davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2024

[Alliecat]

Well, you are very good at making trash look like something.

[davidd]

Well, you are very good at making trash look like something.

Mostly like a different kind of trash! 

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11 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Sindy Biker Rumble™ Action Play Set

[Alliecat]

That looks like a cute scooter. The girls’ sweet faces are amusingly at odds with the cigarette and bottle.

[davidd]

12 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Pullip Steampunk Zappa doll

Yeah, I know I posted a pic of this one just a little while back, but the weather's hot, I'm tired and cranky, and so a quick iPad snapshot with a bunch of crappy filters layered on to disguise (or accentuate) how crappy the original snapshot is is the best I can do today, so sorry.

12 June - A Doll A Day 2024

[fishy]

Eos is so pretty.

[Alliecat]

So did you decide to keep her then?
I see your tired & cranky and raise you one nervous breakdown.

[davidd]

Eos is so pretty.

Yes, but her costume sheds rivets and beads and buttons like nobody's business. Then again, she's old. I'm not sure how Pullip Years translate to People Years.

So did you decide to keep her then?\
I see your tired & cranky and raise you one nervous breakdown.

I guess so; although it won't be for sure until I take her hair out of the plastic tubes.

Some of the members on an action figure forum were talking about an eBay listing for a 1/6-scale figure diorama that somebody is trying to sell. It belonged to the uncle of the seller. The uncle died, and there's nobody who wants his stuff. Kinda has me thinking about having too much stuff. I used to never think much about "the end is nigh," but it seems like every time I look at one of the action figure forums there's something making me realize how pointless it is to have all this junk, and how increasingly unlikely it is that I'll get around to most of the projects I'd planned to get around to. Coming online is starting to be pretty depressing, actually.

But not being online is even more depressing, sitting here looking around at all the stuff, doll or not-doll, like stacks of books that I've never read and probably never will because there are only so many hours in the day and why th' heck did I just buy... BUY not borrow... a book about building greenhouses?!?  I have so much stuff I need to fix -- all the wooden decks are rotting out at this point -- and just...

You obviously get it, so I don't needa 'splain.

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13 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Detail pic showcasing the saucer-sized earrings of Hasbro's Alphabet Club™ Maxie.

Look, it was the 1980s, okay? Ya kinda hadda be there.

More (than you ever wanted to know) about Maxie:

http://marilynsmyth.free.fr/maxie.php

13 June - A Doll A Day 2024

[And no, Alphabet Club™ Maxie was not an actual release, altho' it shoulda been.]

[Alliecat]

My mom had some big earrings like that. Alphabet club does sound like it should be an official doll release.

You haven’t been depressed online until you’ve spent two years scrolling through real estate listings in three provinces and not found anything as good as what you used to have. And then you finally see a house that you really, really like and can see yourself in, and then you find out both next-door houses are Airbnb party houses and you are back to zero.

I’d say, “pick a project and start in at it”, but I am currently in such a state that nothing is happening at all so I guess I can’t give anyone else advice about getting sh!t done. 

[davidd]

My mom had some big earrings like that. Alphabet club does sound like it should be an official doll release.

You haven’t been depressed online until you’ve spent two years scrolling through real estate listings in three provinces and not found anything as good as what you used to have. And then you finally see a house that you really, really like and can see yourself in, and then you find out both next-door houses are Airbnb party houses and you are back to zero.

I’d say, “pick a project and start in at it”, but I am currently in such a state that nothing is happening at all so I guess I can’t give anyone else advice about getting sh!t done. 

Were your mom's big earrings metallic or plastic? I'm thinking about painting Maxie's earrings gold or silver (if I can find my metallic paints); but then it occurred to me, I think that colorful plastic jewelry was popular in the '70s and '80s, so maybe white plastic is more "period authentic" than chrome plated.

