Since the Den of Angels “Almost Doll” contest is over, I can finally post information on my entry here! Hurrah!

The gist of the contest was to dress yourself or a model as a doll and take a photo invoking the feeling of a doll. There were a lot of ways one could go about interpreting these guidelines, but as a cosplayer I wanted to recreate the costume of a well-known fullset doll.

However, I’m so busy with Anime Vegas preparations right now I didn’t have much time to spend on making yet another complicated costume. I knew it would have to be a fairly simple costume, especially since I didn’t want to spend much money creating an outfit I’ll probably never wear to a con. Plus, I knew I wanted to choose a Volks doll since they are by far my favorite BJD company.

With all that in mind, I finally settled on Super Dollfie 13 Williams.

I knew I didn’t want to cosplay a female doll because all Volks girls with the exception of Cristal are extremely girly and I’ve never been good at pulling that off ^^;. (I do wish I would have had the money and time to cosplay Cristal, though. I love her outfit and she is by far my favorite Volks headmold ever – my beautiful Rei is a Cristal!) Cosplaying Williams gave me the opportunity to reuse my Juliet wig and the bodysuit from Max Galactica. I had the leather pants and gloves already, and borrowed the kickass boots from Jasmine. The only things I needed to make were the shirt and the cape.

I never thought I’d make another garment out of crushed panne, but I guess it has its uses! It looks very similar to the fabric Williams’ cape is made from, and it’s cheap too . I made the front decorations out of nifty little filigree pieces I bought at Williams’ Costume (HA! How appropriate!). The shirt and accompanying necktie are made from white voile. Guys, why have I never used voile before? It costs next to nothing and it’s super easy to sew. Plus, the drape and transparency are just to die for. I spent a lot of time on the blouse. Because the shirt is transparent you can see how every single seam is constructed and pressed. Maybe it was a little OCD to make the shirt so exact to the reference photos, but as we all know I love recreating pre-existing costumes as closely as I possibly can XD.

Erin and Ana agreed to snap some photos of me early one Saturday morning. Since Williams is in a pirate story (I love Volks story arcs XD) we hit up the Treasure Island and their awesome pirate ships first. Afterwards we went to the Venetian, because if you’re cosplaying on the Strip it’s a must to take pictures there!

After all that tl;dr I should show you guys some pictures, huh?

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I just received my swap gift! The person who provided my gift is sister-of-charity on DoA, and she really knows how to put together a fun package! Jun was my swap doll, and here she is going through all her goodies!

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So, uhh, about that good news: Cailet has a body!

In what could possibly be the craziest turn of events ever, I found this one-off’s original body for sale. WHAT. I could not pass up that chance, especially since Rabi and a few other things ended up selling and that paid for the body. So, despite the fact that I do not have her pretty teal eyes and Pink Cocktail wig yet, here’s my second beautiful aone-painted girl!

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I updated my theme and it deleted my banner at the top. UGH. Sorry if the layout looks even uglier than it did; I will try to fix it ASAP.

I should have some good news to post soon, BTW!

Okay, finally got the sales post for Rabi up on DoA!

Apparently I cleaned her better than I thought because her stains were not as dramatic as I remembered them being before I restrung her and put her in that white dress. However, she seems to have picked up a new stain from simply leaning against my green-painted wall for a couple of weeks. Stupid vinyl dolls, you stain if someone looks at you cross-eyed :/.

I’m also selling some wigs and the Strawberry Droprops here

If I sold all of this I could probably afford a body for Cailet right away, but with how crappy the “doll economy” is right now I doubt I’ll get that lucky.

Speaking of a body for Cailet, I’m not sure if I want to get a Volks body for her. I fell in love with Spiritdoll’s new girl body (Warning, nudity). I love that it looks like an older adolescent’s body, and since Cailet is supposed to be 16 that should work out perfectly. It’s a short body too! She’ll be a lot smaller than Rei and this is good. Apparently the Spiritdoll white matches Volks white too, although nothing’s going to match this new head perfectly due to the yellowing.

I received Cailet’s head on Saturday and she’s just as pretty in person as in pictures! She came with her original one-off card and I was pleased to see that Cailet was painted by aone, the same person who painted Rei. The two have always been linked in my mind because originally I was going to have them be a couple. That idea flew out the window when I got Teddy (sorry Cailet; as pretty as you are you can’t compete with the perfect compatibility of Teddy and Rei!) but it’s still nice to have a bit of a link between the two. Also, I think I will finally have a doll who wants to be blonde! I put Rei’s Lady Oscar wig on Cailet to see what the pinky blonde would look like and it was perfect. Now I’m looking into Volks Peach Gold wigs, which look like a similar color mixture. Cailet would look cute in pigtails!

I bought a doll head.

. . .

I KNOW. No more buying, I said. I need to scale back, I said.

