Order of Phoenix

We saw the movie last night. It was okay - certainly no Transformers. It hit most of the points from the book (from what I remember) and it was neat seeing all the actors grow but, theatrically, it didn't grip me as the early ones did. The wife liked it a lot, so it might just be me. It was a lot of ground to cover and did seem to hold together but, to me, the final battle wasn't as much of a spectacle as it could have been.
Plus, the death didn't have much of an effect on me - which was how I reacted to the death in the book when it came out. As I normally react when a "major character" in a series, who isn't one of the main characters and has only come in part way through. They do this in TV all the time - A major character dies! Could it be the new character that was just added this season? Usually, it is.

I finally got my big box of heroclix figs from ebay. I picked up a bunch on sale - mostly from Sinister and Supernova. My Sinister list is now 57+12, my Supernova 26+5, and my Origin is 77+12. I haven't picked up any Avengers yet or even the Freakshow set from Horrorclix.
I did pick up the Legion of Super Heroes starter on sale at Comics America (used to be Styx Comics) as well as the Warhammer General's Companion. I'm reading through the rules now in preparation for the Galactus Tourneys, starting on Saturday. I haven't really played Heroclix in about 3 years, so we'll see how I hold up.

The LSH box set had a blank dial figure - Shrinking Violet. These are Heroclix bases without a figure on them. I always thought they were a cool idea. They have done Ant-Man, Yellow Jacket, Atom, Invisible Woman, and now Shrinking Violet. I recently got the Invisible Woman by mail so I'm still current.

David

glass display cabinet

I crossed off another summer chore this weekend. I was able to move the large glass display unit from Michelle's garage to Crystal's garage. I had picked it up many years ago when I still had a mail-order games business with the hopes of using it when we opened up a retail store. With that being repeatedly pushed back, we had looked for someone else who had achieved a storefront who might want it. Now it is over at Crystal's for their fall garage sale. If it goes to a good home, I'll be glad.



I also got some more magnetic pickups at Dollarama - for a dollar. They have smaller heads and have longer sections but fewer of them. We'll see which works better. Or if I can move the head over to the other pickups. I forgot to look for alligator clamps though.



I had two post office tags - which I was able to cash in for two packages from ebay. I got an old Yaquinto album game called Adventurer. They had published a bunch of old boardgames/wargames that had always been on my want list. The only I did have was the Attack of the Mutants small pack. That was great fun - I really need to dig it out again.


The other package had the Iona shoe polisher. It actually works still but what I want it for is to make a PKE detectr from Ghostbusters. I'll either modify it or use it for measurements to make some.



I'm still waiting on a big box of Heroclix figures from early June. When it comes in, I'll update my status list.



David

More than meets the eye

We saw Transformers in the theatre on Tuesday night. It was phenomenal. I'm not really the big Transformer fan that my wife and child are but still found it wildly fun.

I finished the 1:72 paper Fokker Dr1 - and glued a paperclip inside. I picked up a bunch of magnetic extendable pick-ups at Princess Auto (or, as my daughter calls it, the robot store) for $1.50 each. Canvas Eagles recommends using antennas with alligator clips for stands and either L- hooks or pins on the planes. These pick-ups are much cheaper and can feel the paperclip inside even the plastic planes. I am working on a second plane so we are pretty close to being able to actually try the rules. If I can find someone to play with.

David

knights of the air

I was able to pop into Spare Time Hobbies. They were very helpful and have been there for about 3 years. I managed to pick up a Revel SPAD XIII and Nieuport 17c, an ERTL French SPAD XIII, an Airfix SPAD VII, and a Warbirds vacuform Junkers D.1. With the paper Fokker Dr 1, Fokker DVIII, and Albatros I found on the web, we should have enough planes to start. So, I will definitely be able to try out the Canvas Eagles rules - once I build these up and assemble the stands.

I just missed out on a Tamiya 1/48 Panther G at a great price. At least now I know it is the right kit I need for a scratchbuilt Jedi Training Remote. He will see if he can get another one in for me.

Gooch's is able to get a few more of the Revel 1:72s in at a decent price. Spare Time is also checking. I'll see what I can get. I'm busy reading through a pile of WWI aviation books from the library right now.

another year older

My birthday was nice and quiet. I had the day off so I spent it driving around with my daughter looking for 1:72 WW1 models to use for Canvas Eagles.
We went to Cellar Dweller to get the summer issue of Robot and check out the models.
Then we went to a cowboy boot place to see if they had a girth belt I could use for Boba's belt - no luck there, and it caused my daughter quite some trauma that we didn't buy her cowboy boots.

From there we picked up my birthday cake at Jeannes. Mmmm - always love Jeannes cake.

We popped into the Western Canada Airport Museum. They had nothing in 1:72 scale but did have a nice set of planes by NewRay in 1:48 at $10 each. I'll keep it in mind if I can't find anything better.
Michael's had a few models but all in WW2. That was all we had time for that day.
We went to Pizza Hut for supper. Mmmm - pan pizza.

For gifts, I got some movies - Catwoman, and the January Man, some Horrorclix and Heroclix boosters, and the Connor MacLeod vs Kurgan figure set that made it to the top of my list ever since I found it while searching around on ebay. I got a Giant Amoeba and, to my surpise, one of the Origins chase figures - the Wizard Shazam! A very nice haul indeed.

Yesterday, I shopped around a bit more before work. Walmart had the NewRay planes for $5 - but they only had the WW2 ones. Toys R Us was fruitless, and Gooches had none of the WW1 planes but could order some in.

I also found out about a place that might be able to help, Spare Time Hobbies, out near Kildonan Place. Their web site makes them seem like they should be useful. I'll try and check them out tonight.

David

on the floor

Pulled out the Battle Masters set this weekend and tried to teach the kids. They weren't as keen on it as I thought they would have been - it's got cool figures and a huge map. But the wife and I did manage to play the first three games of the campaign.

We watched the end of Them. It definitely holds up much better than a 50 year old science fiction film should. The pseudo-science doesn't grate as much as some newer films and the ants aren't too hokey. I enjoyed it and will be watching it again sometime with a view of making a wargame out of it. When I find time.

For those who followed Jericho, it has been brought back from the brink. It had been cancelled but is being given another half season to see what they can do with it. The "nuts" campaign seems to have worked. It was one of the ones we enjoyed and it brought back memories of Twilight 2000. It makes me want to dig out The Last Battle and see if we couldn't do a Jericho scenario. I'll add it to my list should I come across a mess of spare time.

I started some paper aircraft to see how they look in 1/72 scale. I'm getting into Canvas Eagles/Blue Max a bit. It's a WWI aircraft battle game. In some shots, they use the Battle Master maps as upsized boards - good thing I bought 4 sets back when they went on sale. Depending on the feasibility, I'll modify for Crimson Skies. This is moved near top of my list.

David

drop a dime

Last night the kids and I started watching Them. I had never seen it before but I think it still holds up fairly well (I'll tell you my take on the Exorcist someday). We only got to the part with the ants on the ship when we had to stop so I still have to see how it ends, but I'm still impressed with the story so far.

The pay phone rates here are went up from $0.25 to $0.50. The reporters are trying to get the people up in arms but I believe most of us knew it was coming at some point. I'm not old enough to really remember making phone calls for a dime but I do remember that, back in the early eighties, you could make a phone call, play a video game, or ride a bus (student fare) for a quarter.
The bus is now well over a $1.50 for students, most video games (if you can even find them) are $0.50 or 2-3 for $1, yet the pay phones were still a quarter. I think most people knew it was time.

David