The ^ < v Game! - Part 7

^ so many things—a purple twigling doll, an obsidian twigling doll, a dollshe that’ll never come, and a Soom guy. Also two heads secondhand. I swear, I’m slowing down on the buying.

<also maybe a trade? Who knows? All I know is that after this, I’m slowing down on the doll arrivals

V if you could have any doll in any resin colour and any size, what would that doll be?

 

^ I’m pretty boring when it comes to resin color, tbh. I’d love a Minifee Niella girl that was 60cm, though. I was disappointed that the Feeple60 bodies didn’t resemble the Minifee ones very much.

< I’m so excited about Migidoll’s new girl body!

v What doll release did you anticipate the most?

 

^ Probably the FairyLine Sia release. Not so much for the face sculpt (I actually sold the head), but for the body. There's a character I've wanted to shell but couldn't find a suitable sculpt in a suitable size for him, and when I saw the fantasy parts for the Sia sculpt, I fell in love and knew instantly they were just what I was after. It was the most stressful purchase I've made! But totally worth it.

< Part of me wants to work on sewing up the dolly stuff I cut out and pinned last week... the rest of me is totally exhausted from working my first con in almost two years.

v Would your doll cosplay, and if so as who (or what)? Or do they already?

 

When Color isn't a Rock Diva, Decim from Death Parade is their cosplay of choice.
Color and Decim by SteamWitch, on Flickr

< Rain again and again...

v What kind of transportation would your doll character love to have?

 

^ Barring an actual yellow submarine, Vish would love a yellow VW Bug.

< so many doll projects, so little time

v Which dolly project are you most/least enthusiastic to get working on?

 

^ uhhhh, well, I should get working on Vidania's legs again. but I'm not looking forward to chopping a big piece of her thighs off (again). Or dyeing 2 dolls electric blue. Or trying to mix up a batch of Ireena-tan dye. Or finishing my crazy modded body for Syn, because her head is going to be done soonish? I'd love to also make any progress on Shrike's armour, while I'm at it.

But right now what I'm enthused about is getting another new project started, in which my Pieta hybrid gets gold-embellished rib bones, and golden skeletal finger jewelry. I might also do her shoulder blades, and then wing-scars. Maybe a spiked halo--part halo, part crown of thorns kind of deal? I want her to be kind of graphic and very beautiful. And I'm totally obsessed with her right now.

<TLDR: if it's started, I don't want to finish it. If it's not started though....

V Lets spread this one around: Which dolly project are you most/least enthusiastic to get working on?

 

^ I really want to get back to actual sewing. Poor Isamu literally does not have ANYTHING he could call his own, and is currently wearing but a temporary mishmash of Guórén's old clothes that couldn't be recycled for my other male doll, Kokichi. Okuni's wardrobe isn't faring much better. Sure, I managed to alter one of Adhara's old dresses for her and even gave her some of the JID clothes I made before (yep -- that 57cm girl can wear some JID stuff), but she needs more stuff for herself.

Buuuut, I swore I wouldn't return to dolly dressmaking until I finished ventilating Kokiden's wig. I'm currently still short of the halfway mark, and the going has been tedious. Looks like I'm getting a wigmaking burnout, and I may have to step back from it once the current project has been finished. (Although that creates a dilemma -- if Guórén is indeed going to be reshelled and would need a new wig as a result, I'd have to bust out the wigmaking tools again!)

> At least I have a somewhat steady job ATM!

v Let us hear more: Which dolly project are you most/least enthusiastic to get working on?

 

^ I really want to get back to working on my automail mods, but life has not been conducive to that scale of project for quite a while now... I'm hoping after this next move, I'll be able to actually get some stuff done with him again. I want to get some more aesthetics work done, too, and the next layers of resin pouring for the lantern I'm working on, and those I can get back to whenever I have time again... which I haven't in a long time...

< But man it was fun to be back at a convention again this past weekend! I didn't really do much "convention" stuff since they brought me in to work, but just being around people having fun and wearing costumes was such a blast! (And apparently I did a good job because they asked to bring me in as full staff instead of just a helper.)

v Keeping it going: Which dolly project are you most/least enthusiastic to get working on?

