so i don't know when the first figure was made, but 3 years ago today was when we first sold them at a work craft fair.  and i think we were already calling ourselves "ausgerco."

here's to another year.

cheers.

contrary to popular belief, we are not robots.  as proof i present:

a baby monkey hugging a pigeon

proof enough?

So Brian at Detroit Comics tells me that it has become something of a game for him and his patrons to try to come up with characters that would stump me.  On this list was Ego the Living Planet from Marvel Comics.  Basically, this character is a living planet that flys around and is generally a jerk.

Brian asked for Ego as an official figure request.  I told him it would be tough and that the "figure" would probably be at least the size of a basketball.

The first challenge posed by Ego is that he is a sphere.  I looked up ways to make paper spheres and the best way for my purposes was using dixie cups. 
(http://www.instructables.com/id/EP65RCD75LEP2LL7ER/)

I had hoped to find 3 ounce cups, but when I went to Meijer to get some all they had were the plastic ones.  I didn't want to use plastic cups, so I went with 5 ounce paper cups.     

Basically, the sphere is made of dixie cups glued into hexagon shapes:

(can you tell that these are SpongeBob cups?)


"So... I gotta make TWENTY of these things?"

Five of the hexagons fit together and you can see the sphere start to take shape.

The pattern is like a soccer ball - hexagons and pentagons (the "holes").

The final sphere:

that thing is big...

And now to cover the bastard up:


...And add the details:






F'n A.  I won't be making another one of these guys any time soon...

So I think it is safe to say that this years DUCF was a success.  I don't know any of the exact numbers, but the attendance was figuratively through the roof.

As many of you know, knew, or found out eventually, AusGerCo did not have a vendor table.  At the time applications were due, I didn't think we'd be able to swing having a table.  I apologize to anyone who came to the fair specifically to see us, but I'm sure you got to see lots of other way cool beans. 

I know I got to see lots of cool stuff and meet lots of cool people - notably Kill Taupe and 2-D Productions.  It's really nice to meet in person people I'd previously only known through Myspace.  It was also great seeing people from the craft circuit-- many are listed on our top friends. 

I was there on a volunteer basis.  I really wanted to be a part of the DUCF and by gum, if I wasn't going to work a table I was going to do something.  I signed on to work the lunch shift which I thought was really fun.  I got to stop by people's tables to collect meal tickets and take a look at their wares.  Then I got to run around and deliver lunches.  Some people may recall me running around trying to find homes for errant cheeseburgers.  I had to awkwardly ask about it over the PA.  That too was fun.  Props to Jeff and Kristen, my lunchtime delivery buddies.  You rule.  Josh too.  Thanks for guarding my beer while I made lunch runs.

Oh, and can I say that the DUCF providing free lunches for their vendors is really great.  I've only done a couple craft fairs, but I'm pretty certain you'd be hard pressed to find a vendor friendlier organization.  The Handmade Detroit ladies are so cool! 

As an added bonus, I was asked to "DJ" part of the after party between the band sets.  I picked the 10-12 time slot.  Wildcatting started at 10 and Jason & the Hounds Below got on around 11:30ish.  That made my actual play time something like 45 minutes.  I had made a 3 hour playlist (I figured on having extra tracks in case I wanted to skip around).  Hopefully people enjoyed what was played-- though I'm a bit disappointed that the playlist didn't get around to Leonard Nimoy's Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.  If anyone is interested, I'd be willing to burn you a copy of my playlist.  Just ask.

Oh, and special thanks to Mike for lending me his iPod.  I kind of have one, but it is kind of jacked.

Excelsior!  <---- holy geeky!
~A

We're mentioned in another article with Detroit Comics!  Woo hoo!

http://observer-eccentric.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070720/NEWS18/707200302/1035

So this is long overdue. 

I had meant to write about the Shadow Art Fair closer to the conclusion of the Shadow Art Fair.  Then I put it off until later.  I am now somewhat removed from it, so this might be more of a list of things that happened or that I noticed, or whatever.

First I'd like to throw out some thank yous:
*Molly and the SAF crew for inviting AusGerCo to the fair.  It's nice having someboy put a fire under my ass every-so-often to get me making things.  I put in a good 65 hour work week in preparation to the fair. 
*Everyone who stopped by the table, especially:
-Gerry- my partner in crime/ power strip deliverer
-Melissa- without whom Gerry would be nothing
-Mike- my bestest buddy and beer bringer
-Brian & Chesley- I look forward to making your figures!  They went and got me a beer too!
-those two dudes who are always making figure requests through Detroit Comics
*Handmade Detroit - I never would've gotten into the craft circuit without you
*DiamondHawk Graphics (Brian and Heather) for being great table mates. 

