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2017 In Games

Tuesday, December 19th, 2017

You know you’ve been waiting for it, and here it is: the annual summary of my game purchases!

I won’t dance around the facts: 2017 was a ‘down year’ for game spending. I bought only 40 games in 2017, spending a total of $1291. This is the smallest amount of total purchases since 2012, and the smallest amount spend since 1994! Results like this threaten an existential crisis: am I still a gamer?

Of course I am! And we’ll get to that in a little bit, but first here are the pie charts everyone loves. First the games purchased; % by system:

And next the % breakdown by dollars spent:

(Yes I know the fonts are illegibly tiny; click on each for a bigger version.)

The pertinent points:
– I bought games for a few ‘dead systems’ this year: the DS, PSP and NES
– While I still bought Vita games, I bought less than half last year (10 vs 28). This is unsurprising; Sony declared this a ‘legacy system’ a couple of years ago now…
– The Nintendo Switch enter the charts! I bought one game….. but don’t have a Switch yet 😉

As far as overall gaming comments I don’t feel like I’m playing less than ever. I still play Puzzle & Dragons (and am coming up on 1700 consecutive days of logging in) and still enjoy it, and I still have a backlog of (good!) Vita RPGs that are unopened and should last me for years. But I have been playing less console gaming, and certainly spending less on consoles overall. The switch appeals to me for this reason, since I envisage myself more likely to play the games on the system in portable mode than on the TV.

On to my top games of the year, as usual sorted by system. Given the scant purchases for some systems I’ll only tackle the three major ones this time:

Toukiden 2 (PS Vita)

This is a Monster Hunter clone set in feudal Japan with crazy bosses and an emphasis on over-the-top attacks and destructible body parts (on the beasts). It’s an improvement on the already-great Vita original and I played it to death for a couple of months back in late Spring this year. In my opinion, one of the all-time best Vita games.

Monster Hunter Stories (3DS)

This is a pokemon-like game set in the MH world that was much, much better than I thought it would be. I played it like a fiend, only putting it down about 120 hours later. It had fantastic graphics and a great story but above all the gameplay loop was loads of fun and as a (insane) MH fan the appeal of the world was top-notch. Recommended.

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (Wii U)

You know how you’ve read/seen countless times that this game is one of (if not THE) best ever made and it’s so good it’s better than real life? Yep, it’s all true. This is the definition of a magnum opus, and a game that will be spoken about for generations to come. Easily the game of the year for me, and worth buying a Wii U/Switch just to play. (This is also likely the last Wii U game I will ever buy, and it’s certainly a worthy title for the system to retire on.)

I’m doing this a little early this year, especially since I have a inkling what’s under the tree for me and specifically that one of those ‘whats’ may even give Zelda a run for it’s money in the masterpiece stakes. Oh well, you’ll have to wait until this time next year to find out 🙂

Posted in Collecting, Games, Otaku, Tech | 1 Comment »

The Stamp Collector (Part Four)

Sunday, December 3rd, 2017

It’s somewhat unsatisfying that my blog in recent months has become a “look at this thing I own” catalogue, but this has been one of the busiest semesters in recent memory and I seem to always lack the time I wish I had to spend on other diversions. Given I started this series (and enjoy it!) I’d like to finish it before Christmas.

Therefore, another installment of my stamp collection, this time ‘miscellaneous’. Here are the bits and pieces (including loose stamps) that didn’t fit easily into the other posts, including those yet to be made…

Another item I no doubt picked up on one of my annual trips to the south. Once again we see Christmas Island, and an animal. It’s exotic isn’t it? I read recently that stamps from places like this are ‘worth’ more if actually used for postage, rather than sold as collectibles like this. Doubly so if they went through other post offices on the way and received additional cancellations, as was once done.

I also read that first-day-covers are essentially worthless; a product of the 1960s/70s/80s mostly that has little interest to anyone today. This explains why I often find them for sale for a song 🙂

These were both purchased in Brighton a couple of years ago, for next to nothing, and mostly for their kitsch value. I’m sure on a postcard somewhere I have stamps of Will and Kate’s wedding, and I’ll look forward to an Ozling sending me a postcard with a ‘Wedding of Harry and Meghan’ stamp. I do like the metallic ink on the Charles & Diana envelope…

I’m not sure where these came from. I think they’re too recent to be stamps I collected myself (why doesn’t Australia put the year on stamps?!?) but I don’t know who gave them to me or when. Maybe I soaked them off letters after I got to the US? I also have this little batch:

But they were obtained as freebies at the Smithsonian. Except the bottom one of course, which was on a letter sent by Sue. It’s a lovely stamp, but the cost of international postage from Australia – it’s closer to $3 today – is notable. A significant portion of my annual ‘Australia trip budget’ is stamp costs!

