StudioOtaking In reply to MasumiXMRCX [2023-04-25 02:29:27 +0000 UTC]

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MasumiXMRCX In reply to StudioOtaking [2023-04-25 03:35:38 +0000 UTC]

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StudioOtaking In reply to John117xCortana [2016-05-04 04:55:35 +0000 UTC]

When it comes to FAST Packs for established Macross VFs, I generally only do them when I'm hit by inspiration - and that's usually tied in to Macross RPGing.

What kind of custom FAST Packs/Super Parts were you interested in seeing?

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John117xCortana In reply to StudioOtaking [2016-05-24 01:06:28 +0000 UTC]

hello?

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John117xCortana In reply to StudioOtaking [2016-05-09 15:33:30 +0000 UTC]

Well I have a small request. I have a picture of a custom VF a friend of mine over here once drew. I lost track of him when he changed his account and closed the old one.

I was wondering if you could draw some FAST packs/Super parts for it....

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StudioOtaking In reply to John117xCortana [2016-05-24 02:59:54 +0000 UTC]

Apologies for the belated reply - Golden Week, family, work, other interests.

In short - I only do Super Parts for my own CFs or established Macross VFs.  Reason being: free time has become extremely limited for me, and there is a lot of mental gymnastics -which require a lot of time and energy- to come to grips with how a VF fits together in its three modes, and how Super Packs would fit in without compromising the transformation mechanism.

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John117xCortana In reply to StudioOtaking [2016-05-25 22:33:01 +0000 UTC]

www.macross2.net/m3/misc/AVFX_…

Is this good enough for you?

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StudioOtaking In reply to AmongTheFirst [2014-12-30 04:11:48 +0000 UTC]

No problem.  They're quite nostalgic for me - crossing the bridge into Songhees, or down into Market Square to pick up the latest comics at Island Fantasy.  Man... how many years ago did that place close?  Time sure flies once you start working, and especially after moving overseas and having kids!

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AmongTheFirst In reply to StudioOtaking [2014-12-30 19:51:34 +0000 UTC]

Yes I remember going to Island Fantasy as a kid. I used to buy a lot of role playing supplements there for either Traveller or for Dungeons and Dragons. I only go back to Victoria from time to time to visit family and I had no way of knowing when Island Fantasy shut it doors. I recently read a bit of news about the Johnson Street bridge; it is going through a radical new makeover and it will reopen in 2016 will a completely different look

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StudioOtaking In reply to AmongTheFirst [2014-12-31 02:25:45 +0000 UTC]

If memory serves, Island Fantasy closed its doors about a year or two before the bust in the speculator comic market in 1997 (I was working in the comic shop in Broadmead around that time - and I only discovered that shop after Island Fantasy went belly up).
Until I spotted your picts of Johnson St. Bridge, I had completely forgotten how much of an icon landmark it is for local residents.  Overseas, the majority of the tourist books focus on things like the Inner Harbour or the castles.  Which is all good, but the majority of those places can be just as foreign for the locals and former residents.  So, seeing that bridge brought back a lot of powerful nostalgia.
Hopefully the makeover won't change it too much.  There's something awe inspiring -and thrilling when passing under- about those giant concrete blocks suspended in midair!

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AmongTheFirst In reply to StudioOtaking [2014-12-31 07:14:04 +0000 UTC]

Island Fantasy closed its doors in 1997? I had been living in Calgary  for two years by then-I only went back in January of that year and I just visited my parents and Auntie Peggy and hung around Esquimalt Lagoon. It really was an iconic landmark but hopefully there will be some similar business that will take its place. I know Calgary has the Sentry Box and it has everything. Most of the time I go to Redd Skull Comics because it's relatively close to where I live
Yes those concrete blocks on the Johnson Street Bridge were pretty awe inspiring. I'm going to miss the old bridge because I kind of liked the pale blue color and the concrete blocks. The new look is going to be very slimmed down

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StudioOtaking In reply to AmongTheFirst [2014-12-31 10:00:59 +0000 UTC]

I think it was '95 or '96 that Island Fantasy went out of business.  After that, in downtown Victoria there were only Curious, Legends, and Yellowjacket - oddly all within a few minutes walk of each other on Johnson St.!  The one I worked at was Mondo Beyond Comics in Broadmead Village until it closed down.
After Island Fantasy disappeared, there wasn't any one large store that covered the majority of comic niches, but each of the other stores catered to different niches, and other new stores popped up (miniatures, RPGs) - if memory serves (on the one hand, I'm boggled by how much I retain some 20 years later.  On the other, I'm worried if 'old age' is colouring those recollections somewhat).
Just checked out the webpage for the Johnson St. Bridge project - yikes!  Slimmed down is an understatement!  The new one completely loses the Victorian bridge design (pun not intended) of the original, with all its ironwork... I take it that the new bridge is in the spot where the Island Railway used to cross the inner harbour?

