doll owners in the uk?

*puts hand up* Present!

i know there are plenty of UK'ers on this board, I guess we're all hiding under the bed XD

 

I'm from the UK

 

I am. Still. I've only just got back into things again but it's nice to see some more of us about

 

I am *waves*, I go to a regular meet in Manchester too where I met a lot of my dolly friends!

 

I'm from the UK too! ^^
Down in the South West ~

I'd love to meet other UK dolly people and make new friends ~

 

I'm in the UK too

 

Yorkshire girl born and bred! But I'm back and forth to Norfolk for work XD I agree we need more UK representatives haha

 

I’m U.K. based! I’d love a proper convention here but don’t see it happening any tome soon. I’d organise one if I wasn’t rubbish at organising and working all the time. XD

 

I live in the UK too, more specifically in Scotland. I don't think there are any meetups here up north, but I know of some meets in London - haven't found time for the journey there yet, though.

 

Another Yorkshire girl here, I did used to work with someone who had bjd but she moved to Canada, went to Rosadoll in Leeds, just looked and it was 2011 so that is further back than I thought.

 

South East here.I haven't been to the London meets for years although I did use to go. Travelling up to town is always so tiring with the traffic and congestion charges (for the car) and the crowds ( trains) even though it's not that far distance wise for me. I'm always up to talking to other UK people online though!

 

*raises hand and waves madly* Here, here, here! South West, aka Bristol here.

 

Another UK(London) member here. There are loads of us in the UK there's a regular London meet as well as others in other areas of the country too.

Teddy

 

*raises hand* Brit here! Way down in the south east where...apparently no other doll people live. Haven't been to a meet or con in years and no one seems to advertise them anymore, but there are definitely plenty of Brit collectors even if we are a dying breed.

 

I'm based in the south east too! Man, I'd love to go to a meet up/con some day within the country (being a broke uni student means no international travel rip).

 

I'm kinda hoping for a con or something soon, I haven't been to a meet or seen a doll not owned by my doll friends in person in years!

 

I am from the South in the U.K. Pretty quiet where I live too. A UK bjd convention would be great!

 

Hello there! I'm from the East Midlands, just raising my head again after a whole decade!

 

I'm also UK bound, I live near manchester but I didn't know they had meets there. Sadly I don't own any dolls so I can't go to any events. I would like to though.

 

Welcome back!

Shouldn't stop you - it's an ideal way to get to see and handle dolls to get an idea of what might work for you.

Teddy

 

I’m in UK - Essex. I’m a newbie and yet to choose a doll. At present I keep dipping into the site every chance I get because I can’t wait to get started.

 

I'm from the Midlands - in the hobby for four years and never been to a doll meet or even met another collector in person I kept telling myself I was going to try to get to the Manchester one this year but I still haven't made it. Driving up is a bit daunting and the train scares my wallet, lol! It would be nice to have a hobby friend or two, especially given that I am totally in the closet regarding my dolls irl!

 

I can understand that!

I usually try for cheaper advance fares if I know enough in advance when a meet or other event will be. The disadvantage being that you're tied to travelling on a particular train so can't rely on getting the next one if you miss it.

Not that I ever got around to going to one of the Manchester meets, but I've been to a fair few of the London ones. Fewer, now they've moved to Facebook (which I don't do) so I forget about them until it's too late more often than not these days. And I've been to meets in Felixstow, Ipswich, Leicestershire, and Wales (although I got a lift to the Welsh ones).

Teddy

 

I'm going to London in December with a friend and she arranged the train tickets - I actually asked her what kind of witchcraft she was using because I can never seem to find reasonable fares! Leicestershire would be great for me as I'm not far from Leicester and know it well - and last time I was in Birmingham I went to a geek cafe which is actually geared towards tabletop gamers but would be pretty ideal for a doll meet as there's nice big tables and all they ask is that you buy drinks or food every so often.

 

If I were you, I'd keep an eye on the meets thread for any that you could reasonably reach. You could post a question there asking abotu other people and meetsin your area too.

Also, as you get to know more people on the forum here, you might get invited to a small meet at someone's home, or could host one yourself.

Other than the London meets, most of the meets I go to are smaller ones in people's homes, and ones I've hosted myself at home.

And then there are what I call "dolly days" where I arrange to get together with a doll friend or two (not always "local", some are several counties away) so we can chat, dolly-geek to our hearts content, play with our dolls, and/or work on doll projects.

Teddy

 

*wave* I'm UK based - SE Wales. Also too skint for the train...

 

Yeah, I'll have to keep an eye out on the meet ups forum - sadly I couldn't host a meeting unless everyone wanted to see just how many dolls could be destroyed with a single swipe of an excitable dog's tail!

 

I'm from the UK! London to be exact!
I'm super new, so glad there are many doll owners in the UK!

 

They're lovely. I've been going to their meets (off and on) since back in the days they were a DoA group (went to their Christmas one last Saturday, in fact). I don't do Facebook, so am not as in touch with them as I used to be before they moved there but I still hear about their meets and they're a friendly and welcoming bunch of people.

Teddy

 

Ooh thanks for that info Teddy I’m going to look them up.

 

I'm from the UK and will be attending the meet in Manchester on the 26th. I don't really have any dolly friends yet, but hope to make some. PM me if you fancy chatting about your dolls XD

 

*waves*

I'm a uk collector, been going to the London meets on and off for the last year. They are an absolutely lovely bunch of people.

I'm always up for a dolly chat if you want to PM

 

That sounds amazing! Is there a meet in London?

