I collected dolls for years and none of my close friends have any idea at all and now I feel awkward bringing it up 10 years later because I have a big collection and they’re on display 😅 I did however meet my first doll collector friend at work last month and its so fun having someone to talk about dolls with! My family didn’t understand me or my collection at all for years but just this week my brother said how great it was that I had a hobby that I love and my mum visited me and discussed my collection and which were my favourites etc 😁 I’ve brought a rainbow high doll on trips with me but I was too shy to take her outside my room in the hotel but I definitely want to get back into photography so at some point soon I’ll try to take some baby steps to feel more confident with them in public. Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts on this topic Kyla! I hope more people are able to freely enjoy their hobbies without fear of judgment 😊
Edit to add: when people ask me my hobbies I always say painting and sewing but what I really mean is painting doll faces and accessories and sewing them new clothes 😂 I don’t care about fashion on myself but I just love redressing my dolls!
I was the same way! I never stopped loving my dolls and all through my teen years and beyond I still asked for them for gifts and was always looking for them at thrift stores. And as each of my friends decided to get rid of their dolls as they grew up they gave them to me knowing that I'd love them and take care of them. I do still play with them sometimes like I did as a little girl, (it's good to escape the troubles of adulthood sometimes) but I've definitely moved more towards fixing them up and making them lots of different outfits to wear while on my shelves. I do have to rotate them because of just how MANY I have amassed over the years, but this has been something I've done literally my entire life and I've gained other people's collections as well, so of course there's alot of them. Like you said, sometimes when people see my collections they think "oh you're so spoiled you have everything" and that's not true. Majority of my dolls were cast offs and thrift rescues. The most I or anyone in my family has ever paid for any doll in my ENTIRE life is a maplelea doll I bought last year as a late Christmas gift to myself. She was 80 dollars. Like you I've been blessed with a family who understands my odd hobby and accepts it. My best friend (who I call my sister) isn't a doll person at all but she gets excited for me when I find something I'm hyped about and will listen to me rattle on about them. 😊 I'm very grateful to have people around me who don't judge me for it, and as such I have an insane amount of confidence in talking about them to other people.
I've found that people generally find it easier to accept adults collecting toys that are targeted at boys, so when people give me a "that's kinda weird" reaction to my doll collecting, I remind them that my adult cousin collects Transformers, my friend's husband collects Legos and Funko pops, and my late grandpa spent his entire life collecting model trains and even started a successful model train parts company. I then point out that these things are not more "adult" than dolls and that as long as your hobby doesn't negatively affect others, it's perfectly fine and dandy. People often are swayed by these comparisons because they never really check themselves on why they dont think twice about some toy collections versus others.
I completely agree with what you're saying. I also have Aspergers or High-Functioning Autism and am a young adult IRL, and I always loved doll collecting. It just makes me happy and helps me deal with life somehow. I even have certain comfort dolls in my collection that feel like my doll daughters or even best friends to me. Doing doll photography and making things for my comfort dolls and taking care of them is very fun for me and really helps me deal with my anxiety, depression, and mental health. I got my first comfort doll in years when I was a teenager in 2013, and I got into and started casually collecting Monster High around 2014 or 2015. Then, after casually collecting dolls for a while, I fell in love with the Storm Twins (they are my personal comfort characters and a big special interest of mine) and Shadow High. I now own a complete Shadow High collection, 5 sets of Storm Twins, and a custom doll car that I made of their Jeep from the RH show. Being allowed to express myself and my love for the Storm Twins has been intensely freeing for me and my self-expression and has helped me find my self-confidence and inspired my art somehow. All of my doll content on any of my social media is things that I feel inspired to make, and most of it is very inspired by my personal comfort dolls and other favorite dolls in my collection. This video is very inspiring, and I hope that you have an amazing day!🖤💜
i love this vid!! this is great advice and it’s so sweet that your parents reacted that way
I love the raw and real Kyla. :) Thank you for always telling it like it is. :) You rock, Kyla!
