Travelin' Doll, Instagram, et. al.

Sorry things have been quiet around here lately. Crap-tons of family drama combined with having two toddlers attached to me around the clock have conspired to eat up all the spare time I don't have. I don't plan to make any changes to the format of this blog in the near future but it occurs to me that I need to do something different to accommodate my life as it is. Two major problems are that Blogger isn't very usable in iOS and the photo host is somewhat limiting for loading cell phone pictures. Blogging on my home computer and lugging around my DSLR for photos has gotten much more difficult with my two "assistants" constantly underfoot and aforementioned lack of spare time.

So.... What to do? One thought that occurred to me was to do a sort of travelogue featuring one or two of my GI Joes and post it on Instagram or maybe Flickr. I nearly always have my phone with me or close by and I use it to do a lot of my actual blogging and other internet stuff as well. Of course, this photo blog doesn't have to be just Joes; it could feature Neemos, Obitsus or even some other dolls/action figures that I haven't shown around here. However, my thinking is that there would be one or two primary characters and not a "cast of thousands". Since I always have kids in tow or crawling on me, whatever subject I chose would need to be portable, durable and not too precious in terms of cost or rarity. So yeah, no super-rare 70cm resin ball joint dolls for this project!

So, how does this all work? I know a number of my readers have traveling doll blogs and use Instagram and/or Flickr with cellphone cameras. What was your experience with these services and were there any limitations, frustrations or pitfalls that I should know about? Can I cross post images from Instagram to other platforms like Blogger or (for the old-school among us) message boards? Any tips for photographing dolls with a cellphone camera? I find I still prefer my DSLR for image stability and quality but maybe I'm not giving the phone a fair chance. Finally, is this the sort of thing any of you would find interesting? Or would it be just more links to click and more sites to join just to look at some boring, silly pictures of dolls and action figures? Let me know what you think!

Project: Obitsu- February 2015

Next up for Project : Obitsu is Erena-Mission 2, an Obitsu/Azone Hybrid released about a decade ago. I don't know much about her backstory except that this is the second Erena and she appears to be some kind of original action/adventure/spy character. At least, I'm not aware of any other media featuring this lady. although I might've missed it. Anyway, I've always thought she was a cool little doll and when I had the chance to acquire her last year, I jumped at it. I posted a quick "in the box" photo review HERE so you can check out other photos and info there.

I promise that I didn't make her do this photo shoot in the cold! The combined effects of stretchy top material and the permanent "headlights on" molding of the Obitsu hard shell body conspire to make it seem like a cold day, though. A couple things I should've done with this photo shoot include showcasing the giant, heavy die-cast pistol she's armed with and dressing her in the hilarious cleaning lady disguise that comes with this set. (Complete with toilet plunger!) Maybe I can revisit her at some point in the future for more shots.

Let's Joe! February 2015

This month, Mike checks in as a sorta-kinda US Army Ranger. I won't promise that he is in any way "accurate" but the uniform and gear are what you might've seen in use from the late 1990s to mid 2000s. OK, maybe not all on the same guy or at the same time but well...yeah! Anyway....


Mike is, again, a GI Joe Super Articulated body. His basic uniform, boots and helmet are from BBI while his rifle and gear (body armor, chest rig and pouches) come from Dragon. This project proved to be more challenging than I first imagined. Highlights include uncooperative helmet straps, missing parts like knee pads, goggles and hand grenades and a bayonet that fell apart at the eleventh hour. *WHEW* Nevertheless, I'm pleased with what I managed to get done by photography day and I'll keep adding and adjusting things as I find them. Next month's Joe is going to be a lot simpler and will be paired with a special guest star. OK, on with the photos!

I've decided to spared every one a detailed "gear head" break-down of all the his equipment but I can certainly add it or answer specific questions if you'd like. 

Project: Obitsu January 2015

Here's the first entry in my monthly Project: Obitsu feature. I want to focus on a different Obitsu or Obitsu-based doll in my collection each month. All of these dolls are 1/6 scale and are either entirely Obitsu or based on Obitsu bodies with other heads. Some of these will include dolls from Azone's era of 1/6 scale hybrids and possibly other manufactures as well.

January's subject is a girl I purchased a year or so back exactly as you see her here. I'm not entirely sure of her background, although she looks a bit like one of the early Mama Chapp Usami-chan dolls. She could also be a custom doll although she looks factory made to me. Who knows? I think she's rather attractive so I don't really care either way!

