Revisiting 13 wishes for 2013....

So it comes the time to go back over my 13 wishes for 2013...

1. Mor Mumain and Nic Naomhim's bodies came in and they're complete now.
2. V has had his make over and he looks fantastic - just ask him... or his girlfriend!
3. Well, Arum didn't go to AT, she went to Krowbar instead, but she looks fantastic. The job that Krowbar did was just simply epic!
4. Inuus is home and fantastic
5. Iana is also home.
6. Well, this is kind of both a yes and a no - I have two of the Ital heads - the Eye Scar and the Nose Scar, but I have yet to purchase a basic OE. Possibly he will come home in tan...
7. No Anhur, not yet anyway.
8. Neith did come home, I stumbled across a fullset Sweet Bunny and couldn't help myself!
9. Helios came home, in tan, just last week and he is the most beautiful boy!
10. No MNF Seorin, although considering my year, I'm not surprised!
11. Krowbar was wonderful enough to sell me her wonderful Delf Tan girl... and then I got skittled by more tan!
12. No F60 boy this year... I will admit I have still be eyeing off an F60 El.... I almost got an F60 BA... but he turned into an F70 instead!
13. No F65 Lishe... :(
14. And that question mark was more than filled with quite a few surprise purchases - tans and a Mini Machina... and all sorts of different things!

Ianthe

I have wondered how to tell this story, since it's not a particularly nice story and the conclusions I have come to in response to it aren't all that pretty either. But I will offer it up for everyone else's thoughts. (I did also debate whether, since this is about one of my Lishes, whether it should be on my Lished blog, and even started typing it there, but I thought it would be better here in my more general one.)

I have owned my Fairyland LittleFee Lishe, Ianthe, for 4 years - I bought her new and blank from Fairyland and received her in August of 2009. She was one of my very first dolls - I'd purchased her and Isis from Fairyland before I received any dolls. Technically, not including purchase order, Ianthe and Isis were my 3rd and 4th dolls. I was a newbie and had only just started collecting at this point. Not long after I received Ianthe, I handed her over to a friend of mine to get a face up. By the time this story begins in 2013, Ianthe had been faceuped twice (to compare, by the same point, Isis was up to face up number 4).

I was slowly going through my dolls to update old face ups - I had my MNF Scar BA, Vulcan done; my Delf Lishe, Sirona; my VE Lishe, Nemain; my Tan MNF, Magna Dea; my F70 BA, Aeron; and because my favourite face up artist AngelToast was having a tiny face up discount sale, I decided that it was time that two of my tines - Ianthe and Isis, had their face ups renewed.

I sent them off and settled in to wait for the unveiling, I will admit to feeling a considerable amount of trepidation since I knew I would be experiencing some Ianthe and Isis-withdrawal, simply because they'd been two of the dolls I'd had since the beginning and had often been my companions when I went out.

When I received my photos from AngelToast, she included a comment which I found rather strange, particularly because I wasn't expecting it.

Here is the direct quote: "Little Lishe’s faceup is not quite as smooth as I would like it, since she’s been heavily modded and the resin is a bit uneven in places. But I did my best!"

I admit to reading that comment about three times. Heavily modded? My Ianthe? She'd never been touched. I wouldn't have had her modded, hadn't had her modded, and I could think of why she would be even considered to be modded. So I asked the question, since I'd bought her new...

AngelToast then replied: "And yeah, there has been some work done to little Lishe. There are dents on her lips and the tip of her nose, and what looks like sanding around those areas as well as on the brow area between the eyes and nose. I’ve seen a lot of dollie faces, and if I had to make an educated guess, I would say she took a nose dive onto something hard at some point, and was possibly sanded to mitigate the damage. Did she ever fall?"

I read this a couple of times too. I could not remember a single time when Ianthe took a dive onto something hard that had damaged her that badly in my presence. This is something I would have remembered, especially since I was a newbie at the time I got her, and I'd had her for 4 years. It would not be something I forgot happening to one of my oldest and first dolls.

