Friday, January 1, 2016

The Obligatory "Year In Review" Post….

First up, let me just say that if years were body parts, 2015 would be the a--…uh, never mind!

I'll save you all the complaining about personal life stuff and just stick to the hobby part of it. Which was, oddly enough, rather good. At least in the first half of the year, I managed to acquire a number of items on my wish list.

Saru Inu-Ya JGSDF soldiers.

Made in the classic GI Joe style, these guys are the modern style Japanese soldiers that Takara would've made if they'd still been making Combat Joe in the late 1990s. Actually, I'd say these are better than the Takara figures since they didn't skimp on pouches and web gear and generally have nicer detail. I'd been wanting these guys for a while and was glad to finally add them to the Joe crew, at reasonable prices too! This was a series of three, so there's still one more out there somewhere. However, I'm happy with these two and I'm a bit farther along in my weird fascination with collecting 1/6 scale modern Japanese soldiers.

Takara Combat Joe.

Speaking of Takara Joes, I finally decided to get one this year. This Combat Joe was a birthday gift from my family and was quite an awesome gift. While not shown here, he came with all of his gear and represents a US soldier from WW2. I might eventually have to track down another one of these but I'm fine with this one example for now.

Azone Shana.

Although I'm not really a fan of Shakugan no Shana, I've always thought this 1/6 Azone/Obitsu hybrid was just too cool. With the the dollar to yen exchange rate being great for early 2015, I was able to pick this girl up for a very reasonable price. In fact, I managed to add a few Azone/Obitsu hybrids to my crew this past year and hope to share them on this blog and Instagram in the coming year.

Azone Pure Neemo Yuzuha.

Yuzuha has been a bit of a frustration for me. I loved "Rocker Girl" and "Sweets ala Mode" was OK too but I never could seem to buy one in pre-order. The after-market prices were more than I wanted to pay as well and I was starting to wonder if I would ever have one. I have to say though I'm glad I was able to get this version because I think she's just adorable and maybe a bit more unique than the previous versions. I only regret that she doesn't get more time in front of the camera because I'm really fond of this girl.

Is there more? Heck yeah! In fact, from a purely hobby perspective, this was a very successful year. Too bad the suck of other parts of the year totally overwhelmed these little bright spots of fun. The monthly photoblog project was not as grand an endeavor as I hoped it would be, in spite of setting the bar pretty low to start with. Nonetheless, I plan to continue the project at least into the early months of 2016, mostly because I still have a backlog of dolls and figures I'd like to photograph and post. As I mentioned previously, I also have this idea for a story line that ties some of my figure projects together. I'm not making any promises here but maybe I can find some way to present it. We shall see….

Anyway, here's hoping everyone has a Happy New Year and a better tomorrow! Take care!


3 comments:

  1. Haha, that first sentence of the post made me giggle a little, although it's not a laughing matter that the year was sucky for you. Good to see that you haven't lost your sense of humor!
    I know how hard it is to enjoy your hobbies when you struggle with real life issues. I'm definitely not happy that things have been hard for you, quite the opposite, but it's been a great source of strenght for me to know that someone is going through the same kind of feelings about the hobby. Like, I'm not alone in thinking things like quitting and wondering what's the point of doll/figure photography...

    Still, I think I see that spark of enthusiasm in your posts and pictures! So I'd encourage you not to lose faith in your hobbies! I'm sure you're not really fed up with them, it's just that the hardships of real life may be clouding what you actually love about figures and dolls.

    I love the figures and dolls you got this year! Those Saru-Inuya soldiers are an awesome find, I tried to keep my eye open for these while in Japan but there was just so much stuff everywhere, I might have had better luck if I'd asked for them specifically. Well there's always next time! :)

    I'd be super happy if I got a combat Joe as a gift! That was a very good present! (and he still looks British to me! I don't know why that is xD ) It's good that your family seems supportive of your hobby.

    I've had the same kind of thoughts about Yuzuha too, but happy we both have our Yuzuhas now! She's definitely my favorite of my own Pure Neemos so she was worth all the trouble! :D

    I hope that 2016 will bring much happiness for you, both in real life and in the hobby! Thanks for always writing nice and funny comments and being there! :)

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  2. I totally understand last year being a bit of a ... ahem. XD Real life got in the way big time for me too XD I love these dolls... of course I love the Azone ones... but Combat Joe is pretty awesome... his facial expression is so stern! I'll be interested to see what he's like when he shows up this year!

    Here's to a better year of blogging XD

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  3. Thanks to both of you for your support! It really means a lot to me to know that people are out there reading and enjoying what I cast out into the ether.

    There are a few different Combat Joe headsculpts out there and eventually, I'd like to get another one. That'll have to wait until the family finances improve….

    Thanks again!

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