Why did you join the forums?

I’ve noticed that a lot people write in their introductions that they lurked for a while before deciding to make an account here.

If you’re one of them, I’m curious to know why you decided to finally take the plunge.

In my case, I joined as soon as I found this place since I had questions I couldn’t find answers to and people here seemed friendly and knowledgeable. I never imagined that I would read and post as regularly as I do, but I’m really glad I found this place.

I thought of joining the forums back before the rebrand, but I finally took the plunge in 2022. I had nothing else to do that day.

I also joined as soon as I found out about the place (if I recall correctly at least...) but I didn't post for quite some time after making an account. Although I did lurk a bit when it was still DollfieDreams (I didn't have a doll by then anyway). I figured this place was friendlier to share vinyl dolls than the resin-focused forum. 

9 hours ago, ragnamuffin said:

I’ve noticed that a lot people write in their introductions that they lurked for a while before deciding to make an account here.

If you’re one of them, I’m curious to know why you decided to finally take the plunge.

In my case, I joined as soon as I found this place since I had questions I couldn’t find answers to and people here seemed friendly and knowledgeable. I never imagined that I would read and post as regularly as I do, but I’m really glad I found this place.

Same here. Was looking for a welcoming doll community to talk & share with others about the hobby since I don't really have friends to talk about dolls irl

hmm, i didnt actually lurk much before i just joined. But I am a long time member of Den of Angels another popular forum that focuses on Resin dolls. I was recommended this website as I acquired my first Dollfie Dream and i wanted to learn more about them, their care and have a place that is more focused on Vinyl dolls. as others have mentioned i also just wanted to talk more people, join a community to talk about the hobby and have access to a great resource of information. Everyone here has been very kind and has alot of information!  I'm glad i joined and hope to meet more people in the hobby

Who else am I going to talk about doll stuff with?

To be painfully honest, I think at first it was a kneejerk reaction to a really terrible experience I had with Den Of Angels. I used to like DOA, but over the years the severe lack of transparency, bad attitude and sheer incompetence of DOA's admin team has really gotten to me. I liked the userbase there, but dealing with the moderation team (which was almost inevitable considering the strictness of the rules) was like pulling teeth every time.

 

I like forums in general, and I've been gravitating towards anime dolls anyways and was planning to jump into MDDs, so I made an account here.

I joined almost as soon as I acquired Towa in 2020. She was just so awesome I just had to tell loads of other people how awesome she was 🤣.

I prefer fan run forums rather than the big faceless social media corps. I've actually run a couple of forums over the years but it's really difficult to keep out the spammers and keep the real people from deserting to Reddit or FB.

To be honest... To read all the stuff about SmD xD. Stayed for the fact that this is a nice forum like the ones we had before IG and such. (DoA is too massive and unpersonal...) 

I joined here in Feb. of 2012, mostly for a better place to post stories, or just pics of my Kiddos.

DOA seemed to be a bit too snobbish, "Oh, vinyl?? You can go to this sub-post waaaay over there!" I didn't even stay on long enough to get marketplace access.

I did stay on figure.fm also, until the site "supposedly" was hacked, along with doll.fm. (which I didn't really go to much.)

I've enjoyed watching this forum grow so much, we're currently over 4000 members, and I see at least two or three "guests" registering every few days, so I don't think this site's going away any time soon! 

I firmly believe the non-snarky and easygoing attitude and helpfulness that's really prevalent here has contributed to it's growth, and I hope it continues for a long while! 

Here's to another four thousand members!! (or more!) 

 

Rick

Edited November 30, 2022 by battrastard
added content

i'm a Figure.fm refugee myself. it was great while it lasted...

Edited November 30, 2022 by Tasuke

On 11/29/2022 at 7:10 AM, ragnamuffin said:

I’ve noticed that a lot people write in their introductions that they lurked for a while before deciding to make an account here.

If you’re one of them, I’m curious to know why you decided to finally take the plunge.

In my case, I joined as soon as I found this place since I had questions I couldn’t find answers to and people here seemed friendly and knowledgeable. I never imagined that I would read and post as regularly as I do, but I’m really glad I found this place.

I lurked to research the basics about what was out there before eventually taking the plunge about a year ago after I started putting Mai together. There are so many negative stereotypes around dolls that there's just no way to talk about them other than online.

Anecdotally, it's pretty hard to find good info about Azone and Obitsu-based dolls that aren't Angel Philia, so I'm glad this forum exists. I've tried my best to post all my findings, so others don't make the same mistakes I did getting started.

When I first stumbled across the forum I used it mainly as a resource to learn more about vinyl dolls. I've had an interest in dolls prior to that, although it was mainly concentrated on playline dolls. Coming from there, all these big vinyl ladies sure looked impressive!

The thing is, I kind of feel like I can be a little too impulsive sometimes. 

So, I decided to lurk on the sidelines for a bit, wait and see if my interest in these dolls persists and well.. eventually, I made an account, so you can probably guess what happened! Now, I just enjoy interacting with fellow doll collectors, keeping up with news, etc., and it's a lot of fun!

None of my friends are very interested in my doll collecting hobby. My girlfriend is extremely supportive, will let me ramble for hours on end, and even shop with me sometimes! But it's nice to be able to have mutual discussions with people who are equally as interested as I am. I thought it would be nice to try and make some friends with people who loved the hobby just as much as I do. I've collected playline dolls for years, but that whole community is... it's own bag of worms. I've distanced myself from other people as I've aged. I was bored the other day, and decided to just search up vinyl forums, and viola. Here I am!

