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!

So This Is Christmas….

No, I'm not a big fan of that old John Lennon song but I borrowed the title anyway!

I'm reposting a couple of photos I loaded to Instagram the other day and it's basically just Santa Joe from this month's photo blog entry in some "action" poses.

I hope all of my readers will have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. For those of you who pray, I hope you'll add your voice to those asking for relief and solace to the people who've lost property and loved ones, and those who've suffered injury in yesterday's (Dec. 23, 2015) horrific storms in Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. This seems to have become a yearly event now, as exactly one year earlier (Dec. 23, 2014), a devestating tornado tore through several counties in southern MS, killing five people. (The Dec. 2015 storms were in the northern part of MS.)

Take care all!

What Next?

WARNING: Oh no, it's a think piece!

With 2015 staggering to a close, the question for me is...What Next? I tentatively plan to continue the monthly photoblog feature at least through the first quarter of 2016, mostly because I have a sufficient backlog of of subjects to post. However, let's face it; most of you are probably bored shiftless with it at this point. I enjoy photographing and posting them but I realize that it isn't very interesting or dynamic.

I've been dabbling in a sort of alternate mid-20th century scenario where most of the countries from WW II are played by thinly veiled versions of themselves, in the grand manga-anime tradition of countries like Gallia, Helvetia or all the countries in that series with the flying girls/mecha/furry/panty shot/gun porn fetish stuff. (Strike Witches?) Some major differences are that this is no "Nazi Alien Superweapons Win WW2" and that most of the technology is at least plausible for the era. In fact, the biggest change from the real world is that the Nazis never come to power as such. Yep, no Hitler, no Nazi party, no flying cyborg SS truppen with laser rifles and hover tanks (Fliegpanzer?) taking over the world.

However, nature and power abhor a vacuum, so you can expect somebody to step in and fill the space.

I'm thinking this guy may have a new mission----

But heck if I know! To be honest, after this past year, I'm not so sure I could pursue such a story line with much enthusiasm or give it the time it deserves. Trudging outdoors to take photos of little plastic people and posting them on a blog once a month doesn't require a huge amount of creative effort BUT that lack of creative effort can become apparent at times. And let's face it; real life, adult world problems and issues always crop up and complicate things. I won't bore you with the details but the last four months have been well, interesting.

Anyway, yeah…. It does make it a bit less of a priority to think about toys or making up fictional (or semi-fictional) worlds for them to inhabit. This does make me wonder though; am I just over it? Am I just too old and too invested in day-to-day real life to make this sort of creative "make believe" aspect of the hobby appealing to me anymore?

Here Comes Santa Cl…. Uh, JOE!?!?

Rounding out my year of torturing you, my dear readers, with boring shots of dolls and action figures (yeah, which are also dolls) here's Santa Claus… er, um, JOE!

Santa in this case is actually a Cotswold Elite Brigade "Jake" with white flocked hair and beard, wearing a Cotswold Santa outfit. LINK Cotswold Collectibles is a company based in the Seattle WA area that has produced a range of vintage GI Joe-style figures for the last 20 years or so. They also produce outfit and uniform sets and accessories that work with most vintage-style Joe bodies. Hopefully, I'll be able to showcase some more of these figures in 2016, although I haven't really decided what to do with this blog in the coming year.

Meanwhile, I hope you'll enjoy this month's Photoblog Thing and if I don't post again before the first of the year, Merry Christmas!

 Sorry, I just noticed that Santa Joe is giving the dreaded "chicken choker" hand sign in these shots.

 I think this guy will make a great Adventure Team commander after his Santa gig is over.

 This outfit comes with a vest that has belly padding for the proper Santa physique!

 The shot from behind. Not much to see here except the exhaust fan on my A/C unit! Wish I could've found him a sack full of gifts in time for this photo session.

 Last shot…. Yep, it's Santa!

A preview of my next entry; a "Fauxviet" paratrooper in fictional "Red Dawn" camo.

Slight delay

Just a quick notice to let you all know that the blog isn't dead but December's entry is a bit delayed. The items I need for the photo shoot have been ordered and should be arriving some time during the first week of the month. After that, it's a matter of getting outside to do the photo shoot. Given my home state's often wacky late Fall/ early Winter weather, this may present a bit of a challenge but I aim to persevere!

Photoblog Thing- November 2015

This month, I wanted to do something a bit sci-fi/retro/dieselpunk. This guy is constructed from bits of various 3A- Ashley Wood figures I've collected over time, most notably the World War Robot N.O.M. Blanc Hunter head and life support pack. Going with Blanc Hunter's already obvious "gas mask Germanic" look, I scrounged around for some German WW2 gear. The coat is an unusual piece that I think might've been used by mountain troops and the rifle is the Mkb 42(H), a rare predecessor to the more famous Stg 44. He also has an ammo pouch from the Stg 44 which uses the same ammo and magazines as the Mkb 42 series, a couple of stick grenades and a K98 bayonet. There's a modern style pistol belt and a hard to see "Nordic" thermal shirt under his coat while everything else is 3A. I have the other two N.O.M. guys from this particular series, so I wanted this guy to be a bit different. Honestly, Blanc Hunter wasn't as interesting to me as the other two, so I'm happier with my kitbash than the stock version. I probably could weather the historical parts to match the 3A parts but I'm lazy and it would take away from the idea of a quick, enjoyable 'bash put together one Saturday afternoon a while back. I should note that, although he has some historical German gear, he isn't affiliated with any sort of National Socialist/Fascist/Totalitarian ideology. I hope you like him!

Jaegers gonna jaegen! Dig those skater shoes, BTW.

A better shot of the three cell ammo pouch (from BBI). There are additional magazines for his rifle in there but you'll have to take my word for it. I'm not going to open the damn thing and try to re-close it!

The back looks kind of bare but I wasn't sure what else to add.

Closeup of the life support pack with added bayonet and stick grenades.

A face only a mother could love!

The Passing of Another Giant....

This hardly got a mention in the press, so I had missed it until two months after the fact. One of the great influences of modern day scale modeling passed away back in August. Sheperd Paine, who created the How To Build Dioramas series for Monogram Models and later went on to author a series of books for Kalmbach in the 1980s, died on August 1, 2015 at age 69 after suffering a stroke.

Shep's influence on me, as well as countless modelers around the world, can not be understated. He was also a huge influence on my interest in photography and there's a little bit of his method and ideas in every image I take. The world has become a slightly less for his passing and I mourn the loss of a great artist and personal influence.