Skull of Cthulhu

I know this Cthulhu skull makes no anatomical sense, but it's still hella cool.  Sculpted by artist James Ryman for giftware manufacturer Nemesis Now.

 

Dem Bones

 These creepy bone reliquaries come to us from artist Ugo Serrano.

 

ATMOM Package Update

It's dim, plain, and grainy, but I was overjoyed to find this picture in my email today.  These are the 4" laptop stickers for the ATMOM package.  The company has a "Shipping Cam" that takes a shot of every order before it's posted off.

Everything is now in transit.  I'll have more stuff to show off soon.

 

 

Three Heads Are Better Than One

This trio of traditional sideshow-style shrunken heads come to us from Umbratheca.  I was surprised to learn these gaffs have become a controversial example of colonialist cultural appropriation.  I can see that argument in reference to actual human heads, but I'm not convinced it applies to fakes.

 

A Bevy of Blades

Sander Propworx returns to our pages with this collection of LARP weaponry.  It's amazing how far we've come from the days of boffer blades.

 

Treasure! Part II

Full Disclosure: I'm using Amazon affiliate links in this post.  It doesn't cost you anything, and I get a commission from any sale.  So buy lots and lots of stuff so I can get some more loot for the treasure chest.

I've picked up some more gold coins for my prop treasure stash. 

The latest addition is a set of 100 replica Spanish doubloons from Leib Games.  It retails for $38.98 on Amazon, but the listing has a perpetual 15% off coupon that brings the final price down to $33.14.  I'm pretty sure Leib Games aren't the actual manufacturer, since they appear to be a game distributor. 

The coins are brass plated, die-struck zinc and 1.18" in diameter, just a smidge smaller than a US fifty cent piece.  The set includes a faux-suede pouch with a sateen drawstring.  Nothing fancy, but it does the job.

The coins are great.  They have a good heft, one of the main attractions of metal over plastic coins.  As you can see below, they're appreciably larger than the Beverly Oaks replica doubloons, which are around the size of a quarter.  The detail of the die struck design is notably cruder on the larger coins.

All and all, I prefer the Leib Games coins to the Beverly Oaks doubloons.  Weirdly, the larger coins are actually slightly cheaper on a per piece basis.  That said, they're still expensive.  Even at a discounted $33 a pop you're laying out some significant scratch to get a few hundred coins.

To be honest, I bought this set because I had a $10 Amazon Gift Card burning a hole in my pocket.  As nice as these coins are I don't see myself buying more without another gift card to defray the cost.

 Up next, we'll go beyond replica doubloons to a set of surprisingly affordable fantasy coins.

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Whistlecraft Edition.

This wonderfully stylized Cthulhu idol comes to us from artist Bruce Whistlecraft.  I'm not quite sure how to describe its aesthetic.  Art Nouveau?  Mythos Modernist?