davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2025

[Alliecat]

Quite a crew there, with nice details. Will they have their own Christmas display next Christmas?

[davidd]

Quite a crew there, with nice details. Will they have their own Christmas display next Christmas?

I suppose they should return for an Easter service, an All Saints Day service, and of course Christmas.

Candlemas would have been good, just because the name sounds cool, but the date has already passed.

And maybe the Summer Solstice, Beltane, or Lughnasadh because there do not seem to be any interesting church holidays in mid-summer.

Conveniently, All Saints Day nearly coincides with the birthdate of mechanical engineer Louis Verdet, the designer of the Le Rhône rotary aircraft engine.

---

22 February - A Doll A Day 2025:

.

Well... isn't this delightful!

.

Ol' Jack be thinkin' he's stumbled upon a treasure trove!

.

I found a "treasure trove" myself when I happened upon this Hot Toys Captain Jack Sparrow 1/6-scale action figure on eBay recently for less than half the price most sellers ask. I couldn't afford a Cap'n Jack when these figures were released; or at least, I didn't want to pay what seemed then like a crazy price for a doll. The secondary market prices have been unaffordable to the point where I stopped even looking.

Several weeks ago, while I was looking for accessories to complete my 1/6-scale All-Girl Pirate Crew, I stumbled across the eBay listing for this Jack Sparrow figure. The seller said the figure had some issues, which he described and photographed in the listing, and he said he was selling the set "for parts."

The "set" is complete, including a deck planking base and an enormous ship's wheel. The figure has a bit of what might be characterized as "display wear," and some of the vinyl faux-leather is beginning to flake on the belts and accessories, but to my eye, the wear and tear does nothing to detract from the overall appearance of the figure, and perhaps even enhances the air of a world-weary old salt.

[Alliecat]

Wow! He does indeed look happy to find your crew awaiting him. So, weeks ago… That’s not the thing you said you needed “right nao” the other day then. Well congrats on that lucky find. Kind of like what happened to me with Jake. He was a really stupid price too, and I ended up getting him by chance for a little more than half the usual price.
Now you will have to move back near an ocean somewhere to keep all these pirates happy and give you an appropriate setting for photo shoots
Wanna buy a house?!

[davidd]

Now you will have to move back near an ocean somewhere to keep all these pirates happy and give you an appropriate setting for photo shoots.
Wanna buy a house?!

Moving somewhere nearer the sea would be very nice, indeed. But you don't really want to sell your house, do you? Didn't you mention that you'd already had offers but had turned them down because you hadn't yet decided where you want to go?

I think I'd like living on your island; just not next door to a heavy equipment yard. And as things stand, Canada allows 'Mericans to buy property but not to actually live there year round! So... fingers XX'd for statehood!

(If Canada were to become a state -- which is just a gag to yank Trudeau's chain, you know that, right? -- property prices would skyrocket. Your island would immediately become unaffordable... but your house might be worth a million bucks in real money. You might wanna hold off on selling... just in case the statehood thing isn't entirely trolling.)

Since you kind of like Texas, maybe you should look for a "sit" along the Gulf Coast. I think they call it The Gulf of America now. (That was supposed to be a joke. Then I looked at Google Maps!) There's a LOT of "gulf coast" in Texas.

I looked at real estate around Seadrift, Texas back when I ended up getting a place in Florida. I liked it there. It's not crowded. In fact, it's kind of desolate. But prices for "ocean view" have not yet gone totally insane.

Oh my goodness! While looking at maps of Texas, I just learned that there's a place on the gulf coast called Tiki Island! I wanna live on Tiki Island! In fact, I wanna live here:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/205-B...5606_zpid/

---

23 February - A Doll A Day 2025:

.

Rapscallions & Scalawags

.

L to R:

Lexxi Red Sky
Katia Nine-Tails
Ella Stormhaunt
Sofia Shoalskimmer
Cap'n Jenny Death-Scabbard
Aisha Shroudwraith
Margot'chelle Rumscupper
Bethany Bloodthunder

1/6-scale pirate action figures based on TBLeague and Jiaoudoll bodies, a variety of head sculpts, and costumes from many sources.

[Alliecat]

Gah— if your neighbours wanted to borrow something you could lean out the window and toss it to them. 
Frigsakes, I’d sell my house last year if I had somewhere to go. I could not take the offer because I have… nowhere to go. Have not been able to find anything that doesn’t look like a major trade down from what I used to have.
I would like to see the gulf coast of Texas. Living there – and pretty much the whole east coast – would be out because hurricanes.
Property prices in Canada have already skyrocketed.
I was sick of hearing the “51st state“ nonsense after the first three days. It was a stupid schoolboy taunt that has grown legs and taken off. I am dismayed by the number of Canadians I see cheering for this idea. But then, I’ve read that 99% of Austrians “voted” for anschluss too.

