Katsucon, Washington, DC, 2006

(Originally written on February 20, 2006)

I attended all three days of this year's Katsucon this past weekend. This convention was much better than last year in that the convention organizers managed to find a single space to hold the entire convention in. (Last year's convention was spread out over two hotels in Crystal City, Virginia, and it was such a pain to constantly walk from one hotel to the other. While the Merchants Room was held in one conference room at one hotel, the Artists Alley, Panels, and Workshops were split between the two hotels.) The entire event was held at a single hotel (the Omni Shoreham) in downtown Washington, DC, just a half a block away from a Metro station.

When I first found out about some ball-jointed doll events during Katsucon through the Den of Angels forum, I wasn't even interested in attending this year's convention because of the memories of doing the walking between the two hotels last year. I changed my mind when I found out about the location switch and I decided to go.

Like last year's convention, BJD Revolution was sponsoring all of the doll events at Katsucon (which included a Friday night meet-up, a two-hour panel covering the topics on a general overview of Asian ball-jointed dolls and doll customization late on Friday night, and a Saturday afternoon meet-up).

My first convention snag happened due to faulty directions on the hotel's website. You see, the hotel's website basically said to take the Metro to the Woodley Park-Zoo station and they said that they were a half a block from that station. The site made it seem like the hotel was right next to the station. Well, when I got there, I was confused when the first hotel I saw was the Marriott. So I proceeded to walk all the way until I was almost at the opening entrance to the National Zoo. I stopped at a nearby Starbucks and I asked a barrista how to get to the Omni Shoreham and he said he had no idea. Another customer overheard me and she gave me the proper directions. (Basically, the hotel's website omitted the following details: When you get out of the Metro station, turn right, walk down the street a half a block, then turn right on Calvert Street and the hotel will be on your left.)

All that extra walking made me more tired than I would've been otherwise. It didn't help that I was carrying a duffel bag full of dolls. The night before I decided to pack my Dollfie Dream and my Soom Mini-Gem Uyoo. Then I decided to pack my two small Dollfie Plus dolls, mainly because I had brought them to previous anime conventions and the ball-jointed doll enthusiasts always love to see them. Then I decided to pack my Teen Trends Kianna doll because she has ball-joints and she's kind of like Mattel's version of a cheap ball-jointed doll and I thought that maybe some of the doll participants would like to see her as well. Then I decided to pack my Pullip Latte and Namu Trunk dolls because they are Asian, have articulated joints, have the cool eye mechanism, and I remembered that someone brought her Pullip doll at one of the doll meet-ups at last year's Otakon convention. Here is what it was like to carry the entire gang to the convention with me (click on any of the photos to see a larger version open in a new window):

I managed to arrive at the convention around an hour before the start of the Friday evening doll meet-up. Since I didn't pre-register, I had to wait in a relatively short line to pay the $50 weekend pass fee. (I was glad I got in line when I did because I saw a very long line Friday night and an even longer line for most of Saturday.) I managed to walk around both the Merchants Room and Artists Alley to familiarize myself with the layout of the hotel. I finally found the BJD Revolution table, where I caught up with Dizzy (whom I've met at previous conventions). She told me that the doll owners were gathering in the lobby so I walked back to the lobby until I came across a large group with dolls. I also saw Dizzy's fellow BJD Revolution co-worker, Aie, organizing the dolls into one large group and organizing the picture taking.

At first the larger ball-jointed dolls were gathered on the couch for a few rounds of picture taking.

Then Aie managed to gather the smaller dolls to join the other dolls for a massive group shot.

Once all the group pictures were taken, we basically socialized with each other while showing off our dolls. I managed to catch up with a few people that I've met at previous doll meet-ups as well as getting to know new people I haven't seen before.

My Pullip Latte and Namu Trunk dolls seem to have this bewildered look as many humans seemed to ignore them and gathered between them to look at, photograph, and admire the Asian ball-jointed dolls. There were a few times when some people came close to accidentally stepping on my bag with the smaller dolls inside. (Which would not have been good had that happened.) But there were some ABJD fans who were interested in Latte and Namu and they asked me questions about those dolls. They were impressed that they had the eye moving and eye winking mechanisms.

