DD Plans and Hopes: 2018

@ Kazumi - well, I really like your plans for 2018. Congrats on winning a bidding war! That's always stressful.

 

And I haven't written my 2018 plans, because honestly my plan is to BUY ALL THE THINGS, but I suppose I should be more realistic...

 

My main goal will be to get another girl, but I'm unsure of which one. I have a few favorites (Rin Tohsaka, Melty, Momo, Saber Lily), but I know that it will take me all year to save, and no one is likely to somehow magically get one for my birthday.

 

So right now, I'm buffing up my collection of clothes, wigs, eyes, etc. I'm working on my sewing as well, since that is (or will be) a great way to get more variety of clothing. Also work on my photography skill.

 

So those are my 2018 plans!

 

and @ RiverR - congratulations on your newest addition! Let us know what you decide to name her! What color eyes are you planning to match with the pink hair? Can't wait to see some photos!

@SylvanJade Thank you! Oh gosh, they get so stressful in those last ten minutes... think you've won and someone tries to swipe w/ one minute to go and the timer adds an extra 5... Staying up wAY toO LaTE.

 

SABER LILY IS GORGEOUS BUT SO EXPENSIVE CRIES. But Rin had another release yeah??? I freakin love Rin, so not that my opinion matters and not that you asked but I'm going to give it anyways: Rin or Melty.

 

Those are all really good goals, though! I wish I could sew. Sadly, I'd probably just end up with a really cool pocket on my hand or smth. I swear, my dolls can never have enough clothes. I should probably focus on more wigs at this point since that's where I'm lacking. I wish you the best of luck with saving up, and I hope your sewing progresses well!!

@SylvanJade - thank you! I'm so pleased she's home! To match with pastel pink hair, I like darker orange/brown shades, blues (like cotton candy! hehe), and purples. So when my eye molds come in, I'm going to make a couple pairs in different colors and see what happens~

 

And I totally relate to your desire to BUY ALL THE THINGS. It's cool that you're working on sewing, too! That can be a great way to build up a wardrobe economically. . . as long as you don't go crazy buying lace like someone I know. *whistles innocently*

I want to keep my plans and hopes for 2018 simple. That was one of my biggest issues in previous years just wanting to buy too much and just overwhelming myself.

 

1. Not to spend money I don't have on anything doll related or new dolls. That was a terrible habit I had in the past buying 'just because' or 'depressed spending to make myself happy' So that means for sure this year no new additions. I have plenty of girls no need to add to anymore.

 

2. Not to go overboard with Volks clothing releases. I use to spend way too much trying to grab as many outfits as possible. This year I'm limiting myself to picking out one favorite outfit and trying for it.

 

3. To share more!! I stopped taking pictures for awhile so I want to take and post more photos of my girls.

 

4. Organize my DD clothing storage bins. I need to go through and re-package several things and get items that have been separated back together.

 

5. Work on Rin's look, I'm still not 100% on her wig and eye combo.

 

But most importantly I hope to actually make the most and enjoy this hobby. I let myself get too caught up in trying too hard and worrying too much what I did or shared wasn't good enough.

 

And I'm happy to report that it's already May and so far so good I've held true to what I've planned out.

It's May now but the doll plans I made at the beginning of the year were:

1) Get a DD Sheryl Nome

2) Take good pictures of all my dolls

3) Buy/sew everyone in my crew a new outfit

 

So far I have succeeded in buying a dd Sheryl (yay!) but not successful in taking pictures and sewing. Well I still have 7 months to get it done so there is hope!

I don't really know the implicit social rules around here, so someone tell me if resuscitating month-old threads is taboo! I just really like the concept of this one ^^

 

Plans:

1. Get Mari a full body.

a. Fix incoming body.

I have a Y!J fixer-upper on the way, which is probably a bad idea for my first DD but I like a challenge. Gotta reinforce the joints (Coolcat whatchamacallits), fix the surface (cleaning, de-staining, and some light sanding if the texture is bad), and whatever else comes up.

b. Finish Mari's body.

Obtain upper torso frame, DD feet with frame (she has Obitsu feet for some reason?), and then arms and hands. (Marketplace access here should help with those aims? Hopefully?)

I think she's a DD2/3 but I should figure that out for sure once she gets here.

 

2. Make Mari some clothes.

a. Start with simpler/casual clothing.

Socks and pantsu, skirts, pajamas and stain-free storage robe, T-shirts, cute sweaters, simple blouses/buttondowns, dresses... just fun and not-too-complicated separates, and no pants yet.

b. Make some more challenging/complex pieces and outfits, once groove is back on.

