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Highway Robbery

Wednesday, May 10th, 2017

On May The Fourth – aka “Star Wars day” – I purchased this:

Don’t let the size fool you. It’s a single pack of Star Wars trading cards. Not just any cards though, the premium ‘High-Tek’ series from late last year. Here’s the inside of the box:

Topps spares no expense on packaging do they? Here’s how big that single pack is:

Now here’s the evil truth: this single pack cost me $60. Sixty dollars. Sixty dollars! Also it was on sale (due to Star Wars day). It’s normally $75!!

So let’s look inside:

Eight cards. Eight. $60 for only eight trading cards. Admittedly they’re all plastic, but there’s only 8 of them, and they all look sameish, and all feature characters of dubious interest.

I could go into lots of detail here about how the all-plastic nature of the set is actually a negative, or how these cards themselves aren’t even as good as the plastic chase cards in the Aus/UK Rogue One set (which was $1/pack!) but there’s really no need because they cost me $7.50 each and that’s highway robbery!

So why so expensive? It’s because each pack contains an autographed card. Here’s mine:

Yes dear readers, that’s the actual autograph of Jett “George is my dad” Lucas, legendary non-actor who played youngling Zett Jukassa in Episodes 1 and 2. I’m sure you remember his blink-and-you-miss-him character fondly.

Now instead of $60 for 8 cards, you could think of this as, say, $5 for 7 cards and $55 for this dudes autograph. Except the auto itself goes for about a tenner on eBay.

In short, this product is a total ripoff. Not worth it by any stretch for the cards themself, with an autograph of extremely questionable worth as my reward. I was taken for a ride by Topps 🙂

Am I bitter or regretful? Of course not! To be honest I didn’t expect much going in, so in that sense it lived down to my expectations. Plus the gambling factor can’t be denied: I could have found this:

Or an autograph by Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Daisy Ridley etc. Autographs by these main characters sell for $1000+ on eBay, and that’s the reason like a product such as this exists. It’s not even the most expensive SW trading card set!

So a total ripoff, which had a small chance of being amazing, but made a good blog post anyway 🙂

Posted in Blog, Miscellaneous, Otaku, Trading Cards | 1 Comment »

Quick Plays

Friday, May 5th, 2017

Some of my recent posts have been too long so let’s keep this one short!

These are the two Planeswalker decks released with the new set Amonkhet. Each of them includes a few exclusive cards (including unique versions of the Planeswalkers) and a couple of boosters. The idea is you use the boosters to tune the deck, but I played as-is.

The decks are simplistic, big on creatures and games tended to turn into beatdowns. That said both decks were fun enough, although Liliana beat Gideon in every one of four games. Her deck seems to utilize the new mechanics better as well.

A good pair of decks for new players, or to introduce the Amonkhet set, but in my opinion not near as much fun as this next release…

I like duel decks in general. I think the price ($20) is right and the decks usually contain a good mix of unusual cards and are reasonably well matched.

This set though exceeded my expectations. Both decks are very heavy on spells (one has only 13 creatures) and the R/U one in particular is a combo deck that even includes cards with the hilarious ‘storm’ keyword!

They’re not greatly matched (Lovisa lost all but one of five matches) but they’re fun to play, which is what counts surely? I would have very much liked to play both of these with an actual other human player, and it’s been a while I’ve thought that of a duel deck. Recommended.

Posted in Games, MTG, Otaku | Comments Closed

Youtube Retro Gaming

Sunday, April 30th, 2017

If your a 21st century boy like me, you’ve turned your back on television and now watch content delivered almost entirely via internet streaming. As in Youtube and/or Twitch. I’m taking a moment here to plug some of my favourite creators, because you may enjoy them too.

A brief description though for the luddites out there who don’t know what I’m talking about (ie. born before 1970). It’s fairly common now for people to have ‘cut the cable’ which means no longer pay for television. In the USA almost no-one uses (or even knows about) TV delivered over the airwaves, so if you don’t pay for cable TV, you basically don’t have TV. This isn’t a problem though since many shows are available via the internet and you can watch them on your TV by connecting an internet-connected computer (or similar) to your set.