But I also said that I was going to stick to my wishlist, and I am. I found a Kun head for one of the absolute lowest prices I’ve ever seen. Since I’m selling a costume for what the head was going for, why not?

This Kun head is white, not sunlight skin – but in an absolutely crazy turn of events, I’m okay with that. I’ll get a sunlight doll one day, perhaps when Rinon is added to FCS. I thought I wanted a tan Kun and a white Rinon but it’s fine if that’s swapped. Anyways, the reason this situation is crazy is because the head I’m getting is from the actual doll that made me fall in love with Kun in the first place so many years ago! This girl had such a precious shimmery faceup and a dreamy expression that inspired Cailet’s head-in-the-clouds personality. I never expected this doll to show up on the secondhand market, especially since she is a one-off way back from a Volks Mansion tea party in 2006. But there she was on DoA, in good condition and going for nearly half of the sale price of most Kun heads. How the hell do you expect me to resist THAT?

(Here’s a pic from Flickr of this Kun in all her original one-off glory!)

So Cailet makes a comeback as Version 4.0. . .sorta. It will be a while before I can get her a body, probably. White-skin Volks SD suwarikko bodies aren’t exactly easy to come by, especially since I probably need one with a bit of yellowing due to this head’s age. Plus, I have to figure out hair and eyes and everything. I don’t know whether I’m excited to go on the hunt again or annoyed that once again I’m going to sink time into searching this stuff out.

In other news, I have tried to sell Mikhail, Gwen and Rosalie but I’ve either gotten no interest or every buyer has backed out. Since I’m not going to try for Japan this fall like I hoped, I’ll keep all my current resin crew for now. I’m going to sell Rabi though. I’m not interested at this time in finishing up that project, and what’s the use of her sitting around? I’ve removed about 75% of the stains and the cigarette stink seems to be gone, so I’m hopeful that I can get a decent price for her.

I’m not certain I’m going to sell my Customhouse Petite Ai Jenniel, which still hasn’t shipped. I was expecting a long wait but not THIS long. I ordered that doll January 29th – I’m almost at 6 months of waiting! Strangely enough (considering how pissed I was about SOOM last year), I’m pretty calm about the wait. I was irritated this morning when I got an ad from them saying that they had fixed their manufacturing delays when no one received a shipping notice AND they didn’t specify HOW they fixed these ridiculous delays, but other than that I haven’t thought about it much. They told me on the Q&A board that they expect to ship Jenniel by the end of this month, so we will see.

Yeah, uhh, long time no post ^^;. I’ve been so busy with cosplay stuff that I haven’t had much time for dollies. I’m still busy on that front but I was inspired to make a little cosplay outfit for Louis-Joseph.

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I finally bought a new 50mm lens (you may remember that it was my favorite back before my first camera was stolen) and of course I tested it out on some of my favorite test subjects. Akiko is wearing the adorable Lovely Choco Berry set from the Volks February 2010 collection.

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I think I’ve reached a crossroads in my doll collection.

I’m just not having fun with them any longer. They sit on my shelf and collect dust unless I’m going to a doll meet. I don’t want to take pictures of them. I don’t want to sew for them, mostly because I can’t decide which one to sew for. And that’s the heart of the problem. I have way too many dolls.

I’ve decided to really cut back. Right now I own 14, including the one on order. I’m going to keep 7.

Keep List:
Akiko: She will never be sold. Never. And once I sell all these other dolls I might consider replacing her beat-up old body for a newer suwarikko one.
Rei: She’s finally on the SD16 body. She’s my perfect doll.
Boo: Ahh, little Boo. She’s been through a lot. I’ve had her for so long – how could I sell her? Besides, I need at least one non-Volks doll XD.
Teddy: I could never sell him. He’s right up there with Akiko.
Mikan: After buying another Yo to see if I’d like it better than her, I’ve discovered that I like Mikan a lot more than I thought I did.
Louis-Joseph: I waffled on selling him, but I love that face too much and he is a fun one to sew for.
Jun: Another perfect doll. I don’t think I could ever get rid of either of my one-off darlings. I overcame the odds to get both – they belong here.

Sell List:
Gwendolyn: This one hurts a little, I’m not gonna lie. But 3 minis is enough for now and I can always get another F-06 down the line. But since it’s looking like my friend will buy her and keep that unique faceup, it’s easier to bear.
Rosalie: Once again, she’s gorgeous but I need to cut back on the MSDs. She may also be going to a friend.
Mikhail: In case I decide I want another Raphael in the future, I’m keeping the mask. I’d sell him for $500 barebones, or $600 with wig/eyes/clothing. Here’s another doll I really like – but I’ve done nothing with him since he arrived a YEAR AGO.
Diana: This is the new Volks Nasia. She’s on sale at DoA for $300 already.
Rabi: I wasn’t planning on keeping her anyway. I just need to go back to removing her stains and working on the outfit. I’ll start offers for her at $250 once she’s done.
CH Petite Ai Jenniel: I’ll see if Customhouse will consider canceling my order. If not, I’ll sell the doll very cheaply when it comes in this summer. I paid $160 and I’ll probably just ask that plus Paypal fees and shipping. I think that’s fair considering you have to wait 18-20 weeks for this doll and you’ll also get an extra head (Muriel).
Volks Yo-SD Syo: I ended up buying this little guy last week to see if I’d like him better than my Yuh. He is adorable – but I have an adorable male MSD and an adorable male SD13. I don’t need another one in Yo size. Plus, I actually like Mikan way better than him and I was shocked to learn that! Anyways, I paid $550 for him and I’d want that back.

