;I
my period of mourning is over, so now it’s time to start the reshelling process of Tybalt (my old migidoll Ryu), incompetent landlord (really a property manager) and movie-addict hoping to write a screenplay that will one day be considered ‘Classic’. I never said any of my characters were cool. Who am I, a person who works at Marvel? No. I am not. But I have been spending some spare time (read: sleepless nights) looking into new sculpts that might suit my lovely little glossophobic Tibby. In the past I’ve done the reshelling process while the sale of the past doll was going on, but now that Tybalt has been gone I’ve had a much longer time to think about what I want next. Did that make sense? I keep watching Jessica Jones and checking to see if my video has processed yet and keeping all my thoughts in order has, as of late, been difficult. I think I need more sleep.
Anyway, Tib.
The thing is, when I first made the character of Tybalt, I was thinking solely about his actions. His appearance didn’t come until much later. I don’t know how many others in this hobby can relate to that – BJDS are incredibly visual (only visual to some) – but owing to his method of creation his appearance felt changeable. I think I might touch on this a little in a video at some point. Maybe. That little ditty being said, the first things that come to mind when I think of Tybalt’s appearance are ‘strong nose’, ‘curly hair’, ‘biracial’. So those are some of the things I’ve been looking for in a sculpt. Of course tan skin isn’t the easiest thing to find despite being more widely available, especially because I have height restrictions (taller than 61 shorter than 65) and color restrictions (a lighter tan than Stefan, although he’s fairly orange) and attempting a hybrid tan doll is like solving a Rubik’s Cube with 18 sides. Don’t misunderstand – I’m loving the variety of skintones companies offer. But matching one to another is a nightmare. Normal skin, white skin, that stuff isn’t too bad. If the match isn’t perfect, who cares? They are usually all so pale the camera registers them as the same color anyway. But the difference between tan skintones isn’t just shade but hue, and the rainbow of tan just keeps getting bigger. So large. Stop growing. Not really. Keep growing. Grow all you want. okay. So to satisfy my crazy mad planning-lust, I am now going to write down some suggestions for Tib. 62 cm Islanddoll Louis – I love his brow bones (is that weird?), the height is good, and his face works well for what I’m thinking of. A sort of mixture of Ryu and something new. Also, the price is nice. But their site is confusing, he seems to be available on other sites but he’s ‘sold out’ on Islanddoll. Confusing. The only skin available on other sites is ‘tanned’, which is a little deeper than what I’m really looking for. 61 cm Gem of Doll Murphy – His face intrigues me and the height is okay, but I’m just not sure he exactly works with Tybalt’s character. I wish they had pictures of the black sculpt, or at least some without that heavy faceup and wig. Again, the option of ‘tanned’ might be a little too deep. An undecided Senior Delf Sculpt – Okay, just under my height requirements and possibly too young looking, the senior delf might actually be a good option. Pricier than the others, brown skin is the right color (and free) and I think with a more ‘realistic’ faceup the sculpt might look a little older. The downside is the price, plus paying extra for the non-muscular body which would not fit Tybalt at all.
I’m still looking around, but so far these are my highest contenders (if I was into recasts a tan male Dia might be an okay option, but eh) so far. I guess it’s also worth noting, in case I look back on this later, that I do enjoy the Angell Studio tan – but the sculpts I like are a bit too tall and muscular for Tib.
I guess there’s nothing to do but keep looking and hoping that when the time comes and I’ve saved the necessary cash, I’ll know what I want.
It shouldn’t be too much of a concern for at least a few months yet, maybe not even this year. I’ve told myself (as I often do) that I should focus on clothing and bodies before buying more bjds so I can stop with the constant stream of floating heads that pass through my home. Stream of floating heads. Hum. That sounds delightful.