I’ve been trying to build up the energy to add some more books to my “library” and have been working on those. They’re a real pain in the ass to do which is why I only work on making new ones every couple of months or so. They’re labor intensive and just really hard on the eyes.

I’m working on some of the fictional books too and might have them done in a few weeks, since they aren’t first up on my priority. Things here are sort of up in the air (the house, the space scenario etc)

But hopefully I’ll have more photos of stuff to share soon.

Other projects that I’m working on this week:

• I’m working on the Cafe again and am painting the walls for it this week. I’m going to see about adding the detailing to the furnishings *and oh, yea painting the tables and chairs LOL)*. It’s a slow going project but at least when it’s done it’ll look good.
• I also need to make a base for the front of it (sidewalk) and the awning area (and some door handles & locks for the front door).

FYI I’ll be working on my regular website this week so if you happen to stumble across it and it doesn’t look right/work or is not there you’ll know why (but feel free to ping me an email anyway–it might be a mistake! LOL)
I’m still learning when it comes to that stuff too. It’s been a while since I did anything with it and since y’all were nice enough to comment on the fact you’d like to see a diorama section I’ll be sure to add one.  It’s kind of funny but looking at the analytics for the main website vs. the blog it’s almost 2 different sets of visitors. Go figure?

This is your chance –you lurkers & regular readers — to speak out and tell me if you think I should either add a tab on the blog for that, or possibly make a section for them on my website (which has a planned re-vamp coming). If you have an opinion one way or the other please leave a comment on this post.  Also if there’s any additional information you’d want with the diorama/roomset info.

So?

Would you like to see my roomsets all put in one place? Possibly with information on how I made them or what I did to custom them?

Or…

Do you just want to continue to troll Flickr, My blog & various forums where I post them piecemeal?

Comments? Opinions?

You know, there’s a reason I use a lot of plain ol’ white walls in my dioramas & roomsets. They don’t clash & the match with just about anything I toss in them. And of course it means I don’t have to wrestle with my color-commitment demons! (those are the ones that make me go to sleep with clenched teeth while trying to decide on color schemes for things like couches, furnishings, quilting….)

But….speaking of the Un-named Cafe (and I have a few more ideas for what it could be called :silly: ) we have to discuss color and the general ambiance & feel I want for the place.

So I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out what colors I could use that would produce a semi-eclectic, interesting cafe type environment. You know what I mean, don’t you? :cheerful:

Well just in case you don’t –I trawled the internet (as part of my research for how I wanted the interior of the cafe to look like) and have a few “inspirational” photos to share. Don’t ask me where I got most of them–random google search for random words mostly. :whistle:

So! Looking around I’ve realized a couple of things:

1) I like the red for the perceived warmth it gives.

2) I’m liking the kind of “harvest gold” and “pumpkin”-y colors too.

3) As far as I’m concerned only one wall should be red. The cafes that I’ve seen with more than one “dark” wall tend to be dim & dark.  Which is fine for mood & atmosphere but not so much so for my lighting set-up & clear photos for photostories.

4) I’m finding myself *unaccountably* drawn to the cafes that have multiple colors in the room (ie different walls different colors). It’s kind of radical for me (but Mark’s said that if I do it in a roomset the worst I have to do is paint over it if I find I don’t like it).

With all this in mind I tried to put together a basic/potential color palette to work with. I’m still not certain about it (since it’s based on what I have on hand, and what I can get with my last 5 bucks).

I’m not sure how this will look on other folks monitors but  we’ve got:

Olive(ish) green

Golden (harvesty orangy-yellowish)

Dark red (wine colored–this is from our front door)

Robins egg blue/ some kind

Browns (the counters, cabinets & trim as well as flooring will all be some sort of wood or wood-tone)

I found this nifty :smile:  site for messing around with colors:

COLOURlovers

And I decided to try to do the re-vamped room up in sweethome 3d again. This time with the window & door swapped around (to allow layout room for the small sofa, coffee table & chair. (the types of furniture shown are just roughs since I don’t have a lot of it in my library).

