Yes, I am really curious about that. It’s not a ‘common’ thing in this world, and here I found lots of doll lovers and it feels like a good, safe community.
How did you get into dolls? I kind of answered that for my in the linked post below, so I don’t have to copy/paste the whole thing:
Please come back here after reading, and share what made you walk this way.
I’d appreciate it.
I’ll share some of my story. I’m almost 40y old now. After my wife passed away (yes, she was still very young) I struggled quite a lot. I tried many things to keep myself busy or motivated. Turns out I really enjoy the way dolls bring joy into my house. It is nice walking into a room, seeing the doll in changing outfits. To be clear, it was never meant to replace my wife, it just happens to be something that worked. Not sure how I got to the point of trying a doll though. One other thing that stuck is 3D printing, for now those are the only two things I keep doing from everything I tried to keep myself busy. Obviously, the doll provides some perks my printer cannot 
And like you I’m not the most extrovert or outgoing person, so I tend to stick with things that provide me rest. Other people can be quite exhausting sometimes.
Edit: And now that I come to think about it more, it actually helped me to find some peace again.
I’m so sorry to learn that your wife passed away so (too) young. But glad to see that your doll gives you the peace that people don’t/can’t. That’s important.
I know how that feels now. I have lots of hobbies but some feel a bit pointless without an audience (like playing the harp, which yes, I try to do). Having Isabella sit there and listen (or ignore me haha) makes such a difference.
Thank you for sharing. I wish you many happy hours with your peace-maker. 
She’ll save you a pace-maker.
I’m an introvert like you, and I despise most of the typical ways of meeting people (parties, events, striking up conversations with random people, etc). I don’t have great social skills, so I don’t really know how to make friends, let alone “more than just friends” situations. On top of that, I’m gay, so that automatically eliminates 90% of the “dating pool.” The only way for an introverted gay man to meet men is through apps, and as anyone who has ever used dating apps before will tell you, they’re fucking awful. I never got anywhere meaningful with apps, since most users aren’t my type physically, and of the few that are, most want nothing to do with me. What little success I did have all ended with my feelings getting hurt. Actually, my dating app woes in combination with my lack of friends resulted in me spending 5 days in a psych ward when I was 19.
Anyways, one night I randomly remembered the Davecat episode of “My Strange Addiction,” and I was curious to know if male sex dolls existed. I was surprised to learn that they do exist at a somewhat affordable price, although most aren’t my type. After searching around, I finally found vendors that actually take male dolls seriously (I swear most vendors think Irontech is the only brand that makes them 
), and I found some cuties that gave me that tingly feeling down there 
I had read about the companionship that dolls could provide, and I figured I had nothing to lose; so, I saved up and ordered. I also realized that a doll is a good fit for me because I honestly don’t want a committed, “dating-to-marry” relationship, but I also don’t want meaningless hookups with random guys who don’t care about me or my feelings. My dolls let me feel the connection I crave without expecting me to make commitments that I can’t handle. Plus, they’re damn gorgeous and don’t lie to me 
That’s fantastic, JMac. So glad for you that you found the right one(s) for you. Indeed. I always weasel out from parties too. They’re scary.
And you’re right: nothing left to lose (except the money if the doll doesn’t work for you). Which was quite the opposite. Dolls are real and honest, compared to many (most) humans. The good real people usually are taken or not reachable. Dolls are.
Keep loving.
The short answer is I just wanted to be close to something feminine. I’m from a very Mayberry kind of town. Not a lot of women. I was looking for a Christian woman who didn’t want and didn’t have children. I’ve learned that’s an oxymoron. I could travel 2 hours and find someone but that’s two much. So after being single for 10 years, I needed something. I started looking for vendors and found a brick and mortar store in Canada. Millie was in stock and a week later she was home. She is my first quality doll. I’ve had so much fun dressing her up and putting her in different clothes. I started having driving anxiety and she has been a welcome distraction. She gives me something to look forward to on the weekends and when I get home. A year later after getting Millie I got Abigail. Those girls have been very therapeutic. I’m not as lonely as I used to be. But I do know that a real human relationship is better than our dolls. Well a healthy human relationship. And I need to stress healthy.
I’ll take the question as wanted/needed a TPE/silicone love doll (as I’d already had blow up dollies.)
I remember back in 2016, I was thinking about changing my car to a Jaguar XE. Then I randomly (not sure how it happened) ended up on the Real Love Sex Dolls website (Austin, Texas vendor.) I was blown away by the beautiful dolls, and fell in love with their Aniyah model (WM140A + RLSD 61 head). I was super curious about these dolls and that’s why I bought one - curiosity more than anything.
Aniyah the 1st wasn’t a super success (I have Aniyah the 3rd with me now). Her 2016 TPE smelt awfully chemically - so bad she gave me headaches - but she was a decent shag (if you throw away the insert - the insert was effing useless.) Not sure how long I had her, maybe 1 year, then I had nothing for a few years.
Then came C0vid, and in 2021 I returned to dolls again. Not totally sure why, I think it was all this being couped up - “you must stay at home”, “you cannot be within 2 metres of another human being”, “you must wear a stupid flimsy mask” - that made me decide to try dolls again, and it’s kind of blown up from there 
.
Of course, nothing beats real human, but if you can’t find that and you need ‘someone’, then you did the right thing. Like I did.
I’m happy for you that you found your girls to get your anxiety under control (if I read this well).
Maybe you will someday run into the right woman. I hope so for you. Until then, you’re not alone.
Ouch. Headaches from the smell sounds horrible. I can imagine that turned you off.
Glad you got better smelling dolls after that. It’s fun, though. Looking for a Jag and coming home with a doll. Rabbit hole anyone? 
