Strangers With Toys

Okay, where was I? Ah, yes, informal transactions.

So, Anthony and I made a deal, swapping figures for a nominal fee. Well, the other week I was on Hisstank and I saw someone do something I had never had the courage to do: effectively get on to someone for customizing a rare figure that many would pay good money to get. Now, this telling-off was done kindly (and maybe I was only reading too much into it), and this poster offered a hypothetical solution: trading the unaltered original figure for comparable parts. Thus Poster one could have the parts to make the custom, and Poster 2 could have his holy grail.

Well, this sentiment was something I could agree with and as it happened, I was just about to destroy another copy of the same figure for custom purposes. You can probably tell were this is going...

Now, the last time I did a (semi-) informal transaction was around 2003ish on eBay, trading $20 for a box of X-Men figures. $20 bucks was a lot for me back then, and, well, the figures never came, and there was no way to recoup my investment.

So seven years later, I get to reach out and trust somebody... And I end up with two new figures, one of which had a part I needed a duplicate of for a custom!

So why am I telling y'all all this? Mostly, it's to finish up what I started on the other post. But, it's also for a much deeper reason...

You see, today I was at a Social Media seminar, and the big lesson I took away from that was that the best way to drive traffic to your blog is to create content. So I'm manipulating personal anecdotes for personal gain. No, I don't feel guilty at all.

And that ends that little section of today's post! As for other updates: Pockett is up, and I'm hoping to move back to the old update schedule (time to draw one strip: 1 1/2 lectures, or one lecture and a lab). Also, I'm looking into doing some reviews of old video games I've played, along with accompanying cute cartoons.

Well, that's really all I have to say today, so if any of what I've posted interests you, or you want to argue about the relative moral issues involved in manipulating pathos for gain, please leave comments below. That means you, Nancy; I know you're there...

Okay, so, um... Hez out. Bye now...

It's over.




Soup.






Oh. If anyone knows how to add a Digg button to this, please comment. Kthnxbye.









And if you happen to have any old X-Men movie toys laying around, especially Mystique, just contact me.

Retraction.... The Musical!

SO yeah, I make a big deal about posting more and then.... Nope. Two weeks, nothing. But I have a note from my mom this time, really I do! You see, I have started college. Yup. Good ol' Oral Roberts University, right here in Tulsa. Which I have to get back to in less than half an hour to get to my gym class...

I'll make this quick. Those of you who read Pockett (someone? Anyone?) will not that Obamanation did not, in fact, start. That's because I came home the next day and got a sudden urge to draw, which led to the delightful comic #6. And, being in college, I now have a lot of doodling on my hand, not to mention access to CS 4, so... It looks like Pockett may stay on for a while, although not in the way I planned it to. Oh, well...

Okay, now for one of those 'extra's' I talked about last time.

When I was in, say, fourth grade, I made a transaction with my friend Anthony. He had a lot of Star Wars figures that he didn't really want, and sold them to me for 25 cents each. Not a major gain for him, but that wasn't really the point. The point was that we were two people, both action-figure nerds, who entered into an informal transaction, bartering for simple things. This is, of course, as opposed to a strict retail transaction. Well, this past week, I've done something like this again...

But I've run out of time, so I promise I'll tell you about it soon! Bye!

Long Time, No Update

Okay, over a month with no updates... Wow, a lot to talk about. Personal-life wise: I had some relatives from Florida come visit, and my little cousin Jacob stayed after the others left and is living with us for the next week or so. Also, we went camping; I got horribly sunburned. We visited the action-figure museum in Paul's Valley-- that was really a disappointment for me. I was expecting an actual, you know, museum. Instead it was just a huge gallery. It was cool and all, but I don't think I actually learned anything. What else, what else.... Oh! My dad got a job! Every day he has a 120 mile round-trip commute, but he appears to be having fun! Also, I will be attending Oral Roberts University this fall; lots of fun...

As for creative updates...
1. Sorry! the movie has had some pick-up shots done, and is nearing completion. After over a year of work. And its only about six minutes long. Progress, real progress...
2. Pockett. After only 5 strips, it's going on hiatus. As you can see in the picture above, I'm converting it to a digital strip, but what all with college and relatives, I need more time. So, I'll be running a long-term filler strip: 'Obamanation.' This will be a wacky little series done with action figures. It will post on the Pockett website (Pockett.comicgenesis.com for all y'all newbies out there) and theoretically update every Wednesday, put probably more realistically every other Wednesday.
3. E.H.U.D. Progress, progress, progress. I might have mentioned this earlier, but after writing the detailed plot synopsis, I am going through and detailing it further. Much like an artist sets up the composition of a piece and roughs in volumes, then goes in and roughs out shapes, so I am doing. Every conversation has its twists and terns explored, every action sequence gets the blow-by-blow. After this synopsis, I should be able to start writing the actual book, and chapters will again be added, though this time with more find-able post names. And for those who don't want to read it because the already-posted synopsis has given away the story, fear not: A few major plot twists have entered in. As an interesting side note, when completed this new synopsis will be around the same length as the first draft, which was a full, rather long novella in its own right.
4. Customs. I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but the last week or so of June were consumed with working on a figure for a contest on Hisstank. It didn't win, but it certainly was good practise, pushing me beyond the normal swap'n'paint that I've been doing. I haven't posted it elsewhere yet, but that's because I need better pictures. Also, I'm thinking about repainting it, as it is something of a signature custom for me, and I want it to be perfect. Other than that, I have another figure done that I'm going to put up on the tank as soon as I get better pictures, and I have two or three long-term customs nearing completion. Really, I need to be working faster on these. Even the simple ones are taking me months to do. Oh, well...

Okay, and I thinks that's about it. If anyone has questions or comments, please post. To see my customs, either check out my profiles on figurerealm.com or hisstank.com, both under the user name Hrothmeir. Until next time, Hez out...

P.S. I have a lot of free time at work, and tend to fill that time by drafting virtual articles and treatises in my head, so in the coming weeks I will actually make an effort to get those thoughts down here in the real world. After all, the Internet hungers for content, and it must always be fed...