In Which VampireAngel13 Creates the Frankendolls.

So. My Hound on the Classic (re-release) Dollshe body arrived on Monday.

I was very excited about this, as in my head, I was still kind of planning to use one of these bodies for the IOS Jaguar head, the other for the RD Norman, and my Hound would get boxed up until sometime in the future when I would buy yet another DS body and all would be well.

Yeah, that didn't exactly happen.

Immediately after pulling him out of the box I knew he was smaller than the Pure Hound (who was at the time, not a Hound at all but a Ringdoll Norman Dark I call Joker). It was like holding my third Kara Klum - I knew just from touching him the body was smaller. Standing them next to one another confirmed this - the Classic body is much smaller/shorter than the Pure. I had sworn I'd seen photos of the Classic and pure together and they were the same, so that much have been the Old version - mine is the new....probably made from a cast of the old one, since I thought the original molds were destroyed or damaged or something. Who knows. Regardless, the size difference kind of threw me.

Size or no size I was going to keep this thing so I pulled him apart and restrung him a bunch of times until I had it right (because unlike most dolls, Dollshe has to be speshul and not use s-hooks) before doing a little head-swaping.

I put the IOS Jaguar on the Classic body and was surprised to find that it actually fit the neck better....so the body is not only more slender and shorter, the neck is thinner as well! Good for those of us who have to mod, but....looking at the overall proportions of this head on the Classic body, it would never work. The Jaguar head is too big. His features are huge, making him seem bobble-headed even though he's not much different from the Hound heads.

Off with his head, and back on the Pure. I put the Ringdoll head on the classic thinking that if the neck was smaller he'd fit better on it.

I was right.

No neck mods needed!
Movement is better, and it looks nicer.

 

This was...a little disappointing, and I can't say why exactly. I liked him better on the Pure body - it was taller and better posing - both pluses - though I like the shoulders way better on the classic, and really, Joker can be super-skinny....so that's fine. It was just something I wasn't crazy about.

Side by side with the IOS Jaguar on the Pure

So here are my problems with these guys.

I like the torso and arms of the Classic body a lot. I can deal with the bottom break popping out - I hate that on dolls, but it's not horrible on him. The shoulders fit the chest better and it looks good.

The joints on the Pure body are a million times better. They lock in place, are easy to get out and he's a rock sitting or standing. The Classic joints are ok, but nowhere near the Pure.

And I like the legs better on the Pure. The ankles are more slender, the feet are nicer and they're longer. And you know how I love long legs. *coughDollmorecough* Plus better knees.

What I'm sayin'

Left is Pure, right is Classic.

Also, I had to concede that the Jaguar head is not fitting on either of these bodies. It's just not going to happen. To much modding, and I still think he's too big, even for the larger Pure body.

Atrocious fit is atrocious. 

No big. Hound could have his original body back, Joker would get the Classic and I would just have to deal with him being shorter and thinner and less awesome-posing. Boo. But dressed he still looked fabulous, so it was ok. 

Except...when looking at them side by side, I noticed a small problem. 

"Hound" (who's name is actually Israfel, and who was still Jaguar) had Joker's hands. Which sucked because A. Joker needs Joker's hands and I would have to wipe them and redo them on the classic unless I switched, but Dollshe hands are strung on not hooked, and B. I had already restrung that stupid body four times. Four. Times. In one evening. 

Restringing a fifth and sixth (because I'd have to do both) time didn't seem as bad as wiping and redoing, and the hand sculpt didn't change - they're identical, so I resigned myself to pulling them apart again.

Then I got my brilliant idea. Which was to switch their legs. Because that's sane. But hey, I was restringing anyway, why not go all the way?!??! WOOHOO *unstrings dolls*

This is when I realized that Dollshe doesn't really mark their parts....so once I had them all over and mixed up it was really really really hard to tell them apart. And since I didn't bother to be smart and keep them separate, not only from left and right on each body...but from the Pure to the Classic (I tried, I did. I just failed)....and despite the fact that one looks yellower in photos, they're actually the exact same color and almost impossible to tell apart. Yeah. Oops. 

So this took way longer than it should have. Plus I had "help" from both cats. Kitten help is really the anti-help, just so you know.

However I found s-hooks for the hands. Big plus. And

Success!! Leg swap!

You may wonder what the point of all this was. Well I'm not really sure. Other than the fact that Joker now has the better legs. And seems more proportionate to me - but again, I love long legs so that could be why.

And they are the same height now. Which bothered me a lot and I don't know why. I like it better this way.

