One project that I personally engaged into is the web content for TS118.blogspot.com, a former community of 1:18 scale hobbyists specializing in showcasing dioramas for public commercial exhibits in Manila, Philippines. The community is a resourceful group of hobbyists and collectors, majority Filipino and collectors of various popular 1:18 toylines such as but not confined to, Gijoe, Starwars, Marvel Universe, BBI, Bravo team and PTE.
Initially coming in as a collector for GIjoe line from vintage lines during the 80’s era and now the current 25th and 30th anniversary lines, the affirmation of membership raised involvement from active member, product reviewer, project lead and online content. The job which is pro-bono is one of those flexible projects with joint stakeholder status, a shared art direction with other active members in the group.
The site features artifacts in the nature of mostly 1:18 scale toys with associated toy lines depending suitability and blend to scale, of both contemporary and fictional military theme, carrying the name Toy Soldier, the chosen acronym for the group along with the 1:18 line. Varying from figures, vehicles, playsets and accessories, the cumulative output is a public exhibit of dioramas.
SCOPE OF CONTEMPORARY COLLECTION
Dioramas by definition refer to a 19th century mobile theatre device, or in present usage a three dimensional miniature model, in some cases enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are popularly built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle and figure modeling of varied scales.
The modern diorama is a scale model of a scene or a landscape showing historical or fictional events, natural and man-made structures viewed for education or entertainment. Miniature dioramas are typically smaller, with scales ranging for 1/48 to 1/100 scales, popular for hobbyists.
The group is particular to the 1:18 scale, but its adherence can include other scales as deemed fit for the said design or its blending to the current diorama. Lines include scales, everything from 1:15 to 1:20th and even accessories for smaller scales such as 1:72 and larger 1:6 for collective purposes and display.
Soldiers are currently defined as a land component member of national armed forces and thus where as a soldier hired in a foreign army is termed a mercenary. Basing from other languages, majority of cognates of the word “soldier” encompasses both commissioned and non-commissioned land forces.
On an etymological perspective, the word soldier comes from soudee, meaning shilling’s worth or wage, from the word sou or soud, which is a shilling. Before the 14th century, the middle English word Soudeour came about, having origins from Anglo-French word Soudeer meaning mercenary. Further back, these words were derived from late latin word Solidus, referring to an ancient Roman coin used in the Byzantine Empire.
Looking at the ancient times, where nations employed soldiers to fight for the state, the word soldier was appropriate for land forces that operate for either invasion or defense. Occupational designations have a more general meaning to the term soldier, since the birth of varied specializations and military occupations that require different areas of knowledge and skill sets. As a result “soldiers” are referred to by names or ranks that reflect the individual’s military specialization in terms of occupation, service or branch of military employment, type of unit or operational employment or technical use, such as trooper, tanker, commando, dragoon, marine, paratrooper, sniper, engineer, medic, gunner or ranger.
The 1:18 scale is a popular scale in the early 80’s using the soldier theme, starting its popularity with the rise of Starwar toy figures, carrying the science fiction genres of soldier into the concept. Then the next series had a more current and realistic military theme, GIjoe followed by other lines such as Chap Mei (mostly military with less realistic yet more play value and child-centric) in the 90’s to the more realistic military line BBI. However, care is applied to the use of too much realism to present day military vehicles, since the design itself is confined to Intellectual property agreements, thus licenses, patents and rights can be legally justified and claimed.
During the 2000 other toylines adopted the 1:18 format to sell, such as Marvel Universe, having its superhero theme different from the military line. Hasbro, toy manufacturer which gave rise to the GIjoe line managed to buy Kenner, toy manufacturer for Starwars and even Marvel universe, making it the main player for the 1:18 scale figures.
The Classification
The main classification for the assortment is basically Basic Product Line (Figure, Accessories, Vehicles and Playsets) and a Custom Line (Figures, Vehicles, Accessories, Playsets, Dioramas). Most of them are sectioned via the forum community, which disseminates information from other Toy forums of the same genres as well.
Categories for collectors, same as other toy forums, include MOC (Mint on Card) and MIB (Mint in Box) collectors, loose and play collectors, Army Builders and Customizers.MOC collectors gather collections and never remove it from the card or box, unless they have spare to play loose. Loose collectors use acquired collections for diorama and play value, while Army builders chose to buy numerous quantities of the same product to simulate group or an army. Kitbashers and Customizers alter and modify loose items to their personal tastes. It is natural that an average 1:18 collector is a combination of such categories, making it more of attributes rather than a distinct stage. However, there is a usual trend for MOC collectors to go loose and ascend to the next level.
A growing level however has rose since the accesses ability of digital photography, where collectors practice amateur, novice and professional photography to capture diorama pieces for a commercial event.
