awww, you should be more carefull with the money you earn Roy x3

But... But... But... This kit gots such great extra features, and it's a LIMITED RUN of 30,000!

(Wise advice my friend as in my Real Life the Rent still needs to be paid and the "Toy-Otter" still needs repair.)

I actually thought this was you in the past, in your early ages of foxing around x3

"Foxing around..." I like that. Truth be told in the early 1990s I was more into building models than I was into "Furry" art. Shortly after I had to move from the Family house though I had to decide between one hobby or another, and I chose drawing "Furry" art and comics as it was the less expensive of the two. I still enjoy visiting Hobby Shops and attending a model kit swap meet or show every now and then. Getting in the company of fellow model builders and collectors inspires me to try new techniques and develop better skills. Now with the rise of the new 3-D printing hobby, I have a new venue to explore.

Who says an old Fox can't learn new tricks, eh?

See it a training to better say 'No' to yourself.

(Places hand over muzzle and silences a scream.)

Yeah... I do need to be more careful with my money. As my friend James pointed out, "If one can afford to buy a model kit, they should also be able to afford the time to build it."

We just had a Hoppy Lobby open here last week !

The most difficult thing about the big Hobby Lobby in Montclair is that it's about a mile from my favorite hobby shop, Pegasus Hobbies. True, Hobby Lobby has a bit more selection of crafts supplies and home decorating items, but Pegasus Hobbies has been in the area for almost thirty years, and almost everyone there is knowledgeable on a variety of subjects. There's few hobby shops I know of in the area where one can enjoy just "Talking Plastic."

That is so any more Roy. All of the old hobby shops that I remember as a kid and young person are gone where I lived. Many of the hobby shops in Seattle are also gone. Queen Ann Hobby was a plastic and RC modeler's go to shop, the owner retired and closed the shop about 15 years ago because he couldn't find anyone that wanted to run it for him.

Unfortunately, running a hobby shop these days is a real Business Gamble. I've watched two come and go in Azusa, and one in Montclair dry up and blow away. Then on the other hand, Pegasus has been very lucky as it has been the biggest and best hobby shop in the "Inland Empire." I met the owner around 1988 selling model kits at the Azusa drive in swap meet. I can't say how he did it, but I believe it's his loyal customers and word of mouth that has led to his success. The "Fantastic Hobbies" in Azusa run by Tom and Sue Spaulding was nominally successful because supplied him with the member list I had from the little model building club I ran in 1990. Still, both Fantastic Hobbies and the Valley Crafts Center closed shortly after Bill and Don died.

I don't think I've got what it takes to run a hobby shop, but Pegasus seems to listen to it's customers as they actually produce limited run plastic model kits of rare WW II fighter planes, "Second Run" model car bodies and accessories, and even science fiction models like the 1/32nd scale "Terminator" Tank. The art and craft of building plastic models seems to declining among younger people as they can get so much information about anything through their cell phones or the Internet. It used to bother me to see already assembled and painted plastic models in boxes and finished with the same quality that would win high honors at IPMS shows twenty to thirty years ago. The greater majority of model hobbyists are the older folks, (Like me.) who buy, collect and build model kits for their "Nostalgic" value. There might be a resurgence soon with the new hobby of 3-D printing catching on in the community. Already after market shops are springing up in garages and warehouses across the country, supplying extra "Little bits" for other commercially produced plastic model kits.

It's kind of like that time in the late 1980s where if a Comic book came out, it wasn't considered successful unless it had "Attached" products like trading cards, Action Figures, a Role Playing game, Pogs or even T-shirts and Baseball caps. I figure in the near future that there might be sites that only sell 3-D printing software, and there would be no trace of a "Brick and Mortar" store. One would simply download the 3-D item in the printer, and if designed right, the data should throw up a "Block" where it's only used once.

Anyway, I was pleased to recently discover that the Ontario chapter of IPMS is still going and it's run by some of my old "Model building buddies" I used to hang out with in the early 1990s. If your friends are still about I'd suggest meeting like once a month for coffee, or cruising a Hobby shop. You might just start something. One thing miss more than anything about those long lost hobby shops was how they were such a great place to see one's friends and simply "Talk Plastic."

