Category: Otaku

Ten Treasures

August 1, 2012

A few times on this blog, I’ve referred to my ‘boxes of fun’ (BoF’s). These are plastic storage containers hidden away in cupboards containing stuff I have collected over the years. The name is a misnomer, since these boxes give me no fun at all. In fact they are ‘out of sight, out of mind’ as they say.

Yesterday I emptied one out for the fun of it. This particular box contains Star Wars ‘stuff’, accumulated over about the last 15 years. Here’s a photo of the box immediately after I removed the cover:

Stuffed in there, isn’t it? Most of my boxes contain Star Wars stuff – in fact about half of them contain just action figures. But this one is unique in that it contains a motley collection of toys, licensed merchandise and advertising ephemera. Basically anything remotely Star Wars related went in here, whenever I bought it, and did not see the light of day again until yesterday.

Today on the blog I present ten treasured items I found yesterday in my box of fun 🙂

1. Han Solo & Chewbacca ‘cake topper’

KLS purchased the above many years ago in the clearance bin at our local grocery store. It’s not edible (!), but is designed to be an ornament on a SW themed cake. I also have another pair (Anakin & Watto). As far as SW ‘action figures’ go, this is one of my most unusual. [Approximate Ebay value: $6]

2. Star Wars Bowl

This is one of a set of 4 items (2 bowls, 2 cups), all of which I own. This was part of a General Mill’s mail-in redemption for Episode 2, and as far as melamine SW bowls are concerned is the cream of the crop. And I say this with some expertise, since our cupboards at home contain about 5 SW-themed bowls and plates already. The guy pictured here (and his friends) have never been used though, and will forever live out their lives in the BoF. I particularly like this one, since the image of Padme used on it is uncommon, and I’ve not seen it used on merchandise before. [Ebay value for set of 4: $40]

3. Episode 1 ‘pogs’

Around the time Episode 1 was released, Pepsico restaurants (namely Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut) in the US had a incredible amount of promotions, including toys, ‘cup-toppers’ and these little pogs that came randomly in kids meals. As you can see, in an effort to collect the toys I accumulated a lot of the pogs! These are in perfect condition, stored in a little plastic container. I reckon there is about 50 or so here, and I know I have more elsewhere. In fact it’s even possible the ones shown here are my doubles, and I have a full set tucked away in another BoF. [Approximate Ebay value: $5-20+]

4. McDonalds ‘Clone Wars’ kids meal box

The less said of the above item the better. Yes it’s a mint-condition kids meal box, folded flat for storage. It’s from 2010. I’m lovin’ it! [Approximate Ebay value: $3]

5. R2-D2 Gigapet

Yes, this is an R2-D2 ‘tamagotchi’ type toy. As you can see I have never opened it, so I can’t comment on how it works. I can also confirm that I never will open it, so I will never comment on how it works. But it keeps my heart warm knowing it’s just sitting there in my BoF! [Ebay value: $10]

6. Japanese General Grievous Pepsi bottle cap figure

Over in Japan, they occasionally promote bottles of drink via cap toppers like the one seen here. They are little figurines that sit on top of the cap of the drink. Sometimes you can see them just sitting there in the cooler, sometimes (as in the above) they come in a bag and have to be put on. During our last Japan trip this promotion was ending, and I was only able to find one figure. [Ebay value: $3]

7. Japanese mini Episode 1 action figures

These were from a gatchapon machine. If I recall correctly, they were found at an unlikely place – a machine on a walkway leading from one train station to another near Shibuya in Tokyo. I didn’t have a lot of Y100 coins with me at the time, and could only get two from the machine. My other one is Anakin & Watto (yes, the same pair as my other cake topper!). This is a very cool item, and the figured are surprisingly detailed for their miniature size. [Approximate ebay value: $6]

8. Lenticular Anakin/Darth Vader plate

Another promotional item; this was obtained by mailing in tokens from cereal boxes around the release of Episode 3. The plate is dreadful – weak plastic with a lenticular glued onto the front. I daresay it’s barely washable! But, as with all these treasures, I love it like a child and it’s not ever for sale! It shall rest eternally, happily, in the BoF. Sealed in it’s plastic 😉 [Ebay value: $15]