AngelToast was fantastic enough to have a look at some old shots of my girl and after I'd commented again (basically outlining that I honestly couldn't remember her taking a dive at any point), with this: "I had a look at some of your pictures of your LTF Lishe – I think the flattened/white nose tip is evident with the first faceup, if you compare her to the blank head. The lip dent is harder to see with the old lip paint, but I think I can pick it out in a few pics. Overall it’s not terribly terrible, I just see those things at first glance these days and thought you would have been aware that she’s not completely mint. >.<"

Ianthe blank - and with face up 1 (bottom right) and 2 (top right)

I would have thought I would have been aware she wasn't completely mint too. But unfortunately I wasn't, and I think I can explain why - I hadn't owned Ianthe very long before I handed her over to have her first face up. I was very new to the hobby and very new to my Lishes and honestly, when she came back, I wasn't experience enough to notice damage through a face up and I wouldn't have had enough experience to see it in photos from before she was faceuped. She was first faceuped in 2009 and since then she has been my only LTF Lishe, so since the damage has been there I wouldn't honestly have ever noticed. Now that it's been pointed out I can spot it in photos. 

The nose damage (I still haven't quite located the lip damage, although it looks present in this shot.)

I also now have another LTF Lishe and it's more than obvious.

Selene and Ianthe

I suppose there is a chance, small as it is, that I may have dropped Ianthe onto tile or concrete or something and forgotten that I'd damaged her to the extent that she now has a snubbed nose. It however seems slim - I can't quite figure out if I was the culprit, how I would have forgotten something as dire as dropping one of my dolls like that, face first onto a hard surface.

That's not to say I've never dropped my dolls - I have, frequently, onto carpet. Occasionally I've had a few that have taken a dive when I've been doing full lineups, but I always carefully check them and have mini freak outs until I can see that there hasn't been any damage to them.

Newbie as I was and meticulous as I am to track the dates of arrival and carefully charting in as much detail as possible lists of wigs, face up artists, eyes - with details of styles, companies and all the rest, and I keep careful track of mods that I have had done - how would I miss damage like this? It would have been written down from the moment it happened and every other description I would have done would have noted that Ianthe was a "modded/damage" LTF Lishe.

But I haven't done that anywhere. So what other choice can I make about the circumstances of when the damage happened? What other choice have I got than to come to conclusion I did? What I can't quite understand is, that if what I think happened and someone else had my doll when she took the fall that damaged her face, why did I not know about it?

Something to think about.

People may not realise my opinion on recasts as I have yet to make it public (I'm against it, in case you're wondering.)

I was reading my way through one of Melbourne's newspapers when I came across this article. I read it, the topic is on illegal movie downloads, but I think what is being said needs to be considered in relation to the recast argument in our doll collections.

I think everyone needs to read this article, I know most who are pro-recast will probably dismiss it with a comment along the lines of "but this is movie downloading". Sure, if that's the way you think, I'm not going to be able to stop you. However, the same attitude which is employed to justify illegal movie downloads is used to justify buying recasts.

And the other thing to keep in mind is that while there are some simply enormous companies which make movies, there are NO simply enormous companies who make BJDs. Most of them are small companies and quite a few of them are tiny companies.

36,000 Bloody illegal downloads

And really... what excuse can genuinely make buying an illegal copy of something and undermining the hobby that we all love right?

oh CP, CP, CP...

I'm amazed I haven't posted before now, considering the epic release that Fairyland has managed to make explode into the dolly collecting arena.

For those who don't quite remember - Fairyland first announced that they would be releasing two secret LittleFee. When that happened, it turned out that the new LTF were in Tan skin... and they would be also releasing the LittleFee in al a carte, allowing people to put the sculpts on whichever body they wanted... PLUS - they were going to release the Pukifee in tan as well.

Well, at that point I knew I was sunk. Ianthe was going to have to climb down from her perch as the only female LTF and welcome a sister in tan and the two Pukifee I had on the list which I had been facilitating over quickly became yet another couple of Bonnie and Zoes, just this time in Tan.

To buy list 1:

1. LTF Tan Lishe
2. PKF Tan Bonnie
3. PKF Tan Zoe

I briefly wondered if Fairyland was really going to completely do me over and release the limited LTF heads as well (which could have meant another new LTF, cause I'd then love to have a tan LTF BA, although I knew that would have meant I was more than nuts).

Luckily they didn't, so my to-buy list remained at 3.

Then Fairyland went one better... Minifee in tan.