Most of the people who attended the doll meet-up were women. However, there was one brave man who was willing to come with his doll. He was accepted and treated well by the other attendees.

During the meet-up, the lobby was full of other convention attendees, many of whom arrived in costume. The most impressive one was worn by this guy who was dressed as a black angel with a very long wingspan.

One of the attendees recently got this Blue Fairy doll in the mail, which came as an unassembled kit. She decided to sell this doll soon after she received it and she brought it to Katsucon in the hopes of finding someone who wanted an Asian ball-jointed doll and who had the money to buy it off her.

The doll meet-up broke up around 5:30 or so. Aie announced the two hour ball-jointed doll panel that was scheduled for later that night at 9 p.m. along with another doll meet-up that was scheduled for the following day at noon.

I originally thought about attending the late-night doll panel, even though I was tired by that point. I was also hungry after the doll meet-up ended so, rather than paying for overpriced hotel food, I decided to go to the nearby Chipotle's and eat dinner there. After dinner, I attempted to go to the Merchants Room only to discovered that it closed at 6 p.m. (That Merchants Room had the shortest hours of any of the convention exhibits.) I then headed for Artists Alley and I caught up with Dizzy at the BJD Revolution table again. (She didn't attend the meet-up because she decided to work the table instead.) That table had a variety of doll items and there even a few used wigs that a person involved with the group wanted to unload. I found this gorgeous light blue-green Can-Can wig that not only fit my Dollfie Dream's head perfectly but she looked great in it so I bought it. Here are a few photos of her modeling it (which were taken after the convention ended).

Then I went over to another table that had a cool array of ball-jointed doll accessories, including eyes and even doll-sized bows. (I didn't see any arrows, though.) That table had a variety of doll-sized horns for sale as well as a couple of wigs. I fell in love with this boyish-looking wig, mainly because of the nice color. I've been wanting a boyish wig for some time because I would like to eventually get a second vinyl ball-jointed doll as a boyfriend for my Dollfie Dream (so far, Volks has yet to make a male Dollfie Dream and Obitsu has announced that it's coming out with a 60 cm male vinyl doll but the release date keeps on getting pushed back). I tried the wig on my Dollfie Dream and I found that it looks nice on her. So I purchased a pair of horns and that wig. Here are a couple post-convention photos from that transaction:

Dollfie Dream wearing horns on her head.

I don't know who originally manufactured this wig (I bought it used and the person who sold it to me didn't seem to know) but it has a nice stretch cap, which fits my doll's head just right.

The back of the wig has a long tail that goes way down the back. Unfortunately, I chose dark-colored clothing for this photo so the tail isn't very visible. (I'll have to take another photo of the back of the wig against light-colored clothing.)

After my visit with Artists Alley, I decided to stroll around and check out the rest of the convention. I had another couple of hours before the doll panel was scheduled to start and I was on the fence as to whether I would go or not. My legs began to grow tired plus my bag had grown heavy from carrying not only my dolls but the items I purchased in Artists Alley as well as a few items I purchased from the Merchants Room prior to the start of the 4 p.m. doll meet-up.

I came across the Video Gaming room and it was massive. There were two parts to this room. One part had the latest videogames on various computers and consoles and it was quickly crowding up with players. The other part was devoted to classic arcade games from the 1970's and 1980's and it included the original vintage gaming machines that used to be frequently found in video arcades. The machines were all set to "Free Play" so I got a chance to relive some old games without having to search my purse for quarters. I really enjoyed playing those old games but, unfortunately, my legs began to give out on me. I meant to return to that room to play some more classic arcade games but, unfortunately, I never got a chance to do so for the rest of the convention.