Pants, matching sets, and cosplay time! Definitely distressed skinny jeans and shorts. Maybe Mami Tomoe's magical girl outfit, a trenchcoat, lingerie, and business and sports outfits, if time permits.

 

3. Get Mari eyed, wigged, and shoed.

 

4. Get better at faceups, and colour-match Mari's (probably) SWS head to incoming (probably) NS body.

 

 

Hopes:

1. Saleable DD clothing.

I'll be able to make high-quality doll clothes once I get my sewing groove back on, but it might take a while, and I'll be pretty busy once school is back in season. We'll see what happens! I'd love the chance to make the money I spend on this hobby more of an investment and less of a luxury, but I'm not going to get my hopes up just yet.

2. Low costs on doll parts.

I can hope, right?

3. Continued perseverance!

Low costs, lots of work, and lots of sewing!

 

My uni student budget sucks garbage, but I think I can make this work!

Well, it's halfway through the year but I do have some goals.

 

The first goal is to get my first dollfie dream (I'm hoping to get a Miku) and the second one is to make a few outfits for her.

 

The third goal is to buy another dollfie dream.

Mid-year (ish) Check in:

 

-STANDS ARE ORDERED AND ON THE WAY. Yaaasss. I maaay have also caved for some clothes. And that fish they had on promo.

 

-Sewing: Nooot much on this front. I did make Homura some snazzy brown pants, and I made Abby a cute little sun dress. I'm hoping to do some more sewing after I do the fish and rearrange both the living room and the craft room.

 

-I've bookmarked some backdrops, but haven't purchased them. Still, I have it narrowed down, so that's some progress?

 

. . .really, the furniture rearranging is the big hangup when it comes to getting to the sewing. The craft room isn't inviting at all right now. Once I manage that, I'm hoping inspiration will follow!

 

Also, on the "i didn't plan for this but i guess it's happening" front, I maaaay have started up a blog? Not sure if I'll keep it, but I'm having fun with it for now. firebirdflaire.com/dorkydollymommy Yes I know the colors and fonts are terrible. That's the idea.

my new plan for now...

get MDD body in normal & semi white color

With only about 3 months of the year left...

 

1. Get a DDIII body for my Sailor Moon head and one of DD standard models to keep her company.

2. Get another standard model on a different body, so I will have all three to craft for.

3. Get a blank standard head to start practicing anime-like faceups on vinyl.

 

4. Read this thread thoroughly for great ideas!!! Because I just barely touched it and found and absolute must:

 

5. Organize clothes for my doll family. I already did this with shoes, wigs and eyes. Clothes and accessories are on the list.

 

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you!

So with only a few weeks of 2018 left, how did everyone go?

1. actually make a thread for my dolls on here

2. Get 9S and Luka

3. Decide who I have to part with for an entire year and take those back to Australia when I visit in July, to cut down on the amount of dolls I will have to eventually ship home. Worst comes to worst we're drawing straws lol.

4. Get Mel's face repainted! This is hopefully happening soon as one of my fave faceup artists is reopening slots either this month or next.

5. Now that I have a Nikon, improve my photography! And travel with my dolls more. I'm not really comfortable taking outdoor photos in this town because I dont need to give the people here another reason to find me weird but I'll definitely take them to other places. I am already planning to take Miku to Sapporo next month.

 

1. Done! I finally made that thread. It took me almost the whole year, but hey.

2. Half-done! I was lucky and got Luka from Dolpa, and 9S turned out to be preoder so I don't get him until next year but his deposit is paid. Although I also ended up keeping the DDH01 I had been planning on selling after I got a body for it and thus Tilo was born, so I did actually get 2 new ones this year.

3. I wrote this when i was considering staying in Japan for longer but then I ended going back home in July like I originally planned to after all. In the end I shipped Luka and Miku together and tetris'd everyone else into my carry-on suitcase.

4. Got this done courtesy of Subaru in May and am still extremely happy with how he turned out!

6. I can't really say if my photography improved, I still barely know how to use my DSLR. I got a bunch more travel pics in though, in both Japan and Australia, so I'm happy for that.

I wondered when this thread was going to start.

 

-BUY AT LEAST TWO ALICE'S COLLECTION'S STANDS. The cheap-as-free craft store ones I have are starting to die, and between having magical girls and skate dorks, I need something that can handle action poses.

Let me know when you do that as I want to get a couple too, and ordering together might make shipping cheaper. But then ordering that many at once might slow the order fulfillment down, as last I heard they always seemed to be out of stock.

 

Other items;

- Clean my bedroom and make a doll "dresser." It'll really be shelves that I put the totes O have their outfits in. Having a stack of totes makes it hard to change their outfits if the one I need is on the bottom, as it always is.