This is actually how I buy most stamps when I’m in Oz. Almost every post office has a ‘stamp collecting’ section where they sell stamps packaged like the above. I suppose the sheets like this are for the collectors, but I open them and use them. In the last few years I’ve made extra effort to make sure the postcards I send have different (and attractive) stamps on them – I wonder do you even look at the stamps?

More random Australian stamps in my collection, this time packaged carefully in a little display folder. These are particularly pretty. I should have put them on cards!

Australian/Korean stamps issued simultaneously in each country and sold together as a set. I think I bought these because I liked the Korean stamps. Note only the Korean ones show the date.

This is a collectors stamp set issued by Australia a couple of years back (this is one of two sheets). You’ll note that the Doctors themselves are not actually stamps. They are in fact stickers! They would have looked sublime on postcards I suppose, but it’s a bit of a con that Aus Post charged $12 for this set when the actual stamps (the globe showing Australia) are so generic and boring.

This is more interesting. It’s a two-sheet set of ‘Mythical Creatures’ stamps issued by Australia a few years back that was packaged with 3D glasses since one of the sets is printed in 3D. I bought this in a post office for some piddling amount, and have always wondered if the 3D versions are acceptable to be used as postage. There’s nothing about not using them on the folder, so I assume the answer is yes, but I also wonder if they’d give the computerized scanning machines a bit of trouble?

Of course the USA isn’t immune to licensed stamps, and famously many years back the above sheet was printed. I bought a bunch of these and used the hell out of them, and it is very likely you’ll have a postcard or two in your drawers sent by me featuring one of the above. The postal service went a bit crazy promoting these, and even repainted some post boxes to look like R2D2! We can only hope they do it again and I can put a Porg stamp on your next postcard…

There’s also the above, which is a massive (20 or so) stamp set commemorating the Harry Potter series. It’s pretty and very nicely presented and overall one of the better licensed stamp products I’ve seen. This was difficult to find when it came out, and I drove around to a few post offices since I wanted to buy one for Florence in time for her Birthday or Christmas or something like that. I wonder if she used the stamps or still has it?

I’m sure I have more of the above around. A few years ago I actually framed some stamps and hung them on a wall, and I know they’re up in the attic or something today. I’m sure you’ll get to see them yourself during an installment of the very overdue and long-planned ‘Stuff I found in my attic’ series coming in 201X…

Posted in Collecting, Otaku, Stamps | 1 Comment »

The Stamp Collector (Part Three)

Tuesday, November 7th, 2017

A short update in this series today, focusing on a tiny subset of my stamp collection: dinosaurs!

I bought the above a few years ago because I liked the stamps. You do too, since everyone loves dinosaurs. They turn up on stamps a lot, and going forward if I ever see a dinosaur stamp I’m buying it. For now though, my collection is scant…

The above is interesting. I purchased it from the National Stamp Museum in Washington DC. I remember it well: I walked there from our hotel by myself and wandered – unknowningly – through a ‘rough’ part of town. On a street corner as I was waiting to cross I witnessed on the other side of the street a man older than me brandish a gun at another and threaten to kill him. Both participants in this disagreement were hastily separated and calmed down by a large group of other people as I shuffled away at great speed. It was a surreal experience, not easily forgotten.

The stamp museum was exceptional though, and they had loads of covers like the one above for a song. I bought this one mostly because of the dinosaur, but looking at it now I’m intrigued by the three cancellations and the fact the one on the stamp uses roman numerals (II) for the month.

Bernard got me the above in Hong Kong and it’s another lovely example of dinosaurs. Looking online I see many more (including some fantastic diamond-shaped stamps from North Korea of all places), and they’re almost all good.

I’ll end by mentioning a bookmark I gave to Adam many years ago that was made from a strip of dinosaur stamps. I really liked that bookmark, and after gifting it tried in vain to find another. Alas I never did. If you ever see a dinosaur stamp bookmark – or actual dinosaur stamps – keep me in mind 🙂

Posted in Collecting, Otaku, Stamps | Comments Closed

The Stamp Collector (Part Two)

Sunday, October 15th, 2017

Time for another in this series. This time I’ll describe some of the oldest items I own..

