Monday - November 07 - 2011

OMG - A NEW UPDATE - LOL

So summer is gone - Sniff Sniff - I think I saw a few SNOWFLAKES yesterday afternoon - ugh 5 months of cold... NOOOOOOOO. I wish it was summer already, but then I would not be ready for all the excitement that is to come :) Some That I can talk about below and some that you will have to WAIT just a little bit longer - Ah NiubNiub's still a TEASE. Some things will NEVER change LOL.

So a few things have been hapening in the last few weeks so I thought this would be a great time to do a post. Let's start with something that has been on the back of my mind since I bought my loft in 2007... My basement storage unit is PERFECT to build myself a TRUE Diorama Workshop !!! However as you may have noticed... it's now 2011 LOL. Well this summer I finished FINALLY - after 3 L O N G, did I say Loooooonnnnnnggggggggg ;p YEARS of renovating HELL for the LIVING portion of my loft, I have now started work in the basement which has got me really excited and re-energised my ITCH to make NEW Dioramas. Sooooo......

  


RENOVATION STARTS - MY NEW DIORAMA WORKSHOP

Les jeux sont faits as we say here in Montreal , Let the fun begin !!! Today I present to you a CONSTRUCTION PREVIEW of what will become my NEW Diorama Workshop

You can Click on the photo above To see it in FULL HD and get to examine what figures are in those bins :)

Some of you will think I am completely INSANE, well that is partially TRUE - hee hee - But after more then 17 years in their Original Packages, I decided it was TIME. Time to OPEN UP EVERY SINGLE TOY that I have bought since 1994.

Even back at the begining when Habro relaunched the Star Wars figures in 1994, I knew I was NEVER buying with the thought of RESELLING for PROFIT in the future. I kept them in package thinking that in 2-3 years when they STOP making them - HAHAHA was I ever wrong about that ;p - I will be able to say I have the ENTIRE collection in boxes and cards. Well since then, as many of you know, there have been A LOT - did I say A LOT - of same figures on another color card. I had bought those, yes a sucker as my mom often told me, she IS OLD after all so I will forgive her for that comment ;p. But in the past 2-3 years, the unthinkable happened to me. I actually started to NOT CARE about getting EVERYTHING that came out. I actually have NOT bought a NEW Figure in more then 2 YEARS !!! The passion has kind of dissapeared, a little to do with the Clone Wars, which is a good show but the core excitement for making my dioramas has always been the Trilogy I grew up with.

Yes real life taking care and finding homes for alzheimer family members - first my mom in 2007 and currently my favorite aunt for the past 10 months, has also contributed in construction of new scenes to a snails crawl, but fear not, It was never meant to be a diorama death.

The unpakaging and the sorting of 17 years worth of figures into bins, has brought back a spark as I mention earlier. This has caused 3 things to happen, the first is the fact that I will soon have (before christmas) a NEW room to begin construction which will mean NEW scenes to build which in turn is NEW Updates. This in turn will create CAUSE #2 and Cause #3. I talked about teasing at the start of the post, well, Cause #2 I will reveal on Friday. - Hey !!!! I can't just post everything at the SAME TIME now can I ? I want something else for you to find out about without having to wait 6 months ;p And Cause #3, well that will be a little more painfull casue you will have to wait till my birthday in March to find out about that one :) But maybe, Mayyyybeeeee you will get some You Tube CLUES in January to help you discover it ahead of time.

OK, Dinner time for me, gotta run. Hope you enjoyed the peak, and Ill let you in on Friday about Effect #2

Frank.

 

Saturday - November 12 - 2011

NIUBNIUB ENTERS THE MODERN AGE

Hey Everyone, I hope you are enjoying your weekend :) I'm going down to continue sorting out my art supplies in my Diorama Workshop area but first... as promised, here is the announcement that I teased about earlier in the week... I am pleased to announce the EVOLUTION of NiubNiub's Universe for the NEW DECADE ... I unveil to you Frank D'Iorio's Diorama Workshop...

You can go to the page and bookmark it for FUTURE VISITS, however, the Site is NOT YET open. Just the Teaser Page for now explaining a little of what's to come. Now let answer some of the questions you may be thinking... If I forget some, email me and I'll add the ones that would benefit the fans of NNU. OK...

 

1) Who is Frank D'iorio ?

Well that's an easy one, yes that is me, NiubNiub. I decided to drop the nick name and go with my actual name since the NEW site will not be ONLY about Star Wars (more on that later) So don't worry, if you enjoyed my work, decals and step by step instructions you will continue to find the exact same quality over at the DW.

