Lockpicking is nice. You won't believe how many friends ask for help after they know your hobby. Most of the time it's just "my keys are still inside, so it's not locked". It's the easiest, but you don't need to pick the lock to open those.

Role-playing games. It might hit close to mainstream now, after all those tv series and movies where they appear directly or indirectly, but as an actual hobby, it's still niche thing.

I think they should be part of educational program, globally.

I like buying LEGO minifigures and then designing/building biomes for them to inhabit. I use BrickLink Studio to design the builds and then upload my parts list to BrickLink to get used bricks to build them. I also post them on Rebrickable for free, but I've fallen behind and need to post more on there.

Here are a few that I've built.

Calligraphy. The color of the inks are just mesmerizing. But my normal handwriting is really ugly…

I do nearly all my clothes shopping at second hand stores. I love finding just the right items to make up great outfits to go out in. It can sometimes take months to piece together an outfit, though I do also mix and match things. It doesn't matter to me how long it takes; I enjoy shopping around, I enjoy a bargain, and I enjoy the challenge and reward of making my own great outfits at a tiny cost.

I’ve never really enjoyed playing online games. (I don’t like being harassed by strangers. I have enough problems with my self-esteem, thank you.) But now I’ve gotten into several niche games I’d prefer to play with people and I have no skills or energy to make that happen. The most niche one is the Armada 3 mod for Sins of a Solar Empire. I love that game and I’d love to play with my friends, but my friends have very little trek fandom/rts enthusiast crossover.

Blacksmithing. Something so primal and simple about it. And you get to play with fire. But what I find most satisfying is the ability, once you have a few simple tools, to make any other tools you need. It's like the og 3d printing.

I shop Goodwill like it’s a job.

DVDs are always welcome. We have like 900 discs right now. $1.50-$3 a piece over several years.

Then it’s all kitchen gadgets. All kinds of single purpose appliances for <$10. If they work out, keep them or upgrade them to a higher quality brand. If they don’t, donate them back.

It’s a lot of fun, and a real shopping experience that forces you to consider different options because if limitations where Amazon might funnel you into a single solution.

The ability to identify practically any bird or reptile in North America. I get friends asking me what things are all the time... then trying to extend my knowledge to fungi and plants (which I'm getting better with, but not at the same level). It doesn't feel too niche until I interact with my friends outside of biology.

I'm a big fan of amateur radio, specifically portable operation, and Parks on the Air.

I'll take my radio out to a remote location, throw an antenna up into some trees, and talk to people all over the US.

Currently I need mains power, but I'm looking to buy a battery soon, and I already have some solar panels gifted from a club member.

I live in Michigan, and last time I was out, my most distant contacts were in Dallas, Texas, around 1100 miles away, while I was sitting at a picnic table at my local state park campground.

Mosaic crocheting. You can create blankets that basically look like quilts, or photographs (although I don't like the look of the latter).

I play the flute in the marching/concert band of my small town (we are all amateurs).

I play mandolin, which I think is niche? This summer I've been learning ableton live with the goal of combining edm influences and small, odd instruments.

Home server take an old pc setup with a load of old harddrives noodle about with all the self hosting apps.

Online simracing league with virtual reality. The league is run by a really nice bunch of people, who all have really good race etiquette.

I got into 3d printing ages ago by way of wanting to build whacky r/c aircraft (and I had read a thing about it in a magazine. This was late 90’s though and it was completely different then.)

3d printing got me into horology- and designing printed versions of different mechanical clock mechanisms.

I especially like pendulum clocks.

Gliding. There's something remarkable about being able to fly hundreds of kilometres without an engine, just relying on the forces of nature.

I have a fascination with VFDs/VVVFs/frequency inverters. They are the controllers that gives of a specific hum/whine from electric trains/cars and from other 3 phase electric motors.

I'm making my own sudo-vvvf at home. I just think they sound awesome and are Hella cool

https://youtu.be/-SDYdHzT7Qw (sound starts at 0:13)

I do pyrography and make amplifiers, guitar pedals. I sometimes fix them, too :) It makes me happy to fix sound systems and crave for more!

Gunpla. It's literally assembling Gundam (Japanese transformers) models. Modern gunpla kits are very cool with what they can do. This can be a pricey hobby if you get really into it (painting, air spraying, even 3d printing) but it can also be a $20 a month hobby. It all depends on how far you want to take it and what aspects you enjoy.

Recently got a fountain pen and have been practicing my handwriting with it. Oddly meditative and relaxing

Surprised it hasn't been mentioned already but Mechanical Keyboards. I'll spend hours scrolling for different builds. There's also something therapeutic about spending hours lubing and soldering switches.

Well, I got many but all just at their given time. 3D printing is one of them, but actually it became more a handy tool than a pure hobby.

My convertible car has become one, I enjoy that so much (not only the driving but the tinkering and restoration as well). I want to bring it to Oldtimer status.

I like tinkering electronics. Think of arduino projects, but most of the time without the programming.

More mainstream is baking and carpeting, but actually these are to be neglected since I am rarely able to do them due to disability.

I am a geologist that also has a lifelong interest in anomalous natural phenomena and paranormal claims. So I do a website called Spooky Geology. I think I can count the number of people who can do this on one hand. Like me and one other person I know of. So, that seems very niche. I also have a community here for weird news. !strangetimes@lemmy.world

Model trains! Something about physically creating my own little world is nice

Tai Chi and Qi Gong. Nothing fancy, I just started recently and I'm only doing beginner type stuff, but I've been really enjoying it.

I realized a while ago that my true hobby is learning. I love learning new things such as:

• Ukulele
• Tin whistle
• Juggling
• Kendama
• Unicycling
• Ham radio (and morse code and electronics)
• Esperanto
• Fencing
• Sailing
• Krav Maga
• Swing and Ballroom Dancing

I've learned bit of all of these, master of none though...

Csound coding. Most musicians are thoroughly ensconced in their relatively-easy-to-use hardware and software. Me? I want to have sample level control over everything by writing reams of code and come up with algorithms that generate interesting textures, melodies, harmonies, and rhythms.

Parkour! I've been practising the sport in one way, shape or form for over half my life now!

Am I any good? No, probably not - but it's still a lot of fun to explore the world in a new way

Hobby board games. There are thousands of board games out there and enough variety there's something for everyone. The games I'm usually into are called Euro style board games since they originated in Europe.

Euro style games are mostly high skill games with little luck similar to chess, but have varied starting positions to make them more interesting. They typically play with up to 4 players or more which adds a good bit of complexity. They're a good way to sit around, talk, drink, and have a fun time away from computer/phone/TV screens.

I've also gotten really into mahjong specifically over the past year. I've played over a thousand games and still learning. I mostly have to play that one over an app, but it's a fun break during the work day. I'm able to play occasionally in person, but there's a pretty steep learning curve which makes it hard to convince people to play. I'm always trying to get more people into it though.

I got into 3D printing this year also. I wanted it to feed into my other hobbies and general tinkering. Aside from getting the printer to run well, it's really satisfying to design something functional. I was so proud when I replaced my broken washer knob with 10 min of CAD.