Robot Claw

90s-Era Trading Cards

April 20th, 2025

Last year I purchased four old packs of trading cards. They’ve been aging for over six months now and it’s time to open them and see what’s inside…

Tools released these The Rocketeer cards in 1992 and they’re typical of most of their series from that era. The plastic wrapper had become brittle and disintegrated a bit upon opening.

The pack contained the eight photo cards shown above, and they’re all a bit dark and muddy to my eye. Interestingly I saw this film for the first time last year, didn’t think it was very good, and I would have had zero interest in these cards upon release even were I still buying cards then.

The backs of the cards are a little difficult to read due to lack of ink. All of them were like this; maybe it was a production error? As I’ve said before I prefer the synopsis extracts on the backs of sets like this, although for this film I wonder how many read them?

There was a single (non die-cut) sticker in the pack as well, and it’s this somewhat boring movie poster style art. The adhesive had completely failed after 33 years, and when I peeled it off it wouldn’t stick to anything.

Overall a by-the-books set for a somewhat mundane film. I don’t think too many were enthusiastic for these cards when they released.

I’ve not heard of ‘Star Pics’, the company who released these Alien 3 cards, also in 1992. This was a famously troubled film production, and the result divides fans to this day.

Much like the previous packs (and admittedly the film), the cards are muddy and quite ugly. They’re also thin and flimsy, which indicate a low budget product. The screenshots are a bit blurry, which is unfortunate considering they would have been the feature cards of the set.

The backs are ugly and hard to read, but they tell a first-person account of the events of the film. An interesting approach that I think works well, but I wish the design had been more suitable for the theme.

Like other early 90s sets there’s no chase cards, and the budget feel of the material is probably indicative of the publisher. But this set is notably worse than the original Topps Alien set from over a decade earlier, which shouldn’t have been the case.

From 1996, this is a pack of Independence Day cards from Topps. We’re in the chase card era now, and the wrappers says I have a 1 in 9 chance of a hologram card!

I didn’t get one. The above were the six cards in the pack, and you can see they’re in a 16:9 aspect ratio which Topps used for their ‘Widevision’ cards for several years back then.

This is a very poor set. The screenshots are all blurry and pixilated, which is unforgivable in a set that is focused around displaying the images at a larger size. Some of the cards even look like they were photographs of a screen, rather than taken from film stock. Awful.

Furthermore, every card in the pack had ‘edge wear’ along the bottoms, which was likely caused by the machines that cut them. This is of no matter to me now since they’re going directly into the recycling bin, but imagine paying a premium for these packs 29 years ago and finding all the cards were damaged?

A very disappointing product, and another example of how Topps had fallen by the mid 90s.

I got this 1990 Classic WWF pack for KLS about a year ago and today is Wrestlemania so it seemed a good day to finally open it. She’s got a large collection of wrestling cards but since Topps sets have become overpriced she no longer buys any new ones.

Every card in her pack was A-rank wrestling royalty, which is amazing considering the size of the set (>130 cards)! How are there no forgotten or C-rank guys here?

The answer was poor collation. In her 15 cards she actually got 1-14 (and 136), and since card sets like this usually put the ‘big guys’ at the front, she got all the biggest stars. This is objectively bad collation, but in this case it ended up giving her a dream pack 🙂

The photos and bios are good, and the cards sturdy and well cut. This is a high quality product, and I imagine was quite popular with wrestling fans 35 years ago. I’m curious about the other 120 cards, but considering the steep price of the individual packs these days (I paid $10) I’m sure we’ll never open another.

I’ve still got a few more packs stashed away aging in a closet, and three unopened boxes of 1980s era cards. Over the summer I’m sure I’ll finally open one of them 🙂

Posted in Collecting, Retro, Trading Cards | Comments Closed

The Grinning Man

April 19th, 2025

One of the more bizarre incidences in UFO lore is eerie because of how unusual it is, and because to this day those that investigated it have never been able to provide a conclusive explanation.

It was November 2, 1966, and sewing machine salesman Woodrow Derenberger was driving home at night on an empty road in rural West Virginia when he saw a UFO (although he didn’t use the term when he reported the incident) blocking the road ahead. He stopped, and watched a man emerge from the craft and approach his car.