I did my first ever fly-round today using the program: (it’s not much to look at and I’m still figuring it out—but it was fun)  :biggrin:

It’s too big for me to actually upload into the blog I guess but you can find it here:(it’ll take probably 5-10 minutes to load which I’m sure if I got better at it I;d know how to make it load faster/shorter)

Video fly-round of the cafe

EDIT:

It was suggested that the blue room was too bright & the multiple colored walls were similar to elementary school :wink:  So here’s a 2nd option with 2 of the walls the golden color instead!

Is it too much goldeness?? Yea, I think maybe….

So how about……. This?

final color choices:

Ok, so here are the questions to keep in mind as you look at these pics:

(these are questions I’d really love some feedback on folks!)

I plan on doing the back wall (the one behind the counter) a darkish red.

• Do you think that the other walls should be some color other than white? What color(s) would you think could go with it? (the cabinets will all be done in faux wood tones)

Another question:

• Do you think that there needs to be some sort of “casual” seating area? Ie a couch & maybe a coffee table & arm chair? IF so–which table(s) would you get rid of to fit it in? (assume the couch is appx the size of the my scene coffee shop set one)

Yet one more:

Although Quinlan has a lot of paranormal & unexplained occurrences – it isn’t outwardly admitted that “magic” as such exists. I’d like to give a nod to that in the Cafe’s name but am finding it difficult.  Is that important?

The names I’ve come up with so far (and have been suggested to me) include:

Cafe Fantome¹

Fortean Cafe²

The Caffeinatrix (yea I know I made the word up)

Bats Coffeehouse

Steep’n'Brew

Brewing Grounds

¹Fantome is supposed to mean Ghost in french (so this would nudge me toward thinking the cafe is haunted by some sort of spirit).

²Fortean is in reference to Charles Fort

OK and now for the photos! (the furniture is roughly in the places I expect it would be when it’s finished)

and one from sort-of eye level (sorry, I couldn’t be bothered to stand Lori up straight for the photo!)

So….thoughts? C’mon folks! :blush:

When I’m sewing for myself I can barely be bothered to sew on snaps or hooks & eyes. Most shirts are simply pinned up the back because I can’t stand the repetitious hand sewing. I design bunches of outfits but I don’t make them –because I’m just not motivated enough to make them–for myself.

Now throw a friend into the mix.
Someone who doesn’t sew, or doesn’t do it frequently. Said friend mentions things that I know I can make…Can someone explain to me why I’ll go out of my way to make things for other people, I’ll spend hours sewing on stupid snaps & hooks, adjusting pieces etc. And I still won’t think it’s good enough?

*sigh*

Anyway, here’s a few pics of the stuff I made today.

Anyone wanna guess who they’re for?

My long talked about, long planned, long scripted photostories…

My point: Making changes in my plans for my photostories.

I’m in a kind of tough situation at the moment.

We’re trying to get the house ready & up for sale (which means getting rid of as much stuff as we can, and packing up much of my belongings & so on).  It also means that I’m really really limited in what I can do  work on with regard to my photostories.

This bothers me because I’m still scripting & planning. I have such a lot I want to do. And I’m frustrated that I can’t do much of anything because of my current (perceived) limitations.

So what do I do??

• Do I put all the dolls & roomsets away (the ones that won’t get taken apart & discarded) and just stick to writing the scripts? And hope that in a year from now when we’re settled *fingers crossed for luck* and I’ll want to make the sets & shoot the stories then?

• Do I try to do them now and end up doing what I’ll feel is a half-assed job?

I say that because I have a really definite idea & vision in my mind of how I want the Chronicles to be.

I don’t want them to suck (The stories don’t. However,  I feel like I’m letting myself down by not making the settings the best I can.) I’m caught between a rock & a hard place because I can’t work on any sets.  I want to make them. To share them with people.  But I want to share something I can be proud of–or at least semi-satisfied with

I do know I don’t want to shoot them & then  re-shoot them again in the future (I’ve tried that once and it was like all the magic of it left with the first shoot & the second was just “oh I gotta do this again!”).

