It all about the dolls
Anime North was a blast this year as not only did I have my usual suspects to hang with, my wonderful friend, Lilly, came to the con with me and then visited for a week. It was beyond awesome! I spent a LOT of time at Doll North this year to the point that I didn't even step foot into the Dealer Room. My wallet was very, very happy about that.
I was utterly insane and brought 2 SD dolls as well as 2 tinies and a torso with me to the con. I soon remembered why bringing 2 SD's (they were 64cm/25.12" and roughly 7lbs each) was a bad idea. Just my doll bag was nearly 20lbs! Talk about a work out lugging that bad boy around. But, I wanted to show off the awesomeness that is the metal leafing I did on Mkhai and if I had him, I had to bring his lover, Kathiel. The tinies, Nassano and Dolf, were because I bribed another friend with the chance to cuddle Nassano (whom she loves) if she'd hold an outfit for me and where Nassano goes, Dolf goes. The torso was to test fit/resin match for a head if I saw one that tickled my fancy.
Mkhai: Impldoll Miguel the Demon Hunter (limited to 100 worldwide, looooong sold out)
Kathiel: Unidoll Ark (company folded ages ago)
Nassano: Sugarble Naga, Adian head (discontinued & company closed)
Dolf: Lume Light Blaze (discontinued)
Torso: Miro 60cm body
Mkhai and Kathiel were huge hits. Neither is seen very often as they're both quite rare in the wild. As far as I know, I'm also the only one to have metal leafed Mkhai and I'm quite proud of the work I did. The outfit my friend had for sale wouldn't go over Kathiel's hands *pouts*. Technically, I could have removed his hands to dress him (that is a fairly common thing to do) but that's more of a pain in the ass than I wanted to deal with. I did buy him a gorgeous coat another friend made so it worked out. Mkhai spent most of the con naked to show off his metal leafing but he's fine with his dick swinging in the wind *laughs*.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24EcJa3][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/912/40470077740_8124511d1c_c.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/24EcJa3]IMG_0669[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/156635365@N07/]ID Locke[/url], on Flickr
There were zero clothes for poor Dolf. It looks like I'm going to need to woman-up and sew him some. *sigh* Sewing for that size (30cm/11.81") is always a bit of a challenge because the scale is so small and your seams need to be very small as well otherwise just putting the garment together will add all kinds of bulk that can't afford to happen. Dolf is also on the muscle body so he can't really fit into Ken-sized clothes *grumbles*. He needs modern style clothes and I'm not a superfan of sewing that style (its boring).
The torso.... I'm embarrassed to say this, but I actually forgot that I had a 60cm body *cringes*. I'd bought the body last year for Wu-Tyr (Dollshe Orijean head) but he was having none of that muscular body and insisted that he needed a sleek body. So I bought him a Dollshe body and he's quite happy now. That left me with a headless body. I thought about selling it but never quite got around to doing it. I wouldn't have gotten much for it (maybe $80-90US if I was lucky) as it is a Miro body and they are inexpensive to begin with. Knowing that I was going to DN while at AN and that there are ALWAYS people selling dolls and parts there, I figured what the hell and brought along the torso to test-fit heads on it. I didn't really intend to buy a head but you know what they say about intentions and road to hell....
There isn't really much of a "standard" size when it comes to neck holes. It generally varies from company to company and while 1cm/0.4" doesn't sound like a lot of difference, it really is in this instance. There are things you can do to make heads fit on bodies (sanding down/building up necks, widening/decreasing head holes, using resin donuts to fill gaps, etc.) but obviously just popping a head on a body and having it work is preferred. There is also the possibility of a head fitting on a neck but having a very limited range of motion (which can typically be fixed by modding the neck or head or sometimes both). Resin colour is also company specific and matching resin can be a huge pain in the ass although many in the hobby will go with a close match and blush the head with paint and pastels to match the body. This is an extremely common practice.
