Friday, October 21, 2011

[RPG][WOD] Introducing Vinnie



Well, not quite. A girl can dream, though. He's really a bit more like this:



Vinnie is my new character for the WOD game set in Austin. He's a typical Italian guy, a little "old school", sorta retro. He's a good soldier, and follows orders very well. This makes him pretty reliable, and he's got a job working for a transfer company, running a division.

He's a Vampire. He's a Mekhet, and has a Covenant, but it's sort of a secret for now. I've resisted playing a Vampire for so long, I finally decided to give in and go "back to my roots" as far as where I started "modern" roleplaying. I'm excited to see some other people in the game are active as Vampires, so I don't have to "blaze the trail" and/or do all the work. There's already an environment to play in, which is super nice.

I have a pretty in-depth background and story for Vinnie, as well as some ideas on what I want to see happen with him. Once I have another episode in, I'll spill the beans.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Mine's Bigger Than Brent's

Dethtron and Brent's little "war" got me motivated to do something I really haven't done here- show pics of my place. So, in the spirit of a good, healthy competition, let's do this!

Quoting Dethtron here: 

Well clap if you believe in Project Mayhem, because I’m throwing down the gauntlet. Brent thinks he’s got the disease, well it’s time to prove he’s still standing on the tip of the iceberg; still one straw short of a camel fracture. So, beloved space monkeys- if you’ve got a ridiculous collection/game room of your own let the world know. Post your own blog entry under the title “Mine’s Bigger than Brent’s” for all the world to see. Then, re-post this challenge to every blog and forum you’re on.

Here it is, folks- a challenge meant for the "big boys", and I am ready to kill 'em. Here's a look at all my stuff. 
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The outside, before we got a sign or any fancy stuff.


We did have fancy door graphics, though. Custom made acrylic transfers, baby.


There's places to play- lots of tables. These are set up for 40K.



This photo is of the early days in this location, before we got WAY more merchandise and so forth.


Here are some samples of our stuff. I swear, this was the day after we opened in this shop, because we have SO MUCH more crap now.


We found out that this shelf-on-a-shelf idea was not a good one. We moved it, don't worry!



 All right, this is from the WAAAAAY back machine, as we had AT-43 in stock still.


Other assorted sundries and such-again, probably from the second or third day at this location.


Wow, we were so proud of this clean, shiny case....


 The view from behind the counter- BEFORE it got messy. It's a wreck now.


The whiteboard is totally awesome. We use it for SO many fun things. It came as a donation from a customer.



So next, some pics of actual GAMERS and GAMING.


The giant windows are a pretty big hindrance in the summer months.


The following pics are from my *verysmall* house. The two larger shelves are *literally* packed from top to bottom full of gaming material. There's about a foot of my scrapbooks, but all the rest is games, books, minis,  notes, etc.

This is another shelf, tucked in the corner. It's actually got a shelf ON the shelf just to hold all the stuff we have.


Menoth, Part the One.


More Menoth.

Tons of paint. The top case on the left is the Vallejo line and the stuff on the right is paints picked up from hobby supply stores. Plus, tools! I love tools. Brushes, washers, clippers, many other goodies. The boxes are full of bits.


 Oops... That tray of models is full of Harlies I am supposed to be painting.


 More foam, waiting to be used.


A random game hiding between the couch and a shelf.



 While I don't have drums tucked away in my gaming closet, I do have to rep some music here.





Back to the store, where there's even MORE stuff. Here's a much more recent picture of the outside. I think I took this in August.


Lots of 40K and way more WarMachine than we need.


GW's greedy- it takes two full shelves, the tops, AND two spinner racks to fully display their stuff.


Our used shelf! Bargains, dudes!



 This is the "Big Red Monster", and it's the home of many board games. That we want to sell to you.


Middle shelf=roleplaying, mostly.


Grey Shelf=more board games.


 Of course, paint and all the stuff that goes with it.


The dragon, the case and the Confrontation models are all on "loan". One of our regulars displays them at our place because... well, it involves a wife- I'll be nice.



This is the second "Big red monster", also lovingly known as "The Gamer Nutrition Center" (inside joke). The setup varies, but it is usually sleeves, card boxes and other "Magic crack" related materials. 


This is my personal hell. It is also one of my proudest and best achievements as a store owner. Inside each box, divided by uncommon or common, are playsets of MtG cards. Each box holds several hundred playsets- and there are more than 50 boxes.

I was instrumental in taking huge piles of 5 slot boxes of random crap and turning them into a well organized system for our customers to find what they want instead of rooting through the dreaded "penny bin". Yes, we charge more- but we have made a killing out of these boxes. Well worth the HUNDREDS of hours put into it.

Also on this shelf is our "50 cent box", which is chock full of rares that don't trade at crazy insane costs. It's sometimes known as the "jank box", but there are a lot of cards in it that are great EDH material, fun to trade, or just interesting. The 50 cent box generates some serious cash, so we keep it stocked.




We recently filled that "gap" with boxes of cards, and added enough boxes to go all the way to the bottom shelf.

Here's our display case now. We pride ourselves on having the best pack choices around- and man, we find (and sell!) some oldies but goodies. Ravnica block, Onslaught, Invasion, Visions, Ice Age, Chronicles (we did an afterdraft with it!)- all kinds of things are in our case.





The blue binder above and the binders below are part of our singles. We divide by price- and stick cards in any order as long as it's starting low and going high. Our customers really seem to like it, and even ask for the "make your wallet cry" binder by name. (That's the red one seen below.)


A rare shot of TheBoy, from behind. He was hard at work, helping his buddy with something or other.


We have a fridge with sodas and snacks, too.


Chips & giant Pixy stix! Also visible is our "demo shelf" with copies of popular games to try before you buy.



Don't think this is a lot of stuff? We rented an entire PODS unit for overflow, random crap, and the assloads of terrain we have. Really, we have a shit ton of terrain. 

Four huge rubbermaid type totes, another Glass case, several random boxes, felt mats, and a ton of stuff I don't even know what it is. Here's some pics: 

 Well, this is an entire terrain table that was donated by one of our customers.



Some terrain.  (And models)



 More terrain.




Plus, more terrain!


And more terrain.

 More terrain.


 Even more terrain.



 Yeah, more terrain.


And, more terrain.



The POD and all the random stuff inside it. 




Don't think we have enough terrain? We have more.


And some of the nicest chairs you'll ever see in a game store. Really.


 Card boxes. Lots of them.


I don't know what this is. Maybe some more terrain?


 Older fixtures, files, light bulbs, other stuff.



This is terrain building material. Once upon a time, we made our own. I think we have plenty, now.


Well, the gauntlet is down- let's see YOURS.