December 14, 2001

In response to last weeks 'Sprue', received 78 e-mails. Not a record breaker, but close. Checking me trusty calculator it comes out to 41.321% agreed, 23.12% gave me a piece of their mind and the rest laughed their asses off.

Not too shabby! My biggest fear was that this was going to spill over onto the Aurora & Gremlins list, and happy to say it didn't... so for that I thank you all! I did close the message forum that was located on the EZBoard site. The number of Pop-Ups was driving me insane and just couldn't take it anymore.

With the upcoming merge between Yahoo's Clubs and Groups, many of us thought they weren't accepting any new groups until after the merge. But although that's true for 'clubs', you can still start a 'Group'. So I did. The Off The Sprue group can be found here. I like this format because like the Aurora list, anything posted will be received as an e-mail, so you cut out the step of going to your browser and clicking to a web site. You can still go to the Yahoo Group, if you want, but it's not required. And that suits me perfectly!

Now, as for the feedback I received via e-mail! First off, for those that agreed or disagreed with the Ivie portion, can I be honest here and tell you something without you getting bent outta shape? Although I appreciate the feedback, if you have issues with someone, or decide to share feelings about someone, good or bad, that someone should be included in the email address. At least I feel it should. It's just the right thing to do.

If you can't write something about someone that you wouldn't address to that person himself, then you really shouldn't be addressing it to me either. I'll certainly respect the, "This isn't for posting on the 'Sprue' for Iverson to read..." wishes, but have to admit at the same time, it's just not right, nor does it sit right with me. You know what I'm saying here? It's an integrity issue. Understandable if you don't want everyone who reads the 'Sprue' to read your opinions, but don't be a back-stabber, either! Especially when the email comes from someone I respect... my respect meter takes a hit when I witness these actions. For those that simply chewed my ass off, thanks for writing as well. It shows conviction, friendship, and a set of balls! Those that didn't have Ivie addressed, should have as well! That's what I'm talking about here!

Okay? No bent feathers? Cool!

On the subject of Gundams, Allen Nilles writes this insightful post...

I agree with you that pre-paints suck. If I ever buy one I'll probably repaint it just to get the satisfaction of doing it myself.

Gundam kits......Bandai is marketing them as "Action Figures" that you assemble. I build em, but I am one of the types that will glue, sand, putty and paint em because if you don't....they are damn ugly pieces of plastic.

The high end Gundam Kits are exactly that....Kits. I'm not talking about the Gundam Wing that you slap together in 5 minutes and call it a toy.....no...I'm talking about the MG/PG 800+ parts. They might be molded in color and snap together, but all that means is that it's less of a seam to have to fill and that I get funky colored sprue trees lying around my work-room.

I guess what I'm saying is that it's not the kit itself that is the problem it's the people building them. When kids buy em and slap em together, no glue, no paint, then they are just a toy. But when I, or other's like me, build em, they are MODELS. We take the time to do them right and the end result is spectacular.

Kid's will show me the toy they slapped together and seem all proud, but when I show em my version, it drops their jaw and they're not quite so proud of the toy they assembled. So maybe NEXT time, or the time after that they'll take the time to do it right and join the ranks of modelers. We just have to show them just how good those "toys" will look when built as a model should be.

In my own mind I'm still not convinced they're 'models'. Same as resculpting or adding Magic Sculp to Action Figures to make them into different characters. I believe they have their own niche, and there's nothing wrong with doing either activity... I just don't think it falls into the 'scale model' category. I have to admit though, you've piqued my curiosity and I wouldn't mind seeing one of your completed works.

Also get a kick out of seeing the different colored sprues! Don't ask me why, just think those are neat as hell!! I've saved a couple from my son's Gundams... don't know what I'll use them for but know they'll come in handy for something down the road!!  :)

In other news...

Anthony Mestas informed us that George Stephenson, of GEOMetric fame, was appointed to Judge!! About damn time they recognized talent!! Heart felt congratulations, George! Proud of ya, buddy!!

Monsters In Motion is featuring Jeff Yagher's newest mindblowing sculpt! House of Wax is a huge two figure kit featuring Vincent Price in 1/9th scale, the massive wax machine and a nice nude female about to get the wax job of her life!! Simply beautiful and the $250.00 price tag isn't bad at all! Only 50 will be made, so if you're interested you better snatch one up FAST! You can find the page on MIM's site, listed under "Wax Encounter"!

RAMIRO MUŅOZ from Argentina sculpted this great BATMAN FAMILY statue based on the JOSE GARCIA LOPEZ pin-up drawing!! Outstanding work, Ramiro!! Will get this up on my Batman pages, asap!!

Til next week...

Happy Modeling - Buc       Email   Archives