I had the same problem when I first went to work at a cigar/tobacconist shop.
I mean, come on...smoke cigars and drink espresso AND GET PAID FOR IT

It'd be like a little "Slice of Heaven."

It was. Fortunately i took the job as a break from my full-time job working for Burr-Brown. Got to have fun making computer chips then "working" at helping people find the ideal smoke.

jeeez!

I haven't heard from Burr Brown since 15 years or so.
Weren't they bought out by Analog Devices? Or TI?

overtaken and raped to death by ITT gods damn them for ever

well.. ITT ... aren't they out of business, too?

my bad I meant to say TI texass Instruments. They bought the company for the technology they wanted and through away the rest. some unique ideas in analog to digital and vice versa.
forgive my earlier outburst but jobs lost, included my own, and there where pensions wiped off the books.

Ooooh! Don't mention ITT Tech to me. I had two friends who graduated from the technical school, and one went insane while the other is a "Hermit."

yeah theyover charge and got me offers to jobs that paid less than i was making at the time

Im currently at the phase. I'm a research assistant, with a master degree in computer science and a bachelor in digital media, qualified to take charge and direct groups of up to 10 people, with years of international project experience.

And I get job-offers from companies that actually need somebody with a 2 years sysadmin or programmer qualification, and who think I'd be qualified in some specific utility because of my masters degree. As a matter of fact, that's nto the case - I learned to design such utilities, analyze them to make recommendations for their improvment.
So, true, I am able to learn them pretty swiftly, but I have no specific training with some or the other specific utility.

And cheerful as I am I go to the jobinterviews, pass their tests with flying flags, and then it comes to the fun part:
Wages.
And then they are confused when my salary-expectations are 1.5 to 2 times as high as those of somebody with 2 years training.
But, sorry, 10 years experience and 2 degrees - plus a journeyman certificate in R&F tech - don't come for free.

I work in an art supply store and it's bad news or an exercise in restraint. Luckily employee discount is huge. XD

Wonderful. Yeah, I believe I'd have trouble working in an art supply store as well.

The best I can say is Limit yourself to One kit a pay check. Like a Treat for getting that paycheck.. it worked for me.

I worked at a Hobby Shop when I was a teen. It isn't heaven. It is work as in inventory, sweeping, stocking shelves and dealing with idiots. The people you want to talk to know the inventory better than you do and rarely need help, its the ones who come back angry because glue and paint wasn't included in the snap-tite kit that plainly states on the front of the box that glue and paint aren't needed and aren't included...

Oh god, I love those guys..

I didn't intend that as a reply to you but it works. *Waves fist at computer*

Hmm paws on the wrong keys I see I have had to deal with people like that too.

Yeah... Me Too. What makes it all the more worse is as a clerk, one can't correct them, counter them and one has to put up with their abuse. The good clerks know how to "Handle" these trouble customers, mostly with sharp wit and distraction. Although this can backfire because "Professional" Shoplifters have the tactic of causing a distraction like yelling at the manager, while their associates ransack the place. I could tell you stories...!

And hobby lobby does not have the best reputation for how they treat their employees.

Oh gosh yes! Tell me about it! Their main tactic is to hire youngsters who only plan to work short term, make a bit of a bankroll, then move on to a better job. It was the same way for me at Walmart.

I would just at the chance, aslong as they actually had stuff for making custom models like styrene then I would be happy, do you know how hard it is to find that stuff? not fun

Amazon.com is your friend. A Main hobbies is also your friend.

I know your pain. While I was living in Oakland, there were only TWO hobby shops in the Tri-City area of Oakland, Emeryville, and Berkeley. It was almost impossible to get "Basic" materials such as sheet styrene, tubes and plastic forms. I found out the model builders going to Berkeley did a lot of their shopping on line and through mail order, but other places like Blick's Art supplies and Michael's also carried architectural model building supplies which could do in a pinch. I never, ever found a good source for the "Green Stuff" Epoxy Putty I liked for my figure models though. Lots of "Magic Sculpt," but no "Green Stuff." You probably understand how artists prefer to use one product over another, and to change to another product for them is difficult.

