I had the best weekend appreciating my toys, taking photographs and uploading onto Flickr and thought to share it here. I still have a long way to go (lots of toys still in storage) but will upload them whenever I have time. It's amazing how much more one looks at their own toys with appreciation by taking photos.

I have stored many of my toys so this is meditative for me to get them online and viewable. I am very happy now. I will keep updating during this whole month during my free time so please enjoy it as much as I have! Add me to your Flickr if I haven't done so already!

I am inspired by the Super7 Mook and what other members (Kirkland, Joe, Andy etc.) have so patiently created for their own style of catalog and share their collection to other collectors.

NB: Sorry for the excessive angles, I think I got a bit carried away.

Bemon and Gas Bawer

Gargamel

Rainbow

RealxHead

Rumble Monsters

Secret Base

T9G

Others

You have an amazing collection.
Lots of great pieces from all around.

That's quite a stash!

(Though I'm going to agree with you about the excessive angles. )

i dont collect RxH... but i love your collection & how u picture them together on your flickr. i see some sort of "fashionable edge" u have on ur toys. nice...

So you broke out the 'ol hair dryer and made yourself a custom GID flasing Chaosman?

Nice collection pics!

nice collection and great photos!

can you tell me more info about the P1050479 pic. maker, year.
is that Dororon Enmakun ?

Fine collection. Some really great SB and RxH stuff.
Jealous.

Lurker, I want to know too. If anyone knows the name of this I would like to add it in the database. The box for this toy is in storage. This figure is so great.

Jason, I knew you would be the first to pick it out. I was going to make the orange bandana so no one can tell. Haha. I was talking to Tim about this and realized it was impossible for me to obtain this since there are only 10 out there. I am sure you have this

Andy, every angle looks good. I can't help it!

Great stuff! The Anraku pieces you have are some of my favorite color ways.

Awesome collection. I like the way you grouped them into maker.

great pics and collection!

damn calvin, killer job...!!!

a serious collection indeed...

Maybe possible??
You have ONE thing among the many great toys in your stash that I have been hunting high and low for, whats a mere chaos

Great collection and pictures. Can only wish i know how to take photos like these.

fucking serious collection!
so many great pieces, awesome pics too

That Goga is super-serious nice - never seen that version before. Do you have any more info on it you can share (was it a regular production piece - whatever that means for Anraku - or a one off/lucky bag type of figure)?

Plus, a mouth demon - outstanding!

I'm certainly no photography expert, but in my experience, I'd say the two keys are steadiness and lighting.

I always place the camera on a firm surface (or tripod) and set it on 2 second delay, so there's no camera shake. Even with anti-shake feature built in, you're never going to produce as crisp a shot if it's hand-held.

To get the right lighting for indoor shots, first go with ISO 200 or above (if your camera can handle it without producing noise - mine poops out over 200). I usually don't fiddle with the more exotic manual lighting settings (ex: flourescent, cloudy, etc) but I often open the camera up to + 1/3 metering. So I'll take a shot at that setting and one at 0, and choose from the two.

Finally, it never hurts to sharpen images in an image editing program. I often do that to compensate for the crispness lost when I export theJPG at a roughly 75-80% optimization rate (which really brings down the file size without sacrificing too much in terms of crispness).

Sounds like a lot to do, but once you get into the habit, it's fast and easy.

I won't hold my breath for that one. That Chaos is the one that got me searching high and low in 2005 wondering what the hell it is. I stumbled upon a festival prototype picture. I didn't even hear about RxH, SB, Super 7 at the time.

I am only using an Ikea desk lamp to take photos with my large sketchbook as background. Then a bit of quick retouching to get the colors accurate and upload! If you are using a Mac, the iPhoto editing tools are fast and easy to use. My wife thinks I should use 2 lights so I can do some nice back lighting for clears yet still see the details of the figure but I think it's too much work to set up.

Something I forgot to mention - it's best to snap shots in a room with white overhead lights instead of yellow ones.

Oh yeah, I use a Canon IXUS 850 IS - around a year old. It's a compact, but the colors are outstanding - far better than the Sony or (ugh) Minolta digitals I've used. You want a camera that gives you the best colors out of the gate. I don't envy Calvin for having to perform color adjustments for each shot using image editing software.

the best toys you have there are the two monster farm popsodas, in my opinion

mmmm....Bemon HP.....droooool.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I agree. I changed my light to white and it's obvious afterwards that it is much much nicer.
With iPhoto once you make one adjustment color you can apply it to the rest. So seeing it change in front of your eyes is a fun thing to watch. iPhoto is more practical than professional and saves me more time than Photoshop. I guess using Aperture is a professional level of iPhoto but I haven't had time to use Aperture yet.

I don't think I can use a tripod. I like to move around looking for good angles. Also having a silly lamplight as lighting is actually good IMO. If you move the light slowly around and look through the camera you can often spot a very nice position that make your toy really pop.

I nearly bought a third one from a recent sale here but decided to let TOfu have it instead. That one was in between the two colors I already have so it would have been perfect. So tempting to get more.

It's already been said but your collection is awesome! Very nice how you put together a little catalog as well.

About the angles, my tripod is a cheap $10 deal, but it can be rotated to any angle needed. But for shooting individual figures, I don't usually use a tripod. I use risers (and CD cases LOL) to achieve different angles.

I used to do everything hand held, but after comparing those shots to shots taken by a stationary camera, my hand helds look tres crappy!

I've only had the tripod for a few weeks, and I love it. I'd recommend looking into one. They're so cheap - what have you got to lose?