Final Site

The idea for my site is fairly basic, I will display pictures of my collection that I have taken myself with accompanying anecdotes and descriptions. Links to sites of other groups, collectors and suppliers will also be included on another page.

Each page could be on a particular category: designer, creator, scale, character type or the materials it is made of for example. Artist-designed, 1/6 scale, superheroes, designer vinyl, or brand names like Volks or Obitsu are some common designations that I might use.

I have a particular vision of the layout in my head which I do not even know is possible with our given tools. I have not used Dreamweaver for some time, is it possible that we might have access to Photoshop or something like that? I have an idea of a bright white background with a dollup of bright color surrounding each image which has been coordinated to the colors in that image.

Bright yummy colors! Hooray!

Get It?

Just is case you were still under the impression that I meant porcelain baby dolls or Hummels, here are a few from my own collection (not my photos).

Drinky Crow from "Maakies" & "Sock Monkey"

Enid from "Ghost World"

Momoko: "Mama Told Me"

Fangirl Sites

I wanted to post some sites created by people with similar interests to show everyone more of what to expect. Some are blogs or journals, while others include galleries of an individual's collection. Most include tips and scoops regarding collecting or customizing.

The first site was created by comic Sarah Dyer of Action Girl fame. It hasn't been updated in a long while, but it was very helpful in my early days of collecting. Blastmilk is another one that I have been reading for a while. The rest I just found recently. Enjoy!

Action Girl's Guide to Female Figures

Attack of the Anime Toys!

Blastmilk

Engel Mech Dolls

Unwed Human Female

More Thoughts

Besides my toys I may add some other things I find cool to the site that I am interested in like feminism, music, comics, the fine & "lowbrow" arts, or U.S. indie, Japanese and Mexican pro wrestling, but only if there is time and it grows organically out of the rest of the content. All of these topics go together naturally to me because they are part of who I am, but I plan to keep the site as simple as possible at first. It may not be until after we turn finish the class that I add these other elements.

Bright, candy colors will definately be the order of the day on the site. Pink, red, orange, yellow, lime, etc.

Through this site I hope to maybe take part in "The Fangirl Project", because now I have even more impetus to travel hundreds of miles to take pictures of myself with my collection (currently stored in my old bedroom at my parent's house - bless 'em).

Whoops...

Well, apparently we were to supposed to mention how much web design experience we have. The last time I was in school I had to create a site for a class using dreamweaver and photoshop. It was about memory and was called "Wax Tablets of the Mind". It was also jointly taught by a history professor and a psychology professor. We created a "memory palace" based on the mental device of imagining your mind as a building and that all of your memories are located inside just waiting to be removed from a drawer or a cabinet. My site was based on nostalgia and I created photoshop collages depicting a castle where people, characters and phenomena, et all from my youth were all banqueting. The villains from my nightmares, however, resided in the dungeon. This was over seven and a half years ago though, so I don't remember much. I also had a lame geocities page which really doesn't count. Anyways.... :P

Oh, How I Covet Thee...

These are some lovelies that I covet, yet won't spend the CRAAZY dough on.

The Title

Reflecting on my chosen title for this blog, "Sour Grapes", made me wince a bit realizing that it might invoke images of shrieking jealousy and anger. Perhaps then, I should explain its intent.

I first used the name in a dormant creative project to silkscreen shirts and do other crafty things and sell them. The logo was a bunch of grapes with cute, frowny, little expressions which was meant to imply a literal blend of sweet and sour tones. Perhaps this blog could help revive this project which has been hibernating due to a combination of factors including busyness and laziness.

The title can also be applied to the topic that I am considering for my final website project for this class, toy collecting. Not including the toys I had as a child, a few of which I still have, I began collecting during my last tenure at grad school. I wanted something fun and silly to counteract the seriousness of my studies, so I started buying female action figures on ebay.

My collection now includes some more abstract items like designer vinyl figures, but I am still mostly interested in female figures (no offense boys!). In some ways, it does bring me back to my childhood, yet I see them as an interactive form of art that I can hold in my hands.