OSF Member Introductions . . .

Hey guys! My name is CJ. I was cmathis92 over on OSW and "life and times of mini me" on Instagram. I got into 1:6 stuff when I was around 10 with the usual GI Joe figures and others. In 2013 I bought my first real 1:6 figure, a nude Crazy Dummy Seal Team Gunner figure. Since then I've "tricked" him out with a ton of guns and gear. I use him to fulfill many of my life goals I haven't been able to achieve such as having tons of weapons, gear, vehicles, being a military veteran, and so on. He basically lives my dream life. I've been taking and posting pictures of him since October 2013. I use a mixture of real scale and 1:6 stuff for my series with him also and try to have fun but still be serious at times. I've taken over 1,100 pictures of him since I started. Anyway I want wait to start posting here and hope to make some more friends.

Ps. I apologize for jumping around with my introduction, I suffer from a history of concussions so bare with me.

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Welcome aboard Life and Times. I’m sure I remember your Mini-Me posts from the Old Site. Glad you could find your way to us. I’m sure you’ll recognize many of the names here.

A very warm welcome to you, CJ! Glad you could join us, and I look forward to seeing your photos here.

Thank you Stryker and Skywalker much appreciated! I can't wait to browse and get more acquainted with this forum!

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Hi folks,

i´m a new member, so i think it´s only fair to say Hello.

My real name is Bernd, i´m from Barbaria (southern Germany) and i´m in 1/6-stuff for quite some time.

My passion is kitbashing / scratching things. Unfortunately in the last few years i kept stockpiling more and more stuff and i just don´t have the time to get all my projects done or even start (bcs of job and real-life things...).

Nice to see so many people from OSW on this forum!

greetings,

Bernd

Greetings and welcome, Bernd. Glad you could make it.

A warm welcome to you, Bernd!

Servus Bernd, Welcome!

Hi! I’m tinyumbrellas, I came to this hobby a bit sideways, I mostly collect and customise ball jointed dolls in 1/3 scale. I have a couple that are 70cm tall, so big boys! I wanted a couple of figures I could take out of the house easily, and a BJD artist was selling custom heads that fit COOmodel bodies, so here I am! I’m mostly active on the Den of Angels forum but action figures can’t be discussed there...

I enjoy learning new things, currently I’m investigating how to make very realistic styleable wigs, so if I make any progress I’ll be sure to share here too! I hope there will be some interest despite my figures not being military or celebrities

I’m now struggling to find the type of body I require, and looking at drastically modding one instead, so here I am to try and find out if it’s possible!

tinyumbrellas wrote:Hi! I’m tinyumbrellas, I came to this hobby a bit sideways, I mostly collect and customise ball jointed dolls in 1/3 scale. I have a couple that are 70cm tall, so big boys! I wanted a couple of figures I could take out of the house easily, and a BJD artist was selling custom heads that fit COOmodel bodies, so here I am! I’m mostly active on the Den of Angels forum but action figures can’t be discussed there...

I enjoy learning new things, currently I’m investigating how to make very realistic styleable wigs, so if I make any progress I’ll be sure to share here too! I hope there will be some interest despite my figures not being military or celebrities

I’m now struggling to find the type of body I require, and looking at drastically modding one instead, so here I am to try and find out if it’s possible!

Hey there, and a very warm welcome! I'm always excited to see 'doll people' here, as I think there is more intersection/crossover between the hobbies than many realise, and it's great to see people sharing their knowledge between them! While I didn't get heavily into dolls prior to finding 1/6, it was indeed initially my interest in creating a 'doll' that brought me here, mainly because of the modification/customisation possibilities. 

Style-able hair at smaller scales definitely piques my interest, so please do share.

And there are plenty of folks here who customise figures other than military and celeb stuff, so you are not alone. 

skywalkersaga wrote:

Hey there, and a very warm welcome! I'm always excited to see 'doll people' here, as I think there is more intersection/crossover between the hobbies than many realise, and it's great to see people sharing their knowledge between them! While I didn't get heavily into dolls prior to finding 1/6, it was indeed initially my interest in creating a 'doll' that brought me here, mainly because of the modification/customisation possibilities. 