Derenberger would later say the man – who was smiling – was entirely normal in appearance and “courteous and friendly”. But he never moved his face when he spoke: all communication was telepathic. The smiling man identified himself as ‘Cold’ and said he came from “another country” and was not harmful. He told Derenberger he would contact him again and asked him to tell others he had been contacted.

Derenberger did exactly that, and reported the encounter to police the same evening. A media circus followed, including a live TV interview and reports in newspapers nationwide. Others would report seeing UFOs in the area, some said they’d even seen Cold but driven past without stopping and two children claimed to have seen a grinning man fitting Cold’s description several days before Derenberger’s sighting.

In the years that followed, Derenberger gave a full name for the figure – Indrid Cold – and claimed that not only had Cold continued regular visits but that he had identified himself as an alien from a planet called Lanulos, and even taken Derenberger to the planet multiple times. Derenberger gave talks on his experiences, and even co-wrote a (poor selling) book about it in 1971 entitled ‘Visitors From Lanulos’.

In time – mostly due to attention from paranormal researcher John Keel – Indrid Cold entered the UFO mythology, and would become linked with the Mothman cryptid. As these things do, the character evolved in myth and has become somewhat of a cryptid himself (called ‘The Grinning Man’), since appearing in movies, TV shows, books and games. Indrid Cold has long outlived his ‘creator’ and the character’s identity these days runs the gamut from friendly space alien to extradimensional devil.

In some ways Derenberger seems like another George Adamski or Howard Menger – two men who had obtained a measure of fame and fortune from their alleged alien encounters. But Derenberger had apparently not heard of either, was not particularly interested in UFOs, and those that interviewed him at the time found him genuine and not motivated by profit. Furthermore, Derenberger most decidedly did not benefit from his tale: the notoriety and attention made him paranoid and depressed, lost him his job, ruined his marriage, and eventually left him delusional.

And yet he never recanted, and to his grave in 1990 always claimed it was true. He seemed to genuinely believe he had been visited many times over decades by a mysterious smiling telepath named Indrid Cold, who had shown him wonders other men could only dream of.

Fancy, madness or the truth? With Derenberger gone and Cold now part of folklore, does it matter?

Posted in Myth, The Unknown | Comments Closed

Food Contest: AI Results

April 15th, 2025

Once again Bernard had an AI judge the food postcards alongside the real judges, and here’s a photo of the judging in process:

The AI considered each pair of images several times (for an average score), and the following are some comments it produced for each food category.

Fruit: “B’s composition is simple and not as visually engaging as the intricate mosaic pattern. While both fit the fruit theme well, R’s image excels with its detailed portrayal of grapes in a compelling composition.” (R win)

Pasta: “R’s composition is creative but chaotic; B’s is more coherent. Overall, B’s piece fits the theme better.” (B win)

Hamburger: “R’s is slightly chaotic, focusing on a character more than the hamburger theme, whereas B’s is well-balanced and centered on the burger itself.” (B win)

Ramen: “While both fit the theme of ‘ramen’ well, B’s has a stronger thematic expression due to its appetizing depth.” (B win)

Cereal: “R’s uses vivid colors and a dynamic composition, creatively incorporating surreal elements like the floating cereal box.” (R win)

Salad: “In terms of detail and fitting the ‘salad’ theme, B’s conveys the variety and freshness associated with salads better than the other.” (B win)

Donuts: “B’s entry impresses with a vibrant color palette and detailed rendering of multiple donuts. However, the composition feels slightly crowded. R’s offers bold colors with cleaner presentation but lacks the complexity of details seen in the other.” (B win)

Pizza: “Both pieces fit the theme well, but R’s excels with its creative energy and expressive style.” (R win)

Sushi: “Both pieces adhere to the theme well, but B’s entry showcases a broader range of details, such as the soy sauce bowl.” (B win)

Cake: “R’s image uses a pleasing pastel palette that captures the essence of cake; however, the composition is somewhat static, losing dynamic appeal. B’s image, while vibrant, has a less cohesive color scheme, and the layering appears haphazard, ” (R win)

According to the AI, Bernard won 6 to 4, which runs contrary to the human decision.

