Nigh 5 Cover

Finally found time to post the 5th cover for the Nigh series.

I enjoyed working on these so much.  The hardcover editions will have additional art inside as well, which I'm still working on.  As usual, you can find all the details on the books on Roomy's blog.

Elf

More on curating a collection

There was a wonderful article on IO9 this week about the Joys of Purging Your Collection by Esther Inglis-Arkell. As the title suggests, it deals with the pleasure that can be found from cleaning out, downsizing, and generally thinning out.  Essentially, this is curating a collection and the flip side of the coin of being a collector.

Getting rid of parts of your collection can be haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard!  But it can also be necessary.  Few of us are gifted with unlimited space for our collections, and therefore sooner or later we're going to run out of space.  And running out of space is a bad thing because, as Esther says in her article, "only building a collection too big to enjoy is bad".

Let's dwell on that thought for a minute.  When does a collection become too big to be enjoyed?  That's a question only the collector can truly answer, and there's not one right answer.  I know some people who have Pony collections with 20 or less figures, they think that's enough and they think that's fine.  I know others with 1000s of figures across several fandoms, they're adding to them all the time and they think that's fine too.

But sometimes it all becomes a bit much, doesn't it?  So many things.  So much space.  So much dust!  So many lists.  So much upkeep.  So much stuff!  I think most collectors probably have days when they think "why do I have all this stuff?  It doesn't do anything.  It just sits here taking up space."  Most of us probably also find an answer to that question pretty quickly too, some variation on "because I love it, that's why".  That answers for a whole collection, but what about the individual parts?

My project to catalogue the collection is helping me to (slowly) review each item in my collection and decide whether or not I want to keep it.  I also try to go through (parts of) my collection every so often to do the same thing (for example, reviewing the G2 collection to see if I still want all the ponies that are there, or to see if anyone has developed any damage issues recently).  Even removing a few pieces from a collection can change the makeup of the whole.  Curating like this helps me to keep the joy in my collection and prevent it from becoming a burden.  Because what's the point of owning a collection if you don't enjoy it?

Elf

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Current Customs:
Commissions: 10
Swaps: 0
Gifts: 0
Personal: 1 (rehair)

Current Catalogue:
Ponies Cleaned: 0
Sets Photographed: 3
Photos Posted: 74

More on Army Ponies

I've had the opportunity recently to add to both my armies, at the Fair and taking advantage of some clearance sales.

I was very happy to add another couple of Nirvana ponies (Brazil Peachy and Argie Snuzzle), although now I'd like to branch out into versions who don't look quite so much like the North American versions (also, I'm running short of those).

Argie Snuzzle

Brazil Peachy

I've also added more Princess to the Twilight Sparkle army (not a hard feat, considering how many versions there are of her).  I very likely wouldn't have added the giant talking version, however, except that she went on clearance for quite a bit less than she started at.

Friends pack Twi with socks and necklace removed

Giant talking Twi thinks her barrettes are so pretty!

I'm updating my flickr albums for both armies, which you can visit below.  The general cleaning and cataloging of the collection has been slowed down due to summer (and the high levels of humidity that accompany it), but I've managed to add a few more pictures to the collection albums.  Links for everything are on this page, if you're interested in taking a look.  More to come...

Snuzzle/Peachy Army
Twilight Sparkle Army

Elf

Red Roses

Not a restoration, so much as a major cleanup job.  I bought this Red Roses at the Fair this year thinking that I'd try to save her mane, and if it didn't work out, she could be a rehair project.

I think she turned out pretty darn well.

Red was taken apart, as she had rather a lot of tail rust.  She was cleaned inside and out, and then her hair was carefully combed out until she regained her former puffy glory.  I chose to leave her original forelock intact, although it was a bit dry and faded, since the rest of her remained original.

One thing I try to tell people when I talk about customizing, is to always clean your potential bait before you start taking her apart.  There have been many times when I planned to use a pony for a custom only to find out that she cleaned up better than anticipated.  Some have even ended up in my collection instead.

Elf