Castle Hack!

Some of you may recall that I have a great weakness for castles.  However, I also have a problem.  It's this:

It actually doesn't look quite as big in this picture.  The picture lies.  IT'S HUGE!

As I said in a previous blog post, I haven't been happy with the G4 section of the Geek Cave for a while now, and it's partially to do with the castles.  In theory, I should be able to display all my G4 ponies within the playsets.  In practice, the playsets take up a lot of space, both horizontally and vertically.  This limits my choices as to where and how to place them on the shelves.  Finally, in the summer of 2018, I got fed up with this limitation.  It's time to hack some playsets.

Canterlot

Seaquestria

That giant castle above was the first step.  In particular, I didn't like that the Seaquestria portion took up so much prime real estate when the number of sea ponies to display would be so few.  I soon realized that if I could separate the Canterlot and the Seaquestria portions, it would fit easily on two separate shelves, giving me more options for display.  After we realized that this hack would work, we went to town on redesigning Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, and Ponyville.

Twilight's Castle has some lovely features, but the rainbow slide wasn't one of them.  I removed that quite awhile ago (and recently added the staircase from the wedding castle), and instead joined it to the earlier, smaller Twilight's Castle, making a more interesting picture (and a lovely venue for the Reformed Villain's Support Group).

The Crystal Empire is a lovely display piece, but not actually a great play piece (IMO).  It's also tall, and mainly one large lump of crystal.  Still, there was an option to hack it, taking the taller spires off (displaying them nearby) and re-purposing Flurry Heart's swing into a mini throne.  It's not an ideal situation, but it does mean that the set can fit where I need it to.

With this work I feel that I'm getting closer to the Geek Cave I desire (as well as the Geek Cave I need).

Elf

2018 Canadian Collectors Extravaganza

Last weekend was the inaugural Canadian Collectors Extravaganza.  A small but enthusiastic group of Collectors from three different countries got together in Montreal to celebrate all things pony.

Maples!

This was a one-day con with dealers, contests, and a special guest:

Giant Sundance

It was great to see some old Pony friends again, as well as making some new friends.  I forgot to take many pictures, as I was too busy chatting with people and taking part in the trivia and paint-a-pony contests.  And shopping, of course.

Paint-a-Pony in 30 Minutes Contest

Megan and TJ came out again to be my custom contest entries at the event, and they won!

I really enjoyed attending the smaller conventions this year.  Both the Fair and the Extravaganza were, in different ways, reminiscent of the pony meets of years past, where collectors got together to spend the weekend geeking out and hanging out with friends they might only see once a year.  Personally, I prefer these more intimate conventions to a larger, more impersonal con.  It makes for a more fun weekend.

Our Booth

You can see more pictures here.  Can't wait until next year!

Elf