The surface is "breaking" at a certain location. I have no idea why!

EDIT: Well, I guess they fixed the problem. Huzzah [for now]!

Just got this from Angelsdoll:

Hi^^. Okay^^.

I will make oder item and e-mail you for purchasing head-making service. then you can use your points.

And I will do inner part modeling.

Thank you very much^^~.

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!

I just got some measurements for the Doll Chateau adult male head so that I can ensure that Jareth's head will be in proportion to the DC adult male body. I sent the following to AD just now. We'll see what happens!

Hi Angelsdoll.

A few days ago, I sent you an .obj file for a custom head. I have some more measurements and final specifications for you:

The specifications for the custom head are as follows:

Head circumference: 20.5cm

Width of head at the middle of the eyes: 5-6cm

Height of head from crown to where it joins the neck: 13cm

Neck circumference: 9cm

[Please see the attached pictures for measurements.]

Continue reading Updated Jareth head specs

They'll be going along, issuing their standard, run-of-the-mill, ugly dolls [discussion here], and then, all of a sudden, they'll come out with something cool. Today's deviation from their usual mediocrity is Impl Young Adela. She's an engaging little girl with a slight smile and a relaxed, open mouth that makes her look very lively. She also has heavily styled wingy ears. Her body is actually a pretty good double-jointed sculpt with pleasing proportions and graceful articulation. Tragically, however, she has a forehead tumor in the shape of an orange and purple turd. She's the sort of BJD that just calls out for some minor modding to reach her full glory. Too bad she's in 1:4 scale, a scale I refuse to get into.

I've always found it very odd that people congratulate each other on the purchase of a new BJD, as if it's some great accomplishment. I understand that it may take a lot of blood, sweat and tears to save up for the doll, as well as a lot of patience to wait for the doll. However, buying a doll does necessarily require lots of hard work, skill and talent, in the way that, for example, writing the Great American Novel does or learning to ride a unicycle does. Neither is buying a doll a milestone like graduation or moving to a new house. The actual purchase of a BJD does not require any great exertion of admirable character traits; any fool with a credit card can buy a doll. So why do we act like it's so impressive?

My clothes and stuff are ganging up on me. One of my favorite T-shirts was ignominiously slain by an oil-based dressing stain 2 weeks ago, so I replaced it at Goodwill this weekend [$5.00].

My favorite shorts expired last week, so I got some more off Ebay [~$22.00].

Then one of my pillows died, so I replaced it [$18.00]. While I was at it, I purchased some towels that actually covered me up [$25.00].

Then I discovered holes in my pajama top and [where else?] the crotch of pajama pants #2. Since I use a special type of long underwear as pajamas, it's costing me $140.00 for 2 replacement sets.

I have to get some new bottom fitted sheets for my bed this week. I only have 1, and it's stained as heck. I also need some new pillowcases. I'd rather not buy sheet sets, though, because I never use the top sheets, so they just stay in storage, using up valuable space.

While I'm at it, I could probably use another winter coat: one with a waterproof outer layer and an insulated inner layer. I've been using my current one so long that it's fraying at the cuffs, and it has permanent smudges all over it from dirt and/or the strap of my previous purse, which leaked dye whenever it got wet. >: Also it has some unpleasant history attached to it, so it really should go away.

And yeah, a second fleece jacket would be a wise investment. I spent pretty much the entire period from October of last year to April of this year wearing my current fleece jacket. I originally bought it to be the first layer of winter clothes, over which I would put my outer winter jacket to constitute an entire coat. Then, because I'm hypersensitive to temperature and would rather be slightly hot than slightly cold, I ended up never taking it off. I wore it in the office every single day. I wore it when I got home from work. I wore it on the weekends. I wore it on quick trips outside [like to and from the laundry shed]. I wore it when I took naps. I wore it when I did pretty much everything except sleeping, and, even then, I wore it on especially cold nights. :p I lived in that thing. I should get another, just to distribute the wear.

Does anything else want to wear out, while I'm spending money??? :p

Jareth's shirt and coat from CheeryDoll left South Korea on August 31st. As of September 1st, there were in New York City. They should be arriving to me within the next 2 or 3 days. EMS is fast.

Angelsdoll successfully read my .obj file! \o/ \o/ \o/ I just have to get them the width across the eyes of a DC adult male head, as well as the height of such a head from crown to chin, so that I can insure that Jareth will be in scale to my chosen body. I should also reiterate head circumference, neck circumference and eye size in that message.

Oh yeah, and they quoted me a price of ~$740.00 for 2 heads, including s/h. But they also said earlier that I could use my Angelsdoll points toward the cost of custom head services, so I think it'll be more like $660.00.

I am preliminarily hopeful!

P.S. I'm awake right now because I made the mistake yesterday of laundering one of my pillows. Naturally, the cleaning process destroyed the perfect head groove that I had worn into it, and it was rendered chunky and extra thick by its trip through the washer and dryer. I have to hit the mall later today [hah!] to get another one [and some new sheets and some new towels]…if only I can figure out when the stores open on Labor Day. I foresee several naps in my future. 🙁

I just sent off the .obj file of Jareth to Angelsdoll with the following note:

Hi Angelsdoll. I am inquiring about a custom BJD head sculpt. I am attaching an .obj file for the custom head that I would like made, as well as the .mtl file. Please let me know if you can open them.

The specifications for the custom head are as follows:

Head circumference: 20.5cm

Neck circumference: 9cm

Eye size: 14-16mm

Resin color: Volks compatible white

The head is going on a Doll Chateau adult male body. [Shoulders are 13.8cm wide.] Please refer to the following pictures of the body + blank head for proportions: http://www.doll-chateau.com/pro_detail.asp?id=206

Please note that the .obj file shows the head with realistic human proportions, instead of BJD proportions. Please adjust the size of the skull and face to fit BJD proportions, but do not change the relative sizes and positions of the facial features.

Can you give me an estimate for how much it would be to have 2 or 3 custom heads sculpted and shipped to me? I'm in the USA.

When you have a 3-D model of the head ready, please send back an .obj file so I can look at it. Thank you.

Let's see what happens!!

Hot Toys is doing a 1:6 scale version of Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, as she appears in The Dark Knight Rises, played by Anne Hathaway. I'm getting her! Well…I'm getting the whole doll, then selling everything but her head, as Hathaway has always reminded me of Frank [my version!]. ^_^

And look! Her stupid mask is removable! You would not believe how long it took me to discover this information. In a spectacular failure of communication, both the Hot Toys official site and the Sideshow Toys official site [= official US dealer for Hot Toys] showed the doll only with her mask on and no indication whatsoever of whether the damn thing was permanently attached to her face. No one wants a doll with something permanently attached to its face [well, unless it's Bane — that's okay because we never see him without his mask]. That just reduces the versatility of the fig drastically.

P.S. The movie was all right, but there were only 2 female characters, Selina Kyle and Thalia Al-Ghul. Otherwise, Gotham was made up entirely of men. How boring, not to mention unrealistic. I also could have gone for at least 15 minutes more of Anne Hathaway. The screen lit up whenever she appeared!

EDIT: The picture I got was not actually of the doll. Still not sure if her stoooooopid mask comes off. Have asked Sideshow Toy.

I left my headsculpt of my Jareth alone for 5 days so that I wouldn't be tempted to fiddle with him and ruin the great likeness I had captured so far. This evening, I went back to him with fresh eyes.

I tinkered with various values, deleting them completely, then putting them at high, low and medium levels, just to see their effects. In the end, the only changes for this round were slightly increasing the x axis width of the face from 95% to 97.5%, lightening the creases at the ends of his smile and lowering his eyelids marginally to give him a more relaxed look. And that was it. I was done with my part of the sculpting.

I exported him to an .obj file, and now I'm waiting to work with Angelsdoll on getting them the file, making sure it's readable and making sure that they are going to adhere to my requested measurements and my digital sculpt as closely as possible.

Here he is!
Continue reading My Jareth: render 7, ready for Angelsdoll!!!

On the DOA marketplace, huge sums of money regularly change hands. With that in mind, I do not understand how anyone would put "concealed cash" as an acceptable method of payment. "La la la, I just committed to buying a $650.00 doll. I'll just stick some bills in a padded mailer and send 'em first class." Who thinks that is a good idea?

…is that, when I'm going to the bathroom at work, I'll be staring at my shorts, and then I'll suddenly realize that they have a hole in the crotch. A big one. Right where the 4 seams join too! :p

There's a person on the DOA marketplace who has an Elfdoll June for sale. She's a 58cm, single-jointed BJD from 2009, "no damage," coming with default faceup, wig, eyes, box, earrings. As you can see, she originally sold for $500.00 + s/h, but the seller has listed her for $180.00 + s/h.

That's the first thing I don't understand. The secondary market for Elfdolls is pretty soft in general, especially compared to, say, that of Volks or Soom, but other Junes have gone or are going for at least $350.00, more like in the $400s. Why is this one so cheap?

And then there's the shipping quote. The seller says that priority shipping in the US will be "approximately $85.00."

That's the second thing I don't understand. "Approximately $85.00" for shipping a BJD by priority mail in the US is patently false. For one thing, you could unstring her and stick her in a large flat rate priority box, which, with insurance for $200.00 and delivery confirmation, would come to a total of $19.10. For another thing, even if her box were oversized [say, 36"x12"x12"] and 8 pounds [which is overestimating everything], priority shipping from California to Vermont with $200.00 of insurance and delivery confirmation would come to a total of $70.20. $70.20 =/= "approximately $85.00."