So in addition to being great table mates,  Brian does some really awesome art work on t-shirts and posters.  Everything is also instilled with a great sense of humor.  I consider myself kind of picky in terms of t-shirts and I pretty much liked everything.  I was going to hold off on buying a shirt from them until I had a chance to see everything on the website, but in the end I picked up the "Soap" shirt.  I recommend everyone check out www.diamondhawkgraphics.com

Another really cool thing that happened was Matt Feazell checking out the table.  Matt Feazell is a local hero of mine.  He's the creator of Cynical Man (http://home.comcast.net/~mattfeazell/index.htm).  You may remember the comic from when it was in the MetroTimes.  Cynical Man is a stick figure character and I've alway been a fan of stick figure art. 
Anyway, Mr. Feazell was at the SAF in support of HATCH, a Hamtramck-based art/craft collective.  When I saw him at my table I blurted out, "Hey! You're Matt Feazell!"  I have to admit that was a pretty smooth move on my part.  Then he mentions he's seen my stuff before because his friend bought the Captain Marvel figure at the Handmade Detroit Holiday Market.  That's awesome!  Matt Feazell is a guy I seek out at comic book conventions so I can buy prints from him-- and he's seen MY work.  Ha!

I apologize for the poor paragraph construction there... this whole blog entry is poorly constructed, actually.

So as I mentioned above, I put in about 65 hours of work into making figures and preparing for the SAF.  15 of those hours were spent on the Friday preceding the day of the fair.  I think I managed 4 hours of sleep before waking up and getting ready to head out to Ypsilanti.  I had a smoked sausage for breakfast.  This was probably a mistake because I felt ill most of the drive.  Then again, it's been a long while since I've eaten so soon after waking up (especially after not getting much sleep).  I knew I had a long day ahead of me (the fair ran from noon to midnight and I had to get there at 11am to set up) so I packed a couple bottles of water, some caffeine pills, tylenol, and can of wasabi peas.  I would also be manning the table on my own this time around.  I ended up not having anything to eat the entire day, but surprisingly I didn't get hungry.  Maybe it was because of the three or four beers I had throughout the day.  The brewery did have a bunch of take-out menus vendors could order from, but I didn't bother with it. 

The went by surpisingly fast.  Between visitors, I worked on an AusGerCo sign for the table.  That sign ended up hanging on the wall directly behind me.  After the sign was done I drew on the plain white paper bags I bought to put the figures in.  Past experience had shown that people needed better ways of walking away with the figures than cereal boxes, plastic bags, or nothing.  The bags I found were perfect in size and shape.  They could accomodate any average sized figure.  I even made a sale because the person really wanted a bag for the art on it.  The bags will return for the next craft fair we do.

Yes.  I ended this blog talking about bags.  

     

this is (mostly) a list of the figures we've made after the first run.

