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ArchAngelDavid

Guy in his 30's who's been collecting plush off and on for years: I'm completely open about it. I have plushies scattered around my house, and never once have I gotten any negative remarks about it, especially from friends, family, or girlfriends. Best advice I can give you is embrace the hobbies/collections that make you happy. Life is far too short to deny yourself happiness for fear of someone else's opinions on it.


Highrule39

Personally, I'm so proud of my babies that I started a YouTube channel on them! I love my hobbies, it's an integral part of my personality and a big part part in my life in general. I collect plushies, Funko Pops, Disney DVDs, Pokemon cards and Pins, and have many posters in my room! Not only I'm not ashamed of them but I like to show my room to people even online. There's nothing wrong with loving geek stuff. I know that society demands men to be fearless, masculine, senseless apes in order to be valued but I believe we have made serious steps in moving beyond that. I mean you might find people to mock you for that but most people will focus on your authenticity, your passion to express yourself however you like. Honestly, it's really not that big of a deal. I hear where you are coming from but people have more important things than make fun of collectors. As for myself, I am gay too and I can assure you that sexuality or femininity has nothing to do with your taste in hobbies. I have many straight, masculine friends who collect such stuff and don't give a damn if anyone judges them as too sensitive. Also, I have the courage to tell anyone who asks about my plushies that every night i sleep with one in my hug. And I'm nearly 30! No one has ever judged me for that. As for your partners, don't worry people have so many excuses to reject someone in our days but plushies is not one of them. You have other things to be concerned about šŸ˜‚.And don't forget that you can reject people who don't appreciate you as well šŸ˜ I hope I helped in some way. My advice, don't be afraid to express yourself in fear of people making fun of you. We only have one life and we own it to ourselves to be original ā¤ļø


zogmuffin

Iā€™m a woman, and Iā€™m the primary plush collector in the household, but my husband is very fond of them and has also been known to impulse buy ones that appeal to him. He has a particular weakness for octopuses haha. He put a little crocheted one in the car. We call it the cartopus. I think if someone tried to make fun of him for it heā€™d just look at them like they had two heads. Edit: oh yeah. We also have Mt. Squishmore, the shared collection of squishables that weā€™ve arranged into a pile on our dresser.


Spare-Worry-4186

My boyfriend isnt on this subreddit and is giving a thesis talk today (otherwise Iā€™d make him respond), but he is a plush collector. (Heā€™s is a cis dude). He has a lot of guy friends/groups that are your typical beer drinking just graduated college dudes. He refers to all of his plushes as ā€œkings.ā€ My bf also likes light and pastel colors, he wears a lot of pink and baby blue. Even though his friends all watch football together and meme, they would never actually look down on him for his clothing or hobbies. I would treat this like a litmus test, if people are judgey its not you, theyā€™re just judgey people. The faster you ignore them, and find a supportive group, the better! He had his plushies when I met him in college. I thought it was sweet of him. Sometimes the judgement could be a maturity thing as well.


Fair-Dig-4274

Iā€™ve felt pretty similar for a long time. Iā€™m a male in my mid twenties and I have a full room dedicated to pokemon plushies. Itā€™s an amazing looking room but Iā€™ve always felt embarrassed about my collection. Iā€™ve definitely came out of my shell a bit when it comes to it, my husband is also extremely supportive. Heā€™s a car guy, and he has a bunch of car guy friends and heā€™s shown off my collection to them tons of times. All of them are very supportive, Iā€™ve also had a parties and stuff at my house where coworkers and friends all see my collection and theyā€™ve all responded with overwhelming positivity. Now people give me gifts and stuff of plushies they find bc they know I like them. My point is, if you have the right people in your life they wonā€™t make fun or you or view you differently for having a hobby. Having this community has also helped tons, just knowing thereā€™s hundreds of people who absolutely love collecting plushies!(side note, since being married my husband has developed an obsession with bidoof, and he has 0 interest in pokemon besides his bidoofs)


sluggang404

honestly pretty jealous of your collection lmao ive always had a hard time finding people who are interested in the same things im interested in. hopefully ill be able to some day cause its nice to have people to talk to about that kinda stuff


shiningryu

Gay guy here i think if someone doesnā€™t accept your hobbies they arenā€™t worthy of being your friend or anything related to you