But in recent years people have been moving toward watching material created by ‘normal’ people and distributed via Youtube or a popular gaming site called Twitch. Viewership of these non-traditional entertainment channels has been skyrocketing and now rivals or (for certain demographics) exceeds viewership of traditional TV. And I suppose I am now one of these viewers. So here’s what I watch on Youtube…

Mamemeister

Mamemeister is a gaming geek in his mid 40s that lives in Scotland. He has created hundreds of Youtube videos about all sorts of games and game systems dating from the very early days to the relatively recent, with an emphasis on 8-bit UK computers. He’s relatively prolific, releases videos in numerous different series, is quite a character and reminds me a lot of myself. He’s also not very good at games, which can be a bit alarming to watch sometimes but quickly became part of his appeal for me.

Some representative examples:
– One of his worst game ever videos (for Green Beret on C+4)
– A chronicle of C64 game loaders (so much nostalgia!)
– One of his ‘They did what’ series videos (Llamasoft in this case)

In addition to the above he’s done massive series on arcade games by year, on shooters by letter, and many different ’10 minute mashups’ where he just plays a random game for 10 minutes. I’ve watched almost everything he’s done and he’s probably my favourite streamer.

Kim Justice

Kim is another game streamer, again with an emphasis on 8-bit classic computing but very much inclusive of the 16-bit and later years. She produces immaculately researched, edited and scripted videos which range from relatively simple game reviews all the way up to lengthy multi-part documentaries on game companies, series or individuals. Incredibly watchable; try some of her videos if you have even a passing interest in video games.

Examples:
– A documentary on ZX Spectrum cover tapes
– 75 minute documentary about Psygnosis
– List of best/worst wrestling games

Much like Mamemeister, almost everything Kim does is worth watching. His multi-part documentaries in particular are fascinating, with subjects such as Peter Molyneux, Gremlin Graphics or Jack Tramiel. He’s also done a lengthy ‘A-Z of video games series’ which is equally great. If you like the above three I’m pretty sure you’ll like it all.

The Spectrum Show

This is a 60-episode series all about the ZX Spectrum. The creator – Paul Jenkinson – has done a fantastic job and although the content may be a bit dry for most, I binged it all (probably 40ish hours) in only 4 days! He goes into exhaustive – obsessive maybe! – detail about all things Spectrum, and it’s a wonderful celebration of nostalgia and love for the computer I most wanted to own but never did.

Example episodes:
– An entire episode dedicated to Spectrum magazines (Episode 40)
– A review of weird hardware (Episode 51)

Despite the above examples, if you are interested in this show I suggest watching in order. I myself can’t wait for the next series!

Nostalgia Nerd

All about computing nostalgia, this youtuber (as with the others) creates documentaries and showcases of old hardware and software, again with a UK slant. He strays away from gaming more than the others, but at the same time tends to feature more obscure or interesting one-off videos. He may not produce as much as say Kim or Mamemeister, but I still watch almost everything he does.

Examples of his more unusual videos:
– Creating and testing a thermometer attachment for a C64
– Connecting an ancient phone to the internet
– Running a Y2K test in 2017

Although I didn’t include any examples, his game content is top-tier too. Check out his recent doco on the ‘Rise Of The Triad’ game for example.

Techmoan

This guy had loads of subscribers and you may already know about him. He makes video documentaries about ‘the best and worst of technology’ which are exquisitely made and extremely watchable. I particularly enjoy his videos on old or obsolete technology. If you have even a passing interest, check him out and get hooked.

Example of obscure tech documentaries (he covers brand new stuff too!):
– Minidiscs (I was a big fan!)
– A calculator watch from 1977
– Atari music visualizer (this one is just for you Sue!)

Don’t you love the crisp, white backdrops he uses? Techmoan is a strange name though, he obviously loves it all; the weirder and older the better 🙂

There are a few others I watch, mostly system specific stuff (such as Xyphoe for Amstrad) but these are the ones for which I pretty much watch everything they put out. Between all of them there’s a few hours every week, so it’s an easy replacement for TV.