... Minifee in Tan... OMG.

To buy list 2:

1. Minifee Tan Lishe
2. Little Fee Tan Lishe
3. Pukifee Tan Bonnie
4. Pukifee Tan Zoe

Luckily no BAs appeared to scupper my plans for a second tan MNF, so I was left with just four. It took some juggling, since I was due to leave the country and I didn't want to have a layaway payment come in when I was away, but I put the four of them on layaway with DDE.

Then of course I sat in for the wait.

As I finish this off, I am sitting with a view of the road (since my doorbell doesn't work), waiting for them to turn up! While I do, I am also contemplating the second curve ball Fairyland has thrown recently.

Spectacularly, seemingly minutes after finishing the tan MNF/PKF and LTF event, they announced another - this time an F60 tan event, with a tan release and a body release, as well as two new Nanuri heads and some Pukifee items. But no new dolls (which seems strange considering the Pukifee items available - flippers and goggles and the like); or new F60 heads.

So of course a new an F60 tan Lishe has made its way onto my wishlist, but along with everyone else, I'm waiting to see the new Nanuri heads before I make an order.

Now I just want my dolls to turn up already!

The blog has been slipping...

This always happens to me! I let the blogging slip and it's really hard to get it back again! It also didn't help that I went away for 2 weeks in the middle! (but I've been back for three, so that's not really a good excuse!)

I do have several blog posts which are sitting in draft heaven, so I'm going to have to go and finish them (and possibly combine them both to make it easier on me!)

The reason I blogged today and it reminded me was because I was amusing myself by reading the "confessions" on tumblr, which for the most part mainly consist of people just bitching about things they don't like or people they don't like, or people justifying when they bought a recast. (I'll talk about recasts another time, I'm still planning a blog post on my stance on recasts.)

and I came across a post about me. I'm not quite sure why, since I was attacked for daring to not like the Juri heads last year (which also prompted quite a spate of hate on tumblr) I don't tend to comment on threads anymore because it's not worth expressing your opinion.

I was vaguely amused though, apparently it's not because I take bad photos, annoy people with masses of the (same!) photos of BAs and Lishes, or that I have a "bunch" of dolls, but rather than I'm a know it all... hmm. Strange, I would have considered myself the opposite really. That and apparently I drive people out of threads with my opinions. Wow. I didn't realise one person had enough power to "drive" someone from a thread... especially since I'm not a mod.

The other thing this reminded me of was this student I have at work, who is never happy unless she is complaining (and she complains about everything... I don't think I've honestly heard a positive thing come out of her mouth for over 6 months). Even though I'll probably be blamed for "forcing" my opinions on people again, seriously, get a life. If one dissenting opinion to your own dire held beliefs is enough for you to run to the hills, you need to grow up. (And I'm shaking my head and thinking "teenagers, no maturity", lol.)

Anyway, I'm still giggling over it.

And I'll go back to my current problem - figuring out a way to photograph all of Arum's tattoos.

PS: If you haven't seen the box opening thread on DoA for the tan PKF and you're waiting for one, go check it out. They're looking good (and lighter than old tan, but as CP said, darker than the CL release).

To Mod or not to Mod....

That is the question, isn't it?

I have been tackling with this question for a while now in relation to a particular head of mine. I owe a Feeple70 Sleeping Breakaway head and have for quite some time. I never took photos when he arrived, so I can't date him properly, but I have owned him since approximately 2009. Originally the plan had been to mod this head to an Open Eye and use him as my SD/SSD Breakaway - instead of spending even more money and buying a Luts released Breakaway. (this is the root of my obsession with only collecting Fairyland released BAs.)

I was saved from this dilemma when I spotted the head which is now Arawn's, an F70 head with a default Midnight Blue faceup. I snatched him up and he arrived in head form in May 2010 - he didn't get a body until 2011, as is my strange way of doing things, and the sleeping head was placed into a box with the rest of the sleeping heads and other paraphernalia and essentially forgotten about.

I accepted that I was unlikely to own a 60cm Breakaway, since all of the releases are Luts releases in that size and quite happily continued collecting BAs on a smaller scale. I had an F70 BA and considering the similarities between the F70 body and that of the now F60 bodies, I was quite content with the situation as it was. (Even though there was always a little gap called "SD BA" and I kept looking at the Vamps and other 60cm BAs which came onto the market.)