That’s the first first-day cover I remember actually buying for myself. From the date I would have been 10, although I don’t think I bought it on the day of release. I’ve got a pretty vivid memory of buying it at Garden City (now Westfield Kotara mall), which makes the cancellation stamp of Hamilton intriguing. Local post offices these days don’t usually cancel their own covers. Maybe back in 1982 they did? Perhaps Hamilton canceled covers that were distributed to post offices around Newcastle? I doubt I’ll ever know.

Anyway it’s in scrappy shape today, and the 3c stamp is peeling a little. But it remains one of my earliest possessions that I still own.

This guy is even older! Dating from even before I was born, this was during the time mum and dad were in PNG. Obviously it speaks to the native blood in me, and is a pride of my collection. But what is the provenance? Did Mum/Dad actually buy this in New Guinea when it came out? Or was it obtained later? I can’t remember not having it, so maybe it predates me and is what started me into stamp collecting as a child? Maybe someone will reveal the truth in the comments…

As my oldest first day cover, I was curious to see if it had any value today. A quick search online found at least two for sale, although neither in as good condition as this one. The cost? Under US$5 🙂

There was, back in 198X, a tiny stamp shop in the grimy mall in ‘Hilltop Plaza’ that connected to Charlestown Road. The proprietor had Isaac Asimov sideburns and usually ignored me as I sorted through his endless racks of stamps and covers looking for something I could afford with the pittance in my pocket. Every now and then for whatever reason something caught my eye, and the above is one such example. I recall liking the series – only one stamp is shown on this cover – that linked together to form a larger picture. I had them all separately, which is why I bought this. Into the collection it went one day 30+ years ago, and in ‘the collection’ it remains today 🙂

Here’s the full set by the way:

I no longer own any of these stamps other than the one on the envelope above, but at one time I was pleased to have all five of these arranged together in my stamp album.

These are two other first-day covers that date to the earliest days of my collection. I probably purchased these myself when I was 10 or so, possibly at the same shop mentioned above. Neither of these are particularly notable or attractive, but in those days I was usually more interested in loose stamps than covers and presumably these were very inexpensive.

The above is a mystery. Again, I recall owning it as part of my collection around the time I left Oz, and presumably it caught my eye because I loved stamps that linked together to form a bigger picture. But the date surprises me: 1986. This was after I had discovered girls and Nick Cave and was listening to Black Celebration all the time. Was I still buying stamps?! Maybe I bought this at Rices or Cooks Hill Books, since I recall both of them used to occasionally have stamps on the counter. I genuinely don’t recall…

Speaking of loose stamps, the above was also purchased at that same shop. The photo doesn’t do a great job showing the silver ink, but this is a lovely holiday series issued by Christmas Island (aka. an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean) in 1980. Christmas Island postal issues are a blog post unto themself, but notable to this one is the fact that it was pre-1980, and is therefore not a true ‘Australian’ stamp (unlike those issued today, many of which you’ll see in a future post).

I neither knew or cared about this as a kid. I just thought the above was pretty, and it was one of my most prized stamps. I’m happy it survived whatever happened to my stamp album, and is still in my possession.

Similar to the above are these two German stamps from ’76 and ’77. I’m reasonably sure dad soaked these both off letters we received from relatives in Germany (the postmark is from his hometown in Germany). I certainly don’t remember buying or being sent them, and suspect they (along with perhaps the PNG cover) may have been the earliest parts of the collection. They’re both in remarkably good condition even today, and remain beautiful examples of German Christmas stamps.

As I have mentioned here, I used to own a conventional stamp album with many different stamps from all over the world. I don’t recall exactly what happened to it, but it’s possible I simply gave it away in my early teens when my interests shifted to other things. I’m happy – if this is the case – that I kept the stamps you see here. Aside from the fact I still think most of them are pretty, there’s a lot of nostalgia associated with these particular items.

(When I came to the US I didn’t bring the items shown in this post with me. They stayed with my parents in Australia, ended up being passed on to Bernard, and he returned them to me several years later.)

Posted in Blog, Collecting, Family, Stamps, Time | 1 Comment »

The Stamp Collector (Part One)

Saturday, September 23rd, 2017

Over the decades I’ve been alive, I have amassed a slight collection of stamps. Mostly in the form of first-day covers to be true, but I hardly turn aside when confronted by a lovely loose stamp either. Philately was my first hobby I suppose, and thought my childhood collection is (mostly) gone now, I still seem to have retained the gene.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing the bulk of my collection, loosely divided into thematic posts as a stamp collector may be inclined to do. Where relevant (or possible) there may even be a bit of history as well, or maybe just reminiscing since some of my oldest personal possessions are stamps.

