davidd's A Doll A Day 2018

[Alliecat]

I agree -- let's see it
Your 'ghetto grade lighting' works pretty well. Flashlight with a kleenex... good idea. I tried draping a kleenex over the flash on my little pocket camera when I was using that for most doll pix, but I found it altered the colour weirdly (yes, with a white kleenex! Must've been the type of flash or something.).

[davidd]

Yay! A Pullip photo! I think you can still do that 'scene' and post it here, we would love to see it!

I agree -- let's see it.

I may try to finish what I came to realize was an overly ambitious project. Perhaps it will fit the parameters of a future photo challenge.

Flashlight with a kleenex... good idea. I tried draping a kleenex over the flash on my little pocket camera when I was using that for most doll pix, but I found it altered the colour weirdly.

Yes, I found that tissue over a built-in flash didn't work well, either. It seemed to create odd reflections or "backscatter" back in to the lens.

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15 August – The End of an Era

Today was a sad day marking the end of a glorious era in mass-market playline toys: there are no more Monster High dolls at Walmart.

The Monster High line has been in decline for a few years. The decline has been faster since the failed "reboot" and a steep decline in production quality. For the past year, Monster High has been relegated to one section, and more recently to two shelves in one section, in the toy aisle at the local Walmart.

Today, I found that these Harry Potter figures have taken over the Monster High space. The next section over is devoted to Walmart "house brand" Barbie knock-offs. The shelf after that displays Disney Descendants. I could find no Monster High dolls or toys in the entire Walmart toy department.

RIP MONSTER HIGH
2010 – 2018

Just now I found a blog post... one blog post... from last February surmising about the apparent discontinuation of the Monster High line:

PopCult: Toy Fair 2018: Monster High Closed Down

There was also a brief follow-up article from last June:

PopCult: I Came Here For An Argument

[neon_jellyfish]

Well, at this point, it wasn't really surprising. The last new releases were exclusive to Amazon, and nobody was exactly thrilled about them. Oh well. It was a ride and I'm glad I was there from the very start!

[Cornflower Blue]

And there are plenty of 2nd hand dolls to be had on eBay, if you're really jonesing for a doll.

[davidd]

Oh well. It was a ride and I'm glad I was there from the very start!

It was a gloriously exciting ride! I, too, am very happy to have been in on the Monster High craze... apparently it was a craze or fad... from the beginning. I'm glad I bought and read the original novels. I had a lot of fun photographing the original figures. It was exciting seeing some of my photos picked up by bloggers and by major media outlets to illustrate stories on the growing popularity of Monster High. I loved the excitement of monster-themed dolls and toys with pun-filled packaging and back-stories that made me feel like I was nine years old again and reading the old Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. I loved the references that were so obscure that sometimes I wondered if I was the only person who caught them.

And speaking of Monster High:

16 August – Monster High "Power Ghouls" Spectra Vondergeist

I should have left my Power Ghouls figures in their boxes. The packaging was dramatically kitschy with a comic book flair. Once removed from the box, the figures are fairly bland.

Most of the Power Ghouls are still available for less than $20 USD on Amazon... which is less than the original retail price, so I suppose I could still buy boxed versions if I really wanted to.

A better buy was the desk lamp seen here. I found it at Walmart yesterday for six bucks. I bought two of them. I wasn't sure if they would work well as photo lights, but they are going to be ideal. They are LED lights so they don't get hot. The plastic diffuser casts an even, non-reflective, white light over a fairly contained area. As soon as I scrape together a few more bucks I'm gonna stock up on several more of these lamps.

Of course, it's Walmart, so who knows if they'll still have them in stock the next time I'm there. Walmart is almost turning in to a "clearance lots" type store. Just because they have something in stock once doesn't mean they will ever have it again.

[Alliecat]

Your sets are really cool. An LED light is a great idea. I should have had one for one particular photoshoot, and I would not now have a different-coloured circle on my living room carpet where a shop light melted it.

[neon_jellyfish]

Your sets are always amazing, so I love to see a bigger part of this one with 'behind the scenes' bonus! And congrats on new LED lamps!

[davidd]

An LED light is a great idea. I should have had one for one particular photoshoot, and I would not now have a different-coloured circle on my living room carpet where a shop light melted it.

I used to find old movie lights for 8mm film at yard sales. Those things ran hot! I caused some damage a time or two after knocking over those lamps.

Your sets are always amazing, so I love to see a bigger part of this one with 'behind the scenes' bonus!

Thanks. The sets always look pretty junky when not framed properly; probably because they are literally made of junk I salvage from the rubbish bin.

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17 August – "Hey, guys! What is all this stuff?"

Another last-minute snapshot, because today's "simple" project, moving out an old washer and dryer and moving in a new set, turned out to be very not simple when the old set would not fit through the door! That was only one of the uneected incidents that turned a "couple hour" project into an "entire day and not finished yet" project.

So, I had no time to actually check out what arrived in the mail today. Or actually, yesterday, which was a day not unlike today. There must be a retrograde planet in my astrology chart or something.

[neon_jellyfish]

How did the old set get in in the first place? Regardless of that, I hope you'll be able to get it done without any further kerfuffle. Just don't let Yasmina's voices get into your head!