It's kind of despicious. >_> I suddenly feel a great desire to rescue this doll from her current owner.

I just paid off my estate planning! Now to get the FLE car its well-car checkup, and then I'm off to JARETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah yeah, late to the party, but apparently Hasbro and Integrity Toys are doing high-end, articulated, fashion-doll remakes of Jem and the Holograms. I wonder if they'll do the rival band too? I never got into the dolls the first time around, but I'm curious to see what the remakes look like. If they are 1:6 scale [as opposed to the original dolls, which were more like 13"] with articulated elbows [as opposed to the original dolls, who had articulated wrists, but no articulated elbows, for mysterious reasons], they could be interesting.

EDIT: Holy crap! 1:6 scale! Articulated elbows! Pink hair! Of course, this particular doll was one of those super-duper special editions available only at the 2012 Comicon, therefore now available on Ebay for $gazillion. Well, there'll be more of them in the future.

I don't care what it is — a doll, a dress, a lamp shade, a cell phone, anything — but putting Swarovski crystals on it makes it neither more attractive nor more desirable.

…on the occasion of your new job. Look…even David Bowie is happy for you!
Continue reading This is a present for melopoeia…

It looks exactly like a fashion illustration featuring a scrawny, elongated model who's about 11 heads high. It's like someone took your average BJD, reduced the x axis to 75% and increased the y axis to 125%. In a marketplace full of rounded, blocky, childlike dolls, Doll Chateau's gravity-defying aesthetic really stands out. I dig it.

"Wait a minute…I have to call the underwriters."

Lola Paprika and Dorothy have turned into MONEY!!!!!

I'm that much closer to affording Jareth's head and body….

If this is going to be the Best Jareth Doll Ever [TM], I should invest in accurate eyes: 14mm low-dome blue/grey eyes with medium-sized pupils and darker rings at edges of irises in glass, urethane or silicone. In other words, artistic representations of my own eyeballs. o_o

Eyeco's Ultra series might work.

8 x 8 x 8 box is $1.74 at UPS Store.

Dorothy in box weighs 12.4 oz.

Noodge in box weighs 11.4 oz.

Lola Paprika in box weighs 4 lbs, 11.1 oz.

I'm trying to get an accurate shipping quote to send Noodge in her box to Australia, and USPS will not give me the exact type of shipping I want. What I want is something relatively inexpensive with insurance.

Let's say it's a 2.5 pound package [probably overkill, but let's just be safe]. Where insurance is noted, it's for $195.00.

I could do express mail in a flat rate box with insurance for $75.80, HAH HAH HAH.

I could do international priority in a medium flat rate box with insurance for $52.70, HAH HAH HAH.

I could do international priority in my own packaging with insurance for $47.00, HAH HAH HAH.

And that is the cheapest that USPS goes for insured shipping.

I could do a first class international parcel in my own packaging with registered mail for $32.77, but there's no insurance. Apparently you can't put insurance on first class international parcels. WHY NOT?

His head looked too wide, so I reduced the x scale to 95%. The latest iteration is on the bottom.

Continue reading My Jareth: render 6b and all the others so far

Put ears more flush with head, gave more depth to philtrum and shape to upper lip, narrowed lower face a bit, pinched outer corners of lower lip a bit, narrowed full dorsal plane of nose a bit, dropped outer corners of eyes down a bit, narrowed top of head to more realistic proportions, erased forehead folds, narrowed width of back of head.

Continue reading My Jareth: render 6

I gave her some hair clips today so that it's easier to see her face, especially her adorable winking eye. While taking pictures of her, I got distracted by the beauty of her hand sculpts. They're so elongated and delicate!

Continue reading August has the most beautiful hands!

I would make some Labyrinthian crack about "downloads untold and .objs unnumbered," but I'm way too tired. All told, I spent maybe 6 hours finding the correct program, downloading it, installing it and then beating it into submission. At long last, however, I have finally achieved an .obj file that hopefully will be useable by the Angelsdoll team when they are sculpting Jareth. Behold — I have finally figured out how to remove the eyebrows and eyelashes from the .obj!

Continue reading You do not know how long it took me to do this.

Reduced the width and overall size of the eyes, set them a bit father from each other, relaxed the left brow.
Continue reading My Jareth: render 5

I currently have four dolls on the marketplace: Lola Paprika, Dorothy, Noodge and Sarah. I'm not in dire need of funds, but I would like them to sell off expeditiously so that I have have the money to pay for a) the rest of estate planning fees, b) the FLE car's well-car checkup and then c) JARETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…PAINT REMOVER. I've been using the same bottle for about 10 years. I think it's dead.

I had a buyer lined up for one of my dolls that I'm selling…a real live buyer, not someone who wanted a split or a trade, but someone who was willing to pay me money for my doll.

Then she just changed her mind. >_< Blaaaaaahhhhh. That's the first time this has happened to me, in my many transactions on the forum. So irritating!

I was exporting Jareth's head to an .obj file last night, and these stupid extra polys from the eyelashes and eyebrows kept coming with the basic headsculpt. After asking around on the Daz forums, I learned that I will have to take the .obj into a modeling program, remove the offending polys, resave and re-export to a new .obj.

Therefore, I have to download another huge, bloated memory hog [even if it is free] and figure out how to use it well enough to achieve the desired results. Argh.

I'm doing this because I love you, you pain in the ass. You hear me? Because I love you. :p

EDIT: Here's the salient piece of advice from chohole in my thread on the Daz forums: "[W]hen I export an obj into Bryce I can select the eyebrows and lashes as separate meshes and remove them."

And advice from JimmyC_2009 for Hexagon: "[Y]ou can do it in Hexagon too.  The head comes into Hex as one mesh, but you can select a poly in the eyebrow, grow the Selection, and then delete it, same with the eyelashes."

Regarding Poser, chohole says, "In Poser I would go to the hierarchy editor and turn the eyebrows and eye lashes off before exporting."

EDIT 2: And an archive thread from Runtime DNA on the same topic.

EDIT 3: BrowsGone and LashesGone morphs???

I'm doing the faceup on Jareth 2.0 myself. I'll have no problem with the eyes; those shapes are pretty flat, so they're easy to deal with. I will, however, have problems with all the nooks and crannies of the mouth. I hate painting mouths.

I've decided to go for the "nude lips" look, in which the lips are exactly the same or almost the same color as the surrounding skin, differentiated mainly by high gloss varnish. I thought it might be as easy as just glossing the lip area repeatedly until it really shone, but I asked Andrea, more experienced in doll painting, if she had any tips. She said:

"Put lots of high gloss varnish on it!  Oh, wait…  Another thing I've done is to use paint that's almost the same color as the skin.  John (kd_230692) will paint the lips, then wipe away all but the paint that's deepest in the line between the lips (usually he'll do that because he's not happy with the lips he painted, then likes the look of the line alone…)

"I've also used a bit of pastel on the lips, then glossed over that (but I've done that only once, for Gretchen here http://www.flickr.com/photos/dollsahoy/6076359350/  –a color closer to the skin tone would make the effect more subtle, of course. )"

I think I'm going with the paint-and-wipe effect. It ends up looking pretty good, actually.

It has 2 swappable skirts, a separate bodice and separate sleeves, so the fashion possibilities are endless slightly less limited than they would be if it was all one piece. It's stupendous in its commitment to pinkitude, and, because it's made by CheeryDoll, you know it's high quality.

It is very beautiful, but I am never, ever, ever getting it because it costs ~$390.00 excluding shipping. I've bought whole dolls for less money than that. The entire cast of Me and My Muses cost ~$260.00 a piece, while Lola Paprika, Janvier Jett and August were all around $300.00. I am willing to drop loads of money on dolls [see cost projections for Jareth 2.0, for example], but this is where I draw the line: buying clothes that cost more than your average BJD. $200.00 for a BJD outfit? Fine. Double that? No.

Soom's monthly doll in the Mega Gem size is Quartz the Ice Dragon, your standard cute, androgynous guy with fantasy parts. Nice dolly, but why are his wings made out of tinsel and cubic zirconium? Is there a resin shortage in South Korea? If I'm buying a doll that starts at $750.00 [which I'm not], excluding options and shipping, I expect wings of a better quality than those I could get off an Xmas ornament from the dollar store.

EDIT: Fixed the link.

I get so irritated when I post dolls for sale on DOA, and then people try to trade me their dolls for mine when I have explicitly stated that I'm not open to trades. No! I don't want your f'in' doll!

