Scare-A-Con and other developments from the comfy chair.

 I realize it has been a little while since I wrote to this blog. I suppose part of the reason I don't do this as often as I probably should is because I'm a private person by nature and all that openness and sharing of the Internet with its "tweets" and “selfies" and YouTube videos makes me feel sometimes like we are overexposing ourselves. To an extent I have to get used to this for the sake of the company. I apologize in advance for any spelling errors and my lack of consistency on posting to blogs such as this.

 I guess what it really boils down to is that, I can't just post for the sake of posting. I usually have to have something to say before I make posts.

We just got back from Syracuse New York where we attended theScare-A-Con convention. There was a lot to see as the convention had tripled in size since last year. One of the 1st things we realized when we were setting up the booth was that we were placed right next to Tim Burtons ex-girlfriend Lisa Marie. Unfortunately I really didn't get any pictures of her, but she has taken to wearing some very strange and large glasses that did not do her any justice so no real loss there.
Directly across from us was Felix Silla, he is a little person actor who played cousin "IT" from the Addams family, Twiki from Buck Rogers as well as all the roles that are little person specific such as Ewoks from Star Wars.

Felix Was a very nice guy and extremely friendly as well. It's really nice when you spend the weekend across from someone whose pleasant as well as knowledgeable.

As some of the more astute readers might ask “what are those cards in the camera's line of sight?” During our time producing the models for the Spinespur Kickstarter, we found ourselves with some down time while we were waiting for sculpts to be made and other things that were out of our immediate control. In that time we created a new card game that will be released sometime within the next year. At this particular convention we were selling some beta decks along with play testing rules for the cards. Don't worry, you will see them soon. It is called “the Philadelphia Incident" and it is a game where players clear areas of Philadelphia of monsters with heroic characters, while collecting weaponry and kicking assess along the way. A special note for anyone involved in our Kickstarter that pledged more than $1, you will be receiving a one-time only Martin Greygun hero card for this game. It's yet another Kickstarter exclusive that I could offer to make your pledge to Spinespur even more valuable. 

 Another thing you always have to admire his dedication that some fans show to movie that really touches them. There were some people staying at the Fairfield where we were staying there were driving around in this.

 How freaking cool is that? Not only did they make their own ECTO-1 complete with lights and assorted scientific equipment attached to the top of the vehicle, but they also paid a pretty penny to have the Spud, aka Slimer professionally painted on the front of their car. I like to imagine someone drives to work every day in this.
 The one thing I can tell you about doing these conventions, is that the enthusiasm I get to feel from players rubs off on me. I can't help but to get home from a convention and have my mind bursting with new ideas and refueled sense of purpose when it comes to game making. This particular convention is lighting a fire under my butt to finish those last couple stories for the G.A.S.P role-playing game so I can get it out to the players and have even more to talk to you guys about!!!
As I mentioned previously, there were a number of stars that showed up at this convention. Scout Taylor-Compton From Rob Zombies remake of Halloween was there. I didn't really talk to her much, I just got a quick picture in passing, but she didn't take that hat off all weekend.

 By the way, I apologize for the fact that my big meathead is in all these pictures. So please try to overlook all the sexiness that is me in these pictures.

 I also had a chance to meet Fred Williamson. He plays a tough guy in most movies he's in, and I'm sure he can kick my ass across New York State, please actually a very nice guy in person. I would even say he is the definition of the word “cool” just from the way he handles himself around other people. If you ever have a chance to meet him in person, take it.

 Ernie Hudson was also there from the Crow and Ghostbusters fame. It's funny, it seems like the actors that can move from role to role never get caught up in the whole “superstar” aspect of the business. They seem to remain humble and very personable.

 Every time you're one of the shows and you meet certain stars, there is always one or two that for some reason on the top of your geek-O-meter. I'm no different than anyone else and when I saw Greg "The Hammer" Valentine from the WWF (when it was the WWF) I was in a certain amount of awe.

 I don't know how many of you have seen the movie “The Wrestler” but that movie has to be true on so many different levels. When I first walked up to Mr. Valentine, I was nervous and even intimidated. When I got a good look at him, you could see the man was in pain just sitting there. He's got a be in his late 60s or 70s, and he still big freakin guy, but you could tell he was in some pain. His hands looked very arthritic, his knees were crisscrossed with scars from surgery, and every move he made to stand up or walk around something was accompanied with a grunt or grown.  He didn't smile very much either, the best I got was a slight curled his lips. When my wife thanked him, she actually got a smile from him. It was a shame, but I made sure to let him know how much I appreciated what he did for a living years ago which was to make sure we were all entertained at the cost of his body. God bless you Mr. Valentine.
 One of the coolest things that happened at the convention happened when I was at my booth. I turned around to see Jake Busey really checking out the Spinespur terrain. He did that Busey smile and commented that the display was sick. He asked if he could take some pictures of it, to which I replied "be my Guest, please." It was surprising, he must've taken 8 to 10 pictures from different angles and he really took some care to set up some of the shots. I kind of expected him to be very outgoing and opinionated like his father, but Jake is actually a very soft-spoken guy who seems even a little shy at times. Personally I like him a lot and I was very flattered by the reaction that he gave to our displays.