Joker be like "Screw this shit. I want out. To do bad things. Bad, bad, stabby things."

The closer they get to the left wall, the yellower they seem. You might have noticed it was the Pure body that looked yellower in the first batch XD

Thus ends my crazy frankendoll episode. As far as posing goes, I don't see a difference at all even though I think the Pure legs are a little thicker in the ball area. They still fit, and he obviously stands fine, and has no problem sitting. They are both strung well (though really they could both use new arm string. too bad I have none) and I'm happy with them. Much happier.

Joker is back in his one outfit (his pants fit better now that he no longer has that giant Pure body ass. Thank god, that thing is a pain. Wait, I still own it. Dammit!), and Israfel is naked because he has a large wardrobe I have to sift through before dressing him. And he needs a new faceup since I wiped his old head and this is the faceup that came with this one. It's a good faceup, but, no.

Since this actually took me two days to do, I also did this in between

Shinies in the bg for something different! I have a lot of shinies in my office for some reason. This was when he was on the unfrankened Classic body. He's a good cm taller now. Not that you could ever tell from this photo.

I really love this guy. I just wish I could have gotten the other one off the ground too, but I would really rather wait until I have a better idea of what he'll fit. Or I'm suddenly rich and can afford all the bodies. At least Israfel is a doll again! So he can go back to never being photographed. Poor guy. lol

DC Villains Unite! And Batman.

I have literally been preparing for the Superhero themed meet for months. I wanted all my Mini DC Villains and Batman to be as ready as possible, because if not for that meet, when? With both myself and my roommate working pretty much non-stop Saturday, we did it. The meet was Sunday and it went fantastically!! Several people dressed their dolls up, which was awesome. Mine are the only ones who are "full-timers", but before them I still had Gambit and Jean, so I was always ready for this meet lol.

Here is the whole (Mini) group!

Poison Ivy isn't mine, she's my Roommate's Unoa Lusis (I did the faceup on the winking plate as Ivy). Their props nearly did me in. I had to paint Joker's cane (it's the Tonner Joker's cane, which for some reason was green), make Batman's utility belt (it's not great), and Harley's Mallet. The hardest of all was Riddler's stupid staff, which has been done for awhile but keeps breaking. No glue holds this thing together, I swear. It broke when I got there, and after the host of the meet glued it back together, it broke when I was packing up! Ugh.

Also present was Giant Joker v1 and his new Harley.

Don't even get me started on how much I love them. She might end up with Version Two (Jaguar) because she's very stylized and while he is too, not quite as much as her...but for now they make a great non-couple!

His cane I made from "scratch". I mutilated a BTAS Joker by pulling off his head and gluing it too a dowel rod XDD I seriously feel guilt for destroying an action figure, even one I already own. My other Joker action figures are now living in fear....but not too much fear. They're all safe. 

I managed to grab a few decent pics of them in front of the backdrop I bought with all these DC guys (and girls) in mind after I got home from the meet.


 There's that cane....#actionfiguredeath

 
She stole Alex's wig. And then ruined it by coloring it. I don't think he'll be happy.
She also got a pair of his old eyes. Eep.

Big Harley is kind a trashier version, mixing the New 52 and movie versions, since Mini Harley is more classic, pre-new 52. She's also a boy mold, with zero expression at all. I had to draw that smile on her so she'd be more Harley-ish. This is the head if anyone is interested. So anyway she's the reason I'm now broke as I bought two dolls pretty much back to back. Technically I bought an IH Amy, which will go to my roommate since it's what she wanted anyway....but still. Lots of my $$ sliding out of my hands. I think she's worth it. Especially since I don't have a girl who looks like this....with the exception of Isis all my girls are short and a little stocky or proportioned different. Even Isis has small boobs. I totally needed a busty, slender, tall girl. Well, taller. She's tiny next to him. Which is how it should be, he's pretty tall.

As much as I adore them, the most important thing that happened was of course
BATMAN!!!!



dlfjkarjfngkerhgoierhglkesrjg;kerhagoherlgj

As I thought, Owen makes a fantastic Batman. He's perfect, the only complaint I could have is that I still think his head is large in comparison to his shoulders....but that's on IH not me. I have to figure out a better way to make the belt, and probably his gloves too, but for now I'm very happy with him. And totally intimidated because I had been thinking of all kinds of photoshoots I wanted to do and now he's ready and I actually have to do some!

Gambit and Jean also went to the meet (thanks to me and one other BJD owner DC characters outnumbered the Marvel characters a lot to two XD) and Gambit got to try out the glowing eyes I've had for a year and never used....but their unruly hair really drove me nuts. I need to do better with real wigs.

