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Archive for March, 2006

The Future Is Closer Than You Think

March 21st, 2006

From the Grad Nite website:

“In 2005 Space Mountain was reimagineered for our 50th Anniversary Celebration. But for your Graduation, Disney’s taken it to the next level. Exclusively for Grad Nite 2006, you’ll be among the first to experience Rock it Mountain with a rockin soundtrack and awesome light effects that turn the classic Space Mountain into an out-of-this-world sensory blast! You’ve never experienced Space Mountain like this! Climb in, buckle up and hold on—the launch of Rock it Mountain is a ‘GO’.”

The earliest known Grad Nite date is May 11, and I really wanted the Space Mountain paper model to be released around the same time that Rock it Mountain opens. So, the model has been removed from the Tomorrowland Contest, and it will be released for everyone to download in early May.

Step 1. Open Mouth; Step 2. Insert Foot

March 21st, 2006

Last night I was just a split-second away from posting the following comment to a previous post.

“My apologies, Moff Peter. I often open my mouth before thinking, and the fact that the models were in HO scale kinda slipped my mind. Getting that much detail down to that size and being read clearly can be a daunting task. Plus, simplifying everything is also a talent, which is why my models are so big. I also only had the small photos—which don’t show off the virtues of your models—on the eBay site to judge. With all respect, you should seriously consider multiple photos with a better resolution. A really good picture is worth a thousand words.

“If you’d like, you can send me some good, clear photos to further prove me wrong. I’ll even post some of them here for all to see just how good you really are. So here’s your chance to shove it all in my face and get some free publicity to boot! Who knows, maybe I’ll buy one of your model kits to go along with my WDW HO train.

“As far as responding to your email, I’m pretty sure I did. Ray Keim has also responded to your email (he was gathering information for you, hence the lateness), but has yet to get a response. I keep myself fairly busy, and I can’t always stay up-to-date on all of my Blog comments, nor can I always respond to everyboby’s email, though I do try.”

Something looked eerily familiar about the eBay models and recent Fan Board submissions. Doing a little sleuthing of my own, it turns out that Moff Peter has three pictures of his models posted on the Fan Board. The submissions were sent in under the name ‘Peter’, so I didn’t make a connection until I saw his email address.

Well, it turns out that Peter’s models really are awesome! As my own measely way of apologizing, here are the full-sized images of the ones posted on the Fan Board.

Peter has other impressive models available for purchasing on eBay. Seriously, Peter, consider using better photos on your eBay stores—you might even see improved sales. I didn’t know that the Main Street buildings had that much depth and detail.

I know I sometimes come off sounding like I believe I’m better than everyone else, but I don’t think that way; I’ve even been told that I sound like a grumpy old man. But you have to admit that there’s a lot of crap out there that people try to pass off as quality work. So, again, I humbly—and publicly—apologize for my ill-informed review of Peter’s work. Peter, please consider submitting more photos of your models to the Fan Board for all to enjoy. I’m particularly interested in seeing your Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor models.

Modeling Withdrawals?

March 12th, 2006

Are you going through paper model withdrawals? Do you need that paper-cutting fix? Well . . .

It’s been confirmed that Rock It Mountain will debut for Grad Nights, which usually begin in May. I originally wanted to release the Space Mountain paper model around the same time as Rock It Mountain, so I may remove the model from the Tomorrowland Contest and just release it to everyone at the same time in May. A lot of you have been itching for its release, so I just may do that. That would also free up some time for another possible model release for summer.

In the meantime, Ray Keim is working diligently on the Disneyland version of the Haunted Mansion. You can keep track of his progress here: http://www.haunteddimensions.raykeim.com/index107.html.

Red/Blue Glasses

March 12th, 2006

While going through my email, sorting out the Fan Board submissions, I ran across an interesting email. Check out Danny’s Land for a couple of 3-D photos of my paper models. You’ll need red/blue glasses to view them.

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