The final cumulating output is the commercial exhibit of the diorama, paved way by conventions and toy events, following a specific theme play of fictional design.
The Direction
The initial direction of the TS118 group was to include only soldier genres, which included a military theme revolving in a diorama fashion. This means that the diorama revolves on modern military genres to keep the toysoldier concept intact. Toylines like GI joe, BBI, Chap Mei and PTE have a profound adherence to the modern military concept, changing its design structures only for the play audience and constraints in design.
However with the birth of sci-fi genres and the use of occupational usage of the term soldier, the aspect of a government based, nation commissioned, armed citizen serving the state and country can now be debatable. Following future genres and concepts like Starwars, the Imperial Trooper serves a galaxy wide association of planets, incorporated with sentient races. The troops are term a soldier as not a representative of a nation, but a league of planets or galactic alliance. Rebel Soldiers in the same essence are not of national commission, rather a chosen affiliation with another galactic entity of sentient races from different planets, fighting for another type of governance contrary to the dominating Imperial.
The soldier term also is not confined to its association to the galactic level, it can also be found in the Superhero genres. Examining the continuities of Marvel Universe, soldiers are again not bounded by national affiliation or recruitment, rather to their secular or political faction. Hydra, a villainous organization of Nazi origin, employs soldiers that have no definite nationalistic affiliation and only directed on the beliefs and values practiced by their army. Others fictional organizations of both protagonist and anti-protagonist factions practice such terminology, no longer confining that a soldier ; in the confines of the superhero continuity is not bound to nation; its own group or secular affiliation.
However there are characters that coincide with the soldier concept in both fictional and contemporary military theme and genres. Characters like anti hero Wolverine has served in his prolonged lifetime as a military soldier, while Captain America is commissioned as a super soldier, is a soldier nonetheless. A number of popular characters share the same kind of attribute which also manifests coincidentally to the designed 1:18 scale.
This is the reason for the recent TS118 diorama, titled “Silent Xuperior” to replace the military soldier genres, to a comic universe concept of “soldier”. Hence the group has expanded its original scope of realistic military theme to embrace comic universe genres.
ARTISTIC CONDUCTION AND PROPRIETORSHIP
The group migrated from single proprietorship conduction and currently extending its stakeholder status to its active members. There is also a current move to even extend part of its decision making to the diorama conduction to community via polls, to strategize future themes and provide proper scheduling of an annual calendar for commercial activities and events.
Administration is covered by again active individuals, mostly senior members who were part of the original forum. Project leads are volunteered thru or assigned however revolved to active member’s capacity to give effort and time, as well as pledge a considerable amount in terms of diorama materials and artifacts.
Activity of decision making used to be confined to a few, and then slowly democratically conducted. The democratic channels involve more time for debate; it does produce better results since it involves the facilitation of more minds into the creative brew. The project lead now moves to a more facilitator approach of assimilating ideas from different people, looking if it fits into the diorama’s artistic design.
REVENUE CHANNELS
Revenue channels involve volunteer financial pledges and donations, sale of group merchandise such as shirts bearing the groups affiliation and logo.
However to achieve sustainability and remove its dependence to volunteer donations which can be unreliable and risky, there is a need to move to a non-profit organization thru the SEC. The option is to invite sponsors, suppliers and distributors to engage in funding events. Discounts from supply chains can also be formalized thru this action.
Future projects include restoration decal and custom sheets, events sales and hosting, parts casting and reproduction and maybe special coffee table books exhibiting diorama’s and design.
NICHE MARKET BASE
Market base is the community of majority Filipino collectors in a former community ranging to 400 plus members. Active members who post are however a fraction of that and a solid group of 20 or so individuals are the production team for the diorama exhibits.
Additional channels are then realized to increase public response, thru blogspot, multiply, and currently Face book. A member increased but so increases the number of spammers and trolls hence a lockdown of the Face book group to a closed status. Invitation becomes referral as administrative control.
ONLINE SHOWCASE
The community uses a huge amount of visual content, ranging from photographs, sketches and even CGI content apart from its physical diorama. For a particular time, videos are employed to give a multimedia aspect, however departed due to logistical constraints and equipment.
WHATS NEXT?
Depending on the action of the current active members, the diorama community TS118 will survive solely for its members. It can stay status quo as an organization making public dioramas for the 1:18 scale, sustaining its interest from volunteer pledges or grow to the next level by formalizing as a public entity, which in turn can administer and receive large donations and resources from its own catering industry, benefitting from supplier benefits, and creating more challenging dioramas for more commercial events in the future, becoming a developing museum for 1:18 scale artifacts, a unique form of content online.