9. Episode 1 wall stickers

A quick search for this item online revealed that the company released a staggering variety of Episode 1 themed wall adhesives! This podrace collection is a relatively recent aquisition, purchased as it was from the budget bin of a dollar store only a year or so ago. It’s yellowing and aged and cursed to an existence of never ever being stuck on a wall. But I love it because it’s flat and easy to store! I seem to recall I actually purchased two of these, so I deeply apologize to whomever got the other one is probably quite happy with their gift! [Ebay value: $3]

10. Frito-Lay Episode II 3D puzzle pieces

These are real treasures. They are 3D puzzle pieces that were notoriously hard to obtain back when Episode 2 came out. Although a Frito-Lay promotional item, they were only available at retail by purchasing a massive box of snack sized chip packs. Even then the promotional boxes were few and far between, so I was only able to get 2 pieces. Some searching online reveals there were at least 54 (!) different pieces (in 6 colours), and they were sometimes distributed in sets of nine. I wonder how one got a set? Anyway I love them for a specific reason – they are actually lithopanes! Here’s a photo showing the nice effect then they are held up to a light:

Very effective aren’t they? I wish I could have gotten more now. Maybe I’ll try harder next time I’m in 2002. [Ebay value: $10]

Before I end, one last photo. The box contained oodles of stuff (you can see other items in the backgrounds of some of the above photos) but perhaps the most nostalgic were these:

Pictured are my ticket stubs for (one of the many times I saw) Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones and the cinematic rerelease of Star Wars back in 1997 ($4.50 for a matinee!!). Note that there are three tickets for Attack Of The Clones on the same day. That’s because I saw the midnight screening myself, and then later in the day went back with KLS 😉

Backhoe Loader

July 14, 2012

Time for yet another Lego kit! This one was a birthday gift, and I built it over several days this past week.

Here’s the content of the box:

You can tell how big the finished product is from the size of the tire.

The kit contains numerous intricate gear systems connected to several different moving parts. Of particular note are the actuators used to raise and lower both digging arms:

It’s a complex build that took many hours over three days. It was particularly interesting seeing all the gears and systems piecing together in seemingly random order:

Luckily I had assistance for most of the build…

Here’s the finished product:

Everything about this set was fun. If you like Lego technic at all, this set is highly recommended.

Magic 2013 Prerelease Report

July 8, 2012

Yesterday I went to the prerelease of the latest MTG core set, Magic 2013. The format was the same as all the others I have attended: you get 6 boosters, and have to form a minimum 40-card deck from them using land provided at the store. Four rounds would then be played (each round is best of 3), and the top 8 of the 32 entrants would enter a series of final rounds for prizes.

I hadn’t looked much at the set prior to attending, but expected I’d end up playing a green/white deck since that’s usually what I do at such events. However when I started opening my boosters I just kept seeing good red and black cards. In fact once I’d opened and sorted everything, not only where the red and black piles slightly larger than the other colours, but the cards themselves were better as well. It was therefore an easy solution to play a black/red deck.

My deck contained the following (notable in brackets):
– 9 black creatures (Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis), Duty-Bound Dead)
– 4 red creatures (Goblin Arsonist x3)
– 4 black spells (Murder)
– 4 red spells (Reverberate)
– 2 artifacts (Ring of Xathrid)
– 2 dual lands (Dragonskull Summit)
– 9 swamps
– 6 mountains

2013 introduces the exalted keyword to black cards, and there are quite a few of them containing it. Exalted proved to be popular with many players at the prerelease, and in fact every single one of the 6 decks I played against utilized exalted cards (ie. contained black or white colours).

