Finding the joy of the hobby...a list of tips that work for

I've been struggling lately with keeping myself interested in the hobby--too much outside influence, too many ideas of how things "should" be that I kept trying to live up to. Having done some hard thinking I've re-envisioned my philosophy and came up with these tips. You may or may not find them useful, but they work for ME personally, so I'll share 'em. What I know is that for me they bring me back to what got me into the hobby in the first place and made it so much fun:


1. Focus on the moment. The finished custom will suck if you don't take the time to make it look and work well as you do it. If you get tired or bored, move on to another piece, or another project. Never force yourself to stay.

2. There's no race to finish. Nobody to compete against, nobody to show up or who will show you up. Everybody's got their own ideas about how something should be, or not. Do your own thing.

3. Don't do a custom just to do it. Do it because you ENJOY doing it.

4. Don't overthink. The best results can easily come from the vaguest notions. Hey, it works with jigsaw puzzles...

5. Try not to reveal too much before a project is done. This creates a sense of obligation that others will want to see the finished project, which in turn creates pressure to complete it, which in turn leads to frustration when things go wrong. It can also lead to bigger issues when the expected praised doesn't match what your mind has imagined.

6. Things WILL go wrong. Treat each one as a puzzle to be solved and don't be afraid to set it aside if you can't figure it out now. Some solutions take time, and there is no wrong solution if it achieves the goal you set for yourself.

7. There is no right or wrong way to do the job, nor right or wrong way for your custom to look. Why can't the Baroness be blonde, or Scarlett be a black woman with huge muscles? It's YOUR freakin' Joeverse!

8. Above all, never, EVER let someone try to "grade" you on your techniques or things you do (unless of course, you're asking for such help). Most people who do this mean well, offering things they feel you can do or should try next, without realizing this can make you feel you have to live up to something that will diminish your enjoyment. When it comes to customizing go at your own pace--you have to answer only to yourself.

9. Above all--remember it's a hobby, and it's supposed to be fun. Never take it so seriously that you lose sight of that--otherwise it becomes a "job".

10. Anything you have on hand can be used for customizing. It's one thing my good friend Cap has shown me, even the most mundane of objects can create the most exciting results with a little imagination and ingenuity.

Great viewpoint Doc. And good advice to noobs and veterans alike.

This is a fantastic list Rob. Some of us who couldn't get our joe batteries recharged by going to the con will definitely get some use from this.

[The Spectre]

These suggestions are very close to the credo I live by when doing this hobby. Nice job!

Glad to offer anything that helps keep the hobby fun. BTW, updated it with a 10th item, thanks to Cap.

1. Focus on the moment. The finished custom will suck if you don't take the time to make it look and work well as you do it. If you get tired or bored, move on to another piece, or another project. Never force yourself to stay.

I do this a lot. I move from one custom to another to where sometimes I have upwards of four or five things going on. Then some days I can knock a custom out in a couple of minutes or hours.

2. There's no race to finish. Nobody to compete against, nobody to show up or who will show you up. Everybody's got their own ideas about how something should be, or not. Do your own thing.

This can kind of go with 1. Take your time. Who cares if someone puts up a custom before you do. Just do the best you can and at your own pace and with your own style.

3. Don't do a custom just to do it. Do it because you ENJOY doing it.

Exactly. I've made about 8000 Solid Snake and Sam Fisher customs. At times I feel like I'm the only one who could give a rat's behind about the characters, but that's all that matters.

4. Don't overthink. The best results can easily come from the vaguest notions. Hey, it works with jigsaw puzzles...

Sometimes I just have to walk away. When I come back, the answer is right in front of me. Kind of like playing a videogame.

5. Try not to reveal too much before a project is done. This creates a sense of obligation that others will want to see the finished project, which in turn creates pressure to complete it, which in turn leads to frustration when things go wrong. It can also lead to bigger issues when the expected praised doesn't match what your mind has imagined.

I got to the point where I just don't like WIPs anymore unless it's posted to get an opinion on parts choices, etc. Because by the time the finished product is posted after multiple WIPs, it's lost it's pop.

6. Things WILL go wrong. Treat each one as a puzzle to be solved and don't be afraid to set it aside if you can't figure it out now. Some solutions take time, and there is no wrong solution if it achieves the goal you set for yourself.

I always run into snags with parts compatibility or paint goof-ups.

7. There is no right or wrong way to do the job, nor right or wrong way for your custom to look. Why can't the Baroness be blonde, or Scarlett be a black woman with huge muscles? It's YOUR freakin' Joeverse!

