So... What have your doll meet experiences been like?

[SuniMoon]

(If this doesn't belong here, you can move it, since I dunno where it would go...)

So, I know that's a very general question, since everyones going to have a different experience...

But for me, SakuraCon is coming up. And I'd love to take Florian with me this year, but I have one teensy issue...
He's a (gorgeous) resinsoul mai. And while I know a heck of a lot of people who loooove their bobobie and RS dolls, and Dollieh Sanc dun judge... But... I've also recently talked to people who think they're poor sculpted, cheap, ugly even...

Thing is, internet communities and the ones IRL are so different... Sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better.
I'm kinda feeling like all the doll owners I see at anime cons are kinda... elitist.

Call me crazy, but, at least in my case, they look it.... Maybe it's just because all of my fandoms are elitist, and I have a history of being ignored at cons when I try to socialize. ._. ... It might also be because many doll owners seem like they, uh.... I don't want to insult anyone here, but they all use a certain forum that's always come across to me as uber elitist... And insane... Umm.... So yeah... ... ...

And now I'm scurred I'll just be ignored just because I didn't spend over 500 dollars on a doll that I don't even think is as pretty as my Florian.

Bleh... Well, I guess what I'm asking is a little moral support, about braving these waters. I'd like to hear both good and bad stories about doll meet ups IRL, if there are really crazy doll owners out there, if they discriminate ever, etc.... Kinda a pros and cons thing, of doll meet up experiences. It may not help in my specific case, since who knoooows what it might be like, but I'm still curious.

Cause I'd love to meet more doll owners IRL but...

[Kirahfaye]

Okay, I've been in the ABJD hobby for about 2 years or so now. I began attending the local doll meets before I'd even chosen my first doll - which was a BBB Mei. There were people attending that had Obitsu 1/6 dolls all the way up to limited editions. The group has gone through some drastic changes (including splitting into two groups because our metro area is huge). Speaking for the one I attend, while there are a lot of very high priced dolls several people, including one member who is almost DOD exclusive, have Monster High dolls and other Walmart/Target available plastic bjds. No one judges, which is good for me - otherwise I wouldn't be attending.

I took my dolls to Dragon*Con for the first time last year (a different one each day) and met with other doll collectors. They were great, although I only got to attend one meeting other than the only BJD related program. Now, I no longer have my Mei and most of my dolls are more expensive, but the average attendee to D*C doesn't know an Obitsu from a Soom and they are the ones I got most of the good or bad reactions from. One young lady who was scantily dressed as a generic vampire rudely pointed to me and told the guy she was with that "the woman with the doll is bizarre". Seriously? I chuckled over that for a long time.

I say - take your doll if you want! Enjoy the people who appreciate your doll and chuckle at those who don't get it!

[DollyKim]

It all comes down to how much you love your doll(s). When I was little it was Cabbage Patch Kids or GTFO so I have strong issues about people using dolls to exclude others. It's not the octopus on the head club and if the people are that nasty IRL why in the world would you want to hang out with them in the first place?

I also have six Dollzones and have been to several meetings without a single issue. My beloved cost all of $250, he's yellowing, dinged here, stained there, just turned five, and it's hard to imagine life without him. Here's a photo album from the last meet I attended and no one's taking a hammer to anyone's anything http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u270 ... ll%20meet/ It's all about seeing each others dolls and learning about the different sizes and types. And my greatest doll day ever was with a doll so cheap he could fit in my purse. The gang at Puppet Up and NPH didn't care the least bit about how much dolls cost, they just wanted to play with him.

[AlmySidaKay]

Well at the last few meets I have gone to with my BBB/RS girls, I've hear a few days later... "so I just ordered BBB/RS doll X". If you think your doll looks great, who cares what others think? I mean honestly, it's a convention, just enjoy yourself, and if that for you means bringing your girl with, then do so!

[Sixoclock]

Honestly-- I have never been to a doll meet up ... OKay.. not entirely tru.. I was at a kind of instant meet-up when I went to pick up my part of an FDoll order-- but I wasn't there long-- maybe a half hour because it was late and a long drive from my house.

That said-- your views are correct. Dolls can be and do have elitist circles. A lot of hobbies and subcultures do. It's like hey we're the outcasts but now we can feel superior to other outcasts because for some reason we think we are better.. It's a hypocritical circle and best to just shrug it off and be happy with what you have and what you enjoy in the hobby. People who are elitist (IMO) have something making them unhappy, so they need to look down on others for something-- again that's my oppinion.

