Tag Archives: action figure gender politics

Trans pride and power: action figures and stuffed trans mermaid doll!

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Custom trans action figures by Suzanne Forbes June 24 2020 cuCustomized Black Trans Lives Matter protester action figures!

I bought these wrestling figures years ago with various projects in mind, but they have been sitting in the fodder drawer for too long and it was time for them to blossom!

Custom trans action figures by Suzanne Forbes June 24 2020I bought the figure on the right to customize for Stevie, the New Mutants dance teacher, for my X-Men dollhouse.

But wrestling figures are quite tall for 6″ scale, and she seemed muscular for a former ballerina.

Custom trans action figures in process by Suzanne Forbes June 24 2020So I made her a skirt out of an actual trans pride flag, with black ribbon added.

To wear to the protest that is happening on the balcony of my action figure dollhouse!

Custom trans actions figures protest by Suzanne Forbes June 24 2020Look at this group of beautiful people ready for justice!

My NECA Vasquez looks pissed off and with good reason. Our trans sisters and brothers are more vulnerable than ever as tensions everywhere increase. Support programs like @glits_inc and @theokraproject to get black trans people housed and fed, support @transsexworks here in Berlin to help vulnerable street SW’s, and sign up for the Queer Trans Mutual Aid Berlin Patreon to help queer and trans folx in Berlin get warm meals.

Of course I included red umbrellas, the symbol of support and solidarity with sex workers!

Custom trans action figures street protest by Suzanne Forbes June 24 2020Note the cis white woman at this protest is being useful as an armed honor guard off to the side.

Ready to Protect Black Trans People! Who are significantly more vulnerable everywhere, including at protests. Custom trans action figures and rement food setup by Suzanne Forbes June 25 2020After the protest the ladies feasted while my newly arrived Hasbro Ghostbusters Ernie kept up the protesting!

I also made this fluffy darling as part of my Pride Doll Art projects.

Commercially available Trans Mermaid doll adapted by Suzanne Forbes June 24 2020

Commercially available Trans Mermaid Stuffed Doll!

No, you cannot buy a trans mermaid dolly at Tiger or IKEA. Yet. But this is a vision of a world where kids can get stuffed dollies of all genders, BEYOND THE GENDER BINARY. We all deserve a world where trans toys are as common as cis toys. Meanwhile, @mermaidsgender is a great org I like to donate to when she who shall not be named does something hateful.

Much of the art of being an assemblage artist is simply HAVING STUFF AROUND.

Having materials around, having bits of things, having the tools to cut them up and the adhesives to glue them back together. I was at the Dutch store, TIGER, buying markers when I saw this stuffed mermaid doll. I knew, I knew instantly, that I had some black faux fur that precisely matched the doll’s fur. I instantly knew I could make a trans mermaid that would be adorable. So I bought the doll and brought it home. I did a quick look through my materials, knowing I had saved one last scrap of the fur after a project a couple years earlier.

But I could not find it. I have 25 drawers and 12 cabinets of materials and tools. I knew the tuft of fur would turn up eventually, so I put the doll in the Large Doll Parts drawer and moved on. A year and change later, last week, I came across that last tuft of the perfect fur, and glued it on.

It’s like having the plumber come fix your pipe – 1% is banging on the pipe, 99% is knowing where to hit.

As usual these images are licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) for all to share and enjoy!

I am so grateful to my Patrons on Patreon, whose monthly financial support makes it possible for me work safely at home.

 

Dollhouse Underground Laboratory: Work in Progress Part 2

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Action figure dollhouse laboratory surgery WIP by Suzanne Forbes April 2018Dang, I have been consumed with this long-delayed project!

SOOO much to do. So many things to figure out. So much foamcore to cut and glue. So many pipes to make out of styrene and straws!

Action figure dollhouse laboratory tube room WIP by Suzanne Forbes April 2018But I am really making serious progress.

Three of the rooms are almost complete, the operating theater (above), the Tube Room, and the Machine Shop.Action figure dollhouse laboratory tube room full view WIP by Suzanne Forbes April 2018

Action figure dollhouse laboratory cryo tube WIP by Suzanne Forbes April 2018What on earth is a Tube Room, you might ask.

Well, in the 90s I had a dear friend named Rob Simpson, who was an editor at DC. We were talking about superhero powers, as we did so often, and he said there was a simple solution to most things in comics.

Somebody loses their powers/needs superpowers? “Put ’em in a tube!” Somebody is dead and needs to be restored to life? “Put ’em in a tube!” Somebody has an evil entity possessing their psyche and needs to be held in stasis so they don’t destroy the world? “Put ’em in a tube!”

Tubes are also known as pods or stasis chambers. Basically they are a MacGuffin where anything can happen. The McFarlane Toys X-Files line from the Oughts provided most of these tubes.

They were intended for alien containment of some kind. I built out the structure around the one above using illustration board covered with chrome selbstklebefolie, which is like contact paper you can’t remove, styrene tubes and the various lids of things painted chrome. Action figure dollhouse laboratory machine shop WIP by Suzanne Forbes April 2018

The Machine Shop also contains the break room/coffee bar.

Action figure dollhouse laboratory making stanchions WIP by Suzanne Forbes April 2018I figured people would be constantly bothering the engineers in the shop for things they want fixed anyway, so they might as well get their coffee while they’re there. The two women robots are “Platinum” from the Metal Men and Angie Spica, “Engineer” from The Authority.

All the rooms are missing a lot of signage and posters (I’m working on figuring out how to get the best results from the self-adhesive inkjet-printable paper I’m using) plus safety tape.

On the right you can see I’m making stanchions for a safety rail using dowels, epoxy clay and blue pearl half-rounds I kept for eight years because I had a feeling I might need them for something.

Most importantly, all the labs need their ceiling panels and lights.

My beloved Friend-Muse-Patron Monique Motil, a fellow creator of Small Art, will bring the lights in May, and then I’ll figure out how to install them, woohoo!

Yes, there will be a “Safety Third” sign!

First Laboratory post is here. Main dollhouse post here.