Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Hobby Frustrations (long rant)

BEFORE: uuuuhh sorry about the giant wall of text...if anyone gets through it, kudos to you, and thanks!

A post or two back I was lamenting about selling off some of my bigger guys because I can't seem to do anything with them. Last night was almost the end. I had Marcus out (Switch Taeheo on the Granado 64 body) and a huge pile of clothes to put on him...and nothing fit. NOTHING. His shoulders are too broad for everything I have that's not 70cm clothes which are too big. I got so frustrated I just put everything aside (including him - he's now naked on the shelf) and gave up. I thought again about putting them all up for sale - Metatron, Thomas, Ryuji, Michael, Marcus and even Gabriel....and realized the obvious problem all of them have. Lack of wardrobe. Literally they can wear what they have on and that's it, and in all of their cases what they're wearing is NOT at all what I want for them.

My greatest foes are:
Dollmore Glamor Model male
Iplehouse EID superhero (the old and crappy body that can't even stand)
Resinsoul 70
Popodoll 68
Granado 64
Resinsoul female 68

No clothes. None. Does anyone anywhere have any idea where I can get anything to fit them???

Besides the obvious, Dollmore and Iplehouse I mean. Neither company makes what I'm looking for, which in some cases is elaborate military stuff (which should be easy!! But so expensive I am afraid to buy them in fear they won't fit and I'll be screwed), or as easy as freaking khaki pants and a polo shirt.

The problem is each of these guys dresses in different styles and they're such odd sizes that I can't find what I want for them. Ryuji, the Popo hybrid, might be easy, as he's pretty much standard 70cm, but I want Cyber-wear for him...and no one makes that. Or anything close to what I'd like.

Marcus is a disaster as he apparently wears SD13 pants and SD17 shirts. Outfits are out of the question because they aren't going to mix sizes like that. And he has two styles: the PA Future/casual that most of my dolls wear, and steampunk/neo victorian/victorian (which is my way of saying doesn't-have-to-be-accurate-as-long-as-it's-fluffy-back-in-the-day-looking stuffs). Both styles I can find and have available, but since not everything fits him he can't wear any of it.

The Resinsoul Hybrids (Michael and Gabriel) are  hard because I can find clothes for them I want but they're in the triple digit range and I don't want to spend that much on stuff that might not fit: the boy body is skinny and the girl has huge boobs. If I could get answers out of the RS community that would be nice, but I've gone into that large doll discussion group and either they don't know themselves, or just ignored me because I got nuthin.

Dollmore makes clothes for their glamor models but, like everything else they make, they're a tad large, and they don't have what I want for Metatron at all. AT ALL. Nothing. One outfit is all I ask...

And everyone who owns an EID has the same clothing rant, so why bother to put that here.

If someone really wanted to make a fortune in this hobby they'd start a 70cm and over company and make things that really really fit all these guys....and make them in styles that aren't 3-piece suits and weird crap no one wants.

Israfel has the largest wardrobe of my bigger guys, and it's because 70cm elegant goth is so freaking easy to come by in this hobby. He sits on the shelf looking smug because he's got one full outfit, a couple pairs of pants and shirts. That's it, and it's way more than the rest. But because of this I have no desire to toss him out the window with the others.

Last night in the despair of being afraid of regretting selling all these dolls (bad grammar alert D: ), I came up with a small plan.

In a couple months when my life slows down a tad (read: next year :\ ) I will take one doll a month and work on getting them finished. Weather it's as complicated as the Alexes who all need a million tons of body/asthetic work, or as easy as a body blush, or costly as finding them some kind of outfit somewhere that works.

Ryuji is the worst, as he needs everything. Literally. He'll be first. I might start him soon. Alice seems to have a bunch of new stuff I hadn't seen until last night, and several of the shirts will work for him. I'll get him a wardrobe of sorts, and start on his million tattoos, and maybe I'll want to keep him. His character is in my top favorites, if I sell him I'll regret it.

This wardrobe frustration is affecting my other dolls as well...I've been looking at a lot of them thinking I should sell them. This is what happened in 2010 when I sold all my MNFs. I hated one of them and fixed by selling all of them. At the time it was good and I didn't care....later I regretted it. I wish I'd kept Soshi's head, and the Breakaway at least. Now I will never own another Shiwoo because it won't be the same and I had to buy the Breakaway head again.

It will cost more money and time if I sell all these guys and try to buy them again in the future (and two are LEs that I paid way more than what they'd sell for anyway). If I can "fix" my issues with them it'll be much better. And if I can't, and I'm still freaking, then I'll sell them.