My desire for a SD sized BA seemed like it would be fulfilled when CP announced that the event head for their F60 event was going to be a popular scarred MNF head - that could of course only mean one of two things - a Scar Shiwoo or a Scar Breakaway. I figured it all out, counted back and discovered which of the two would be a "Juri" and which was a "Nanuri" - in case you're wondering, the MNF Scar Shiwoo is a Nanuri, and the BA is the Juri.

And then there was the issue that all those people brought up - the Scar BA was NOT the most popular MNF event head (although how would anyone but the maker know that I don't know). And somehow they convinced CP to make a resculpt of the Juri 05 Delf - otherwise known as the MNF Juri 08. Ironically enough, while I watch BA sales on the MP (currently there are aboout 4-5 BAs in SD size available on the MP) I also occasionally count the number of Juris. I counted the other day - for such a popular SD size, there are 18 Juris - both original 05s and 2012s for sale at the moment (mostly unmodded - and 05 Juris are rare unmodded... not). That is not what I consider a popular sculpt.

But anyway. That kerfuffle made me think, at least for a little while until people started complaining, that I would be getting a 60cm BA to complete my collection. I stewed over the eventual decision and am still trying to sell both the Juris I own, one of them has been up for sale for over 12 months.

Since I had been denied an F60 Scar BA of my very own, I admit I was very bitter over the whole debacle. CP rose to the occasion though and to keep BA owners and obsessors, like myself, happy - they released not one in the next event, but four all at once. I don't think they've ever released that many of the same sculpt at the same time, like... ever.

He of course came with his original name, Ital, because of a problem with Luts owning the name "Breakaway". So CP tried to make us happy and gave all of us BA lovers an F65 with three faces (OE, Nose Scar and Eye Scar) and a Chicline. I have one of my F65s faceplates and I admit I am very happy with him.

Just after this, during the rush of waiting for new arrivals and the like, I continued to think of the elusive 60cm BA and I remembered my sleeping head, lying unused and forgotten in my box of heads. I dug him back out again and instead of getting another head or another F60 altogether (I was considering an El - which is pretty close to a BA afterall...) I once again considered the idea of modding my sleeping BA so that I could have him on an F60 body.

Then I came to a quandary. My F70 Sleeping BA is one very rare young man. Breakaway has only really ever been released in a limited capacity - three times under Luts and all three of them were limited fullsets (the final release in 2008 was of course the Bloody Valentine). All of the Luts releases had sleeping Vampire heads - the first two with open mouths and the last, the Bloody Valentine, with a closed mouth. Also in 2008, CP attempted to release BA in a basic capacity through their fledgling company, Fairyland. Unfortunately, after a stink, the F70 Midnight Sun and Midnight Blue Breakaways were turned into limited releases.

The Midnight Blue and Midnight Sun were unique in two ways. It was the first time the BA had been released with a Dreaming head, and the Dreaming F70 is still one of the rarer heads (the entire F70 range are quite hard to find); and it was the only time the BA did not have a Sleeping Vampire head. The Sleeping BA is just that - a closed mouth sleeping sculpt. No vampire fangs anywhere.

So my quandary of course was whether or not to mod a rare head so that I could fufil my own desires for an F60 BA. I thought I had it down, but I kept facilitating over it. I put up a WTB for a Dreaming BA head - the only one of the F70 set that I didn't have.

And I hoped that I would find a reasonable priced Dreaming or OE head that I could buy and use that instead for my F60 rather than modding such a rare doll.

I know that everyone doesn't hold to the thing that keeps me from modding dolls I know are rare in their original state - I can only really live with certain types of mods. I know that a person's doll is their doll and they can do anything they like with it - they paid for it and all of that, and I accept that, although I may not always agree with their choice of wig... or face up or anything like that. But that is my personal taste and not theirs. Fair enough.

However, lately I have seen two poor dolls who are SUPER rare - a Dreaming 05 Elf Lishe and an Elf Shiwoo, both of whom have been modded, seemingly pointlessly. Admittedly the poor Shiwoo came out of it much better - but considering the uniqueness of the Elf Shiwoo - none of the other Elf releases have quite the same ears as an Elf Shiwoo - his have a slight down turn at the ends which is so cute and if I didn't have a thing against Shiwoos, I wouldn't mind an Elf simply because of that!

