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Vintage

Saturday, July 18th, 2020

This little guy is over 40 years old:

He’s our Jawa Star Wars figure, which was probably purchased in about 1978. I saw ‘our’ since B and I used to mostly share these as I recall, although some figures were bought in pairs so we both had one.

This guy was one of the earliest we bought, and was one of at least a pair. Originally he had a little gun as well, but that’s long-lost by now. He took part in many elaborate Star Wars dioramas we made both indoors and out, and as with the others figures shown here today miraculously survived being melted by fireworks in the mid 1980s.

We also used to throw our figures into ponds, take them to the beach, and even tie them to parachutes and throw them off our roof! It’s a miracle he’s in such great condition.

That’s an original Yoda figure, from about 1980. As with the Jawa we had two of these, and this guy is in extraordinary condition considering his age. I always loved this figure due to its tiny size and large amount of accessories.

I remember we used to occasionally get one Star Wars figure each when we went shopping, but when the Empire figures hit shelves in 1980 dad bought us a whole bunch at once, including this guy. I can remember being overwhelmed as a kid by all the new figures before I’d seen the film, and had fun imagining what roles some characters would have.

That’s the final vintage figure I have, a guy named Squid Head from the Return Of The Jedi line that came out in 1983. I always loved this character (who was on screen for only seconds) and it was one of my favourite figures from that film. This figure I recall as being distinctly mine, although I don’t recall why.

I remember a trip to Sydney with B and dad in the early 1980s. We stayed in a bright apartment and went to a nearby mall every day. We played video games at a tiny arcade and dad let us each select some Star Wars figures from the toy store. I think that’s when we got Squid Head, because I recall playing with him (I would have been 11) in the garden patio of the apartment.

I asked dad about that trip last year, but he couldn’t remember. I wish I knew more about where we stayed and exactly when.

When I came to America I didn’t bring these guys with me: Bernard sent them to me years later. Back in the day we had loads of Star Wars figures, but some were melted and some sold off. Maybe these were saved because they had cloth parts? Maybe just because they’re cool? I wonder if B remembers?

Whatever the reason I’m glad they survived, because they’re now amongst my oldest possessions. Each of them trigger many happy memories of my childhood, and I’ll treasure them forever 🙂

Posted in Blog, Collecting, History, Miscellaneous, Otaku, Toys | 2 Comments »

Cannon Bull

Saturday, June 13th, 2020

I bought the above in Japan in January. I vacillated on the purchase since luggage space was tight but I decided in the end to make it fit.

It’s a ZOID! But not a plastic model version; this is a toy version. You still assemble it, but it’s much easier and the pieces aren’t on runners. I’ve done one like this before, but they still make and sell new ones and this one seemed to be a new release.

Assembly was trivial, but I was surprised to see (since I apparently didn’t bother looking closely at the packaging) that it has a battery powered motor in it! I selected this kit for its appearance though, and think it looks quite nifty.

That’s the finished product. According to the ZOIDs wiki this is a medium sized ‘buffalo type’ weapons platform that has a mass of 50.4 tonnes and carries a 9-barreled missile pod for long range attacks!

And there he is attacking! He moves at a good clip and the barrels of his missile launchers click as they ‘fire’.

A fun little toy. Next time I’m in Japan I’ll be picking myself up another one of these I reckon…

Posted in Animals, Crafts, Miscellaneous, Models, Otaku, Toys | Comments Closed

Dice Dice Baby

Thursday, June 11th, 2020

Around 1983, I got my first Dungeons & Dragons set. Inside, along with the rule books, were these six dice:

They have 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 sides, and all are used when playing D&D. Yes these are my exact dice: although the rule books are long gone I kept the dice and they eventually made their way to me here in the US (thanks B!). The dice weren’t inked and came with a crayon used to fill the depressions and make the numbers more visible. You can still see nearly 40-year-old crayon in my dice:

Interestingly the particular D&D set I got (the famous ‘Red Box’) was packaged with dice of many different colors so it’s not unusual that my 6-sided is a different color from the others. Some sets even came with pre-inked dice or (as a result of shortages) a coupon to send away for dice. I feel sorry for the kids that bought the box set and had to wait weeks for dice so they could play!

I recently learned that these original dice are somewhat collectible now, and although inferior to modern equivalents could fetch $50 or more online. I’ll never sell mine of course; they’re one of the oldest of my original possessions I still own.

Speaking of modern dice, here’s a set:

These are solid metal, precision made and (apparently) balanced to be truly random. I also suspect they could damage a hard surface (look at the sharp corners) so you’ll want a dice mat if you’re going to use ones like these. I bought these after buying AW a set for Xmas and thinking they were quite nifty. Since he actually plays D&D I assume he’ll use his more than I will mine 🙂

The last die in I’ll share today is this weird example:

It’s a 100-sided die! This is designed for rolling percentage values but is very impractical since it’s so spherical it takes forever to stop. I did some distribution tests a few months back and found the results to be comparable to the Excel random number generator and random numbers as given to me by about 50 of my students, so I assume this is a mostly random tool.

In the mid 1980s an inventor patented a unique type of 100-sided die with an internal braking mechanism he called the Zocchihedron. You can still buy them today but they’re quite expensive so I went with this cheaper, solid example. My guess is if you really have a use for a 100-sided die go for the patented one and save yourself time on every roll 🙂

Do you need any dice rolled? Leave a comment and tell me which one and I’ll tell you what you got…

Posted in Games, History, Miscellaneous, Otaku, Toys | Comments Closed

My Collection: GameCube

Wednesday, May 27th, 2020

Nintendo released the GameCube in late 2001, and I was out on the US release day (Nov 18) to buy mine. There was a lot of anticipation for the console after the somewhat clumsy Nintendo 64, and we were all eager to see what Nintendo could do with games in 480p (what was then) high definition.