So where does that leave me and  The Chronicles?

They’ve been stuck in a holding pattern for so long now.  It’s unspeakably frustrating…and I get tired of thinking about the “someday” aspect of it.

So what can I do?

I’ve been giving it a good deal of thought.  I want to feel productive about the Chronicles on some level, even if I can’t produce whole episodes.  I want to continue to explore characters & see if I can develop them more.  So I’ve come up with the following (probably very lame) idea:

Do a weekly photostory/ interview with a character from The Chronicles.

I know it’s not the same as doing an episode, and that whatever it is will likely be a monologue delivered by said character.  It’ll all be done in 1 room. The plan is to do them once a week and post them up on Fridays. Hopefully folks might feel like suggesting characters they want to learn more about (from the main profile site).

This Friday’s will focus on Thom Tazzo.

So there it is.

That’s the plan.

Please don’t laugh me out the door…… :blush:

I find myself thinking about that when I hit the fashion doll boards  and see the vast amount people have on hand to dress their dolls in.  I swear that most of those dolls have better wardrobes than people!

This of course brings us to my clothing collection and how I organize it (or more like the trouble I had with that) :rolleyes: .   I thought for laughs, I’d take a couple of photos of my personal doll clothes collection.  And how my storage of it has changed.

Originally I started out with zip lock baggies–each character got their own and all the clothes were parceled out as they came into the collection.  Of course, my favorite figures always got first dibs on the good stuff!!   But…I’m an impatient person & it became a hassle digging through a baggie trying to find exactly what I wanted–and or–figuring out what I wanted!

I’ve recently started working on a better way of organizing & storing the clothes so that I’ll be able to access them:

1. easily
2. quickly
3. with minimum disturbance of other things
4. in a way that was easy to store

But before I managed to do that…it devolved into chaos (see photo below) if you look closely you can still see some of the original zip lock baggies in the baskets.  

Now they look like this:

I’m pleased with it!

Easy to find a particular piece, easy to sort them (all short sleeves in one, all dresses in another, professional clothes in another) etc.  When I get around to it I’ll make labels for the sides of them–and store them on a shelf! (I’m psyched about that!!) The best part was how cheap it was to do this–the folders/boxes/ came from the pound shop. What a deal! 

Looking at all this stuff all I can say is hey, I’m still a kid! I need doll clothes! LOL!

I think it’s a great idea and I’d love some company this year! (Without some egging on I kind of lose steam and putter out…though I did begin it last year but I never actually completed my final 3 or 4 entries…I don’t know at this point if it’s worth doing so before I start the next list)

Here’s a link to more info (including the format!) :D  It’s fun.  Really!

Fortress of Testicular Fortitude:  Let’s all do a Personal Favourite Toys of 2009 List

Anyway…Think about joining in the fun! (and leave me a comment if you think you might–so I can be sure to watch your blog when you start!)

This is her before:

And now after:

She’s had a complete re-root with volks hair (black) and a boil perm. It’s not the best re-paint I’ve ever done, but considering how rusty I am (and how I haven’t done one in months & months & months) I don’t feel too badly about it.

Comments anyone?

To which I said, well, maybe part of it is economics.

My friend pointed out that yes, the hobby does take money & time resources, and I agreed that with the current state of things dolls & action figures probably aren’t on the top of folks priority lists. (Ok, they’re pretty damned close on mine though)

I said that maybe one of the reasons people have 1) stopped maintaining blogs is that they weren’t getting the feedback or comments from people. Some people depend more on outside validation than they do on their customs.  Some people don’t.  I think it’s probably half-a-dozen of one or the other either way. 2) they’ve got other things going on that don’t give them the time or energy for the hobby.

