EastCon 1983
This EastCon was held in Glassboro College. Even so, the convention was on a small scale. Nevertheless, the people running it kept things going and there was a lot to do. The program expresses some of the simplicity of the convention. There was none of the organization of Origins. It was still fun.
Of particular interest was the Star Blazers room which showed on more or less continuous basis Japanese anime. This provided my introduction to Mobile Suit Gundam, a remarkable cartoon with surprising depth. Certainly a presentation worth seeing.
Here it is the end of April and the last week seems like the first. In fairness, I did paint a large group of 15mm figures though a group of 4 appear to have been swiped. I did finally realize that lining a plastic box with felt does help prevent figures sliding and crashing into each other when they are in storage. I also found Monty the Monkey though I suspect he will soon be lost again.
I also discovered that there were only 2 Gencon East conventions and I was at both. I discovered an old rule set called Battle Stations, a rather elaborate set for WWII naval actions, and bought what I suspect will be the last board game I purchase for a long, long time, War in the Ice by SPI.
But beyond that, I find that I am still traveling, still unsettled, and still trying to figure out a way to stay in one place for more than a month. In the meantime, I hope to start doing rules replays at last.
I suppose by the time a figure has reached a stage where it appears in an auction at Christies, play time is over and the figure is now a collector’s item. Too bad and sadly the fate for many a fine figure. Some figures were made to stand inside a jar. They stand stiffly at attention, all their finery on display with carefully hand painted detail. Others are meant for play and so many of these are collector’s pieces for having been ignored for some reason by an indifferent child.
Here you get a sense of the different world of the figure collector. Who would not be charmed by having a Village Idiot or Monty Monkey? And it is these kinds of figures that motivate wargamers. We want to pull them out of the jars and get them moving. Still, the notion of some executive’s suite laden in heavy oak and overstuffed leather chairs with a bright gleaming set of sparkling new Britains figures has a certain charm as if Citizen Kane had been reunited with Rosebud.
Dream Pod 9 Mechs Dream Pod 9 appears to be a game company in the mold of Games Workshop providing rulesets with background for a variety of SF and horror themed universes. They also provide miniatures for use with the games. Current games include Heavy Gear, the Jovian Chronicles, Tribe 8, Gear Krieg and CORE Command. They offer space ship and Mecha miniatures all well-crafted and adaptable to other rules.
