These commission sheets tend to make everything so much easier, don't they? Hopefully it catches some attention soon, Silberry!

I keep thinking about the flat color commission but that idea is going to have to wait for a bit. I still have to recover a bit from all of the holiday shopping so far this month. Just one more little gift and then no more presents for anyone until at least February! Phew!

Yeah, it definitely helps better display one's work and is much easier to read. My problem is that I have way too many types of commissions that I can't fit them all onto this sheet without compromising example quality/size. XD

No problem, no problem. Just give me a shout whenever you're ready~! I'm probably going to feel pretty broke after the holidays, too. :'D I still have to get gifts for my parents but they never show any interest in anything, so it makes shopping that much harder! Agh!

What I've learned over the years is to keep my ears open for random things throughout the year. Whenever it comes closer to a birthday or a holiday my parents are exactly the same way when it comes to "no, I don't want anything" or "eh, I have no clue whatsoever." But if we're talking about a random month like April or so, the random things they come across and love end up making perfect presents!

How? Heh, I still barely know myself, but it's almost always ends up being a complete surprise (Bonus #1), something they really want (Bonus #2) and something they completely and utterly forgot about (Bonus #3). Can't say it's foolproof but it's certainly helped me more often than not!

Oh, I know, I like to do that with gift giving, too. It's just... I'm finding as I get older, I end up spending less and less time with my parents and usually what they want is so practical (like cooking sets or something) that I don't feel like that's a very appropriate gift to give them, you know? :/ It just screams "lame gift". T__T And I feel like everything they want, they have, or they can't get because you can only get it from Vietnam... and stuff over there becomes really sketchy when it comes to dealing through the internet, so I never bother.

UGH... and it only gets harder and harder every year! *Pulls out hair*

Yeah, understandable. I used to get some things from Japan for my brother back in the day as gifts but after a while all of the friends and contacts I had abroad moved away and the only other option was pay 3x as much from a trustworthy store or deal with people who were more than likely going to sell me knockoffs for just 2x as much of the real thing. Nuts to that!

And yeah, when people get older they go from "fun" to "practical." I'm sorry, but as practical as a gift might be why not live it up a little bit? Otherwise it's not much of a celebration if you're just unwrapping things and saying "Thank GOD, I can finally get around to mowing the lawn now!"

EUUUGH too many knockoffs in Asia, especially with China right next door to the main manufacturing company countries to make fakes. Haha. What did you used to order from Japan, if you don't mind me asking? I tend to buy a good number of anime products from there. >w<

HAHAHA. Oh man, I laughed out loud at that. xD HMM... I'm sure I'll figure something out sometime between now and then. ^^

Heh! Well, years ago in undergrad and all of that, I used to get a lot of artbooks, anime OSTs, and wall scrolls from Japan. The artbooks were easy enough, the wall scrolls could be tricky at times, but the OSTs...well, that's an utter minefield, really! But backthen Anime Jungle had a large, English-friendly offshoot that catered to customers in the US who couldn't make it down to Tokyo or so. As such, slightly-used CDs for $2 apiece? The legit releases, too? Between that and the reasonable shipping it was almost too good to be true!

And then they let the guy in charge of that section go and changed the site. Heh, oh well! Then MP3s were all the rage and...hmmm...problem solved itself, so to speak! Ha ha ha!

Aww... that's too bad!

OSTs are so hard to ensure they're legit unless you know what you're looking for. At the conventions I go to, sometimes you can come across bootlegs and some people fall for it. :/ I've got a handful of legit figures/nendoroids, so I know what to look for for those. And... well, artbooks then even if they're bootlegs but they are DAMN GOOD BOOTLEGS, you buy it for the pretty pictures... and if they're well done, then it's not as big of a deal I guess. Haha. I find myself buying directly from Japanese companies like Otacute and AmiAmi and a handful of other ones, but I find myself buying from those two companies first (mind you, I've only bought figures lately. XD)

Nothing wrong with that at least! Back then online sources were the easiest way to get most of those goods but the bootlegs were just ridiculously prevalent. The stores may have changed over the years but at least there's more and more access to the legit items we're loking for! That and, with the passage of time and all, I can easily get around to Book Off and Kinokuniya in NYC, so that helps makes a few things easier! Thank god for the latter, though. Sure, $35 and $40 respectively were a bit much, but the Genso Suikoden Bible and Xenogears: Perfect Works artbooks? So worth it!

Figures though, some of them are just outrageous in terms of quality! I'd get a few more of those but when it comes to them I definitely have to see it with my own eyes instead of just ordering. I trust sellers and stores (well, some, anyway!) but there little bit of doubt that they could be fake would eat away at the back of my mind too much!

Well, for the figures, for Otacute and AmiAmi, usually the figures I want to get are ones that go on preorder, and they show really detailed shots of what the released product will look like. So, until they are released on the real market, there is no chance of those items being bootlegs. 8D The ones I've gotten are legit Good Smile Company ones. I've got a Snow Miku nendoroid (http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2777/Nendoroid+Snow+Miku.html) standing on my desk right now. And those two companies are too big to afford a bad name in terms of a bootleg. >w< Bootleg companies are getting really good at fooling people, though, even if you see it with your own eyes. I mean, if you don't know what you're looking for in terms of what is or what isn't a bootleg, then that is really troublesome for some people.