We’re also getting a bit into Twitch streaming as well… but that’s another post 😉

Posted in Games, Miscellaneous, Otaku, Retro, Tech | Comments Closed

Ten More Treasures

Thursday, April 20th, 2017

I’m in the middle of a lengthy reorganization of our ‘library’ room, which contains 6 bookshelves and loads of books, toys and other stuff. I spend a lot of time in this room doing my crafting and hobbie stuff and I’ve wanted to reorganize it for years.

This has entailed throwing away some books (and magazines, of which I had scads), putting others in storage, and generally moving stuff around. It’s taken ages, been harder than I thought, but has at the same time been a lot of fun since I’ve ‘rediscovered’ so much stuff I had almost forgotten I owned or simply hasn’t had the attention it deserved.

This then is a post containing ten items that live in the room. All unusual, all treasured, and all still getting a featured position in the reorganized library 🙂

PS2 Slime controller (2005). This is a fully functional PlayStation 2 controller modeled after the famous slime from the Dragon Quest series. I bought it when it came out but never used it much since it’s uncomfortable to hold. Over the years it’s become a bit sticky since it has a rubber surface and while it’s appreciated in value it’ll just sit smiling on my shelf for ever 🙂

Viewtiful Joe bobblehead (2003). This was a promotional item given away with early purchases of the game. It’s ceramic, looks like a bootleg and the head is a bit too heavy for the spring. It’s weird and has been a shelf fixture for over a decade. Amusingly this item is now ‘worth’ more than the game on eBay!

Darth Maul cookie jar (1999). I’ve mentioned this before on the blog; it was my first (and last? ever QVC purchase and is still my favourite piece of Phantom Menace merchandise. It’s fairly large (about 20 cm tall) but impractical for storage so for me it’s always been decorative. Another item that has appreciated in value.

A tiny castle (?). I don’t know where or when I got this but it may very well date to my teenage years. Items like this (and little dragons) were somewhat common decades ago and I always liked them and used to own a few. Alas this is my only one now and I love it. Incidentally if you ever see anything like this (the very small size is important) it may make a good gift…

Bootleg R2 droid figure (?). I got this in England last year, specifically by trading tickets for it in an arcade in Margate. I like R2 figures, and something about this one – with its wrong colours and mismatched leg lengths – is endearing. Although 100% bootleg, this is a key item in my Star Wars collection 🙂

Burger King bobblehead (2006). These were sold at Burger King to promote the Super Bowl over a decade ago! It’s so weird I love it. Another item that is ‘worth’ (on eBay) several times what I paid for it.

R2-D2 plastic mug (2012). This was sold (and may still be today) at the Disney movie park in Florida. It’s gigantic, and yes I found space for it in my suitcase when we visited 5 years ago 🙂

Dragonlance stained glass (1997). These were sold for $90 exclusively at the Gen-Con convention in 1997. I bought this a couple of years ago for much less at a local shop, and the seller had had it since she bought it at Gen Con back when they were sold! It’s quite pretty, made of painted glass with real metal lines between the colours. I’d like to hang it but it’s quite heavy and I don’t have an appropriate window so it rests against the wall. It’s tough to find these (there were three designs) for sale now but they seem to go for a premium.

Darth Maul glass ornament (2010?). It’s hard to find info on this online. I’m pretty sure I bought it at Target, which means it should have been fairly common, but I can’t find any on auction or sold online so I’m not exactly sure when it came out. It’s a highly detailed blown glass Christmas ornament modeled (again) after Darth Maul from Star Wars. It’s super creepy but also lovely and another treasure in my SW collection. No I’ve never put it in the Christmas tree!

This Doctor Who trading card (1996). This is card #26 from the 1996 Cornerstone Doctor Who card set. I’ll admit my memories of how I obtained this are clouded… can one of you fill me in? (No I didn’t write that outrageous slander on the card!)

My next goal is to organize the attic. Lord knows what I may find up there! If I ever get around to it, you can expect to see some very unusual ‘treasures’ here once I’m done!