Who was correct: man or machine? I’ll let you decide…

Posted in Art, Food, Postcards | 1 Comment »

Food Contest: Results

April 13th, 2025

All the drawings are complete and the judges have spoken: it’s time for the results of this year’s postcard contest! As of the halfway point the score was 2.5 each (due to the tie) so neither of us had an advantage as we went into the second half…

Salad

Bernard is left, and me right. The less said about this week the better. Mine is a disaster; a completely failed attempt at a painted style. I was positive Bernard could scribble anything and win but I still felt his – while undoubtedly the better – a bit weak and looking back I believe this was the worst week of the entire contest.

Incidentally one element had become clear by this point: the small images I was sending the judges obscured errors and hid fine detail, which tended to favour cartoony or dramatic art over anything ‘realistic’. This may have been irrelevant since it seemed judges were voting based on initial impressions or gut feelings, but it tempered my enthusiasm to experiment with more unusual approaches going forward.

Of course Bernard won handily – 9.95 to my 5.05 – and from their comments it seemed judges didn’t share my feelings of the weaknesses of both:

“Left is crisp and delicious. There is just enough detail and interest to capture the imagination. The onion rings are a lively focal point and the detail of the bowl although a bit wonky is well done. The tomatoes right are particularly well done but overall the salad is a bit limp and unappealing.”
“Left just looks like a crisper tastier salad, if such a thing exists. Although I do agree the addition of hard boiled eggs is a good one for right.”

Donuts

Mine is left and Bernard’s right. If you’re wondering why mine is ‘realistic’ again it’s because I drew it before the previous one was voted on. The shading on mine took forever, and since we only had two shades of brown marker I had to use other colors to add the shadows. The plate isn’t great, but I thought the donuts looked weird just floating (a thought which caused a chuckle when I saw Bernard’s).

Aside from the tie, this was the closest week, but I ultimately won 7.65 to Bernard’s 7.35. Here’s what the judges said:

“I prefer the lefthand pic. I would like to eat that plate of three donuts! The righthand pic is technically good, it just doesn’t appeal to my particular tastes as much.”
“Both of these pictures make me hungry. Left has three lovely donuts waiting on a pretty plate with generous sugary icing and sprinkles. I love the combination of colours and the subtle shadowing. Right has lovely colours and definition with appealing variety but the donuts are strangely misshapen and appear to be levitating.”
“Right looks nice and poppy with the black outline and motif; true doughnuts are “active” lol, but left look more like doughnuts I would actually want to eat.”

Pizza

Bernard is left and mine right. I spent much more time on this than any other week. The pizza slice was drawn first (and yes it was intentionally large) and I used many different coloured markers to shade the pepperoni! I was happy with it once done, but as always it felt unfinished with no background. The perspective made a plate difficult so I added the neon burst (which used five colours), which took more time than the donut itself. All told I spent about two hours on it, compared to about 15 minutes on every other week.

The extra time paid off, with me winning 8.5 to 6.5. I thought my victory should have been greater because I question whether my opponent even drew a pizza, but the judges word is law so I’ll be happy with my win. Here’s their sage opinions:

“Two impressive artworks. One very cleverly uses white space, the other somehow makes pizza dynamic and even explosive.”
“Left is cute! Right is a pizza explosion. In the beginning there was darkness and then God created pizza!!!!”
“Right reminds me of a pizza I would see on the animated teenage mutant ninja turtles show in the nineties, but it looks like a good slice.”

Sushi

I’m on the left, Bernard on the right. Once again the judges had a choice between comic art and something (slightly) more realistic. Mine took a while because of the salmon and especially the rice, and I was happy with the way I managed to depict it. But once again I feel the judges didn’t even notice, or perhaps overlooked my rice detail entirely!

I won 8.05 to Bernard’s 6.95, and here’s what the judges said:

“They are both lovely but I especially like the salmon nigiri.”
“Left is a better depiction. But I do like the cartoon shrimp and UA pride chopsticks. Right sushi looks like gumdrops.”
“Right has the wrong colors and you don’t need soy sauce for sushi Although left has too much rice it’s much better!!”
“Never been a fan of the egg ones. Do like some soy sauce for dipping. But where’s the pickled ginger?”
“The presentation on the stone or board in left is really nice and I like the detailed complexity of the sushi ingredients. Right has a nice serving size and it has soy sauce!”