"As good as what you used to have." Oh, gurrl, let me tell you! When I go back and look at the house I left in Hawaii, and see that the Zillow estimate is now over a million bucks -- and, in fact, right about a million bucks more than I paid for the Utah house -- I get depressed. I genuinely thought I could get my act together, make some money doing the AirBnB thing, and then move back in three or four years. By the time five years had passed things were starting to look dicey as prices in Hawaii began to heat up. Now, coming up on nine years later... and I can't even hit one number when I buy a lottery ticket... yeah, that's depressing.

But... even Hawaii wasn't "as good as what I used to have," which is why I left. The neighbor was getting weirder by the day. Taxes and insurance were going up. Wages had stagnated (it was a "pay cut" due to "an economic downturn" that finished me off; and then when pay was restored, mandatory health insurance premiums went up more than the wages, resulting in a further take-home pay cut). The other neighbor had turned his house in to a vacation rental with big spotlights that guests would leave on all night. Crack-heads had broken in to two of the nearby houses, and even though neighbors had security cam footage, the cops said they couldn't do anything.

After my mom passed away a few years ago, letting go of the house was a lot easier than I ekspected it to be because the neighborhood had changed so much that it wasn't anything like "what I used to have" when I was a kid. The surrounding orchards had been turned in to subdivisions. The city was talking about re-annexing a strip of land in front of the house that they had legally abandoned decades previously to put in a new street. The horse pastures had been turned in to a subdivision. And as soon as we sold the house, the new buyers chopped down all the remaining trees and build another house next to my mom's.

Even where I live now "isn't as good as what I used to have." There was one red barn in the valley across the river. Now there are seven houses, each with multiple outbuildings. The air used to be spectacularly clear. Today the air is so bad I had to come inside because of the smoke from "prescribed burns" fires, in addition to the smog that blows in from Cedar City -- a university town that is projected to be four times the size it was when I moved here within ten years. Smog blows in from as far away as Las Vegas -- and Las Vegas is growing at a pace beyond comprehension, and spewing out increasing amounts of smog as it grows. Zion National Park is hazy from Vegas smog pretty much every day all year now. So is The Grand Canyon.

Relatives who live in North Las Vegas are starting to look at maybe relocating because their densely packed residential suburb has, within the last two years, become surrounded by more densely packed residential suburbs, with apparently unlimited development spreading outward, row up on row upon row. When the new construction started a couple years ago and I mentioned it to him, he said, "it's great, it's economic development, it's progress." But now that his ten minute drive to the shopping center is already taking him twenty minutes, he's beginning to have second thoughts.

My crummy little house in Florida sits in the middle of a 12-or-so block stretch of single storey cinderblock houses that were built between 1953 and 1955 in a neighborhood that, other than the cars parked in the driveways, looks pretty much today like it has since 1955... until last year, when a homeowner one street over somehow got zoning permission to build a second storey! And that second storey is visible from my back yard. And the rat-b*stard for some reason needs spotlights all around the upper storey eaves of his effing big-*ss house that stands out like a hideous eyesore in what was, from 1953 until 2023, a virtual time-capsule. I've grumbled about it to a few neighbors, and they just kind of shrug and say, "well, that's progress, I guess."

Not to be overly pessimistic (too late, I know), but finding something "as good as what you used to have" is probably a long-shot; at best, you might be able to find something better than what you have now.

Until somebody does something to ruin it. Which they will. Because everything sucks, and if it's not broken yet, somebody is just itching to come along and break it.

And while everything gets junkier and crummier and yuckier, the prices keep going up and up and up. Who has all the money to spend? It sure ain't me!

As for picking a project and starting, I'd kinda started cleaning up my storage shed so I'd have enough room to really work on cleaning up the storage shed, but this, that, and another thing keep happening and I haven't been out there for a number of days now so I've lost all my momentum. Which reminds me, I need to go out to the shed and see if I can find a 30 amp circuit breaker and a coil of heavy-duty electrical wire because... everything's broken.

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14 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

Toy Photographer Magazine - Volume One Issue One - June 2024

What was once a "niche hobby" has gone mainstream, at least to an extent.

Yet another hobby originally embraced by a handful of artistic eccentrics has become an Instagram fad, largely among a tight-knit clique of action figure enthusiasts who mostly photograph Star Wars toys, 6-inch size GI Joe figures, and two-hundred dollar a pop limited edition video game-based figures.