By around 8 p.m. my arms and legs felt total fatigue to the point where I literally couldn't go any further. I finally decided to skip the two-hour ball-jointed doll panel mainly because I had already sat in on BJD Revolution's previous presentations at last year's Katsucon and Otakon. I sat in on the doll customization panel (which was the second half of the two-hour panel) at last year's Katsucon plus I've been compiling articles printed in back issues of Haute Doll magazine that dealt with customizing ball-jointed dolls. I sat in on the introduction to ball-jointed doll panel (which was the first half of the two-hour panel) at both last year's Katsucon and Otakon. So I didn't feel as bad about skipping this year's panel as I would've had I never attended a ball-jointed doll event before.

hen I got back home, the first thing I did was change the clothes of my Dollfie Dream and my Soom Mini-Gem Uyoo. I also decided to unpack my Teen Trends Kianna, Pullip Latte, and Namu Trunk dolls out of the duffle bag (along with my recent convention purchases) and put them back in their usual resting places and leave them home for the rest of the convention because I felt really weighted down with so many dolls. It's a shame that I had to do this but it was necessary for the sake of my muscles. I finally unwound myself by watching Real Time With Bill Mahrer on HBO before I went to bed.

There was a doll meet-up scheduled for noon the next day and I wanted to go to that. However, I had to help my husband with this on-line invitation that I'm helping him with for his father's 75th birthday (which will be next month). So I ended up waking up at 7 a.m. (after I went to bed at midnight the night before) just so I can do the work needed for the invitation (which got frustrating at times because I was dealing with a desktop computer that had new memory installed along with upgraded versions of Photoshop, GoLive, and ImageReady, and I had to deal with a slightly different interface). I finally finished around 9 a.m. so I ate breakfast and headed off at 10 a.m. I initially hit the local bagel shop to buy a bagel with cream cheese to go that I would eat for lunch (so I wouldn't have to deal with overpriced hotel food).

I arrived at the station at 10:30 a.m. and got on the Green Line Metro at Greenbelt. It turned out to be the first leg of what would become THE METRO TRIP FROM HELL, which was almost a repeat of what happened when I commuted to last year's Katsucon on the Metro early on Saturday morning where I ended up being late for BJD Revolution's intro to ball-jointed dolls panel (which I managed to catch in its entirety at Otakon a few months later). The train stayed at the station for about 10-15 minutes before it finally took off. That leg of the trip was uneventful until I got off at Fort Totten to switch to the Red Line. There was already a train waiting so I thought I was lucky to get on. But then the train waited. And waited. And waited. The train finally took off and it ran okay until it got to the New York Avenue stop and it proceeded to move extremely slowly, then stop for one minute, then move a little bit, then stop for another minute, then move a little bit, then stop for another minute, and, well, you get the picture. The speed of the train picked up after the Union Station stop until it got to Metro Center and it stayed there for another 10-15 minutes.

By the time I got to the Omni Shoreham, it was noon. (Yes, it took me an hour and a half to take a trip that would usually take about a half an hour to make via the Metro on the weekend.) I looked around the lobby (where we all agreed to meet the night before) and I didn't see anyone with dolls. I saw tons of cosplayers and photographers and I saw tons of rowdy otakus acting like they badly needed a megadose of Ritalin.

At first I thought people were late so I decided to do some more shopping at the Merchants Room then return to the lobby. Well, when I came back to the lobby, I still didn't see any doll people so I ran down to the BJD Revolution table in the Artists Alley where I saw Dizzy and she said that Aie were supposed to meet in the lobby. Except I didn't see anyone. I think the group must have gathered prior to noon and decided to go elsewhere to have the meet-up since the lobby was totally packed or the group may have been in the lobby all this time but I missed them because of the mobs of people. In any case, I missed that meet-up. But I managed to pull out the dolls that I brought with me that day for a single photo that was taken in one of the comfy chairs in the hotel lobby.

Left to right: Male Dollfie Plus, Female Dollfie Plus, Dollfie Dream, and Soom Mini-Gem Uyoo.