Anyway.  What a great bunch of pirates. I didn’t realize you had so many. They seriously need their own photo story/video series or something!

[davidd]

Gah— if your neighbours wanted to borrow something you could lean out the window and toss it to them. 

Anyway.  What a great bunch of pirates. I didn’t realize you had so many. They seriously need their own photo story/video series or something!

Yeah, those Tiki Island houses are pretty close together. That would start driving me nuts in about ten minutes, I'm sure.

I didn't realize I had eight pirates either until I started gathering them all together.

Or nine counting Jack.

---

24 February - A Doll A Day 2025:

.

First Officer Jenny by Boss Fight Studios

.

Circa 2017 - 2018 release
Based on the "Bucky O'Hare" comic book and animated TV series from the late-1980s
Size: about 6-inches (15cm) tall
Articulated with a limited range of motion
Extra faces and hands included

I saw one of these figures a few weeks ago on Flickr. I am not familiar with the source material, but I was sufficiently intrigued to look on eBay. I found a few figures available, and put one on my eBay "watch list." Within a short time I had a half-off offer from the seller. For twelve bucks I figured it was worth a gamble.

I have since learned that the original suggested retail price on these figures was $35 back in 2018.

[Alliecat]

I’ve never heard of them either. Sounds like you found another bargain to add to your eclectic collection.

[davidd]

I’ve never heard of them either. Sounds like you found another bargain to add to your eclectic collection.

Another frivolous waste of money that I already regret.  

---

25 February - A Doll A Day 2025:

.

GALAXY GIRLS

Integrity Toys Poppy Parker Galaxy Girls

I picked up an Integrity Toys Poppy Parker Galaxy Girl figure several months ago. Embarrassingly, I kind of forgot I had it! I was talking with one of the guys on an action figure forum about Integrity dolls the other day and I started looking around on eBay at prices and then I suddenly remembered -- hey! I have a mint-in-box unopened Poppy Parker Galaxy Girl around here... somewhere.

Only now did I get around to opening the box. There's an undeniable reality about Integrity releases -- as soon as you open it, MIB examples skyrocket in value on the secondary market. I've let the "fear of losing value factor" keep me from even touching the box.

Or boxes. As a result of winning two simultaneous online auctions, I ended up with two Galaxy Girls.

I checked online values today, and right now the secondary market (i.e. eBay) is flooded with Galaxy Girls. Apparently nobody wants a pink Poppy Parker. Prices have stabilized at about what I paid... or slightly less. Don't that just figure.

So I spent a couple of hours ripping open mint-in-box Poppy Parker dolls and putting them together and throwing away all the excess packaging -- all the little bags and cardboard bits and tie strings.

And what can I say: Galaxy Girl is out of this world! I mean, a Poppy Parker with gun hands! That's the defining characteristic of an "action figure," right there! Not only does she have "gun hands," she includes a retro-futuristic laser pistol! And two pairs of silvery space boots!

This doll... this ACTION FIGURE... is epic!

Both of them are epic. Double epic!

My photos are kinda craptastic. I'm trying to re-familiarize myself with my DSLR camera. There's a "camera story" that I won't go in to, but as a result I'm going to be trying to re-learn the DSLR.

Galaxy Girl, however, is far from craptastic; she's fan-freakin-tastic!

.

.

[Alliecat]

Well there you go. See how much more fun it is to take them out of the box and play with them, than to stash them away MIB because they “might” appreciate in value.
I’m glad this is a purchase you are happy with.
I like the colour of her hair.
They aren’t craptastic. And now, having mentioned the “camera story”, of course you have to tell it. Good luck with the DSLR.

[davidd]

And now, having mentioned the “camera story”, of course you have to tell it. 

I'll try to be brief.

I've been thinking about getting a new camera. I mostly use a small pocket (or point-n-shoot) style camera because small cameras are easy to use and easier to carry around than a full-size DSLR camera.

To my eye, the images from my pocket cameras (a Panasonic Lumix TS5 and a Canon PowerShot D20) have been looking grainy, noisy, and not sharp, particularly when the telephoto lens is used. The low-light performance tends to be noisy.

I could use a phone camera, I suppose, but I've come to realize that I detest using phone cameras. They're too "fussy." With a regular camera, I can pull it out, turn it on, and snap a photo, usually with one hand. Phone cameras almost always require two hands. Adjusting anything requires fussing around with a touch screen, which can't easily be done one-handed or without looking at the screen. The quality of close-up phone photos and low-light phone photos really isn't all that it's hyped up to be. And there's no "aperture priority" setting, not even on my fanceh overpriced Samsung S23 Ultra, so it's difficult to control depth-of-field.