So I was walking around looking at what was on offer and stopped by the table where Angel Toast was set up. She has painted at least a dozen of my boys and was the guest of honour this year. She brought with her some imperfect casts of the heads she'd sculpted and I'd always had a fondness for her Crow sculpt. I picked up one of them, put it on the torso and... angels sang hosannas. The head fit perfectly on the torso, the range of motion was excellent and the resin match is 98.5% (this close is dead easy to blush to match and I'm not even sure I'd bother getting it matched because it's so close). I bought the head for $60CAN, which was an awesome price. I picked up some eyes for New Guy as well even though I have a literal box of eyes at home. The eyes I got him, well, as soon as I put them in his head, I gasped. They were his. Full stop.
I think I should also say that part of the reason I was looking for a head was because I had a wig that I really liked and no head to put it on. Yes, I realize that's an insane reason to by a doll, but I already had a body so.... I do want to point out that I'm also not the only person to do such a thing. To make everything utterly hilarious, Lilly and I were trying wigs on New Guy and I thought I'd try one of the wigs in my stash on him just for the lols. It was a long (like ass-length) pale blonde wig with bangs and curls at the bottom and rather girly looking. I'd gotten it when I bought Edenlei (Unidoll UH-08 Elf) and promptly put it in my "sell" bag of wigs since I couldn't ever see any of my guys wearing it. We were ready to laugh like crazy. Only... it totally suites him *head desk*. The wig I wanted him to wear is nice on him but not him. So the really lovely wig I wanted him to wear is not going to happen *rolls eyes*. No idea yet who New Guy is but he's kind of an asshole under this really sweet-looking exterior. Dolly behaviour as I restrung him and was trying on wigs has lead me to this conclusion already. I'm okay with that.
Somebody at the con was also selling a DZ Frieda and I'd contemplated getting her to be Naicree's partner before. Only... after seeing her in person, she wasn't right for him. Don't get me wrong, she was an utterly gorgeous doll and I was super happy to have seen one in person, but she wasn't what Naicree needs. The same person was also selling a Dollshe fun-size doll (not sure which sculpt) so I got to see one of those in person, too, which was very cool as I have one of those on order right now.
Speaking of dolls on order....
I lost my damn mind and ordered a Dollshe Fashion Saint in espresso ebony. Not only that, I've also ordered a Granado crowdfunded 55cm Lucifer. I literally bought those 2 within minutes of each other. They were my reward for all that I've been through with my brother's estate. 3 weeks after I ordered the fun-size Saint, Dollshe opened an order period for a new 55cm doll *groans*. My intention was to have the Dollshe fun-size (44cm/17.32") paired with the Granado 55cm/21.65". I've emailed Dollshe about switching my order to the larger boy but I haven't heard a damn thing back and it's been 10 days since that email and 5 days since I "bumped" my email, trying for a response.
Now that I have New Guy (who is 60cm/23.62") I think what I'll do is pair him with the Granado boy (the sizing works better) and put the Dollshe boy with... the SD Phiel head (Souloid Phiel Gold Mechanic, who is Warrick and which I have a I have the Titika head on instead as it works better for Warrick's character). This means I'll need to buy a SD MSD body (47cm/18.5") to go with the Phiel head, which works better for sizing. I also need to buy a body from SD for Ra-Sui, so I'll be utterly insane and buy both at the same time. My wallet will weep. Heavily.
But wait, there's more!
Lilly, after seeing Sondo (Akhmel Nathan) in person, said he was what she pictured a Fearling (one of Ondraeden's Servants) to look like as opposed to a psychopomp of Ra-Sui's. The more I thought about that particular bug in my brain (thanks, Lilly /sarcasm), the more it seemed like it was true *sigh*. Sondo was to be Iwa-Xine's partner and nothing says that he can't still be that. However, there is a doll on Etsy by a Russian artist that I keep going back to because he draws me to him. I believe he'll end up being Iwa-Xine's partner *head desk*. That also might be a triad pairing with Sondo *shrugs*. No idea when that purchase will happen. It's not like I don't have enough doll stuff going on *laughs hysterically*.
Long dolly post was long. Grats to all who read through it. Y'all get a gold star.
