Chapter 21: New Formation
“Jerry,
though with a head of gold hair and tattooed, is a great doll collector and customizer in Asia specialized in using new materials and modeling technology to present his talent and creativity in doll customization.”
This description is written based on Kenji’s instruction as he said, “It’s fun! XDDD” Em… I think maybe I should say a little bit more here according to my own impression?
Jerry joined Toyxcapacity in the year 2007. Influenced by his girlfriend Yumi, he started to collect Pullips and Taeyangs seriously and fell in love with customizing dolls. With the years of hard work that Jerry has dedicated, his customs are getting more and more sophisticated and fascinating that can make you “WOW” whenever you see his latest works.
About the point of his hair and tattoo… I remember the first time I met him in person he gave me a very cool and distance impression. I guess to some people perhaps he may look scary too! However, when you know him by time you’ll know that he has a very gentle heart with lots of funny experiences to share that can keep you laughing all the time.
Other than those that I’ve shown in the previous blog about the Official Doll Show in Hong Kong in May, Jerry and Kenji are going to send some of their works to join the Taichung International Fun Design Expo in Taiwan from 11st August to 19th August. If you happen to be in Taichung during that period, don’t forget to go and have a look yourself and you’ll know what I mean!
One more talented person has joined the team… I’ll have to try hard so that I won’t lag too behind
Pullip Complete Style Official Photobook
Guess most of you have already got the news from the official blog as well as other forums, but here's a bit of news that you'd never expected!
We are able to get you the special Photobook Boxset, which comes together with the limited doll on the cover! Details are as follow:-
2003 Summer - 2010 Autumn
Pullip Complete Style
A4 Size 132 Pages Color Printing + Limited Doll 1 pc
Stock Available Date: 15th August 2010 (TBC)
Set Price: USD$155
Registered Post Shipping Charges from HK to: US, UK & Europe = USD$50; South East Asia = USD$25
Payment method: Paypal
Dolls inside the Photobook:
Pullip - 112 pcs
Taeyang - 35 pcs
Dal - 45 pcs
Byul - 10 pcs
Namu - 7 pcs
Little Pullip - 31 pcs
Little Pullip + - 22 pcs
Little Dal + - 24 pcs
J-Doll - 46 pcs
Ai - 42 pcs
Total dolls shown - 374 pcs!
In addition, not only the Photobook has contained information about the changes of doll body from the beginning to now, but also it has dedicated a section to custom Pullips and, nevertheless, all the other materials like promotional pictures and a chronicle of all the released dolls!
And while the lovely cover doll is limited to 1500 pcs and will only be available as a Boxset, if you are interested please send us an email virusdoll.com@gmail.com and grab your chance to pre-order this very special Boxset from us while stocks last~!
Chapter 20: A Luminous Moment
If saying this was all for Virus’d, well, I would rather say that this was all for my own desire and pleasure! There’s one thing that I must admit is that, whatever I do, as long as I am in the team, more or less it’s also a team’s business. So why not take this chance to make a bit more contribution to the team ( if I were to rank my contribution from 1 as the min and 10 as the max, I guess I can only score a “2”, particularly when now we have Jerry in team to share the works)?
Enough for murmuring and back to business. I got an idea of photo-shooting after seeing a photo from Jean Fan, a very talented young female photographer online. Originally I wanted to use the ideal on Pullip, however, as the shooting involved a serious action – to immerse the doll in water – I felt reluctant to do so. Not that I’m afraid of getting the doll wet, but rather, I’m afraid that the parts would go wrong as, you know, there’re screws inside her head which we need to avoid stains and also the fact that the lashes definitely would come off after water…
I really hope that I could find a way to solve my dilemma so that I could put my idea in action, but it all seemed like a dead end. One day surfing through Toyxcapacity I came across Kenji’s post about a photo contest of J-Doll and it hit me that I could make use of a J-Doll! And I could also send some to the contest if anything turned out to be good.
With this in mind, I went along with Lewis and joined by Kenji later to fetch a big water tank one day afternoon in June. On the way I realized that I had forgotten to bring my J-Doll with me… Good that Kenji got some spares at the Nursery so right after we bought the right tank we went back there at once.
