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I would like another one of these girls. . .  I have three, one in each size she came in, but I would definitely like another.  The one in the pictures is one of mine, and my favorite of the bunch.

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Sweet Heart by TsurukoMaiko, on Flickr
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Sweet Heart by TsurukoMaiko, on Flickr

Of dolls I don't have, I'd like an Effanbee Dewees Cochran, though I'm more hunting down grail dresses for another doll at the moment, as I just can't afford a $400 or more doll, and clothing is more affordable.  BUT!  I'd like one like this.  They came in a bunch of sizes with a bunch of hair, eye and mouth options.  Preferably closed mouth, with open/closed eyes, though the painted eye ones are pretty too.  Definitely like the larger girls over the smaller and more common versions. 

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Good to hear that you've got it all sorted out.  It's always annoying when your car has a problem that you can't seem to figure out.  And even more annoying when you can't seem to fix it yourself.  Especially when it seems designed to for space-efficiency underhood with little regard for how to remove things or fit in tools so you can.

Out of curiosity, what are you driving?  The mention of a performance package piqued my interest, and the mention of its age. I prefer older cars myself, mid 2000s and earlier. they seem to be far less complicated, especially when it comes to electronics.  Although that doesn't stop problems from happening...

I'm driving a 2003 Grand AM GT, with the Ram Air not the ST variant with the dual intake hood, but I'm working on that after I get new tires and rotors and brakes for the back end.  And yes, there really isn't that much garbage on it, not like my mom's torrent( Which has been a nightmare with its electronics ), but not quite as tech-free as my Dad's 2001 Dakota or his 2002 Trans Am, and also more tech than my old Grand AM.  She was the basic model, didn't even have automatic windows, hahaha, but I never had any issues.  At least the electronic problems I've had, are not really the car's fault.  It's because someone went in there and did some very stupid things.  There has been other crap that my father and I have ripped out of her, including the most ridiculous remote start thing, which was initially what we thought the issue was, but it continued to persist, obviously. 

My 76 Firebird, thankfully has no electronics, hahaha, except for an electric choke, bwuahahahaha. 

So, today, I'm in the hole for another $400 on my car, but I'm actually happy.

After nearly 14mos of issues and the car not registering any codes, the problem was finally found.  Funnily enough, the problem turned out to be something that I have been trying to tell the mechanics that I thought it was.  I was told a year ago they were 60% sure it was the computer, and I said no, it couldn't be.  The car I drive has pretty much an indestructible computer, and is one of the very last things to ever break on them.  If they ever break at all.  A contact on a forum for this model of car swore they were practically NASA quality stuff, and I believe it, given it looks like a big iron brick with some connections in it. 

Now, I had noticed very early on that the car had issues when it was particularly humid ( Florida, hahahahaha ) or we had an especially nasty rain storm.  No mechanic would listen to me, ruled me out on it being a moisture issue/wiring issue, and even my father, a mechanic himself, could not find the issue, but he is a classic car mechanic, he doesn't work on modern cars. . .  Though, I think mine is at least slightly vintage now. . .  She's 12 now.   

Anyways, I never had such a problem before, even though my previous car was the same make and model, and I drove that car for eight years.  She drove like new, despite having nearly 200k miles on her when a nanny with five kids and an oversized SUV slammed into my back end at 35mph.  Which is exactly why I bought another.  One, I'm short and petite, and it's really hard to find a car that fits me as well as this particular car, and comfort too, also, I think they're a gorgeous car, and this one seemed to have landed perfectly in my lap at the right time.  While she was a year older than my first, she had almost 100k less miles, so not exactly fully broken in, she was mostly clean body and interior wise, and she had the performance package and trim, PLUS a sunroof.  It's hard to find these cars not beat on, they're pretty hardy little cars, they take tons of punishment, but I did want a nice car and not a junk pile, and pickings were slim, given my old one was a 2004, and they were last made in 2005 and in very limited numbers, so the newest I was going to get was a 9yo car, unless I wanted to go with the new body style which is totally blah, in my opinion in terms of looks, while being the same car underneath(The KBB also retailed them to be 4k more for the same miles as the older model that I got, with a 3year difference in age ).  I'm vain, what can I say?