Style-able hair at smaller scales definitely piques my interest, so please do share.

And there are plenty of folks here who customise figures other than military and celeb stuff, so you are not alone. 

Thanks, it’s nice to meet you!

I’m not sure if non members can see this, but here’s an 80-something page thread about realistic hard cap wigs for 1/6 (or thereabouts) sized dolls! https://denofangels.com/threads/hard-cap-wigs-for-small-heads.598886/
Some of them are sewing individual hairs into a hard wig cap made from stockings and glue, this gives the impression of a scalp out of which the hair is growing, some people are ventilating one hair at a time into wig mesh, it’s very intricate work but the results are outstanding!

Hello and welcome aboard, TU. Glad you decided to join us. Don’t worry too much about the difference between “Doll” and “action figure” — that debate crops up from time to time, but the bottom line is simply — these are all dolls; some are just more realistic than others. I think you’ll enjoy the work done by many of our members here, and as skywalkersaga said, not all of them are of celebrities or military — though in the 1/6 realm celebrity head sculpts are far more common it seems. By the way, if your not aware of it, Doll wig caps in 1/6 scale are usually size 4 (sometimes smaller, but never bigger).

Thanks Stryker!

Yes that thread I linked began as a 1/6 ish discussion but wanders into larger head sizes, as larger dolls are more common. I couldn’t imagine ventilating a wig any larger than 4 inches, even that size is making me hesitate! My two heads are indeed 4 inches and quite a good fit for 1/6 bodies, I’m sure there are doll wigs aplenty in that size I could buy, but I think I’ll make a form fitting wig cap and make my own just to try it out

The distinction between doll and action figure to me is blurry, though the line between art doll and limited / custom action figure is blurrier still. Little representations of the human figure that give us hours of fun posing, playing, and customising

tinyumbrellas wrote:The distinction between doll and action figure to me is blurry, though the line between art doll and limited / custom action figure is blurrier still. Little representations of the human figure that give us hours of fun posing, playing, and customising

Oh, it really isn't all that complicated. Boys don't like to play with "Dolls", and some get offended by the term (probably because they think it emasculates them somehow). "Action Figure" was a term created back in the 60s to get boys to play with GI Joes -- even though it's still a "Doll". Me, I could care less what they are called: "High-End Collectibles", "Action Figures", "Dolls". It means pretty much the same (aside from price). My wife calls them "Over-Priced Barbies" -- and she's not completely wrong. I guess the best distinction between the two "doll" and "Action figure" is most dolls have limited articulation and less detail (aside from perhaps the clothing), whereas the action figures that most here collect are highly detailed and have near-human articulation in many instances -- at least at the 1/6 level.

Stryker2011 wrote:

Oh, it really isn't all that complicated. Boys don't like to play with "Dolls", and some get offended by the term (probably because they think it emasculates them somehow). "Action Figure" was a term created back in the 60s to get boys to play with GI Joes -- even though it's still a "Doll". Me, I could care less what they are called: "High-End Collectibles", "Action Figures", "Dolls". It means pretty much the same (aside from price). My wife calls them "Over-Priced Barbies" -- and she's not completely wrong. I guess the best distinction between the two "doll" and "Action figure" is most dolls have limited articulation and less detail (aside from perhaps the clothing), whereas the action figures that most here collect are highly detailed and have near-human articulation in many instances -- at least at the 1/6 level.

Well, I didn’t want to offend by saying that! And I’m not a man so I can’t know whether I’d find it emasculating to say I collect dolls.

Ball jointed dolls are just as articulated, some even have every finger joint, and many are very detailed and realistic. They’re art dolls for adults not toy dolls for kids that’s for sure. I think 1/6 figures can be for either. You’re right though I think action figure denotes a focus on posing ability and articulation.