This poor Shiwoo had the tilt on the end of his ears sanded off. Why? Why ruin one of the most unique and rare features of a single sculpt (not to mention the Elf Shiwoo can be really hard to find, even though he was released twice). They'd also sanded off the end of his very distinctive Shiwoo nose. Why buy a Shiwoo if you don't like a feature so distinctive as that? (I feel the same way over people who buy Lishes, Els and BAs - if you don't like the nose, which is such a massive feature of them, why did you buy it??)

Wynn also showing that ear

Draven - showing the curled ear

The Elf Lishe, an 05 release which is rare enough in itself and not only that but the rarer Dreaming 05 as opposed to the Dreaming Elf Vampire - this particular Lishe was the only Elf release to have both Vampire and non-Vampire Dreaming Elves released with it, had been treated very badly. She had been modded - her nose, her cheeks, her eyes - almost to the point that she didn't look like a Lishe anymore. But worse than that, she had been modded badly. One of her cheeks had been sanded further than the other in and different spots. Her eyes had been opened too wide and were different shapes. It looked like someone had stuck a dremel up her nose... but only on one side. The poor girl had been so badly mistreated that it was sad.

I think that if you are going to mod a rare doll, and I own one myself - a well and sympathetically modded Dreaming Elf Lishe 05 (her eyes have been opened to full OE) - I think you should get someone else, preferrably someone with a LOT of experience to do it for you, rather than just attacking a doll with a piece of sand paper and a dremel!

My own modded Dreaming Elf 05, Fea

Admittedly, people have to learn to mod things, and that's fair enough - but why practice on something so rare? I suppose that they could have bought the poor Lishe back when she was first released... but she was never released as a basic, and she was always a limited release, so wouldn't that suggest that it's probably best not to mod a limited release doll unless you know what you're doing??

Anyway. Admittedly I probably couldn't live with modding much beyond eye openings. As I've outlined I don't understand things like sanding down cheeks or chins, or snubbing noses. If you don't like the sculpt as it was when you bought it.... why did you buy it? I know that some people like to mod dolls to make them more their own and that's fair enough - like faceups its a way of customising a doll. I suppose I don't completely understand the full reasons behind it. There are plenty of dolls, surely someone will have made a doll better suited to your needs?

Anyway. The reason that I posted this - other to explain my views on modding and limited dolls (please if it's limited, limit yourself to a professionally done eye modding or something! - did I admit I modded both of my Limited Nanuri As? Only small mods... eyes and a bit of ear piercing, lol. I also had a very slight mod done on my limited SM Arkose... his eyes. I wanted to sand off his lips, but settled for having them painted so they were less obvious!)

Rasmus - my Arkose

My modded VE Chloe - Pax

My modded Nanuri As, Mor Mumain and Nic Naomhim

So anyway... I have good news... last night I came across a freshly posted F70 BA, OE of course... But of course I leapt in both feet first. My new boy will be Aeron, and I'm going to see if I can swop his F70 body for an F60...

This is the new boy... the photo is by his old owner. He'll be coming home in a month or so, I'm so excited!

Now I have to go finish squeeing over my brand new, just arrived Chiclines... excuse me!

Entries...

I have been meaning to write a blog post on the question of recasts - particularly my take, but it hasn't managed to get into a written form yet.

While we're waiting for that, I'll update myself again... I really need a few more topics really - things that I can talk about. I'll have a new set of dollies soon - so I can do a bit of posting and have a bit of fun when they turn up. Other than that:

1. V's back from the spa. He also has the rest of his outfit - a shirt, waistcoat and hat. He looks fantastic in them, but ironically not much like himself if he's all buttoned up! His girlfriend loves his tattoos, which is brilliant.
2. Mor Mumain and Nic Naomhim are complete - after a complete snafu with the eyes as outlined earlier. I got an extra pair of eyes with Mor's pair and everything worked out really well... The two spare pairs have been used - one pair for Belisama and the other is being worn by Arawn - a pair of purple 18mms which look really nice. (Nic is still missing shoes).
3. I did get a shipment just the other day - the first of my Itals has come home. The first is Alastir, the nose scar head. It's simply fantastic - the scar is part of the sculpt, very much like the eye scar MNF. 
4. The other two Itals - the Eye Scar and the still non-purchased basic OE have named themselves - the Eye Scar will be Bres and the OE, Lir.
5. My Chiclines are at DDE already, and I would have them if I'd had enough to pay them off immediately. (I didn't unfortunately :( ). However I am paying them off as soon as I get paid and they should be home next week or the week after. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned. With them of course comes Bres. 
6. I have paid off Omega, my Batchix Mini Machina Delta. She probably won't appear until May.
7. As for the idea about the sleeping BA head... he's now taken on a life on his own and named himself - Aeron, the name I would have given the F60 Scar Juri, had it have been released. Thus he has named himself and is now demanding a body of his own... and of course being a BA/Ital, it would have to be a muscular F60. The vanity of these boys are amazing. (he has also been photobombing on the triplets...)
8. In accordance with the BA/Itals being vain and self indulgent and all the rest of it - I have this sneaking suspicion that the three F65 Itals won't be particularly happy with being forced firstly to wait for Lir to turn up to have some kind of body and secondly to then have to share that body between the three of them!
9. I have been investigating what fits F65 boys, since I have three vain individuals turning up! (I might share some of that on a page, because it seems to me that not many people actually know what fits them... unless you own one, and that's not many.)
10. Oh, and if you're wondering what the F65 Ital looks like... like a BA with a slightly narrower face, with the same nose and lips. The F65 faceplate is larger than a 60cm head only just.

So that's about it. I'll have to start working on my post on recasts and if you have anything interesting that I can blog about, please share!

Bodies and face ups...

So I have been a little quiet, so I suppose it is time to bring the blog up to date!

1. 1. Vulcan headed off to AngelToast to be redone from top to toe - new faceup, tattoos and body blushing. He's been away for a month or so, probably more like too, and I'm really eager to get him home again. As you can see from above, he matches his brothers and is looking absolutely fabulous... I'll keep all his tatts secret until he comes home... but I'll probably cave, so look for a sneak peek on Flickr.
2. The Horrible Three (Hades, Poseidon and Zeus) came home fantastic and they've been spammed the hell out of because of their awesomeness. Now all my BAs match, I can't wait to have V home so I can spam BA group shots with their matching faceups!
3. Mor and Nic got their bodies, I fixed up their wigs with a matching pair which look fantastic - and now we're just waiting on Mor's eyes, Nic got hers and we have had a snafu with the eye maker sending me the wrong pair of eyes. So I'm just waiting for the proper set (and a gift set) to come, so then Mor and Nic are all finally finished - except that Nic needs a pair of shoes.
4. In continuation of that, as Mor and Nic are complete, this gives me a new thing to squee about... I have NO floating heads! Yey! (that is of course excluding those heads which I don't count - like the two Juris whom I want to sell off, my F70 Riff which is also on the potential sell list and I think there's a Multihead Cupid there somewhere too... and some duck faces...)
5. This of course doesn't last very long, because of Fairyland/CP's epic Ital/BA event, I have two F65 scar Ital floating faces coming in at some point. Neither of them have been named yet.
6. Along with the Scar Itals, I also have two more Chiclines - an Ital, known as Inuus and a Chloe, known as Iana. The shippings have started, so it is damn tempting to scrape together the final payment (I have 2 left) and pay them off so that they can come home sooner rather than later!!
7. On that point though, I have ordered a Batchix Mini Machina Delta whose name will be Omega, so she is stopping me spending all my cash and getting my Chiclines sooner. 
8. BELISAMA! Head over to my other blog Lished to find out about that beautiful girl!
9. What else... well, nothing at the moment, although I've just realised what a twit I am... I have a perfectly good sleeping F70 BA head sitting in my head box... and I have a character for an F60 boy floating around in my head... I could just get that BA head modded and find myself a muscular F60 body to go with him...

Other than that... no, nothing much...

Something a little different

So last week I went to the local modern Doll Market - one of the only ones I know about where I met a doll I had previously only ever heard about.

On the meeting thread on DoA, one of the girls said she was bringing her Batchix Mini Machina. She added a link, so that people who didn't know what it was could have a look. Admittedly I am one of those people who had no idea what it was.