I knew I would be repairing some things on it, but she drove pretty well off the lot, had a nice, solid idle, especially for a then 12 year old car.  Two weeks later I thought the transmission was going out on her when she started slamming in and out of gear.  But I soon noticed that when she did that, she was idling extremely high.  It would surge and drop, so the car would take off like it was possessed, then suddenly not go anywhere.   However, the car would magically stop this crap every time the weather turned nice and hot without a lot of moisture.  Rain storm hit?  She'd start acting up again.  Every time, I'd drop the car off at the lot, and the weather would brighten up, and the big fat Florida sun would come out and cook the crap out of her on the asphalt.  Come September she stopped the crap completely, until about 3 weeks ago, after a particularly nasty storm I was driving through to get to work.  She started it immediately during the storm, and continued for some days thereafter until it got dry again.

So, took it in today, and told them to basically humor me.  Pull the car apart, check every connections, and if something looks nasty and corroded, fix it.  I get a call about 4pm.  They found the issue.  Turned out it was all the wiring in the back of the engine bay, and the cam shaft sensor being wired severely stupid.  Someone had pretty much rigged the wiring in back where neither me or my father were really able to get at ( the motor mounts have to be pulled so the engine can swing forward, while removing all the coil packs to get at this particular part of the engine ) and YES, they were corroded, and yes, they looked as if they were being shorted out from water or stupid bumps, and they were all wrapped in cheapo black electrical tape and not proper automotive tape.  They were able to wiggle the wires about and replicate the issues the car was presenting when wet or a bad bump had jostled her about. 

Now, I only need to dump another $300 for some new back tires and another set of performance rotors and pads for the back wheels to match the front, and I'll hopefully be done with this automotive nightmare! 

Well, I guess this means I know a little about cars in all actuality, despite being treated like I know crap because I'm a woman, nevermind I do my own oil, spark plugs, rotors, brake pads, anything to do with lights, etc, etc, etc. . .  I mean, I can't do a gasket job, at least not on a modern engine ( though I'll be tearing apart a Pontiac 350 hopefully this fall to rebuild on my OTHER car that has sadly not been able to be touched since I purchased her, because of the issues with the daily driver ),

Sorry for all the blah blah, I just wanted to get some of that off my chest. 

I do really understand the frustration of not being able to own a rare doll. 

I am an antique doll collector; you have no idea.  The dolls I collect have been out of production for almost a century now.  80 years on the head nearly for my most favorite doll.  Some are more common, and some are so rare that they rarely show up on ebay.  Not like Punzie rare.  Not like Greek rare or Lady Bird Rare.  Like, one every two years rare.  They go for thousands of dollars if they're easily found, and still hundreds if they're really hidden.  My favorite comes in three sizes, 21, 24, and 28 inch.  The 28 inch is so rare, that in a decade of hunting, I have only seen her appear twice.  The first time, I was lucky to grab her, the second time was a month ago, and I just did not have the funds.  It sucked.  But them's the breaks.  Be grateful that the doll you want you have a half-way chance of getting as she is still modern.  You have all the time in the world to wait and save, and that's what I suggest.  Trust me, when I say, waiting and getting the REAL thing will be so much more satisfying than opting for a cheap knock off.  If you're posting on the forum like this, and asking for people's opinions, their is clearly some guilt, and I think were you to opt to get a recast, you wouldn't love her as much as the real thing. 