Kenji handed me 3 boxes of J-Doll – Rambra, Abbott Street and Promenade des Anglais – and I really had difficulty in choosing my model as they all have their own unique beauty. After serious consideration, though black hair doll would be harder to handle, I had decided to have a go with Promenade des Anglais.
I took a few shots of her first, but feeling a bit dissatisfied with her hair, so I undone her curls to some smaller ones to increase the volume of her hair.
Then I went down again to the supermarket and grabbed all the soda water they had in the shop back.
When everything’s ready, we poured a big bucket of water into the tank we bought. Then we each held a can of soda water in our hand and toasted to Promenade des Anglais! While I was pouring the soda water into the tank, I suddenly realized that Kenji mistakenly opened up one of his Final Fantasy VII AC’s potion drink and he nearly poured it into the tank… So glad that I’d stopped him in time.
It’s a lot tougher to shoot it under soda water. See how much bubbles it got? With lots of patience in smoothing the doll as well as the bubbles, I had managed to fulfill my desire finally! The photos were then left for weeks as I couldn’t think of any title for them… I sought help from my honey Cherry. Together with Chris, her boyfriend, they’d got me some names from famous paintings that suited my photos and from those names I’d chosen Ophelia, one of the characters from Hamlet, and from that I had made some subtitles for the 3 photos that I submitted.
Ophelia.
The Smile of Ophelia.
Ophelia in Water.
The result of the contest was quick. Obviously enough I wasn’t getting any places, which from the beginning to the end I’d never aimed to. All I ever wanted is that they’d choose one of my photos and put it in their special gallery as well as display it in their coming doll show in Japan with my name on it. Somehow I think I had achieved what I wanted isn’t it (though they didn’t put my name on the gallery…)?
It’s enough to made my day.
Enough for murmuring and back to business. I got an idea of photo-shooting after seeing a photo from Jean Fan, a very talented young female photographer online. Originally I wanted to use the ideal on Pullip, however, as the shooting involved a serious action – to immerse the doll in water – I felt reluctant to do so. Not that I’m afraid of getting the doll wet, but rather, I’m afraid that the parts would go wrong as, you know, there’re screws inside her head which we need to avoid stains and also the fact that the lashes definitely would come off after water…
I really hope that I could find a way to solve my dilemma so that I could put my idea in action, but it all seemed like a dead end. One day surfing through Toyxcapacity I came across Kenji’s post about a photo contest of J-Doll and it hit me that I could make use of a J-Doll! And I could also send some to the contest if anything turned out to be good.
With this in mind, I went along with Lewis and joined by Kenji later to fetch a big water tank one day afternoon in June. On the way I realized that I had forgotten to bring my J-Doll with me… Good that Kenji got some spares at the Nursery so right after we bought the right tank we went back there at once.
Kenji handed me 3 boxes of J-Doll – Rambra, Abbott Street and Promenade des Anglais – and I really had difficulty in choosing my model as they all have their own unique beauty. After serious consideration, though black hair doll would be harder to handle, I had decided to have a go with Promenade des Anglais.
I took a few shots of her first, but feeling a bit dissatisfied with her hair, so I undone her curls to some smaller ones to increase the volume of her hair.
Then I went down again to the supermarket and grabbed all the soda water they had in the shop back.
When everything’s ready, we poured a big bucket of water into the tank we bought. Then we each held a can of soda water in our hand and toasted to Promenade des Anglais! While I was pouring the soda water into the tank, I suddenly realized that Kenji mistakenly opened up one of his Final Fantasy VII AC’s potion drink and he nearly poured it into the tank… So glad that I’d stopped him in time.
It’s a lot tougher to shoot it under soda water. See how much bubbles it got? With lots of patience in smoothing the doll as well as the bubbles, I had managed to fulfill my desire finally! The photos were then left for weeks as I couldn’t think of any title for them… I sought help from my honey Cherry. Together with Chris, her boyfriend, they’d got me some names from famous paintings that suited my photos and from those names I’d chosen Ophelia, one of the characters from Hamlet, and from that I had made some subtitles for the 3 photos that I submitted.
Ophelia.