I think Stryker is referring to a viewpoint that he encounters on other 1/6 scale forums, usually put forth by a certain demographic of male collectors who have a somewhat outdated and narrow-minded concept of what makes something a 'doll' vs. an 'action figure', and the inherent [in their opinions] value and/or gendered nature of such things. Obviously, in thinking that way, they end up perpetuating an overly simplistic view of both dolls AND action figures, imo, and I can understand why Stryker would be frustrated by repeatedly running into that kind of mindset. 

Thankfully, I think that people on this forum are pretty open-minded about what an action figure -- or doll, for that matter -- can be. : ) 

And I completely agree, tinyumbrellas, that there are many types of dolls out there that have very complex articulation. In fact, the subject of articulated model horses often comes up here, and interestingly, one of the few I've encountered that was even remotely convincing was an OOAK horse created by someone with a background in BJD's, rather than in action figures.  

I have great respect and admiration for those who work with and create BJD's, and I love the whole concept of 'art dolls'. I don't have personal experience with BJD's, but I'm always seeing such gorgeous examples online and drooling over them. But yeah, I love dolls in general, though the only higher-end doll I have in my collection is a Tonner repaint.  I know that Peaches, another forum member here, is into customizing both dolls and action figures in a wide variety of scales, though she hasn't been around much lately. 

There are indeed many differences between the art doll and action figure communities, and I think those are mainly to do with the overall aesthetic preferences, materials used, and aims of customization. What I personally tend to define as a 'doll' is something that is more stylized in both face and body, and is primarily an artistic piece that has a focus on beautiful/interesting aesthetics. In comparison, at the moment, the action figure world seems, to my eyes, very much about replicating certain things precisely, such as real people, or movie characters, or achieving high levels of realism in a smaller form. Which is not to say there is no crossover between the doll world and action figure world in both respects, but that is just my very generalized observation. 

Of course, we have many examples here on this forum of some incredible creators who transcend that generalization -- one has only to look at the works of ReverendSpooky, Ephiane, Ovy, AlKelAstra91, and many others to see how artistic and creative 1/6 scale action figures can be. And likewise, I've encountered some stunning dolls in all scales which have incredibly detailed sculpting, painting, wigs, etc., and achieve high levels of realism in their own right.

As someone who appreciates art and beautiful things in general, there are aspects that appeal to me about both hobbies. My observations lead me to think that the goals of doll-making vs. action figure customization do tend to differ a little, but that ultimately there is so much to be learned from each other. My personal goal since starting my various 1/6 projects has been to create custom action figures while utilizing certain techniques frequently used for art dolls, such as repainting, wigs/re-hairing, etc.

Ah, my misunderstanding!

Skywalkersaga thank you, that was a very insightful take on the hobbies there are quite a few 1/6 BJD collectors buying parted out action figure clothing and accessories, it’s rare to see a proportionate bjd at that size so the clothing options are thin on the ground! Thankfully the 1/6 world provides generously!

I have noticed a trend towards realism in one sixth scale, BJDs can be all kinds of levels of stylisation, personally my preference is “realistic but not uncanny valley”

Apologies for my scant reply, I’m on mobile and can’t type easily

I'm Nekk-ra. I've been lurking for over a year and decided to join up. Not new to 1/6, but spent several years away from the hobby and decide to/made the mistake of throwing my hat back in to the fray.

Nekk-ra wrote:I'm Nekk-ra. I've been lurking for over a year and decided to join up. Not new to 1/6, but spent several years away from the hobby and decide to/made the mistake of throwing my hat back in to the fray.

Welcome aboard. Glad you finally decided to sign up.

Yes, welcome, Nekk-ra! Glad you decided to join in the madness.

Welcome Tiny Umbrellas and Nekk-ra, glad to have you here!