I know that for myself, I  am a bit happier whenever someone can be bothered to take the time to comment.  I think that there are about 5 people in total who ever comment on my blog.  5.  Not a lot, and it’s not one of the popular blogs out there.

Does it really matter to me?

Well….I’d be lying if I said no.  But does the lack of comments make me not post?  No. (Although I’ll admit that if I got more comments I’d probably bother to post more stuff and better photos) My blog is more about me having some kind of record of what I’ve been up to, as well as a way to communicate with other people interested in the hobby.  Would I like more comments? Sure! Who the heck wouldn’t?

Feel free to take a look at them here:

The Quinlan Chronicles: profiles

If anyone wants to check it out and let me know how it looks/loads/ I’d appreciate it. ^_^  It’s best viewed with Firefox and I’m not making any promises how it looks in crappy IE.

Here’s hoping that I’ll soon get to work on the grown-up profiles for the chronicles!

I’m going to ditching  the following stuff:

• fabric
• 1:6 furniture
• 1:6 props

• I may ditch a few of my dolls/figures as well but I’m not sure at this point.

The majority of stuff is likely to be the doll furniture & varied props.  I want to narrow it down from 13 A4 sized paper boxes (furniture/props) to about 3 max. The doll/sewing  fabric needs to get whittled down from an over abundant 10 boxes to whatever I could comfortably fit into a smallish suitcase.

Yea, I know I’ve spent the last 3 years collecting this stuff—but—most of it isn’t special enough for me to go through the hassle of

1) shipping it home

or

2)incurring the cost and expense of crating it home. (This is an ongoing dialogue between M & myself about what we really NEED to take with us vs. what’s “habit”.   Hey I can easily & freely admit I’m a pack rat, but M has a problem (although he has 40 yrs worth of stuff spread between here and his folks place). Besides, I believe the occasional re-boot/total clear out is good for the soul.

After all, at the end of the day, it’s just stuff.

SOOOOoooooooooooo…..If anyone is looking for anything in specific (furniture/props/fabric) post a message and let me know. If I’ve got it I’ll let you know what I’m after (more than likely just a few bucks+postage)

I’d hoped initially (we were in oxford killing the day while pudge was being poked, prodded, blood tested and fructosimizined) at the botanical gardens and I was trying to get some photos taken. It worked for about 1/2 an hour after I had it out and shooting using  autofocus (unless I’m going for something specific or am in the home and can duplicate the set up because my crappy eyes don’t focus really well even with glasses or contacts). So I wasn’t too happy. Yea, I know this is why I have a 2nd camera, but still.  I don’t like it when things stop working.

What’s it doing? (C’mon, pretend you care! )

When I try to take a photo with it on auto focus the lens just goes in and out without finding focus.  It doesn’t make a whit of differnce that I’ve selected the point of focus, or the lighting or the settings the camera is on. I tried it on all settings including automatic and it’s a no go.

I thought at first that it might be a problem with the lens. (Ok, I say, well that’s still pretty new and it’s still under warranty)  But I thought, huh, it still works fine on Manual Focus. Maybe I ought to try it with another lens?

So I tried it with my Sigma, again no dice with the auto focus. But of course the camera  still works fine with manual focus. I tried the other canon lens and again the same. So it doesn’t seem to be the lens.

From what I’ve read online (based on the descriptions of other peoples problems) it sounds like it could be a sensor problem. Maybe they/it needs cleaning.  Problem with that is that I don’t know how to do it. Or what I need to do it. The owner manual isn’t overly instructive and I don’t know how I’d manage to keep the dust in this place from drifing into it (the insturctions seem to imply I have it sitting open, lens-less while I’m trying to clean it)

Anyway, if anyone’s got any suggestions or ideas I’m happy to hear them.

Here’s what Damara looked like when I started this morning: (you can see part of the boob-plate in progress in this pic as well)

While not all of the work has been 100% satisfactory for me, I’m just feeling pretty good about doing something.  So far since earlier this week — I’ve managed to make her 2 different breast plates (which still need some sanding and detailing done) and they fit fairly well although there was apparently some shrinkage (which I didn’t expect).