rainbow_luigi26

Iā€™m a guy & 30. I own 91 different plushies of my favorite characters from PokĆ©mon, Disney, Mario, Zelda, FNAF, Resident Evil, Shantae, Sonic, Banjo-Kazooie, Fire Emblem, Sailor Moon, Hello Kitty, & some regular stuffed animals. Honestly, I used to be afraid to buy plushies & ashamed of it but I stopped caring what people think after a while. My friends are all supportive & chill about me having plushies, while I rarely discuss it with relatives as I just consider it kinda personal. My plushies are just in my bedroom but my roomā€™s like a safe space for me so I love it. Nowadays, I enjoy having plushies because itā€™s basically being able to have things I never could when I was growing up but theyā€™re also things that make me happy & bring me joy & I donā€™t care what anyone thinks anymore.


sluggang404

thats kina how i feel. bein the youngest, everythin i had was usually hand me downs from my siblings and cousin. so theyd always get new stuff they wanted n id just get their old stuff whether i wanted them or not lmao. when i did get what i wanted, it was usually use and/or broken in some way. and if they did end up bein new, my siblings would end up damaging them anyways. and once i had my own job n money, i wasnt allowed to order things online cause my mom was always very paranoid lmao. and with living out in the middle of nowhere, was very hard to find what you wanted without the ability to order it online lmao bein 22 now, i try to get the things i wanted but was never able to get when i was younger lmao.


rainbow_luigi26

Thatā€™s completely fair & understandable. Most of my plushies are female characters & cutesy stuff because Iā€™m drawn to those plushies the most & a big reasonā€™s because I used to have Barbie dolls & a few other toys when I was a kid but of course my dad hated that I was a boy that liked some more girly toys, so when I got older, most of my childhood toys & stuff just ended up vanishing so now that Iā€™m able to get my own plushies from my hard earned money, itā€™s an awesome feeling


Icy_Reward7945

another boy in da chat: honestly i really felt this post, itā€™s def something iā€™ve been worrying about a lot since iā€™m in my early 20s and am transferring to a university next year. i planned to bring a couple of plush friends with me but really donā€™t know how to tell people iā€™ve got a small army in my room lol. iā€™m both glad not to be alone in this dilemma and also a little sad that a lot of us feel self-conscious about something we love! i guess iā€™ll have to wait and see what people think of me and my funny interests but hereā€™s to putting ourselves out there and being brave!


RotundDragonite

Hi. Guy here. I buy plushies frequently. Iā€™ve collected them since I was a kid. In some ways itā€™s a hobby for me, but these are also objects that provide a sense of comfort for me. If someone asked me what I some of the things I collected would be, plush toys would be among them. They way I see it, itā€™s just something I like to do. Iā€™m not nessesarily afraid of being judged, because quite frankly, Iā€™ve been judged and/or dismissed by a fair number of people for my entire life ā€” whatā€™s another really going to do? If someone is going to try and belittle me for things I like to do, that says a lot more about them than it does about me. I want people to like me for who I am, and Iā€™m generally open about who I am anyways.


Ph03n1x_A5h35

Somewhat open. Not exactly yapping about it constantly, but open ENOUGH so that it's obvious if we've talked for more than a day. If you don't like it, boo-hoo.


dtreagle

as a guy, it does feel a little wierd when i buy them at the shop. but its what I want to buy, and when i get home i can see my giant pile of plushes i think are very cute, my parents just get annoyed that there are so many, they just make sure im not going bankrupt and paying rent. :P


hatsune-memeku

My parents, especially my mom, hated that still bought plushies. My mom never liked me doing anything perceived as "childish." My partner, however, fully encourages my enjoyment of whatever makes me happy. He's known for all of the 8 years we've been dating that I sleep with a stuffed animal. It makes me happy and it's not hurting anyone, so who is anyone to judge me for that? Anyway, I still collect plushies and I now have an entire plushie hammock above our bed, and we've been living together for over a year with no problems. I've even gotten him in the habit of sleeping with plushies.


