Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

Coasting

Sunday, December 25th, 2016

Tomorrow, for the 26th time, I fly across the Pacific for another annual migration south for the winter.

This time the trip will be a bit longer, and a lot more adventurous. For starters it’ll be me and B. For seconders check out our route:

We’ll land in Brisbane, spend a few days in Surfers, drive south over a few days staying in coastal towns until Newcastle, and then about two weeks later head to Sydney.

The sights we’ll see! The things we’ll do! The food we’ll eat! Read all about it here during the usual blog extravaganza πŸ™‚

Oh, and Happy Christmas!

The Year In Postcards

Friday, December 23rd, 2016

I started the year in Australia, where I had all sorts of fun times. You can go back if you like and read all about it on the blog. I sent loads and loads of cards, at about US$2.50 each, and I’m sure you got some. On this trip I started drawing full-colour illustrations on the cards (mostly portraits), most of which were remarkable. I wonder who got this Stonehenge card (that I had purchased in an antique shop) and what I had written on it?

In March we went to Funspot in NH and played video games and it was great. Again, I sent postcards while I was there, but this photo was taken on the way back. I had decided to send cards from every state we passed through and I can now exclusively reveal that finding the cards in Vermont was much easier than finding a post box! I believe we eventually saw one in the carpark of a library as we were running out of state.

In May we went to RI to visit Lovecraft’s grave and I was moved enough to create this masterpiece. I hope I sent it to myself because I love it, but maybe it’s yours? If so, please treasure it…

Then came Vegas and California, and a bevy of funny and – dare I say – notable cards. I think this one (sent to KLS) sums up my feelings about Santa Barbara well. The sticker (of a band member from Slipknot) came free with a Metal Hammer magazine I had purchased just for the Baby Metal lenticular cover πŸ™‚

And then came England, in which my postcarding reached – I think – a new peak. In particularly I am proud of the ‘postcard magic’ series that I sent Bernard. It’s a crime he hasn’t shared them on his blog yet…

In three days I’m off again, for 24 days in the sun, sea and sand. I’m filled with postcarding spirit, so watch your mailboxes keenly and look forward to the occasional masterpiece or two from distant shores!

Welcome To Robot Claw!

Wednesday, December 21st, 2016

Here we are at the brand new blog! If it all looks suspiciously familiar that’s because it is, since this is a copy of the old blog. All the posts, all the pictures, all the comments. It’s all here.

The difference – aside from the new URL – is that the blog now runs on Amazons cloud servers and not on a PC in Bernard’s house. Thanks to ‘Agent B’ for setting this all up for us πŸ™‚

The old blog will remain for a while just to point people here. But it’s not a mirror of this, which is to say no new posts will appear on it. So update your bookmarks to this version and never look back!

Oh, and leave a comment please. That’s the only feature I didn’t test myself πŸ™‚

More Crafting

Saturday, December 10th, 2016

It’s time for a craft update. While KLS was in Ireland I occupied myself with a bit of making. Three different miniature kits to be precise, and all turned out quite well.

The first was a tiny cardboard dinosaur skeleton that I had picked up in CA earlier this year. I bough a kit by the same maker in Japan years ago but ruined it during assembly so I was very careful this time and it went together without issue.

As you can see it’s very detailed for its size (about 1.5 inches high) if a little flimsy. A tiny bit of glue would perfect this, but I’m too nervous to do it so it shall sit on the shelf forever!

The next kit was a gift from Florence, who has since admitted she chose it because it looked difficult. She wasn’t wrong!

I’d made one like this before and that was hard enough, but look at the micro-folds required here! The level of precision is incredible, and this one also requires glue to assemble. Im not sure I had the correct tools for this, but then I don’t know even what the correct tools would be!

Almost all the pieces in the first photo go into making the tiny three-windowed piece in the lower right of the second!

Anyway I was careful and meticulous and patient and believe I ended up doing quite a good job:

It came with a little display case (which also needed assembly) but I like it better out.

Lastly it was time for (yet!) another Metal Earth kits, this time from their new Doctor Who license.