I also managed to do her re-root –replacing her default hair with some black hair I had left over from my last restoredoll order.

(you’ll have to check the blog later today/tomorrow for picts of her new hair and breasts)

I was particularly lazy tonight and after spending all the time rooting her–yea, I couldn’t be bothered to do a proper boil perm. Instead I ran the hot water and stuffed her head into the water. Then I doused her in cold tap water. It may not take, but what the hell, right? I’ve got nothing to lose.  Maybe when I get up tomorrow am (or actually I guess it’s am now) I’ll check it out and see 1) if it’s dried and 2) if it worked well enough to at least let the hair lie flat.  I really do hate re-rooting. It is so tedious…but at least at the end of it you know you’ll end up with something. Not like when I sew and I never know if I’ll end up with a usable piece of clothing or something for the scrap pile.

Anyway, it’s about time for bed.

I hope to update with a new post later this week with the final heads re-painted for choice. I’ll do a poll-feature then for final votes!

Below is a gallery of photos of the characters’ names & below that is a brief  “interview”blurb from each of them.

• Please take a few minutes to read them over and pick which figure goes with which quote (there are no right or wrong answers!!)  use the number in the photo to ID the head.  
• Feel free to suggest possible hair styles or clothing choices–or hobbies! LOL!

• Olivia Aston-Lang (Livi)

“No, I sketched those myself.  I’m ok at it–I’d have gone into fashion design except that it’s such a cutthroat field.  I’d have liked it but that’s just –well I’m not good enough to always be shoving my work at people and saying “Like it! Damn you, Like it!”   What? Oh.  My major is enchantments.  Mostly because they come easy to me.  I don’t even have to study and I can do them right off the cuff.  My adviser’s suggested that there might be a future for me in R&D. Yea, making new spells–isn’t that cool!?!

• Ivy Elizabeth McMullen

“Yes, I’m Ivy. Ivy McMullen. Um, yea, I’m in professor Kohle’s class too. Er…yea. I have the homework done…it was problems 1-16 and 20, and 22. Uh…no. You can’t copy it. I’m–I’m not a really good student, so, uh, I know most of the problems are wrong… (thought: not really but who are you kidding? you don’t do your work and you think you’re gonna use mine? Not!)
Say, did you see the notice about the lectures we’re supposed to attend next week? Yea, that’s a bummer they’re at the same time as the fall fashion show.”

• Claire Marie Chase

“Is that silk?  Very nice.  I prefer it to linen. Oh look at him–he’s simply delicious! I spent the summer in Oxford and I didn’t see anyone who’d compare to him. Mmm!  Pardon? Oh?  So what if he has a girlfriend?  I’m sure I’m better looking than her and better dressed.  I’ll have to ask my brother for any information he has on him.  MMmmmm… What about Theo? Do I think he’d be into you….Darling, do you really want me to answer that?”

• Jillian Carmichael (Jilly)

“No. The answer is Strontium sulfate. How did you manage to get accepted without knowing that?” Rolls eyes. “You’re not going to be able to skate by without studying–I don’t care how short your skirts are. Or how perky your boobs are. They’ll fail you. And you’re my roomate–so you’d better knuckle down and study. How you do reflects on me and I don’t want anything ruining my average or my chances at getting into a good grad school.” Shaking head. “You’re not an idiot. Just try harder. And read the book instead of watching American Idol!”

• Claudia Karsten-Kane

“Oh, please. Tell it to someone else, would you Mallory? I know you’re completely smitten with that man–but you’ll never get anywhere with him if you don’t _do_ something! I say you should try to investigate–you know he’s got his girlfriend–and a woman on the side…why not see what else you can find out? Then maybe you’ll have an in! Don’t look at me like that– you know that’s what you want to do anyway. Really.”

