Something I just don't get (family support for collectors)

[lucybelle]

My mom and I agree with your opinions. I used to feel VERY embarrassed with myself that I still cllect dolls but now in upper-level high school, I don't care as much. I don't go around blabbing it to every guy I see butI don't feel so ashamed and weird about it, either. I decided to confess my "secret" to a couple friends in art class and then one of the girls turned around and said, "Oh, yeah, I remember those, my friend's mom loves them." And another girl at dance who is a couple years younger than me said that her sisters and herself had seven! So, now I enjoy them more than ever, even more than when I was within the expected age for playing with them. And, you know, I think the money spent on my dolls is worth more that my older brother's obsessive collectionon video games ever will be! Ash. Plus, dolls last while games run out fast!

[TrvlLin]

I do think it's sad when families don't support one another in their individual pursuits, so long as it's not unhealthy, illegal, causing financial difficulty, or in general hurting anyone else. My husband certainly doesn't "get" dolls, but, he actively supports my collection as I support his love of Swarovski, expensive sports gear, kiddie cars, etc. Our hobbies and interests are part of what makes each of us unique!

This board must feel like a lifeline to those who don't have interested families, and I'm so glad it's here, especially for them. Sometimes we just need to share, and this is a great place to do that!! Lin

[kamakajr]

This is a great post. I am an adult collector of AG but I also have 3 DDs, so its not so bad for me to justify my interest in AG. We, like all of you probably, have way too much AG (dolls, clothes, furniture, accessories)in our house. I don't broadcast our love for AG to anyone, since some of the girls we know don't play with AG and many of the girls we know who do play with dolls would be unable to afford AG anyway. It would be hard on their families with both parents working and struggling to pay the bills, to support an $$$expensive hobby like ours. Let's face it--AG doesn't always work in everyone's budget.

Its easy to share my hobby with everyone on this Board because you all understand the value of an AG collection. Its hard to explain to anyone else what the big deal is, so I avoid it altogether. Otherwise, it seems frivolous to them. If people come to our house and comment on our AG collection, I say, "oh these old things...", LOL! And that's the end of that.

[Felicity_Fan85]

I would ask for AG stuff for xmas from my parents- but I dunno if they would buy themb/c they are kinda pricey. My buys me a couple things but normally they are things like my Felicity ornament. I want Felicity's Christmas dress and also I want Kirsten. Felicity will allways be my favorite AG but Kirsten is my 2nd fave so I would love to get her too. and also to finish out my collection of "_____ saves the Day" books- I have all Felicity's books, Meet Josefina, Kirsten Saves the Day, Addy Learns a Lesson and Addy Saves the day, Meet Samantha, happy B-day Samantha, samantha saves the day and Molly Saves the day. I just need Josefina saves, Kit saves, and Kaya's summer story... then I'll have all the saves the day books at least. and I would ask my friends but nobody has money to buy that stuff and some of them might think I'm too immature to still like AG. that and I think at least 12 of my friends would have to chip in so they would only have to pay $7.50 for a doll.

but... does it count as a gift if you buy a doll with money u got from relatives for xmas/bday?

[lscogbill]

I don't know why people think AG is childish when there are tons of adults collecting Barbie dolls and Lee Middleton baby dolls. Besides, I live in a state where thousands of men will be getting up before dawn tomorrow to go sit in flooded rice fields hoping to shoot a migrating mallard. And you wouldn't believe how much money THEY spend on this "hobby."

[christhedolllady]

I was a "closet collector" until I found the board. I did a search for AG dolls and a woman had posted pictures of her AG collection on her website. I emailed her to thank her for sharing her collection as I thought I was the only grown-up who enjoyed these dolls. She emailed me back that I wasn't alone and included a link to you guys. Now I'm very happy in my doll madness.

DH supports my hobby and my mom to a certain extent. Though, my mom has bought so many "collector" dolls she now has a village.

[PrincessRuthie]

Originally posted by Dreaming_of_Dolls:
EVERYONE I know thinks I am too old for dolls, and I am not even a teenager yet! Even my doll-collecting grandmother who has tons of ugly porcelain dolls (okay, maybe one or two are cute) doesn't support it. I have tryed to explain to my mom that it is my hobby, my fun thing that I love to do, but she just says that it is a very expensive hobby. Although, she does continue to buy me AG things, thank goodness, because otherwise I couldn't get them. My mom does like some AG things (such as the historical dolls' dolls [img]smile.gif[/img] ). But what bugs me is that for the past few years, I have been putting AG outfits (even listing the ones I like) and AG gift cards on my Christmas and birthday wish lists, and NOBODY in my extended family has EVER bought me anything AG. They've never even said anything about it. It's like when they got the email with my wish list, they just deleted the part that said, "American Girl Gift Cards and Outfits." I am thankful that I have a mom who at least is willing to buy me AG things on occasion (sp?), but I just wish that somebody else in my family understood why I like them so much.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">YES! This is me. No one in my extended family understands my doll collecting. As far as they're concerned, I should've given up the dolls when I started middle school. I'm halfway done with high school, now, and I'm still collecting! I took dolls to Disney World last Christmas, with my cousins probably ridiculing me the entire time! My godsister is a freshman in college, and she has banished her Samantha to her mom's room. She may understand my collecting a little more, but not too much. My great aunt told me that I was getting too old for dolls. My other aunts don't say anything, but they are either too poor or they don't approve of my collecting to buy me anything. My dad was beginning to understand, but since he died, I don't have him to buy for me. I only have my mom, my dad's SS, and sometimes my grown cousin to buy me AG stuff. Mostly, I'll get AG stuff from my mom and cousin during Christmas and my birthday (which are about a month apart!). The rest of the year I can use a little from my dad's money to buy something small.

I will always have the support of my mother, though, because she loves dolls just as much as I do. [img]smile.gif[/img]

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I drooled over the catalogs for several years (when I was in my 30's and 40's). I finally broke down and asked for Josefina for Christmas when I suddenly realized that grown men play with trains, so it must be ok for grown women to play with dolls. And just for the benefit of this discussion, the train set-ups that they can collect and build can cost just as much as our doll things do--or more.
Joy