- I have a new sewing machine, and have had it for like 3-4 months. Haven't pulled it out of the box yet. So I need to make something! Was going to over the holidays, but everyone took turns getting sick instead.

- Do everything I can to get Sailor Moon and her extra outfit this month.

- Get Karin.

-Keep an eye out for the perfect SWS head for a MDD I have in mind.

 

I know what will happen will be different in the end, but this is my plan.

 

- I didn't get any Alice's Collection stands.

- Didn't make what I had envisioned at that time, but I did get one of those ClosetMaid cube shelves with the fabric drawers to put all the clothes in. I have it sorted by size and it has made it easier to get around to dressing the girls.

- All I did was make a skirt for the last gift exchange, and as soon as I get to sit down I'll be making something for this gift exchange. Other then that my wife has used it for my son's band uniforms when hers was giving her grief. And it now sits on my girls' closet cube shelves.

- I did get Serena and the extra outfit, so score there!

- I did not get Karin. I got Illya instead. I still planned to get Karin, but then Nanao Yuriko was released and she would fit my OC better, but due to no job, I was unable to get her.

- Still looking. Yes, Illya is a SWS, but I wanted her as her, not my MDD OC. So still kinda looking, but without a job, wouldn't do me any good to find a head as I couldn't get it.

 

So all in all I guess you could say I got 3 out of 6.

This year saw the addition of Sheryl Nome, Freyja Wion, Saber Extra, MOMO, KOS-MOS, Snow Miku, and a Super Dollfie 16 to boot! So yeah, all that stuff about feeling done with new dolls served as nothing more but an invitation for my impulsive nature to more that double the number of dolls. If I want to make an excuse for myself, I'd say that nearly all the girls added to my household were ones I'd had my heart set on when I started on this hobby trip.

 

Scaling back my purchases? LOLOLOLOLOL! Nope. That didn't happen. I bought the girls plenty of clothes.

 

The only furniture I've purchased for my girls this year is a plastic chair I found on the clearance aisle at WalMart. I didn't even buy that Volks couch thing.

 

I can't say I've really improved at photography at all. I kind of stalled out somewhere in the year and haven't gotten back to it with the same intensity as I had been attacking the activity. However, I did get some lights so my photoshoots had better lighting than what the New Horizons and the Voyager probes experience.

 

The one thing I did succeed at was getting stands. All twelve of my dollfie girls have metal stands. So win in that category at least.

My big goal at the start of the year was to finish getting all the existing iM@S girls, which I managed to do.

 

I’ve periodically told myself I wanted to get an SD16 through the Volks USA FCS, but that still hasn’t happened.

I never made or posted a list, but my mental list was to rebuild/complete doll#1 and get all parts and assemble doll#2 and post pictures here. Body for #2 is on the way so I have a little over two weeks I might still make it if I don't do the usual-for-me procrastination.

 

Otherwise, I often comtemplated Sheryl on Mandarake and I got her with the Volks rerelease so there's that.

 

And I now own more doll clothing than I have clothing for myself.

 

Edit: Well the year is over and I didn't accomplish the above as usual.

It's time to break my yearly rules again.

 

1. DO NOT buy any dolls, unless it's another tan girl or 9S (I've already broken this rule. I bought a head at 12:34 am on January 1st. She's very cute though).

2. Buy bodies for my two MDD heads and the impulse head from Jan 1st.

3. Buy a tall bookcase to relocate the ladies to, as I've run out of room for them where they're currently hanging out.

4. Attempt to buy a digital camera, so that I can try to get some decent photos of everyone.

5. Do more with my dolls. Take more pictures of them, change their clothes more often, etc.

6. Buy more shoes and socks for them. They don't need more outfits.

7. Secure a male body for my incoming Jeanne head. Please make the male bodies standard, Volks!

8. Buy at least one doll stand. I always have to sit my dolls down at meets.

9. Complete Poppy's stain treatment this year.

 

 

I never updated this.

1. Succeeded. Didn't buy any other DDs after that one impulse head.

2. Failed. MDDs still need bodies.

3. Failed... because I have nowhere to put the bookcase.

4. Failed

5. Failed

6. Failed - I really didn't buy anything for them in 2018.

7. Head obtained, but no body. Failed.

8. Failed

9. Failed

 

I didn't do much with my dolls in 2018. I started a new job in 2018 and now I don't have as much time for them. 2019 will likely be the same.

I didn't post in this thread a year ago because, well, my plans were to not do anything.