I almost wish I had somewhere to pack them away in their boxes so I don't have to look at them, but I don't. Shelf space I have, storage space I don't :/

In other news I am buying a ResinSoul Li tomorrow. I'm kind of excited about as I have plans and I really like Li. I sorta had my roommates for a while but she was fully, beautifully customized, and I need to do that myself or the dolls go. And I had no point for her. Now I do, and it's a fun one. She's evil and has an elaborate hairstyle I have to do myself (which is something I love working on). If she doesn't work out I'm not out tons of money and she's small so she won't sit there being huge and in the way. She also wears clothes I won't be able to find :|||||| BUT she's kinda got a 'before and after' look, so I can find her a 'before' outfit to sit around in until I finalize her look and find someone who can make her clothes. Also I have ideas to "fix" her if I don't end up liking her, and I'm excited about that too.

All of which is good because I think I'm in a doll-slump lol. First all these clothing problems are freaking me out, nothing is selling second-hand so I don't really have doll money to play with (using my own monies to buy Li and now have to put a self-imposed ban on shopping D: ) and Alex has been sitting around all week in no pants. I never do that....but I can't bring myself to bother to put any clothes on him. Maybe I'll drag him over to dinner at a friends this weekend and make them help me dress him XD

Or he'll just stay no-pants man forever.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Photos!

You can still vote on the contests.....*nudge*

Until then, I have some quickie shots of a few dolls seldom seen...


Mocha
  new mocha1

Little Alex and Boo
 little alex1
ALEX BOO2
newBOO2

 I would like to take them outside someday...but it's very hot and hasn't rained in a while so everything is pretty dead :(

I think I need to give Boo a new faceup. I like it, but it makes him look old...and I would like to freshen him up with maybe lighter colors. I hope that helps. His eyes are the same size as Little Alex's but his mouth and nose are bigger making his face look huge. The giant wig doesn't help either...he  might need a new one of those too...maybe a fiber one! Oooooh scary....

Raphael
 raphael

I'm not sure there are any pics of Raph since I got him in 2010. Sad...but really, he looks like this. He's pretty done, and I tend to love on the dolls that give me trouble XD

Raphael is what he sounds like, the Archangel. He's also a famous child-surgeon (cause his form is that of a young child - even though he's not), and the boss of Uriel, Israfel and Cassiel, and by default almost all of my other angels except for Gabriel, Michael and obviously (to me anyway) Lucifer and Metatron. And Azrael, cause no one is his boss. He's wild.

Like everyone else, he needs wings. One day I really will figure out a good system to make them myself...

Holy carp I have a lot of angels!! How did that happen?

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Tea-dye ALL THE THINGS!!

UGH.

So my biggest and best accomplishment of late is something I can't post yet (and I highly reccomend you head over to DOA's anniversary celebration to check out the faceup contest when the entry's are up. Just sayin.). I am going nuts because it's something I am in love with, and it's sitting in a box. Long story. I wish DC would hurry up and send my order.

A few updates:
Alex I ruined his faceup (ok, I did it, but I'm sure it was his fault somehow) and I was pretty devastated since other than Trevor's (Volks DWC02) and my secret project of doom, it's my favorite that I've done in a long time. It took me about 2 weeks to get it fixed, which is ridiculous because it was a tiny scratch on his nose.  He's better now.

All my Kara Klums are current wearing Dr. Suess Thing 1, 2, 2.5, 3 and 4 shirts. It was a dollmeet thing. Don't ask XD
They look weird all dressed the same (ish) though.

I found out that Blue Blood Doll SD16 Girl jeans fit Kara Klums perfectly. Alex is thrilled. Unfortunately they only have the one pair :\

I'm on another tea-dying kick. No white clothing is safe!! Pink either. I figure a way to make any article of clothing better is to dunk it in tea. So far I'm right. I might dig through my whole collection and just have another massive tea-dye. Last night I did two tiny dresses, and I used chai, so they smell good too! :D

I have a mini Uriel now. In this years tradition of just using dolls over again (a bunch of tinies, Volks Heath and now Limhwa Mono) I turned the second version of Mini David into Uriel. I think it worked. I have some gripes about the wig, but that can be worked on later.

miniURI1

I need longer pile fur. It should look more like this:
UPDATE: I ordered long-pile orange and yellow!! I can remake his wig now, and possibly make one for big Uri (Migidoll Miho)

smURIALX

He needs that shirt too. But he's the right height and body type, so yay!! He's stretching Mini Alex's jeans out though, I need to find him some that fit better.

