Mara Creatures Ramunder

Since this fabulous troll is on topic now and the first preorder is under way I though it would be a good time to give him his own discussion thread.

Here is a link to the official page: Mara Creatures – Swedish folklore creatures
Here is a page with details and measurements: Product information – Mara Creatures

And here is the project journal from his making: /threads/troll-doll-making.788753/

Anything else that should be added to this post?

Speaking for myself, I don't think I've been this excited about a doll in nearly a decade. To see him finally get to this stage is beyond amazing and I am having a bit of a happy hobbyist meltdown right now.
Who else is getting him?

 

She does offer layaway.

 

Yea, it is a lot of money.
I've also followed this project for a long time and I knew he would be expensive so I have sort of planned for it and made sure to put money away every now and then so that if the day ever came when he was finished I would be able to buy him and I am happy I did. He will be my most expensive doll ever by a very good marigin and I won't be able to buy any more new dolls for a few years with my current budgeting, but to me it's worth it.

 

My photography skills depend more on luck than ability and my camera and I are rarely on speaking terms, but it's almost worth it to learn to become better just to do him justice.

 

@Teddy Hehe, "necessary evil" sums it up very well.
But for a doll like this the level of neccesity may be a bit higher than normal. Time will tell.

For now I just try to keep my mind in check to keep from coming up with too many great ideas for him. If I would try to acomplish all the crafting projects I've already come up with I would have enough to do for a life time.
But at the very least I want to make some sort of a cave wall background and he may need a throne.

 

My thoughts exactly. I still haven't figured out where to display him.
I like displayng my dolls in a situation that makes sense for them. The bulk of my collection is MSD-sized and in modern clothes and setting. They have a bit of a room set up where they can hang out when I do nothing else with them.
This guy will be way too tall for that shelf anyway, so I will have to give him a space of his own. May as well make him a fitting backdrop. He will probably spend most of his time alone, anyway. I think of him as one of those giant, ancient montain king type of trolls. Sitting in a cave deep under ground, guarding his gold.
His tail might get in the way for sitting, but I won't know that for sure until I have him in my hands. It does seem to be pretty well articulated, so as long as I plan for it when making the throne I think I can get away with it.

@Quiet and Insane That is too bad, I feel for you. There will be pictures. I can't promise how good or how many, but there will be pictures.

 

@ronnie92 Oh, nice plan!
I chose "mull" too.
I don't really have any plan for the face up yet, but I am thinking of making him either a sort of matted wig, as if he hasn't washed and combed his hair in a long time or make a neater wig, pehaps with glass beads braided into it. I am a little bit torn on the visuals between the troll as a primitive and the troll as the nobility of the forest. Both has their charm for sure and both are often represented in folklore.

He will need a treasure, though. I am set on that.

 

Yea, that's my thought on the beads. Som variety in texture and colour and a good way to bring some jewelry into the hair.
I love the look of the trolls drawn by John Bauer and will use that at least partly as inspiration. They often have patched, simple clothes and tangled long curly hair, but they are alo often wearing lare amounts of jewelry, showing off thir wealth.

Oh, bodyguard for a fay is going to suit him well.

I second this. This is going to be awesome!

 

I feel the same way. I am happy to pay what this doll costs in this specific case, simply because I really want the doll that much and I understand why the doll costs what it costs. But I can't spend like this very often.

 

There are new photos up on the product page! Now I am pretty sure I can make a throne work for him as long as I make sure there is somewhere for the tail to go.

 

Yes, that's a good option. Another is to simply make the whole thing wide enough for the tail to have room to wrap around his butt and hang out on the side. Either way it should be possible to make something work.

 

I haven't heard anything either. Her page hasn't been updated for a while and the last blog entry is from November.
I'm not realy worried yet. The only time estimate given was "february" and that was when she was supposed to recieve the dolls from Haru, if I undertood it correctly. February is still not over. I have worked with Haru in the past and they did not keep their own time estimates that time (nor did they inform me about the delay until I e-mailed them and asked) so a delay from the caster is a possibility as well. And that is perhaps being even more likely considering that Ramunder is not an ordinary doll, so ther may be some extra effort and workarounds neccesery to make him, again increasing the risk for delays.
And then there is the over all shipping situation in the world that could be causing delays as well.
Would be nice to get an update, though.

 

Hmmm... You are right, she hasn't been logged in here in a while either. Have you tried PM her? She may have notifications on.

Me to!
Through some sort of a miracle I have managed to keep myself from making him a lot of stuff beforehand as I want to make sure things work for him. But it just a matter of time before I start building.

 

I don't know what e-mail adress you tried, but my reasoning is that there is a chance that she has notifications from here sent to a private adress while the order adress perhaps isn't checked as often since the order period closed, or something like that. I don't know, I am just speculating too.
Hopefully the silence is a simple case of no news yet.

 

Thanks for sharing the reply. Sounds like a "normal" delay, nothing to worry about. Just a bit longer to be patient, but I've been in the hobby for a long time, I know this game.

 

Just wanted to update, since I don't know who is lurking this thread or only have access to the official product page.
The order page still says february, but she has e-mailed buyers informing the delay an sent a separate e-mail saying that the dolls are currently being cast.

 

I must admit I automatically added two months or so in my head when I first read the original estimate, so in my mind there is still about a month to go.

 

*raises hand*
In my defense I planned to wait until I got him in my hands, since I don't know exactly what I want.
To tell the truth I am a little bit proud of myself for not having made him a lot of stuff yet.

 

Oh, I just got the E-mail asking to confirm my adress and saying that she hopes to ship my doll this week!
Saying that I'm excited about it would be the understatement of the year.
This is going to be awsome!

 

He's here!
He is huge, heavy and beautiful! Of, course the largest I had before was slim minis, but still... This guy is massive.

He also arrived very well packed and in the biggest doll box I ever owned. I will try to put together a box opening thread. I did take the pictures as I upacked him but there is no way I can sit down to edit them right now.
Pictures as soon as I stop shaking.

 

Here we go.

 

Oh yes!
I'll know better once I get to know him, of course, but right now he seems pretty much perfect. I do admit to being a bit infatuated, for lack of a better word, and probably more than a bit biased. I probably have a more realistic view of him in a few days. The only thing so far that is going to require some getting used to is the fact that he is so heavy. That combined with his posture makes it tricky to get him to stand unsupported. I have goten him to stand with just a hint of support for balance, but not completely unaided yet.

Oh, and as if taking good doll pictures allready wasn't hard enough, since this guy is so much bigger than I'm used to, some of my standard tricks for lighting and camera positions and such won't work, so that's another thing to get used to.

I am so happy to have him and I will have fun with this guy for sure! I can't wait to get started on customizing him.

 

Thanks!
I am working on him every chance I get, but it will take time to get all his stuff done the way I want it. I am having a lot of fun with him, but my arm- wrist and even back muscles are sore from handling, stringing and holding him up. At least I've managed to make him a stand (non of the ones I had on hand could take his weight) and that made things a lot easier.
So, for those of you still waiting, you may want to invest in a sturdy stand.