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AmongTheFirst In reply to StudioOtaking [2014-12-31 20:12:43 +0000 UTC]

It looks to me Johnston Street is becoming "Comic Book Row" like Beacon Avenue in Sidney is "Book Store Row". I noticed there is a Curious Comics store on the corner of Goldstream Avenue and Jacklin Road now. When I return to Victoria in May I'm definitely going to check this out. Broadmead Village is pretty close to the Commonwealth Pool and Beaver Lake-both places I went swimming.
Yes I really hope that the new Johnson Street Bridge can accommodate the Island Railway. When I was in Victoria three years ago I saw it pass through Langford. They've shut it down and re-opened it quite a few times.

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StudioOtaking In reply to AmongTheFirst [2015-01-02 06:49:43 +0000 UTC]

Keep in mind that my info on Victoria is about 15 years out of date.  I stopped frequenting those comic stores about a half a year before I left Victoria in Sept., 1999.  My info on Seoul, and the Kansai Region (Osaka and Kyoto) is much more current. 

Ah, that's right.  The rail line runs parallel to the roadway on the "old" Johnson Street Bridge!  My image of rail (commuter, subway, Skytrain, etc.) bridges changed to dedicated, rail only ones ages ago.

It's a shame that commuter rail never took off when the Trolley died out in Victoria and environs.  In Victoria, I couldn't go anywhere without a car, but since then, I haven't needed one!  Mind you, it's hard to imagine even light commuter rail (like in some parts of Germany) running down streets in Victoria...

"when you return to Victoria"?  Where are you now?

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AmongTheFirst In reply to StudioOtaking [2015-01-03 03:07:22 +0000 UTC]

I live in Calgary. It would really nice if Victoria had an LRT system like Vancouver or Calgary. I guess you use the LRT system quite a bit in Kyoto or Osaka

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StudioOtaking In reply to AmongTheFirst [2015-01-04 05:27:09 +0000 UTC]

Commuter rail is on a totally different order of magnitude in Japan than it is in other countries.  Unless if one is travelling out in the countryside, there's no other form of transport in Japan that is as fast, convenient, and low cost.

Coming from car-centric Victoria, I can say that giving someone else the steering wheel while commuting takes a huge amount of daily stress off of ones shoulders.  And that's not even taking into consideration the other headaches that come with owning a car!

It was such a profound experience for me after living in Seoul (where I was sometimes able to drive the car of the people I was staying with), that when I returned to Canada in late 2000, I knew I would go crazy if I didn't live near the Skytrain line in Vancouver.

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AmongTheFirst In reply to StudioOtaking [2015-01-05 03:06:29 +0000 UTC]

I was wondering how much is LRT, subway and maglev in the Kyoto-Osaka area? What's the name of the system?

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StudioOtaking In reply to AmongTheFirst [2015-01-05 09:00:23 +0000 UTC]

That's actually an extremely difficult question to answer.  It depends on the following factors:
- distance (fare is priced by how far you travel from your starting point)
- train class (the general rule is that you have to pay a surcharge on the most highest class express trains)
- transfers between operators
- competing operators offering similar destinations (E.g.: the Kobe-Osaka-Kyoto corridor is served by 4 operators (not including the Shinkansen or buses!), so it is really competitively priced)
- special tickets and/or commuter passes (E.g. 1-Day tickets on a particular operator, or group of operators)

The absolute best price that I know of is the Surutto Kansai 3-Day ticket.  ￥5,000, and you have unlimited rides on all participating private operators and cities rail lines, subways, and buses, but not JR or any of the express trains that require a surcharge.  Here's the linky: www.surutto.com/tickets/kansai…

Currently, none of the operators use maglev.  Please refer to the linked wikipedia article for the names: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_…
(cross reference "Kansai" with the "Major 16", "Semi-Major", and "Other/3rd Sector").

It can be confusing for even the locals, at times.  And for some reason, a lot of the Japanese that I know rely on my for navigating it!

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AmongTheFirst In reply to StudioOtaking [2015-01-06 02:27:37 +0000 UTC]

I really like the kansai 3-day ticket and it's a good deal for about 52 Canadian dollars. It's designed for for people visiting Japan and would be practical for me if I was there for a short stay

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StudioOtaking In reply to AmongTheFirst [2015-01-12 07:34:26 +0000 UTC]

There's also a 2 day ticket, but it's only available outside of Kansai (it's aimed at people visiting from outside the Kansai area).

Not sure if it's available at KIX...

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