I shouldn't take the chances.

 

Nice question, I'm enjoying reading the reasons and feeling that I'm not a freak after all, LOL!

Do you feel you're too old or too young?

When I was young, Barbie was all out power tool fodder. Now I am mature and wise (snicker) and much more careful with power tools around my dolls. I only take off a little here, a little there....

Do you think you or your doll won't be liked?

I'd be too busy looking at other people's dolls and seeing how neat they are, and what ideas they've had that would never occur to me on my own to care about what they thought of my dolls. I'm often surprised people compliment my dolls at all.

Do you think your outfits aren't worthy of showing off?

Pfft! Of course they are.

Do you think you're not worthy of showing off, or afraid of what others will think of you personally?

After 12 years as a BJD fan, I'm past all shame.

Are you afraid to bring your doll out, for fear of damage or theft?

This is the big one for me. We just moved into a kid loaded apartment complex and for weeks now the little monsters have been in the bushes staring in my windows at the dolls on my shelf. They aren't even safe in my flat, if I'm dumb enough to leave the screen door unlocked. I've had to call the police twice already.

Did you or someone else have a bad experience?

Someone's about to if I catch those brats trying my door knob again when I'm going back to the car for more groceries.

Are you afraid it will be silly because you have no doll?

I wouldn't, because I hung with doll people for ages before getting my own doll.

Are you nervous it would make you want to purchase new dolls?

Yeah! That's the big danger. You can resist them online, but in person, it's hard to let go sometimes. Must put the doll down and back away slowly....

Are you expecting, with all the youth on DoA, a group of immature, loud, sex-crazed teenagers who'll grab your doll without asking and strip it naked? (Heh.)

My aunt does this on a regular basis, and she's in her fifties. I'd be more worried about the doll-cougers. ~_^

These are about all the reasons I can think of personally as to why someone wouldn't want to go, but I'm sure others have different reasons.
Why don't you or someone you know attend?

I can't attend because I have no time, what so ever. I look at photos posted of meet ups on line, and photos from cons and want to go so badly, but I have no good excuse to go.

I'd advise that if you have free time, at least go to a local con to get your feet wet first. Meet people at the con from your area, stuff like that.

 

I don't live close enough to anywhere that has meetups. winnipeg is 8 hrs away and toronto is 20~ hrs. the travel cost and time isnt worth it for me

 

I would go but they're always so far away. I also can't drive and I would feel bad if I asked for a ride from a family member or friend. Doll meets sound pretty fun.

 

I'm just way too shy for that sort of thing, even though I do want to attend one at least once. I'm not good with strangers and would likely sit in silence for the entirety of the time, plus I'll probably chicken out last minute even if I did jump on a train to attend one

 

Are you expecting, with all the youth on DoA, a group of immature, loud, sex-crazed teenagers who'll grab your doll without asking and strip it naked? (Heh.)

I'm actually disappointed and offended when this doesn't happen. So. Let's all work on that, shall we?

In all seriousness, I've lost all shame when it comes to BJDs and bringing dolls out in public, and for anyone feeling shy or nervous or anxious about it, I try to do my best to be very welcoming and help them out to feel more at ease. But I like talking to people and the coolest part about this hobby is I have never, ever met anyone boring or uninteresting. Everyone has grand ideas, and I like hearing about them. I do the same when I work conventions, too, though I totally understand why someone wouldn't want to bring their doll.

 

I'm mildly interested but not interested enough to go to the expensive and take time off to fly to New York or California.

However! I recently read some very interesting reviews of the Korean BJD Show in LA (?) and it sounded like some of those panels, especially the one about sculpting, were very exciting. Now I'm kind of interested in going to a show sometime.

I am not bringing a doll along, though. I don't want to be stressed by having to watch out for the doll. It's not so much fear of theft as fear of accidentally knocking him over or spilling drinks on him... I'm kind of anal about care of my doll and his clothing, can't stand the thought of accidentally staining one of his shirts or something.

I guess I'm open to the idea of going to a meet, simply waffling about whether the expense/inconvenience is worth the potential fun to be had there. I don't travel often, it seems like when I do travel it'd be better to do something with friends or family (and none of them care about dolls).

 

Fly? No no, most meets are Local! maybe an hour or two tops, but like I have a group 30 or so minutes away and then there is another hour and a half away.

 

Do you feel you're too old or too young?
Neither too old, nor too young. I guess some people are just scared of being judged by the outside public or are socially inept.

Do you think you or your doll won't be liked?
Nope. Proud of my doll (one at the moment), why would I care about others' opinions on it?

