Purchased Barbie and Teresa T-Shirt Pack

Was at Toys "R" Us that day when I saw them. They are not new, these Barbie dolls bundled with a 1:1 T-shirt. I did not pay attention to the joint at the arm last time .. can you spot that in the picture above? Looks like one of those Pivotal body barbies! Mai tu leow .. score!

Not one but two. Below is Teresa, I prefer Teresa's T-shirt design than Barbie's, especially the big doll logo.

Now, I wonder whether there are joints on Barbie's legs. I believe Teresa should be using this "pivotal" body type as well.

Finally Purchased Muriel!

I have waited weeks to score Muriel. Retailers brought them in before my regular contact. As a loyal customer, I decided to get Muriel from him.

My patience paid off. It better be as I waited two more weeks for the stock to come in. Muriel retails from $128 to $140 in places I have asked but I managed to score her for $120 from my regular contact!

Overall a very nice ZC Girl with cool Cheytech M200 and other accessories. I have not bought military figures for a long time because frankly I was sick of those which flooded the market, but Muriel is too hard for me to resist.

Muriel is modelled after Meryl Silverburgh from Metal Gear Solid. I have not played the game but who cares. :P

Purchased TTL Female Body (Brunette)

Went CSC today but didn't buy anything. Wanted to score Muriel but my regular contact told me stock will only be in next week. There was a 'sale' at CSC, the Hot Toys slim or narrow bodies going for $25 (retail $40). They were snapped up quickly. Too bad I'm not into male bodies now, or I would have snapped them up too. But I don't think I had that much spare cash on hand. :P

So I came out empty-handed. Walked to my next destination - The Falcon's Hangar. Wanted to score a TTL female body. I almost came out empty-handed again 'cos the body was not on display. Luckily I opened my mouth .. and asked.

I made a surprising discovery. TFH accepts payment by credit card! Wah, are they the only 1:6 toy shop in Singapore to do that? And best of all, there is no surcharge!!

So I bought the brunette version. Her bigger bosoms (compared to the black version) are not my main consideration. I just find her headsculpt nicer. :)

Philipp Plein Barbie in 1:1

"he was selected to create the birthday dress for the 50th anniversary Barbie®. The occasion is one of a kind, therefore it was the aim of PHILIPP PLEIN to give Barbie® a glamorous and noble appearance, underlining her timeless beauty but still making a statement for an high end fashion queen. The dress is made out of precious Jakob Schlaepfer Haute Couture fabric from Switzerland, decorated by hand with CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements. Soon the PHILIPP PLEIN Barbie® will be available as a 500 pieces limited edition."

From this website. Selling for around $385 .. USD I think! Very expensive right?? But pictures are free, so enjoy these pictures of the 1:1 version. The doll, we can buy it in our dream, haha.

Hilary Duff Fashion on My Obitsu

I did this photo shoot many eons ago. Dressed the Hilary Duff Fashion on an obitsu because she can pose better due to her wider range of articulation. You can see the clothing set in Tecadelic's gallery.

I'm "censoring" her eyes first because they look kinda freaky, haha.

From source, Duff dresses Barbie dolls

Upcoming: Hot Toys TrueType Female Body

Will be looking forward to this. From Hot Toys website:



Highlights:

• Over 28 points of articulation
• Realistic head sculpt with blonde and implanted hair
• A full-torso soft rubber skin layer from neck to waist
• 2 pairs of hands
• 2 pairs of feet (high-heel and flat-heel)
• 1 set of top and bottom
• A figure display stand

Expected release date is Q4, 2009. Woo, looking forward to my first Hot Toy body. :)

Photo Shoot - Otaku 1.2 Blonde in Yellow Bikini (2)

Continued from part 1.

Photo Shoot - Otaku 1.2 Blonde in Yellow Bikini (1)

Finally dressed up my blonde Otaku 1.2 from this post. Yellow bikini from ZC Girl Eve.

Part II of the photo shoot is here.

The Barbie Movie Turns Barbie into a Star

Have you read the news? Barbie is starring in a live action film. Who is the lucky actress?

http://weblogs.variety.com/bfdealmemo/2009/09/u-turns-barbie-into-movie-star.html

Guys and Dolls

From source:

MEN collecting dolls?

Some will tease: The inflatable kinds you can order off dodgy websites?

Others may start to speculate about the collector's sexual orientation. But male doll collectors here are unfazed by the heckling.

"It is better now than a few years ago. Instead of peering over our shoulders, passers-by now come up and talk to me about my dolls", said engineer Aaron Sim, 27, who has close to 200 manga-resembling Japanese dolls in his collection.

With the rise of the metrosexual in mainstream culture, the idea of males collecting dolls - a hobby once associated with young girls - has been gaining acceptance here in recent years.

Toy shops such as Dollz Inc in Wheelock Place and Magma Heritage in D'Centennial mall say about 25 to 35 per cent of their customers are guys.

Media relations executive Sharon Tan, 24, who held a doll convention last December, estimates that there are more than 15 male collectors among the 250-strong community, up from less than five only two years ago.

Most of them are earnest collectors, spending thousands of dollars and hours customising the dolls with props or weapons.

"The dolls, being expensive, make them seem less like boy's toys and more like a serious hobby", said arts student and doll collector Faith Chung, 21.

Most women interviewed agreed and said that they would judge a guy based on the type of dolls they collect and their reasons for collecting then, rather than on their gender alone.

"Some guys might be genuinely interested in the history or the craftsmanship behind the dolls", said civil servant Grace Tan, 27. "But if the dolls are in poses that border on porn, it might change my impression of him".

