Doom with a View

 On a mosey round the Pontefract area today I saw a few bits of interest.

I picked up this complete Star Wars police vehicle for four squid.

This Mattel Hot Shots sadly had a front plastic fender missing. 

A Tank Commander and parachute. 

This Dr.Doom in a glass cabinet was priced really high. Is there something special about him? Thor was a bit less at £15. I thought these figures were two a penny?

Have you seen anything of not lately? 

Cereal Packet PC

 I was thinking about making stuff with card as a kid. One thing was a cereal box computer.

I remember it involved wooden skewers and hole-punched cards. A card would fall into the he at the bottom of it was the right answer.

But how on earth did it work? I've forgotten.

Do you know readers?

Draw Back, Robin and Release

 Did you have a toy bow and arrow?

Easter in Blighty was a good time to test them out in the garden as a kid.

Watching DC's The Arrow brought it all back, how much I liked bows back then, simple wooden lats with tight string and sucker arrows. 

I had a look to see what was out there today.

Marvel's Hawkeye gets a neat set. No sign of one for DC's Green Arrow tho! 

And I'd have adored this Ninja toy as a buffing Samurai in the early Seventies.

This is a King, although I don't recognise the characters. There's a toy pistol that's completely out of place.

And to the simpler stuff. Like I had.

Robin Hood.

Wild West.

I think they're both plastic bows. It must be uncommon to find a wooden toy now.

JLA 77 Rocket Card

I love this rocket art card I saw online.

By Shiraki Design SYA. Does that mean anything to you?

Mystery Century 21 Productions T Shirt

Woodsy

Another loft find. No idea of its date. Is it a TV21 comic giveaway or prize ? Or is it later , possibly 1980's ? Does anyone know?

Will O

Oz Base Film Update: HP Sources

Hey Moonbasers! 

How are you faring with the Brave New World of AI?

I hate generative art with a passion, because the systems have been trained with everything on the web, including artworks -regardless of copyright.

I searched "Have you been Scraped?" and sure enough, some of my work is already included.

I've decided I will not use Generative AI imagery in my puppet film, but it is almost impossible to use any system, without some form of AI lurking in the workings,

So I'm making background models and I looked at the new systems that create a 3 Dimensional model from a single photo.

I wanted BG models of the Houses of Parliament and King Charles' Gate - could the new systems come up with a basic shape I could work on in the real world?

It turns out the answer is yes. But as with all things AI, the spectre of "Hallucinations" are ever present.

I bet you never knew that Parliament had two Big Bens, or that they had rows of trumpeting angels on the roof!

Here are some screen grabs of the 3D meshes I'm working with, Good enough for background work, but still not a reliable substitute for reality!

Looey

Oz Base

Blog Comments

Owing to a particularly concerning comment on MC yesterday I will be now moderating comments before publication. Apologies to my normal readers, your comments maybe slightly delayed before appearing. 

There'll be Blue Birds

 I had a gorgeous Comet speed boat as a kid, so I would have loved this Japanese Blue Bird. Not sure if it's a lot or a toy.

Do you know it?