This Article Has Not Yet Been Rated

Going forward I wanted to let you know of a change to reviews on the site, there is now an extra section on each one called Parental Advisory, being a parent now, I understand the concerns about what our kids see and hear, and even if its the parents/adults buying for themselves they need to be aware of the content that comes into their home. In addition there are a lot of folks who find certain content objectionable and I am concious of that fact so I decided to make this slight change.

Have a good one folks!

Happy New Year: 2011 in Review

First off I want to wish each and every one of you a happy and healthy New Year, hopefully whatever your entertainment last night you made it home safe and sound. 

Now onto the year that was for the blog...

2011 was an interesting year here for me at the blog, I tried to be a bit better about keeping to a schedule and content creation, and that well, failed abysmally, it wasn't through lack of desire or trying, but after doing a lot of research and soul searching on my part I found that I got more stressed and frustrated trying to stick to a schedule and it made it much harder for me to develop content for the site, so consider that a lesson learned.

This past year also marked a milestone for the blog, monthly traffic is now averaging over 200 hits per month, I want to thank my readers out there who are making that possible, I know that this thing has tended to stay barren for long stretches of time and I want to be better about that, Dollfie posts still lead the way on traffic and I am still working out a way to provide more of that content for my readers so we will see what happens there. 

2012 is going to be a blast, I am going to try to get to the point of smaller posts with fun content more often, little snippets here and there rather than great walls of text, hopefully that will keep my juices flowing and at the same time not burn me out trying to write a 3500 word article each week. 

In short, thanks for sticking with me, I am looking forward to a lot of fun yet to come and getting to know you all better, thanks for the traffic and the time out of your lives!

Looking backwards and forwards...

I always find it amusing to take a look back at blogs and see where they came from, what origianlly was intended versus what they became, you can see where an author started out with an idea and as traffic and interestes changed moved into a totally different direction, sometimes quite suddenly. Blogs are organic things and its amazing to see how they grow, sometimes completely out of control in ways that aren't expected.

This past week I did the same with my own humble piece of Cyberspace [do people even use that term anymore?] and found a fairly similar situation, what started out as an art blog with an anime influence, morphed into a full blown review and commentary site, and now is struggling to find its identity again with the advent of all the Dollfie traffic its been getting in recent months.

As I looked back I also realized all the FLUFF that I had posted, appologies for lack of updates, breaking schedules etc. and like a comment on a recent post pointed out, all that does is make the blog look bloated and me like a goof, so thats why in this last month there weren't any new updates, I was busy with a wedding, honeymoon and the holidays [although I am sorry for missing my Happy Thanksgiving post] so I didn't get any new content developed. But instead of posting about missing it, I just waited until I had something to post and insert a small appology.

The site content has been fascinating to revisit, from my early Manga and DVD reviews, to my most current VIZ Manga App review I saw the shft in the clarity of the writing into something more than just words, but it also brought forth the reality of writing reviews when you aren't on companies comp lists, it can be tough, you deal with your own budget and what you can gert your hands on at the time so it can be a bit sporadic. The shock is still the amount of traffic I get from the Dollfie articles, I am always scouring the net for new and exciting posts about this very niche hobby, sadly though there isn't always a lot out there that folks haven't yet seen.

So I am going to keep fighting the good fight, three years on the blog has changed formats and content but the passion is still there, I look forward to three more great [and productive] years!

Back from vacation...

Sorry I haven't posted any updates here recently, I was off on vacation to Canada for the better part of a week and then got busy when I got back with work and wedding preparations.

Give me a couple of more days and I will have some new content up and rolling for the site!

Talk you you soon

Crunchyroll: As if I didn't have enough to do already!

Well I have obviously lost my mind, if I didn't have enough on my plate already LOL!

For years I have taken the traditional route to getting my Anime fix, from things such as DVD, On Demand, and *gulp* even VHS back in the day. I never was a big one on the whole torrent thing, I felt that it did more harm than good to the industry, but that also meant that it was hard for me to review anything close to current material for the blog.

As of tonight that all changes, my wonderful Fiancee suggested that I go ahead and get a Crunchyroll subscription so I could watch more current content, and be able to provide my readers [all 5 of you LOL] with more up to date reviews.

So I am going to start embarking on this project over the weekend, I will also be reviewing the iPad app from Crunchyroll and see how it changes my day to day watching and enjoying of Anime.

See you soon!

Post 100! - Dollfie Dream Sister News

So todays post is a milestone for the Blog, we hit post 100, probably a little later than I honestly thought we would, but better late than never right? I would like to thank all of the folks who have come and visited over the months, I don't know how many of you consistently come back, but for those that do I am extremely thankful!

Anyways, as the title says and the header picture shows, this update is all about the new Dollfie Dream Sisters from Volks, we have a bunch of pictures to show off, so step behind the cut to see more!

Updates and Dollfie Clothing: Yahoo Japan Auctions

Ok, getting back into the swing of things, to all of those of you that came by for a visit these last two months, a huge thank you, these have been our higest visited months ever! As I said previously, I am not going to try and do a schedule anymore as I think it just causes more harm than good, rest assured I am still workin on new content though!

Speaking of new content, I thought I would add a short gallery of the Dollfie Dream clothing from Yahoo! Auctions Japan, now bear in mind these are older auctions and aren't available now, but it should give a good idea of whats out there for purchase, [if you have the cash!] or able to be made if thats your sort of thing.