Loosened the crease between eyebrows, exaggerated the arch in the brows, made the lower lip smaller.
Continue reading My Jareth: render 4

I think I just bought Jareth's shirt and jacket. I was trying to just figure out shipping and handling, but I seem to have finalized a purchase instead. I detest online ordering systems that hide shipping and handling fees at some obscure point in the checkout process. And I really detest online ordering systems that calculate shipping after you place your order. [I'm looking at you, Denver Doll. >_> ]

Angelsdoll custom headsculpts [2] in white resin: ~$600.00-800.00 ended up being $717.80

Doll Chateau adult male body in white resin from Denver Doll:  $480.00 with est. s/h

Mid-calf laceup black platform-heeled boots and thigh-high black regular-heeled boots with buckles from Alice's Collections: $47.79 turned out to be Doll Chateau adult male Cyril whole doll and and Yuhao black platform high-heeled boots from Mint on Card for $597.19 with s/h MINUS $120.87 from sale of Cyril head = $476.32 

Faceup: $0 [will do myself] gonna end up getting some expensive Pan Pastels

Pants: $0 [already have]

Red frilly blouse and long black tailcoat from CheeryDoll: $156.11 with est. s/h turned out to be $150.11

Calf-high black platform heeled boots and thigh-high black platform heeled boots = $45.98

Ringdoll Frankenstein outfit = $124.00

Eyes: Y10 [Normal Eyes set] 14mm and ET59 [Special Eyes set] 14mm, both low dome, from Captured in Glass: $16.38 ended up being ET59, 14mm, low dome: $10.38 with s/h

Wig: wavy long blond 7-8inch from LeekeWorld: $49.00 with est. s/h turned out to be a Monique Ginger wig in blond from the DOA marketplace: $22.00 with s/h

Total: $1549.28 [assuming $800.00 for the custom heads]

It would be really nice if the custom heads cost on the lower end of what I've projected.

…Mainly because of my Jareth 2.0 project. Jareth is my most important character ever, and rendering his likeness in 3-D physicality has also been extremely important to me, ever since I first saw Labyrinth, then became extremely frustrated that there were no Jareth dolls. In pursuing this project, I respect the importance of my creative life by freeing it from arbitrary moratoriums.

Now that I think about it, I have no good reason to constrain my artistic expression in such a way. My interest in dolls brings me joy, intellectual excitement and challenge. It helps to give my life some balance. I can afford my interest as well; more to the point, I am able to save for moving and purchase things related to my dolls, so dolls are not really taking money from the moving fund. I could always, I suppose, save for moving all the money that I spend on dolls; that was my reasoning behind my expired resolution. However, the enforced misery that would result would not be worth it.

All this being said, I was motivated to make my expired resolution because of many impulse purchases in the past few months. For example, I got Nathaniel and August because they look cool, not because they represent characters that I love. I do not wish to continue purchasing dolls on impulse, especially when I have to move them all in less that a year! Therefore, my resolution should more specifically be that I will not get any impulse dolls till next summer. That I can live with.

Anyway, I have two major expenditures barring me from dropping major moolah on any doll project. First I have to pay the fees for my estate planning; I just made a down payment of 50% today. \o/ Then the FLE car needs its well-car checkup. Then the fun can begin.

Hmmm, I wonder if I have enough $$$ to get the FLE car's well-car checkup out of the way this week.

[All of this still does not address the subject of that Soom Auber, who, as far as I can tell, is still on the marketplace for a very reasonable price. Does he count as an impulse doll? I've been wanting him since last spring. Should I jump on him because I might not be able to find another at such a price? Or should I pursue 2.0 with the money I could have spent on Auber? Maybe someone will purchase the doll and render my decision irrelevant. :p ]

I decided that Lura needs goggles to protect her eyes during her flights, so I'm commissioning Eileen at Silverbeam on Etsy to design a pair of 3-D printed, nylon plastic goggles to my specs. I gave her necessary measurements today, as well as pictures relating to my concept:
Continue reading The Lura Project: custom goggles

I love Sarah and August, but I'm very irritated by their inflexible wrists. They don't cock more than a few degrees. I'd love to get 90 degrees forward and 90 degrees back out of both of their wrists.

twigling says in an old DOA thread,

I think you can drill/cut the slot in the wrist ball so it is deeper and comes further down on both sides towards
the palm of the hand to increase the range of motion.

I wonder if I can do that with a craft blade? I'd certainly play with them more if they could move their damn hands more realistically.

EDIT: The problem may also be that the wrist balls are set too far in the sockets, in which case a thick layer of hot glue could push them out and make them more flexible.

EDIT 2: Tutorial to increase wrist mobility.

I just asked Angelsdoll if they accept .obj files as reference material for their custom headsculpts. Will update with response.

EDIT: THEY DO!!! That increases my confidence in their head-making abilities exponentially!

I found this Tumblr dedicated to a Spanish collector's memorabilia hoard. As I page through the photos, what most strikes me is all the candids of Jennifer Connelly with a beautiful grin on her face. I've been ragging on her for years because she portrayed Sarah in a near-constant state of open-mouthed stupefaction, to the point where I thought she was seriously incapable of other expressions. Now I realize that she made a conscious choice to hang her mouth open all the time. What a pity, as Jareth would say; I think the movie would be vastly improved if she had just presented a neutral face with closed lips.

Archaia will release a manga about Jareth's backstory. Meh. Just because you can write sequels/prequels doesn't mean you should. Please refer to the wretched Return to Labyrinth manga series for a case in point.

I have a "to read" tag. I should probably have a "not to read" tag. :p

Ellery gets advice from sister Avery about jealous muse Lucian.

And, with that, we're on hiatus for a while till I figure out where the story wants to take me.

Continue reading Me and My Muses 3.8: “Sisterly Advice 2”

I have a pair of rather lightweight black leggings from Jareth 1.0 that 2.0 can use, but I've been recently poking around for a default outfit for 2.0.

I love this CheeryDoll shirt in red ["maroon"]. It looks delectable with this CheeryDoll long coat in black.

I also found some nice boots on Alice's Collections: mid-calf laceup platform heels in black, mid-thigh laceup regular heels in black or red, mid-thigh regular heels with buckles in black. I'm sure that the last linked pair would inhibit poseability, but I kind of want them for the LOLs. Naturally, I would have to swap out heeled feet from one of my 60cm girl dolls to 2.0 for these to fit.

DollHeart has a lovely outfit for male 70cms, My Mother Has Killed Me. [Thank you, bonus fairy tale reference!] I especially like the ruffles and flounces on the jacket and the pleather corset.

Here's a Flickr photo of a Doll Chateau 70cm male body [left] compared to a Dollshe male body [right]. In other words, it's a comparison of the body that I'd like to get for my "my Jareth" BJD to the body for my Jareth 1.0 BJD.

Wow, the more I look at it, the more I like the Doll Chateau male adult body. It's almost inhuman in its slenderness, very appropriate for an imaginary, mostly human character. :p

P.S. I could order a DC male adult body from my favorite US dealer, Denver Doll Emporium, and save a bunch on shipping.

P.P.S. Doll Chateau head measurements for the adult male body are as follows:

Head circumference: 20.5cm

Neck circumference: 9cm

Eye size: 18mm [probably could go down to 16mm]

P.P.P.S. This CheeryDoll shirt in red ["maroon"] would look great on Jareth 2.0!

As previously noted, I found a YouTube tutorial about sculpting feathers which I thought would work for my sculpture of Lura's wingy ears. Unfortunately, you can't hear squat because the sound quality is so poor. I have therefore decided to adapt Kriddles Couture's tutorial to still photos with text instructions.
Continue reading The Lura Project: practicing the sculpture of feathers

You may recall that I recently purchased a Phicen Military Fun action figure, with which I was pretty disappointed because it was neither military nor fun. I therefore decided to make her into a bash that, for me, would actually connote "military" and "fun." [Please note: No actual military facts were used in the making of this kitbash. Please don't tell me that anything is inaccurate. :p ] Here she is! [Yes, indeed, she does owe a great debt of inspiration to Takara CG Kat!]

Millie is a Phicen Military Fun head on a Takara CG 1.0 body with Phicen Military Fun hands on Takara CG 2.0 wrist pegs. She is wearing a Takara CG Aska fishnet bodysuit with a Takara CG Kat camo vest over that. Her shorts are custom from SithLord McGyver. Her boots are from the Phicen Military Fun figure, while her garrison cover is from Hot Toys' Sucker Punch Amber. Her ridiculously large gun is courtesy of Ronnie of fuzzheadquarters.
Continue reading Millie finally gets to have some “military fun!”

Widened the jaw a bit, lowered the eyes slightly, removed sculpted bags underneath eyes. He's pretty much there! I should just leave him alone for a while….
Continue reading My Jareth: render 3

After deciding that a shoulder-length bob did not suit Lura at all for hair, I poked around on DOA for a wig maker that I could commission to create a fur wig of my design. I had forgotten who did the wonderful custom three-tone fur wig for Lola Paprika [and then Janvier Jett]; it was Akasarushi, which I highly recommend. Anyway, since I hadn't logged the maker of Lola Paprika's/Janvier Jett's wig, I looked for another maker.

I found Spite and Malice, and the wig maker was open to custom orders! \o/ I liked the blue/pink mix of the bobbed wig, so I went for a pale pink/pale blue combo for the new one, but a completely different style: a mohawk! The sticky-uppy part [that's the techncial term :p] will be light pink, the "shaved" sides light blue. Awesome!

I'm very pleased with my experience with S&M so far. She responds to inquiries in a fast, friendly manner, and she also focuses on details [like the hairline and the shape of the back of your doll's head] in a way that bodes well for the final product.

Make Millie's hair lie flat!

Pin her stupid little hat to her head.

Buy sticky tack — a LOT.

Get more 20 gauge [?] wire.

Wire MacKenzie's legs.