The Dollfie Dream is wearing a hat that I found at a table in Artists Alley. These people specialized in making small-sized top hats for humans. (The whole idea is that the top hat would appear several sizes too small on the top of the human head and the wearer had to use the attached ties to secure the hat to the head.) I found that these hats were perfectly scaled for my Dollfie Dream so I bought one. Here are a few post-convention shots of my doll modeling the hat:

Since there were no other doll events scheduled for the rest of the convention, I decided to check out a few other events, even though my legs began to feel tired and my bag still felt heavy despite the fact that I took fewer dolls with me than the previous day. I decided to rest in the lobby for a while as I ate my lunch and watched the various people arrived to the hotel dressed in costumes, many of which were totally elaborate. (I could easily devote several blog entries to the many cosplay outfits that I saw at Katsucon.) I had time to kill because I decided to check out a panel on the future of the video gaming industry and it wasn't scheduled to begin for another few hours.

While many of the cosplayers' costumes were well-made and elaborate, there were some where I questioned the sanity of the costume designer. One costume I remember was one where I saw a man dressed in a floral kimono with a grey wig that looked like it was assembled from dryer lint who has left an indelible image in my brain that refuses to go away.

I got bored with looking at the cosplayers after a while but my body was still tired so I decided to go to the room where the video gaming industry panel was scheduled to be held and sit in on the previous panel, which dealt with robots in anime. I was among the few females in attendance. The fanboys pratically drooled over clips of robots from various anime (including Gundam) and they knew all the names of the particular robotic anime by heart. Personally, I thought the robots all looked like those Transformer toys from the 1980's (the ones that could be changed from robots into cars and vice versa). The most ludicrous anime robot I saw was one that looked like a unicorn robot (complete with a metal horn in the forehead).

The fanboys' behavior reminded me of a funny storyline that ran in both the anime and manga versions of Great Teacher Onizuka where Onizuka and his students were taking a class trip to Okinawa. The class genius, an attractive blonde girl named Urumi Kanzaki, was assigned to a hotel room that she had to share with three hardcore Gundam fanboys as they were viewing their precious Gundam videos and talking and debating endlessly about the various Gundam plots and sub-plots. Urumi began to scream at times and show signs of being driven crazy by the Gundam freaks.

When I attended the presentation, I placed my Dollfie Dream on the table lying face down. I had removed her from the bag to make room for new goodies that I purchased at the convention. I had one woman approach me after the panel ended asking me about the doll and it turned out that she had been collecting Dollfie Plus for some time and hadn't known about the Dollfie Dream's existence. So I told her everything I knew about my doll and the person told me that she loved my doll, which is kind of cool considering I did her entire faceup (including body blushing).

I sat in on the videogaming panel, which initially started off slow but turned out to be much more interesting than the previous anime robots panel. I also stayed in the same room after the panel ended because of a panel on "Magical Girls in Anime" sounded intriguing. Unfortunately, the presentation wasn't much (the presenters consisted of a 20-year-old woman, a 17-year-old girl, and a 14-year-old girl and none of them seemed to have much experience in public speaking) and I left in the middle of that one.

I had thought about checking out a panel on J-Pop since the topic sounded intriguing, I've heard some interesting J-Pop tunes through my Dance Dance Revolution Playstation 2 videogames, the soundtrack to some anime that I've seen (such as Love Hina and I know that some people on the Asian ball-jointed doll boards are into it. But that panel wasn't scheduled to begin until around 8 p.m. and, once again, my muscles were feeling very fatigued from walking around and carrying a duffel bag full of dolls. I was also loathe to wait for a panel that may not be what I expected (especially after the major disappointment over the "Magical Girls in Anime" panel). So I basically left for home. Ironically the Metro ride home was a breeze compared to the Metro ride coming to the con.

The biggest hassle of the entire convention was seeing the cosplayers and photographers frequently clogging the hallways as the cosplayers strike a bunch of poses while the photographers snap away. This can be a total hassle if you're on your way to an event that's scheduled to begin soon and you get frustrated by having to weave through cosplayers and photographers. Some of the cosplayer costumes have such long hems that drag to the floor that I have to be careful that I don't inadvertantly step on someone else's costume and rip it to shreds. (Believe me, some anime fans have bodies that I don't want to see exposed.)