Come on behind the cut to see more!

Calming down again...

Well once again life kinda threw me for a loop, the good news is that I am back employed again full time at a great company, but being that company does technical support for tax software, the months of January - April get a little dicey, add into that a crazy busy personal life and you get left with a blog that doesn't get updated in months.

However all that is over now, and I am going to once again try and get this thing back and rolling, I have decided to not try and make and content promises or anything going forward, that only seems to land me in content development hell, and you guys with frustrations when I don't get something posted as promised.

This all being said I look forward to getting back in the swing of things and continuing our voyage into the world of Anime and Manga

Its been awhile...

Hey there,

As usual I wish I had a better excuse, well I guess working like mad at the new job with the slim hope of making it permanent is a good excuse :)

So where do we go from here, right now I don't have any new reviews to go up since I haven't had a lot of disposable Manga/DVD income recently. I can continue to write commentary pieces but after awhile I am sure we will run out of material.

However there looks to be a new source of content, and thats the Dollfies, I have spoken with my Girlfriend who is actively trying to get one to start making clothes for, and she suggested focusing the blog more that direction for the time being, I will probably continue to try and do some Gundam content [First issue of Gundam Garage will come soon] but other than that we will be shying away from reviews and other stuff for awhile, we will see how this goes.

Cheers, and thanks for sticking with me!

Big Site News!

Ok folks, as you can see there haven't been a lot of updates here recently, don't fret, there is a master plan in place, I am in the process of redesigning the site completely to have a better flow and nicer graphics, you can look forward to a new Dollhouse later this week, and with any luck Gundam Garage over the weekend.

Thanks for your patience!

Life And Holidays

Hey folks, sorry there hasn't been much new content here the last week or so, I have had sick roomates, girlfriend and toddler, and that has been making for a less than ideal posting schedule. Anyways that all being said, I am working on a pre Christmas surprise for the site, then we are kinda in hibernation until mid next week.

Thanks for your patience.

Preview for the week of 12/13/2010

Ok, last week was a minor victory all things considered, I managed to get the VIZ Media Manga app review posted, given how crazy my life has been that was an accomplishment in of itself.

That all being said, here is the preview for the coming week:

Wed: Gundam Garage will finally make its debut with an introduction to SD Gundam, and my own project journal.

Thur: The Dollhouse kicks off with an article on getting started in the hobby, with some useful links and tips

You will see that the Friday figure news update isn't listed, I am having some issues with getting the informaton reliably in English at the moment, I am working on a resolution, until then we will just be going with the two feature posts a week.

Preview for the week of 11/29/2010

Ok first off, yes I am aware that this is being posted on Wednesday, I was sick the last two days and wasn't able to look at the monitor without feeling sick sadly. That being said we still have a lot to cover this week:

Wed: As promised, a review of the iPad Manga reader from Viz.

Thur: Again the two new articles make their feature debut The Dollhouse with an article on getting started in the hobby, with some useful links and tips, and Gundam Garage takes a look at the world of SD Gundam kits, and I begin my first kit build journal!

Fri: We'll take a look at all the latest figure release news and notes.

An appology!

Sorry folks, when I posted the preview I completely spaced Thanksgiving this week, with all the friends and family time needed I didn't get the other two articles ready, they will go up next week instead.

Layout Changes

Hey all!

You are probably going to notice that I am in the process of changing the layout and adding graphics, it does mean that it might be a bit strange looking for a few days, give me a few days and I will have it all together.

Thanks!

Preview for the week of 11/22/2010

Ok so this is going to be a special week, as both the special features The Dollhouse and Gundam Garage will be published for the first time, after this week they will alternate each week, and as [hopefully] more features are added their schedules will shift again.

Anyways onto the preview!

Wed: This week we are going to take a look at how as adults we need to be careful with a hobby such as Anime/Manga fandom that crosses such a wide age range, we will talk about specific concerns, and give some tools to handle those situations should they arrise.

Thur: The Dollhouse makes its debut with an article on getting started in the hobby, with some useful links and tips. Gundam Garage takes a look at the world of SD Gundam kits, and I begin my first kit build journal!

Fri: We'll take a look at all the latest figure release news and notes.

UPDATES - 11/22/10 - New schedule and changes

Ok, so here goes, this is the "Proposed" schedule for site updates for the forseeable future:

Mon: Preview the week ahead
Wed: Feature Article/DVD Manga Review
Thur: Gundam Garage/The Dollhouse
Fri: Figure News

So thats it, we have a 4 day a week update schedule, as always its subject to change as needed, but I am going to try to adhere to this as best as possible going forward.

New special feature Gundam Garage

Well after adding the Dollhouse special feature [the first of which should be published this week] I am going to be adding a second figure/model related special feature, Gundam Garage this feature will focus on Gundam modelling in all its forms, and also where I will be keeping my own kit building journals.

The first installment will premiere later this work, with a look at the unique world of the SD Gundam model kits.

Forums update!

Well given the number of hits that the note on forums has generated I have decided to go ahead and start getting those setup, it will be pretty basic to start with and will be hosted offsite.

They should be up and running in the next week, and I will do a post here when they are ready to go, thanks for your patience on all of this.

Term of the week updated!

What better way to kick off again than with a new term of the week, this week we look at "Otaku"