The Smile of Ophelia.
Ophelia in Water.
The result of the contest was quick. Obviously enough I wasn’t getting any places, which from the beginning to the end I’d never aimed to. All I ever wanted is that they’d choose one of my photos and put it in their special gallery as well as display it in their coming doll show in Japan with my name on it. Somehow I think I had achieved what I wanted isn’t it (though they didn’t put my name on the gallery…)?
It’s enough to made my day.
Chapter 19: Rendezvous after 6 Years…
This entry’s gonna be lengthy, please excuse me, as the memory was still fresh and exciting!
Ever since I was into the world of Pullip, there wasn’t any sort of official Pullip exhibition in Hong Kong except the one which was held on 2006. And as a little visitor at that time, everything happened on that day to me was a life-time carnival and so much I wished they would have something similar once more.
Couldn’t imagine after nearly 6 years there would be another official Pullip show taking place in Hong Kong and, what’s more, I was able to participate in the Show as one of the Officials! With this opportunity as well as per the instruction of Kenji, I’d be giving a full account of the event hereunder!
Before going into the photos, let me give all of you some background of the Show.
In order to celebrate the acquisition of the world-wide patent right of Pullip, as well as to assist the non-profit charity organization, Sowers Action, in raising fund to support their charitable act, Wealthyfull Co. Ltd. had cordially invited Groove Inc. to have its first appearance in Hong Kong on 29th May 2010. Though it was only a one-day exhibition, Groove Inc. had showed its full support not only by bring many incredible proto-types and samples of future releases all the way from Japan and Korea, but also Ms. Mango Park, the designer of all Pullips, came to Hong Kong and attended this special event too!
Kenji and a few friends had started setting up the venue, I-Square in Tsim Sha Tsui, at 9-ish in the morning. I joined them at near 10 bringing Schnee Kristall with me as I’d taken her from Kenji for the showcase photo shooting and he would like to feature her in the Show. After several exchanges of “Good Morning”, I handed him the doll before I started to help the rest to unpack the samples and posing them in their positions.
With an hour or so hard work, we had managed to get all the dolls posed. The exhibits were divided into 4 main sections: Past, Present, Future and Customization. Obvious enough, for the Past and Present section they were dedicated for displaying some past and present releases. And for the Future section it was dedicated for the amazing proto-types, while the Customization section had shown 3 of the most creative customizers in Hong Kong: Agnes, Kenji (of course) and Jerry (new member of Virus’d!).
Custom by Jerry.
Custom by Agnes.
Custom by Kenji.
Other than dolls, the show also presented some of the coming products too!
Time was near noon, and the crowd started to grow. And when it was 3 in the afternoon, the most waited moment came - the opening ceremony! Besides Ms Park, the organizer also invited one of the famous models in Hong Kong – Ms. Jessica C. as guest of the day and dressed her up as a 1:1 Pullip Eos!!
Though it’s a one day event, according to the official this was just a beginning of everything. Very soon in July there will be another similar event coming in Hong Kong, and Kenji, Jerry & I will definitely bring you the news of it immediately! ^o^/
Ever since I was into the world of Pullip, there wasn’t any sort of official Pullip exhibition in Hong Kong except the one which was held on 2006. And as a little visitor at that time, everything happened on that day to me was a life-time carnival and so much I wished they would have something similar once more.
Couldn’t imagine after nearly 6 years there would be another official Pullip show taking place in Hong Kong and, what’s more, I was able to participate in the Show as one of the Officials! With this opportunity as well as per the instruction of Kenji, I’d be giving a full account of the event hereunder!
Before going into the photos, let me give all of you some background of the Show.
In order to celebrate the acquisition of the world-wide patent right of Pullip, as well as to assist the non-profit charity organization, Sowers Action, in raising fund to support their charitable act, Wealthyfull Co. Ltd. had cordially invited Groove Inc. to have its first appearance in Hong Kong on 29th May 2010. Though it was only a one-day exhibition, Groove Inc. had showed its full support not only by bring many incredible proto-types and samples of future releases all the way from Japan and Korea, but also Ms. Mango Park, the designer of all Pullips, came to Hong Kong and attended this special event too!