I started looking for new cameras a few months ago and discovered that almost nobody is making small pocket cameras anymore. The mobile phone camera revolution utterly destroyed the small camera market, and most manufacturers discontinued their small camera lines.

Ironically, starting two or three years ago, small cameras have become a fad among "young people," the Tik Tok crowd. Young people (and young influencers) have decided they like the "aesthetic" of older small camera photos, and they've begun using decade-old pocket cameras for Instagram and Tik Tok stills and videos. As a result, the secondary market price for used small cameras has gone nutzoid, with good-condition examples of popular models selling for twice or more the original retail price. A few models command significantly more.

In response, some manufacturers have announced they will be bringing back pocket cameras. Among those manufacturers is Panasonic, who announced a new Lumix model, the ZS99.

I love my Lumix TS5. Lumix models use Leica lenses. The official product description made it sound like the new Lumix ZS99 was exactly what I was looking for -- a high-quality pocket-size digital camera designed for travel and general carry. I thought my timing was providential: here I was, looking for a new pocket camera just as a major manufacturer was announcing a return to the pocket camera market!

Pre-release reviews for the ZS99 were mixed. Mostly it seemed that "photographers" wanted an Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) and other electronic bells and whistles. They were missing the point: this camera is designed to be simple.

I pre-ordered a ZS99, which is kind of over-priced, but everything is overpriced these days. It was ex-pensive for what it is, but it's a Lumix with Leica lenses and it's a brand new pocket-sized camera. I was excited. This was gonna be great!

After an interminable wait, the camera arrived.

And it sucked. Like, majorly sucked.

Physically the camera was okay. It would have worked as a pocket camera that could be operated one-handed, although some of the controls were uncomfortably close together. The build quality was mostly adequate, other than the cover over the ports being just a flimsy piece of plastic. The weight was somewhat underwhelming. I was ex-pecting a bit more heft, but lighter means easier to carry, I suppose.

Unfortunately, the images were not sharp. They were grainy and they were noisy. Macro images, which is primarily what I would use the camera for, because, y'know, doll and toy photos, were particularly bad. Photos in low-light situations, and you know what my photos look like, were even worse. Soft, grainy, noisy... yucky. My ten or a dozen or more year old pocket cameras take way better photos.

I snapped about 40 images total with the new camera. I ran off a dozen or so and checked them out. They were awful. I adjusted some settings, capping the auto-ISO at a lower number, and then used a tripod for a second group of photos. Even using a tripod the images were yuck.

I boxed it up neatly, wrote a negative review of the camera on the retailer's website, and requested a return. There was already one negative review on the website, from a user who was disappointed by the same issues -- soft, noisy images. That reviewer was taking outdoor walk-around photos and had been hoping to use the camera on an upcoming European vacation. That reviewer also returned the camera.

So the ZS99 is heading back to the retailer, I am starting to re-learn my DSLR, and I am done with buying new cameras.

Those pictures of the Galaxy Girl doll the other day that I wasn't happy with, and the little space cat doll the previous day? A big part of why I wasn't happy is that the images are not tack-sharp. But the images aren't sharp because I was hand-holding the camera in a low-light macro setting. The Galaxy Girl photos were snapped at 1/15 and 1/8 of a second, holding the camera with one hand and a light in the other hand! I really can't complain if I can get "usable" photos hand-holding a heavy chunky camera (with the additional weight of a battery grip) with one hand at 1/8 of a second, can I? With one hand I can reach the ex-posure hold, lock in the focus, and press the shutter. I can even adjust the ex-posure compensation and the f-stop if I want to with a one-handed grip. I can do everything I like to do with a pocket camera on the DSLR. It's just that the DSLR is bigger and heavier and more obvious to carry around.

The quality of the DSLR images does not deteriorate relative to the focal length of the lens. I guess because the lens is a separate element from the camera body or something. I don't know why "zoomed" images on my pocket cameras appear to be getting worse. Maybe it's just me seeing something that's not there. Maybe it's camera shake. Or maybe the lens elements are separating after more than a decade of use and abuse.

That's my "camera story" and it wasn't very brief, was it?

---

26 February - A Doll A Day 2025:

.
I think I'll post individual portraits of my pirate crew. This'll be boring. There's eight of them. You might just wanna wait and check in next week to see 'em all at once.

.

Dread Pirate Cap'n Jenny Death-Scabbard

.

Dread Pirate Captain Jenny Death-Scabbard is a stock one-sixth scale TBLeague Arhian... wait, make that Arrr-hian Pirate action figure (PL2018-114).