 

^ i'm not sure about most enthused, but least enthused is restoring a doll i purchased thinking it was a different doll, but the first owner modded him terribly and didnt tell the second owner. Fixing this doll will be tedious...

< 10 days until the hobby anniversary! Idk how i'm going to be able to take a picture of the whole collection...

V Do you do anything special to celebrate your milestones in the hobby? (Doll birthdays, anniversary of getting your first doll, etc)

 

^ I always plan to but then life gets in the way and I lose track of time until the day's past.
< Just under Vish's scrubs, don't know if I'll get them done in time for Wednesday's appt.
V Passing this one along. Do you ever do anything special to celebrate milestones in the hobby?

 

^ I don't think I have. For doll arrival anniversaries or birthdays, I used to post commemorative collages of the doll in question, but I often forget to do that now, d'oh!

< Granado, whyyyyy do you have to churn out such lovely mature 30cms, and of a sculpt I wanted, too? Does it mean I have to make mini-Guoren and mini-Adhara now? (Granado: Well, you still have that contest discount, remember? Mehehehe.)

v Is there a doll that makes you want to diverge from your usual collecting style?

 

^ Oh yeah! I mainly collect fairly realistic sculpts, or at least stylized towards realism/maturity. But I really want both an anime doll (I want her to be a pokemon trainer! With all the ridiculous outfits!) and an old, big-eyed and pointy-nosed Volks girlie with petticoats for days.

< I just started the last book in the series I'm reading with my husband. I'm SO SAD that it's ending. Our first year and a half of marriage has been defined by going through this series and talking about it. It's been a blast but what are we going to next? (We've been reading The Wheel of Time).

v How many groups of dolls do you have in your collection? Are all of them part of the same story/continuity/party/family etc? If not, how many groups are they divided into? (Storyline A, or this is a band, or minimees etc)

 

^ off the top of my head I can think of four or five groups but some of the dolls move about so it's tough to sort them into specifics.

< Hating the fact that the days where the weather cooperates are the days I either don't feel up to it or have something else keeping me from working on face-ups for my blank dolls.

V what new dolly things are you looking forward to?

 

^i just got confirmation from Twigling that one of my dolls ships this week, and she’s really cool, she’s a body type I don’t have (shortest one) and a bust type I don’t have (C) and on top of that, she’s purple. She’s a head duplicate (Gamine #3 of 4) but I love her sculpt so much, abd the other 2 gamines are home have to just accept that at least they’re not the ingenue hoard. On top of that, she’s travelling with a head I really wanted—light blue oryx! Who is the first oryx of the hoard, and might solve my floating body issue (and if she doesn’t I get to use her as an excuse to do More Modding) shrike is going to have all the friends soon.

<these dolls coming in is working wonders toward keeping me from spending my PayPal balance in the MP. Not everyone needs more siblings than they have…

V what are your doll plans for the rest of the year?

 

^ Most of my plans are largely around completing the relocation I'm working on, but as for the doll-related bits of that, said relocation includes an improved studio space and more display cabinets for my collection! In the meantime I have been playing around with some clothing patterns and need to finish blushing the poor doll that's in pieces in the current studio...

< Why can't I just wave a magic wand and finish all the painting that way?

v Do you prefer to stick to one style of doll, or mix things up?

 

^ I like to mix them up, though at the moment doing some pruning... I adore fantasy sculpts, realistic (minimee) modern styled, and now getting into a mix between the two ie more realistic but human in a fantasy setting. The tinies I have look out of scale with the 70cm+ which is a shame, so they hang out in different places

> currently getting back into the swing of things after hiatus... lethal as have bought a couple of more large bjds... but at the same time offloading some, so my collection is under going a refresh. Want to start making outfits and assessories, I have a list!

v what would be your grail sculpt when taking key elements from current sculpts, eg mine would be the nose of Soom York, with the eyes of LS Xuandi, the lips of Soom Heliot ...

 

^ Ooooo i like this one! Eyes of Soom Scar Hyperon, Nose of Dollclans Vezeto, Mouth of Doll Family H Nox. oh the heaven I would be in

< Now I'm totally daydreaming of the never to be made sculpt lmao. But there are so many on my wishlist to worry about anyways

v Passing this one along! What would be your grail sculpt when taking key elements from current sculpts??