I am really against recasting, and I don't own a single modern bjd.  I have a few Germans, an antique Japanese and an American hard plastic bjd, but nothing like the resin and modern girls.  I think it's a big no-no, and tantamount to art theft.  Even I know that most doll companies are very small operations.  Cheap dolls made in China, knock of dolls, etc, is part of the reason why the doll industry is the way it is.  Trust me when I say the US used to make beautiful, gorgeous dolls, but people got cheap.  They didn't want to pay money for 'toys' any longer, and companies had thinner and thinner profit margins.  The companies that stayed small, stayed in the US?  Well, they went out of business.  The ones that have remained in business shipped their factories overseas, and started making everything China for dirt cheap.  And thus, the American doll market is mostly crap with little care to quality or beauty.  And it's not in the least that things were cheaper in the past and everything just got more expensive.

And that's what's going to happen to the BJD companies when recasters start eating up what profit margins the real companies have.  When you buy an authentic doll, you're making an investment in the company.  You're helping them pay for the next thing they make.  When you buy a recast, you're just paying the recaster to buy another doll to recast and steal another person's labor. What happens if all the BJD companies go kaput?  When no more new dolls come out because the recasters have forced them out?  I mean, maybe I'm getting into a bit of hyperbole, but I think of dolls as a high art form, and in Japan, one really needs to understand that dolls are considered a high art form.  Japan, which has many BJD companies, considers certain doll artists as national treasures.  They think of doll making as much of an art as painting, sculpture and photography; which it is, in my opinion, and I think that does demand a certain amount of respect, and I just don't think it's very respectful to take someone's dedication, time and effort and just copy it and undersell the artist so they cannot sell the product they themselves made because someone has stolen their work. 

I'm not going to condemn or yell at anyone for buying a recast, or ostracize them for their choices; but what I've wrote is just an attempt at some food for thought, basically. 

Honestly, I'd like to learn how to cast my own dolls, or else do recast work myself; but for some of my antique dolls.  I'd like to produce reproduction parts for myself and other collectors; especially when it comes to rare dolls, when sourcing a parts doll, and trying to justify parting such a rare doll out to fix the same rare doll. . .  For me, it'd be better to make replacement parts, preferable with material-correct pieces, so cold-cast composition, which is almost a lost art. 

I just try to think of it like this:  If you were a doll artist, and you found out someone was making money off a doll you made initially by recasting it, how would it make you feel?  I know I would be very angry, and hurt, especially if it was something I made to support myself.  So please, try to think of the artists and people who work for these legit companies, and think about how hard they work and how much dedication they put into their art and craft. 

I also want to say that I have been a victim in art theft, and that I used to sell photo prints online until my work started getting stolen and sold on websites for cheaper than what I was selling my work for.  It's the same thing as recasting.  It's taking someone else's work, and using your own materials to copy it and remake it.  In the end, I had about a 50/50 success rate getting my work taken down from sites, but I no longer sell my photography online, and it's been years since I've been able to sell at shows or anything like that.  The experience has forced me out of ever making money on my photography and I think that in part is why I don't like recasts, because I know what it's like to have someone make money off of my work without any fair compensation to me. 

TL;DR

Quote from: Regenveertje on May 06, 2015, 03:37:15 AM

Quote from: Twilight Pink Navarro on May 05, 2015, 05:22:25 PM

Just curious: Why is this "Annette" person so bad? Did she do something to Nightwish? :s

Pretty much. It's kind of a long story, but when she joined the band, many people were disappointed because she turned out to be not very skilled, especially live, and especially after someone like Tarja (though she does have lot of fans too).
But that's not the biggest issue; when she was let go from the band three years ago, she took every opportunity she was given to sling mud at the band in very childish ways, including some lies (not that they are angels, but still). To make a long story short, she basically turned into a bitter teenager, giving stabs under water all the time, supporting "Floor Jansen Haters" pages, and so on. It's a shame really, because even people who loved her voice can't bring themselves to support her anymore (my main source for this is the Nightwish forum, but of course there are exceptions).

This pretty much sums it up. 