Wire Janvier Jett's articulated hands!

Buy Play-Doh.

Practice sculpting feathers for Lura's wingy ears!

Take a picture of Lura's profile for S&M.

Figure out how to create a wire frame on which to sculpt additive mods.

Post extra eyes for sale.

Post Flower's Faery feets for sale.

Post Lura's old wig for sale.

Uh oh…from what I hear, Nobility Doll's custom sculpting service has a poor track record of wretched communication and quality control. If I'm trying to get a sculpt made of a character that means a lot to me, I'd rather spend more $$$ to go with a company that I know makes good stuff.

Angelsdoll offers a custom sculpting service that looks like it could meet my needs. I really like that you can specify head circumference, neck circumference and eye size, and I think it's cool that they do their sculpting with a 3-D modeling program. [I wonder if they would accept OBJ files as source material?] I am also familiar with Angelsdolls' beautiful non-custom headsculpts, their prompt communication and their great customer service.

The only catch is that the minimum order is 10 heads. I have no desire or need for 10 heads…2 maybe, 10 NO! I also have no desire to go through all the work of setting up a group order to order 10 heads and distribute them all. I have therefore asked if I can get just 2 heads for the price of 10. Yes, that's $500.00 a head. No, I don't really care that I'd be overpaying. My Jareth short-circuits logic!

EDIT: Angelsdoll got back to me, saying that they would be willing to work with me on the price, which they are thinking about lowering anyway. \o/

Even though I may not be actually getting my "my Jareth" doll until some time next year, I've been thinking about bodies for such a custom head.

At first, I was thinking about a Dollshe body, as that was the body that my first Jareth BJD had. Dollshe no longer makes the exact type of body that Jareth BJD 1.0 had, but it was something like this. Unfortunately, Dollshe's bodies are just really aesthetically unappealing and clunky, even though they may have fixed that stomach popping out problem endemic to the first release of bodies. Jareth 1.0 always felt like he was top heavy.

Then I discovered Doll Chateau's Adult male body, which could best be described as elongated. It is the scrawniest male BJD body I've ever seen. It's also a beautiful piece of sculpture, much more simple and much less fussy than Dollshe's. I actually really love it, especially because that's the shape that I'm looking for for my Jareth BJD.

The only thing with the DC body is that it's really easy to mess up the proportions. It needs a tall, narrow head to go with the tall, narrow body so that it doesn't look bobble-headed. If I were to go with the DC body, I would have to give the custom sculptors specifc instructions to make the head a certain size [height, width, depth] so that it fit the body's aesthetic.

Holy crap, that is a skinny body!

EDIT: Dollshe heads actually work pretty well on the Doll Chateau Adult male body.

I was originally rerendering my Jareth on my old compooper, on which was installed Daz Studio 3. The compooper moved very slowly because most of its memory was used up. While I was trying to get to sleep last night, I thought that, if my Jareth is going to be a long-term project [which he is], I should probably move him to my new, current compooper so I can easily futz with him.

And so began the Epic Trek. I thought that I could [relatively easily] port him over by saving his morphs as a Daz character preset [or a pose preset — not clear on the difference]. Then I could install the latest version of Daz on my current compooper, as well as the files needed to build my Jareth. Then I could load the appropriate raw Jareth materials, then apply the presets, and voila! Insta-Jareth [TM]!

Insta-Jareth [TM] took about 5 hours because Daz Studio 4 is, as the kids are calling it these days, a horrid piece of shit. First I downloaded the raw Jareth materials, which took about an hour [huge files]. Then I downloaded Daz Studio 4, which took about another hour. Then I installed it, which took a ridiculously long time because it wanted to add all sorts of slick starter content and fancy plugins that I did not want. Then I spent some time swearing at the new interface until I beat it into intelligible submission. I installed all the raw Jareth materials and sent up a raw Jareth-to-be figure, downloaded my presets, tried to apply them and…

And nothing. Daz Studio 4 could not, for some reason, read my preset files from Studio 3. I'm not sure why. I ended up taking screenshots of my morph settings on my old compooper, saving them, then referring to them on my new compooper as I transferred the values by hand. Yeah, that took a little bit of time. >_>

Anyway, my Jareth model is now on my new compooper, along with a whole bunch of other starter content crapola that I have no use for. I may try uninstalling Daz Studio 4 and seeing if I can redo a custom installation. I don't need your freebies, Daz!

I don't understand how anyone can use Daz Studio for more than either amateur futzing and/or digital porn. It's a bloated, jerry-built piece of software with a non-intuitive user interface and way too many bells and whistles. Did I mention it was also a memory hog? Its documentation remains incomplete, woefully behind the times and obscure.  I only know how to use it because I climbed its steep learning curve several years ago, and I'm only using it now because I bought a lot of content threw a lot of $$$ in the Daz toilet, and it's perfect for this particular case.

What's that? Oh yeah, I did futz with my Jareth today. Here he is with a much less pointy nose, although it's probably almost impossible to tell from this angle.
Continue reading My Jareth: render 2 [and some comments about Daz Studio 4]

After getting all excited about commissioning a BJD that looks like my version of Jareth, I decided to recreate, to the best of my ability, the Daz render I did about 3 years ago that looked as much like my version of Jareth as I could get.

To do this, I had to go back to my old compooper where Daz Studio still lives. Then I had to download Michael 3 [the Daz male base figure], all his Daz morphs [so I could change his shape], plus Capsces Digital Ink's super awesome custom morphs for M3 called Brom. I have probably previously sung the praises of these morph packages, which she releases for every major Daz base figure, but I'll sing them again. Capsces' morphs add so much more customizability to the models, and they come with handy-dandy face and body presets that fit my preferred aesthetic: stylized, exaggerated and full of character.

Anyway, I dumped all that onto my compooper and slowly fired up Daz. When I last modeled my Jareth, I worked off a preset Brom face, which is the digital equivalent to a headsculpt. If you'd like to see what I started with, you can go to the Brom page and click the first thumbnail under the main product picture. I started with the pink elf guy in the center of the second row, though, of course, he had a different texture when I was using him.

I futzed around for a few hours, pushing sliders to distort specific areas of the digital model in specific ways; in essence, I was digitally sculpting. Here's my rough draft. The hair and complexion are just placeholders; they don't really matter for sculpting purposes. It will be further futzed with later to increase its accuracy [to the character in my head]. Wheeee!

Continue reading My Jareth: initial rendering

Corresponding author: Here is a submission that we hope will be published in your journal.

Me: No thanks. [supplies rejection letter]

[Ten months go by.]

Same corresponding author: Here is a new submission that we hope will be published in your journal.

Me: No thanks. This is the exact same thing that you gave us [some time] ago. We actually rejected this before, under [date] and [manuscript number], so we cannot consider it again.

Sometimes authors submit the exact same thing again because they forgot that they submitted it the first time. And sometimes authors try to sneak stuff by us. >_>

Now that I have made my solemn vow to myself not to get any more dolls until next summer, the temptations are cropping up.

1. There's a grey Soom Faery Legend Auber on the DOA marketplace for a very reasonable price. I have really liked this little dude from the moment he debuted in 2011, because he reminds me of Jareth. ["It looks like Jareth" is sufficient justification for anything in my book.]

2. Someone is soliciting participation in a group order for a custom BJD head from Nobility Doll ["press papilla good feel!"]. She wants to commission a sculpt of DAVID BOWIE from the Ziggy Stardust era.

EDIT: Never mind…she's commissioning it from DIM's MiniMee service. From what I've seen, DIM tends to make their headsculpts way too big, so I'm not sure if I would want to pursue such an order.

Well, anyway, now that I'm thinking about it, I see that I could use Nobility Doll's custom sculpting service my own self and get a doll that looks like my version of Jareth. Reference pictures below:

May 26, 2009: From mind to pen: did it work?

May 26, 2009: "Print to action figure."

June 17, 2009: Some guy I know.

Sigh…I've been pursuing the Ultimate Jareth Doll [TM] for years now. I will probably never quit this quest, in part because my version of Jareth does not have a fully fixed physical appearance.

EDIT: I no longer have the particular morph of Jareth linked in those three entries above, as it expired in the Great Hard Drive Expiration of 2010. But I do have Daz on my old compooper. Should fire it up and try to recreate that morph, then actually get it rendered in resin [at some point in the future]…

Lura's head arrived today! Thanks, Laoky.
Continue reading The Lura Project: the Eyes That Can See Forever

Tracking a package online is kind of like watching a pot boil. Nothing happens…nothing happens…the tracking status does update…doesn't update…the water sits there, not bubbling…not bubbling… Then the package moves 1 or 2 steps on its journey; a few bubbles make their way lazily from the bottom of the pan to the top, etc., etc. The more I want the package to arrive or the pot to boil, the slower the process seems to go.

Sometimes the moment right before delivery/boiling seems to last the longest. Currently, Lura's head, coming from Germany, has achieved "arrival at unit" as of Saturday. This sounds great, right, like the package has actually been dropped off at its destination? WRONG. "Unit" = post office. "Arrival at unit" is followed by "out for delivery" and THEN "delivered." The ambiguous wording really irritates me in this case, especially since the "unit" is 5 minutes' walk from my work address, to which the package is being delivered. So close and yet so far.