 And I was pretty much it for my fan boi reaction to the stars. And yes that is a Misfits shirt I am wearing. To answer the questions before it's asked, I'm one of the few people who prefer the band led by Michael Graves over Glenn Danzig. I'm sure that won't win the fans, but I own what I say.

 Anyway, I talked to a bunch of interesting people and met a lot of players that I feel honored to have met. Like I said, when I get back from these conventions I have all kinds of ideas on other things I want to do with the company. The 1st goal before anything else is getting the kickstarter delivered on time. That's my number 1 focus. I also however brought home ideas for a few things dealing with Spinespur that I will be working on as well.
 So I'm off now to continue creating artwork for the next phase of my plans for Spinespur. If I can pull together what I have conceptualized, I think a lot of people will be happy and you may be seeing some more Spinespur before expected.


 I want to take a moment to thank everybody who was interested enough to read this and who support Comfy Chair Games. We aim to please you, because without you we wouldn't be able to create the things we do, so from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

 Sincerely
 Bob Mervine

Breaking the silence.

 Hello people and happy new year. This blog has been quiet for a little while and I'm here to break the silence and let you know what's been going on with comfy chair games. Although it's been quiet, that does not mean that I have not been at work behind the scenes getting things ready.

 Dominion of the gods had met with a few minor incidences. We did not make our kickstarter funding as some of you well know, but there've been other setbacks as well. None of these setbacks are going to prevent us from releasing Dominion of the gods! I had 3 sculptors completely flake out on the delivery of the promised miniatures. Of course as am sure you realize, this did nothing but make the creation of the game that much harder. Needless to say, I'm probably going to avoid using these 3 sculptors in the future.
 On the good news front, we are putting the final touches on having the Cyclops made as we speak and I have the Masters for many of the other sculpts being finished now. The Cyclops will go on sale as a solo piece allowing people to purchase the miniature early. The other models from the Greek box set are finished sculpting and in their master form. They should also be available shortly for purchase. There's a few of the mud like to get professionally painted before I leaked photos of them onto the web. The Medusa in particular is gorgeous and you have not seen anything like this sculpt before!

As some of you may know, I'm finishing a degree in visual communications in March. I'm using elements from my soon to come Spinespur Kickstarter as part of my capstone project. My goal is to have the campaign up and running in time for grading. My logic behind this is, what teacher would be able to look at capstone project making money and give you anything less than a superb grade?

The Spinespur Kickstarter will contain plenty of great surprises for those of you who are willing to support it. A few of the things we have made up our minds that will be included in the kickstarter are as follows.

1. A one-time only hardback version of Spinespur: Threshold that will also contain the names of everybody who purchased one of these hardbacks through the kickstarter campaign.
2.  An actual printed deck of official cards for use with the Spinespur  game.
3.  If we make our goal of $6000 we will have the last handful of models completed to finish off the Threshold book. At this level we will also include a copy of Beta version "Street Chum" for everybody who bids over (I believe it is the $30 mark.) Street Chum is a minigame set in Spinespur where players create gangs, and fight each other to grow the gang in strength and abilities. This game includes some appearances of some well-known Spinespur personalities.
4.  When we talk about stretch goals, we have included various forms of thugs and other models that people who pledge the $45 or more mark or higher will receive for free when unlocked. Currently I believe there are 6 different on lockable models before the Chop Doc pack becomes unlocked. The Chop Doc pack will need to be purchase, but it includes all 4 doctors from the upcoming book Spinespur: Covenant. After they are unlocked, we have 4 more stretch goals planned that will be added for free for pledges over $45.

 As you can see, we have a lot of good stuff planned for the Spinespur Kickstarter that will hopefully draw a lot of attention and allow us to kick it to the next level.

 There are other things being worked on as well, but they are not a priority. I will explain briefly, but again I would like to point out that these are not a priority.
 In my free time I enjoy randomly drawing things that strike me. One of the things that have always been a favorite subject matter of mine are monsters, both mythological and modern. My art books are full of monster sketches. During my free time when I need to walk away from some of the work done on Spinespur (after all, you can't dwell there too long without it changing you) I have been digitally coloring and mastering some of these pictures to eventually make into a type of board games/card game. More of this will be spoken of when we get closer to completion, but nobody should hold their breath on this.

Comfy Chair Games will also be releasing a small line of miniatures inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. The Masters for the mi-go have already been created. This line will lovingly be known as Comfythulhu. More to come on this as it develops.

 Lastly, I have been doing a lot of research into resins. That's my belief that sometime soon I should have some of the larger pieces that were created for W.I.L.Dfire created in resin. This means that the mechanical gorilla that weighs close to 3 pounds in metal will suddenly become a possibility in resin.

 That's pretty much everything for now. I will try not to leave such a gap between posts in the future.