The GameCube (GC) featured a fantastic controller (the basic design of which continues today in the Switch Pro controllers), four inbuilt ports for multiplay, progressive scan graphics, removable cards for save files and optical disc media. During its lifespan it would add the first wireless controllers, GBA connectivity and even a device that would allow it to play Gameboy and GBA games (this is the black object connected under my GameCube in the above photo).

As with all consoles the hardware was nothing without the games, and while the Mario game (Super Mario Sunshine) has developed a bit of a bad reputation (I love it!), the system brought us the amazing trilogy of Star Wars games from Factor 5, an incredibly playable Mario Kart, the Viewtiful Joe series, two installments in the Phantasy Star Online series and two new Zelda games.

It was also the console on which the Pikmin, Metroid Prime and Animal Crossing series began (yes I’m ignoring Animal Forest here…). Animal Crossing in particular evolved from just being a game to became a way of life for a couple of years: I literally played it every day! I fired up my save file to check in on my town this past weekend and found my neighbors were a bit mad I hadn’t talked to them in quite a while:

Those graphics are primitive, but that’s the game not the system (since AC was originally developed for N64). It hardly mattered; Animal Crossing was another example of Nintendo showing us that graphics were far less important than gameplay 🙂

The GC used proprietary 1.5 GB mini DVD discs (for anti piracy reasons) which were initially sufficient but after a few years some games came on more than one disc. Nintendo was also generous with demo and promotional discs, and I’ve got several in my collection:

During the life of the console I bought just under 50 games, only 2 of which I ever traded in. By about 2005 new game releases had slowed, and by late 2006 the system was in its final days and many games were budget releases. I bought my last game in mid 2007, and Nintendo discontinued the system later that year.

As with most of my collection my games are complete in box and in pristine condition. The GameCube is not yet as collectible as some of its predecessors, but some games sold poorly despite being excellent and have become quite valuable these days.

The game on the left is known as the ‘big box version’ of Pokémon Box and is the rarer of two versions of a game that was rare even upon release. I bought it direct from Nintendo in 2004 for only $20 but could probably sell it for fifty times that price today. The other three in the picture are collectively worth about $500. The Pokémon Collosseum game and bonus disc (see above photo) are also worth considerably more than I paid. In fact quite a lot of my games have appreciated in the years since I bought them.

It makes me wonder if I should sell my GameCube games next!

The GameCube was followed up by the Wii, which was successful beyond even the wildest dreams of Nintendo and has since overshadowed the GC for most. I still remember the GameCube as the superior console, and taking it out and giving the games a spin for the first time in a decade made me remember just how much fun the little boxy console is 🙂

Posted in Collecting, Games, Otaku, Retro, Tech, Time | Comments Closed

More Of This Old Nonsense

Saturday, April 11th, 2020

I bought these, one of the last ‘nonessential’ amazon purchases I made:

Two packs each of Duran Duran and Tron trading cards. Let’s open them, starting with Duran…

These were released by Topps back in 1985 as part of the marketing Blitz for the Arena album. At the time both KLS and myself (and Bernard, and most of the world) were big Duran fans but I can’t remember ever seeing these cards. Naturally having found packs on Amazon for the low, low price of $8 each (sixteen times their 1985 price) I had to buy some!

Each pack has 3 cards and 3 stickers (from a pool of 33 of each). Here’s what I got:

Can you believe it?!?!? The two packs were almost complete duplicates, differing only in one sticker slot!! Furthermore the card images are pretty poor and the stickers have lost their adhesive.

The card backs are dull too:

But at least the sticker backs form a puzzle so they’re useful even if you use the sticker:

And here’s a closeup if the 35-year-old bubble gum:

Don’t worry, I didn’t eat it 🙂

Overall this isn’t a great card set, but I reckon in 1985 I may have liked it especially for the stickers. While it’s disappointing I got mostly duplicates, at least it takes care of Bernard’s Christmas gift this year!

Let’s move on to Tron:

Released by Donruss way back in 1981, each pack has 8 cards, a sticker and – a weakness then but a strength today – no bubblegum! The pack design is great, but the cards themselves are even better:

The images are crisp and immaculately printed and the black borders look great. In my opinion these are some of the best trading cards ever made and a wonderful showcase for the film.

In fact I already had four packs of these but I’m always looking for more since they’re hard to find now at a reasonable price (these were the only two the seller had; I paid $6 each pack).

The backs don’t tell the film story, and instead create a fantastically massive puzzle of one of the film posters:

The sticker cards are unusual since they’re based on the Tron arcade game and contain tips on the back (which I’m sure no one ever used!):

Unfortunately after 40 years they too have lost their adhesive. You can peel them off but he’ll never stick again.

Apparently this set had limited distribution since the film was an unknown quantity. I’m reasonably sure these never made their way to Australia because if they did I would have bought as many as I saw (for 25c/pack!). A wonderful card set that I’d love to complete one day.

In case you’re wondering I’m always on the lookout for other vintage pop culture card packs. Topps made loads of sets I’ve never even seen a pack of – like Masters Of The Universe, Fright Flicks or Marvel Super Heroes (from ’76, which has Conan comic cards) – but I’d also love to get my hands on more vintage Star Trek or Alien or Indiana Jones cards. If you ever see such things for cheap, please keep me in mind 🙂

Posted in Collecting, Otaku, Retro, Trading Cards | Comments Closed

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