GabrielVH: Hey there! ^^

Evening / Afternoon / Morning all,

 

So I just found out about this place today!

I see I can't yet post BBCode oddly, but I'll do my best to introduce myself.

 

My name's Robert (GabrielVH) Tolton and as my Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/iGabrielVH) bio suggests I love Anime, Figures and Dollfies. Amongst a healthy boatload of other things of course~

I've been collecting figures since about 2008/2009 and Dollfie Dreams since around 2009/2010 and thus far have seven lovely daughters ^^ they are (in order of adoption):

 

Nanoha

Moe

Yui

Sakura

Yuki

Saber Lily

Akira

 

There's some group photos in my Flickr here:

 

Plus my website:

http://roberttolton.com

 

I'm really hoping to get back into DD Photography, unfortunately I've delayed far too long since the last time XD (Which was here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrielvh/5776320347/in/set-72157624494480290/ ) Hopefully with a new audience to share with, I can start again on a more regular basis ^^

 

A little bit more about me, well, I'm a 21 year old Digital Designer guy based in Essex England. Most of you have probably seen, and are using my work already, being that I designed both Figure.FM and Dannychoo.com, plus the Konami sites and recent Yuzu launches.

 

Quick shout-out to any Dollfie Dreamers in Shanghai, China - I'll be in the city with my girlfriend from May 10th until May 27th and may be looking to bring one of mine and my girlfriend's DD-Daughters with me, so if anyone's there and wants to meet up it would be fantastic!

 

Plus, anyone who's ever travelled long-distance with a DD please offer any advice and experiences you have, and if you think it's a good idea ^^;

 

Thanks for reading, I look forward to sharing more and being involved!

Edited April 7, 2012 by Guest

Great to see you on the boards! I've always loved your DD shots, and I have to admit that you are the reason I have a Yuki on layaway ^^;

Hello and welcome aboard! It's nice to have you here, I'm glad you found us!

 

Feel free to poke around and see what's here. We have a really tight knit community here with lots of great people. I hope we get to see you and your girls here more!

 

 

Billy

Hey Robert!

 

Glad to see you finally found us here! I swear I told you about this forum back in January

 

PlasticFantastic, my sister, some friends and I will be in Tokyo in early May for the Dolpa so we'll have some travel tips for you. We get back around the time you head to Shanghai. I have a post about DD Travel on my blog here. Generally DD's are very easy to travel with since they aren't as fragile as resin dolls, and you can bend them to fit into your luggage.

 

I hope you take more pictures of your girls soon - it's totally your fault that I adopted an Akira after meeting yours. She's so cute!

 

I'll let you know if by chance I'm in Shanghai around the time you are - it'd be really neat to meet up with some of the Shanghai DD owners over there, and nice to hang out with you and Siqi

 

See you soon!

 

Patty

Nice to see you here! I had no idea you designed Figure.fm and Danny's site, I am very impressed.

 

Work on hitting 20 posts so you can posts pics of your girls!

Oh, hey there! Welcome to the forum! Being here will very likely help motivate you to get back into DD photography, and may make you want to do photostories too. XD

 

By the way, the shots of your Nanoha you posted on Flikr were some of the ones I looked at in the couple weeks before I bought my own Nanoha, along with DrCow's and Punynari's. Thanks for posting them, unwitting enabler!~

@Alphakitty

Thanks! ^^; Haha no problem, glad you now have a (or in the process of) Yuki!

 

@baldylox

Thanks Billy! It's good to see some friendly and familiar faces, still not sure how I missed this place but oh well ^^;

 

@archangeli

Yeah finally XD You know, you might well have told me but my memory is a real vacuum sometimes ^^; haha

Just gave that blog post a quick read, seems like all the sensible options - so I'll probably likely switch Yuki's delicate current wig out for one of my new simple and straight ones, use a silicone cap and break her into two halves (ouch!) and wrap her in bubble wrap good-'n-proper near at the very top of my suitcase. Definitely not an option to bring the DD carry-case on board the plane with me, people ram their crap in the overhead lockers without even thinking DX

 

I think Akira will be the first daughter I give extra attention to soon haha

 

Do you have my mobile number? If not, nearer the time I can give you Siqi's number if you know where you'll be ^~^

 

@PrettyCranium

Ahh, yep yep Thanks! I'll try my best not to make it look like spam XD haha

 

@Poofiemus

I very much hope so! ^^ I only have myself to blame XD (and complete lack of time management). Haha no problem either! Glad to be unwittingly of help ^^; Good to hear you got her!