• Portia Amelie Guichard

“What would you like to know about me? Yes, I’m from the Avondale Guichards. No, I am not seeing anyone at the moment. I broke up with my fiance over the summer. Oh, he was being a prat. I can do better than that. Not to mention my goals are set higher–I am not content to live off my family’s effort. I have goals that I aspire to. No one, man or woman is going to stop me.
Excuse me?
Of course I expect people to listen to what I say. Why shouldn’t they? I’m a very knowledgeable woman and I come from a good bloodline. Not to mention they usually regret it if they don’t. (small smile) Me? My flaws? …Well, maybe I can be a little bit vindictive. But who’s perfect? (laugh) I’m probably as close as you can find in human form.

• Tara Mills-Bowman

“I’ll tell you, being an Resident Advisor this year is great! It’s giving me-and Stella-the chance to be recognized for how much work we did the last two years…Last year was really rough what with the demon that those stupid girls summoned in the bathroom. Talk about a mess…Exploded pipes, water all over–and Shasta–the RA for the hall was unconscious. Stella stepped in and I-well, of course. I helped. That’s what best friends do. She also inspires me to try harder at whatever I do…My future? It’s bright. I’ll either take a post in the family or I’ll go on to do research. Maybe both. I’m not sure…and that’s the lovely thing about being so wealthy–I don’t have to worry. I’ll decide when I’m ready.”

And out of the 9 heads I did start off knowing which of them were going to be Stella & Lori Vanderhoff:

• Stella Alexandria Vanderhoff

“It’s only right that they appointed me as RA for the hall this year. And of course Tara too. She’s so dependable. I believe that friends can be invaluable–as long as you choose the right ones. Am I popular? Oh, I don’t like to boast…but yes. I’m never lacking for dates, study partners, or people who just want to bask in the glow that is me. (small smile). I’ve made Dean’s List every semester since I was admitted. Right now I’m in the top 2% of the 3rd years. I plan to be in the top 1% before the year end. Did I mention that I’m studying with the intention of going into the legal field? I’m starting an internship this year. I’m rather excited about it.
Lori? She’s my little sister. Am I going to treat her differently? (chuckle) Hardly. As long as she follows the rules of the university, and the ones of the hall, she’ll be fine. Otherwise – she’ll learn the hard way. She’s bright though, so I’m certain if she wants to break the rules she won’t get caught. After all It’s all about being caught. Just like life.”

• Lori Apollonia Vanderhoff

“I’m so glad to be done with high school! Coming to Quinlan University is a nice change–although having Stella looking over my shoulder all the time isn’t what I was hoping for. She spent the summer boring me with how much studying I’ll need to do. How I need to behave. What classes I should take. Which girls I should be friends with. What kind of clothes I should wear…Blah, blah, blah! As if. She’s always been jealous that I took after mother and she–well…she’s almost as flat chested as a pancake! (giggle)
My studies? I don’t need to study that much–I’m brilliant–did you know that? What? It’s true that my grades aren’t that good…but it’s because I find classrooms bor-ring! Four boring walls, some teacher droning on endlessly about some obscure fact…I can make C’s without reading or practicing so wh

y should I waste the time? Yes, I could make B’s or A’s of I studied. But why bother? Anyway, everyone says that your first year is the time you’re supposed to have the most fun at university–and I intend to!”

I tried but I really couldn’t stand some of the faces…

I thought the painting quality was way below even average for me. After doing a 2nd round of repaints I am coming to realize that a big part of my problem is the brushes that I am using (they need replacing).  I’m still not entirely thrilled with #’s 1 & 7 but I think they are vastly improved. As for blue hair…I know she could be better but I think she has a certain something about her…

Yes, months.

November was the last time I actually sat down with a head to paint.

Understandably, I’ve been feeling uneasy at the thought of sitting down again and doing it. It isn’t really like riding a bicycle at all–and if you don’t do it for a while you get rusty (and in my case you forget how to do it).

So yesterday I finally sat down and determined to beat down my procrastination and do it. And my thanks to Milk for the encouragement yesterday & today, it was (and is) much needed.

