Dennis Mize, one of the first two sculptors at (legendary and now defunct miniatures company) Ral Partha, died this week. He also created gorgeous figures for Dark Sword Miniatures, Reaper Miniatures, and others. The Miniatures Page has an excellent memorial post about him.
I never knew Dennis, but like anyone who starting gaming in the ’80s, I appreciated his work. He’ll be missed.
At the GAMA Trade Show, Playmates introduced a full organized play system for Marvel Heroes Battle Dice. Toymania has the press release.
The latest run of the Marvel Heroes Battle Dice starter set contains a free mini-comic written by Todd Degazo and illustrated by Ron Lim. Apparently it wasn’t ready for the first wave, but it comes free with the set now, for no additional price.
Ron drew many of the cards for the WildStorms CCG I co-designed. Although I may have never met him, it’s cool to think we’re working on another great project again.
For me, though, the best part of the comic is seeing Spider-Man and the Human Torch actually playing Battle Dice in one scene. As a long-time Spider-Man fan, I never thought I’d see him playing one of my games.
Getting ready to attend my 20th high school reunion (and to drool over the just-announced Mutant Chronicles Collectible Miniatures Game from Eric Lang and Fantasy Flight) has made me a bit nostalgic. To see if you’re on the same wavelength with me, I present two amazing bits of clever webbery:
Got in late last night. Still recovering and plowing through e-mail. Had a great time. Saw and made many wonderful friends. Left my voice in Vegas. More soon.
I’m off for the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas on Sunday. If you’ll be out there (it’s for gaming industry professionals only, I’m afraid), give me a shout. I’m only sticking around through Wednesday, as I have many duties calling me home. (I can think of at least five by name, and they live in the bedrooms next to mine.)
With luck, you can find me wandering the exhibit hall on Tuesday afternoon, or possibly manning the Playmates Toys booth, helping show the latest bits for my Marvel Heroes Battle Dice game and my upcoming DC Battle Dice game. In addition, I’m officially scheduled for the following events:
Monday, March 13th, 2006, 10-11 a.m.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Freelancers
With so much riding on every release, publishers need to choose wisely whenever they outsource projects. Learn the qualities a freelancer should make sure they embody, for themselves and their publishers, as well as qualities publishers should look for in the freelancers they hire.Tuesday, March 14th, 2006, 10-11 a.m.
Advanced Freelancing
For the committed professional who now derives the majority of their income from freelancing in the game industry, there are whole new challenges to consider. Topics of discussion include: effective time and project management, tax planning for the self-employed, handling royalties, and legal recourses for the Freelancer.
If it’s vital you get a hold of me at the show, shoot me an e-mail, and we’ll set up an appointment. My time in town is short, so it’s always best to schedule these things ahead of time if we can. See you there!
For the rest of you, if this blog suddenly gets quiet, now you know why.
This happens every time I write a novel. I get halfway to two-thirds through it, and I realize I’ve gone so far off my original outline I have to sit down and rewrite the outline again from that point on. Sometimes I have to go through it twice in a single book.
This isn’t a bad thing. As I write the book, I come to know the characters better, and the situations they’re in. Things happen I couldn’t have predicted when I wrote my first outline. It’s far better to flow with the new notions than to try to force myself along a path that’s not faithful to the story as it’s developing.
Still, when you’re writing under a deadline, the idea of having to stop so you can reassess where you are and where you want to be heading is frustrating. However, I’m confident that it always ends up being a better book than I could have hoped for at the start.
According to Steve Perrin, Steve Henderson passed away from a massive stroke this morning, leaving behind his wife Gigi and their young son Alexander. I didn’t know Steve at all, but we had many mutual friends.
Steve co-authored RuneQuest (the original Glorantha roleplaying game) and Worlds of Wonder (the first universal roleplaying game) along with Steve Perrin, Lynn Willis, and Greg Stafford. He helped start the Society for Creative Anachronism. He also ran the dealers’ room at DunDraCon for the past decade or so.
So here’s to one of the greats, who was taken from us too soon. He contributed more to the adventure gaming hobby than most will ever know, but his influence will be felt for decades to come.
According to ICv2.com, the lauded Masters of American Comics exhibits from two L.A. museums will be shown together this summer at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It runs from April 29th through August 13. I have to find a free day for this.
Just to give you an idea about how strange it can get when producing a collectible figure game, here are pictures of two different versions of Loki from Marvel Heroes Battle Dice.
Apparently two versions were sculpted early on. Only one was supposed to make it into production, but they both did.
By the way (for Perry who asked about this), I’ve seen shots of the DC Battle Dice Series 1 figures. The Blue Beetle in that set is definitely the Ted Kord version.