The doll meet was lovely! The best thing, I reckon, was meeting lorentine – not only because she brought me the beauty seen on the photo, but more so because it’s nice to confirm that spending time and money on “barbies with huge heads” doesn’t make me a weirdo, lol..

We’ll have to look into arranging a Pullip meet! Or (Asian) fashion/playline doll meet, perhaps?

I am also toying with the thought of having a summer convention where I live – the area is popular for summer vacationing, being in the south and by the sea – but I haven’t quite persuaded silence_bliss yet (she would have to house some of the out-of-town people).

I’ve posted pics of some of the people attending this weekend’s convention, though mostly close-ups of what they were doing (faceups, modding, stringing, sueding, sanding…).

DollCon Oslo 2009 on flickr

Doll pictures and a more thorough resume and review of the meet to follow, it’s 2am now and work tomorrow!

Gah, my Lati White is _still_ “being prepared”, and it’s been 36 working days since I ordered her, weekends and Chinese New Years not included..! I have her bed ready and all (I got the cutest, tiniest, bunk beds from Kaja™ yesterday). I was hoping so much for her to be here by now, as I am off in a couple of hours for a Doll Convention in Oslo. It’s a mini convention, we’re meeting at the photo studio of one of the girls (skumringslandet), but still – three days of doll fun! I will be there all Saturday, hopefully my poor Shin will get new eyebrows and even a round with a glue gun! I had ordered him a new fur wig as well, but of course I chose to do so with one of the merchants infamous for their lateness (coco_doll_work), so that one’s not here either. Nor is his new sweater, which was custom made and shipped by Sunny’s Wonderful World a week ago (however, I still have hopes it’s arrived at home today).

I do have something new to show off tomorrow, though: my mint Zuora has arrived, and she’s really gorgeous! She and Nomado were the two girls who turned me into Pullips, and Nomado was my first doll to arrive (and 15th, and 16th, lol!). Somehow I never got around to getting Zuora, there were always other girls tempting me – but now she’s here, and we’re both thrilled about it! Thank you, sis cutsiedotnet, for helping out when the seller hesitated to ship internationally! <33 As per usual, I crashed on the couch the day she arrived, and yesterday was my overtime day at work, so no pictures yet. I reckon this will be remedied during the weekend, though - along with the zillion bjd photos I expect to be taking..! I am looking forward the most to see U-noa girls up close, yay.

Oh, and to meet lorentine, my co-admin at ShopaDollic, and fellow Pullip lover, of course! It’s not like there’s a huge community of Pullip owners here in Norway, which means it feels extra special finally meeting another “weirdo” face to face..! ;) Plus, she will make sure to broaden my doll collection, as I am adopting a J-Doll from her – a big sister for my Class Mates.

Other expectations for the DollCon: get a new bjd carrying bag, since the one I’ve got is stuffed when I put Simon, Ceres and Pi inside, perhaps a top or two for Shin, see how faceups are done, get a can of MSC, hopefully sell off some of my Barbie/playscale outfits, and above all: take lots and lots of pictures (I have three memory cards, and my camera batteries are fully charged!) and admire all the pretty dolls..!

And on Monday I will be able to pay for the Prunella that I have on hold, and a twin Butler. Getting closer and closer to a “complete” collection now, only RIDa left – plus any future releases which may trigger my interest.. Like Sebas-chan! <3 Heeeh, which makes me think of a recent topic at the kuroshitsuji community: why, WHY, is it ever a bad thing that your favourite series become popular? This would mean that your precious manga-ka will be able to earn some hard deserved money for his/her effort, doesn’t it..? And more merchandise will be made, too. Elitist fans never cease to amaze me, lol…

New dolls: nude re-wigged Namu Vispo, still un-named (although “still”: he actually arrived today, so I guess I am allowed to think about it for another couple of days?), a nude J-Doll Picasso St. East, and a bald Licca head. Isn’t Vispo just the most handsome Namu?