Jean's tattoos are chipping, which makes me so mad. But they were fairly easy to do, and I can probably fix the one on her back, but the one on her shoulder will have to come off and get redone someday. I'm going to add her to my list of nine million things my dolls need done.

Speaking of, my IOS Jaguar head showed up Monday. 

I'm totally in love with it (I knew I would be), but he presents a new problem I didn't really see coming. He fits on the Dollshe body even worse than the RD Norman head does. :P

I was planning on modding the neck of the body a little to get Norman to fit better (which is why I bought a new body for my Hound), so I figure I'll wait until I've got that done and try him on it again to see if modding will even make a difference. From the front it looks great. Amazing. It's just what I'd want. From the side it's horribly gappy and any movement makes it worse. Mods would be a must, I just don't know how much. So at least I don't have to spring for a body just yet. Especially since I have already bought two dolls this week. Yes. This week.

Regardless I've been thinking of what I want for him....I was really into the idea of the Dollshe Rhythmos body (which I swear I spell differently every time I type it), because it has the same shape as the other two, but no details, so I think it would be great for this stylized guy. But after hearing how badly the thing poses, I'm not sure I want to deal with that.

My #1 of all time choice would be Doll Chateau Adult....but not only will he not match at all, but that will cost me a fortune and be a good 9 month wait I do not want.

Dollmore Model would be perfect, if they sold their bodies in WS. WS being so limited I'd never find one and probably end up paying more for it than the DC body. Plus even yellowed it would be whiter than this head, which is pinkish.

So that's where I am. With all of these WS Dollshe bodies floating around I really want to get something for Spock, but until I decide what I'm doing with Kirk, they get to wait. I've been tempted to try and get a Dollstown 18 for Benedict, give the Dollmore body to Kirk and buy Dollshe for Spock. But that's a lot of money lol. I need to make sure everyone will fit on everything first.

This entry has gotten way long, so I should probably stop now :P
Have a great day!!

Waiting, wishing and acquiring

I don't think I can sit here and list the heads I have that need bodies right now if I tried. There seems like so many...ugh. That might have to be my only goal next year - to do some serious body shopping.

I dd however, manage to get one crossed off my list today - I grabbed a Dollshe SA Hound on the new old body (or is it an old new?). Which will serve two purposes. I've wanted the SA head for a second head for Israfel for a while, so he's got an extra head, and now I have a body, either for him, or Big Joker version 1. Who may just keep the pure body. I don't know. I won't until I have them all together and try on clothes. And since one body will have to be modded to fit the Ringdoll head, my decision will be a permanent one. EEP! MODS!

Ring doll confirmed my purchase of the K head (yay!) a week after I paid for him XD
But better late than never! He's "in production" now according to them. I doubt that. But I'm hoping he'll be fast, since I just ordered a blank head. I freaking love this mold, I can't wait to see him IRL. I hope he's exactly what I want.

No sign of IOS Jaguar. He's still in freaking Russia. Since Oct 28. I'm dying. I wanted him here before this weekend, just so I could have him tried on bodies....I'm thinking the DS Rhythmos for him, but I don't know if I want to go that stylized. If he was here, and I could try him on the other bodies (ok, so I don't have one of them yet), I might have a better idea! *rage*

We're having a Super-Hero themed meet this weekend. Which I am stoked for. I don't really have a lot of heroes tho lol, mostly villains and one anti-hero. Meh, who needs good guys anyway.

Stuff what needs to happen.
Batman is tentatively getting his costume this weekend.
Big Harley Quinn (lol) will get some quick clothes so she can make an appearance at the meet this weekend.
I have to dress Jean in her Phoenix outfit and switch Gambit's eyes out with the glowing ones because I've had them a year and never used them.
Finish Harley's mallet and see about making Big Joker his cane.

Find all my props for all the comic-inspired dolls so they can rock their super-hero-or-villain-ness.
Figure out how I'm going to set all of them up. I wish I had 1/4 scale furniture. I have nothing. It sucks. Stands suck too. Why are they always white??? Why not black? My dolls don't wear white ever!

And really, Evil Peter (which is what I call the Kitten's bitey, clawy and totally crazy alter-ego) keeps me up at night so much that I'm now exhausted and want to do exactly nothing when I get home....but I have all this doll stuffs to work on and a trip to Joann's to make before any of it can get done in time for Sunday's meet. At least I can sleep in tomorrow. Unless Cats. Which usually happens.