Cake

Bernard is left and me right. I wasn’t happy with mine at all; it didn’t match my mental image and the details were lost amidst the abundance of pastel. I had originally planned a straightforward birthday cake with lit candles and knew if Bernard did that he’d be difficult to beat. But he did a strawberry cake as well!

The judges handed me an easy win: 9.7 to 5.3. This didn’t surprise us – Bernard saw mine before I saw his and even he predicted he’d lose. The judges final thoughts:

“Left is a blob. Right is a strawberry short cake delight. Beautiful pastel colour choices and clearly defined cream and strawberry centre that makes me drool.”
“These are both really good but I give a slight edge to the left one for showing multiple layers.”
“Right is a better rendition of a cake. Although I do like the vibrant contrast of the left.”

And so we reach the final scores, and the winner was me with 6.5 wins to Bernard’s 3.5. This is now my fourth victory in four years, but I’ll say this was the hardest-won since two weeks were extremely close and because I found drawing food very difficult!

In retrospect I also felt my victory was due to my trying a variety of styles. If you look back through Bernard’s drawings you’ll notice he settled on a style early on and rarely (if ever) moved away from it. If he had experimented more I think the results would have been quite different.

Next year’s topic and media have already been decided and it’s going to mix things up quite a bit. Come back in about 11 months to see what I mean 🙂

Posted in Art, Food, Postcards | 2 Comments »

The Unreal

March 30th, 2025

Here’s a photo of me a man, which looks like it was taken using iOS portrait mode in a Sydney hotel room a couple of years ago. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a strong image, which gives little away.

Who is this man, and why has he inspired so many artists over the years? Let’s find out…

Here he is reinterpreted in black and red pen, a style we used for our postcard contest two years hence. The theme then was horror: would this guy have fit the category?

A depiction in the style of a legendary sword & sorcery artist. A powerful physique reveals itself, yet hidden by robes typical of a mage.

This is the famous image of him painted by Van Gogh. Is he a monk? A penitent?

Here he is drawn by an iconic 1980s portrait artist. Perhaps he’s a performer, or a pop idol?

He also inspired a commercial landscape painter, who used light to illuminate his darkness. Could he be a holy man?

He’s even made his way into anime, in this still from an upcoming production. But what is the genre?

And then there’s the famous version of him done by the grandmaster of biomechanical art. Could this be the purest glimpse into this man’s nature? Is he a monster? A beast?

Even sculptors have been influenced by his appearance, such as the felt creation above, or even…

…this whimsical balloon-art depiction.

Who is this man? Why has he inspired so many creators? What’s his story?

Some of you have may know already, but he is indeed the immortal sorceror from the best-selling fantasy series The Wizard’s Quest. Bold Brogar the warrior thought he was just saving Princess Mayumi from a band of goblins, but in time he learns the kidnapping was a decoy and his true quest was to save the world from the evil machinations of Azrukel Soulbinder.

Perhaps you’ve read it. Perhaps you even saw the film? Here’s one of the behind the scenes outtakes shot during filming:

Of course that shows Azrukel’s actor (who shall remain nameless), and you can see he apparently doesn’t share the villainy of his character by the way he’s making his cast mates chuckle.

The leads were all smiles on the convention circuit when promoting the film but dark rumours followed the cast about goings-on on set, many of which made their way into the various scandal magazines:

Only the director of the film knows the truth, and he’s not saying anything:

Evilness aside, Azrukel is a charismatic enough fellow that he has a wild fanbase, as the images on this post attest. Indeed, he’s probably reached the same heights of fame as Darth Vader or Voldemort. And just like them he’s been heavily merchandised as well, such as in action figure form:

I don’t own one myself, but I’d love to. However I’m trying to find a carded copy, which are fabulously rare:

If you’ve got one you want to sell, please let me know 😉

(The only ‘real’ image in this post was the first one. Everything else – including the character names – was the creation of AI.)

Posted in AI, Art, Blog, People | 2 Comments »