The Licca head is put on a 23cm male obitsu, and is sporting the Sleeping Elf wig I’ve shown off before, the one that resembles the Sweeney Todd ‘do a little and which has been worn by Class Mate Takeru as well as Cherishdoll bjd Pi before her. I don’t feel too bad about giving her a male body – it’s not like it’s anatomically correct, it’s just flat chested and a bit more athletic over the shoulders than the female versions. Dressed up she looks as feminine as any other girlie doll!

She will be getting a BFF in a couple of weeks, I’ve just arranged to get another Licca head (this time with the rooted hair still intact, although with a short cut). Their names will be Pepper (my current girl) and Crystal (the one who’s joining later, she’s got blond hair)!

I started out last year with an overwhelming eager for photography. I’d just acquired my macro lens, and spent hours every day taking and post-processing photos. The eager lasted for quite a while, but during fall (as the dolls won my heart) it kind of ebbed off. I am not blaming my dolls for this, because photography was the main reason for collecting dolls in the first place. However, I’ve spent way too much time on eBay, flickr, and doll forums..! During the Christmas break, I’ve had time to think this over, and I’ve come to the conclusion that a) I have (almost) all the dolls I really want now, b) I certainly have enough clothes, shoes and other accessories for them!, and c) I’ve been awfully lazy this fall in regards to anything creative, be it photography, web design, or drawing. We still haven’t gotten around to setting up that hobby room, but at least we’re closer than before – we have all the brochures we need and have more or less decided on which shelves, desks and lamps to get. My new years resolutions will have to be:

So, on Friday I met with another doll collector, living in my town! It’s been a weird autumn, first discovering that I am not the only Norwegian Pullip lover, then finding a Scandinavian Pullip forum, fast forward into finding a Norwegian bjd forum – and on that forum, a member (silence_bliss / Idril) living only a mile or so away from me..! I don’t feel weird anymore, yay!

Idril has the most beautiful dolls, btw, just look at these (click for larger view at flickr):

She’s got one more, but I didn’t have a portrait oriented photo of him, lol.. I had a really nice evening, and am grateful for having had the chance to see larger bjds irl. As gorgeous as they might be, I don’t think they’re for me. I reckon appr 40cm is my comfort level when it comes to doll sizes. Oh, and speaking of: my UNOA _finally_ got shipped off yesterday, I was really close to panicking by now, being that I paid for him 9 days ago. Last week, I managed to find his previous owner on DoA, and it wasn’t until I PMed her there that I got a reply to my questions on shipment and such (her eBay account remained silent once the payment was done, wonder why I got nervous..?). I still haven’t really allowed myself to relax, but she’s got wonderful feedback on DoA so I reckon it has just been a series of (very) unfortunate events that kept her from communicating in what I’d call a natural frequency.

I was also speaking with another Norwegian collector about purchasing her UNOA girl, but alas that didn’t happen. Then there was an eBay auction, quite cheap and with an extra (sleeping) faceplate – but the faceup was not the best, and the seller didn’t respond when I asked him about a negative he’d received, so I let her go. I still haven’t given up on finding a cute UNOA Sist to add to my family, though.

Oh, and on terms of letting go: I think I’ve been cured from my Dollmore Lilis Liv obsession. I’ve been dreaming about that girl for years now, she’s my default icon over at my personal journal, and the main motive of the abjd fanlisting that I run, but sadly – owner’s pictures show a completely different girl. She’s on eBay right now, for nearly half her price as new, but I am not bidding. Except from my disappointment with those pictures, part of that is caused by how I’ve come to realize that large dolls are not for me – she’s 57cm tall.

Nah, I think tinies are for me, actually – I carry my little Chubby boy, who’s been named Pi, with me wherever I go, faceless as he still is. I’ve been looking at almost every mold of tinies there is, and come to the conclusion that I like those who have something particular about them. The Latis are gorgeously drop deadly cute – but I don’t think I’ll get one. In stead, I find myself increasingly fascinated by Sleeping Elf’s creations, Mina in particular. I think I’ll get one with a boy’s body and one with a girl’s body. S/he’s not pretty in a traditional sense, but s/he’s got that something extra about her/him that just hits home with me: