Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
8/2/09: OK! Ante is officially upped. I want another Oriental so I’ll combine my offer. I’ll trade one of my Amethyst Young Orientals, and my Amethyst Curlie, for either a mint Young Oriental, or a non-mint other Oriental sculpt. We each pay our own ship cost. I just love Melody’s Oriental critters so much. Let’s do this!
First we have a lovely Young Amethyst Oriental. I ended up with two. I was thinking I’d keep the brighter one since it reminds me of Drag0nFeathers, who was so nice to sell him to me, and put the darker one up for trade. My sister got him for me not knowing I’d just bought the other from DF 😆 Luckily she doesn’t mind at all if I trade him–good sport. However since they were both very nice gestures, it’s near impossible to decide which one to give up, so you can pick the one you like better. I hope you don’t mind DF!!
The dark one is on the right in the pics. Both are in mint condition with mint hang tags and their original boxes.
Next is an Amethyst Curlie. This is the first Curlie I bought, thinking I’d start collecting them, but I’m not as gaga over the sculpt as I thought I might be. I might pick them up again in the future, but for now I think I’d like to focus on other things. This is a second-batch one, it doesn’t have the extra orange like some others did. She’s very pretty, near-mint with hang tag and box. She came out of the factory box with a rub on the bottom of the sculpt near the felt. It didn’t bother me since it’s on the bottom.
I also have lots of pieces that I’ve just put up for sale too, right over here. (shameless plug!) Happy hunting 😀
Aww poor Leigha!!
Um…I’m kind of lost reading this thread trying to figure out exactly how this works. What if I wanted to jump in with something? What am I trading for at this point? Can someone catch me up a lil? 😳
Ah. I see what you’re saying BDW and I definitely see the resemblance. I wouldn’t be totally surprised though, if that person just came up with it and it ended up being too close to Melody’s art. I kind of draw in her rounded style too, and my wings have always looked much like hers, long before I even knew Windstone existed. (Not nearly as good though–lol.) Can’t rule out infringement, but it might have been an honest mistake too. Unless that had been settled before 🙂
I’ve touched up small paint chips and have gotten pretty dang good about it–being a production artist makes you see color mixing a whole new way 😉
Up till now though I haven’t resculpted anything, but I bought this Jade Oriental with the intention to give it my first try. He was in terrible shape, very dirty, missing crystal ball, tarnished horns, nicks and chips, and a broken/repaired tail with a big chunk missing. Perfect fixer-upper! I gotta say, I couldn’t have done this without Drag0nFeathers’ tutorial–THANKS!!!! It’s great!
I did the usual touching up and filling in on his green areas, and touched up his gold where it was needed. The person who repaired his tail actually did an AWESOME job–seriously. You really can’t see the seam, even though the whole tail came off. I was way impressed. It’s a shame that big chip was missing, I guess they lost it before they put him back together. Either way, it was about 1/4″ diameter and good for my first attempt at resculpting. Here’s the chip before:
Here I’ve put on the epoxy: Billy Mays’ Mighty Putty!! I found it worked great for the job, in case anyone wants to give it a try. The epoxy Drag0nFeathers uses can be found online too. I was impatient and wanted to do it NOW 😆 I imagine the legit stuff is a little better, this is a tiny bit coarse, but I sanded it down with some craft sanding films (like $2 at Michael’s and so worth it) and it was fine. I etched in the tail hair the best I could too.
And the paint! The color matches perfectly, but it needs just a touch more shading to blend completely. I’ll probably dry brush some on later, but for now I’m pleased with my first attempt:
Here he is before, so dirty, tarnished, broken, and ball-less! Poor little guy.
And after Chrisherself’s Tinker Treatment, with a shiny new toy, cleaned and buffed body, polished horns, and restored paint. Dawwwwwww, he so happeh. I LOVE this color and I’m so thrilled to finally have a Jade Oriental something. It’s definitely my favorite color.
I would buy a production Kirin if it were SPACKLED IN GLITTER I like the sculpt so much. And I agree, he’s so cute from behind! Very saucy 😆
And that blue Poad was incredible. I’ve always been meh about the Poads but that color made me change my mind. He’s great! I would snap him up in a heartbeat if there were production ones of him.
Shoot. I know Windstone can’t talk about the cases they’re involved in, but I wonder about those winged cats. Is it really infringement, or simply independent creation? People have thought before to stick wings on cats. Is the concept of the flap cat copyrighted? If so, what about these books I read in the early 90s? They’re really charming by the way.
The earrings do look similar to Melody’s Flap Cats, but they also just look like semi-realistic winged cats. I think in cases like this you would need to prove that the artist/creator had access to Melody’s work; if not, it might be difficult to prove that this is infringement, and not just someone’s similar expression of a winged cat.
What happens in a case [maybe like this] were someone kind of “accidentally” creates a copyrighted concept, without knowledge of Windstone?
I was JUST OUT THERE and I DISTINCTLY heard a RUCKUS…..
Breakfast Club ftw 😆
Good, if everyone is oogling over the Kirin I’ll never have in a million eelion years, (production! squeek* !) maybe I’ll have a shot at Pearl. I love the mermaids.
XD XD XD
When in doubt, grandma knows best. I decided to try baking soda since I had it on hand. Dry didn’t do much, so I wet it into a paste and gently buffed with a Q-tip. Did it work?
I’d say it made a difference!!! The castle was much more stubborn but after a few more Q-tips the spires are vastly improved.
I’d say, if you have some serious tarnish, this might be a good last resort, since it’s cheap and on hand.
Oh man, so much good stuff has been said 🙂 Hearing about these successful relationships really lifts my spirits and makes me happy.
I live in San Diego, it’s a young town, it’s a lookist town, people are here to have fun. I’ll be 26 in August, and I’ve pretty much just given up on dating anyone from where I live. Every remotely successful relationship I’ve had has been with someone who didn’t grow up here. I guess that’s what you get in a metropolitan, college-saturated town, SD is definitely a party town like LA, people live fast, make their bucks, drink their $12 drinks, and don’t take relationships seriously. I’m screwed (SO not literally 😆 ) because those things aren’t what I’m looking for. I relate to couples and people who are older, I’m often told I’m wise beyond my years, I can’t seem to hold a conversation with people my age. I guess I feel like I’m waiting for my peers to catch up a little, as I’m interested in so little of what they seem to be. It’s frustrating, and very lonely sometimes.
Right now, I’m really wrestling over and re-evaluating what love means, and what compatibility means. When I was in college, 19, I started dating this guy. There was definitely chemistry, a lot of attraction at the beginning. And as we started getting more serious, the intense chemistry definitely translated to a very passionate relationship. He was/is such a beautiful person, very handsome. But he wrestled with the physicality of it and religion, and that was our downfall. He broke up with me because he couldn’t continue to struggle with his guilt, and my differing ideologies. I loved him fiercely. It broke my heart. It’s been 5 years and I’m still tearing up as I type this, because I love him SO much still. We’ve remained friends, he’s dated people, I’ve dated people, but we see each other now and again. Every time I spend time with him, it’s just…so natural. We know each other so well. We can finish each other’s sentences, know each other’s secrets, what we like and don’t like, and above all, we have a deep, deep respect and caring for each other. It’s bittersweet, because it’s why I can’t stop loving him. I know I do. There’s no question. Why aren’t we together? I don’t know. I really don’t. Everyone who knows us doesn’t really understand why we aren’t together, neither do I. Whatever it is, the secret lies with him and I haven’t figured it out yet. Maybe I’m his “safety girl,” I don’t know. But I would have married him in a heartbeat. He’s my best friend, I’m so in love with his soul, it hurts. At this point I can’t even see him without it tearing my heart in two.