 

Yeah they meet up once a month

As sceneyboo69 and Teddy mentioned they are called the Pygmalion Society on Facebook

If you're new and want to chat feel free to drop me a PM.

 

I'm also UK based and am curious about meets too. Thanks for the facebook group recommendation

 

Does anyone know if there are any meets or groups in the south east/London and not based on facebook, please?

 

There undoubtedly are - but possibly no regular ones formally organised and puiblicly announed on DoA (or not ones that I'm aware of, though I could easily be wrong about that) but people occasionally host smaller meets at their homes.

I hosted a very small one on January 5th, for example - smaller than expected, actually as, of the dozen people expected, only six actually made it on the day (due to various reasons such as illness and family commitments).

However, you'd probably only get to hear about those types of meet if you already knew the people involved, as they're usually arranged among groups of friends and by email and/or by individual messages (or on smaller/more "local" forums) rather than by public announcements here on DoA.

My advice would be to keep an eye on the meets threads to see if any are put up for an area that you can get to.

Teddy

 

Looks like I'm out of luck then! Do you happen to know of any of the local forums at all? I wasn't aware of any UK forums still up?

 

The only UK one I'm on is Dolly Rocket, but it's very low-traffic these days and hasn't organised a meet in some time.

Teddy

 

Ahh, that's a shame, it's members only too so I guess the southeast UK community is just not into meets much anymore. Thanks anyway!

 

Waves wildly .. I am new and live in Midlands of UK Warwickshire. Would love to get to a meet up will have to look out for the Leicester one as I am closer to that one. Be lovely to see every ones doll in person and meet people

 

I'm in Leicestershire, so not far. I've been trying to pluck up the courage to go to the Manchester meet for about...oh... four years! Welcome to the forum

 

I'm from the East Midlands too, Nottinghamshire-Derbyshire-Leicestershire-ish (yes it's really that complicated). We tried to get a Nottingham meet arranged last year but unfortunately I think lives got in everyone's way.

 

Nottingham would work for me - less of a pricey train journey - I drive but I'm not a fan of driving into cities - or paying for city centre parking, lol. Birmingham has a geek cafe though which could work as a venue - it actually is aimed at tabletop RPG players but the layout with large tables would work for dolls .

 

It happens - I had a dolly-day at my house in January and only half the people could get to it on the day due to family issues, and/or illness (nobody want's the be the plague-carrier that introduces the post-meet-crud etc.).

Teddy

 

thank you glad to be here I can drive but don't go far now a days would like to go Manchester but due to health cannot walk very far so bit worried about train but one of the day I might go. Nice to see a Leicestershire collector too

 

now that would be good...train straight to Birmingham from my little town

 

@Teddy it's nice that you have space to host a meet, and are kind enough to open your home up. But yeah, January can be a tough month for illness.

@Sheltie the Geek Cafe is sadly a bit of a trek from the train station - it's where Forbidden Planet used to be, if you know Birmingham at all. Not far from where FP is now. The Bullring is about halfway in-between so that could provide a stop-off point - although as that place is so massive, an on-street place might mean less walking!

 

There's method in my madness - If I'm the one hosting the meet, I don't need to pack up and transport my dolls to get to it....

Worth taking a cab, perhaps? Or sharing one, if more than one person arrives at the station at the same time?

Just thinking about things that have been done when I've travelled to get to meets. I'm lucky that I don't have any mobility isues (and being a librarian, I'm used to shifting heavy stuff around) so lugging a suitcase full of dolls on a train and walking from the nearest station isn't as much of a problem for me, but some people aren't as fortunate in that respect.

Teddy

 

I would as Teddy said get a taxi if a bit of a walk if they did have one there my flat is a bit small for meets as only got seats for three people hahaha

 

I'm trying to picture what route the taxi would take as the walking route is pedestrianised - 1.2 miles, 9minute walk according to Google maps.

We have a dog so my dolls don't even come downstairs. Guests have to be prepared to be slimed!

That's a good point that hosting means you don't have to pack or travel!

 

We have cats which can be a problem for people with allergies...

Sounds like you have the nucleus of a potential meet!

Teddy

 

@Teddy Yeah, although cats are less in your face than dogs, their fur does get everywhere!

I'm not the most organised of people but I suppose when I have some time I could start a thread...

 

Another London bod checking in although I'm not really a collector yet.

What are doll meets like? If I don't own a doll, is it ok to come along and just hang out, & (respectfully!) Check out what others have brought?

 

The meets vary a little depending on who's orrganised it, where it is held (public place, hired venue, private home etc.) who turns up, whether there's a theme (usually not compulsory but it can be fun to dress your dolls/you to match the theme) etc. etc. etc.

In general, it's just a bunch of people getting together with their dolls to hang out, chat, photograph the dolls, etc. And usually it's fine to come along if you haven't received your first doll yet. I havn't been to any meets where that would have been a problem.

I don't know if it will help, but here' the photo's I took at the most recent meet I managed to get to in London (Christmas):
Dolls - Pygmalion Christmas Party 15Dec2018

I hosted a small Dolly-Day at my place in Wimbledon in January, but didn't get around to taking any pictures - that was just five of us (and one non-BJD doll enthusuast) sat around my livingroom chatting, hauling out boxes of clothes and wigs to try on dolls, and doing a bit of restringing.

Teddy

 

Cheers! It helps to know what kind of thing to expect. In particular, I really want to see some dolls in real life before committing - im super risk averse, they're expensive, you have to make decisions based on the internet rather than viewing things irl - so it'd be nice to meet some humans & their resin buddies first

 

I’m in the West Midlands. Hi!