I was utterly insane and brought 2 SD dolls as well as 2 tinies and a torso with me to the con. I soon remembered why bringing 2 SD's (they were 64cm/25.12" and roughly 7lbs each) was a bad idea. Just my doll bag was nearly 20lbs! Talk about a work out lugging that bad boy around. But, I wanted to show off the awesomeness that is the metal leafing I did on Mkhai and if I had him, I had to bring his lover, Kathiel. The tinies, Nassano and Dolf, were because I bribed another friend with the chance to cuddle Nassano (whom she loves) if she'd hold an outfit for me and where Nassano goes, Dolf goes. The torso was to test fit/resin match for a head if I saw one that tickled my fancy.
Mkhai: Impldoll Miguel the Demon Hunter (limited to 100 worldwide, looooong sold out)
Kathiel: Unidoll Ark (company folded ages ago)
Nassano: Sugarble Naga, Adian head (discontinued & company closed)
Dolf: Lume Light Blaze (discontinued)
Torso: Miro 60cm body
Mkhai and Kathiel were huge hits. Neither is seen very often as they're both quite rare in the wild. As far as I know, I'm also the only one to have metal leafed Mkhai and I'm quite proud of the work I did. The outfit my friend had for sale wouldn't go over Kathiel's hands *pouts*. Technically, I could have removed his hands to dress him (that is a fairly common thing to do) but that's more of a pain in the ass than I wanted to deal with. I did buy him a gorgeous coat another friend made so it worked out. Mkhai spent most of the con naked to show off his metal leafing but he's fine with his dick swinging in the wind *laughs*.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24EcJa3][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/912/40470077740_8124511d1c_c.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/24EcJa3]IMG_0669[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/156635365@N07/]ID Locke[/url], on Flickr
![https://flic.kr/p/24EcJa3][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/912/40470077740_8124511d1c_c.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/24EcJa3]IMG_0669[/url]](https://flic.kr/p/24EcJa3][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/912/40470077740_8124511d1c_c.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/24EcJa3]IMG_0669[/url]){kind=link}
There were zero clothes for poor Dolf. It looks like I'm going to need to woman-up and sew him some. *sigh* Sewing for that size (30cm/11.81") is always a bit of a challenge because the scale is so small and your seams need to be very small as well otherwise just putting the garment together will add all kinds of bulk that can't afford to happen. Dolf is also on the muscle body so he can't really fit into Ken-sized clothes *grumbles*. He needs modern style clothes and I'm not a superfan of sewing that style (its boring).
The torso.... I'm embarrassed to say this, but I actually forgot that I had a 60cm body *cringes*. I'd bought the body last year for Wu-Tyr (Dollshe Orijean head) but he was having none of that muscular body and insisted that he needed a sleek body. So I bought him a Dollshe body and he's quite happy now. That left me with a headless body. I thought about selling it but never quite got around to doing it. I wouldn't have gotten much for it (maybe $80-90US if I was lucky) as it is a Miro body and they are inexpensive to begin with. Knowing that I was going to DN while at AN and that there are ALWAYS people selling dolls and parts there, I figured what the hell and brought along the torso to test-fit heads on it. I didn't really intend to buy a head but you know what they say about intentions and road to hell....
There isn't really much of a "standard" size when it comes to neck holes. It generally varies from company to company and while 1cm/0.4" doesn't sound like a lot of difference, it really is in this instance. There are things you can do to make heads fit on bodies (sanding down/building up necks, widening/decreasing head holes, using resin donuts to fill gaps, etc.) but obviously just popping a head on a body and having it work is preferred. There is also the possibility of a head fitting on a neck but having a very limited range of motion (which can typically be fixed by modding the neck or head or sometimes both). Resin colour is also company specific and matching resin can be a huge pain in the ass although many in the hobby will go with a close match and blush the head with paint and pastels to match the body. This is an extremely common practice.