This was another trial of my patience to be honest, and definitely amongst their more difficult kits. But once made, it’s amazing:

Next on my list: a Gundam. Whether or not that happens before Oz remains to be seen…

Yes My Friends, The Fated Day Has Arrived! It’s Time Once Again For The Christmas List!

Wednesday, December 7th, 2016

I got a postcard the other day with a kiwi stamp on it. On the back, next to the sketch of the extinct ‘kiwi squid’, was the following request: “Please blog a Christmas wish list!”
I think we know who sent it, so here goes.

Video Game Section

Slap Fight for the Megadrive is pretty high on my list, but – as with most Genesis shooters – is a real dog to find (boxed with manual of course). It’s a mostly forgotten game these days but I always loved it. Bernard may be able to use his contacts to obtain this, but he’ll weep quietly when he sees the price (>$350) so may want to consider this only-slightly-less-expensive alternate:

Taito Nostalgia 2 is a plug-and-play TV game, which includes a remixed Slap Fight amongst its handful of games. This is a 10 year old JP-only release and may be ‘challenging’ to find at a reasonable price πŸ™‚

That’s a Sega Master System, an obsolete 8-bit system I’ve been getting more and more interested in. They’re not too difficult to find, and not prohibitively expensive, but of course they are nothing without games to play. And here’s where things get a bit chancey. Because if he gets me one of these, he’d have to get me some games as well.

These two are a good start. Other good options include Sagaia, Zillion, Master Of Darkness, Phantasie Star etc. Very likely each of these games will cost more than the system!

Speaking of games…

 

Bernard’s going to need the devil’s luck finding these two TG-16 games (boxed of course), and then open his wallet wide to get them for me…

RPG Section

This AD&D module was published a startling 31 years ago and is a legendary classic. It’s also bloody expensive and rarely complete (the complete boxed set has oodles of maps and handouts in it). I almost bought it myself about 25 years ago but chose not to knowing that in 2016 my brother would get it for me.

This is apparently a mostly stupid expansion to D&D that was put out in 1986 to keep stubborn gamers who hadn’t moved on to AD&D busy. I’ve always been intrigued but it’s bloody hard to find complete. And sticker-shockingly pricey. Thanks Bernard.

With a bit of effort, sacrifice and prayer Bernard should be able to get me one of these AD&D manuals for under a Benjamin. The Conan ones are apparently very short (one is only 12 pages I think) which means the cost/page is sky-high. Good thing Bernard spares no expense!

Toy Section

Gore Magala Girl just came out. As in last week. It would be challenging get it before Xmas to say the least, plus it’s expensive; more than I’ve ever paid for any figure. I’m putting it here mostly to show it off since you can bet I’m buying it the second I get back from Oz. In other words this was originally added as a sincere list item, but like the ZOID from 2014 I’ve now retracted it to buy it for myself πŸ™‚

Computer Section

That’s a Casio FX 890P handheld computer, which (apparently) has several built-in languages. Just the machine for me to write the next (long awaited) Mercenary King game on. I’m putting any generic programmable handheld computer on this list, so Bernard can surprise me!

That’s a RetroPie handheld. It’s a lovely handheld MAME device based around a Raspberry Pi. Now I have conflicting feelings about emulation, especially of consoles, and frankly couldn’t be bothered setting up a Pi or (even less so) downloading MAME roms. But Bernard will do it all for me, because Christmas πŸ™‚

Trading Card Section

Get me this and I promise you’ll get Tron stickers on postcards πŸ™‚

MTG Section

My MTG basic land collection is pretty massive now and almost complete. But I don’t have any of the five stupidly rare and expensive ‘guru’ lands. If Bernards got about $2000+ lying around, he’ll get me these 5 cards for Christmas!

‘There’s only two weeks and this list is insane!’ Section

– Any Gundam kit
– A t-shirt (size L)
– An interesting jigsaw (suitable for framing)
– Any gamebook I don’t own (check the list on your network)
No metal miniatures πŸ™‚
– Glowworm stamps!