Well would you look at that! ^_^

 

Nice to have you finally join us~

@PlasticFantastic

Haha thanks! ^~^

Ahh also:

 

Magical Kitten Akira!

http://campl.us/iFuY

Apologies for the triple post, but until I get BBCode rights I shall show this here:

 

Took some new photos today! Of Akira in her Black Cat outfit, one that's been sitting in the corner of my room for far too long >.> but finally here she is!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrielvh/sets/72157627532525938/detail/

Hey! Welcome to the site! Glad you found us! I've always admired your DD photos. Great stuff! Maybe someday you can share some tip. Also, as a fellow web designer, you've done some wonderful work on those sites, two of which have been a big influence for many here, as I'm sure you know, and I nearly visit daily.

 

I'm curious, is there a story behind the name GabrielVH?

 

Hope you enjoy your time here.

Howdy Averis, thanks for the welcome! ^^ Apologies for the finding taking so long haha.

 

Thanks, I'm glad you like them - though I wish I had a bigger variety of set pieces and props sometimes, plug a helping hand for poses XD Im sure they could be improved ^^;

 

My lighting setup and process isn't too complex; white ceiling lights, 500W Halogen (wall reflected) and an LED ring lamp with 2 filters mounted on my 7D shot RAW and pumped into Lightroom 4.

 

Thanks again! ^^ It's quite a privilege to be able to work on the sites, especially knowing the amount of traffic they receive.

 

Hmm story? Full name is Gabriel Van Helsing, Van Helsing from the legend rather than the [questionable] film was my Halo PC name back in 2003/2004, and has stuck with me every since in varying iterations.

 

Cheers! :D

@Alphakitty

@archangeli

Yeah finally XD You know, you might well have told me but my memory is a real vacuum sometimes ^^; haha

Just gave that blog post a quick read, seems like all the sensible options - so I'll probably likely switch Yuki's delicate current wig out for one of my new simple and straight ones, use a silicone cap and break her into two halves (ouch!) and wrap her in bubble wrap good-'n-proper near at the very top of my suitcase. Definitely not an option to bring the DD carry-case on board the plane with me, people ram their crap in the overhead lockers without even thinking DX

 

 

Yes, you don't want to take her pretty braided wig, it might get wrecked. But lots of bubble wrap is a good call - I know how the overhead bins look on Asia flights. People bring everything AND the kitchen sink with them and try to cram it all in >__<"

 

 

Apologies for the triple post, but until I get BBCode rights I shall show this here:

 

Took some new photos today! Of Akira in her Black Cat outfit, one that's been sitting in the corner of my room for far too long >.> but finally here she is!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrielvh/sets/72157627532525938/detail/

 

SO CUTE!!!

I love the boots from that outfit. Any trouble with staining?

 

Hmm story? Full name is Gabriel Van Helsing, Van Helsing from the legend rather than the [questionable] film was my Halo PC name back in 2003/2004, and has stuck with me every since in varying iterations.

 

Ah so that's what it's from! I just find it funny that when we call your real name you sometimes don't respond, but when we go "Gabe!" you look up.

@archangeli

Yeah considering that wig is liable to fall apart or out of place just by touching it XD I might take Akira with me actually, extra flexibility of DDS could help a lot. Think her hair might be ok, if not a little wide due to the twin tails.

 

Glad you like the photos ^~^/ No staining at all actually, even with black stocking, tight black leather shorts and blue bra straps and she wore it for about an hour or two with posing.

 

Haha whenever I read 'van' anywhere on a forum I automatically think of it as my name XD

@archangeli

Yeah considering that wig is liable to fall apart or out of place just by touching it XD I might take Akira with me actually, extra flexibility of DDS could help a lot. Think her hair might be ok, if not a little wide due to the twin tails.

 

Glad you like the photos ^~^/ No staining at all actually, even with black stocking, tight black leather shorts and blue bra straps and she wore it for about an hour or two with posing.

XD

 

That's good to know. It's one of those outfits I want, but always gets bumped by newer, shinier things! Luts has some boots similar that I might order at some point.

