Bit Figs: Printables

Now available for download: Bit Figs coloring pages!

We've opened a Culture Pirates Etsy Shop, where new printable items like this will be offered.

Etsy is a community of independent creators and supporters that embrace the do-it-yourself work ethic. Back in my middle school punk rock days, DIY was our motto, and that attitude still filters through my daily life.

In addition to the coloring pages, there's also a set of Valentine's Day cards that can be downloaded and printed. Packs of Bit Figs vending series are listed as well to expand their online presence and introduce Etsy-goers to our little world.

We have more printable pages and activities in the works as we explore new markets for kids, parents, and teachers. If this is something you're interested to see more of please let us know!

-Marcus

Union Emissary

Way back in 1994, while I was deep into reading Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods for about the 20th time, I started working on one of my own stories called "Union", which pulled many themes from his ancient astronaut hypothesis and combined them with just about every conspiracy theory imaginable found in the various magazines (remember those?) I was reading at the time. Having The X-Files on television also proved a massive influence on the subject matter.

The central idea of Union revolved around a secret war between 3 alien factions, and their collective ties to the development of mankind throughout history. Everything from Area 51, ancient civilizations, cryptozoology, bionic soldiers and a colony of enslaved hybrid manhunters imprisoned within a massive space station on the edge of an artificial black hole made it into the mix (I was just as bananas back then).

Throughout my college years I worked on different elements of the story, creating various illustrations (a couple are shown in this post) and bursts of text in the margins of my school notes. Eventually other stories moved into focus, but a few aesthetic ideas from Union survived and were reborn, showing up in Rechlen and Aves and beyond. Since I was fond of the leather armored "Warrior Grays" from Union, I decided to have any classic looking Gray alien type that might show up in the Glyos System resemble those old designs a bit. 

Eventually I ended up sculpting the oddball alien in the pics above, a character that was based on the old Union designs. The body is a series of twist ties, with plumber's compound built over them. Kind of a mini vintage OSM construction with some pretty rough sculpting.This little guy was given to Michelle for Christmas around 2002-2003 (I built my first sculpted-over twist tie guy in early 1999).

The recent secret mode Exile Deniken from our last release pays homage to the Warrior Grays from the original Union story, as well as the original twist tie "Deniken" that's shown above.

Be on the lookout for some other color variations of the Noboto mold that take the core design for a similar "alien" spin.

Maybe even this week.

Mercenary Alert

Now is your chance to tap Callgrim's Memory Banks
over at Callgrim.com!