Sanrio Costumes: Hello Kitty, Keroppi, Badtz Maru

Hello Kitty and friends at the Sanrio 50th Anniversary Small Gift VIP party.

Halloween costume ideas and cute Harajuku style girls, you have love that TuxedoSam and Keroppi outfit.



Keroppi and the LADIES!

Batz Maru: "No one ever dresses like me, wah."

Keroppi: "There there Badz I will share some of my ladies with you."

 Blue-hair girl: "no thank you.

Kawaii Sanrio nails:
My Melody, Pom Pom Purin, Keroppi, and TuxedoSam!

Book Cover Illustrations that have Obtained a Level of Superior Awesome.

Used books stores are a treasure trove of fantastic cover art such as this beauty, Breed to Come by Andre Norton.

As part of an ongoing quest for awesome I will be adding more images to this post. I think of it as a tribute to the title sequence of Gentlemen Broncos.

 The Covers: 

San Diego Comic Con 2011 - Sandtrooper and Dewback

Scene featuring Star Wars Dewback and Sandtroopers on display at the Sideshow Collectibles Booth.

I like how the dewback looks like he's smiling.

Wolf Necklace

RAWR!

Growling Wolf Necklace for sale in the Grand Central Art Center Gallery in Santa Ana, California.

San Diego Comic Con - Techno Kitten Adventure Booth

Check out this fun iPod stereo.
Soooo jealous.

Beautiful New Board Gaming Website

If you are into board games you have probably visited the boardgamegeeks website - ugh.
While I love what BGGeeks site has to offer it is hideously ugly and hard to navigate.

Blue Links EVERYWHERE! WAAAAH my head is going EXPLODE!

You can see my review of Alvin & Dexter
at the bottom of the image :)

Now it doesn't have all the features of Board Game Geeks, but Boardgaming.com is still growing. Technically it's still in beta, I'm hopeful they will integrate some of the store features of the Geeks site.

San Diego Comic Con Adventure Time Parade

Adventure Time Costumes

Lady Rainicorn

Jake and Finn

The Ice King, Princess Bubblegum, Lumpy Space Princess, Jake's butt

Monopoly Deal - Game Review

The Gateway Drug to Deck Building


Monopoly and Monopoly Deal (MD) share a common ancestor, but like a great person born of a terrible parent you can't help but wonder if the 2 are even related.

In a Nutshell: 
Don't let the title fool you, MD just has the veneer of the old classic Parker Brothers Game. Thankfully they've cut everything that sucks about monopoly and left just enough to let inexperienced gamers feel comfortable. However, I do miss the metal game tokens.

Specifics:  
One game can be as short as 15 minutes.
It is a fast-paced game where you take turns drawing cards trying to make property sets. The fun happens when you get to watch the other players suffer as you charge exorbitant rents and steal their properties.

I think it achieves all kinds of corporate backstabbing in the way that the original intended.

The Takeaway:  
I have played it with non-gamers, hardcore gamers, young gamers, stoned gamers, and my mother-in-law and everyone had fun. Unless you're the President of the "To Cool to Game Club" you will enjoy this game.

2011 San Diego Comic Con Exclusive : Indiana Jones Lost Wave

Lost Wave : 6 Figure Indy Set
Raiders of the Lost Ark

WOW, I can't believe Hasbro is finally releasing this box set.

This collector pack will include the wave of figures that never made retail:

• Toht – interchangeable melting face and branded hand
• Marion Ravenwood – snakes
• Satipo – snap-on tarantulas (best accessory ever! lol)
• German Mechanic
• Indy in German disguise – bazooka
• Indy – brand new head sculpt

Check out these awesome photos by commercial photographer: Stephen G. Hayford.

Visit his portfolio to see more of his work.

© Stephen Hayford

© Stephen Hayford

© Stephen Hayford

© Stephen Hayford

You can also see more of 

this work at StephenHayford.com

Enjoy the images on this site, but please respect the copyright. 

These images were used by permission of Stephen Hayford.
Taking them and placing them on your own web site is a violation of copyright laws.

Nuns on the Run - Board Game Review

In a Nutshell:  
Nuns on the Run is a humorous bluffing game, similar to  Scotland Yard but in the reverse. This game has a catchy title and fun concept, however it is a game that is essentially executed in your head.

I’d like to consider an alternative mechanic that might add interest to the game…my revised version would be called “Nuns with the Runs.”