GIMME ME MY PACKAGE!!! I called the "unit," actually a carrier station, not a full-service PO, and they said that Lura was out for delivery as we speak, so I sure hope she comes today.

It seems like every BJD company has different names for different sizes of BJDs. From largest to smallest, for example, Volks goes SD17, SD16, SD13, SD10, MSD, etc. From largest to smallest, Iplehouse goes Elder, Senior, Youth, Junior, Kid, Baby. From largest to smallest, Souldoll goes Zenith, Double, Vito, Souloid, Kid, Sweet, Little. I'm personally amused by D-Storic's lineup, which starts with God [1:1 scale!], King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight, Pawn.

Anyway, Fairyland gets my award for most confusing naming system. I'm writing a list of their sizes and names below because there are too many Fees and Pukis running around. And I can never keep LittleFees and MiniFees straight. MiniFees are the mature 40cms, while LittleFees are the child 25cms, but I think that the LittleFees should be larger than the MiniFees. ARGH!

Feeple ~70/65/60cm
MiniFee ~40cm
ChicLine ~40cm
LittleFee ~25cm
PukiFee ~15cm
PukiPuki ~11cm
RealPuki ~10cm

I have acquired a pair of Soom Galena lower legs and talons in grey resin. Thanks, Jess_kane!
Continue reading The Lura Project: progress so far

Angelsdoll Ieseul is on topic, but the same company's Ieseul Cat Avatar [whence Janvier Jett] is off topic. The official reason given by one of the mods is "because of the aesthetics of the doll's face sculpt." I know what those words mean, but they don't make any sense because the aesthetics of the Cat Avatar's sculpt are the same as regular Ieseul's sculpt, and she's allowed.

It is a mystery.

I'm bringing Nathaniel, August, Mellifer, Lura's talons [to see if they fit certain bodies] and Lura's head [if it comes today]. I will also be sure to put in a fresh camera battery so I can get lots of pictures of dolls!! vermont chick, goldi and Lyrajean have confirmed! \o/

A certain amount of stylization is expected in the sculpture of Asian BJDs, especially "anthro" BJDs. Anthro BJDs can best be described as BJDs that combine the bipedal stance of humans with the features of quadruped non-human animals. You know that Far Side cartoon by Gary Larson where all the cows are standing around on their hind legs talking, until one of them sees a car, at which point they go down on all fours? Not only is it pretty much my favorite Far Side cartoon ever, but it also perfectly illustrates the concept of anthros.

Anyway, most anthro dolls look like very cutesified versions of the animals they represent. They have huge eyes, usually in the lower thirds of their faces, small noses and mouths, large ears and foreshortened muzzles. They more closely resemble baby animals, rather than mature animals. Once you accept the aesthetic, though, it's pretty easy to determine which animal an anthro BJD is supposed to be.

…Until I came across this one, a DollZone Ulli. It's supposed to be a sheep.  When I think of a sheep's distinguishing characteristics, I think of a long snout, eyes on the sides of the head [you know, befitting a prey animal] and horns. Ulli has horns, but no long snout or eyes on the sides of the head. The anthro aesthetic's tendency to a) shorten the muzzle and b) move the eyes to the front of the head really work against the "sheep" concept. I don't know about you, but I don't see a sheep in there. Plus it looks drunk.

Continue reading FS: DollMore Doll More Banji Eomji girl + 2 wigs + 2 outfits — $75.00

Lola Paprika is moving on. [Well, I hope she is. I put her on the DOA marketplace today.] She never really turned out to be the doll I wanted anyway.

I first learned of Angelsdoll at doll club back in April of 2011, when I was struck by the beauty of a fellow enthusiast's Ruby on the massive girl body. Such a sweet, soft face. Naturally, I wanted Ruby.

When I hopped over to the AD site to order a Ruby, I saw that they were having a super sale on Hyang. Basically you could get a Hyang with eyes, faceup, outfit and free shipping for the price of a blank Hyang excluding shipping. The cheapo in me won out over the aesthete in me, and I bought Hyang.

While poking through the AD site, I also discovered Cat Avatar Ieseul and her super awesome/obnoxious default faceup. I much preferred it over Hyang's default plaintive, understated look. I therefore expressly ordered my Hyang with the Ieseul Cat Avatar faceup, planning her look and her personality to match.

I'm not sure how this happened, but Lola Paprika came with the default depressed Hyang faceup. She was so beautifully done that I didn't want to have her faceup wiped, so I tried to keep her as she was, with the default faceup and a look for a more obstreperous doll, but she never really worked for me.

Meanwhile, in June, 2011, AD lowered their prices of blank 62cm girls to $220.00 before shipping. I had the extra eyes and outfit that came with Lola Paprika, and I still wanted Ieseul Cat Avatar's faceup, so clearly the logical course of action was to buy a whole Ieseul Cat Avatar. How could I resist?

Janvier Jett became the obstreperous character that Lola Paprika never did. She demanded leg fuzzies, spiky hair, cat's-eye glasses, a guitar, jointed hands, even a brightening of the already loud colors in her faceup. With her cute little smirk, she exuded all the ebullience that I had wished for my anxious introvert Lola Paprika.

Recently I admitted to myself what I'd been thinking all along: Of my 2 Angelsdolls, I liked Janvier Jett more as a character, even though Lola Paprika's outfit was much cooler. Last night, when I was in the midst of wondering what more BJDs I could get rid of, I decided to stick Janvier Jett in Lola Paprika's clothes, hair and eyes; I would then sell Lola Paprika with the clothes and eyes she came with. That way I would have my Flaming Hot Pussy guitarist and the eye-bleeding clothes I'd spent so long carefully mismatching!

Watch for photos of the new, improved Janvier Jett later today!

Soom just issued the latest in their Faery Legend line, a little winged dude in brick red resin: Labas the Weaponsmith Sprite. This is the first time in a long time, but I think Labas is just mediocre.

I love the concept of a fiery fairy, but Soom did not execute it well. Some parts of the sculpting work, while others fail. I love  the sculpted flames on his Faery legs, but that's about it. His wings look heavy and drippy, rather than light and flame-like. His headsculpt seems mushy and generic, while the default faceup, in colors very similar to his skin tone, doesn't do him any favors either.

I'm also disappointed with the palette used. I like the brick red resin for Labas' body and the transparent red resin for his Faery legs. but nothing else. Labas' brown wig and black outfit really kill the themes of light and fire. I would brighten one or both of these elements with some oranges and yellows. A fur wig would be great, mimicking the tongues of flame. Furthermore, even though Labas' eyes are apparently yellow grey, they don't pop at all. This guy needs neon eyes. O_O

While I'm criticizing Labas harshly, I think that he could be an awesome fire sprite in the right hands, as long as you don't get him with faceup, eyes, wig or outfit and pass on the waterlogged wings. A good customizer with a vision [like me, if I cared to get him] could really improve this doll, but I'm not interested enough in such a bland headsculpt to pursue this project.

Continue reading FS: Angelsdoll Hyang + outfit — $300.00 + shipping

Continue reading FS: Elfdoll Elf Doll Tiny Dodo [14cm mature] (NS) – $300

The credit union E-mailed me that my rent check, which tried to go through today, overdrew my account by ~$150.00. I'm seriously not sure how that happened!

Anyway, once I momentarily stopped panicking, I discovered that I have overdraft protection, so the credit union fronted the money, covering the rent check. Of course, they also assessed me an overdraft fee. And, if any of my other pending charges hit today, they will be covered by overdraft protection [I think] and assessed overdraft fees.

Sigh.

Anyway, I had $200.00 sittin' in my Paypal account, so I moved that over to my checking account ["3-4 business days" to transfer]. More immediately, I called my financial advisor and had her transfer some money from my short-term savings to my sadly denuded checking account. That transfer is either happening today or tomorrow. I had to pay a wire fee to expedite it.

I should be fine for the next 7 days [next payday is the 14th]. My only major expense during that period will be my grocery shopping and maybe some gas. I have gathered together enough funds to cover the -$150.00 and then leave me some extra. I think this will all work out. I'm just trying to clear leftover hyperventilation out of my system.

This weekend, I bought a pound of Aves Studio Apoxie Sculpt, which was recommended on DOA as the best sculpting medium for adding permanent, durable, modifiable mods to BJDs. Tragically, there are no stores in Vermont, New Hampshire or northern New York that sell Aves stuff, so I had to spend $10.20 on shipping for $15.00 worth of Apoxie Sculpt. This is my despicious face: >_>

I also collected reference pictures of possible shapes for wingy ears. I got some owner pics of Soom Clozel's wingy ears, which are long and rectangular. I'd love to get some owner pics of Soom Amphibel's, which are high and rounded. I wouldn't copy either type of ears; I'm mostly curious to see how much detail is sculpted in for them to be recognizable as feathery.

Today I searched online for information on how to sculpt wings. eHow has a whole series of videos on a guy sculpting an angel, and the 2 vids about sculpting wings are somewhat helpful, though the incised detail on every single feather seems like overkill. I think that demarcating the boundaries between feathers is more important when sculpting than trying to engrave all the details of the barbs [the little hair-like things that protrude from the rachis, or "stem," of each feather]. Making the wing forms. Sculpting details in the wings part 1. Sculpting details in the wings part 2.

Anyway…I really love how the woman in this YouTube tutorial shapes each feather. Too bad the light and sound are so poor.

