Hey I'm new to this community, so hello. Here's a few different bases I made in my ceramics class.

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Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Things have been crazy in Gena Land, but I guess that doesn't excuse being a bad site-moderator.

But, I have been steadily working on a new display/art project. It's not 100% finished, but complete enough I feel I can show you.

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I've actually been meaning to show off my collection for a very long time, but the task of photographing them all seemed more daunting than it ended up being in the end. The post is still very image heavy, though, so if you're on dial-up, please beware: 43 pics of my collection lie ahead. I don't actually have a display for them yet (just a crappy little stand with a mirror mounted in the back of it, guaranteeing any picture I took of it would have an unflattering shot of me with the camera in the background) so what I lack in showmanship I make up for in showing the little details in these. I actually only have 23 unique figures right now (hope to expand if I win the lot I'm eying right now). I used to have a lot more, but some I gave away to friends and some were duplicates so I excluded them.

First, for those of you wondering: gashapon translates to "capsule toy", and are a type of small Japanese figure, usually based on anime or video games, although they have expanded to things like Disney and other popular characters, both Japanese and western. The name comes from the fact that these originally came as prizes from capsule machines (i.e. the gumball machines with the plastic eggs with toys inside of them), but lately they more commonly come in small boxes that can be purchased individually or won as prizes in UFO catcher machines (similar to our crane games, only a little more difficult). The boxes they come in tend to be "blind boxes", meaning you have no way of knowing which figure you're getting until you open the box, which keeps some of the surprise aspect of their roots. I tend to purchase them in cases, which guarantee that you will get one of each from a collection, but some sellers will sell individual characters on the condition that the blind box has been opened to verify the character inside. (Most of my duplicates resulted from me getting a blind box at an anime con or as a gift and then later getting a case.) Some of them have been released in America pre-assembled with a normal action figure cardback/plastic casing as well (I'll note which of these were pre-assembled American versions. For the ones that come in pieces, I usually superglue them so I don't lose pieces).

( My Gashapon CollectionCollapse )

I think, by and far, photography is my favorite part of collecting. I am a filmmaker in real life, so photography seems like a natural offshoot of that. However, I only got my first still camera a little over a year ago, so I am actually a beginner, though I did know some cinematography concepts that could cross over.

My number one goal when doing doll photography is to make it look real - to make it look like you've captured a moment that could be real life. It's instilling life into something stationary, and giving it a story to boot. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don’t, but I always have fun.

I’m not a pro. I know there are way better photographers out there than me. However, this forum is partially for sharing knowledge, so I’ll try and impart a little of what little I’ve learned. Rather than give you a boring list, though, I thought I’d use some of my own photos to illustrate neat tricks and concepts I’ve learned, and traps to avoid. They range across the board experience wise, so hopefully there’s something for everyone. Enjoy!

P.S. Picasa is great. If you want to know when I took a picture, and what settings I used (like, what lens, what aperture, all that fun stuff) just click the “more info” button on the side of the page and it will tell you. God, I love technology. Now all we need are in-camera GPS systems and in-camera note systems and I’ll be a happy camper.

Photo Tips 'n Tricks 4/13/08 7:53 PM

P.P.S. This post took a lot longer to get up than I intended, because I first tried to do it in Photobucket (most of these pics were already uploaded there) and it kept deleting my picture descriptions. Apparently, "Save and Continue" in Photobucket land means "delete on a whim." So, just FYI, put all Photobucket picture descriptions in a Word file so you don't lose them when the program goes crazy nuts.

So, we all know we love our collections for some reason or another, but what part of your collection, or collecting, do you hate? I wonder, what really grinds your gears about the way your fandom works, or what annoys you about the company that makes them.

For me, in the land of DCU Animated Action figures, it would have to be the surplus of certain character figures over all others. Each year, at various toy fairs and conventions, Mattel "debuts" a surprisingly large number and variety of new, unique figures. Oh, this year you're going to get Black Canary, that green Fire chick, Volcana, Orion, Mr. Miracle, and all sorts of bad ass B-List comic heroes you pine for to fill out your collection! Oh yeah, it's going to be rad!

So you squee with giddiness and hop up and down in your chair with excitement and you make damn sure you're at Target every Friday afternoon (or Saturday, if you can't swing it) and what do you find? Legions and legions of three packs and singles consisting of a mixture of the following characters: Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, with a dash of Flash and Wonder Woman thrown in for good measure. And not only are these the same characters we've seen for eons and eons, the same characters we've already been forced to buy excessive duplicates of because the Three-Pack paired Vigilante with Batman and Super, but they don't frackin' even change the molds or paint jobs! Meanwhile, the special, unique characters you saw online are only available--online. You wind up paying ridiculously high prices because you're going to have that Green Fire Chick, damnit, if it's the last thing you do.

Oh, and the figures don't stand very well on the own.

So, Ok, your turn. Bonus points for citing obscure toys.

Ok, new forum and all, so I wanna know:

1. What do you collect?

2. How did you get started?

3. Do other people know what you collect? Do you share your collections with the general population?

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I wanted to do something un-girly for my first real post to this community, so as best to appeal to a wide audience.

Unfortunately, I am not an un-girly person. I'm just about the girliest person I know. Correction: The girliest person I know who also collects action figures. And while I have a Batman: The Animated Series collection that would give any hardcore Dark Knight fan a run for their money, I have not yet, unfortunately, acquired the space to build my dream, holy-grail of a play space: a scale Gotham city.

I have, however, achieved a much more attainable goal: homes for my American Girls, that provide valuable storage and, at the same time, simple but effective backdrops and settings for my dolls.

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( Thar be photos ahead, ahoy!Collapse )

* You can blame this partially on the AG Fandom, but mostly to my love of tiny houses and tiny things in general.

G.I. Joes, dolls, Ninja Turtles, model trains, My Little Pony. Everyone has a favorite, and some people love their toys so much they branch into collecting. It seems like everyone has a different niche they fit into. But what do most collectors have in common?

The desire to share their interests with others!

Play ‘n Display is a community that puts typically peripheral parts of collecting into the spotlight: Diorama building, photography set-ups, organization, all that stuff that takes fun and imagination, but isn’t necessarily limited to your own favorite specialty.

Play ‘n Display is created to bring a variety of collectors into one place, to share our accomplishments and swap tips and tricks of the trade. So sit back, enjoy, and please, if you have a hobby or special collection, feel free to join!