Matchy-matchy

I took Auren out with me to the Halloween store to peruse the spooky goodness. Of course we had to match a little.

Auren's Arrival

Auren lived up to his slightly mischievous character by being delayed to ship until the day of the eclipse, and then once he shipped, the USPS site immediately went down. When it did come back up, he had mysteriously disappeared for a day or so, until he magically reappeared in the system. A little nerve wracking as the expectant "parent," but he did finally make it safely home. (I should also add that the seller was super supportive and helpful throughout this process, which made things a lot better!)

His box arrived at the same time as the packages containing his boxers and his wig/clothes from Denverdoll.

Goodies!

First peek at the box, it's so pretty!

He came with his CoA, minifee guide, and post cards. (And a wig!)

And here he is in all his shamelessly naked glory.

Standing!

I then proceeded to play a bit of dress up to see what worked and what didn't for him. Initially the wig I ordered for him didn't seem right, but it appears to depend on how you put it on. It can look too fluffy if it's not on correctly. Even still, he claimed the brown wigs as his own for now at least. Though I have to say he looks good in most of the darker colors. The white skin resin is yellowed, but you can tell it's more white when you put him in lighter wigs.

See, too fluffy.

Pretty, but oh so blonde.

Now this one I can get into!

He even looks good in blue! 

A shot with his new eyes, which are the Blueblood Doll ones featured in a prior post. They look quite different depending upon the light. The brown outer ring naturally looks much more yellow, and the grey is darker. But in the doll they are much more brown. The edge of the outer ring also has a very subtle line of gold that is only visible in some lights. Overall I'm really pleased with them. 

So he's here, and he's already won me over. He does need to be restrung, sueded, and probably have his face up wiped at some point as it's pretty stained/messy. Even still, he's quite charming, and just the perfect size. He fits into everything I already have in my msd wardrobe fairly well, with only a few pieces looking a bit big. After feeling out his character a bit, I will need to get him some button up shirts as that's more his style. 

Dolly Haul

This is half dolly haul and half a clothing collection post. Some of the items for the incoming Auren arrived, and as he's expected to touch down in the next day or so, I thought I would dig out all my MSD stuff for try ons.

 First up is the clothing collection, missing some pieces that are currently on dolls or stored elsewhere. Not quite all of this will fit him perfectly, but I think most of this will do a pretty good job overall.

There's two more batches of clothes incoming, including some boxers and a full outfit (and shoes!) from DDE tomorrow. I also ordered him a wig from DDE which is this beauty:

His eyes won't be here until Saturday or so, but I'm pretty excited for them as well. I love Blueblood Doll's eyes in particular. They have such great clarity and colors. I haven't really settled on an absolute eye color for Auren, though I do like some mix of grey. These are pretty interesting looking, so I'm going to see how they suit him.

Back to Basics

I figured it's about time for my once in a blue moon, is this really a post, oh my gosh it is update.

I took a bit of a loose hiatus from dolls for a while, primarily because I wasn't feeling that spark like I used to. That's never good when you try to force it, so I focused on other things for a while. After a few months I started to tentatively get back into the hobby, and brought home a few new friends to help the transition. I'll have some more detailed posts up on them eventually, but here's a snapshot.

Grail doll achieved. Seriously, she is so pretty it hurts. Say hello to Aubrey, my Volks SD Megu. I think she will soon be the one and only (and last) girl doll in my collection, because I've realized I just don't bond well with the ladies. Such is the hobby, but at least I have her.

This fellow is a custom Resinsoul Gang with Mei ears in green. He is actually my second Gang, and the love is strong with this one. He's been so fun to sew for and to photograph. He's actually based on a Vulcan from Star Trek, with the green color thrown in because 1. Resinsoul's green is glorious. 2. Because many of the comics I read about Star Trek often portray Spock as green even though it's just his blood. I like this more cartoonish presentation, and thus he was born. Say hello to Soval.

The final new doll isn't here yet, but he should be sometime next week. He is a WS Minifee VE (vampire elf) Woosoo. It's been about seven years since I've had a minifee, and I've been in the hobby for eight years so... I'll admit outright that I'm not a huge fan of most minifees. They're definitely adorable and there's some great creativity going on for many of them, but I find the majority to be a little too cookie cutter looking for my taste. Again no judgement on others, just not my personal style. Previously I had a MNF Seorin and a MNF VE Shiwoo, the latter of which I liked more than the former. I will say though that they pose fantastically, and everything fits them. EVERYTHING. I mean obviously there are clothes made for other bjds, more so than they used to be. However, minifees by far have the most easily accessible clothing I've seen, which is a huge perk. I already have a pretty substantial collection of MSD sized clothing, but I am going to add to it a bit for this guy. He may already have a few outfits on the way...  In any event, say hello to the tentatively named Auren. 

Nashuat and Creativity

I've felt a little disconnected from my dolls this past year, which I think has been evident in this blog and some of the art I've been making. It's not to say I don't like the hobby any longer, I just haven't been feeling the spark I've had in the past. I did really enjoy getting items together for my Resinsoul Mi, but as often happens with female dolls, I realized she wasn't a good fit for my personal collection. She's beautiful and I may try and re-work her again at some point, but for now she's on hiatus.

That being said, I really do want to do more with my dolls. One of my resolutions this new year is to make more art, and dolls fall into a few different categories. I do have a new camera which I think will be especially good for the small details of bjds. I've contemplated changing my collection too through trades or sales, though I haven't come to any absolute decisions regarding that yet. For now I want to try and work with what I have to rediscover some of the spark.

Hello there you creepy little creature.

Case in point, I pulled out Nashuat (Dollzone Carter) from dolly limbo this week. I find him to be really physically lovely, and he's a pretty darn good poser. So I thought he'd be a good place to start. The new Dollzone msd body is one of my absolute favorites ever. It has gorgeous lines aesthetically speaking, but also in a practical sense. He poses very naturally, and has a great system of double joints that allow him to stand, slouch, and do everything in between. (Check out his box opening here for more detail pictures of the body.)

I brought him to work today, so he's nestled between my computer screens.

I also like him because he's sort of a blank slate when it comes to styling. His character is somewhat loosely formed, but has surprisingly never changed since I got him. I always pictured him as an imaginary friend of sorts, with the ability to change his appearance as it suits him. So he doesn't have set hair or eye color. This can be fun as it means I have a lot more leeway to play around and put him in things that I might not ever use for other dolls. Right now he's wearing the eyes he came with and a wig from Unstrung Hero BJD. I would like to get him different eyes, or at least try some others on if I could just find my eye bag. The things you say as a bjd collector...

Of course I chose to do this during finals and deadline week at work, but hopefully I can take him out this weekend to get some shots. Even unpainted he's rather creepy cute, though a new face up will come soon.

BJD Addicts Written Prompt #8: Doll Sizes

Is there a particular Size that you cling to? Which one and why?

I am very much a SD person. Not to say I don't own dolls of other sizes, as I obviously do. But I do tend to prefer the larger sizes, sticking mostly with MSD and (my favorite) SD. I like 70cm like my big Dollshe boy, but I probably prefer the 60-62cm size a little more as they are still big but not overly so.

I like their size and their weight, as they are substantial but still portable. I’ve been known to carry certain SDs of mine around with me to conventions, on trips, and sometimes in my purse (okay, so it’s a big purse). SDs fit comfortably in the crook of an arm, and they are pleasant to hold because of their larger size. They also have a certain charisma that I feel makes them different than the other sizes. Now of course I’m not saying anything against MSDs, YoSDs, or others. However, there’s just something about such a large doll that draws people in. I used to go to a steampunk convention for many years, and would bring Uriel (CP Delf El) in matching costumes. The staff loved him, which always made me laugh. Every year they would pull me aside for pictures with him, and they frequently commented on that “cool big doll.”

I think that SDs can also walk a fine line along the edge of the uncanny valley, which I like.  Essentially the uncanny valley refers to the experience of something looking very close to human, but not quite right. It can cause uneasy feelings, or even outright fear depending upon the individual. There are a lot of things which can fall into the uncanny valley, but dolls are certainly some of the more common ones.

I enjoy that SDs are large and detailed enough to look like small people, and that their presentation (clothes, shoes, etc) can help influence this as well. Smaller dolls can be detailed, but still tend to come off as dolls based on their size. Yet when you have a “small” creature in a t-shirt, jeans, and very detailed hi-tops, it can give people pause. More than once I have had people mistake my SD dolls for children which is always an interesting conversation. I guess I kind of relish in being the creepy doll owner!

Box Opening-Dollzone Carter

I actually received this guy about a year ago (oops!), but I didn't post his opening here so I thought I would now. He's really quite a lovely little creature, especially with his steampunk parts.

Random update time!

Updates here will be very sporadic unfortunately, as I do not have internet access and probably won't be getting it at my new place. But here is a little update of a few photos I've taken recently of the boys.  I decided to put Nowell back together because I really missed his creepy cute face.  He is my favorite msd sized doll by far, and he's been with me for four years now (as of November) which is just crazy.  So here's some shots of my little undead friend with some bones and bone jewelry I own.

And a bonus shot of Emmanuel I took on Thanksgiving.

My pretty bald boys. :)  They often sit without wigs when I have them on my bed, as my dog likes to steal wigs when he thinks I'm not looking...

Emmanuel Visits the Blue Lady

We're all just taller children.

I've often toyed with the idea of having multiple dolls of the same character.  Whether if it was different versions of the same, or perhaps at different ages/stages of life.  I love what VampireAngel_13 for example has done with all her Alexes, or yldenfrei with pretty much her (his?) whole crew.  However my attempts have largely failed to come to fruition.  I tried with Uri, but it just didn't end up working out.  The versions never ended up connecting well enough to the original, and I eventually sold the doll.  

But I've been thinking of doing this for a while with Emmanuel (Ghost), as he seems to be a character that is really alive for me.  Even more than Uri is, which is saying something.  I think in part it's because of how much work I've done on his story/character for my Nanowrimo work, but he's also just a very interesting individual.  

So I put out a bit of a feeler to see if anyone had a Shulze/Maria head, which is the msd version of School A.  No bites thus far, but I'll see what happens.  Then I had a random idea about a doll I haven't looked at in forever.  She is a Luts KDF Aru I purchased from the company a few years ago.  She was going to be the "last doll" (a la The Little Princess), but obviously that didn't happen.  I loved her dreaming face and beautiful face up, and thought I'd take her out to look at. Unfortunately when I went to my storage unit I realized a large, dirty box had been placed on top of where she was being stored.  I'd had her unstrung and wrapped up on top of a box so I could come grab her, and unfortunately her face up got damaged.  

But I grabbed the head anyway and put it on my Volks SDC body for kicks.  No color match and the proportions weren't quite right, but she did make a good boy.  On a whim I tried it on Nowell's body and...it's an amazingly good match.  Which is seriously weird.  The msd body is an old, yellowed white skin body, and the head is normal skin.  Yet somehow, it actually works.  So I wiped the face up, and put his head on the body.  Poof, mini Ghost.

I'm going to keep my WTB up for a Shulze/Maria as I wouldn't mind having a middle version on the SDC body.  But I think Aru makes a really good boy, and a perfect mini Ghost.  I did also dig out my pastels, so I might actually be able to do face ups for everyone this weekend.  Now to find my brushes...