Specifics:  
You choose between playing a nun or a novice (a nun in training). When you make moves on the game board you don’t actually move your game token if you are a novice. In your mind you select a place that you are “placing” your token. Next, the nun says is there anyone I can hear near me. Honestly this is like playing DND without ever getting to put your miniature on the dungeon map, lame.

The fun part are the many clever and amusing details. The novices sneak around the abbey trying to collect their secret wish, which could be a book of dark magic or forbidden cookies. Its fun to watch the frustration on the face of the person(s) playing the Nuns and the nervousness of the novice players trying to sneak around.



Take Away: 
The only proper way to play this game is if you sing:
“Nuns on the Run” to tune of “Band on the Run” by Wings.

What Does It Mean?

Dolphin Double Rainbow with Antler Cat.

I don't know why I made this.

Brothers Grimm - Sculpting the Boar Head Maquette

Tips for using Polymer Clay
1. Use Vaseline to add non-baked clay to baked clay.
2. If the clay is dried-out and hard soften it by beating it with a rubber hammer.
3. You can bake polymer clay in a toaster oven.
4. Use a mirror to check the symmetry of your sculpture.



Wild Boar's Head Maquette

I'm in the process of sculpting a boar head maquette for the upcoming art show / book release:  Iron John & Other Grimm Brothers Faerie Stories.

The final boar head will be about the size of buffalo's head. Also, instead of using Super Sculpy I plan on using spray foam for the final. Maybe if this mini-boar head turns out well I will say it is one of the boar's babies, muahahaha!

You can see some of the illustrations for the book and my trading screens in the background. Sometimes when you trade stocks there's a lot of sitting around and waiting.



How can something so ugly be so freaking cute?!?!

I've started referring to the maquette as Boarby, although in the original Grimm Brothers text the boar is called Wildschwein.

In the story called, The Singing Bone, "Boarby" is an evil forrest boar who has killed tons of people with his terrible tusks. Two brothers set off to rid the land of beast and claim for themselves a prize.

Update, several hours later:


Halfway stage.

Still have to add his "terrible tusks" and right ear.

Resources:
Polymer Clay Fan has some great tutorials and demos, if you are interested in learning more about sculpting. Super Sculpey Polymer Clay - Semi-Transparent Beige-Pink - 1lb.

Ratfist - Webcomic by Doug TenNapel

Ratfist by Doug TenNapel

Ratfist officially launches today...woot!

Doug TenNapel, creator of  Earthworm Jim, Catscratch, The Neverhood, Ghostopolis, and Creature Tech is a guy that is really freaking tall.

TenNapel's style is reminiscent of the Spaceman Spiff stories within the Calvin and Hobbes universe, but with a little more grit. I love his off-the-wall characters and witty dialogue. What really shines are his original off-beat concepts, paired with loose masterful brushwork.

Something New, Something Old
Ratfist will be his first webcomic. I guess afterwards he will return to his traditional Japanese Sumi paintbrush methods as opposed to the digital drawing process he used in some of his previous graphic novels.

Why did they ruin this masterpiece
with tomatoes?!



For me, Doug's stories are like a meat filled doughnut, tasty sugary goodness on  the outside yet centered with meaty meaning and substance.

Some of Doug's other work:


Rat Testicles, Commentary:
I have heard that Doug produces his work very quickly, it must be true because in under a minute he replied to my comment about rat testicles:

Jacobromeo had this to say about Doug's work:

Agricola - Board Game Review (kinda)




The Photoshop Grass Brush was
used to illustrate the sheeps fur...
need I say more? 

 

Supposedly this game Agricola is really fun to play.




The Simpsons, Stonecutter meeting mocking the Masons.



I couldn't get past the initial set up and the lengthy instruction manual. I'm guessing it's like a secret Stonecutter thing. IF, you know how to pronounce Agricola correctly, then you MIGHT be invited to play a round with someone "in the know". Only then will you learn how to properly setup the multiple gameboards and if you still have stamina left, play the game.

The artwork, as with some other popular strategy boardgames on boardgamegeek.com, is shoddy at best. Take a look at: "Social Climber" and "Village Elder". 

< How can they get away with such blatant rip-offs?

The guy on the left is obviously Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast and the guy on the right looks like a Hayao Miyazaki character, from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

"every last inch of me's covered with hair"

Nausicaa Mustache Man