My Mini count is now up to four....though Aishe is still faceless and Mini David is in pieces because I still have to mod him. Boo.

I'm seriously thinking of letting some of my bigger dolls go....starting with Thomas (IP EID Kamau). I NEVER touch him. NEVER. He's dusty. I hang onto him because he's so perfect as Thomas and was an LE....but what's the point?

I was also thinking of axing Ryuji, who is several years old now and hasn't moved either, has no tatts, and no clothes. But I'm not sure I could do that. I seriously love his character and might regret getting rid of him. I think I just need to buckle down and finish him, then I could photograph him or something and he'd be fun again. OR I should find a Mini him and sell the SD one. :\

The problem with that is that there aren't any bodies tall enough to be him or Thomas in mini form...I would love it if there were....Both of them would go then. My angels interest me so much more than the vampires (other than Alex, David and Kimi lol), I actually thought about selling Metatron for a minute but I just don't think I could do it. Even though I can't find him clothes either. Big guys are such a PAIN!!! I can't do anything with them. How do people handle them??

The funny thing is, I have no desire to sell my Hound, even after all the DS issues. I think all that hate was attached to the Saint head lol. Hound make makes me happy. Israfel makes me happy too. That could be part of it....

I dunno. I should wait on it. If I sell Thomas I'd probably regret it, and it would be hard to get him back. Though I think I could, and with a better body now (thank you for nothing Iplehouse.), it would still be a pain. I would miss Ryuji if he was gone and probably Metatron too. Damn dolls. They take up all the space and do nothing.

My biggest problem is I have so many that need epic amounts of work....I should just pick one and start.

Too bad the one I want to work on has no body :\

Stupid dolls.

Maybe I'll start small and wipe Alex I's body and start him from scratch. Then do all the others...*ded*

Or blush David, get all three of his heads done and redone, and then tackle the Aishes.

Or do nothing and complain about it.

Yay!

Friday, August 2, 2013

long time no post...

It's been a while since I updated....almost a month! That's long for me. But really, I have no reason to update. I've done nothing with my dolls at all. Recently I managed to change a few of them out of clothes they'd been wearing since....april. But other than that... :\

Summer usually means a little break for me but I swear I've been so busy I don't have time for anything! And I've been working on my comic in what spare time I have (I've done really good with those updates!! Until this week...) so that's eaten up my doll time. I have done one or two things...

I got some new eyes for Gambit, they're red now, not orange.

My Luts Fabric Delf came this week.

I ordered some things from rRabit and they came the same day the FD did.

Restrung Alex I with 5mm string. 5mm!! I can't believe he could take it...I got that string for Thomas or Marcus who both really need bigger "bones" to support them. Marcus sucks, his channels are too small for big string, so he's always floppy. But I got it in Alex and now he's a rock. Then I was redressing him (he's a loser now, wearing a torn sweater, wrecked jeans and no shoes) and noticed his knee wasn't right. It wasn't fitting flush together like it should. I thought maybe the bigger string was the problem or that I somehow broke him - and then I saw the other knee was doing the same thing and freaked out that somehow he'd warped or something....and then I realize I had restrung his calves on the wrong leg. After 5 years, and god only knows how many restringings of those guys I still do it wrong....I took his legs off and switched them around and he's good again. But he's been wrong for more than a month...so that alone should tell you how much time I've spent with my dolls lately.

I havn't gotten around to any of the many mods I need to do, which means I have three MD Ryus and one Mir to faceup...and it will never happen if I don't mod them. I have to sand the boobs off Boo....and there's a few other thing I can't even remember now.

The second-hand market has sucked lately (I know it's not just me, I've been paying attention) so nothing I have for sale has sold, meaning I don't have money to complete Cassiel or get Tween his new body or the other few minis I would like to own...so the only thing I'm waiting on is my DC body for Az V2. I'm two-going-on-three payments in but I doubt I'll have it by my fourth payment. DC is still nice and slow and they keep coming out with new stuff to distract them from filling orders.

Mini Uriel has a pair of eyes on order, that's all I'm expecting. When they get in I'll try to get his photo. I'm not sure I like him all that much but maybe with better eyes and clothes he'll be good. It's his mouth...if it didn't have that dimple in it he'd bee fine...I've actually thought about trying to fill it in, but I'm not sure how I feel about mods like that yet. I don't want to ruin him either!

Oh well! That's where I am right now...pretty much nowhere lol