Yesterday was a write-off due to migraine. But today…

Here is the list of my Top 10 Toys of 2011!

Counting down to my favorites–beginning with #10

#10 Ishani rebodied on a Hot Toys Female True Type body

Description of Toy/Toyline: Ishani’s got a Fashion Royalty Isha head that I repainted, but I’d been struggling to find a body that was going to match her skintone and give her a better range of motion than the default FR body. Will was kind enough to send me the True Type body to see if it would work (he’s a great guy!). I did some operating on the HT body to make it workable with the FR head.

So why did she make my list? Ishani (rebodied) made the list because she’s now got a much more posable body with an increased range of motion. That is a very good thing!

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Well the truth is that I have a few issues with the Hot toys body. While it is IMO a vast improvement over the Fashion Royalty default body, I can’t say that I love it. For one thing, nothing I have fits it with the exception of some Ken clothes! I had foolishly thought that the clothes I made for my Takara CG female action figures would fit. I was wrong. So Ishani has moved up into the ranks of “needy” dolls. Meaning I need to sew a mini wardrobe for her before I can start using her in photostories and shoots. The other thing that makes it rank low for me is that the torso is vinyl and is prone to staining, and it’s kind of a pain to wrestle into and out of clothing.

Here is the original post dealing with Ishani: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4540

#9 Tristan

Description of Toy/Toyline: Tristan is a Neo Goh Guy body & head made by volks. I re-rooted him with a mix of restoredoll hair and NDR hair.

So why did he make my list? Strangely enough Tristan has made the list because I think he’s my best “guy” custom this year. I don’t do so well when it comes to painting guy faces and his is one that I didn’t get the immediate urge to wipe off! Also I have a serious shortage of guys and Tristan helps lessen it a bit.

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): He’s still pretty girly and there are some flaws with his face-up. My rooting skills are only so-so and it shows.

Here is the original post dealing with Tristan: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4575

#8 Art Nouveau vase in 1:6

Description of Toy/Toyline: Who made it is a mystery although it does have “Germany” stamped on the backside of it. It’s made of metal–possibly tin or lead/or an alloy. It’s a hefty little vase for its size–which makes me think it could be lead. It was an ebay find that was listed under 1/12 dollhouse stuff. It may be 1/12 but I find that it works perfectly well for 1:6. It’s 1 3/4 inches tall (about 43.5mm)

So why did it make my list?: Come on! It’s art nouveau and 1:6? What could be better? You’re bound to see it making various “background” appearances. I love the cattail design! (see it in the background pic of Tirrem?)

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Frankly it’s in pretty poor condition (although not so bad when you assume it’s probably more than 15 years old, right?). When I move and have a proper workshop I may try to determine what it’s made out of and what the chances of me applying enamel to it. Depending on what I find out I might try to sculpt and cast something similar that I can then enamel. It’s certainly a nice excuse to get into metal enameling!

#7 Nerissa’s & Mallory’s Quilts

Description of Toy/Toyline: Err..I am the toyline, I guess? They were all made out of 100% cotton fabric, sewn and quilted by myself.

So why did they make my list? Two reasons: 1) They are needed pieces to complete other dorm room set ups and 2) They’re just nifty. I learned a lot in the process of making them and I like it when i manage to do that.

Downside to it: (aka why they aren’t #1 toy on the list!): There were a lot of mistakes I made on both of them, especially Mallory’s quilt. Because of those mistakes they really aren’t up to the quality I expected of myself.

Here are the original posts dealing with the quilts: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4826 (nerissa’s) and http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4843 (mallory’s)

#6 Ezio : Hot Toys head

Description of Toy/Toyline: Ezio is the head from one of Hot Toys action figure releases. I’m not too clear on what he is except that he’s a video game character. He was a great gift from Will when things were going spectacularly crap (and even if the head had been a flaming piece of crap I’d have appreciated it for the intention behind it). His sculpt makes him look like a moody bastard.

So why did he make my list? As I mentioned earlier there’s a chronic shortage of the male species in my 1:6 collection. Ezio (I keep wanting to refer to him as Enzio LOL) is slated to be a rival of Cass’s and a sometime lover. He might come to a bad end I don’t know yet. I do know he’ll be getting a new name.

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): The head is nicely sculpted but the coloring was way off to use on one of my regular HT true type bodies (did I mention he looks like a linebacker with those shoulders?) so I had to give him one of my 2 Hot Toys True Type Asian bodies. It was a much, much better match (although that now means that Gill’s only got one body–but he’d be ok with that since it means one less rival for Viv’s attention).