Kenji and a few friends had started setting up the venue, I-Square in Tsim Sha Tsui, at 9-ish in the morning. I joined them at near 10 bringing Schnee Kristall with me as I’d taken her from Kenji for the showcase photo shooting and he would like to feature her in the Show. After several exchanges of “Good Morning”, I handed him the doll before I started to help the rest to unpack the samples and posing them in their positions.
With an hour or so hard work, we had managed to get all the dolls posed. The exhibits were divided into 4 main sections: Past, Present, Future and Customization. Obvious enough, for the Past and Present section they were dedicated for displaying some past and present releases. And for the Future section it was dedicated for the amazing proto-types, while the Customization section had shown 3 of the most creative customizers in Hong Kong: Agnes, Kenji (of course) and Jerry (new member of Virus’d!).
Custom by Jerry.
Custom by Agnes.
Custom by Kenji.
Other than dolls, the show also presented some of the coming products too!
Time was near noon, and the crowd started to grow. And when it was 3 in the afternoon, the most waited moment came - the opening ceremony! Besides Ms Park, the organizer also invited one of the famous models in Hong Kong – Ms. Jessica C. as guest of the day and dressed her up as a 1:1 Pullip Eos!!
Though it’s a one day event, according to the official this was just a beginning of everything. Very soon in July there will be another similar event coming in Hong Kong, and Kenji, Jerry & I will definitely bring you the news of it immediately! ^o^/
Chapter 18: Retry!
While I was settling down in my bed talking on phone with Lewis in the late night, I felt a vibration of my phone signaling the receipt of a text message. “Just a sec,” I told him and thinking about who could that be, Kenji’s name appeared on my phone’s screen.
“On 30th I’d be receiving the Pullip sample of the coming August release, Melissa, and see if you can come to the Nursery for the photo-shooting. I suggest we do it with a white background and re-touch the photo background afterwards. If you aren’t free than I’ll have a quick go. Gotta send photos to Groove Inc. on 5th May.”
I wasn’t available on Sunday and Kenji’s not okay with Saturday, so we ended up making the shooting on Monday as I’d applied for a day off. The next day when I was contemplating about the composition of the shots, Kenji sent me another text message saying we’d got one more sample – Kanta the Dal of August – to do.
Perhaps I was too nervous last time, so this time I’d tried to relax myself and let my instinct drove me. As simple as breathing, I’d decided to shoot with Melissa first on the rooftop of Nursery and then back to indoor for a white background shooting with Kanta. Kenji supported my idea fully without questions, and with this I was, and actually I am, always feeling grateful for that.
Unlike the last time, the shooting this time went very well. We’d managed to choose out quite a few for Groove Inc’s approval at last and the reply from them was positive too! But to my surprise, they’d used one of my photos for Melissa as their August Release’s Gallery cover photo!
Glad to have this retry. But most of all, for all the support from Kenji and others that whom always believe in me!
“On 30th I’d be receiving the Pullip sample of the coming August release, Melissa, and see if you can come to the Nursery for the photo-shooting. I suggest we do it with a white background and re-touch the photo background afterwards. If you aren’t free than I’ll have a quick go. Gotta send photos to Groove Inc. on 5th May.”
I wasn’t available on Sunday and Kenji’s not okay with Saturday, so we ended up making the shooting on Monday as I’d applied for a day off. The next day when I was contemplating about the composition of the shots, Kenji sent me another text message saying we’d got one more sample – Kanta the Dal of August – to do.
Perhaps I was too nervous last time, so this time I’d tried to relax myself and let my instinct drove me. As simple as breathing, I’d decided to shoot with Melissa first on the rooftop of Nursery and then back to indoor for a white background shooting with Kanta. Kenji supported my idea fully without questions, and with this I was, and actually I am, always feeling grateful for that.
Unlike the last time, the shooting this time went very well. We’d managed to choose out quite a few for Groove Inc’s approval at last and the reply from them was positive too! But to my surprise, they’d used one of my photos for Melissa as their August Release’s Gallery cover photo!
Glad to have this retry. But most of all, for all the support from Kenji and others that whom always believe in me!