Yesterday’s exercise didn’t go particularly well… I had 11 heads that I got out of storage (my whole volks/obitsu stockpile) and tried to sketch in their starts. I struggled with that for a couple of hours but managed to get the eyes relatively even/acceptable for my use. I even got a few expressions/character in them so I was pleased.

But then, (of course there’s a but!) when I tried to actually add color, dimension and some illusion of depth everything went south.  I don’t know if it was from trying too hard, not trying hard enough, or a low level of frustration, but all in all it was not very productive.

I came out of yesterday with 3 things:

1. The new (and odd) knowlegde that it is easier for me to draw 3 level lines on both sides of the eyewells with my left hand than my right.  My right hand (dominant) seems to be unable to do this. The left can. I don’t know if it is related to perception or what…now if only I could develop better fine motor skills with my left hand! (must try in the future).
2. I’ve begun to remember some of the process…so I am on the right track (although my brushes are getting ready to give up the ghost).
3. One head painted that I feel is acceptable, although not particularly good. I decided against wiping it as I feel the face has a “bitchy” feel to it and I need that for some of the students.

Now I am trying to settle in and give it another go.  If I can get a few heads done today that I like I will post them all here and you readers can have some fun telling me which names & faces seem to fit better (I actually want to have a bit of fun with that so it will also include a little bit of dialogue for each)

Ok. Enough procrastinating! Off to paint!

I was thinking about how things have changed in the hobby since I started back in 2000. In terms of the supplies & stock available to customizers and collectors and just the state of information in general.

People don’t really know how good they’ve got it now–both on the 1:6 and 1/4-1/3 scale  areas of dollfies & the BJDs.  Really.

I’m gonna sound like a cranky old-timer here, but really…how it was in the old days:(at least for me and my fellow customizer friends)

• If you wanted supplies (volks dollfie bodies, rooting hair, heads etc) you had to either order them through the 1 (and only) retailer in the US (the Doll & Hobby Shop)  at the time or you had to go through a shopping service in Japan. For a short while there you could buy volks stuff from HLJ but that was discontinued.
• No matter which of those routes you went you were bound to end up waiting MONTHS for your supplies to arrive.
• If you wanted anything special you were going to wait even longer.
• Sometimes you could buy your supplies on feebay or on a forum but generally they were priced even higher than the cost of going the other methods.

Those things made the hobby more of a labor of love than basic ol’ barbie customizing. If you customized barbies (or the like) they were considerably easier to get your hands on–and if you screwed them up you weren’t likely to cry as much either. If you wanted to buy someone else’s customs (and this still hold true for the really good ones) you’d pay and arm & a leg.

But this brings me to where the hobby is now….or at least how I perceive it to be….

• It’s well-and-away worlds easier to get supplies now.
• For those inside the US you’ve got Volks USA & various outlets selling parabox/obitsu stuff.
• For those outside the US (in Europe, like me) you’ve got volks.co.jp which will now sell to your through their website. It’s something of a pain (mostly because between the shipping charges-EMS only–and the customs fees) but better than nothing.
• feebay is now totally awash with dollfie/obitsu customizing supplies.  (Back inthe day you could type in “dollfie” and you’d be lucky to end up with 50 items…now you get thousands. You want heads? you can find em there. Want bodies? Ditto. Clothes? Ditto. Accessories? Ditto. There are so many more listings for dollfie/obitsu related items than there have been before. That’s good…right?

Well…yes…I guess.

I say that because, well, I think that to some extent, the hobby has suffered because of the ease of access. I know–you’re thinking –”what? didn’t you just say it was a good thing?!!” .

I did.