So, speaking of mods ( I was. Way up there), I have a few that really need to get done.
1. Boob removal of Wyn's new-to-him body
2. Neck sanding of a Dollshe body for the Ringdoll Norman head (big Joker version 1)
3. Arm mod for Dollzone Carter (First Joker) - I am kind of hoping I can saw his upper arms in half, and then he'll have a swivel joint. Scary. Good thing I have an extra pair of arms!! OH YEAH. I've been wanting to do this, because he could really use more arm movement, and since my roommate is selling her extra arms.....I'm gonna try. It can't hurt! Unless I injure myself. Which is totally possible.

I may need to do an entry of the re-organizing of my dolls. I have a few bodies floating around, some heads that may never get bodies at this point, and a falling interest in some that needs to be rekindled before I decide to do something I'll regret and sell them. Plus I have this fabulous Mature Mini body - the Granado one - that I need to figure out soon since it's just sitting on my self naked and headless. Ugh. I mean really, ugh.

That's all for now. I'm hoping to get some fantastic photos this weekend, but who knows. XD
Have a good weekend!!

Joker got BIG

He turned out pretty damn fabulous. 

So it's a good thing I was already planning on keeping both RD Norman Dark and IOS Jaguar, because trying to choose may be hard. This head is freaking amazing.

He's being Arkham Origins Joker, since the clothes are similar. And it's all I have lol

I don't know what it is about me and redoing characters over and over in dolls. It's like an addiction...His faceup is so much fun I seriously can't wait for the other head to get here so I can do it again on a different sculpt. I guess he can hang out with the many many Alex's. I've already been asked if I'm planning on doing Harley, and I'm not. I'm kind of wishing I could do a big Batman, and maybe Catwoman...and for sure if I can get that l'Armoire de DanDan Harlan Gore head there will be a Two-Face. The only reason I am considering Catwoman is because I can get a body easily enough in SD size....head might be tough, but I bet (sadly) I've got one somewhere I can use. Regardless, Harlan isn't available anymore, and I am not buying anymore full dolls this year.....so Catwoman is the only one who might happen. Maybe. EDIT: I should never say never about anything. It's possible Harley already happened. Oops.

Until then, I'm stuck needing bodies for all these bigger guys. I love this one for Joker, but it still belongs to my Hound. Right now on the MP I pretty much have my choice of Dollshe bodies, which makes it harder. I want the old one, and the Rythmos and I don't know which head I want on which body. Which ever one goes to this head will have to be modded a tad, which is why he can't share. I don't really want to mod the body that goes with my Hound....though if I get an old Hound body for him, I'd be ok with that.

Spock and Kirk also need bodies. So that's two more 70cm monstrosities I have to get my hands on. So not happening that soon, unless something happens and I become rich or sell off half my dolls or something.

One more of Big Joker

So the little crew is not going away or getting neglected. They're still the "main" group...the SD one is just for pretties!

So far I have Joker, Harley, Riddler, Penguin and Scarecrow mostly finished.

I really love how they're all coming together. 

I have a couple more things coming: a purple shirt, black shirt and black tie and some eyes. I am working on Harley's over-sized mallet.  Scarecrow just got eyes and shoes, which pretty much completes him. Joker has a whole mess of guns he can now hold since his jointed hands came in. 

and the best thing ever: I found and bought a freaking hat mold so I can make hats!!! HATS OMG! The very thing that has eluded me since I first got Alex, who wears hats. Something I've wanted for Azrael and Skullface and pretty much all my dolls and now actually NEED for Riddler and Joker who are hat-wearers. Now I can do it. Myself. 

In theory. I'm really excited to try, but totally expect to fail a lot before I end up with something I can use.

In any case I am really close to being able to do a group shot with them, which is terrifying. Joker is fine with just Harley but with the whole group he tends to start the doll dominos of doom and take out everyone. Harley and Scarecrow are almost impossible to stand...and Penguin and Riddler are fine - what do you expect from Unoa bodies? XD

I am dying for Batman to be ready, but his outfit isn't started yet, so it'll be awhile. I keep thinking about it because I'm making the belt and know exactly how I want to make it...but really have to wait for the batsuit to be done first. Someday. He has better eyes now at least. I'm not happy with his eyebrows...but what can you do. 

Next I want Catwoman. I fully intend to use Mini-Isis's head and just replace her body with a new one. I have always adored Catwoman and I keep waffling on which version I want to play with. I like the Injustice Gods Among Us and current version most....but I can't find a Judith body second-hand so it's not like I have to decide now!