Once I sell those dolls off, I think I’ll feel much better about my collection. For the past 18 months or so I’ve been worrying about the personalities and characters, but I want to get back to why I got into these dolls in the first place – to make fabulous clothes and take pretty pictures. I need to concentrate on quality, not quantity – this way I can afford different eyes and wigs for each doll. I’ll also feel good about having extra money in my bank account XD.

This doesn’t mean I’ll never buy another doll again. I can’t promise that – just look at my track record. But once again, I’m going to concentrate on what I KNOW I really want. I get so caught up in looking at good deals in the DoA Marketplace or dazzled by new Volks Dolpa dolls that I forget about the Kun I’ve wanted to get for over two years. I’ve owned one in the past, adored her and felt sad about selling her ever since I went crazy for Cristal in August 2007. However, I’m going to get her through FCS this time, and have her done in sunlight skin on a suwarikko body. I think what I’ll do is sell doll outfits, and any profit I make on those outfits will go into the Tan F-22 fund. Once I get $1000 in there (yeah, SD10 FCS is not cheap :/) I’ll buy her. She’ll mean so much more because I put so much work into getting her!

As usual, things never stay the same around here. However, for once I haven’t sold any of my current crew to bring new darlings home! (Well, at least not any heads. . .but I’ll get to that.) It’s amazing what is possible when you get a nice tax refund and a new roommate at the same time ^_-. Of course, none of the new additions have cost that much.

New Addition #1 – Petite Ai Jenniel
I’ve wanted a Customhouse for years! They’re all so delicate and pretty. The price is right too – $160 for the doll, shipping, AND a free event head! Since I have so many dolls nowadays I don’t mind the 4-6 month wait either. (I never mind long waits as long as I’m not lied to by the company – see SOOM :/.) I picked Jenniel because of that adorable little nose. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I really like dolls with interesting noses (Cristal, Amakusa, Raphael).

Jenniel is most likely going to be a boy, and I think his name is Rudolf. I’m not sure because if I have a name I like it usually immediately “sticks,” and this one hasn’t. Oh well. I don’t expect him until the end of May at the very earliest so I’m not worried about the name yet.

This little guy was going to be a redhead until I discovered Louis-Joseph was definitely meant to be a redhead :/. I don’t need two fiery-headed little boys around here, so I might end up giving him something really weird, like grey hair. Leekeworld’s royal grey wigs are so pretty!

New Addition #2 – Volks MSD Nasia
I know what you’re thinking – “Heather needs another Volks MSD like she needs a hole in the head.” I know, I know. However, ever since I got Rosalie I’ve been hoping that I could add this third version of the Myu/Magie/Sakura head mold to my collection. I would have liked to get this doll through FCS and get her in tan skin, but Volks discontinued this head. Oh well, Nasia is definitely more affordable and easier to find than F-11.

Nasia comes with cat ears, but I plan on trying to find E-05 long elf ears because I’d like for her to be a bright and vivacious elf girl. Jun is gorgeous but despite her having the cutest head mold in history she’s ethereal and a little creepy now with her blind eyes. I’d like this elf to be opposite of that! Her faceup is going to have a lot of warm and saturated colors in it, and I want her to have blonde hair streaked with bright colors and either pink or orange eyes. I haven’t picked a name yet.

Nasia’s seller was looking for a SD13G body, so I’m getting her in exchange for Rei’s current body. I’ve wanted to get Rei a SD16 body for a long time, so this will finally motivate me to get that done. Of course, this is not a cheap body. It may be a while before I can get one, but I’m going to go on another selling spree and hopefully I can raise the money quickly.

POSSIBLE New Addition #3 – SDGr Okita Souji
I don’t know about this one yet. No good quality photos have come out yet – but from what I can see of his head mold, OMFG. So darn pretty! So pretty, in fact, that I’d want to split this guy and get the head repainted as a girl.

But I don’t know. . .if HQ pictures come out and I decide I want Okita, that puts a dent in my body fund for Rei. I also don’t have a character in mind, and while I don’t mind not having a character when it’s a cheap little doll (see Jenniel) it’s a different thing when it’ll end up costing me a lot.

This is why I should just ignore the News threads on DoA. Ugh!