Exactly. People may not like it, but it's what makes you happy.

8. Above all, never, EVER let someone try to "grade" you on your techniques or things you do (unless of course, you're asking for such help). Most people who do this mean well, offering things they feel you can do or should try next, without realizing this can make you feel you have to live up to something that will diminish your enjoyment. When it comes to customizing go at your own pace--you have to answer only to yourself.

Yep.

9. Above all--remember it's a hobby, and it's supposed to be fun. Never take it so seriously that you lose sight of that--otherwise it becomes a "job".

Exactly; and don't worry about if your custom is going to come out as good as X Member's custom.

10. Anything you have on hand can be used for customizing. It's one thing my good friend Cap has shown me, even the most mundane of objects can create the most exciting results with a little imagination and ingenuity.

I use a lot of those clear rubber bands from packages for belts and straps. I also find myself using missiles from launchers as pegs once I cut them down.

[Lance Sputnik]

Something I have found to be particularly helpful when I get in a rut is to find another customizer and talk stuff out. Share ideas, thechniques, whatever. I do this a lot via email from time to time (chat is really good for this too sometimes) with various different people, and for a real shot in the arm, I try to go down and visit Nova. I ALWAYS come away from his place filled with awesome ideas and stuff to try. Chad and Matt mentioned at the con that they do this too, any time one of them gets stuck on something, they call each other up and talk it through. Talking about the hobby with likeminded individuals always recharges my batteries.

[joemichaels70]

i don't mean to overstate the obvious, but if you have to talk yourself into enjoying the hobby,
maybe it's time to find a new hobby...or at least put it away for awhile. if you find you don't miss it,
or aren't happy to re-discover it, maybe you've just moved on...

it happens.

i don't mean to overstate the obvious, but if you have to talk yourself into enjoying the hobby,
maybe it's time to find a new hobby...or at least put it away for awhile. if you find you don't miss it,
or aren't happy to re-discover it, maybe you've just moved on...

it happens.

Guess I should have made it more clear what I'm getting at.

For a long time I was finding myself growing soured on the hobby, not so much for the hobby itself as for the perceptions that have grown up around it, for me, in the last four years, mostly due to interacting with a community that's heavily diverse and in many places, heavily divided on the subject (ie., trying to be one with all the people and you just can't). After a while that rubbed off on me and wanting very much to be a part of things I tried to fit into all those places as much as a I could, at the cost of my enjoyment.

What this list is is stripping away all those other (useless) perceptions to get back to the core. The list just provides focus--I wrote it for the benefit of both vets and newbies alike, and it's nothing more than a reminder of what makes the hobby--ANY hobby--fun. Talking myself into the hobby was what I was doing before this: I'd sit down and work on a project just to feel as though I belonged (I'm sure you caught my rant a few months back about quitting the hobby). Now, I do it because I want to.

great advice i will use it as i traverse this new hobby

Thanks for the list Doc, those are really good to look at and I see merit in each one. Plus each project may have a situation/problem/concern which one of those tips may help or maybe more or all for that matter. I appreciate the thought you put into this and it will be a help to me as I am putting it into my favorites list so I can just get it back if I hit any sort of mental snags at any projects.

Aegis

Great list Doc. I think your ideas apply not only to just Joes but customizing in general. Sometimes I find myself looking at my Joe fodder and feeling like I've run out of ideas. Then I'll do a couple Superhero customs or some other line that fuels my ideas. I think its important not to limit yourself to just one theme.

Thanks for the list Doc, those are really good to look at and I see merit in each one. Plus each project may have a situation/problem/concern which one of those tips may help or maybe more or all for that matter. I appreciate the thought you put into this and it will be a help to me as I am putting it into my favorites list so I can just get it back if I hit any sort of mental snags at any projects.

You're welcome. I had to sit down and sort through what was eating me up so much about the hobby--or rather, what had changed since I got started--and those are what sifted out, what I felt was the actual "core" of what got me into the hobby. I keep referring to them when I draw a blank or get frustrated, or simply lose motivation. The results are usually pretty good.

Great list Doc. I think your ideas apply not only to just Joes but customizing in general. Sometimes I find myself looking at my Joe fodder and feeling like I've run out of ideas. Then I'll do a couple Superhero customs or some other line that fuels my ideas. I think its important not to limit yourself to just one theme.

That last part there really applies--not limiting yourself to one theme. For me, I know, branching out is what keeps things fresh. Even if it's just one figure from one universe/media/etc. if I feel like doing it (and have the parts/skill), it's worth doing.