Are those new lenses?

[davidd]

How did the old set get in in the first place? Regardless of that, I hope you'll be able to get it done without any further kerfuffle. Just don't let Yasmina's voices get into your head!

Are those new lenses?

I surmise that the previous owner installed the old washer-dryer combo unit prior to installing the door and the built-in countertop. It was not a particularly "forward thinking" installation.

I tend to maintain a running conversation with myself during projects of this sort. It's a combination of thinking out loud and "if you swear loudly enough it will finally work."

After saving for a long time... longer than it needed to be because spending is so much easier than saving... I was finally able to replace my DSLR camera that "disappeared" (aka "was stolen") during our long-distance move three years ago. I thought I'd be content with a point-and-shoot and a "bridge camera," which is sort of a hybrid between point-n-shoot cameras and interchangeable lens cameras. The Fujifilm S1 "bridge" camera has been a disappointment. I've been using a Panasonic point-n-shoot almost exclusively for the past two years. Finally I am back in the "real camera" game! Or, I will be, when I can find the time and energy to open the box and figure everything out!

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18 August – Joe Team in Action

The Curse of the Retrograde Planets strikes again!

Yesterday, in response to "simple" projects becoming not-so-simple, I mused that perhaps my astrological chart was plagued by "planets in retrograde." While I am not an astrology adherent, out of curiosity I looked online for my current astrology reading, and this is what I found:

"August will be a month of contrasts. On one hand, with two retrograde planets, Mars and Mercury, the month will proceed slowly. There is no use in trying to push your projects forward, for your efforts won’t work and you will just get more frustrated."

That's pretty concrete for an astrology forecast!

And, unfortunately, pretty accurate!

Today's "simple" project involved disassembling an old air conditioning unit that has been sitting on the "decrepit" back deck for an embarrassingly long time. The unit was far too heavy for me to move by myself or to load up and haul to the dump, so I decided to disassemble it in to more manageably sized pieces.

Other than taking longer than eected... which was eected... that project was fairly straightforward.

Then, being a clever sort, I decided to disassemble the old washer-dryer unit for the same reason. I tried to be extra careful, because the sheet metal edges on appliances are notoriously sharp. But of course, while removing the dryer drum (the big round spinny part), I managed to jam the very tip of one of my fingers directly in to a knife-sharp eosed edge. Much bleeding and whimpering ensued. Now I'm sitting here trying to type with a bandaged finger and of course wondering if it will ever heal, if it will heal properly, if I'm in danger of blood poisoning or tetanus, if there's nerve damage, if there will be a permanent scar, if I will lose feeling in the tip of my finger, or if it will become so ultra-sensitive that I will never be able to play the banjo... not that I can play a banjo or know anything about playing the banjo or had any definite plans to suddenly take up the banjo.

I also was not able to finish disassembling the washer, or to load up all the junk and haul it to the dump, or to get started on the other clean-up and repair projects I had on my list today.

Plus, I'm finding it difficult to type on the keyboard. It's amazing how challenging simple tasks become when one finger is taken out of action.

Today's photo is the action figure dudes I found at the dump a while back eloring a setting comprised mostly of blood-stained parts salvaged from the appliances I took apart today.

[Alliecat]

Oh man I soooo totally sympathize with you. I'm a month out tonight, from slicing a chunk out of my knuckle. It left a big crater & bled all over for half an hour. If it's any consolation to you, it has filled in pretty well. Keep it clean, keep it covered, try a little polysporin or honey... Keep an eye on it and as long as it's not nasty red or oozing pus, it's probably OK. A little red & swollen is to be eected. I'm still using a glove to keep the bandaid dry on wet or dirty tasks, but that helped a lot. Oh, and vitamin C is supposed to help wound healing; I popped those like an addict for the first couple of weeks. The body has an amazing capacity to heal. Give it time to heal and you will still have a shot at learning the banjo
But yeah, being minus the use of a finger is a PITA. Healing wishes!

And you still managed to take an interesting photo.

[Lejays17]

oh! that sounds like a lot of very not-fun stuff to have happened. Fingers-crossed for a quick and thorough healing, and that you can adapt quickly to the (temporary!) lack of the finger.
I work in an office in an admin capacity, so you would think I'd be safe from injuries, but no. I have a stash of bandaids (sticking plasters?) in my desk drawer for a regular paper cuts I give myself. And they're inevitably in the inside joint of my index finger, so it's really hard to type when it's bandaged up & won't bend.

The photo still looks great, and it's amazing the sets you make out of bits of junk.

[neon_jellyfish]

You sure managed to squeeze an amazing photo out of this pandemonium! You should probably take it easy for now. Here's hoping for fast recovery!

[davidd]

19 August – Monster High Elissabat

Layering on the cheesy filters to create an "antique" effect is a pretty dependable clue that the photo didn't turn out as planned and was probably blurry or otherwise unacceptable. (You'll notice I post a LOT of these "faux antique" photos)

[Cornflower Blue]

Hope your finger is doing well! If you didn't tell me you were trying to improve a less then pleasing result, I wouldn't have guessed.