Meg's snow day- 2014 version

Back in 2008, I posted a series of photos featuring Meg, my Obitsu "muse", walking in the snow. Snow days don't come around often in my part of the US nor are they usually very impressive compared to what you see in more northern regions. (Although people in the Southern US are almost embarrassingly bad at driving in relatively small amounts of ice and snow.) Anyway, snow days provide a great opportunity to get some outdoor photography done and that, combined with Heather's newly announced Adventurer's Club over at The Majokko Shop, was all the motivation I needed to get in a mid-morning photo shoot.

Meg's attire consist of a t-shirt and purse from Dragon; sweater and jeans from Azone; jacket from OJI; boots from Obitsu and a hat made by Andrea of Dolls Ahoy! fame: Dolls Ahoy! LJ and Etsy shop.

'Bash of the Day- a GI Joe for my son.

OK, first up for 'Bash of the Day is a GI Joe inspired by my son. He grabbed this guy the other day and ran around with him so I thought "hey, why not at least dress this figure in a uniform?" to see what happens. It beats just having him lay around in a dark cabinet doing nothing and my son got a kick out of it, so I guess it worked out OK.

The figure itself is a GI Joe that I picked up in a lot purchase either on eBay or from an online vendor. I don't believe he's stock since IIRC, the head was from one of the early 2000s Joe vs. Cobra figures while the body is a Super Articulated type that wasn't used with the JvC line. The uniform and t-shirt are from Dragon and the boots are BBI. I skipped any other gear or accessories because this was just a quick bash and my son is a year and half old so no reason to put on tempting things that could go in his mouth, nose or whatever. As it is, the uniform probably has too many small bits so this is something he only plays with under close supervision and doesn't keep in his toy box.

In spite of this being really simple, I thought he looked pretty cool. His uniform has tiny insignia including Ranger tabs, Sergeant stripes on the collar (looks like he's a Sergeant First Class but it's a little hard to tell) and the name and service branch tags above the pockets, which denote the he's in the US Army and his surname is Kelley. So, in a burst of serious creativity, I'm calling him Sgt. Kelley! Anyway, enough blabbing, here are some mediocre pics.
 

Kitbash of the Day... another dumb idea!

So, having mentioned in my previous post that photography has been almost impossible lately, I come up with another dumb idea that requires photography!

Slightly less involved than doing a photostory blog, this would be simply to take a doll or action figure, dress him or her in some kind of outfit, photograph the result and post it here with some explaination or back-story. This is something I used to do quite a bit back some years ago but it just doesn't happen as often any more. There would be no real theme other than the figure in question couldn't be completely stock from the box and ideally would be assembled specifically for the shoot or at least newly completed. Moreover, I don't think I would stay with any particular theme or limit myself to any specific dolls. It would just be whatever I was in the mood to work on at the time. Also, the project would be Kitbash of the Day not Kitbash a Day, so new figures would be posted irregularly. I can also see such a project being useful as a clearinghouse of random ideas that don't fit my "usual" themes and areas of interest. For example, I've never had a figure of a WW2 German soldier or an Old West cowboy, so those could be possible subjects, or something more off-beat like a school girl wearing a gas mask or a robot playing a guitar.

Hmmm... maybe this isn't such a dumb idea after all.

Peeking in....

Hey folks, just a quick note to apologize for the silence around here. I actually have a number of topics to blog about and one post in the queue awaiting photos but we're still settling in to a routine here so the photography part has been difficult. I actually managed to get some time yesterday to take photos and the session was total crap.

Please bear with me and I will try to be back to regular posting soon.

2013 in review and some thoughts on 2014.

Heather at The Majokko Shop posted her end of the year review HERE and that, along with some year end discussions elsewhere, has inspired me to post my own take on the year that was and the year to come.
First up, my view of where things will be going on this blog.

-RoG is NOT going to become a "Daddy blog" (ugh) in spite of some recent posts to the contrary. I love my kids and I have taken time to discuss each of their births here but that isn't the focus of this blog.

-I will try to stay as apolitical as possible. What I share with my readers in this little corner of the internet is intended to be familiar to those with similar hobbies. I've met people from around the world both here and at other blogs and sites with whom I share common interests but I have discovered that we sometimes don't see eye to eye on other issues. You didn't come here for a poli-sci lecture so I'll try to spare you from reading one.

-I hope to not devolve in to a "look what I got" type of blog. Yes, collecting is a major part of my hobbies but I see it as merely a means to an end rather than an end unto itself. The goal is to find things I like and to enjoy them, not to brag about what I've bought. I want to share with like-minded enthusiasts but not wave it in your face if such a hobby is currently out of reach. I understand because I've been there many times in my life and even now, other priorities often come before hobbies.

While 2013 was a bit of a wild ride in real life (including a near miss from an EF4 tornado!), the hobby side of things went pretty well. I've change my strategy a bit to reflect the reality of my life nowadays. Whereas I once envisioned grand projects, I now limit myself to simple, reachable goals. I decided to finally branch out and purchase some more expensive figures and dolls than I had normally done in the past. This led me to buy some 3A/Ashley Wood figures and a few Azone Pure Neemo dolls. Honestly, I'm happier with this direction AND I think I might've spent less over all than in some of my busiest years of "kitbashing". I still love a good bargain and I do still pursue a want list of older figures and dolls but that's no longer competing with the "Hey, why don't I kitbash an entire Army brigade in 1/6 scale" approach that I was taking. Let's face it, buying piles of stuff that you may use on some project that you might do is a huge waste of space and money.

Since I really had no specific goals in relation to this blog, I can't say that I've failed or achieved anything of note this year. I do wish I'd posted more since I had plenty to write about but the time and motivation just weren't there.

Looking forward to 2014, I want to post here more often and expand my network of fellow hobbyists. One important change that needs to occur is photography. While we don't all speak the same language, sharing the hobby through imagery is nearly universal. This is something I struggle with, not only because of time and space constraints but I simply don't use my camera to its full potential. It's nearly impossible to keep a permanent photography area set up in my house and my camera (a Nikon D40X) seems rather finicky about the light and setting I use. I might need something a bit more idiot proof!

Aside from my previously mentioned "want list", I have no definite plans for the hobby in 2014. I'm pleased with my collection of Pure Neemo dolls and will probably add more this year. I initially planned a limit of six but I can easily see that increasing. However, I think I'd rather focus on things like accessories and clothes instead of just buying more dolls. I also REALLY need to inventory and assess my stuff with an eye towards pairing it down (didn't I say that here once before? Hmmmm???).

So, in conclusion, I guess for now I'l just keep doing what I've been doing but try to take and post more photos. Or something like that...!

Oh yeah, Happy New Year.