I know the feeling, I of a web site that sells green stuff, GameWorkShop, not sure if you know of it, £6 for about 5 small packets of it, and there are NO hobby shops in My area, none what so ever, if I find a kit of any sort I try and get it that is ho bad it is, and no matirials, trying to make custom gunpla and even scify or cyber style vehicals is rather hard with out it

P M Hobbies in Calgary is also good for stocking styrene. At this point, I think it would bother me more if Evergreen closed their doors than any of the kit makers.

Don't. Don't do it. Please.

I worked for a Hobby Lobby for about six months before I couldn't take anymore of their horrible management and unsafe, abusive work practices. They're awful. Also, I hope you like Christmas music, because they start piping it over the store speakers in AUGUST. The rest of the time it's elevator music versions of sappy contemporary Christian music.

We went through THREE managers in six months when I worked there, and I worked at the highest grossing store in the region. Y'know, the one that's supposed to be STABLE. Management depended heavily on employees being young, or high school or less in the way or education, and not knowing their rights. We had one manager change the dress code on us because SHE liked collared shirts and khakis better than jeans and t-shirts... and no one protested but me because they assumed the manager got to set the dress code. In fact, unless it's provided by the company, or laid out IN WRITING in the handbook (in which case clothing purchased for work purposes is tax deductible) a manager CANNOT arbitrarily decide to make their employees wear something just because they like it better. I started wearing jeans again, and my coworkers flipped out and insisted I'd be sent home to change or fired. I wasn't. The manager knew she couldn't enforce her little rule without legal consequences, and was just counting on the employees not to know it. That sort of bullshit was a regular occurrence. Our back room was an OSHA nightmare, especially when we started getting the seasonal merchandise in for Christmas. Boxes stacked all the way to the 30 ft ceiling with no safety stuff to make sure a tower didn't fall on anyone.

People were frequently poached from their designated departments to cover other areas of the store... and then bitched at when customers complained they couldn't find anyone to help them. Hobby Lobby doesn't barcode anything, so if you work register you have to rely on stickered prices (which customers frequently swap or remove). As a result, most managers are extremely paranoid about shrinkage, to to point of telling employees they should TACKLE customers who might be shoplifting, or physically prevent them from leaving the store. I asked if the company would cover a lawsuit brought against me for assaulting a customer on suspicion of theft, and was never given a satisfactory answer (which means no).

The constant message from the top was that we were peons. Mindless drones to do what we were told, and fired if we dared make waves or question authority. My store hired management from outside the company. They did not promote from within. The managers and asst. managers were brought in from other businesses. When we had bigwigs visit the store, we were told not to speak to them. Not to make eye contact with them. Not to page each other by name over the store intercom. Basically, anything that might remind an exec that the employees were human beings was forbidden.

The final straw for me came when we started to get close to the Christmas season. In addition to cutting part time hours and working the rest of us to the bone, the started requiring us to clock out but not letting anyone leave until the manager decided if he or she wanted to search our bags first before we were allowed to go. That's unlawful detention in my state, which is a class 4 felony. You can't keep people whom you aren't paying from exiting a building on your sufferance. I quit on Black Friday. Since the company makes you sign a mess of contracts when you're hired that say you can't take them to court for anything, I decided it wasn't worth fighting them over. Though I did tell the asst. manager what they were doing was illegal, "company policy" or not. He quit about a month after I did, and that last manager fired and replaced the ENTIRE store roster over the NEXT six months, including people who'd worked for them for 15 years or more. There is NO job security. Most of my coworkers lived in constant fear that they would be fired over some minor infraction. One woman, whose husband had been laid off from work and who had a daughter with an expensive medical condition, was fired for showing up 10 minutes late to work. She'd been there over a decade and was a model employee otherwise.

Hobby Lobby is the ONLY job I have every walked away from without giving notice. I have never regretted leaving that shithole of a company.

I get your message loud and clear. I couldn't help but be reminded of the 15 years I spent working at Sportmart through most of the 1980s and into the early 2000's One tactic I noticed that they had was to hire younger people, figuring they'd stay on to help pay for college, then move on to better jobs. A "Nasty" trick I've seen them pull a few times was to take advantage of a "Go Getter" with pland to work their way up from the sales floor and into management. The poor kid would put in a couple years, then a couple days before he'd move up, he'd be fired for some trumped up charge like shoplifting, or wrongly using his employee discount. How I made it through those fifteen years I can't quite say, but I did blow the whistle to corporate a few times and helped several new managers set up shop through my experience. Once my dad died, the kid gloves came off, and the lady manager I worked with became extremely hostile towards me. I finally had my fill, figuring I could live with the reductions in rank and pay, and the ridiculous schedule, but I could not live with my manager treating me like an "Old Man" and making me feel ineffectual in my tasks. I quit on the spot when she told me that she wanted "Younger, better looking men" to do my job. I told her that was Discrimination, and to avoid the Legal hassles I was "Encouraged" to leave.