 

2) Is this the end of NiubNiub's Universe ?

Yes and No... New fans who discovered the site after Celebration V's Diorama Workshop may not realise that NNU has been around since 2000 !!! Thats more then 10 years now. Back then, Cable Modems were RARE, Hi-RES pictures... forget about that... Facebook, Twitter, YouTube... What is that ? LOL

The site started with my Diorama Pictures, then as I grew, I added Step by Step pictures, then Decals, then Blueprints, Figure Reviews, Visitor Pictures, Toy Collections, Home Cinema reviews, a LOT to do for ONE person. Unlike other Star Wars collectible sites out there who have many staff updating daily news of whats here and there, for my site, If I didn't make a diorama, then there was no update.

Making Dioramas, Taking the picture, Cropping them for the web, placing in the Web Pages, uploading for you to read and see the latest creations, all took a LOT of time. Which was great when you are younger. I have no complaints or regrets about the time spent labouring over the computer, that is for sure. But As I approach 50 in 2014, I forget (since my brain is still in my 20's ok maybe 14 LOL) I realise that I'm not the only one getting older, My mom and family are as well which brings one back to reality quickly. As many of you may know, and have read, the site has been slowed down to almost a crawl because of the unfortunate introduction of Alzheimers into my life. First Mom in 2007 and now my Aunt since last year. Power of Attorney for 2 90+ women at the same time and same disease really sucks the energy out of you, not to mention your state of mind.

I had to cut back on hobby time and even refuse film work both at home locally and at ILM. Thanfully I had the Celebration Convention to help me take my mind off of Alzheimers even if for a little while and bring me back the fun of making new dioramas.

Because of these current circumstances, I have decided to no longer update NiubNiub's Universe. The site's 10 year history and thousands of pages WILL REMAIN ONLINE , but only as a ARCHIVE of teaching tools. No NEW dioramas or instructions will appear here. I will be posting all FURTURE creations over at the DIORAMA WORKSHOP.COM.

For those who have just discovered the site, there are MANY MANY HOURS of Awesome Projects for you to benefit from here for years to come.


3) Will you still make Star Wars Dioramas ?

Yes of course, I have sooo many that I have still yet to tackle. LOTS of FANS out there have made awesome Jabba's Palace and Cantina's that are just 2 that I NEVER built yet. Hard to believe I know ;p As I slowly start to get more time and now a REAL working space at the loft, I am excited to start building again. The hardest part will be what to build first ? I think I will bring back visitors polls for that one :)

 

 

4) Then why the change ?

If you go back to answer #2, you will find part of the answer... One of the main reasons in wanting to create a new site is that because of today's influences with ALL the Social Networks that did NOT exist back in 2000, I can have YOU the FANS help bring and maintain LIFE in the Diorama Workshop. In between my own posts, You guys will be able through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to UPDATE your OWN works and chat with fellow Diorama Builders. And NOT JUST STAR WARS...

For MANY MANY Years, I always got asked why don't you make a Lord of the Rings Diorama, or Alien, or Matrix or Narnia, there are so many cool genre Sci-Fi films out there that people want and are building scenes for. At the Diorama Workshop, you will be able to upload those scenes as well, and hopefully, in time, create one of the biggest instructional resource sites for making Action Figure Dioramas.

This way, if real life prevents me from updating for 1 month, your participation will give information and cool pictures to the fans on a daily basis.

 

 

5) When is the Diorama Workshop going LIVE ?

I'm working with a web designer who actually knows about programing social media input into sites and spiffing up a NEW sleaker cleaner look which we HOPE to be ready for January in the NEW YEAR.

There is a little event next year that I am slowly gearing up for, and those behind the scenes pictures I will want to share with you as I build and prep for the summer, I wll need the Diorama Workshop to be active in order to share the information with you and this will be a GREAT FIRST project to launch the new site.

 

 

So there you have it...

I will continue to post some update pictures here on the making of my Loft's basement Diorama Workshop area as well as finish Celebration V sections that have yet to be completed, this until the transition is complete come the New Year.

I am excited about the changes to come and seeing your LIVE involvement and participation in January. It's an energy I felt back in 2000 when I created NNU. The best is yet to come, I look forwards to hearing your thoughts about the news you just read. Send me an EMAIL if you want to chat about it, perhaps you will even make me think of something I forgot to include for the Diorama Workshop.

That's it for now, I'll put a few new pics next week.

Frank.

 

 

xxx

 

 


 

click above to return to main archives menu