Said Ms Tan: For guys to be able to play with dolls so openly shows that they are confident enough not to bother about what people think about them.

After all, as they say, real men aren't afraid to wear pink.

So who are these men that collect dolls? And why do they do it?

0ne is a naval combat specialist. The others are engineers. Tough jobs, really. But after work, they go home to a bedroom full of dolls.

Guys and dolls? Strange combination.

Not for Mr He Zhixing, 28, Aaron Sim, 27, and Andrew Ho, 28.

They are part of a small but growing group of Singaporean men who collect Asian ball-jointed dolls. There are about 10 men here who share this hobby.

Originally from Japan and Korea, ball-jointed dolls are resin dolls which are gaining popularity among young adults here for their resemblance to manga characters.

Unlike regular dolls, all their joints can rotate and their facial features and hair can be customised.

A doll would set a collector back by US$200 (S$286) to more than US$1,000, depending on how customised the figurine is.

"They are life-like and much nicer to display and look at than regular dolls", said wireless engineer Mr Sim, who started collecting the dolls two years ago.

He has four of them, which cost him about $1,500 in total.

His dolls, named Shaiya, Maiya, Naiya and Bianca, each have birthdays, hobbies and favourite foods.

Shaiya, the smallest at 26cm, sits by his bedside as he sleeps.

The rest of his collection of 178 Japanese Pinky dolls is displayed across two walls of his bedroom in his family's five-room flat.

The eldest of three brothers, Mr Sim began playing with Barbie dolls since he was 7.

He still spends his weekends designing and stitching costumes for his dolls.

But Mr Sim, who orders the dolls from websites, insists he is not a sissy.

He attributes his hobby to growing up with a seamstress mum and 12 female cousins.

As a teenager, he used to do Cosplay, or dressing up as Japanese animation characters.

However, his girlfriend, Ms Kitty Koh, 22, is not worried that he "sleeps" with dolls.

The customer service co-ordinator owns seven dolls herself, and pairs up her male dolls with Mr Sim's female ones.

She said: Girls like it for dressing up, while the guys are more interested in the technical aspects of the doll.

He also helps friends and other doll collectors restring their dolls for a fee.

The doll clothes he designs are sold on his blog.

Mr Ho, who got to know Mr Sim through the Cosplay community, bought his first doll last July.

The combat specialist spends his free time crafting doll-sized swords and armour, mostly custom designed and commissioned by fellow doll-collectors.

So much so that his girlfriend began to feel jealous.

Said Ms Evon Toh, 25, co-owner of a comics shop "Andrew tends to be quite obsessed when he starts to do something. For the first two months of getting the doll, I was a bit upset that all he talked about is his doll's weapons, but thankfully now it's died down".

On weekends, the couple and their friends take their dolls to the Botanical Gardens for photoshoots.

They also took their dolls to Kuala Lumpur to exhibit them at a comics convention.

Mr He, a technical specialist by day and photographer and graphics illustrator in his free time, switched from collecting fantasy figurines like Spawn and Marble Heroes characters when Mr Sim and Mr Ho introduced him to the dolls last July.

He has nine dolls which cost him about $400 to $900 each.

Well, those are big players. My doll are not that expensive. :P

Triad Purchases - Otaku 1.2 and Harley Chic 3.0

On Sunday I finally got my Otaku 1.2 from my regular contact in CSC. Been waiting for weeks. And I'm slow because most of Singapore seem to have got it already.

Bought a Harley Chic 3.0 black at the same time. Let's see how this Triad clothing set will fit a Triad body.

Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention 2009 (2) - Dolls

Dolls did not come in full strength this year with the Pullips and BJDs conspicuously missing. I had a good time shooting them last year and was expecting this year to be the same if not better. However I did not see a single Pullip in the convention. BJDs fared slightly better - I think there were two or three in this miserable booth. The star this year must be Blythe managed by Dollzinc. Doll after doll, visitors just couldn't stop snapping. I caught a couple of shots myself. Interestingly their focus was on selling Blythe memorabilia, not the actual dolls. The dolls on display were customized by I think this guy called Freddy. I saw him in the booth.

The BJDs on display in the miserable booth.

Nice Blythe backdrop behind Dollzinc booth.

Blythe galore in the booth

Customized Blythe masterpieces on display.

Barbies on display.

These and other photos in my flickr.

Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention 2009 (1) - Cosplayers

Last year's toy convention was a fun-filled event for me (here and here). This year, I waited in anticipation and when the day arrived, I happily zipped down to Suntec for the event. I'd say it is OK but somehow it did not surpass or live up to my expectation. I was expecting to see more booths than last year. Maybe there were more booths this time, but they were not what I'm looking for. In fact, I couldn't even find Magma Heritage or Domuya. Have they boycotted the event?? On the good side, Blythe by Dollzinc has a nice booth this year (photos in part 2), Nintendo (Wii Fit) and cosplayers (including 501st Legion) graced the occasion.

Cosplayers posing for visitors.

Little girls posing with cosplayers.

501st Stormtrooper posing for me. He was kind enough to pose for my Point and Shoot camera. To the person inside the helmet, thank you very much!

Garang girl posing for me candidly. She was caught by surprise.

FF Cloud posing with (chio) visitor.

Young cosplayer posing for female videographer.

and finally .. chio cosplayer posing for nobody.

These and other 2009 convention photos in my flickr set here.

Photo Shoot - Jessie Fashionista

After Red Dreams and Elisha Cuthbert, here is Jessie in her full costume from the boxset. Since body is not included, I took the one from my ZC Girl Eve. Problem is, the black dye has *already* stained the base figure so I might as well make the body permanent for Jessie.