Category: AI

Who Is This For?

  • August 30, 2026

A quick post today, about this:

I bought this in Australia, specifically at the toy shop in Charlestown Square, although Big W had them as well. I immediately recognized them as AI art, but since I’m a sucker for weird trading cards I had to buy them to see if they were more than just links to online videos…

The above are the six cards in my pack. They’re not high quality: printed on thin flimsy cardboard with generic backs. The girls are all AI art, and you can see I got five different ones from two ‘groups’. Here’s the leaflet showing all 60 cards:

The QR code on each card links to a short YouTube video showing the girl on the card dancing to what I assume is an AI generated tune. While the AI is competent (the girls don’t have 8 fingers or floating hair) the fashion and music resembles what someone (or something) that didn’t know much about K-Pop thinks it would be like, rather than the groups/songs topping charts worldwide today.

Here’s two examples from my cards. Scan these with your phone camera to watch the videos:

And that’s the entire product! Kristin thinks the idea would be for the viewer to learn the dance moves, perform them themselves and then upload them to the internet but I’ll go out on a limb and say no one is going to do that. This is nothing more than a pack of links to 15 second YouTube videos. For which I paid A$10 (about $7)!

I’m sure that everyone who purchased these immediately realized how low quality and transparently useless they are and didn’t buy a second pack. It seems the company that released them learned this quickly since it was rereleased packaged with candy…

…And boxes are now available at clearance prices on several UK/EU stores!

These are trash, and I question whether the fun of creating this blog post even warranted their purchase. I’ll flip them for a handsome profit to Bernard and then forget about them forever!

  • Posted in AI
  • Robert

The Unreal

  • March 30, 2025

Here’s a photo of me a man, which looks like it was taken using iOS portrait mode in a Sydney hotel room a couple of years ago. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a strong image, which gives little away.

Who is this man, and why has he inspired so many artists over the years? Let’s find out…

Here he is reinterpreted in black and red pen, a style we used for our postcard contest two years hence. The theme then was horror: would this guy have fit the category?

A depiction in the style of a legendary sword & sorcery artist. A powerful physique reveals itself, yet hidden by robes typical of a mage.

This is the famous image of him painted by Van Gogh. Is he a monk? A penitent?

Here he is drawn by an iconic 1980s portrait artist. Perhaps he’s a performer, or a pop idol?

He also inspired a commercial landscape painter, who used light to illuminate his darkness. Could he be a holy man?

He’s even made his way into anime, in this still from an upcoming production. But what is the genre?

And then there’s the famous version of him done by the grandmaster of biomechanical art. Could this be the purest glimpse into this man’s nature? Is he a monster? A beast?

Even sculptors have been influenced by his appearance, such as the felt creation above, or even…

…this whimsical balloon-art depiction.

Who is this man? Why has he inspired so many creators? What’s his story?

Some of you have may know already, but he is indeed the immortal sorceror from the best-selling fantasy series The Wizard’s Quest. Bold Brogar the warrior thought he was just saving Princess Mayumi from a band of goblins, but in time he learns the kidnapping was a decoy and his true quest was to save the world from the evil machinations of Azrukel Soulbinder.

Perhaps you’ve read it. Perhaps you even saw the film? Here’s one of the behind the scenes outtakes shot during filming:

Of course that shows Azrukel’s actor (who shall remain nameless), and you can see he apparently doesn’t share the villainy of his character by the way he’s making his cast mates chuckle.

The leads were all smiles on the convention circuit when promoting the film but dark rumours followed the cast about goings-on on set, many of which made their way into the various scandal magazines:

Only the director of the film knows the truth, and he’s not saying anything:

Evilness aside, Azrukel is a charismatic enough fellow that he has a wild fanbase, as the images on this post attest. Indeed, he’s probably reached the same heights of fame as Darth Vader or Voldemort. And just like them he’s been heavily merchandised as well, such as in action figure form:

I don’t own one myself, but I’d love to. However I’m trying to find a carded copy, which are fabulously rare:

If you’ve got one you want to sell, please let me know 😉

(The only ‘real’ image in this post was the first one. Everything else – including the character names – was the creation of AI.)