I have never held a steady, "Five day a week" over a year's work since.

Yep, retail is hell. I haven't held an outside job since I quit Hobby Lobby, but I've been doing the self-employed thing selling artwork and commissions, and that's worked out okay so far. Thankfully, I'm in a position where I don't *have* to work a 9-5 job to make ends meet, but I know tons of people who aren't that lucky. I miss working in the frame shop, but I don't miss the horrible management and asshole customers.

Yaaay! Another "FA Success story." I enjoy it when I read about some other artists making "Just enough" by selling their arts and crafts. (As an aside here, let's hope I can do the same one day.) Have you considered doing Temp Work type jobs? For myself, those days of "Famine-FEAST-Famine" are tempered by the extra time I get to work on my art. Since it appears you're making enough to get by, the extra cash from working part time or on short assignments can help. It's no "Bed of roses," but it might be a great way to earn some extra money until something better comes along.

I've thought about it, but most of the temp work I've done in the past has been bizarre hours or mind-numbingly boring, or both, and they rarely had work for me after the first assignment. I have a degree, but it's a BFA in studio art, so temp agencies tend to treat me as unskilled labor despite my education and work experience. It's kind of obnoxious.

That... Pretty... Well... Sums up most the Temp jobs I've had. Mind numbingly boring and art odd hours. Yeah... I can't help but recall the lines of Marvin from the Douglas Adams series, "The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy" where the Paranoid Android laments, "Here I've got me a braaain the size of a small planet, and they make me pick up papers off the floor." It's a crying shame they don't have Agencies for artists and other creative people.

If I was more business-savvy, I'd start one! But I'm not. =D It's taken me a good decade just to get my own records and paperwork sorted into a system I can keep up with.

I would be in the same issue... if it wouldn't be that i'm out of space so i can't get any new ones anyway ^^;

I guess the best thing for both of us is to determine what we Need over what we Want. As I stated before, when one buys a plastic model kit, one must also consider "Buying" the time to build the models. I ended up with an entire closet filled with "Good intentions" and ended up selling the lot for Gas and Grocery money.

Whoo! Land Roover! I want one!

Hee Hee Hee! Talk to Flinters. Tell you what though... If you find me a copy of that Airfix "Wallace and Grommet" Land Rover in 1/10 scale, I'll build one for you, complete with it's Kangaroo Crew.

You do like I do put away 20 dollars a week for those extras...

Right. And I figure it'd be best to limit my model kit purchases to one a month. Better yet... Buy a new kit only after I complete the previous one I started before.

sounds like a plan to me.

I believe it was Ashleigh Brilliant who wrote: "The difference between a Dream and Reality is a Plan."

Yes that is true.

I think you would move into a hobby shop if you could.

...In a heartbeat!

You and me both. I'd never bring a paycheck *facepalms*

After this session I might just reconsider the above cartoon. After all, the Hindu say "The greatest cause of Misery is Desire."

....good point

Yes, do it, then tell us all about your titanic struggles of self control and will.

Naw... It ain't gonna get THAT bad. The "Real" me has learned that building models isn't the most important thing in my life. I need to reserve time to draw my comics and art too.

*Nods* I can dig.

Been there. And yes, a good part of my paycheck was returned to the shop :P

Hopefully you had a nice "Crafter" hobby to support, and perhaps turn a trade selling the stuff you made.

Well, the employee discount did make my hobby a lot cheaper. And I did try the selling stuff but there's not really a market for that here. At least not unless you're really good at painting and converting miniatures. And I'm not really good at it. Good, but not really good.

Heh! I can't help but be reminded of my first few "Painful" fits and starts. You should never consider yourself "Not good enough." Just think of every project you finish as another "Leaning Experience."