But there’s someone else I met almost a year ago, oddly enough through Craigslist. I ended up going on a blind date with him, which I’ve never done, and we kind of hit it off. He was charming, and polite, very intelligent and quick, treated me like a lady which is SO out of place in San Diego. Physically, he’s not my “type,” but he’s very attractive regardless, and his personality and intelligence make him even more attractive to me since I value those traits much more over physical ones. At first, I was slow to spend time with him, having recently escaped from an abusive relationship which required a restraining order. But he was gently persistent, inviting me out on ACTUAL DATES, giving me space, basically taking the trouble to court me like a gentleman because he was very interested. It did pay off, I did go out with him and he was so sweet, and so smart, we had lots to talk about and I felt very much taken care of while I was with him. After being with lazy guys used to all the -prime trim- in San Diego, who thought drive-thru or noisy bars made fine dates, being with someone who’d get the door, take my arm while we were walking, pick up the check (I do always offer though), and just generally make me feel like I mattered, I could see that this was a special guy. I started taking care to look extra-nice, he made me feel special, so I wanted to look the way he made me feel (take note, guys). He’s very sensitive and intelligent and that makes for a lot of fun physically too, since I’m the same. There isn’t the fire and the fierceness that I have with the other guy, but I can see that this one is very much worth putting the time and energy too. He’s actually across the country right now for school, and we left things off very open, but I still find myself thinking about him, and we stay in touch. It’s obvious he feels the same too. Actually, just today, I was thinking about him and my phone beeped with a text message from him saying the same!! We don’t talk much, but there’s a connection there strong enough that we both know it was worth putting a little more time into. I’m not sure if we’ll be together, but if geologically it were feasible again, I’d want to see where this road goes. He’s the first person since that other guy, who I’m feeling such a resonance with. I could see myself falling in love with him.
So I’m wondering too, a lot, about different shades of love. I can’t deny how much I love that first guy. I’ve always thought of him as my soul mate. And there doesn’t seem to be much keeping us apart. I just don’t understand it. But he knows how I feel. How long can I hold out for him? I feel like I’m wasting my prime, sitting around twiddling my thumbs waiting for him to wise up. I won’t. And in the meantime, here’s another wonderful guy who thinks the world of me. I could love him in a different way. Which way is more compatible for a truly healthy, long-term relationship? Would I grow to love the second one as much, the same, different, more? I do get frustrated sometimes, I feel like I can’t control how much I love that first one, that I have to suppress it to even TRY with anyone else. I keep trying to say, you’re not with him, it won’t happen, you need to move on. I keep thinking I have, but then finding I really haven’t. And some part of me is afraid to let that go. Most of me feels like I’m waiting for something that probably won’t even happen, and that I need to keep my heart open to other possibilities. It’s tough. 🙁
OOOOOOHHH 😮
I LOVE that OW. Enough that I would start collecting more dragons if they were painted like that. Beeeeauuutiful. He’s very natural, reminds me of a conch shell. Isn’t it funny how people swing so widely on the colors they like? I grew up at the beach, and his gorgeous colors remind me of the ocean and fish, and sand and sunsets, sea anemones and limpet shells, even tasty bits of pink clam in chowder from El Pescador. Colors are really strongly tied to memory and associations, some common, some specific (obviously–lol). I get good feelings looking at him.
I’d be extra-curious to know why everyone else likes AND hates him, why those colors rub you right or wrong. I love color theory 😀
Ah! That’s what I was suspecting, that you couldn’t use much on them 🙁 I thought it was odd, too, that these were so tarnished, since I thought gold doesn’t tarnish. It makes more sense that it’s some kind of reaction from the store owner cleaning them, or wear. Looks like I have one of each. Taking a closer look with a magnifying lens, the Oriental’s horns have a “pitted” looking surface. It’s consistent over the whole horn and looks like the plating might be wearing as Jennifer said. But when you step away, they’re simply less shiny so it’s not the biggest issue. On the castle though, we actually have oxidization on the spires, green stuff. I’m wondering if the spires were also wearing, and then the store owner was just dusting everything with Windex or something, and they were exposed to some kind of chemical. I’m pretty sure that would be the pewter oxidizing though tiny pits in the plating? Don’t know–chemistry was NOT my strong point 😆
I’d be willing to try that gold cleaner though 😆 My mom has some very high-quality jewelry cleaners also, for her business. Didn’t think of that till now! Since these are needing something done, I’ll give a couple things a try.
That Jade Oriental I got came with some seriously tarnished horns. I’m also repairing a castle, and the gold spires on top are even worse. Has anyone ever had luck with metal polishes or cleaners to remove tarnish from the horns? Or just a simple household product?
That’s so evil of your man WolfenMachine 😆
I’ll see if I can take a picture of my sister’s boa tomorrow when the sun comes back. He’s sooooo pretty! I’d love to see pics of everyone else’s snakes too. I took down the original post, I don’t think leaving it up here is doing more good than harm at this point. Much better to have a herp-loving thread 😀