 

You could always pack the wig separately from the doll. When I had Mel (DD yukino) out and about in Tokyo I just put her wig back on each time I took her out for a photo-op. The only time she kept it was when I was walking around Akihabara & Shinjuku after leaving the Volks showrooms en-route to somewhere else.

Welcome to the forums!

It is great to have you joining our crazy little world of DD's on the forums :p

 

Love your name!

 

You are very talented to design both of those websites!!! Plus they look so awesome

I see you have a Nanoha DD!!!! Very cute Fate is my unicorn and since Nanoha and Fate have such similar face molds I am very jealous of your girl

 

Anyways welcome, welcome, welcome!

Hope you enjoy your stay with us

 

Cheers

@archangeli

I think she looks really awesome in it, annoyed at myself I didn't do anything with it for Halloween last year haha ^^;

 

These twin-tail Miruya [spelling?] wigs are meant to be detachable right? I've seen photos of the tails taken off and put back on in different places or pony-tail style but can't seen to get the courage to try it myself XD Would be good to leave the wig on if I can, one less thing to find a separate space for.

 

@T-Rho

Thanks for the welcome! ^^

I think Nanoha and Fate are exactly the same mould but with different eye-brow colours XD

I'd like to get Nanoha a new DD3 body, her hip joints are very loose ToT

I see you have a Nanoha DD!!!! Very cute Fate is my unicorn and since Nanoha and Fate have such similar face molds I am very jealous of your girl

I think Nanoha and Fate are exactly the same mould but with different eye-brow colours XD

I'd like to get Nanoha a new DD3 body, her hip joints are very loose ToT

 

Fate and Nanoha do use the same facemold ^_^

I have loose hipjoints on my Asuka. If I can figure out a successful fix I will make a tutorial~

@archangeli

 

These twin-tail Miruya [spelling?] wigs are meant to be detachable right? I've seen photos of the tails taken off and put back on in different places or pony-tail style but can't seen to get the courage to try it myself XD Would be good to leave the wig on if I can, one less thing to find a separate space for.

 

I'd like to get Nanoha a new DD3 body, her hip joints are very loose ToT

 

Yup, the twintails clip out. The piece where they clip out is stitched together so you can't mess it up. I'll take pic when I get home if you're nervous about messing with the Miruya wig. They are also very easy to take care of - if the tails get "deformed" (bend the wrong way from how you stored it) you can fix it with a hair straightener or even a blow dryer if used correctly (and since you'll be with Siqi she can help you!)

 

I'll ask my Vancouver doll doctor friends about loose hip fix. I think they mentioned it. They told me how to fix my gimpy MDD ankle but I'm too nervous to try it >__<"

 

The Saber Extra DD3 bodies are really squishy!! I don't like it. Her thigh is as squishy as a soft (new-type) vinyl L bust! Akira & my Yukino v.2 are technically "new" vinyl too but she's nice & solid compared to the new run of bodies used for Saber Extra.

Juu-Yuki brought that body to our last local doll meet and we all squeezed and went "woah!!"

@archangeliI'll ask my Vancouver doll doctor friends about loose hip fix. I think they mentioned it. They told me how to fix my gimpy MDD ankle but I'm too nervous to try it >__<"

 

Whaaat! There's a fix for the MDD to try and you didn't share! You know how bold Sam and I are! I'll have to pick your brain to find out how! 0_0

Welcome to the boards!

I love the photos you take ^_^

Whaaat! There's a fix for the MDD to try and you didn't share! You know how bold Sam and I are! I'll have to pick your brain to find out how! 0_0

 

It must have slipped my mind o.o

 

I'll msg Sid and get a more detailed description and pass it on. Then when Maya gets home, she can go into dolly surgery LOL

Whaaat! There's a fix for the MDD to try and you didn't share! You know how bold Sam and I are! I'll have to pick your brain to find out how! 0_0

 

It must have slipped my mind o.o

 

I'll msg Sid and get a more detailed description and pass it on. Then when Maya gets home, she can go into dolly surgery LOL

 

 

Actually, if you could send this info along to Salica, she would appreciate it. She is "kipping" her new MDD girl and is having issues with the ankles, even after reading on Chun's blog about it. So any more info about these repairs and others possible for the MDD would be cool for her to see.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Billy

Hi Robert! Welcome to the forum. You have so many lovely daughters, can't wait to see them on here. I have admired them on flickr before and also enjoy your blog! Glad you found us!!!!