How many models do you own? Your place must be filled with the things. I used to collect models myself. US navy ships, (aircraft carriers & battleships of course) Star Trek ships, I even had a model of the Titanic.

At current count four. But I have found old photos of my old "Closet of good intentions" from the 1980s filled with about 700 model kits. Unfortunately, I ended up selling them all through these past thirty years for "Gas and Grocery" money. I really, really wish I had hung onto those Macross, Patlabor, Metal Gear Solid, and Robotech kits.

This can only end in Foxy buying the entire shop!

In my "Artist and Muse" stories Mr. Foxy works part time at the "Sterling Silver Magic Shop." By coincidence he does end up buying the overstock after the shop closes.

Time to exercise that willpower.

You Betcha. Building models is difficult. Making and keeping money is even MORE difficult.

Try working for Apple.... working on the products, selling the products, drooling over the newest models... yeah. I'm glad we only get our BIG discount once every three years >.>

I feel your pain. I used to "Haunt" the Apple Store on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena regularly, but I could never afford anything there. The clerks would also give me the "Hard Face" as they probably had labeled me as an "Old, Homeless Creep." They talked in a lingo I couldn't quite catch and only paid attention to me if I flashed some folding green. I just wanted some questions answered about Apple products, and which would be best for my art.

I still want to finish that cartoon of a Werewolf with his face, paws and nose against the glass of a computer store, with an excited and "Hungry look in his eyes. The caption reads, "In order to never forget who you are, there will be hints all around you if you care to look."

yeah, dont work at hobby lobby, boycott if possible, now as to models of starships i wonder if you mix parts for a home brew ship like captain foster of the folly

I plan on getting some of those ridiculously small, 1/1750 mini kits of the Feddie and Alien Star Trek ships so I can start "Tinker-Toying" the modules together like Marcus Starkiller does on his page. He's got some really great designs.

yet they don't have the gundam model making kits

No they don't have any Gundam model kits, but I could use the money I make at Hobby Lobby to buy the Robot Kits at nearby Pegasus Hobbies. It's kind of "Zen" in a way.

You need sum serious discipline to work at a place that is also a hobby addiction.

Cross digits I don't get the job. I was considering it might be fun working there so I can make enough to move on to a better job.

Reminds me of a guy I used to know who worked in the dish pit of a bar. He drank so much after work every night tht he was basically an indebted servant of the place

A true "Wage Slave" eh? Sadly I can relate to the situation. Your friend might only get Cirrosis of the Liver, but I'd most likely end up with my lungs burnt by chemicals in spray paint, and my fingers or eyelids stuck together with Super Glue.

I'll never have to buy another model kit for the rest of my life. I must have about 70 unbuilt kits ... and room to display any 2 of them!

A Shelf! A Shelf! My Kingdom for a Shelf! I feel your pain. My little room has little shelf space to display my "Treasures," let alone any models I'll build.

...Got any Robotech kits?

Not a one. All that Japo-Robot stuff went pretty much under my radar when to began to show in the mid-'80s. As it grew in popularity, I didn't learn to like it any more than I did to start. I do have a small collection of robot toys, though. One generic wind-up Bobby the Robot, two Robots from Lost in Space, two from the movie Robots, The Iron Giant, Rosie from The Jetsons, Mighty Atom's Little Sister Uran and one cheap Transformer robot I got from a Japanese fan as some furry con. Also a cybor or two, one from Ghost in the Shell. Do they count?

They count. Of course they count. Some of them can even count 0 to 1 if they have an "On" and "Off" switch. Yes, you have a good collection of robots.

But no kits. And only one anime giant robot of very limited significance.

Actually, I misrembered. I have an unbuilt Polaris kit of Dr. Smith & Robot. Oh, the pain... the pain.

GO FOR IT

...And I've still got my eyes on that 1/24th scale "Trans Star" kit with a forty foot box trailer to shoot for.

I would say take it and just don't go overboard at all. Use this job to get back on track and your life back in order. THEN start looking for a better job if you want to.

That was my plan exactly. That's the main idea of temp work in to earn enough to move on t better things.

That is why I could never work in such a place. That would be my very reaction there.

Seems like a touched a "Nerve" with quite a few folks here on FA. Hopefully we'll get through these difficult times and be able to enjoy our hobbies at leisure. Soon...