And here's a tutorial [still photos] on sculpting wings for Warhammer 40K miniatures with alternative techniques for detailing feathers.

Hmmm, I should probably post this in the customization section on DOA. You know, for science!

Ellery talks to her sister Avery about her muse Lucian.

Continue reading Me and My Muses 3.7: “Sisterly Advice 1”

I very rarely track all the sources of all the parts for dolls I 'bash, but I've decided to do it for Lura because she comes from so many different places.

Head: Iplehouse Luna Tamer human in rose grey resin

Eye 1: Creamsoda 14mm steampunk factory second

Eye 2: Either Iplehouse 16mm red, Volks Dollfie Animetic 14mm pink or Soom 14mm pink iris/purple pupil

Faceup: Iplehouse Luna Tamer human default

Hair: Currently light blue/light pink mix shoulder-length bob from Andrea

Wing ears: To be sculpted by me out of white Aves Apoxie Sculpt

Body: Mostly likely Illusion Spirit 58cm girl body in grey resin

Right arm: HTTDolls "automail" arm in dark grey resin, to be painted by me

Hands: uncertain — claws? — talons? — transparent resin? — jointed?

Feet: Soom Galena talons in grey resin [may require mods to fit knee sockets]

Current sales list here.

After inveighing against people who buy recast, knockoff, bootleg dolls, I just bought one myself unwittingly. Since Millie's seamless Phicen body broke an arm when I breathed on it, I purchased her a pale TTL large bust body with standard, visible joints, which came yesterday. I was very pleased with it. Then Andrea told me that it was a recast of the CG 2.0. Pooooooooooop. Now I'm back at square one because I have to get rid of this TTL body and find an ethical replacement.

In good news, the guy who sold Millie to me, Sith Lord McGyver, offered to replace her broken body, so I'm trying to find out what that would entail.

I just got a loopy concept for Lura: she could be a cyborg siren! For that, she would need cyborg parts, avian talons and possibly wings. So freakin' awesome!

Now to find sources of wings and talons. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any sources for talons besides Soom fantasy parts.

For wings…

Soom Gneiss fem [head-mounted]

Soom Carbon/Luxulia [Teenie Gem]

Soom Amphibel fem [ears]

Soom Sphaler dude [ears]

Soom Euclase dude [ears]

Oooh…FlightofIcarus on DOA makes 'em!

For talons…

Soom Tremo dude

Soom Arkose dude

Soom Obsidius dude

Soom Migma fem

Soom Bazael dude

Soom Nephelin fem

Soom Monzo dude

Soom Galena fem

Soom Sphaler dude

Soom Euclase dude

The company just contracted with a vendor of online business skills training courses. Subjects offered are as diverse as PivotTables in Excel and anger management.

I have no problem with the hard skills courses, but I feel ambivalent about the soft skills courses. On one hand, I am grateful that such courses exist because their existence implicitly acknowledges that nobody automatically knows how to manage anger effectively, for example. On the other hand, I have deep philosophical discomfort with the way that emotional labor — i.e., soft skills — is demanded by corporate culture, but coded as feminine, demeaned and undervalued in this society. 

There's also the philosophical discomfort created by knowing that the corporations are trying to control what employees feel and how they feel it.

I have no easily summarizable thoughts on these subjects.

bamna has been selling double-jointed grey resin "automail" arms on the DOA marketplace for a while. She halved the price until August 24th; it's now $36.00 per arm + shipping. I think cyborg parts are pretty nifty [and I missed out on Iplehouse's somewhat awesome, somewhat goofy Elemental Guardian Bianca Cyborg], so maybe I should make Lura a cyborg?

Speaking of cyborg dolls or robot dolls or whatever, I actually like something by Impldoll [gasp!]: their LE Robot Heloise. Unlike Iplehouse's Bianca Cyborg, Robot Heloise actually looks like a damn robot, instead of a human woman wearing a metal bikini. She's pretty damn cool, and it's too bad I can't get her because she'll probably be sold out in a year, as there's only 100 of her available.

Maybe Lura could have a cyberdreads wig with plastic and tinsel in it!

Today I discovered, while poking around online, that there are apparently some people who think that it's okay to own recast, bootleg, knockoff BJDs. Really? You think that knowingly supporting plagiarism and intellectual property theft is morally defensible? You're cool being known as a liar, a cheater and a cheapskate? But, hey, fine, it's all good because you saved a buck by supporting a legally dubious business enterprise instead of a legitimate artist and/or company.

Plagiarism: it's wrong. Don't do it.

From Germany! Here in approximately 10 business days!

I cancelled my New York Times online subscription today. The rep recorded my detailed comments about why I was cancelling. I doubt that will make any difference, though. On to slightly less offensive news sources…

Since January, I have acquired the following people [in chronological order]. I'm talking about dolls I purchased this year, not ones that I purchased last year, but finally received this year.

Mellifer [1:6 BJD], purchased in April

Steampink AJ [1:6 action fig], traded for in June

Nathaniel [1:3 BJD], purchased in June/July

Millie [1:6 action fig], purchased in July

August [1:3 BJD], purchased in July

Lura['s head] [1:3 BJD], purchased in July

June and July have been very busy doll-related months for me, what with Too Many Dolls: The Exodus and the purchase of 5 of this year's 6 new dolls. Most of the purchasing frenzy stems from having money available after Too Many Dolls: The Exodus and therefore being able to indulge some 1:6 and 1:3 whims.

I can't keep buying dolls like this, though. I don't have a) the space or b) the money. Well, technically, that's not true. In terms of a), I could always bring some to work to put on my new bookcase, which should be coming any day now. In terms of b), I can pretty much always finagle it so I cover my necessary expenses and then whatever doll-related purchases I want.

But anyway…we are ignoring technicalities! I need to watch my discretionary spending because we are saving up to move next summer. We need to pay for packing supplies, movers and/or truck rental, first + security, pet registration fee [meow!], furniture and all those other things you don't know you need until you get to your new house and realize you don't have them. I've been socking away $$$ steadily for at least 6 months, so I have a nice chunk of change already, but I'd rather have saved too much than too little.

Therefore I have made myself a resolution. I will not purchase any more 1:3 or 1:6 dolls until we move. Getting a body for Lura is fine. Trading for dolls is fine. Buying doll-related things [such as clothes + wig for Lura, 1:3 furniture and 1:6 stands] is acceptable too. Leaching from the bank account to increase the ranks, however, is not.

This way I can settle down and enjoy what I have. I will also ensure that I have plenty of $$$ to cover moving costs. It will be hard, but I can do it!

Are Ellery and Lucian getting it on too much?
Continue reading Me and My Muses 3.6: “Too Much?”

I am in the process of acquiring an Iplehouse Noctarcana Circus Luna Tamer human head in rose grey resin with original faceup and eyes. [I'm also getting the chimera tail, which I have no use for.] Everyone please welcome Lura, who will not be getting a body, hair and clothes any time soon because the FLE car still hasn't had its well-car checkup, and my car is more important than my dolls. 4srs.

…I ended up not needing hemostats after all. I restrung August using a doubled length of 20 gauge wire as a threading tool, jewelry pliers for pulling and pens as cross pieces to keep the elastics from snapping back into the body. She is now strung extremely tightly, so I have to make her do "exercises" the way that Lola Paprika did when her "muscles" were too tight. August also needs wiring in her arms; she also needs underwear. For now, though, some photos of her mostly completed.

It should be illegal to be this cute.
Continue reading The August Project: mostly done!

This afternoon I unwrapped all of August's body parts besides her head and laid them out.
Continue reading The August project: having a bath

Whoa…Illusion Spirit is currently having a 12% off sale through August 24th. That means that their 58cm girl body is currently $228.80 at Alice's Collections. With an extra $40.00 fee for grey resin, that's $268.80 for a body. The event also reduces Illusion Spirit jointed hands by 20% off, so a pair of 1:3 female hands would be $60.00 + $15.00 for grey. Plus…Alice's Collections has free shipping on orders over $100.00.

Let's compare:

Illusion Spirit grey fem 58 cm body + grey jointed hands from Alice's Collections: $343.80

Illusion Spirit grey fem 58 cm body from Alice's Collections: $268.80

Angelsdoll grey massive fem – 82.2 points + shipping = $474.80

Angelsdoll grey slim fem – 82.2 points + shipping = $419.80

Suddenly my Angelsdoll points do not look so attractive in this case.

Again, August is a Buddy Doll April winking, and N'Yenya is an Integrity Toys Monsieur Z Fly Girl repainted by Andrea. There are subtle differences, such as N'Yenya's longer face and slightly upturned nose, but they are remarkably similar!

Continue reading August and N’Yenya

August arrived from ZombiEdward yesterday with each of her unstrung pieces wrapped in fluorescent green bubble wrap.

Continue reading The August Project: as she came

Ahem.

I got the genius idea last night to purchase an Iplehouse Luna head in special rose grey resin [from the Noctarcana Circus special edition] and put it on an Angelsdoll massive girl body.

Continue reading Must! Buy! More! Dolls!

They just published another article about trans people, called "For Money or Just to Strut, Living Out Loud on a Transgender Stage." It's about young trans women of color on Christopher Street in the West Village in New York City. In the summer nights, some of them gather in this area. They enjoy the freedom to express their fashion sense and/or their desires openly. They do the usual activities covered under the rubric of "hanging out" for twentysomethings: talking, eating, dancing, arguing. Some of the women are sex workers.