And there's money in it! Now that "toys" have become an adult hobby rather than a childhood pastime, specialty toy retailers are inking deals with "creators" to provide elaborate Photoshop-enhanced images featuring plastic action figures... usually combined with fireworks and smoke effects, both practical and digital.

I guess I... along with most of the other toy and doll photographers with whom I've been acquainted since my early days on Flickr... were so far ahead of the curve that we're now miles behind, still playing around in our backyards and basements and on our kitchen tables just for the fun of it rather than for Instagram adulation and real-world riches.

I picked up a copy of this new magazine in a no doubt futile effort get bring myself up to speed with the Who's Who and the What's What in the now-socially-acceptable pastime of toy, doll, and action figure photography.

Not unekspectedly, the images and articles in the magazine focus almost solely on "action figures" in the "Star Wars" and "Super Hero" genres, with a few Lego minifigs offering the only variety. There are no Pullip Dolls (as in my photo here) or any dolls at all; and no other "toys" -- no diecast toy cars, no building blocks or Tinker Toys or Lincoln Logs, no plushies; and no Breyer horses, no Adventure Team era GI Joes, no Erector Sets, no Easy-Bake Ovens; and not even any classic green plastic army men. And what about the original domains of miniature builders and photographers: model railroading and miniature wargaming? Not a single picture from the historical antecedents of the toy photography hobby.

I'll ask Vampira to put together a "Literary Lounge" review once I've had a chance to page through the mag in greater detail.

Get your inaugural edition of Toy Photographer Magazine exclusively at Amazon now, before they sell out and become a premium secondary-market collectible!

(Remember when magazines cost, like, a coupla bucks? Yeah, well, this one'll set'cha back eighteen smackers plus tax; steep, yeah, but a small price to pay for the future collector value.)

14 June - A Doll A Day 2024

[Alliecat]

Wow, a toy photography magazine? Interesting... but $18?!?!!!
Maybe they'll have some dolls in future issues. Gotta do something to hook the audience with a first issue, and action figures are probably the better bet.
You're not buying that for future resale value too, are ya??

There are too many people everywhere.
I am heartily sick & tired of people telling me I can't or "don't try because it might be hard". I've had way the eff too much of that in my life. If you don't have the hope that somehow things will change and get better, you have nothing at all.
And that's all I have to say about that.

[davidd]

15 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Pullip EOS and Pullip Zappa

[davidd]

16 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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VAMPIRA'S LITERARY LOUNGE Presents...

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TOY PHOTOGRAPHER MAGAZINE - VOLUME ONE ISSUE ONE (June 2024)

The first issue of Toy Photographer Magazine (June 2024) is a professional quality publication, physically of a much higher caliber than I was ekspecting. It's an independently produced publication, possibly print-on-demand, but it is full color throughout, printed on heavy paper stock with a stiff glossy cover, and filled with photos which are reproduced at a very high quality. The typefaces used are large, clear, and printed in attractive colors contrasting nicely with the background colors and images for a high level of easy-on-the-eyes readability.

There are no advertisements in the magazine, so functionally, both in form and in layout, it is more like a reference book than a magazine. Little area is wasted with empty "white space." The layout maximizes color, images, and text size and placement for outstanding visual appeal and readability while fitting in as much information and as many images as possible.

The 95 pages consist of interviews with several Instagram toy photographers who talk about their backgrounds, their choice of subject matter, their influences, and their techniques. Other than one brief article on constructing dioramas using XPS (insulation) foam*, and some of the interviewees offering suggestions about lighting, there's not a lot of specific hands-on how-to info, but there's a sense of enthusiasm running through every page.

I was pleasantly surprised by the level of copy-editing. There are very few punctuation errors, only a handful of easy-to-miss usage errors ("bare" for "bear", things like that), and a few negligible grammar errors where interviews were transcribed verbatim. After all, we don't all talk in perfect prose all the time, right? I noticed two or three minor instances of paragraphs having been misplaced during the layout process, necessitating hunting around to find where a sentence continues. One short paragraph appears to have been omitted, with another few lines duplicated in its place (page 4, left column, bottom). Overall, the reading eksperience was better than what I see in most mainstream magazines from legacy publishers.