Since I'm in Canada, though, I don't really have access to good, legit stores here, and shipping from the US costs a couple arms and legs. TT___TT So... I may as well order straight from Japan.

Maaan, I looove artbooks. *_* Sooo many pretty pictures. D: I wish I was that talented~ I love Yone Kazuki and Aoi Nishimata's artwork. >__< And the artist who does the Spiral artbooks~

The nice thing about Kinokuniya is that you can usually spend a good hour or two perusing most of the artbooks they have. Pretty large selection of new and old, although the prices can sometimes drop your jaw! Book Off has a much smaller selection since it's mostly second-hand but you can sometimes find the greatest things in there for just a few dollars. >.>

I think my trepidation with figures comes from the fact that I don't know all that much about them and what to look for. Then again, sometimes a site will post some new ones that are coming up that cost a fortune and I just have to take a look. To say they are a pipe dream is an understatement but the amount of detail some of these companies put inot their work is nothing short of staggering!

And yeah, those Canadian shipping costs are such a pain, not to mention Customs. Too many friends lost or paid additionally through the nose to get what they ordered before to the point where they still shudder about those instances!

How jaw dropping of prices are we talking about? Usual artbooks seem to go for anywhere between $30-50. I think that's also why I like to buy artbooks at conventions because not only can I try to bargain down the price when I'm buying a lot of things, but if I pay in cash, then I don't need to worry about taxes. >w< And no shipping~

Yeaaah... a lot of figures are just crazily detailed, its INSANE. I only really buy ones made by Good Smile Company because the quality of their work is so crisp and beautiful - they even detail in shading with airbrushing. And sometimes they base these figures off of images. Like this Miku pic:

http://bilder.anime-deutschland.inf.....0tony_taka.jpg

...got turned into this:

http://www.toypusher.com/wp-content.....ka-version.jpg

I fell in love with the translucent haaair~

Which figures do you have, if any? =D

If you're buying one item from the US, then shipping costs a mint, but the shipping stays virtually about the same if you buy another 10 things. D: Eugh, how frustrating.

The prices are in line for what you quoted, around the $30 to $50 mark for most. Some are even more than that, of course, but since some of those are uncommon or rare then I can't really fault them. I think I just find it a bit high at times because Book Off will take some of the artbooks that are just lying around and, one some occasions, just dump them for $1 apiece! Still, Kinokuniya has sales at times as well. I picked up one or two of Yoshitaka Amano's artbooks on severe sale for $10 for my brother, at least!

And I can easily see why you like Good Smile Company! That's a ridiculous amount of detail and attention to form and all! As for figures I never got too many of them, truth be told. I had a few nice ones from some company I have long forgotten for Love Hina (yeah, laugh, I know!) and a few from Star Ocean 3 since a friend was able to get me a good deal on those! Aside from those I have a handful of FF7 ones from ~ages~ ago, although the Japanese ones I won through an IGN contest were of better quality (well, in a low-rent style, anyway!) than the ones they produced later in the US. Heh heh. oh well!

$1?! WHAT?! That is SUCH A STEAL. =O Or even $10! That's crazy!

Why would I laugh if you like/liked Love Hina? XD I still think this figure is still very well made for its time: http://bp1.blogger.com/_517ZZqZ2WPk.....+Love+Hina.jpg

I think the company that had a hold of Love Hina was one called Max Factory. >w< Fairly decent work, gotta say!

I never knew Star Ocean: Till the End of Time was Star Ocean 3. I actually rather enjoyed playing that game, even though I took this major break near the end of the game. I loved playing as Albel and dealing some crazy damage with him. ¦D

Oh wow, you won some FF7 ones through a contest? Was it like a draw or something? >w< That's so exciting! Although, I personally am not too partial with how they sculpted any Final Fantasy figures. :/ They always seem so... lumpy and less refined with not only the sculpting, but the colouring as well. *Shrug* That's just me, though. Haha.

Yeah, the "get this out of the store, quick!!" pricing on some of the artbooks is just insane! And when it's stuff you want then it's like the stars aligning!

Heh,. Love Hina was good for its time, no doubt about that, but when my friends and I looked back at it a few years ago whatever we used to see in it didn't hold up all that well. At least the anime, anyway! The manga was still quite good, although we can still point to volume 9 and go "should have ended it here!" Not too bad in terms of figures though!

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time was a great game. Well, at least until one particular plot point, but everything else was still fantastic! My favorite moment at college was watching a few friends play it out in our lounge and seeing their reactions at the huge plot twist near the end. Did that ever get some heated reactions! Albel was pretty awesome, though. Between my Fayt, him, and I think Maria most enemies didn't stand a chance!

Oh, way back when IGN just had a random quiz contest for FF7, mostly questions about FF1-FF7. Not too difficult but not too many people entered, plus a random draw for some of the high-scoring ties! And don't worry, most of those figures and whatnot don't look that good, I know exactly what you mean. They certainly didn't hold up to other figures out around the same time, much less ones out nowadays! Then again, sometimes the low, low price of "free" makes things better, ha ha! :D

So, say, I want a reference sheet... :)

Ohhh, I forgot to include that in there~ I'm trying to figure out how much to charge for those. But if you're interested, I guess you could PM me what you'd want (how many angles/headshots or expressions/details/etc.) and we could figure something out. ^^

I'll definitely do that :) I'll probably get it tomorrow when I'm actually at home... but who knows. Maybe I'll be inspired and not tired off my butt and I'll think of something, hahaha.