 

^ I'm planning a custom colored Resinsoul doll with Yao's head on a human body with dragon hands and feet. Does that count?

< Granado has me seriously considering reshelling Lin into their new Ascent body with the Shadow head, and now Pipos has a limited re-release of their old frogs! I want a Trudy! Ah! Ok, I'll stop with the exclamation marks now.

V Any limited order period dolls tempting you into bringing them home right now or recently?

 

^ This describes basically everything I've bought recently, haha! I'm waiting on a Monochrome Cage head, Switch Breathless hands, and a Migidoll Grace63 body whose ordering period just stopped. I'm sure at least two of them will be re-released eventually, but who knows how long that will be?

< Ugh, I hate Fedex. How long does it take a package to travel only 100 miles?

v In a similar vein, have you ever bought a fullset (limited or otherwise)?

 

^ Never. There've been a few I've admired, and I've bought some full outfits for various dolls (including one that I think was technically the outfit for a Soom set, just sold separately too), but the fun for me is in the customizing, so I tend to order everyone more or less blank and naked. The closest I've gotten to "buying a fullset" was when I did an order for two odd-size dolls from Luts. With them not being the right size to fit anything from the Community Closet here, I went through the clothes section for their size and picked some base outfits for them there, but even that was just piecing things together (and no wigs or eyes!)

< Dolly con coming up Sunday and I want to take my Niko, but surprise, she doesn't fit anything in the Community Closet either... I've got some smocking to whip up a dress for her, can I find the motivation? (And who else is going?)

v If you could design the perfect fullset, what would it be?

 

^ honestly I don't have a perfect fullset that I would buy - mostly because I have all the dolls I want, with a few exceptions (mostly heads and bodies), so any full sets would involve me having to replace one I've already got.
I would seriously consider a Wedding Catwoman - with the dress and cat ears from the comic. Her dress was amazing, and if I had the option to replace mine for a tan girl, I'd probably spring for it.

> Ugh why don't people actually do their jobs?!

V Is anyone dressing their dolls up for Halloween?

 

^ I've done it before but I don't think I will be this year
< There goes the rest of my day
V Passing this one along
Are your dolls dressing up for Halloween?

 

^Depends on how motivated I get. Halloween at the Pub would be really fun and I haven't done that yet. Hmmm.

< Packing boxes to mail wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to stand in line at the Post office to mail out.

v Halloween doll dress-up or ignore?

 

^ I would love to, but I waited too late this year to order costumes!! With current international shipping times I will have to order Christmas dresses and sweaters instead to get them in time for the holidays.

< I think I... want to buy some dolls...for the first time in a few years... weird feeling!! Am moving this weekend though so I will see how I feel once I get everyone/everything unpacked at the new place.

v What's the longest period you've gone in between doll purchases?

 

^ I've definitely had a few years where I didn't have the time/money to dedicate to dolls. I'd say maybe 18months?

< That said, pretty much everything I've bought in the past year is all arriving now, whoops.

v Are you throwing together any last minute costumes?

 

^ not for my dolls, but I did throw together a suuuper last minute costume for myself (vampire Willow from Buffy—I owned fake leather pants and a corset that worked-ish when I pinned a red scarf to the top…

<I haven’t been this excited about a doll arrival since I was 17!

V is your first doll still a doll you would buy?

 

^ I would yes, was just noticing again how cute he is when taking photos for my instagram.

< I want to work more on my dolls more but can't until I know the weather is cooperating.

V is there something you want to work on but can't?

 

^ I want to create from scratch an entire doll but haven't the time (and the 3D printer) to do that.

< I'm too obsessed with some sculpts that doesn't match my future goals in the hobby that it hurts a little ಥ‿ಥ

v Any doll which obsessed you but you'll never had for a lot of reasons?

 

^ Soom's Ticking Crocodile. He'll always be an impossible dream for me. I couldn't afford him when Soom made him back in 2013, and he's too big for me to own. I think of my 3 MSDs as the "giants" after 7 years of just collecting tinies.

< And so many of my dolls are blank...