Hey I have two entries so far! Go me! Maybe I can keep it up! Or spam everyone so much they run away screaming XD 

Happy? November!

And it's November.

Where did the year go?

I'm still alive (barely) though it's been a crap couple of months. I miss this blog though, and all of the blogs I read, and the people who write them, and I really want and need to get back into writing. Since it's November and my creativity seems to have suffered a horrible death, instead of doing Nanowrimo, I thought I might try to bring this thing back to life.

And I really have a lot of doll news.

First, my life.
Long story short, stuff happened. My car broke down, my cat died, other stuff that sucks and some stuff that didn't. My poor baby Rocky got very sick very fast and there was nothing that could be done. It was like, three days. He was 18 and a half and I was really not ready to let him go. I will miss him forever. And I could seriously go on about him forever, but I won't, it's depressing.

In order not be depressed forever I adopted a new kitten: Doctor Peter Venkman (because my other cat is Gozer the Destructor). He's a little ball of fluffy insanity and I'm so happy to have him. He made Gozer look like the most laid-back kitten in the world however - he's got to be watched and played with and loved pretty much all the time and I'm a little afraid to doll around him lol. My other cats never bothered the dolls, and so far he's pretty much the same...but he's really unpredictable. And he attacks everything.

This is Petey.

He's a little older now, and slightly bigger, but still this cute. Today is his third week with me.

Dolls.
Wow. I need to update the hell out of my profile. I have sold a lot, put more up for sale, had a few acquisitions and am waiting on two heads. My DC comic group is slowly taking over, they're more fun for me right now than my own characters, and seem to be eating up several of my other dolls at this point.

My Unoa B-El, formerly Clover is now the Riddler full time.
Isis, my Dollmore Judith who's body was sacrificed to Harley Quinn is going to be Catwoman if I can ever find another Judith body for her (Harley gets the current one. It's hers now)
The Unoa Chibi - Mini Kimi - is probably going to turn into a boy and be Robin.
My Hound just lost his body....long story.

I actually did something I've sworn a million times I wouldn't do and bought another Iplehouse doll. I got tired of looking for an Owen head and I also became paranoid that none of the hybrids I had planned would work...so I just ordered the full doll. He's been here for weeks now and I was very pleasantly surprised by him. He's not a perfect poser by any means. He's got the horrible hidden double-joints I hated on the EID body, and the same crappy ankles, but on the smaller scale it's so much easier to deal with! He stood right out of the box, sits nicely and slouches, so I'm pretty happy with him.

He's going to make a great Batman! :D

I actually managed to get that OE Dollzone Carter head for Joker, so now he's got two heads. 

His normal self

 

 and the "Battle-Damaged" version. Batman, why you so mean?

   

 this was... A lot of fun. And it led to all sorts of bad. I kept thinking that all this ouch would look so much better on an SD sized head. This is not the first time an SD sized Joker has occurred to me. Way back in the day when I saw IOS Jaguar I thought he'd be a great Joker. We discussed it in the comic thread of DOA - Ringdoll Norman Dark Side was also mentioned as a good head. This was the first time I thought about it seriously though.....and I found a Jaguar head on DOA. I clung to denial and didn't buy it, but I found Ringdoll Dark Norman on eBay.....and things just tumbled downhill. I went on and bought Jaguar (he's on the way), and bid on Norman, and actually won (I never win eBay auctions) SO I essentially have two SD Joker heads. Norman has been here a few days and is on the Hound body (he's NS and my Hound is WS lol) and I'm hoping Jaguar arrives this week. 

I was planning on figuring out which I liked best and using that one. And to be fair, having different versions is rarely actually my idea. My mom suggested it this time....she liked both heads. So do I. Norman is phenomenal, and Jaguar is a head I've always wanted. I need a bunch of 70 cm bodies anyway. I just bought Ringdoll K's head too. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him, I just really love the mold. And there's more but he's a whole entry himself. 

So that's a rundown of what I've been doing.  I may go into more detail about some of it in later entries. Norman is an amazing mold, I can't wait to get him together, and when all the rest of my stuff on order gets here my DC group needs a group pic. Thanks to the efforts of my roommate, they look amazing. 

I really hope everyone out there has had a better couple months than I have! I'm over this year lol. I am ready for 2016 already. Incidentally I should get an additional week of vacation as I will have my (omfg) 15 year anniversary at work. OMFG.

Happy November! If anyone is doing a real Nano, I'd love to know and live vicariously through you!!