I want to know more about the motivations of the women who moved here because they found it safer and more welcoming. I want to know more about the class conflict that they experience when they earn small money doing sex work in the vicinity of expensive condos. I want to know more about the daily lives of the women, activists and sex workers alike, who congregate on Christopher Street after dark.

And, thanks to the New York Times, I will never learn any of this from their coverage. I don't know where to start on how disgustingly problematic it is, so I'll start with the title. Calling the women's hang-out place a "stage" implies that their activities are false, untrue mimicry. Since the women in the article are, you know, living their damned lives,   the use of theatrical terms suggests that their lives are trivial and second-rate…probably in implicit comparison to the lives of the owners of the extravagant mansions lining the street.

The rest of the article goes on and on about how the women look, how they style their hair, what they wear, even comparing them at one point to "flocks of exotic — if risqué — parakeets." Hey look — it's dehumanization! Where have I seen that before? Oh yeah, in the reprehensible NYT coverage on the death of Lorena Escalera, who shared some traits with the women in this article: she was a trans woman of color in her 20s, and she had done sex work in the past.

Time for another letter, calling out the NYT's racism and cissexism. I should really cancel my subscription.

Me: Please include your complete title page when submitting your revision.

Corresponding author 1: [includes abbreviated title page containing title and nothing else]

Me: Please include your complete title page when submitting your revision.

Corresponding author 2: [includes abbreviated title page containing title and nothing else]

Me: Please include your complete title page when submitting your revision.

Corresponding author 3: [includes abbreviated title page containing title and nothing else]

Me: ?!?!?!?!?!?!?

This is N'Yenya Clippee:
Continue reading The trials and tribulations of N’Yenya Clippee

I haven't been able to concentrate all week so far.

I don't understand why the Volks Dollfie Dreams of licensed anime and manga characters are so expensive. More precisely, why do their prices inflate so horribly on the secondary market?

For example, here's Rise Kujikawa, a limited edition from this year. As you can see if you scroll to the bottom of the page, she sold for $605.00 on Volks USA, excluding shipping. I just saw her on the DOA marketplace for $1690.00, excluding shipping.

Here's Lucy Maria Misora, an LE from this year as well. She originally sold for $605.00, but I see her on the marketplace for $1200.00.

Finally, here's an unofficial set of pictures of Kana Unchou, an LE from 2009. She originally sold for JPY 58000.00, which, let's say, is ~$740.00. She's currently on the marketplaces for $1950.00. But don't fret — shipping is included!

I suppose their secondary market value increases so disgustingly because of a) scalpers and b) people willing to pay scalpers' prices. I still don't fathom, though, why someone would drop $2K on a soft vinyl doll that stains if you sneeze in its general direction. The question remains — who are these people willing to pay so much?

Ellery talks to Kristin about fun times with Lucian.
Continue reading Me and My Muses 3.5: “Sex Stuff”

Continue reading Volks Emma fullset outfit + wig + eyes — $225.00 + s/h

Someone bought a single shirt; then someone bought a single wig, and then another person wanted all the rest of the wigs and the clothes as a lot. Goooooooooooooooood riddance!

I just spent from about 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM photoing, describing and listing BJD clothes and wigs for sale. Hope it all goes away, or else I'm gonna trash it.

s/h = shipping and handling

Pale pink fur wig, size 7/8. Shown on Sarah, my SoulDoll Zenith Shiva-G. Pay s/h.
Continue reading Fur wigs, hair wigs, 7/8, 9/10, FS — just pay s/h

s/h = shipping and handling

70cm clothes
Continue reading 60 and 70cm BJD clothes, either for $10 + s/h or just s/h!

She came today! The first thing I did was…break her arm. I snapped the internal skeleton of her left upper arm, creating the clean break indicated by the arrow in the picture below. I immediately concluded that Phicen seamless bodies are CRAP. They're not poorly made; they're just contrary to the purpose of action figures, who are supposed to move and pose, not snap.
Continue reading Millie, my Phicen Military Fun, arrives!

There are quite a few BJD companies out there that make beautiful, well-sculpted, appealing BJDs for between $200.00 and $300.00. There's Elfdoll with its line of 14cm tinies, Fairyland with its RealPukis and PukiPukis, 5StarDoll with its 60cm line, Planetdoll with its entire stock, Angell Studio with all dolls <40cm, Dragondoll with dolls <70cm, et hoc genus omne.

Knowing this, I have to wonder why other companies [coughVolkscough, coughSoomcough] charge up to 4 times that amount. Obviously, I have willingly paid for multiple Sooms and Volkses, so I'm not complaining, just wondering where the markup comes in. I think we're paying for the brand. >_>

Both of their Web sites go on and on about everything you could ever want to know about their goods & services, except for the prices. Getting information about prices from these estate planners is like pulling stumps with dental floss. You can do it, but the result feels decidedly unrewarding, compared to the amount of effort required.

Winking & smirking BuddyDoll April is MINE!!! She's coming unstrung, along with a sizeable wardrobe, as soon as I pay her off in full.

Pros: August joins the population.

Cons: August comes with a buttload of clothes I don't want. More 1:3 clothes to get rid of.

…for BJDs. I thought I would keep them all on one shelf of a bookshelf, but that shelf only holds Janvier Jett, Lola Paprika, Araminthe, Sardonix, Sarah, Submit and Noodge. Dorothy is on the shelf below, which is fine because she’s only 14cm. Flower, Ginevra and Mellifer are on my desk, along with Nathaniel [who recently arrived], but my desk is also where the Me and My Muses dolls have a staging area and photo studio, so I have to move the hordes once a week when I shoot episodes.

Clearly the solution is to bring a few people to work! I have nothing on my walls anyway; my only decoration consists of a few toys. [My sweatshirt over the back of my chair does not count as decor.]

I should get a bookcase…for…um…my reference books! That’s it. To be fair, I do have some reference books, looking pretty silly, sitting on top of my filing cabinet. All 4 of them can go on the bookcase, and so can the some of the small populations.

While I’m at it, I should order a bulletin board.

While I’m also at it, I need to rid myself of all those 1:3 clothes I don’t want.

That cute little BuddyDoll April [winking & smirking!] is back on the DOA marketplace. Only $260.00!! Calling to me!

Huzzah, Mellifer's blushed wings, which he emphatically stated that he did not want, are headed for Australia! Now if only someone would buy the blushed fantasy feets…

I have graduated to processing solicited manuscripts without having to run my checklists and correspondence by my coworker! \o/

I sold a doll, N'Yenya, actually; the buyer paid through Paypal. I looked all over for his mailing address and could not find it in Paypal, even under the Details link. I sent him messages by E-mail and through the Doll Page asking for his address. He never responded. Finally I told him that, if I didn't get his address by 5 PM EST yesterday, I was going to refund him and relist the doll. I did so.

NOW I get a message from him stating that he has a verified Paypal address. So? That doesn't help! What is it? I wrote back saying that I was willing to try again and provide a screenshot of me not having the address. Up to him.

I really hope this is all a stupid misunderstanding and that his mailing address is just hiding somewhere. Alternatively, I could also live with him being wrong and his transaction details actually lacking his mailing address. Anyway, can we just get the doll gone?

Nathaniel came today. She promptly told me that she was not interested in her fullset, except for the underwear and the boots. As is usual for most of the population around here, she garbed herself in a fashion disaster from my supply instead. See below.

She is convinced she's cool because she's wearing what makes her happy. And she's so out of touch with what's actually mainstream cool that her own style works for her!

I really like Nathaniel as a doll. She looks about 12 or 13, which is perfect because she's an SD13. I like her muted, default faceup and her little sculpted smirk. Because she's from 2005, she has yellowed, so her resin has turned a rich, golden color. It makes her look softer and warmer, I think.

I'm really not one of those people who can't stand yellowing. Resin will always yellow as it ages, and there's no escaping from it. Why bother keeping my dolls in their boxes or in dark rooms all the time in an attempt to stave off yellowing? I believe that my BJDs exist to be played with, posed, dressed, undressed and photographed, so I like to keep them out where I can see them. I accepting the goldening or browning of their skin tones as inevitable and even beautiful.

Continue reading Bonjour, Nathaniel!

Ellery talks to Kristin, her long-distance girlfriend, about Kristin's problems.

Continue reading Me and My Muses 3.4: “Kristin Again”

Less than 24 hours after being posted on DOA, 2 of my 4 small BJDs that I am trying to get rid of have already sold: the Orient Doll So Ye and the PlanetDoll body/Soom Uyoo head. Gooooooooooooood riddance. Now if the other 2 would just get the heck out of here…

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?527892-OrientDoll-Orient-Doll-So-Yi-So-Ye-%28WS-%29-50-00

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?527894-Elfdoll-Tiny-Kai-14cm-mature-2nd-edition-%28NS%29-225

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?527899-Soom-and-PlanetDoll-Uyoo-head-amp-Mini-Riz-body-with-modded-neck-amp-breasts-%28NS%29-120&p=9227369#post9227369

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?527901-Elfdoll-and-Notdoll-Elfdoll-20cm-Doona-body-with-Notdoll-Miriam-head-%28WS%29-110&p=9227401#post9227401

You are so beautiful. Please disappear from the DOA marketplace so that I'm not tempted to get you.