My "takeaway" is that the currently popular style of toy photography requires a fairly high level of Photoshop proficiency. The interviews frequently mention Photoshop post-production and using "from 10 to 100 layers," and several photographers mention spending hours fine-tuning a single image using Photoshop and other digital image editing applications before posting to Instagram. The digital post-production seems to be an aspect that many of the current popular toy photographers enjoy. Several of those interviewed mention the compositing and editing being the "fun" part of the toy photography process.

The emphasis in this volume leans heavily toward Star Wars and super-hero figures in 1/12 (6-inch) scale, and there is a similarity of techniques used in the images showcased that, to my eye, becomes a bit monotonous after 90-plus pages. The quality of the images featured is uniformly high; but variety in the subject matter is somewhat lacking.

Subjectively, I would like to have seen a magazine broadly titled Toy Photographer include some toys outside the narrow scope of Star Wars and super-heroes; perhaps some miniature vehicles, model trains, or dolls (both playline and high-end). What is included, though, is presented very professionally in a fun, approachable, and colorful manner. On the whole, this publication offers an interesting, entertaining read and an enjoyable overview of the style of "1/12-scale action figure" photography that is popular online today.

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* Handy hint not featured in the mag: buy your insulation foam at a major home improvement supply center. The article recommends purchasing foam online from hobby retailers. You'll save buckets of money buying foam panels at a hardware store. "But... an 8-foot sheet won't fit in my car!" Yeah, well, you're not buying 8-foot sheets online, either. Take a pocket knife with you to the big box store and chop the 8x sheet in to manageable sections in the parking lot.

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Technical details: this image was snapped with an older model iPad. The figure was placed in front of the magazine, a small flashlight was propped up on the edge of a partly pulled-out dresser drawer, and several images were snapped from slightly different angles in the hope that one would not have an undue amount of glare.

The image was processed by tapping the "auto correct" filter on the iPad "Photos" app. Then the image was imported in to an image processing app called "PhotoToaster." The "Happy" filter was applied, which boosts the warmth in the image; and a framed edge called "Brushed" was selected. The image was eksported from PhotoToaster back to Photos and from there was emailed to my desktop computer and subsequently uploaded to Flickr. Total production time: maybe fifteen minutes.

It took me a lot longer to write and edit the long-winded caption.

[Alliecat]

Eos and Zappa are a nice pair.

Print on demand would help ex-plain the price I guess. And 95 pages is pretty substantial. How often do they intend to publish?
I can blame Sirdork for Daesani’s wrecked red wig. His “fire effects” inspired me to try a fire background with her – hence the crispy wig.
It does sound like it’s geared a little more to tech-loving male photographers. All that photoshopping, in any genre, is definitely not my idea of fun. I usually have to tweak contrast and maybe shadows; occasionally specks or props to paint out, and that is it. Unless I am aiming for a contest entry, I do not want to spend time on that.

[davidd]

I can blame Sirdork for Daesani’s wrecked red wig. His “fire effects” inspired me to try a fire background with her – hence the crispy wig.

Whew! I'm glad it was somebody else and not me!  

That time back in 2014 when Amelia singed her bangs!

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Not that she, or they, learned anything from the eksperience.
(Other than to snap "fire shots" later in the evening so the risk is visually worthwhile.)
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17 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Banpresto Q Posket Spy X Family Anya Forger Research Version A Figurine

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These anime figurines have hella-complicated names!

Award one "Influencer Point" to Hina Ichigo for inspiring this impulse buy. 

[Alliecat]

Ha ha, I would not attempt fireworks close to dolls. The minis were lucky to all escape the campfire shot unsinged though.

Q Poskets are so cute. I looked at some a while back and did not end up buying; I gather there are a lot more now. I have no idea who this character is but she is very cute.