I've rearranged my corner at the HQ, again, and again, and several more times...., to what we see today. The "big table" and high shelves set up just didn't feel quite comfortable.
One of the hardest things is getting something started. I kind of think back to my college art/ design days where open-ended assignments/ projects were the hardest to get started. It was just this blank page. Over the last year-plus-some I wanted to get something set up, not just a "Joe Room," but kind of an overall creative space where I could set up, have fun, maybe start doing some more artsy-crafty/ sort of custom work. Things like that.
Time and inspirational creation energy didn't seem to always come together at the right moment. I often found myself with some time, but I just didn't feel like doing anything in my corner, ya know? Or, sometimes I found myself kind of forcing myself to make this a fun space, and it never fun when the fun is forced that I have found.
(And there has always been frustration with the space itself, as well as money. There's a lot I could do...., it's just a potential can-o-worms in many instances.)
I mentioned previously how I rearranged my old rooms from back in the day, to the apartments I lived in previously, and as you might have seen here in older pictures from my previous HQ.
And that's where life and GIJoe meet for me. I think I am finding that nothing is static. It's all dynamic. Trying to force a static thing into a dynamic human life was kind of cumbersome, in some ways it was very much like the "weight of possessions" was on top of me.
As you have read through my posts, you can see how my collection has evolved to where it is today, a fairly lean "small" GIJoe figure collection with the goal of building it up with more "enemy" forces, and smaller, mobility-minded vehicles and accessories. Of sorts. It's kind of a fixed path, but still very open ended as far as what I'm going to focus on.
To add to this path, I want to start incorporating more creativity to what I do. I have found I don't do a lot as I've pondered this rather plain basement set up. I am hoping this arrangement can be comfortable and allow for some flexibility (the outer walls and center are mostly open...., a fold up table fits in the center so the thing isn't just always there....). I hope to draw on some of that industrial design education and see what I can do.
The top picture set up, for instance, you can see is not my usual old-mold-oring figures. These are some of the figures I wanted to have a sort of "modern" force. As I learn more about older pop culture toys, characters, whatnot, from here and abroad, I want to take that in without taking it in (collecting it).
A "side GIJoe collection" to my main focus will be happening, but this one is one collection that isn't going to be hampered by any official things. It's going to be military based, but I think it is a way for my imagination to take figures with no "official" backgrounds, even maybe non-Joe figures, and just sort of play. Something to break up the "serious" collector side, ya know?
