Adventure! (for March 2014)

This month's Adventurer's Club theme is Wilderness and appropriately, Lycee is featured in the icon. My version of Lycee is wearing the newly released sweater and skirt from Azone's Feb.2014 PNM collection along with her stock military-style jacket. The jacket over the sweater is a bit of a snug fit but it works OK for this photo session.

I finally had the chance to head out in my back yard for a quick photo session, although I had to be careful of where I set up after two days of heavy rain. I need to do so some heavy cutting and debris removal, so now seemed like the best time to get these shots done. Hopefully, over the next couple of weeks, there will be less "wilderness", at least for now.

Awwww.... What a cute widdle tank!

I may have mentioned this before (although I'm not going back through the archives to check) but I have a bit of a minor obsession with the Japanese Type 10 Main Battle Tank. I have no idea if the thing actually lives up to its hype but I like it from a strictly aesthetic point of view. Heck, I even pre-ordered the Tamiya 1/35 kit when it was released last year, which is extremely rare for me to do with any scale model kit.

Anyway, Fujimi has now released a cute/super deform version of the Type 10 as part of their Chibimaru line. I passed up Fujimi's more serious 1/72 scale versions of the tank because that isn't a scale I normally build (well, when I actually build anything). The chibi version, on the other hand, is just too darn cute and weird to pass up. Funds are a bit tied up right now because of two upcoming Azone PN pre-orders but after that, I think I'm going to switch gears to modeling mode and order one or more of these neat little tanks.

Meanwhile, the 1/35 scale version already stashed away in my closet has a potential future as the main battle tank for one of my fictional countries in a doll/action figure back story I have in mind.

Well, that was freakin' fast!

So folks, did you managed to snag an Azone PN "Mia- Spring Rabbit" during the few seconds she was available? As I write this, both Hobby Search and AmiAmi have sold through in mere seconds while HobbyLink has not yet posted her for sale.

Image- © Azone International 2014

Fortunately, this time I was able to spend several hours sitting on my butt, stalking these various online retailers and I managed to snag one. However, my track record has not been especially good with these "blink and you'll miss it" Azone pre-orders and it's leading to a good degree of frustration on my part. I think that once my two outstanding pre-orders arrive, I'm going to take a break from Azone PN dolls. I will still keep my eye on places like Mandarake that sell used figures since I still have a couple of "grail dolls" I want to find but that's about it.

I'm not leaving the hobby in a huff or anything like that but the part of the hobby that includes buying new dolls requires a greater time commitment than I am able or willing to make. And let's face it, they aren't exactly cheap either so the financial commitment is an issue as well. With two young children to raise and the price of dolls and action figures going up while income does not, something has to give. For now, at least, Mia will probably be my last new PN purchase.

That's not a bad thing at all though. I've been able to amass a nice little crew and find several dolls on my "want list" at reasonable prices, so I consider myself very fortunate in that regard. I also want to spend more time documenting the adventures of my existing girls rather than just acquire more to put on a shelf somewhere.

A hobby should be fun, although it can also be difficult, frustrating and even disappointing at times but spending an evening sitting at my computer, hoping for a chance to buy something I wanted was no fun at all. Even though I actually managed to pre-order this doll and I am pleased that I didn't miss out, the episode convinced me that this isn't how I want to spend my usually limited spare time.

*Addendum* OK, so maybe not so freakin' fast since Mia has remained available for pre-order at HLJ for at least 8 hours. Admittedly, this is during late night and early morning in North America but it's still shocking that she's been up for sale this long.