Do you think your outfits aren't worthy of showing off?
I know my outfits aren't worthy of showing off, but like the dolls having personalities, they probably don't mind going out, sightseeing, and looking at other dolls every once in a while :/

Do you think you're not worthy of showing off, or afraid of what others will think of you personally?
Probably the biggest one there. As a guy, my first meet had me way out of my comfort zone. I opened up after a while when I realized I was around a good group of people. With that said, I still can't seem to get the person I purchased my first doll from to come to any of the local meets.

Are you afraid to bring your doll out, for fear of damage or theft?
I'm not so much scared of her falling down, since I've got a pretty good stand, but I never go far away enough that she's out of my line of sight.

Did you or someone else have a bad experience?
None.

Are you afraid it will be silly because you have no doll?
Never even knew there were meets until two weeks after I picked up my first doll.

Are you nervous it would make you want to purchase new dolls?
Yes and no. Between shuffling money on my cars, as well as being lulled into purchasing another sibling, it's very tempting.

Are you expecting, with all the youth on DoA, a group of immature, loud, sex-crazed teenagers who'll grab your doll without asking and strip it naked? (Heh.)
Never been to a DoA organized meet, so no comment.

 

Do you feel you're too old or too young?
No, I seem to fit the same age range a lot of other collectors are.

Do you think you or your doll won't be liked?
My dolls? Maybe. Many people seem to like the larger dolls but I tend to stick with tinies so that may be awkward. I'm not very aware of people's opinions on other sizes but apparently there is a hierarchy of dolls and what's good and what isn't. I'm not sure where I fall on that. I'm also not much into heavy mods or a lot of customization on the doll itself (though I'd like to start trying faceups)

Do you think your outfits aren't worthy of showing off?
Oh they are definitely not worthy of showing off. Most of them where bought because they were cheap or projects done by me. Most of my girls share outfits and I don't even have enough shoes for all of them to wear a pair at once.

Do you think you're not worthy of showing off, or afraid of what others will think of you personally?
I'm not too overly concerned about that. As far as physical fitness and appearance goes, I think I'm pretty average so I don't really expect anything snarky about how I look. I am a rather quiet person though. Around strangers I feel like I don't always have the most welcoming aura either so that may be a problem

Are you afraid to bring your doll out, for fear of damage or theft?
Yes. Even though I'd want to bring one of my favorites with me, I probably wouldn't because that would just be too much to replace if lost or damaged. Even with one of my cheaper girls I would be overly paranoid the whole time about scratches or theft. I own mainly Lati Yellows - those are just too easy to slip into a purse.

Did you or someone else have a bad experience?
Not that I know of.

Are you afraid it will be silly because you have no doll?
I never knew about meets before getting a doll so I guess this wouldn't be a problem.

Are you nervous it would make you want to purchase new dolls?
Maybe. I never thought about this but it could become problematic if I find too many molds I like. Worst yet is if I find out that I do like MSD or SD sized dolls. It's hard enough to find spots and storage for my tinies without throwing bigger dollies in the mix.

Are you expecting, with all the youth on DoA, a group of immature, loud, sex-crazed teenagers who'll grab your doll without asking and strip it naked? (Heh.)
Haha, I never even considered this. Well like I said before, mine are all tinies (not even YoSD sized). Most of them are toddler or childlike molds. If they are stripping my girls naked with those kind of intentions then I would be worried about what they find sexually attractive in real life...

I do worry about people grabbing or touching my dolls without asking. I've had my roommate's friend in college touch the faceplate of one of my Blythe dolls (not BJD but still applicable) right after I had finished doing the faceup but before I had sealed it (she wanted to see what I did). Some people just don't know what's ok and what's not ok.

Why don't you or someone you know attend?
I guess mostly because it never occurred to me to go to one. And I also worry if I get too deep in the dolly world and community then I really will go broke! lol

 

I wouldn't mind going to a meet if it was held in a public setting such as a cafe or park.
However, I would feel incredibly uncomfortable going to a meet at someone's house that I didn't already know.
Besides going to a meet up in a park just seems like it would be much more fun than staying indoors all day.

 

My issue is mostly being able to find people in my area that actually have the dolls in the first place.

I do get worried though because I DID go out with some friends who used to live here and we had our dolls and one woman working at the mall just out of the blue snatched up one of my friend's MSDs right out of her hands and started to ask questions while running her grimy fingers all over her doll's face!!!

 

Here on DOA, I find that it is difficult to pinpoint a time and date that everyone can attend and usually, I am busy at the time decided. I am uncomfortable attending in a stranger's home. I like events and like meeting new people but I would rather do that in a public arena. I do still want to go to one. Have actually thought about setting one up somewhere because there are probably others like me that would like to in public but, setting up a time and date with a lot of people is always a challenge. harleyfae