#5 Volks Excellent Base Bodies

Description of Toy/Toyline: Volks 27cm/1:6 scale dollfie bodies.  These are old bodies made pre-2005. These 2 bodies in particular are gifts from the IFDC convention.  For more information about the bodies (volks) check out The Volks Perfect File.

So why did they make my list?

They made the list for 2 reasons — 1) they’re more bodies for me to make customs out of, and 2) they have the bust types that I have been trying to get for a long, long time. The busts on them are smaller than the Volks EB-J and have a more natural look to them (you can’t tell from these photos, sorry!)

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): These are the old version of Volks excellent base bodies. That means that they have big gaps around their hip/thigh area (where the joint-age is). They’re shiny (which means I will have to sandmatte them) and chances are that if they are going to one of my more beloved figures that they’re going to need thigh/torso surgery. But that’s down to my personal preference. Of course the biggest downside to these excellent body volks is that volks has discontinued their production! Which means I scoop them up whenever I find them (and can afford to. These were my xmas gift for this year).

 #4 My 1:6 dorm beds

Description of Toy/Toyline: Set of 2 flat-pack able 1:6 beds that I made for my dorm room sets. Pretty Basic and meant to be a stop-gap until I get back home and can make proper ones.

So why did they make my list? Like the quilts they were needed for the Dorm room sets. The best thing about them is that they’re flat-packable so I won’t have a hard time packing them up.

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): The biggest gripe I have with them is that I made the bottom out of wood…I wanted to make them with metal and springs but didn’t have the $$ at the time to buy the supplies I needed so I went with the wood. They work as they are, but they’re not exactly how I want them so they’ll get re-vamped in the future. Also, my application of varnish wasn’t so even and I’d consider sanding them down (eh, maybe) in the future.
Here is the original post dealing with the beds: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4565

 #3 Chair & table from Carmen

Description of Toy/Toyline: A lovely arm chair & table set from Carmen. From the get-go she knew that I really loved the colors used in the armchair and it was among my faves. We periodically swap and make stuff for each other and these were just perfect! (there were also some 1:6 sheep pillows for Raven but I didn’t pull them out in time for this post)

So why did they make my list? Durr! They’re great stuff! I love the fact that they’re nicely made and I didn’t have to make it myself, or beg Mark to make it for me!

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): There isn’t really a downside to the pieces–only the fact that I had a few other things that edged them out of 1st place!

 #2 1:6 Dresser & Desks

Description of Toy/Toyline: Custom made Desks & Dressers made by Mark of MHModelmaking .Yes that’s his blog but it’s mostly about airplanes–I’m trying to convince him he needs to start a 1:6 blog for making stuff! He doesn’t think anyone would read it or comment…IF you folks who read this blog would be interested in him writing about 1:6 stuff please leave a comment on his most recent post on his blog!

He made them all out of wood and spent a lot of time on them (they were my Valentines Day gift for 2011–they do indeed last longer than a box of tasty, delicious chocolate!)

So why did they make my list? I’d think it’d be pretty obvious that the build quality, the detailing and the overall usefulness made them hit really high in the rankings. All the drawers open and close, and the desk can be reconfigured 2 different ways. I might complain about how hard it is to get Mark to see how much I neeeeed something –but once he decides to do it he does a freakin fantastic job. I mean amazing.  The guy could be building 1:1 furniture with the care and precision that he puts in. I just wish I could clone him!

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Hmm, if I told you that I might have to kill you! No, seriously, the only reason they’re not #1 is that I fell in love with 2 of the customs I did this year. They beat everything.  Anyway, here is the original post dealing with the dorm room: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4262
and you can check out the website for more info about the process:  http://www.corsetkitten.com/dioramas/

And the #1 slot for 2011 goes to…… Astrid  & Nerissa

Description of Toy/Toyline: Both Astrid and Nerissa are custom volks dollfies. Astrid is an Old Type C head on a hybrid Neo-Excellent J body. Nerissa is a pale Neo volks head on a volks pale excellent A body. She was rooted with restoredoll Black Orchid saran.

So why did they make my list? They made it to number one on the list because there’s something about the way they’re painted that just speaks to me. I get a lot of joy out of posing them and planning storylines for them. They’re usually located somewhere in my desk-workspace.

Downside to it: (yes even at #1 there’s a downside!): I think I could have painted both of them better/more cleanly. I don’t however want to wipe their faces and try again since I might lose that little spark that makes them so special!
Here is the original post dealing with Astrid: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/3971
Here is the original post dealing with Nerissa: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4677

There you have it. My Top 10 for 2011.Comments anyone?