On top of that, some anime fans get so rowdy that they become totally scary and I frequently found myself wishing that someone would give them some meds to calm them down.

Plus the official Katsucon program book and website urged participants to shower and bathe regularily. Having caught occaional whiffs of body odor, I understood why there was the notice in the program book. Last year I attended my religion's denominational convention (which was held in Fort Worth during the summer, when temperatures in Texas get very hot and humid) and that program book didn't urge people to shower and bathe. The organizers of that convention didn't need to do so since people generally cooperated with hygiene.

I originally didn't intend to go back to the convention on Sunday, the last day. There were no doll events planned and there were no panels or workshops that I was really interested in. Despite my original plan, I still purchased a weekend pass mainly because the weekend pass was a few dollars cheaper than buying a Friday and Saturday pass.

Well, it was just as well that I bought a weekend pass because I realized that I hadn't visited all the tables in the Merchants Room. Plus my husband's birthday is coming this Thursday and I'd thought I would find some unique items that I wouldn't necessarily find in Target or Wal-Mart.

So I decided to skip church and go back to the convention. I slept later than I do on a usual Sunday morning, then got up and took a hot shower (which loosened up my tight muscles really well). I then got dressed and prepared to head to the convention.

For the last day of the con, I decided to travel light. Instead of bringing my large duffel bag, I decided to take my purse. I also decided to take three of my small dolls just in case I run into the same people that I did at Friday's doll meet-up. So I packed my Soom Mini-Gem Uyoo, my female Dollfie Plus, and my male Dollfie Plus.

The last day was a breeze since I didn't have my larger Dollfie Dream to lug around with me. When I arrived at the hotel, I saw many people who were waiting in the lobby with packed suitcases while they were waiting for rides and stuff like that. Some of the people with packed suitcases were wearing their cosplay costumes, which I found funny since they were on their way out the door. (At times, I wonder if some of the cosplayers arrived at airports and train stations still dressed in their costumes.) I ran into two people from Friday's meet-up and they were clutching their dolls and their suitcases. We talked for a little bit while I pulled out my three little dolls and they were admiring them. They told me that the Merchants Room is totally crazy with people grabbing stuff and I decided to cut the conversation short since I only came to the con to see if I could find unique stuff for my husband.

The Merchants Room was full of people but it wasn't too bad going from table to table. I found a few cool things that I know my husband will love. (I can't write about them yet because I don't want to risk him reading this blog before Thursday.) It was worth the effort to go to the con on the last day since I don't know when I'll get the opportunity to buy such unique items again.

After I finished shopping in the Merchants Room, I decided to walk around Artists Alley the last time to say good-bye to the people at the BJD Revolution table. I saw Dizzy there and I also found that the people I bought my Dollfie Dream's hat from had moved there because another person from BJD Revolution opted not to work that day and Dizzy invited them to move their operations to her table. It's a natural fit since the hats are the perfect scale for a doll.

I also visited the table of someone whom I had seen at previous cons. I used my last bit of money to purchase some buttons off of her that included one that said "I [heart] BJD" and "Still Plays With Dolls".

After the Artists Alley visit, I did one last thing before I headed home. I placed my three 1/6 scale dolls on an abandoned Artists Alley table (there were a few empty tables because some of the artists opted not to work on the final day) took a final picture of my dolls at the con.

Left to right: A female Dollfie Plus, a male Dollfie Plus, and a Soom Mini-Gem Uyoo.

It was generally a good convention for me. What was really great is that this is the first anime convention that I've been to with my dolls that no one has come up to me and call my dolls "creepy" to my face. (This happened at last year's Katsucon and Otakon.) I guess the anime attendees are getting used to the presence of the Asian ball-jointed dolls. This is definitely progress.

Katsucon, Washington, DC, 2006

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