But IMO it’s made the 1:6 suffer a bit because everyone’s gotten completely sucked into the 1:3/ 1:4 scale dollfies. (Don’t get me wrong–I like them. Heck, I had them in the past and sometimes regret giving them up!) What I mean is that the 1:6 aspect of the hobby is getting overlooked. Example: If you search dollfies online, 8-10 times you’ll find that the result is something related to BJDs and not 1:6 dollfies.  Even Flickr, a site which thousands of people (maybe more) use…dollfies more often than not will bring up BJDS. *sigh* (and can I say here for the record one of my biggest pet peeves is when people refer to volks (excellent, beauty, CM or Dollfie plus) or obitsu as BJDs. For Pete’s sake before they say that why don’t they LEARN what exactly a BJD is??!! (a Ball Jointed Doll) *and for the record, BJDs (historically) were made also made in Germany although that link doesn’t mention it*)

And that’s the thing-The 1:6 pool seems a bit empty at the moment.

Things wax & wane in popularity. People’s interests change or expand (or contract). I’m guilty of this myself, at times. But I always go back to my 1:6 dollfies. I think they are my first love and always will be. I just wish more people could realize the positive aspects of them. I think to a certain extent I’m worried that they may end up being pushed off/out of the market. *shrug* I don’t know.

I don’t think that the pool of customizers is as big as it could/should/would be….but I guess that’s the nature of fads and hobbies?  I’m glad to see that it doesn’t seem to have waned much in Japan  (at least judging by the Japanese blogs I read, and my browsing on YJ). I hope that the 1:6 hobby picks up in the future.

Why am I bothered about this?

Mostly because seeing the work that other people do/put into making a figure inspires me. It makes me want to try and create something too.  I can count on one hand the number of western doll people I know who actively customize & repaint their figures. That’s not Bad…but I just wish there were more. As it is, I frequent a lot of Japanese sites & blogs because I find the level of artistry astounding & awe-inspiring. And I need to be inspired…to be motivated. An example would be PAPY (one of the few japanese customizers on Flickr) who I admire.

Ok, I guess I’ve rambled enough.

It’s ok…although I think I slightly over-cooked it when I did the boiling.

Ah well. 
I don’t think the frizzy look is too bad–since I think it goes with the geek-factor he’s going to have going on.

Not sure if I should cut his hair shorter or not? (If I cut it shorter it will probably go to about chin length on the front and shorter in the back /sides.

Any comments about that??

Thom Tazzo (Thomas Tazzo)
Gil Young  (Gilbert Young)

Which does he look more like?

If he’s Thom, he works at the University as part of the admissions
team. And also as part of their security team.

If he’s Gil, he’d either work as an editor at Bishop Publications (the
same company that Vanessa Lennox & Cass Okuda work at) or as a lawyer.

There’s also the chance that he is Viv’s ex-husband.

Since she’s divorced, and I dunno who her ex is. Except I want him to
pop-up periodically…They split amicably, but she’s somewhat bitter
about the whole institution of marriage.

Any ideas? (and if you don’t think he looks like he fits either of the
above, what do you suggest?)

He’s a lucky guy no matter what his name is: He’s the Hot Toys True
Type Asian figure from their most recent release. The skin tone is
slightly grey so I think once I have a little spare time I’ll sand him
and give him a bit of tweaking. I’m really liking HT bodies, since Ken
clothes fit them well, and Saturday Toys and ACE make some really nice
clothes for them as well. (and yesssss…I’d rather save my money and
spend 24 bucks on a 1:6 suit that if I tried to sew would take me
months! *and still not look as good!*)

Over the last week, aside from having 2 migraines (oh joy), I have managed to get the majority of Cass’s profile completed and have a start on Paloma & Viv’s. I’m still sitting on the fence somewhat about what Vivienne’s (Viv) profession should be…

Take a look at her: (realize she’s in her evening out clothing ) and tell me (if anyone reads this blog, that is…) which of the following professions might seem to fit her best?

Should Viv be a:

• Chemist (as in working in the lab)
• Forensics specialist–possibly in Forensic Toxicology?  (probably not criminalistics)
• something else? (suggestions)

Anyway, here’s to hoping that over the weekend I can get the completed profiles up on the web, and maybe do a spot of work on the website for the Chronicles!