Also to be noted- as I mentioned, I have never been to a doll meet. This coming first weekend in Feb. will be the very first time I actually attend a scheduled doll meet. It's going to be in Boston and the people that are going have been going for a while-- so I will be the new face.. oh boy. I understand where you are coming from. I'm srry I don't have any other info to offer right now-- but if you like, I can share my story after the actual meet.

[Yanagi-sen]

The forum you mentioned... When I first posted my BBB Espree boy (in the BBB 1/4th thread no less), someone actually asked if the sculpt was a Volks!!!!!! Talk about hysterically funny.

I've never had problems, but then I'm usually at meet-ups with Kiki-chan78 and her horde of obitsu. It also probably also helps that my dolls are dressed nicely (I make most of their clothes) and I also don't make apologies for whatever company they happen to come from. The Espree had the face I wanted for Riou. Simple as that. Nagi is a hybrid (DZ Shoyo on an AoD boy body) and Momiji is a Luts KDelf Ani. I also happen to have a pair of 1/6 obitsu, a DZ Leo and an 11cm obitsu.

I fully intend to take most if not all of them to DollAKon. I'm past the point where I care what other people (that aren't my friends) think, so if they can't deal with what I own, they aren't worth my time anyway. ^_~

[magkelly]

There are other Barbie collectors here but honestly they're a pretty snotty bunch with their exclusive club, their scheduled outings to some expensive places and their pricey dues. The bigger dolls, the BJD's, I've met exactly 3 people in the past few years that we've been here who have liked them enough to hook up once in a while.

One woman I liked she died unfortunately after about a year. She was by far the nicest of the bunch. The second showed up to trade with me once, realized I wasn't going to regularly buy $200 worth of stuff from her on a regular basis and pretty much ignored me thereafter, and the last woman she gave up even making up a group and hanging out with me because there simply wasn't enough interest in the larger dolls to warrant her coming from two towns away to hook up.

There is a doll show here, but again it's very upscale, they're all collecting strictly vintage Barbie or really valuable antique dolls and they don't meet to hang out and play. They just meet periodically to sell off stuff mostly and the doll show costs a small fortune to actually be a part of.

It's not been a good area for me at all. In the next few years I'll probably move up the coast towards NYC or maybe Boston or maybe out to Seattle. I haven't quite decided as yet. I'm hoping it will be better out there, more fun.

[Jobee]

I'm in a local group that meets about once a month. We always have a great time. It'll either be at a restaurant or a potluck at someone's house. It's mostly ABJDs, but some other collectible dolls wander in. We'll all put our dolls on a table or 2, and take pictures of them, pick them up and look at them, and talk talk talk! We talk about the dolls, we talk about movies, we talk about clothes, whatever!

[kiki-chan78]

Nine times out of ten, when people are dissing a doll/company/sculpt, it's because they've never encountered a decent example of it (either in person or online). If I had a nickle every time Omi shocked someone just because he's *GASP* 'obitsu' and a 'vinyl' doll... well, I wouldn't be rich, but I'd at least be able to buy a good quality wig. Actually, it's even funnier to see the reactions WHILE Omi is BEING HELD by them.

I will admit that about the weirdest experience that I've had is probably when a random BJD owner at a convention in South Dakota was almost apologetic over the fact that she had her boy on a 'cheap' AOD body. That was probably the saddest that I've ever felt for a doll, since it implied to a certain extent that she was ashamed of her boy. Which really is a shame since he was cute, well groomed, well dressed and obviously well cared for. *sigh*

But seriously. If you want to take your boy to the convention, take him. Don't apologize for what he is, since he's the doll you chose to have and cherish.

Now what really takes cojones; taking your doll randomly out to the mall or movies! Woot!!!

<3

-Kiki-chan78.

[OutBriefCandle]

I go to a local doll club that meets once a month...though I wasn't able to make the last two or three. >_< Everyone I've met in person through the hobby has been really great, and the local club has everything from limited edition Volks down to the couple of cheap Barbies a couple members like to set up in the 1/6 dioramas they make. One woman actually competes with her rooms, they're really amazing. No one really cares if you bring a Gene or Tonner or Pullip instead of a resin or if your resins are BBB or Dollzone instead of DOD and Volks. I probably wouldn't have gone back if they did, considering my fondness for RS/BBB. So even big forums like the one you're thinking of have their uses...I originally discovered it through the Meetup section on DOA.

I'd say take Florian with you. Some people might be jerks, but then you'll know who to avoid and other people will love him. I took my BBB Sprite to Otakcon the one year that I went and didn't have any problems. 1/4s are to me the best con size, big enough to keep track of easily but not so heavy they kill your arms either.