The design intent behind my deck was speed coupled with buffed single attackers via exalted. I also through in a bit of direct damage and graveyard love (Rise From The Dead, Disentomb). It only took me a few minutes to put it together, and a few test-deals I made before starting seemed promising. Happily, the deck ended up working quite well, and here are the results of the qualifying rounds:

Round 1: My opponent was playing white/red soldiers token deck with a bit of exalted. His deck couldn’t hope to match the speed of mine and I easily defeated him 2-0 without ever losing a single point of life:

Round 2: A face-off against a very similar (red/black) deck to mine. I had more creatures, he had more spells, including 3 Murder’s (to my 1) and 2 Disentomb’s. My best play was to Reverberate one of his Murder’s to kill his irritating Xathrid Gorgon after he’d buffed it with several enchants and was about to kill me with it. Although I won 2-1 overall, the battle was hard fought.

Round 3: A battle against another green/white deck, full of weenie creatures that he was trying to buff. My 3 Goblin Arsonist’s really came into their own during this round, since I often used them as blockers to kill 2 toughness guys or to kill two 1 toughness guys each. Also, in every single of the three games against this guy I Reverberated his Captain’s Call, much to his amusement. I won overall 2-1, and was chuffed when – to the surprise of my opponent who didn’t know it was possible – I used the ability on the Ring of Xathrid to regenerate my Nefarox after he cast Planar Cleansing (note to MTG nerds: this action is why Wrath of God will never be reprinted; it’s too powerful). When I did this, he said “That’s why you deserved to win” 🙂

Round 4: My final qualifying opponent used red/black as well, and his deck was the strongest of the 6 I played against. Not only did he have astonishingly lucky rare draws (2 Nefarox’s, 1 Xathrid Gorgon) but he also had 2 mythic’s (Chandra the Fireblaze, Vampire Nocturnus). 2013 reprints Gilded Lotus, and of course he had that as well. It was quite astonishing to play two games against him where he had close-to-perfect draws and got his big guys out quickly and beat me 0-2 in the same way I had beat my first opponent! He was a nice guy though, so even in defeat the games were fun.

After the qualifiers I was 6-4-0, and made it into the top 8! This meant I was guaranteed booster packs as prizes, I just didn’t know how many yet. The win-loss ratio’s are wiped in the finals, so even though I had lost one qualifier round I still (theoretically) had a chance. I was realistic though: that last guy’s deck was a monster and I knew he’d beat me again if we faced up.

But it was not to be. The first round of finals paired me against a black/green deck heavy on removal (again 3 Murder’s!) and exalted creatures (note to Florence: this was ‘viking’). The first two rounds were traded 1-1, and it was down to the third. This proved to be an epic game, where he had a Xathrid Gorgon out and kept petrifying my creatures as I cast them. However he couldn’t attack, since I had more blockers than him and kept drawing creatures. Furthermore, he had a Ring of Xathrid on his Gorgon, and I had one on my Liliana’s Shade, and both had over 15 tokens! It was a classic standoff; we were both top-decked and alternated inactive turns until the 30th (!) draw when he drew the guy above, cast it, and put 18 1/1 Saprolings into play. I was doomed, and he won 2 turns later with only 1 card left in each of our libraries. I got the impression this opponent was not used to defeat (he had gone into the finals 8-0), since he became increasingly more serious and attentive as the rounds went on, to the point of being fixated during the last game which could have gone either way.

The finals were single-elimination and I was knocked out in round 1. My eventual standing was tie 6th, which netted me 3 booster packs as prizes. In one of them I found the reprint of one of my favourite cards of all time, with brand new art by my favourite MTG artist of all time. Happy day!

What’s that you ask? I mentioned 6 opponents?

Good catch! The store owner had cancelled one of the four prerelease events due to low signups, and therefore had extra boxes of boosters he had to distributes. So he was running a side-contest “Beat me for booster packs!”. He made his own deck, and played any challenger and gave them a free booster if he won. I accepted his challenge after I was knocked out of the finals, and actually lost! But since it was a good game and we had a good chat (I discovered he worked for Wizards Of The Coast for a year about 10 years ago), he gave me a booster anyway 🙂

Robot Claw