When I did this photo set, I realized this poor girl didn't have a name or any sort of background. While I still need to come up with a biography, I decided to name her Rainy Mourning. Her last name is a bit of a hat tip to goth model and reality TV personality Wednesday Mourning. Rainy is based on a standard Obitsu 27 cm body with the "hard shell" torso. Her head looks somewhat like an early production Volks vinyl head but I can't be absolutely sure about that. I love here outfit although I think she might need some more elaborate shoes to really pull off this look. Meh...the flats will do for now.

Favorite Photos of 2014

Inspired by a recent post at iHime's Den, I decided to dig through my photo archive and find my three favorites of 2014.

Meg's snow day-

While there are other photos in this shoot that actually show Meg walking in the snow, I really like this close-up of her face. Just wish I'd gotten her face more in focus instead of her jacket. Snow days don't come around here very often so I always try to get some photos when they do. Meg is an Obitsu 27 cm doll, BTW.

In Memorium-

 

A bit of sad serendipity with this image as it was taken during the US Memorial Day weekend but was also posted to honor Don Levine, the man credited as the father of GI Joe for his efforts leading the design and development team at Hasbro in 1963. Mr. Levine had passed away shortly before this was taken and I thought it made a nice tribute to have two vintage style Joes in the photo. They aren't actual 1960s Joes but 40th Anniversary reproductions, since that's what I have.

Mio in the yard-

It's a bit hard to pick a favorite Pure Neemo girl but for me, Mio may have to be the one. I had wanted a Mia for several years and was thrilled when I finally bought one last year. Then older sister Mio was introduced and I was immediately charmed! This is from the first photo shoot I did with her and I like it because everything just seems "in balance" somehow. It really shows her to good advantage and my camera karma was working that day, in spite of high heat and humidity so bad, it fogged the lens. My favorite shot of my favorite PN girl? I think maybe so!

Let's Joe! January 2015

Hi and welcome to inaugural Let's Joe! post for 2015. As I've said previously, the plan is to post this feature once a month and focus on some of the GI Joes in my crew. While there will be some military figures, I also want to do some "slice of life" stuff and humor as well. In fact, I've been actively searching for civilian clothes and accessories so that the whole series isn't just camouflage and rifles.

January's entry doesn't entirely fit either category but leans closer to the military side. Our subject is Col. James D. Wallace, known as J.D. and commander of my GI Joe forces. J.D. started life some years ago as a figure of the GI Joe character "Roadblock". I transplanted his head to a Super Articulated body and he's been the man in charge for the last ~10 years. Originally, he lead a chapter of the Adventure Team (1970s era US GI Joe concept) and later the team morphed into a military unit. The back story of this unit has changed a bit over the last ten years (otherwise it would get boring, right?) but in every case, J.D. and his loyal troops defend whatever nation they serve against forces that seek to destroy them. Usually, they either serve the real world based "imagi-nation" of Aventine or the post-apocalypse/ post-collaspe "Alliance". I can never decide which story I should ultimately present.

At any rate, here are a few photos of J.D. sort of taking the day off. I couldn't find his blue jeans in time for the shoot, so he's wearing camo pants and jungle combat boots. The jacket is actually a WW2 tanker's jacket, although it's very similar to items I've seen sold in modern times as civilian men's wear. The t-shirt is a "Dri-T" but I forgot to take any photos of it. My original idea was to feature J.D. driving some sort of vehicle but I couldn't smuggle one past my kids to take any outdoor shots. Maybe I can do that some time in the future. Who knows? On with the photos.....

2015- The Plan

So, a new year and a new post! First of all, I wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. Second, as I've stated previously, I plan to post features twice monthly that focus on my crew of GI Joes and Obitsu dolls. The first post should be up soon and the next should follow roughly mid-month. For now, my plan is to post the GI Joe stuff around the first of each month and the Obitsu entries around mid-month. I haven't yet decided whether to post on say, the 1st and 15th or pick a day of the week, like every other Saturday. I would love to have some clever banners to use for these posts but that's not in the cards for now.

 In order to make all this possible, I'm trying to work a bit ahead of schedule to build up a cache of ready to post photos. Of course, this takes some of the spontaneity out of the process but since I have to plan ahead and work when I can get a bit of rare free time to myself, I don't miss being spontaneous. OK, I do miss it but the point of this whole exercise was to use discipline and regularity to carve a bit of "me time" out of a life that is otherwise devoted to family and external obligations.

At any rate, look for (the somewhat cleverly named) Let's Joe! and (the not at all cleverly named) Project: Obitsu to appear shortly and run through 2015.