Galactus - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Captain America - SOLD!
Flash (Jay Garrick) - SOLD!
Baron Zemo - SOLD!
Nova* - GIVEN!
Aquaman - SOLD!
Iron Man - SOLD!
Juggernaut - SOLD!
Ultimate Johnny Acid* -GIVEN!
The Beetle - SOLD!
Moon Knight -SOLD!
Dr. Manhattan
Starman* - KEPT!
Dr. Octopus - SOLD!
Bizarro - SOLD!
Robotman -SOLD!
Negativeman - SOLD!
Elastigirl - SOLD!
Lion-O - SOLD!
The Blob - SOLD (SAF)!
The Tick - SOLD!
Yellow Jacket* -SOLD!
Rom - SOLD!
Savage Dragon - SOLD!
Zartan - SOLD!
Mystique - SOLD!
Venom - SOLD!
Silver Surfer - SOLD!
Spiral - SOLD!
Snake Eyes - SOLD!
Timber - SOLD!
Flash (Wally West) - SOLD!
Zoom (aka Reverse Flash) - SOLD!
Captain Marvel - SOLD!
Superman - SOLD!
Human Torch - SOLD!
Wolverine (blue/yellow) - SOLD!
Lex Luthor - SOLD!
Afro Ninja - SOLD!
It Girl
Despero - SOLD!
Wolverine (brown) - SOLD!
Thing - SOLD!
Green Lantern (John Stewart) - SOLD!
Hulk (gray) - SOLD!
Magneto - SOLD!
Pyro - SOLD!
Wonder Woman (2) - SOLD!
Thor - SOLD!
Spider-Man - SOLD!
Wonder Woman (3)- commission - SOLD!
Hanzo Hattori - present - GIVEN! 
Pirate-Cowboy-Robot-Monkey - commission - SOLD!
Frankenstein (Morrison's) - commission - SOLD!
Johnny Headband (Chad and Keith) - commission - SOLD!
Dia de Los Muertos Skeleton Monkey - commission -SOLD!
Superman (4) - SOLD!
Batman (3) - commission - SOLD!
---2007---
Space Ghost - commission - SOLD!
Ichigo (Bleach) - commission - SOLD!
Craft-Bot -commission -SOLD!
Superb Bear aka Grizzly-Boy - commission - SOLD!
Ares - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Grendel (Hunter Rose) - gift - DELIVERED
Superman (Kingdom Come) - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Firelord - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Jem - commision
Sentry - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Wonderman - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Black Widow - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Wasp - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Ms. Marvel - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Ironman '07 - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Wonder Woman m.4 - request - DELIVERED
GL Kilowog - SOLD! - Det. Comics
GL Hal Jordan m.2 - SOLD! - Det. Comics
GL Tomar Re - SOLD! - Det. Comics
GL Guy Gardner - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Sinestro - SOLD! - Det. Comics
SC Arkillo - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Anti-monitor - SOLD! - Det. Comics
Tetsuo - SOLD! (SAF)
Kaneda
Rupert Everett (Cemetery Man)
Triangle-Man - SOLD! (SAF)
Comet (PM) - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Claw (PM) - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Leatherface - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Freddy Krueger - SOLD! (SAF)
El Seed - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Wasabot - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Lava (PM) - SOLD! (SAF)
Gorge (PM) - SOLD! (SAF)
Cloud Strife (KH2) - SOLD! (SAF)
Wally (Fishhead) - SOLD! (SAF)
Disc (PM) - SOLD! (SAF)
FFXIII Girl - SOLD (HDHM'07)
Flight (PM)
Gut (PM) - SOLD! (SAF)
Muscle (PM) - given as present
King Arthur - SOLD! (SAF)
Kinnukuman - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Lightspeed  - SOLD! (SAF)
Napoleon Dynamite - SOLD! thanks Eric
Quartz - SOLD! (SAF)
Rocketbot
Yotsuba
Zapoman - SOLD! (SAF)
Mojo - SOLD! -Det. Comics
Spiral mk.2 - SOLD! -Det. Comics
Storm (mohawk) - SOLD! -Det. Comics
Ult. Capt. America 1945 - SOLD! -Det. Comics
Spider-Man mk.3 - SOLD! -Det. Comics
Spider-Man Black - SOLD! -Det. Comics
Silver Surfer mk.2 - SOLD! -Det. Comics
Grendel - Eppy Thatcher - SOLD! -Det. Comics
Thing mk.3 - SOLD! -Det. Comics
Flaming Carrot  - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
MODOK - SOLD! -Det Comics
Scud: The Disposable Assassin
American Maid - gift-Mike
Jem mk.2 - SOLD! thanks Jason
Ego The Living Planet - SOLD! Det. Comics
Sonic the Hedgehog - SOLD! -Det. Comics
The Shadow - SOLD! -Det Comics
Boba Fett - SOLD! Det. Comics
Silver Surfer mk.3 - given-Bryan
Stiltman
Spider Jerusalem - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Mysterio
Everyday Places
Mashira - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Moonboy
Devil Dinosaur
Prince - SOLD! thanks Jordan
Robin - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Metamorpho
Batman mk.4 - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
The Monarch
21
24
Shiro - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Mala Moralez - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Atlanta
Darius Trill
Lloyd- SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Killer Croc - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Big Red Cat - SOLD! (HDHM'07)
Angel - SOLD! thanks Emily!
CLYDE
Lester

*figure not necessarily for sale

special thanks to everybody who bought stuff!

The Mighty Avengers, Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro Corps, Antimonitor, Galactus, Firelord, and Kingdom Come Superman are all available now!  Go buy them at Detroit Comics (www.detroitcomics.com) in Ferndale!

Hooray!