Well more accurately, I got my girls to get rid of the loneliness. But the added benefit was the anxiety went down as well. Lol. Yeah I didn’t see that coming. The girls led to the Forums, the forum led to like-minded people, I was able to share my vulnerabilities about driving anxiety which of course we can talk about things they get better. And the girls gave me an added distraction when I couldn’t ride my motorcycle anymore. I actually had to sell it and that was a not a good day. Well leading up to the decision to sell it was not a good 2 years. But that’s a whole another story all together. Good news is the driving anxiety has gotten better.
You really had a rough time. Distraction is important then. I could’ve done with a doll long time ago, when I was in the dumps (own little company and business partner ran off with all the money, leaving me with debts and orders to be finished).
Glad you feel better when driving. Keep it going, slow and steady.
Where do Í start? I’m new to the doll companionship. Companionship i’ve been doing ìt about a year ì think, thàt ís when Mỹ search began, my girlfriend and ì part ways, she would always come to Mỹ home and she would stay 2 to 3 days, and she would clean house, things was going well, until her family and friends started talking about marriage, ì think that hạs broken her brain, she would bring ìt up all the time. So, she Married someone a month later, ì think ít was arranged, because she was always around me, accept at the temple, ì would go maybe 3 to 5 times a year, Í was busy making the money, ì Just happened to see an ad on Facebook about a final fantasy dóll 
After that the dóll search began, check in the forms to see some factory pictures of dolls because the pictures just looked too good to be real. First dóll was a Đóll Castle, and the second dóll Real Lady she looked just like Mỹ passed girlfriend, accept hair is black and she’s a little taller. Í guess I was lucky because I didn’t have to buy clothes because she left a lot of her clothing here, now ì am little afraid of dating because ì would have to get rid of all mỹ dólls 
, one of my daughters visited the other day, ì had to hide the ladies, ì was very glad they don’t have keys, because they will tell their mother 
when ì leave the house to take pictures Í use the app find my family to know wear ís the family so Í know when to leave and return
That’s quite a story. Did your former girlfriend also talk about marriage? Or was that only her family and friends? So sad that she left you over what they said. And a month before she married someone else, yes, that does sound arranged.
I understand about your dating worry. The ladies do become part of your life quickly, don’t they? Isabella is here only since 6 months and… I would hate having to let her go.
Good luck dealing with your family. Sounds as if you are in a difficult situation with them. It’s good no one has keys so they have to let you know when they come. Then you can hide the ladies, even when it’s sad you have to do that. The world doesn’t understand.
Thank you for your comment, truly appreciated. You are safe here.
I got rid off my first dolls partially because of the same fear of something walking into them. And also because the first one was like @Hunt_the_Shunt , a not so very good TPE one. The second one was much better but was damaged very quickly because of inexperience. So I got rid of them. But I kept being drawn back, exploring vendor sites, joining forums eventually. Meanwhile my family does not check up on me that frequently anymore and one of my other “keep busy” projects was home automation and security, so no one can get in unexpected anymore
I don’t really care what other people think about it, it is more that they probably would not understand, mislabel it, draw the wrong conclusions, … and I do not want to put in the effort to explain it.
But I get that if you want to start dating again, it may become a bit of a problem.
I have my first doll on order right now but in the past every couple years when I was single I have thought about dolls and looked around a bit. Just searching the internet and looking at a few vendors. They appealed to me for I guess the obvious reasons, attractive faces and bodies. I like women, and that’s what they are designed to replicate (as well as men and trans for people with different preferences). Not living and breathing, lacking many human qualities sure but the shape is there and apparently the touch isn’t miles off either so that’s pretty good. Plus they do have a couple advantages over a real woman. So things just finally lined up with my living situation and patience wise as well with the long order times. I looked around to see if there was any dolls that were attractive enough to me to be worth the cost and it turns out there are. So I ordered the one I found the hottest all around because visual appeal is a big part of it for me. I personally don’t want my doll to be a permanent replacement for human companionship but more like a cool thing to have fun with at this convenient time.
Great way to get through this stage of your life, DI. I think we’re very lucky to have this doll option to lift us over whatever is lacking in real life. And that we can afford that option, indeed.
Interesting bit here. How do you “get rid” of a doll this size? They’re not something you dump in the bin and the garbage collectors take it away just like that…
That is exactly how it happened (for the second), you bend them in a yoga position, zip tie bag around it and in the garbage container they went. The first one I cut into pieces, the second I got smarter and just bended until it fitted.
That must have taken some bending, but cutting up a doll… Can’t imagine how hard that is!
All right so this is an interesting topic and I’ve told a couple of people that have asked me about this a while ago.
When I was a teenager I used to spend many of nights playing Xbox and watching e-network late at night when Howard Stern’s radio show was on and adult content like that.
I remember one night in particular where they had the owner of abyss creations on their donating a real doll to Howard and the realism was uncanny. As a Young Man I thought it was pretty cool. Build a chick to your liking etc etc. but of course no one’s going to pay $7,000 living in the Midwest. But it was always in the back of my mind especially when comedy Central and e kept pushing it to you. When I joined the military I would still look at the hobby and see different variations of dolls that were being made. But of course traveling with a real doll or something that size is just didn’t work. One day I just so happened to stumble on JM dolls and their 65 cm models and had to pick one up. Since then between the mix being a bit of a traveler and then just realizing how convenient The minis were I just ended up picking up a few.
They still provide the companionship and fun it’s just less to carry. Do I have my dream full size dolls of course and when I get to the point where I can have a spot to set them up and relax they’ll be there. But right now the minis work.