Goooo awaaaaaay, Angelsdoll!

P.S. Angelsdoll upped their prices. Now their standard 1:3 BJDs start at $400.00. They were way more attractive when they were $100.00 cheaper.

EDIT: Good, she went away.

Apres-sex discussion between Ellery and Lucian. Yes, I know there's a typo. I'll fix it when I get home.

Continue reading Me and My Muses 3.3: “Afterward”

OH MY GOD WHY ARE THE BIRDS SINGING RIGHT NOW?!?!?!!? IT'S STILL DARK OUT.

I thought fer sure that the PB body or the articulated Barbies would be the first things to go from my updated sales list, but no. In fact, someone pounced on the bag of Barbie, Obitsu and Cy Girl body parts that I've had sitting around for years, just waiting for the occasion [= never] when I want to try some body bashing. Well, Godspeed, my friend. At least I don't have to throw them out.

I guess this just proves the old saw: "One man's trash is another man's prune Danish." Huh.

Ellery and Lucian get freaky.

Continue reading Me and My Muses 3.2: “Gropefest”

Well, I just got word that the organizer of the split for Soom Epidia [whence Kinneret] decided not to do the split, so no Kinneret for me. I'm disappointed, but not extremely. I have Nathaniel coming as soon as I make the second payment on her, so, if I feel the need to play with someone new, she can be that someone.

Also the FLE car really needs its well-car checkup, which I postponed last week because I had to pay rent. So, overall, it's probably for the best that I am not getting Kinneret.

Greetings, folks. While I was picking up dolls to get rid of from storage, I also cleaned out my parts bin. Please make an offer on any or all of the things below! Paypal only, no fees charged.
Continue reading More 1:6 stuff — dolls, bathtubs and bodies — make an offer!

18 of 26 dolls that I want to get rid of have been spoken for! This riddance is going much better than I expected!

I'm also…uh…acquiring a 1:6er. Watch this space. CURSE YOU, ANDREA! :p

For those of you who may not know, Thomas is an ex-boyfriend of Anneka, star of Love Has Fangs, and he's a horrible individual. I warned people on my sales list that the fig of him came with "outfit, glasses and innate douchebaggery," but apparently that didn't put someone off! Woohoo!

11 out of 26 1:6ers have now been spoken for! [Thanks, Andrea!] I'm glad that others can use and/or enjoy the fruits of my labor that I no longer want.

I have officially entered a split on DOA for a dark brown Soom Epidia fantasy head [pointy teefs!] with faceup and human body with "extra pose" joints. Her name is Kinneret. "Kinneret" is a word probably best known for being an alternative name for the Sea of Galilee, Israel's largest freshwater lake. However, I always have known it as a girls' name based on the Hebrew word for "harp," which I think is just beautiful.

Please read Patricia Weber's ["La Jolla resident since 1953!"] letter to the editor [?] of the La Jolla Light. Then read the skewering by Shakesville commentators.

I'm not even going to get into it here. I'm just going to say that, apparently, in 2065, there is absolutely no communication whatsoever between the Earth and the Moon.

????????????????????????????????????????

Soom just released a beautiful dolly. She's dark brown and such a beautiful sculpt…I love her fantasy head! I haven't really wanted any of their 1:3 special releases, but I've fallen in love with her. Poo!

Hooray! I've just had my sales posts up for a little over a day, and already 7 out of 26 dolls on the list have been spoken for!

I just posted my preliminary sales list of Too Many Dolls here, on Figurvore and on MWD. Now I'm exhausted.

Want dolls? Go here to see a list of what I'm selling, with details and links to pictures. 

I'm not sure what to charge on these, since they range from high-quality custom paint/reroot/outfit jobs [like Tamsin], to barely used, out of print figures [like Bering], to modified rarities [Sophie], to experimental customs [Margie]. Prices will range from just covering postage [for certain cobbled-together figs] to me actually trying to recoup my purchasing cost [for the high-quality stuff]. PM me, and we'll work something out. Paypal accepted, no fees charged.

List in progress, eventually to be updated with pictures for all.

Eventually, if I can't sell or give these away, they will be THROWN OUT. I'd much rather that they go to people who will use them, whether as display objects, characters, parts, etc.

P.S. If we make a deal, please be patient, as I have to get the figs from storage, find packing material, then somehow make my way to the post office. This could take up to a week.

I just took a first pass at sorting out all my 1:6ers who currently are not out; that is, they're in boxes in storage. I divided them into 3 categories: ones to keep, ones to get rid of and ones I wasn't sure about. Then I modified the categories into ones to have out, ones to store and ones to get rid of. [The ones I wasn't sure about mostly became ones to store.]

Final tallies:

Ones to keep: 34
      Ones to have out: 21
      Ones to store: 13

Ones to get rid of: 26

Following are the ones I'm getting rid of:

Continue reading Too many dolls: the reckoning

Yesterday I went to my parents' house to pick up some 1:6 BJDs I'm getting rid of. I decided that I have way too many 1:6 action figs, defined as plastic 1:6ers, as opposed to 1:6 BJDs, which are made out of resin.

Therefore, I must get rid of some. Figuring out who to keep is pretty easy. The ones with the most sentimental value stay. In practice, that's a bunch of LHFers, including Anneka and Will and then [alphabetically], Absinthe, Baozha, Caveat, Chow,  Dom, Gemini, Janet, Mark, Pippilotta, Rori, Sibley, Velvette and Viktor. That also includes Jareth, Frank and Jennifer.

But who leaves? What about minor LHFers like Andrew, Davry, Marabou, Materyllis and Qingting, who are all one-of-a-kind and awesome-looking, but to whom I'm not as attached? What about Anneka's grandmothers? They're integral to the story, but I don't feel as strongly for them as I do the characters listed in the second paragraph, who are, uncoincidentally, mostly characters that I created very early on in the life cycle of LHF.

And then what about the non-LHFers like Bering and Dasu, who just look cool?

Eurk.

Anyway, I have visual aids to work from. This entry captures the majority of my 1:6 action figs, with the exception of Bering, AJ and Lilith [shown on far left and far right].

I think Volks' old F-08 and current F-05 are really cute. I keep admiring Ashbet's and then forgetting what sculpt they are!

\o/ The seller of the Volks Emma responded! \o/ Nathaniel's coming home!

Jeez, where am I going to put her???

So Soom's latest Faery Legend doll, Absynthe, is, in fact, light green. She's also really, really cute. Darn fairies. They're overtaking my house.

Soom just gave me a shipping notice for him! He should be here by early next week at the latest!

Now there's a Buddydoll April, with the cutest stylized headsculpt, winking and smirking, on the DOA marketplace that I want too.

Soom's upcoming Faery Legend features Absynthe, La Fee Verte. She'd better have an option for green skin, or else someone at Soom is not correctly exploiting their opportunities.

No word yet from the seller, which is surprising, because DOA members tend to be fanatically prompt in responding to PMs. Very frustrating!

Ellery and Lucian get closer to knocking boots.

Continue reading Me and My Muses 3.1: “Drumroll, Please!”

I have inquired about the Volks Emma on the DOA Marketplace. That is all.

Been eyeing a Volks Emma on the DOA Marketplace, but that's not the serious part. The serious part is that I gave her a name already: Nathaniel.

And you know what that means.

Craaaaaaaaaaap.

Ugh, writing self-evaluations for work is so painful, as is determining goals for the coming year. I can't think of anyone I've met who finds these chores exciting and enjoyable.

I have developed a crush on a 60cm BJD, Volks Emma. At the latest Chittenden County Doll club meetup, Lyrajean brought her Volks Masha, who I thought was an Emma, so I looked online for Emmas and decided I liked her better than Masha.

So cute, so cute, so cute! I'm sick of Soom's pillowy, liquid, androgynous sculpts [gasp!] because they can be really bland, but Emma has character. She reminds me of a real kid. And that little smirk… ^_^

Today I learned that $20.00 of each of my paychecks has been going to a flex spending account. What the hell? I have never ever in my life signed up for one of those!!! HR is investigating.

This would have been good to know when I was paying for expensive surgery at the end of May. >_>

Needless to say, I'm NOT paying into an FSA this fiscal year.

Ellery and Lucian are actually getting along!

Continue reading Me and My Muses 2.9: “Breakfast Bribery”

I've long cringed at the dolls issued by Impldoll. They've been producing a steady line of sculpts with bug eyes [which, in a field where big eyes are part of the Asian BJD aesthetic, is pretty hard to do!], minuscule pinched-up mouths and weird noses. Their Impl Child Joyce, an early doll, shows the too-close-together eyes, squinched mouth and, for a bonus, a very pointy chin that I've been talking about. Impl Model Mandy epitomizes the weird nose. Why is her philtrum 6 feet long?! And I have no idea what this googly-eyed monstrosity is [hint: it's an Impl Star Lauretta], but it's not coming to my party.

Imagine my surprise when they recently released Elvira. She's certainly not original or stunning, but she's very cute. I see in her the same traits that were exaggerated flaws in earlier sculpts, here and now refined into parts of a wholly conceived aesthetic program. Nice to know that their sculptors can learn from their mistakes.