I wanted to join a community where I could get tips, share some if I had them, and also of course, share dolls with each other!
I've found so many more companies here that I didn't know of before. It's a great resource, and I wanted to use it :3

I had another friend who is also into Dolfie’s suggest the forums when I bombarded her with a bunch of questions 🤣🤣 had no idea this existed or I would have join way sooner. I mostly had been lurking on Dolfie Dream Facebook pages. Overall though I wanted more friends that are into dolls.

Within a couple of months I’ve already gotten my first two Dolfie heads, this is a dangerous place for sure.

Actually the reason is somewhat selfish.

I started with figure collecting and wanted to get into the BJD’s I saw on photo’s. After some years I ordered my first BJD from Doll Chateau, Smartdoll Kizuna followed very soon after.

Most people around me know about me collecting figures but my interest in BJD’s I kept as an secret for most people. To put it simple: I don’t want to be judged by others for collecting BJD’s. I have tried out how people would react to BJD’s and shared a photo of a BJD with one person I trusted. Later finding out she made fun of it towards my brother who informed me. Now I know that the world isn’t ready to accept me liking dolls and I see that as their problem and not mine. But also I won’t mention them in my daily life. I am glad I can share it online without people close to me finding out.

I wanted to join a BJD community where I can share my hobby with other people who share the same interest. At first I thought that DOA was a good start but I couldn’t find my way there. After ordering Kizuna by Smartdoll land I registered here to communicate with others that have the same type of dolls. And now I am posting this reply about how I came here.

And I hope that I can be around here for a long time. Simply because I like the easy going atmosphere here. 

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Rajke

Years ago I got inmediately hooked with Dollfie Dreams after I saw Kos-mos doll when I was looking for pvc and action figures from Xenosaga.

For that time, unfortunately, I was not economically capable of getting a Dollfie dream. Time passed and finally I got a good job and bought her. The problem was I didn't know anything about this hobby (e.g. mandarake) and at the same time I was very afraid to lose her, so I took the risk and paid a really high price for her that even today hurts to remember. The good news is I got her but, in order to avoid another similar situation that could potentially kill my wallet, and to know more about caring and maintenance, I joined to this community.

Since then, my family grew and here I am, still obsessed on acquiring accesories, care tools and outfits for my four babies and checking out the forums from time to time.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Pit

I joined cause I always find it neat to be able to share your interests with people who also have the same interests. Plus there is a wealth of knowledge to be found when you have questions. Especially when it's something new that you've never dabbled in before which was my case. I landed here cause I liked the look of the place and it didn't seem like there was a lot of "drama". Also considering the doll ( now plural) I had, I needed to get a feel for how the members reacted to those who had the same dolls.

So far I am glad I chose this forum. You all seem pretty chill and I'm really glad I get to share and participate where I can.

I don't think I lurked too long before joining. Without looking, I can't recall even when I did join. I joined for the sense of community. Bit old fashioned on my part, but I've always been more partial to forums than Facebook groups. It feels like the sort of 'blink' and you miss it, and here you can read things at your own pace or use the search function and actually have it work (yes, I'm talking to you, Facebook!) 😄

I lurked for a bit just because... I'm shy. 🤣 Well, it's a little deeper than that, but it would be oversharing to say more. This community seems pretty chill and generally kind, so it eased some of the fears I had. I also pondered joining Den of Angels because I have an interest in getting a BJD in the future, but I'm sure I don't need to talk about how much negative press DoA has.

I just spent 2 hours remembering how I made my original signature photo (from when I only had 2 dolls), then 1 hour updating it. Doll collecting is dangerously addictive.

mods: if my new .sig is excessive I will (a) sell some dolls or (b) go back to the drawing board.

noobs/lurkers: below is how this hobby can escalate 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.

I've bounced around a few doll communities, but I joined this one specifically because I love vinyl dolls and forums! Discord and Facebook groups just can't capture that forum energy, and they certainly can't capture the searchability of a forum that's been around for a while like this one - I've learned so much more about vinyl here than I would have if I hadn't joined. I'm very grateful for that. 😊

I lurk more on forums than I contribute, honestly, which doesn't help much since by nature I am a bit shy, but I joined so I could be involved with any discussion on releases, discussions, projects (especially when hybrids and such is concerned... I do have a bit of a Sid streak for my dolls, oops), and for general information.

I am on Den of Angels for more resin-focused dolls (I'm Epona there, too), but I am interested in far more than just specific resin bjds and Volks 1/3 Dollfies, so information & discussion is usually quite limited beyond the off topic sections for other dolls 😅 I can't really talk or post too much about my 1/6 obitsus and azones there, for example! 

...That and as someone who grew up playing neopets & gaiaonline... forums are very nostalgic and familiar. I am a "Gen-Z/millennial cusp" so my little micro-generation is probably one of the last to really grow up using classic forums... reddit has endured but it has a very different vibe/feel to it. But I do enjoy back-and-forth discussion on forums like DoA & Dolldreaming, especially since the closest social media that captures that is... I don't know, what, facebook? Forums memorialize things better for reference purposes and instagram is far more fleeting engagement. 

I signed up to learn more about the different vinyl bjd's that are available. My first and only doll is a Smart doll. I was wanting to expand my collection and after shopping for outfits for my SmD I was confused with all the DD, SD13, DDdy, DDS that would crop up in the descriptions. A lot of the searches I did for pics on the different dolls would send me here so I decided to not be a lurker.

I also enjoy been part of forum communities as I'm not a huge fan of social media like facebook and twitter.