@tinyumbrellas, would love to see some of your collection, I'm fascinated on instagram by some high end dolls sculptors and painters, it's a very close world to this 1/6 "action" hobby, with a lot more sophistication and realism in the materials and finishes!
I invite everyone to check Tendercreation website, or @tendercreation on instagram as an example of very high level female dolls/figures that make our jointed bodies look like old crap

@nekk-ra we kinda ll made that mistake at least once!

blackpool wrote:

@tinyumbrellas, would love to see some of your collection, I'm fascinated on instagram by some high end dolls sculptors and painters, it's a very close world to this 1/6 "action" hobby, with a lot more sophistication and realism in the materials and finishes!
I invite everyone to check Tendercreation website, or @tendercreation on instagram as an example of very high level female dolls/figures that make our jointed bodies look like old crap

Agreed!! And for those who don't 'do' social media, there are tons of amazing doll artists on places like Etsy as well. 

ETA: There is such a high level of artistry in that hobby, it's amazing. My dearest wish is to blend the best aspects of both hobbies together, but I currently lack the skills and resources to accomplish that....

blackpool wrote:Welcome Tiny Umbrellas and Nekk-ra, glad to have you here!

@tinyumbrellas, would love to see some of your collection, I'm fascinated on instagram by some high end dolls sculptors and painters, it's a very close world to this 1/6 "action" hobby, with a lot more sophistication and realism in the materials and finishes!
I invite everyone to check Tendercreation website, or @tendercreation on instagram as an example of very high level female dolls/figures that make our jointed bodies look like old crap

@nekk-ra we kinda ll made that mistake at least once!

I did look at tendercreation and wow!! Art dolls for sure.

Ah, I’m afraid my dolls are not fit to be seen at the moment! Wigless and naked in their boxes, to protect them from the UV light. To give you an idea I will tell you what I have, and Google might fill in the gaps for you although mine are painted differently of course! I will try to unbox them soon in order to take some photos. They have been with me so long I don’t know where the arrival photos would be.

I have a Nabarro Har on a Limhwa male body, an Or-doll Anderl and a Zaoll Luv. Two 70cm boys and a 50cm girl.

Hello, I'm new to collecting, sliding in from the Marvel fandom with a history in art. My first figure is a Phicen M32 with an Avengers Loki head sculpt.

This is my second try making the mohair wig. still wip. Pardon the bad photos, shot with my phone. Made his PJS. His nipples colored with permanent marker.

Welcome aboard, Drachenkinder. It’s always good to have new blood on the board. Nice PJs, and that’s a pretty good start on the hair.

Welcome, Drachenkinder! That's a great casual 'Loki' you've got there.

I agree, nice Loki kitbash and modification. Re-hairing and nipple-painting (this sounds kinda funny to see it said and spelled-out) are among some of the things many of us have done, so you're work fits right in. I'm sure we all look forward to more.

Hi guys and girls,

well, what can I say? In December 2014 I visited a small exhibition in a nearby village. Topic was Lord of the Rings. I did not know what to expect, but there were all kinds of Dioramas, Statues, Life size Weapons and Figures of all sizes. I was blown away and thought: I need some figures myself. I started out collecting Sideshow Statues - Sauron and Darth Vader - for an evil collection. But soon I realized I wanted something more than Statues, especially for my other hobby: Photography. I want them to pose differently or build my own stuff. Thus I quickly sold them (what a hassle to find good packaging) and looked around for action figures on a message board.
When Coomodel released their first Knight SE001 around end of 2016 I was hooked - because I fecking love knights.  It doesn't need to be realistic or historic correct ones - fantasy knights are perfect too.

After I bought some knights - I wasn't satisfied again. I love them but simply buying them wasn't enough. I want to create sth.
I'm on several message boards and try to improve my kitbashing and building skills. I'm still a beginner, but love to read and look at other peoples work. How they did it. Stunning. I will still buy nice figures though :p

happy to be here.

Beautiful figures and photos, Valiarde! I loved to read your journey and how you ended up here. Really looking forward to seeing more of your creations and collections. 

Also, nice new profile pic and signature!