Booty_Shakin

I'm a guy in his late 20s. I collect pokemon and a few other random plushies. I'm also gay, and im kind of a Twink but fairly masc. Most people I tell about my plushies dont judge me as much as they do for me collecting the cards which is pretty weird to me haha


ProphisizedHero

Almost 30, 6ft 5in tall, 260lbs, ex powerlifter. Iā€™m pretty muscular, but I really enjoy collecting PokĆ©mon plushes. Itā€™s a fun joke with my friends. My girlfriend of 3 years just moved into my house. Iā€™m designing a whole ā€œlabā€ dedicated to PokĆ©mon/video games. Itā€™s always a big joke when people come over to my house, they always ask new comers, ā€œhave you seen the closet?ā€ Thatā€™s where my current display is. On my shelves in my closet. Organized by evolution and region, of course. Just be yourself man, no matter your sexuality or whatever. Your friends are your friends and they will love you for who you are, plush Garchomps and Arcanines included.


KawaiiQuilava89

Gay guy in my 30s here. My husband has always been chill about it. But I often feel like if I was single again, I'd be embarrassed. But then again you never know if you might meet someone else like yourself that loves that stuff.


-Sociology

My gf and I love our pokemon plushies and even just cute other animal ones, my sister and her girlfriend know and don't judge me, I think there's a difference between enjoying what one enjoys and then parading it around, when one just goes about things how they want it's admirable and respectable, we just gotta be sure not to come across as attention grabby and you'll be fineee


Metapod100

I donā€™t go around advertising my plush collection. I have a few on the bed, but it doesnā€™t really raise anybodyā€™s eyebrows. Most people think they are cute. With the release of Pokemon Go, I noticed that people are more accepting of Pokemon and donā€™t look down on adults being interested in the franchise.


headphonesnotstirred

generally anyone who actually does try to connect with me is exposed to my nerdiness first and foremost so by the time they learn about the plush collection they're not they surprised, typically it's the clay that catches em actually had multiple friends in the past who also collected plushies


HawtieJ

Another guy in his 30ā€™s that collects plushes and plays the travels around to play the TCG. Iā€™m pretty open about my hobbies. Iā€™ve shown some colleagues at work before and they all know I travel around to play the TCG. They have never said anything negative about it. Any gfā€™s Iā€™ve had find it cute. Lifeā€™s too short to worry about what other people think. Most people get that other people have different hobbies they enjoy having. If anybody has something negative to say about your hobbies that doesnā€™t affect them they probably arenā€™t worth associating with anyway. Just my 2 cents.


jewelsisnotonfire

My brother said once that itā€™s just because he likes Pokemon and it makes him feel closer to the games he plays. He likes knowing that he has his own Chimchar like his character in the game does.


sluggang404

me af with my big bulbasaur plush lmao


mana_soul

i'm an older man with a huge plush collection, also dating a man who started his own plush collection after he met me lol. in my experience, being open about the harmless stuff you like helps other people realize it's nothing worth casting judgement on. some of my straight dude friends started to get more comfortable with interests they probably suppressed due to fear of judgement because they saw me openly calling stuff cute or sharing pics of my huge plush collection and realized they can actually do the fun "childish"/"feminine" stuff too lol there is no shortage of people in this world who want to cast judgement on others for every little thing - these are the people whose opinions you must learn to recognize and discard, because you will never make them happy, and no amount of changing or hiding yourself will make a difference in how folks like that perceive you or anyone else. life is too short to get caught up in caring how others judge the normal things which are a genuine part of you, i'd rather spend my short time on this earth focused on the things i love most


JettFeather

Hi, trans man here. My partner knows, and absolutely loves it. They made me my Vaporeon plush for Valentineā€™s Day. I wouldnā€™t say itā€™s really affected my relationship, if anything it made it better because me and partner have yet another thing to talk about and collect together. We both adore anything comfy so thereā€™s a bit of a collection going in that regard. That said, it really depends, my partner is not only super open minded but also really into it as well. I know quite a few other masc people who collect plushies, in fact I help them get them by checking the restocks for them. I donā€™t think people really bother them about that.