I collected dolls for years and none of my close friends have any idea at all and now I feel awkward bringing it up 10 years later because I have a big collection and they’re on display 😅 I did however meet my first doll collector friend at work last month and its so fun having someone to talk about dolls with! My family didn’t understand me or my collection at all for years but just this week my brother said how great it was that I had a hobby that I love and my mum visited me and discussed my collection and which were my favourites etc 😁 I’ve brought a rainbow high doll on trips with me but I was too shy to take her outside my room in the hotel but I definitely want to get back into photography so at some point soon I’ll try to take some baby steps to feel more confident with them in public. Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts on this topic Kyla! I hope more people are able to freely enjoy their hobbies without fear of judgment 😊
Edit to add: when people ask me my hobbies I always say painting and sewing but what I really mean is painting doll faces and accessories and sewing them new clothes 😂 I don’t care about fashion on myself but I just love redressing my dolls!
I was the same way! I never stopped loving my dolls and all through my teen years and beyond I still asked for them for gifts and was always looking for them at thrift stores. And as each of my friends decided to get rid of their dolls as they grew up they gave them to me knowing that I'd love them and take care of them. I do still play with them sometimes like I did as a little girl, (it's good to escape the troubles of adulthood sometimes) but I've definitely moved more towards fixing them up and making them lots of different outfits to wear while on my shelves. I do have to rotate them because of just how MANY I have amassed over the years, but this has been something I've done literally my entire life and I've gained other people's collections as well, so of course there's alot of them. Like you said, sometimes when people see my collections they think "oh you're so spoiled you have everything" and that's not true. Majority of my dolls were cast offs and thrift rescues. The most I or anyone in my family has ever paid for any doll in my ENTIRE life is a maplelea doll I bought last year as a late Christmas gift to myself. She was 80 dollars. Like you I've been blessed with a family who understands my odd hobby and accepts it. My best friend (who I call my sister) isn't a doll person at all but she gets excited for me when I find something I'm hyped about and will listen to me rattle on about them. 😊 I'm very grateful to have people around me who don't judge me for it, and as such I have an insane amount of confidence in talking about them to other people.
I did see an article on that but haven’t looked into it yet
My cousins have that condition and my fathers brother had it as well.
This was an awesome video!! Loved everything you said and how you normalize adult collecting!! :)
Thank you!
I’m 38 years old and collect AG Dolls, I also take them out and take photos of them, two of them are heading to the US with me in hopefully February
I’m 42 and still collect dolls but I also play with them
I've found that people generally find it easier to accept adults collecting toys that are targeted at boys, so when people give me a "that's kinda weird" reaction to my doll collecting, I remind them that my adult cousin collects Transformers, my friend's husband collects Legos and Funko pops, and my late grandpa spent his entire life collecting model trains and even started a successful model train parts company. I then point out that these things are not more "adult" than dolls and that as long as your hobby doesn't negatively affect others, it's perfectly fine and dandy. People often are swayed by these comparisons because they never really check themselves on why they dont think twice about some toy collections versus others.
I completely agree with what you're saying. I also have Aspergers or High-Functioning Autism and am a young adult IRL, and I always loved doll collecting. It just makes me happy and helps me deal with life somehow. I even have certain comfort dolls in my collection that feel like my doll daughters or even best friends to me. Doing doll photography and making things for my comfort dolls and taking care of them is very fun for me and really helps me deal with my anxiety, depression, and mental health.
I got my first comfort doll in years when I was a teenager in 2013, and I got into and started casually collecting Monster High around 2014 or 2015. Then, after casually collecting dolls for a while, I fell in love with the Storm Twins (they are my personal comfort characters and a big special interest of mine) and Shadow High. I now own a complete Shadow High collection, 5 sets of Storm Twins, and a custom doll car that I made of their Jeep from the RH show. Being allowed to express myself and my love for the Storm Twins has been intensely freeing for me and my self-expression and has helped me find my self-confidence and inspired my art somehow. All of my doll content on any of my social media is things that I feel inspired to make, and most of it is very inspired by my personal comfort dolls and other favorite dolls in my collection.
This video is very inspiring, and I hope that you have an amazing day!🖤💜
Gotta watch the video later when I have time. Kyla, did you see that Mattel just released a blind Barbie doll???
Thank you!