V Similar question- Is there a doll you love in pictures but wouldn't want to own?

 

/\ Ring doll and Loongsoul. I love the promotion pictures/faceup/styling but I will have to admitted I will admire them as art and that is all!

>My personal life is awesome. But work, no, I need to demand respect. Wait is respect should be a common practice in the society?

V Do you have favorite faceup artist that you would like to have them paint your doll?

 

^ Once upon a time I would have said Andreja from Nicole's Dreams but now I don't really have one. So now I'm doing my own.

< Speaking of face-ups I need to work on doing Janus's face-up

V Passing this along, is there a face-up artist who you'd love to paint one of your dolls?

 

^ Same, minus the painting face ups myself part. I haven’t picked that up yet. I used to dream of having a doll painted by her.
< I wish I could get back to the doll costume I’ve been working on. It’s just hard to find the time now. It’s the first one I’ve been starting to feel proud of. Normally I’m pretty indifferent to my projects after they’re finished.
V Do you have any projects you’d love to get back to but can’t for some reason?

 

^ All of them, lol. But I am in my parents' house for the month, and most of my stuff is in storage to save room. Plus, they don't know about my doll stuff.

> I love Rugged Realism myself. But I do my own faceups so I don't have to worry about damaging something expensive. Also, these breakfast sandwiches I made are pretty good, if I do say so myself.

v What is your longest running doll project?

 

^ Though it hasn't been too long, my longest running project has been creating outfits and learning how to do faceups properly. I just don't have that much time, and just a lot to do. I want to make some cute skirts and dresses.

>Chocolate is pretty nice after a long day. Perhaps I should bake some cookies (but alas there is no time).

V How long did it take you from learning about the BJD hobby to getting your first doll?

 

^ maybe a couple months? I was a teenager with no impulse control, and my ex (we were a little on-again off-again in high school before I got strong enough to just leave) had broken up with me, kind of, while I was in Hawaii with my family. So I had been looking at an expensive fullset doll, and arranged a layaway that cost almost everything I made monthly at my part-time. The doll (a ringdoll Jack fullset) arrived while we were off-again the next time, ironically.

<selling him bought me Shrike, my beloved, so I can’t complain though!

V do you hoard any particular type of doll accessories (wigs, clothes, eyes, props, etc.)?

 

^ I'm an eye hoarder I have so many that I never use and don't plan too. But I hang on to them anyways. Most of them are eyes that my dolls came with that I think are too big or not the right color.

> I've eaten so much Panera lately I think my blood has turned to broccoli cheddar soup.

v Which doll do you love but is not the right size for your collection that you wish you could magically change the scale of?

 

^ that’s a list, honestly. JJ.Doll.Lab’s Zhura, I would love to be SD sized. When Miracledoll Did Arachne, I really wished she was SD (but it was good she wasn’t—I’d have been broke). Dollzone’s Empress and High Priestess, if either had been SD would have had to come home. I think the most recent was yuyudoll’s Healing angel. Those wings were so beautiful I almost bought one despite her size.

>do I have to work? Is it not simply enough that I’m awake on this day.

V what comes first for you: Doll or character?

 

^ Doll. If I let myself shell my characters, I would be broke and begging on the streets. It's much cheaper to simply write them into stories and let the sculpts speak to me.

> Moving time is nearing and no one will get back to me, oh dear oh dear.

v What is the biggest case of shenanigans you've dealt with ordering a hobby-related item?

 

^ Dollshe's mature tiny order period of 2018. I ordered a tiny Hound in October through BJDivas, and recently learned from another DoA member that Dollshe had yet to make the 3-D printed versions to make the molds from. I'm still waiting, but I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever get made.

< Dollzone recently announced they're discontinuing their mechanical girls, Venus Halo and Mist Strayer. I now only have a month to decide if I'm going to order Mist Strayer or not. But I already have so many unfinished dolls...

V Do you ever struggle to decide if a doll is right for your collection or not?

 

^ All the time, but it's usually once they're already here. I want to reduce numbers, but how !?!?

< How many journals/notebooks can one person have going at the same time? This is getting ridiculous.

V Do you do anything with your dolls to mark the holiday season?