So I clicked the link.

I'm afraid the Mini Machina did not endear me too her when I had a good look at the production photos. Except for her body - it had a very attractive curve and I loved the way it was made.

Regardless, I thought it would be interesting to see this new type of doll in person. So when I went along to the market, I kept a look out for this new doll.

Famous last words. I did see her, and she was shorter than I thought and so very cute when she was blank.

She was also a lot heavier than I expected, but a nice feel - lovely resin, so smooth. And I began to see all the possibilities. So I thought - why not?

So I am getting my very own Batchix Mini Machina Delta, from the current pre-order. I have several names running through my head - the top two are Beta and Omega. Not really sure which to pick at this point. It's going to be fun to figure out how to have her painted when she finally arrives. I'll be getting her blank and hoping to get AT to have a go at her when I have her painted. Not sure how to do it yet... I'll have to have a think about it! I have a feeling it will be affected by wig choices (I'll go for a coloured mohair) and whether or not I called her Beta or Omega. They feel like very different characters.

If you yourself is interested in one of these darlings - visit Batchix's site here. This girl and her sister Eta, aren't available for long!

Internal Conflict

I am considering selling a couple of my boys. It came to me last night that some of my boys possibly would be better off with people who appreciated them better. I do love them, but I don’t honestly know if I want to keep them at the moment.

I don’t know if people can guess who I’m thinking of - but I am considering Pallus, my Shoshon and Corvinus, my Tuff. When it comes down to it, I think, as much as I think they’re beautiful boys and all that, I wonder if I really want to keep them anymore.

As beautifully handsome as he is, Pallus is a giant of a boy. It’s not his size that has me troubled, as I have no problems with big dolls, but I don’t think I take enough photos of him. And as cute as Corvinus is, he feels a little out of place.

I did briefly consider my other SOOMs - but I couldn’t see myself getting rid of Magnus, he’s too special. Cassius either, as gorgeous as he is. As for the twins, they are similar to Magnus - I couldn’t see myself without either of them. 

I don’t know. I feel like putting them up and seeing if anyone is interested in them. I feel rather conflicted and I’m not a fan of feeling like this. Any suggestions?

BJD Confessions

1. While I still participate on DoA, I am disillusioned by a large proportion of dolly owners who seem to think that they’re allowed to complain to the skies if a dolly company dares to suggest to do something they didn’t like, but when someone else goes against them and suggests that they are disappointed in the outcome (which those who complained originally got through complaining) they attack them like they’re some kind of virus. (especially considering these people rarely actually complain when its something THEY don’t like).
2. I am an incredibly logical person, even when I look at dolly things - especially releases etc. If you disagree with me, fine - present me with a well reasoned argument which is logical, and I’ll cede the point. Otherwise, deal with my sarcasm, disbelief and dissenting views.
3. I am uncomfortable with meet ups in shopping centres, especially when the area suggested is a food court. I have spent a lot of money on my dolls and while I may be open to allowing you to touch them, when there is a possibility of greasy tables and people eating greasy food I’ll pass thanks. This often extends to taking dolls to some garden areas and the like which have similar greasy possibilities.
4. I am also uncomfortable at meet ups that allow people to sit in clique groups and completely ignore other people - like meet ups set across small tables which aren’t linked and are around corners and the like. I am shy enough about meeting people I don’t know. Place me in a corner and leave me to my own devices and I won’t stay very long, no matter how beautiful your dolls are. (I also don’t tend to enter conversations of my own accord in those situations, you have to talk to me. Unfair, I know.)
5. I have never liked dolly elitism. I dislike Volks intensely and I don’t care how ugly your doll is. I also don’t need you to introduce me to your doll with a description of how rare it is and how much it would cost on the secondhand market. Also, why did you buy your doll if you’re going to cradle it like Gollum would the One Ring and not allow anyone to even see it? (Why did you bring it to the meet up with that kind of attitude anyway?)
6. I enjoy having my dolls around me in rooms - like Magnus, who stands by my bed, or half my other dolls who sit on bookshelves in my room, or those who don’t fit in my room who sit in the lounge with me... and anyone else who comes in.
7. I have met some fantastic people who are in the dolly habit (I think you might know who you are) who are always happy to have a lengthy discussion either as Softskin or some other character and are happy to listen to my thoughts. I love epically long mail messages about dolly matters because sometimes its hard to have those conversations with people around me. (that won’t be surprising to some who have talked to me before.)
8. I sometimes worry that I am taking photos of the same thing - I probably am, but I want my dolls to look their best and often that means I simply stick with what I know, even if its repetitive, but then I don't think I have fantastic photograph skills anyway. I do not find photo posing all that easy.
9. I love seeing what people do with their dolls - how the sculpts I own can look completely different when owned by someone else. I also love doing it with my own dolls - I appreciate that sometimes you have to identify two sculpts which are the same because of the customisation and I think that’s great.
10. I cringe at some of the dolly pics I see - sometimes because of the poor photography (focus people!) and sometimes because I wonder how someone could dress the poor doll like that - or paint its face like that... or just sometimes because I simply don’t like the sculpt itself and its a terrible merge of all three! *wink*
11. I love the thrill of waiting for a release, especially if it’s something I like. Thus I also enjoy the “on shipping” notice and tend to then obsessively check tracking to see if my doll has gone anywhere. Thus I also love opening boxes.
12. I enjoy seeing what face up artists, one in particular, do with dolls - the expressions they can make and the ways they can make what you ask for come to life in ways you never expected.
13. I am blessed that my family - particularly my brothers, whom are my roommates - accept my doll collecting. They might not completely understand it, but they do accept it (they have to, see #6) and don’t make any derogatory comments. I am also blessed with a lot of my friends, especially some of the girls (and guys) at work, who are happy to let me squee about new dolls or ask me if I’ve gotten another doll. Again, while they may not completely understand, they do accept it and don’t expect me to keep my mouth shut on the subject.

