Continued…
Favorite Doll company?
Volks, obviously.
Favorite color of resin: Tan, Beauty white or regular skin? Do you like the more fantasy color resins on dolls for your collection (pinks, blues, greens, grays, etc)? Opinions?
Regular skin and sunlight/tan. I have no plans of creating a fantasy-based character as of yet, so I prefer the more normal colors.
Favorite size doll 60 cm, minis or tinies?
60cm and tinies.
What’s your most sought after doll prop that you can’t find?
An SD-size double-bass drum kit.
What is your “dream doll” that you hope to own some day?
A Sweet Dreams Tsukasa!
What’s your favorite doll released in the last year? What is your favorite ‘classic’ BJD?
Volks LE SDGr Kamimura Minoru. Of the classics, the F-29 is my favorite for very sentimental reasons.
What are your favorite brands of wigs/ eyes/ shoes/ clothes?
Leekeworld for wigs. Antique Rose for eyes. Dollheart for shoes. Another Space for clothes.
What advice would you give someone new to the hobby?
Do not settle for anything less than your dream doll.
Where do you keep or store your dolls?
Our house has a special section we call Mistula complex: a complex structure of display pods, cabinets, rooms for the dolls and a nook for our cat.
How do you relate to you dolls (are they art objects, toys, things, friends, muses, soul mates, investments, etc)?
Creative outlets and worthy investments. They are also traveling companions.
Why have you chosen the dolls that you have?
Some of my dolls I chose to fit my own characters. Some of them I bought simply because they appealed to me for a variety of reasons.
Love to hear about the evolution of your collection. How did it start? What was your original vision and how did it develop over time to how it is now.
It all began with Uno.
And he was not even my dream doll. Shiro Tachibana was my dream doll, but he was unfortunately sold out when I discovered the existence of Volks Super Dollfies. Tsukasa Konoe was available, but his price was a shock, and I did not decide to buy him until several agonizing months later, right when he’s about to go out-of-stock. The Dramatic Acquisition of Tsukasa involved a letter from the Vice-President of Citibank Philippines to the deputy of Crescent Shop with indications on racial discrimination and corporate integrity after my credit card was refused merely because I was from a poor country. After a humble letter of apology from the deputy, I was given Ticket #1 to the 3 Tsukasas available for lottery. I won, and my friends almost threw a party.
I named him Uno because I thought he’d be my first and only. I was wrong.
Manx Minuet is one of the five Limited Delf Art Lishe models released by Luts and Cerberus Project. We found her by uncanny luck through the Korean deputy, Liria. We were already forming Mistula then, and my husband wanted a pornstar for his lead guitarist (how predictable). The Sweety Lingerie Lishe won him over with her seductive face and vital statistics. He paid for her, of course.
With Manx came an Optional Lishe Dreaming Head, which grew into the role of her comatose sister who appears as an etheric projection whenever someone is in grave danger: Blanc Minuet.
The rest of the crew came by fate or friend. In my desperation to have my then dream doll, Shiro Tachibana, I bought his sister, Jun Tachibana, in the hopes of turning him into a boy. When I saw her lying in the box, I realized I didn’t have the heart to change such a pretty face, and she became Veritas, teenage hacker and inventor of dangerous devices.
It was my friend Sam who wanted a Jun Tachibana, and she stumbled upon what she thought was a modified Jun head on Yahoo! Japan auctions. After some scrutiny, we realized it was a Shiro painted as a girl, and knowing my obsession with the mold, Sam sold the head to me. That’s how Veritas’ brother found her; we named him Red Lobo.
After that, Sam accidentally won the Shiro Tachibana After-School version in the Volks lottery, which she also sent to me. I fell in love with him, and was not able to re-sell him as we planned. He became the Red Lobo’s sober self, Lobo.
Sam again accidentally won two Schoolhead Cs on Y!J Auctions. She sold one to me, and he became the aristocrat, Antonio Antonio, Mistula’s biggest detractor.
I bought my first Yo-SD, Duende, after I fell in love with a Chinatsu I saw on Y!J Auctions. Then I convinced my boss and friend, Leigh, to buy her twin, Kuuta, who we named Nano.
Leigh also shared the bill for our newest purchase, the SD Graffiti navy boy, Minoru Kamimura. He is now our in-house lawyer, Attorney Iñigo de los Reyes.
Since you started, how have you noticed the hobby change? Has the hobby influenced your life? Compared to when you got into BJDs, have you/your tastes changed, has the BJD scene changed?
The BJD scene has definitely changed with the influx of non-Japanese manufacturers and a more diverse set of collectors. If my taste in BJD-related matters has evolved, I do not attribute it to the changing community, but to Mistula, which has grown out of the BJD community to regular people who are ignorant of the technicalities we fuss upon on Den of Angels and other BJD-focused forums.
What outside skills or hobbies do you have that might have helped influence you in your BJD styles/collection/family?
I came from an art school and work in a creative field. My husband is a writer and a musician. Mistula is an inevitable consequence.
Is there a doll that you never, ever would sell, only if it was unavoidable?
I cannot sell any of my dolls under any circumstances. They are all pieces of me.
When you want a certain BJD, is there a limit to what you’re willing to spend/do to get it?
Whatever it takes!
What do people think the dolls will evolve into in the future?
Robots, I hope! Oh, how exciting.
Thanks for the interview Joey! I appreciate it!