 

^I'm getting ready to decorate the Pub and dig out the Santa hats and ugly Christmas sweaters.

< Pumpkin cheesecake fresh from the oven, too bad I have to wait until they cool off.

v Do you have any winter celebrations with your dolls involved?

 

^ I actually don't have anything planned but I've been wanting to break them out of their boxes after a LONG time in storage (life stuff happened hard the past few years lol) so maybe i'll do something for Yule with them

< So many things to get done and damn damn damn my butt hurts from my shot... oof!

v Have you ever sold a doll and regretted it?

 

^ I've sold probably 50-odd dolls--just so many--and there are 2 I regret and 1 I'm a little ambivalent about. The ambivalent one is my feeple65 Sylvia heads. The two regrets are a vesuvia poison kiss bronze scorpion body, and my iplehouse HID Carina. I regret the body because Bronze would have been awesome for a character I shelled years later, but I found the body again, so it's not a big deal. Carina was a lot harder--she was a character I'd written in support of a character I really really hurt in my old writing. she was really the only good support this character got, and the only person who bothered to help her get better. I projected a lot on the character and giving her help felt good. And the ex I no longer speak to anymore said she was boring, which lead to me writing her out.



Bonus pic of her (Shows when you hit reply, but not here for some reason). I'm debating trying to remake the two characters in another setting.

<Today on: how many other things will I do to avoid working on my paper?

V Have you sold any doll you'd rebuy if you could?

 

^ nope! I have no plans to ever sell a doll I purposely bought, I could never part with them!

< i have to deal with a smoke alarm inspection and I'm FREAKING OUT about people coming in my house. I am not calm.

v do you sew anything for your dolls? I am starting my sewing career!

 

^ I sew all my dolls' clothes. ^_^ I still have their store-bought clothes from when I was starting out in the hobby, but at the moment all the clothes they're wearing are done by me.

> What a weekend. A major banking security breach, and I've only managed to secure half my funds.

v What is the funniest nickname you've given a doll?

 

^ now I didn't give him this nickname but my kdf Zeus Bory with the fantasy legs got dubbed as "chicken Legs" by my parents because of his bird feet

< I really hope my interview goes well ;;

v Do your dolls have designated space in your home or do they move around as you do stuff with them?

 

^everyone who isn’t being worked on as a project and isn’t unstrung is upstairs on the shelves across from my bed, and they have more-or-less fixed spots on said shelves. There’s the Hell Queen/Vampire shelf, the Auratus kid support group, the dnd shelves, and the Shrike squad plus significant others area. There is also Captain Johana’s grumpy lookout, as I decide what I’m doing with the mer-body. And the Head shelf. One day, when I have space, I want to make them a diorama.

<Nothing like hanging out with your ex to make you vaguely feel Disconcerted. Like we’re friends, but I feel odd still somehow. Something in the vibe was not vibey

V Do you have any doll plans for the new year?

 

^ The same plan as every year Pinky.
Sew like the wind! If things go well, I might be able to set up an actual sewing station and I feel that would help. I also want to redo everyone's faceups (and give my new doll her first one) and maybe go to a doll con.

> Wait, this headache isn't from too much sugar. It's from not taking my medicine, d'oh!

v What is your cutest doll, and what is your spookiest doll?

 

^ Cutest Doll would probably be Millie, my Minifee Honoka SP. She is so adorable I cant help but giggle every time i handle her. Spookiest doll is definitely Nev, My Dream of Doll Tender Yen. His eyes and faceup just make him look like a creep.

< Why is EMS taking so long. I just want my doll.

v What is the rarest/most obscure doll in your collection?

 

^most obscure... Gem of Doll Kira I've only seen one other owner of (and I'm friends with him!) I Also don't see Withdoll Adriana or DsDoll Cat and Ghost very often (even though I think Cat is one of my favourite sculpts!) On the flip side, I have an army ow Twigling ingenues, and an Iplehouse Carina, so we've got a mixture

<I don't want to do anything today. Like at all. Can I do that?

V lets pass this on--what are the most popular and most obscure dolls you have?