13 wishes for 2013

Since I did this for 2012, I thought it would be fun to do it again for 2013... I don't think I'll do it for next year, it was hard enough thinking up 13 wishes!

(admittedly some of the wishes are recycled from 2012... sssh) - the question mark is for all those things which are completely unexpected! (and its number 14, technically.)

1. The bodies for Mor Mumain and Nic Naomhim to turn up - I was hoping they would have been done and sent out in 2012, but it just didn’t happen. And as with Pax and Nox last year, now the girls have their stunning faceups from AT, they are CRYING out for bodies!
2. Vulcan’s makeover - Yes, V is finally going out for a new faceup and tatts and blushing. He is of course going to AT and while’s its a wrench to let him go (ironically at roughly the same time as he was gone last time to get said tatts/body blushing done) he is going  to look just as fabulous as his smaller siblings. (If you haven’t seen the new looks for Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, check out my photo stream or an earlier post, they look incredible.)
3. Arum’s customisation - She’s going to go to AT, and she’s a big job... I want to get her finished to see if I can finally hold onto an Arum for once! (She’s Mk III) 
4. Chicline Ital - my first new BA boy in a long time for me to wait for - his name is Inuus, and I want him home ASAP, if just to watch Isis attempt to steal his bling.
5. Chicline Chloe, Iana - just cause she is sooo beautiful!
6. Feeple 65 Ital - including normal and nose scar faces - cause when FL decide to bury me in BA/Itals, they do it with a vengeance! (Three 65 heads and a CL in one event!)
7. Pukifee WS Zoe, Anhur - still have to get him, it feels strange not to have bought a Pukifee in 2012 (I might have to make up for it!)
8. Pukifee Sweet Bunny Bonnie WS, Neith - the Army needs some more additions, Isis is crying out for more power (isn’t she always?)
9. LTF Elf El - Helios, for some reason I’m being pestered by Els to get some more, so I suppose I need to have another in the house...
10. MNF Seorin, Apollo - the MNF boys are seriously outnumbered in this house and they’d like to have another male on their team!
11. Delf Tanning Lishe - I’m still looking for this girl. I want her bad.
12. An F60 boy - I’d prefer an Ital/BA (cause I’m that kind of girl) but I am quite partial to Els... This wish is cause all my 60cm size CPs are girls and I would quite like a male, cause that would even it out a little, lol. (though not numerically...)
13. an F65 Lishe - cause she would go with my F65 Ital/BA so well!