Posted in Blog, Games, Miscellaneous, Otaku, Retro, Toys, Trading Cards | 2 Comments »

Sinanju

Saturday, April 8th, 2017

It’s been over a week since my last post (blame illness!) and quite some time since a dedicated Gundam post. Mostly the latter is due to my recent builds being quick-and-easy kits probably not worth their own posting, but this guy is a bit different:

This is Sinanju, a robot I know nothing at all about (since I neither watch the series or read the comics). However this is the first ‘Real Grade’ (RG) Gundam kit I ever bought and I’ve been very much looking forward to making it. While RG kits have been around for a few years, the only one that I had previously fallen in love with I actually bought and gave to SFL, so making that myself would have been ‘copying’ (to steal a term from AW) and only the worst sort of person would do that!

So when Sinanju came along with his gold trim and glossy red luster I had to have him! Here’s what was inside the box:

There are hundreds of Gundams in many different styles and levels of detail but very broadly they can be catalogued into four types:
1) High Grade (HG): Smaller (1/144 scale), easy-to-make and inexpensive (<$20)
2) Real Grade (RG): Smaller (1/144), more detailed than HG, more complex to build and more expensive ($35+)
3) Master Grade (MG): Larger (1/100), highly detailed with many more parts and higher complexity. Can get pricey ($50++)
4) Perfect Grade (PG): Super detailed, with insane detail and features such as LED lights. For true maniacs. ($hundreds)
I’ve made many HG kits, two MG’s (with another on my shelf waiting) and as I said this was my first RG. So how was it?

Well in short, complicated! As with most Gundam kits you start with the feet, and it was very quickly apparent that despite the lower price point and smaller size this was no less complex than the two MG kits I have already made. Here’s a shot showing one of the legs in the early stages of assemlby:

You can see the internal ‘skeleton’ onto which the superstructure connects, and then the outer armour (in red) on top of that. The three pieces shown include dozens of individual parts, and at times it very much seemed like the designers had broken an obvious single piece into two or more pieces just to drive up the part count of the kit. That said I was impressed with how well it all goes together, not to mention the (mind-boggling) level of articulation the finished piece has. Here’s two legs next to each other:

The difference here is only the the left leg (on the right of the picture) doesn’t yet have it’s armour. When finished, here they both are:

I posed these so you can see how much the piece can be manipulated to show the retro rockets when in flight mode. Otherwise these two are identical mirrors of each other, and all the rockets hide away nicely when the armour is closed up. Despite being an entirely plastic kit there are all sorts of moving pistons and joints underneath this armour and even the foot has about four joints which comes in very handy when trying to stand the finished model!

Here’s the legs attached to the waist with the skit armour attached:

This photo would have been taken after many hours of assembly. There is no paint or glue used at all, and you can appreciate how finely engineered the kit is by how well the gold-and-black pieces go together and how shiny the gold looks. There are also some flexible plastic pieces (such as the tubing in this photo) which are uncommon in HG level kits.

Now I took a few more in-progress shots but apparently deleted them so let’s jump now to the completed kit, which probably took at least ten hours over a few weeks:

It’s large and bulky and extravagant but stands easily with no support! As with most Gundam kits, it comes with a wealth of weapon options but I only opted for the sword and shield. If you like you can make guns, cannons and a polearm type weapon. It’s very poseable as well, so if you buy a stand you can put it in any sort of flying or attacking pose you wish. Here’s a side-view shot:

I’m very impressed with how he turned out, and he’s going in my curio alongside the two MG kits. While he’s not quite at their level of detail, he’s also quite a bit less expensive! As my first RG kit, this was a fun – albeit complex – build that ended up looking just as good as I’d hoped, and I’m sure there will be more RG kits in my future. If you’re new to Gundams though I’d recommend you start off with a HG kit or two before diving into RG. (Florence, this means Bearguy first!)

One last comment about Sinanju: there’s actually a pricey (~$120) MG version of him with more detail and ‘titanium gloss’ plastic. It looks incredible. I wonder if I can find it cheaper in Japan in a couple of months…?

Posted in Crafts, Models, Otaku | 2 Comments »

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