Today we’ll start… with animals!

This is what’s called a ‘first day cover’, which is an envelope – usually appropriately printed – on which a new series of stamps are all placed and then canceled. It’s done on the first day the stamps are issued, and is intended for the collectors market. It’s a cheap and easy way to obtain the stamps themselves, and convenient to store as well. As a youth I used to buy these now and then, and as an adult I buy them more often (although strangely never here in the USA).

Look long enough in thrift/collectible/antique stores and you’ll find loads of these. I do, and I have spent hours over the years flipping through them. These days I only buy them in three categories, one of which is animals. Most the first day covers you see in this post were purchased this way during the last decade or so. Most of them were very inexpensive, maybe $1 or less. I’m no diehard collector, and more pick at the worthless dregs because I think they’re attractive than invest in ugly rarities 🙂

The above cover, despite dating from my stamp-collecting youth, was only bought a couple of years ago.

A more recent purchase. Australian post offices still have sections for stamp collectors and you can find things like this right out on display. It’s pretty isn’t it?

Another ‘Australian’ example. Many stamps are issued from Christmas Island solely (I believe) for the collectors market. You’ll see a few others in these posts. Note in the above example that the cancellation is themed to the stamp series as well. This is unusual and illustrates the collectors nature of the Christmas Island issues.

A few from the UK. I have obscured the addresses. Most of the time when I see British first day covers for sale they are addressed, although rarely show signs of having actually gone through the mail. I wonder if collectors in England address the covers to themselves? The stamps themselves are all fantastic, with detailed artwork and metallic accents. Even those these cost me only 50p apiece a few years ago I love them 🙂

Two different examples of a first day cover from Antartica, specifically Ross Dependency, which is the part of the continent claimed by New Zealand. Bernard got me the above on his trip last year, and while they are certainly unique I feel they are unmailable. The envelope is too busy and glossy. The stamps would have been better displayed on a plain white envelope, perhaps with some line art of a hydroid or sponge at the side. (Even so, I doubt I’ll ever get any more Antarctic first day covers!)

Some American examples. I bought these at the stamp museum in Washington whilst chatting to the shop girl. I don’t think they ever got many customers (I was the only one at the time) and she was very curious about Australia so I happily answered her questions as I leafed through hundreds of $2 first day covers looking for animals 🙂

I particularly like the Arctic Hare stamp. Imagine a postcard with 20 of them on the back! Overall though the above are a bit dull compared to those from other nations in my collection. However I’ll get back to the USA at the end of this post…

The colours and vibrancy of the above are evocative of Fiji, an island nation few in the northern hemisphere seem to have heard of but for an Australian in 1983 seemed exotic and (undoubtedly) full of parrots. What it wasn’t full of in those days though was people, with a 1970 population of less than half a million. Interesting therefore that they would produce such a lavish stamp set and have dedicated cancellation for it! Again I suspect the production of collectible stamps was done for profit, and I don’t doubt that collectors around the world would have loved an example like the above (which I bought in an antique shop in Katoomba a few years ago).

A bit of a mystery this one, in that I don’t remember where or when I bought it. It’s Swiss, issued in 1976 to commemorate animal protection, and the picture shows a deer and a swallow I believe. It’s plain and a bit severe. Maybe the best word is ‘neutral’ considering the origin.

I’ll end with two more from the US that I bought very recently in Vermont:

Aren’t they both great?! Putting aside for a moment the fact that a stamp was ever issued with a Pika on it, note that the top cover shows a US stamp canceled in Canada? I wonder what that means, if anything.

The last example is wonderful for a few reasons:
1) It’s a squirrel stamp
2) The beautiful art on the envelope
3) It was the first-class (domestic) stamp in issuance when I came to the USA. I remember affixing these to letters (well, mostly bill payments) for years until it was replaced in 1995. When I had the chance, I’d always buy squirrel stamps at the post office, and there’s a very real chance I sent cards/letters to some of you by putting multiples of these on them.

As I said in the intro, there’ll be many more posts like this coming up. There’s a few other themes to look forward to (yes, including ‘Zodiac’) and not everything will be first day covers either. Look forward to it!

Posted in Art, Collecting, Otaku, Stamps, Time | 1 Comment »

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