A Darryl [& Talon] Retrospective
I've been meaning to put this together for some time, despite how embarrassing it is for both me and for poor, poor Darryl. I mean, really, I'm going to be trotting out photos of his earliest resin shells, from back in the days when I could barely work a camera. But I think it's interesting to see how he has evolved over the years, and how my skill has evolved, both as a photographer and as a doll owner. I chose Darryl for this project for two reasons; he is both my oldest doll (I had other dolls before him, purchased in 2003, but those have completely moved on), and also one of the dolls that I own that has gone through some of the most significant transitions while still remaining recognizable as a permutation of his original self. Because Talon also features so prominently in many of my photos of Darryl, this retrospective focuses somewhat on him, as well. SO! Carry on my wayward son, there'll be peace when you are done.
Circa February, 2005. This image is from one of the first sets of photos I took of Darryl, when he was fresh out of his LE Kohya box from Volks. His default LE faceup was summarily stripped off upon arrival (I don't think I even photographed it), and I replaced it with the clumsy, no-less-effeminate-but-at-least-slightly-less-day-glo one seen in this photo. Talon is also seen in this picture, despite being purchased well after Darryl, because his secondhand hybrid parts (Volks F-16 head, old Souldoll body) arrived before Darryl did. Talon is sporting probably the worst faceup I ever slapped onto a doll, and we're not even going to talk about the materials I used. Remember, this was back in the days shortly after DoA came into being in its present (forum) form, and information on these dolls and how to work on them wasn't widely available. It's amazing I didn't stain him.
Circa late January, 2006. Before all that long, there were a couple of big changes for these two. Darryl and Talon both got proper faceups from Kisakisama on DoA. Darryl also got his wonderful dragon tattoo from DoA's AkoeAbsolute, whom I knew locally. And finally, just before this photo was taken, Talon received a body upgrade, from the clunky old-style Souldoll 60cm body to a brand new Volks SD16 male body. This is the head and body combination that the F16!Talon continued to wear up until his retirement in early 2012, and now wears in the "retired dolls" cabinet.
Circa April, 2007. The next big change came when Darryl was upgraded to a new body. It meant the loss of his dragon tattoo, but the new Dollstown 15Boy body was a much more appropriate ride for the Kohya head. His faceup was also wiped, as the Testors sealant that the artist had used had badly yellowed, and was replaced with a temporary faceup by me.
Circa July, 2008. Talon of course was also suffering from the yellowing Testors, and went out with several other heads to get a faceup from Kuro of Stoicboy Aesthetics. Meanwhile, Darryl spent some time down in San Fanscisco with GreenJudy, St. James, and idrisfynn, and while he was there idrisfynn was kind enough to repaint him for me. Both of them retired in these faceups.
Circa May, 2009. At some point Darryl picked up a pair of jointed Soom hands, but those have since been passed on to his replacement self...which brings us to the most recent (and hopefully final) major resin transition for Darryl and Talon.
In June 2011, Kohya!Darryl on the Dollstown 15Boy body was permanently retired to a glass-fronted cabinet, replaced by his new self, an Iplehouse Asa on a Fairyland Feeple65 muscular male body. The Asa hybrid version of Darryl took the jointed hands, just to add injury to insult. His faceup (and the faceup of the tan Asa version of Wren beside him) is by Lachlana of DoA.
Not that long after, in January 2012, F16!Talon was likewise retired, but at least the only thing his new self stole was his shoes. His replacement is an Iplehouse EID Arvid head on an Iplehouse SID male body. It's a hybrid combination that Iplehouse insists is impossible, and will not work. I disagree with that assessment. His faceup is by Momochu on DoA.
Circa August, 2012. Finally, and most recently, Darryl's body has been re-assembled after spending some time in pieces while DoA's hane created once again an interpretation of his dragon tattoo.
Talon certainly seems to approve of the new ink.
This entry was originally posted at http://kiyakotari.dreamwidth.org/160342.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Circa February, 2005. This image is from one of the first sets of photos I took of Darryl, when he was fresh out of his LE Kohya box from Volks. His default LE faceup was summarily stripped off upon arrival (I don't think I even photographed it), and I replaced it with the clumsy, no-less-effeminate-but-at-least-slightly-less-day-glo one seen in this photo. Talon is also seen in this picture, despite being purchased well after Darryl, because his secondhand hybrid parts (Volks F-16 head, old Souldoll body) arrived before Darryl did. Talon is sporting probably the worst faceup I ever slapped onto a doll, and we're not even going to talk about the materials I used. Remember, this was back in the days shortly after DoA came into being in its present (forum) form, and information on these dolls and how to work on them wasn't widely available. It's amazing I didn't stain him.
Circa late January, 2006. Before all that long, there were a couple of big changes for these two. Darryl and Talon both got proper faceups from Kisakisama on DoA. Darryl also got his wonderful dragon tattoo from DoA's AkoeAbsolute, whom I knew locally. And finally, just before this photo was taken, Talon received a body upgrade, from the clunky old-style Souldoll 60cm body to a brand new Volks SD16 male body. This is the head and body combination that the F16!Talon continued to wear up until his retirement in early 2012, and now wears in the "retired dolls" cabinet.
Circa April, 2007. The next big change came when Darryl was upgraded to a new body. It meant the loss of his dragon tattoo, but the new Dollstown 15Boy body was a much more appropriate ride for the Kohya head. His faceup was also wiped, as the Testors sealant that the artist had used had badly yellowed, and was replaced with a temporary faceup by me.
Circa July, 2008. Talon of course was also suffering from the yellowing Testors, and went out with several other heads to get a faceup from Kuro of Stoicboy Aesthetics. Meanwhile, Darryl spent some time down in San Fanscisco with GreenJudy, St. James, and idrisfynn, and while he was there idrisfynn was kind enough to repaint him for me. Both of them retired in these faceups.
Circa May, 2009. At some point Darryl picked up a pair of jointed Soom hands, but those have since been passed on to his replacement self...which brings us to the most recent (and hopefully final) major resin transition for Darryl and Talon.
In June 2011, Kohya!Darryl on the Dollstown 15Boy body was permanently retired to a glass-fronted cabinet, replaced by his new self, an Iplehouse Asa on a Fairyland Feeple65 muscular male body. The Asa hybrid version of Darryl took the jointed hands, just to add injury to insult. His faceup (and the faceup of the tan Asa version of Wren beside him) is by Lachlana of DoA.
Not that long after, in January 2012, F16!Talon was likewise retired, but at least the only thing his new self stole was his shoes. His replacement is an Iplehouse EID Arvid head on an Iplehouse SID male body. It's a hybrid combination that Iplehouse insists is impossible, and will not work. I disagree with that assessment. His faceup is by Momochu on DoA.
Circa August, 2012. Finally, and most recently, Darryl's body has been re-assembled after spending some time in pieces while DoA's hane created once again an interpretation of his dragon tattoo.
Talon certainly seems to approve of the new ink.
This entry was originally posted at http://kiyakotari.dreamwidth.org/160342.html. Please comment there using OpenID.