[Alliecat]

Ah, yes, the one-handed phone photo dilemma. I encounter that a lot trying to hold up Sunsette and Scarlett for their travel photos.
Too bad about the compact camera. I was going to suggest that you look for something secondhand as I read, but I didn’t know the prices had gone crazy. I have a little Pentax Optio that I got for newspaper snapshots, and it is OK but does struggle in low light also. I can’t say it’s super sharp and of course no control over DOF. Well, hope you will find the DSLR does what you need. A mini tripod might be beneficial if you have camera shake.
I get a chuckle out of your pirate crew’s names.

[davidd]

I have a little Pentax Optio that I got for newspaper snapshots, and it is OK but does struggle in low light also. 

In my earliest days on Flickr and other online forums, one of my contacts used a Pentax Optio to excellent effect, to the point where I considered investing in one. But at the time I was still using my first digital camera, a Sony CyberShot DSC-P10. That was a fantastic little camera that survived a lot of unintentional abuse. The CyberShot cameras used a Sony Memory Stick storage medium, a format that no longer exists.

While I think I'm done camera shopping, at some point I'd like to add another lens to my DSLR kit, a Canon "L" series lens. I don't really need one per se; it's just that the "L" lenses (with a red line around the barrel) are a status symbol. 

---

27 February - A Doll A Day 2025:

.

Dread Pirate Bethany Bloodthunder

.

For the sake of simplicity, Dread Pirate Bethany Bloodthunder has decided to drop the hyphen from her last name.

Dread Pirate Bloodthunder (formerly Blood-Thunder) is a 1/6-scale action figure based on a Jiaoudoll 10E body using an unbranded head sculpt and a costume repurposed from a Barbie & Ken Halloween Pirate set embellished with additional action figure accessories.

[Alliecat]

I'd like to add another lens to my DSLR kit, a Canon "L" series lens. I don't really need one per se; it's just that the "L" lenses (with a red line around the barrel) are a status symbol. 

Great reason.  That'll be super visible, and everyone who sees it will know what it is. [eyeroll emoji] 

Definitely better without the hyphen.
I thought of your crew today when I saw a video with one of Tony Robbins's promo people; she claimed her name was, I swear, "Anna Thundergun".  I'm like, sure it is.  But there you go -- another good name for one of your pirates.  ...But they all have names, so I guess you'll need another one! 

[davidd]

I'd like to add another lens to my DSLR kit, a Canon "L" series lens. I don't really need one per se; it's just that the "L" lenses (with a red line around the barrel) are a status symbol. 

Great reason.  That'll be super visible, and everyone who sees it will know what it is. [eyeroll emoji] 

Definitely better without the hyphen.
I thought of your crew today when I saw a video with one of Tony Robbins's promo people; she claimed her name was, I swear, "Anna Thundergun".  I'm like, sure it is.  But there you go -- another good name for one of your pirates.  ...But they all have names, so I guess you'll need another one! 

'Zactly the reason to have a "red line" lens! You know how camera people are, side-eyeing one another and silently evaluating each other's gear. 

Okay, Anna Thundergun is an AWESOME pirate name and I want to use it. I have one more figure that I thought about turning in to a pirate. I don't know if I have enough pirate-y clothing to cobble together another costume. I'll have to rummage about and see.

Anna Thundergun looks like a fictional character in real life, apparently. So does Tony Robbins, for that matter, but I've always found him interesting. Will you be attending a Robbins summit?

---

28 February - A Doll A Day 2025:

.

Dread Pirate Katia Nine-Tails

.

1/6-scale action figure

Head: Executive Replicas / TBLeague Caroline Munro Vampirella PL2019-153
Body & Costume: TBLeague Cowgirl PL2018-103 combined with with elements from a SuperDuck C020A Steampunk Costume Dress

[Alliecat]

Katia’s name is also clever and fun. I agree Anna looks a bit fictional. I also looked her up.
I have sat in on three of Tony Robbins’s free annual digital summits. The first year I was all enthused – yippee, things are going to change this year. The second time, it was like “well, OK, it really has to change this year.” This year, I listened in but I am so discouraged with my search for a home – right now I am listening to Asshat Construction’s stupid little bulldozer roaring back-and-forth -– so I felt more like “yeah, whatever”.   I would love to sit down with Tony, tell him the entire long sad tale of the past three years and the very long list of everything I have done to try to find somewhere else to live, and ask him WTF else I have to do.

I will glance at people’s camera gear but I am not able to judge whether what they have is high-end or not. Basically it’s just – if they have a Pentax I’ll start a conversation, and if they have a ginormous lens I’ll think to myself, maybe that’s overkill.