 

I joined this hobby in November 2017 when I received a doll as a gift and joined this forum on January 1, 2018. My plan then was to buy maybe 2-3 extra outfits but do nothing else. It didn't work out like that since I instead went crazy with outifts and bought one complete doll (Sheryl) and pieces for another.

 

Edit: I see I posted just above this and forgot. This post would be what I planned when the year started; the one above was a few months in after I lost my sanity.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Guest

I got the Obitsu body and converted it to male for Remy, AND I got a second Youmu and Obitsu body so he could have a twin brother! Plus Miki got her shapely large bust, and she is very happy. Nia Teppelin arrived, but although she is adorable, I didn't like her as much as I thought I would. She will be moving on.

 

I did get Len Kagamine, but cute as he is, I don't think he will be staying. The twins seem pretty happy on their taller Obitsu bodies.

 

For 2017... I quit my old job last year, so I won't be doing any buying until I find full time work again. I really need to concentrate more on things I can do now, like dress and maintain my existing DD family. But Volks Mirai and/or Melty are on my wish list, and I would love to get the Saber Santa outfit someday.

 

Nia Teppelin and Len Kagamine did indeed move on in 2018.

 

Got the new job, so that was helpful and encouraging. But I didn't get Mirai or Melty, or the Saber Santa outfit. However, I DID finally bring home Sheryl Nome from the reissue last summer! SUPER thrilled about that!

 

For 2019, I will be bringing home 9S for sure. Don't have any other DD related concrete goals at the moment! But I still want Mirai someday, and Makoto.

 

Linda S.

galatia9

Edited January 10, 2019 by Guest

You would think I would learn to not overextend myself.

 

What I did manage to do is. . . an erratic mess compared to how my post from last year was organized lol.

 

-Stands? CHECK. Oh man these things are great, I should have gotten them years ago.

-Make at least something for Homura. I made her pants. It was the first time I made pants, so I'm pretty happy with those.

-Bought Smart Doll Eiji 2.0 to be Viktor Nikiforov. I had been trying to make him a reward for making a skate outfit for Yuuri, but. . . I am weak.

 

Also, the blog, which holds a lot of my old Figure.fm content, is now on dorkydollymommy.com.

 

This year, my main focus isn't doll related:

-Make two new websites, one for my professional portfolio, and one for crafts/handmade nonsense that won't fit on the professional portfolio or on the doll site.

-CLEAN THE FRIGGEN CRAFT ROOM FFS POOF JUST DO IT ALREADY YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE THE DESK

 

I would love to give Viktor a new faceup, and finally do some sewing, but the craft room cleanup HAS to happen before that, really. . . especially the sewing.

 

I'm kind of hoping the new websites will lead me to a new job, with less customer service and more monies, but we'll see how that part goes.

Perhaps it's time to start a 2019 thread. Right now I haven't thought much about my plans for 2019, still trying to recover from 2018's problems.

2018 was a somewhat successful year! I achieved my ultimate dream DD, bought Matoi, got those Nier dolls and finally had the experience of buying from Doll Point and splurging on Volks website. It was fun. My clothes collection grew and most of my girls got what they needed bare minimum. I also figured out what direction I wanted to go in with the hobby as a whole (I also collect resin)

 

 

For 2019 - here's my plans.

 

Most of my plans this year are for existing dolls.

 

1. Get display cases. Just save $60, go to IKEA and get those glass cases. Just do it. Because I need like 10 of them with all my dolls and anime figures.

2. Get doll stands to display girls in said cases. I had two, one of them broke, here we are... a gladiator battle for the stand every day.

3. Actually pick up the camera and learn how to take better pictures. Stop getting overwhelmed by not knowing and learn. They're beautiful and deserve to be treated beautifully.

4. Focus on buying more high quality clothing for existing girls.

5. Complete any of my projects Projects include installing LED into Miku and Matoi (when she arrives), making dioramas for my AP girl and buying props for everyone and casting bust stands to display dress sets on.

6. Start my Idolmaster girl collection. I have wanted to for years and put it off and off and off mostly because I want to give them the displays they deserve and don't have that. Once I get my first case though... let the collecting begin! Though I might have already broken this rule and am possibly... maybe purchasing a Kaede >_>

7. Save for 2B and 9S so I don't get kicked in the face when the payment request comes in.

8. Repurchase my tan girl although this might not happen until 2020.

9. Ultimately lay low, save money, focus on spending only for existing dolls or be patient to save for who I can afford.

10. Oh yeah, buy shoes. >_> Stop fearing the shoe price tag and just buy them.

I know this says 2018, but I don't see one for 2019.

I guess I will share here then?

1.) MDD Arle

2.) DDS Miki Hoshii

3.) DDP DDH11

4.) Outfits for all~