 

^ none of my dolls are really popular- I have some that used to be huge: migidoll Ryu and Miho, a couple Delf Breakaways, unoas, iplehouse luo (tho mine is very modded) - but none of them are popular by the standards of the old popularity.
I have no idea which is the most obscure. I have a few artist heads and dolls. My WS Kara klums are rare only because Dollmore made 30 - 15 open eyed and 15 thinking. I have one each of the full sets and then got an extra OE head so I have three of 30

> and I have another Ringdoll K coming!! Bringing John’s head total to 8

v recycling this: do you have any doll plans for the new year?

 

^ Waiting on 2 tiny Granado boys other than that I think I'm going to try again to shed a few dolls. Found homes for a few of my floating heads but I still have a few I don't think I'll ever use.

> Congrats on the 8th K head, John is so expressive.

v Are you dressing up dolls for the holidays?

 

^ I am! I just did a trade recently for a bunch of Christmas clothes for the girls in my MSD crew. One of my YoSDs also has a holiday dress, so she's in that as well. A lot of them won't have holiday outfits this year, but I'll try to fix that before next year!

< I want to try a new-to-me game (Genshin Impact) for the first time today, but my friend said she'd stop by to pick something up from me "soon," so now I'm in waiting mode. "Soon" could mean 20 minutes or 3 hours with her

v Do you have a doll you identify with on some level?

 

^ So one doll is a shell of a character that 17 year old me made as a super obvious self insert for a story, so logically it would be that one right? No! I'm always feeling so pulled and this sort of kinship with my HDF Cream, Alphonse for whatever reason oops. Maybe once I get that character a different body it'll be better.

< Things are s*** right now but at least I did manage to land that job!

v I'm feeling a lot of pressure to do things the "right" way with my dolls and it's stifling a lot of creativity for me. What sorts of things do you do with your dolls to break out of a creative slump/block?

 

^ So, I'm big into maintenance for my dolls. I'm an artist professionally, so I always feel like I ought to be painting my own dolls and sewing for them, but I really just want to enjoy them because my creative energy is usually tapped. I re-string them and re-dress my dolls pretty frequently because it's my favorite thing to do. If I feel like taking photos, even better!

< Waiting is so hard!

v What are you looking forward to doing with your dolls in 2022?

 

^I'm hoping to improve my sewing skills and finally get around to making some of the outfits for my crew that I've been putting off for a while. I'm also looking forward to my Dream Valley Moon's arrival so that I can get to work customizing them into Tahmos' feline-esque companion.

< That process will involve resin dyeing, painting, etc...

V Who's your most recent resin acquisition, and why did you choose to get them?

 

^ FHSH/ R. Dean’s S. Rei. He looks like the twin brother of my Pieta, especially the way she’s painted. I’m hoping he fits on a dt18 and I don’t need to go all the way up to the 75cm boys for him, but he immediately clicked as a character to me, because of the resemblance. Before that was a second hand girl I missed out on, and then made a trade for after her first sale didn’t go through, who I’d been in love with.

<I really need to roll out of bed so o can start on doll things today….

V what’s the next thing on your dolly wishlist?

 

^ MSD #4, Dream Valley Howard II head and the Dream Valley MSD male body with the 3rd monster arm, in grey. They don't sell them together as one doll, but they have the exact same neck size, so they will fit together fine.

< I got my first grey BJD today! Doll Leaves Laura. She's only 20cm tall, so she looks like a child with all my 30cm mature tinies, but so does my DZ human Wendy.

V Waiting on anything doll related right now?

 

^ My Granado Noah's 75Adagio body. Production started at the first week of December, so the earliest completion date is probably end of February. A lot of holidays (including Chinese New Year) needs to be factored in, so it could unfortunately take longer. D:

> I'd really have to not go overboard with dolly purchases if I intend to follow through with my savings plan.

v Is there any item your dolls would desperately appreciate RIGHT NOW, but you've been putting off obtaining/making time and again?

 

^ Clothes...i recently changed a bunch of my OCs up so they need new wigs/eyes/bodies but it's clothes that are the real killer...because I could make them but also they're not the high quality I like and ugh. High quality is expensive.

< I may have traded a doll head for a doll head...and now I'm in search of a body for said head. I hate having floating heads...and he's not even arrived yet.

v Do you have floating heads? How do you feel about them?