I'm going to have to politely disagree and would like to offer a counter viewpoint. I am rather fond of both Tarja and Anette stylistically and as people. Honestly, Anette's style is very similar if not the same as Sharon's from Within Temptation so I am rather baffled when people say Anette couldn't sing. Since Tarja and Sharon could pull off an amazing duet, I feel that Anette and Tarja would be equally incredible together.

I think the problem stems more from Anette being such a departure from Tarja's style and people wanting another Tarja, whuch is understandable. I liked the change up of having the unpolished vocals, it gave the music more emotion and relatability to me. Imaginaerum was one of their best albums in my opinion. A lot of people did not feel the same way and Anette got a lot of undeserved hate for simply being who she was. Tuomas, the creative force of the band, felt Anette was the right choice and I'm disappointed that so few people had faith he made the right choice for his music.

But the negativity surrounding Anette and the frankly deplorable behavior by some a vocal percentage of fans and a few people in the Nightwish entourage was just completely unjustified. Fans gleefully hoping Anette would die in the hospital when she got severly ill is no fandom I want to be a part of.

I also admit to being suspicious of any judgement or statement on Anette's character that did not come directly from her and her blog or from Nightwish.

I am glad people enjoy the new album with Floor but after all the drama with this band, it's left a bad taste in my mouth.

I don't get why Anette got so much hatred.  It's not like she forced Tarja to quit.  Tarja more or less quit on her own and had been distancing herself from the band for some time before she 'officially' was booted, and she acted very poorly about it all, but a lot of people seem to forget that.  I stopped listening to Nightwish a long time ago, not because of Anette, but I just felt like I out grew it, and I never really honestly cared about Tarja's voice.  She sings too muddy for me, I can't understand her, and her behavior and ego makes it worse for me.  Coupled with rabid fans?  So, I moved on, so I haven't heard Floor, nor heard the drama about Anette's departure. 

I'm big on Within Temptation, everything they've done really.  They've demonstrated a wonderful ability to grow as musicians, both in style and complexity.  Delain and Xandria are well liked, and I love Sirenia too.  Unsun is nice too, but they've only ever put out one album.  Does Rapsutina count?  Cooky as all, but love them.  Simone Simons of Epica is divine.  That is what operatic voice with metal rock should sound like.  Gorgeous. 

Ayreon is not solely voice by a woman, but sort of a true rock opera group, but they have a lot of strong women singers, and worth a listen. 

Instead of making this a mod issue, you could just join forces with a couple fellow arena sellers and just trade stories amongst yourselves and you then could decide if a buyer becomes a problem amongst a couple of you and then bring a mod into it.

That might be a good idea.  Like sellers just send a pm to each other of their flakes for the month, and if anyone appears on the combined flake lists a few times too many they get put on a watch list or something. . .

It's been a problem for me too, and I don't really have a lot of time to be doing these things anymore.  I offer international shipping only as a nicety.  I don't have to do it, and for all the trouble it usually brings me, I'm about to quit.  I get my worse flakes and my most argumentative buyers sometimes.  I have a few who are wonderful and I'm always happy to have them repeat buy from me, but as of late, been getting a bunch of time wasters.  I preface that shipping internat. from the US with any sort of insurance is extremely expensive.  Most of the time, the biggest cost IS the insurance, and so I get buyers getting argumentative with me, asking me to drop insurance ( that protects me! ) to save THEM money, while they still have paypal protection.  If the item is lost, it's MY FAULT, according to paypal, so they get to get their money back when the item gets lost.  I told a person who wasted more than a little time with me that if she wanted the large bunch of ponies she had picked ( like $50 in ponies ) without insurance, then payment would have to be made as gift.  I never ask this, but if the buyer is so adamant about being cheap, then I'm going to protect myself.  If they're lost because they declined insurance, that's their fault, and not really mine.  Fair in my opinion.  Surprise, surprise, she didn't ever reply.  Which was just as well.