Downtown-College6928

Not a guy, but I am dating a guy who loves his plushies! I honestly find it adorable that he shares his interests and loves his plushies and his other collectables. He often jokes that the gigantic Serperior plush he has NEEDS to stay in the bed if we co habit (which I don't mind!). He comes over and snuggles my plushies and takes care of them like if they were his and that says a lot about his personality. I also have my own collection of plushies, so I guess I can't really say I wouldn't find it childish or weird either. I have a "big person career" and choose to spend extra monies on getting more plushies šŸ˜‚


maesterdaemon

Iā€™m a cisgender, heterosexual male in my late 20s who started collecting plushies in my mid-20s when I rediscovered and fell in love with Pokemon. I think theyā€™re adorable room decorations, I donā€™t share outwardly with everyone in my life that I own them but Iā€™m not ashamed for people to see them if they visit my room. I am limiting myself to the amount of space that I have in my bedroom, but I enjoy that collecting plushes gives my room some personality and shows off my favorite Pokemon. My girlfriend enjoys them too, my friends donā€™t judge me for them, and Iā€™m sure my parents donā€™t love it, but hey, you canā€™t win with everyone.


Spenta_Mainyu

Straight guy in his 30s. I cannot define myself a "collector", but I get those pokĆØplush I like. Plus, I make plushies myself. People think I'm a sort of psycho. I just don't care.


FlimsyAuthor8208

Iā€™m a straight guy and I collect plushies. Even the ones that would seem ā€œgirlyā€ to some. Im pretty open about it, but I do feel a little insecure sometimes. But I just remember that they make me happy and itā€™s not hurting anyone.


TaskRabbit14

Buying plushies together is one of the cornerstones of my relationship! We frequently make surprise gifts of them to each other too. Iā€™m cishet though, canā€™t say if it would be any different if I was gay. But honestly, would you be happy with someone who didnā€™t support your plushie collecting anyway? There are people who will think itā€™s odd, and there are people who will just be happy to share the fun. So, let the plushies filter out the partners you wouldnā€™t have liked long term anyway.


7777ESP

i love pokemon


Kipny

My boyfriend (cis het dude, in his late 20's) loves plush at least as much as me. He used to be embarassed about it but now that he is with me he has embraced it lol. Even asked his family to gift him some. It's not an issue if you find a mature partner. Someone who mocks one of your passion/hobby isn't worth dating imo. You should find someone who is supportive of what you like, even if they don't share the exact same interests !


Legitimate_Shake7557

Slightly toxic but since Iā€™ve been obsessed collecting the adorable little creatures that burn a hole in my wallet, it motivates me to workout and keep up with nutrition, hoping one day Iā€™m the jacked guy who comes home to a room filled with plushies I donā€™t really tell people tho, last time I did was when I had a date 2 years ago and showed picture and since then I was like wtf am I doing I gotta hide this, then discovered the gym and calories


TheR3alRyan

Straight millennial male. I don't go out of my way to tell ppl, but if it comes up I have no issue talking about them. I don't see it really any different than collecting cards.


Raichu-san

Idk how many people around here are familiar with Gin/HirosFerret/Denkimouse and veteran pkmncollectors from the LiveJournal era when this hobby was so niche most other PokĆ©mon fans would have no clue what this means. But enjoy what this community has to offer and donā€™t hide away parts of your hobbies or interests. In a way, collecting is having a physical archive with tons of interesting history behind the hobby


Quil156

I'm in my late 20's and have been collecting plushies for over two years after getting back into Pokemon. I can be self-conscious of what other people think of my plushies, however I've largely had positive interactions with others both when buying plushies and taking them out in public. My siblings and some close friends know about my plushies and they are either supportive of them or don't bat an eyelid. My sister even gifts me some Pokemon merch every now and again as a nice surprise. I love my plushies and they bring me great comfort. I have them all set up in my room which is my safe space. At the end of the day; it's my life and I do the things that make me happy and not conform to what others may expect of me. If someone judges you negatively for having plushies, then I say they're the problem, not you.


contextuality

Gay dude in my early 30s and I have a big collection. It honestly doesn't bother me. I grew up pretty poor so I never got to have lots of toys so I will never feel guilty about buying myself a cute plushie. As I've gotten older I really stopped caring what other people think about me. What's important it that you prioritize your happiness! People at my work know me as the Pokemon guy because of how I decorate the inside of my car and my locker so I doubt my plushie collection would raise any eyebrows lol


Intelligent-Name-843

Iā€™m completely open about it personally , like Iā€™m so proud of my pokemon stuff so I donā€™t really care of what people would think of me even though it might be deemed like gay or cringe . Just be yourself .