So I was walking around looking at what was on offer and stopped by the table where Angel Toast was set up. She has painted at least a dozen of my boys and was the guest of honour this year. She brought with her some imperfect casts of the heads she'd sculpted and I'd always had a fondness for her Crow sculpt. I picked up one of them, put it on the torso and... angels sang hosannas. The head fit perfectly on the torso, the range of motion was excellent and the resin match is 98.5% (this close is dead easy to blush to match and I'm not even sure I'd bother getting it matched because it's so close). I bought the head for $60CAN, which was an awesome price. I picked up some eyes for New Guy as well even though I have a literal box of eyes at home. The eyes I got him, well, as soon as I put them in his head, I gasped. They were his. Full stop.
I think I should also say that part of the reason I was looking for a head was because I had a wig that I really liked and no head to put it on. Yes, I realize that's an insane reason to by a doll, but I already had a body so.... I do want to point out that I'm also not the only person to do such a thing. To make everything utterly hilarious, Lilly and I were trying wigs on New Guy and I thought I'd try one of the wigs in my stash on him just for the lols. It was a long (like ass-length) pale blonde wig with bangs and curls at the bottom and rather girly looking. I'd gotten it when I bought Edenlei (Unidoll UH-08 Elf) and promptly put it in my "sell" bag of wigs since I couldn't ever see any of my guys wearing it. We were ready to laugh like crazy. Only... it totally suites him *head desk*. The wig I wanted him to wear is nice on him but not him. So the really lovely wig I wanted him to wear is not going to happen *rolls eyes*. No idea yet who New Guy is but he's kind of an asshole under this really sweet-looking exterior. Dolly behaviour as I restrung him and was trying on wigs has lead me to this conclusion already. I'm okay with that.
Somebody at the con was also selling a DZ Frieda and I'd contemplated getting her to be Naicree's partner before. Only... after seeing her in person, she wasn't right for him. Don't get me wrong, she was an utterly gorgeous doll and I was super happy to have seen one in person, but she wasn't what Naicree needs. The same person was also selling a Dollshe fun-size doll (not sure which sculpt) so I got to see one of those in person, too, which was very cool as I have one of those on order right now.
Speaking of dolls on order....
I lost my damn mind and ordered a Dollshe Fashion Saint in espresso ebony. Not only that, I've also ordered a Granado crowdfunded 55cm Lucifer. I literally bought those 2 within minutes of each other. They were my reward for all that I've been through with my brother's estate. 3 weeks after I ordered the fun-size Saint, Dollshe opened an order period for a new 55cm doll *groans*. My intention was to have the Dollshe fun-size (44cm/17.32") paired with the Granado 55cm/21.65". I've emailed Dollshe about switching my order to the larger boy but I haven't heard a damn thing back and it's been 10 days since that email and 5 days since I "bumped" my email, trying for a response.
Now that I have New Guy (who is 60cm/23.62") I think what I'll do is pair him with the Granado boy (the sizing works better) and put the Dollshe boy with... the SD Phiel head (Souloid Phiel Gold Mechanic, who is Warrick and which I have a I have the Titika head on instead as it works better for Warrick's character). This means I'll need to buy a SD MSD body (47cm/18.5") to go with the Phiel head, which works better for sizing. I also need to buy a body from SD for Ra-Sui, so I'll be utterly insane and buy both at the same time. My wallet will weep. Heavily.
But wait, there's more!
Lilly, after seeing Sondo (Akhmel Nathan) in person, said he was what she pictured a Fearling (one of Ondraeden's Servants) to look like as opposed to a psychopomp of Ra-Sui's. The more I thought about that particular bug in my brain (thanks, Lilly /sarcasm), the more it seemed like it was true *sigh*. Sondo was to be Iwa-Xine's partner and nothing says that he can't still be that. However, there is a doll on Etsy by a Russian artist that I keep going back to because he draws me to him. I believe he'll end up being Iwa-Xine's partner *head desk*. That also might be a triad pairing with Sondo *shrugs*. No idea when that purchase will happen. It's not like I don't have enough doll stuff going on *laughs hysterically*.
Long dolly post was long. Grats to all who read through it. Y'all get a gold star.