That is all we can hope for. And hell, would be cool to work in a hobby shop. Always wanted to work in a place with a large Warhammer 40k section myself :)

You'd LOVE Pegasus Hobbies here in CA. An entire counter, wall and display shelf about fifteen feet long is devoted to nothing but Warhammer and similar 3-D RPGs. Pegasus even makes their own gaming props and figures. I believe these items can be mail ordered as well.

*drools*

Times being what they are, any job that you want to get up for, is a blessing. On the other hand... There's a saying about foxes and henhouses.

Ah Haaaa! The image of my character Mr. Foxy chasing around the hobby shop with his eyes all big and yelling, "I WANT THAT ONE... NO! That one! just popped into my head. The plastic model kits could be the "Chickens" and the plastic wsrappings could be the flying feathers.

In the next panel Mr. Foxy is standing there, panting and exhausted, The manager gently places a hand on the Vulpine's shoulder and says. "...You're fired Foxy. Why did you do it?" Between gasps, Foxy replies, "It's a FOX thing..."

I'd work there if I was looking for work in retail and needed SOMETHING. Then get the experience before you go hit up Pegasus Hobby and see if they would want to hire you there with the experience you've gained.

Having an employee discount is nice- I loved mine back when I worked at NAPA auto parts, but it also taught me discretion and planning. I could wait to get something since the store was essentially storing it for me until I needed it.

Someone at Pegasus Hobbies told me they do hold hiring conferences once a week or so. It might not hurt to chat with the clerks I know there and keep checking in for a chance at an opening. I'd even settle for working at their factory or warehouse doing inventory. I like your idea though of working at Hobby Lobby, the Montclair Plaza, or some other Retail establishment until I can move on to Pegasus Hobbies. Heck... I wouldn't even mind working at Pegasus Hobbies once a week, even if it meant polishing Brass, sweeping floors and scrubbing out the restrooms.

By the way... You wouldn't happen to know where I could find a copy of the Wallace and Gromit, "Shaun the Sheep" 1/12 scale Land Rover would you?

1/12" scale is not a common vehicle modeling scale. I believe the W&G crew scratchbuilt it all.

Really? I checked Google images and found box art of the kit and a few reviews. The kit has been out of production for a few years I believe. But I do recall holding a copy of the kit in my hands the last time I visited Las Vegas. It's out there, and I'll let you know if I find one.

Wasn't aware there was a kit. Well that's cool.

Not a scale I model in, so I have no need.

You would starve if you worked in a hobby shop...

food or robot kit? Gee, let me think..

=^.,.^=

Well, maybe not if I can afford the rent here in "The Zoo." We all pool our budgets for food, and I'm certain they won't let me starve to death. I understand what you mean though. This old Fox has pretty well learned his lesson between buying what he needs over what he wants. For now the model kits will have to wait.

O.K., way late to the convo here, and wouldn't want to be perceived as telling anyone what to do... Everyone has to make their decisions and choices... BUT... Beware supporting large corporations, and beware corporate jobs. Particularly some folks like Hobby Lobby and Amazon, whose actions have had, shall we say, some negative effects on society, while making huge amounts of money for a very few people. Educate yourself. Do some research, and think about it...
*Climbs down off of soap box*

Strangely, there's a running gag in my Steamfox comics as most the crew is often looking for the "SNOINO" box. I had NO idea what "SNOINO" meant until I turned the box upside down.

Heh heh.
Reminds me of when I was a kid, my dad had an oil can I used to oil my bike chain, etc., that said "SAEZOW" on it. It was always a mystery to me what saezow was. After some years, at some point, I had used it to lubricate something, and my dad asked what I had used. I said "The SAEZOW". He thought this was quite funny, and explained to me about the Society of Automotive Engineers oil rating system, and that the oil in that can was 20 weight...

Heh, I've got a whole crate of Gundam Models I put together down stairs . . . boy it takes me back.

Saaaay... Were you the fellow I was corresponding with in the mid 1990s about a "Furry" story where one of the main characters had a Gundam "Custom Heavyarms?" very time I see that Mech model in it's box I think of that, and I've always liked the design.

Hmmmm . . . not sure . . . don't think so, I was still in high school back then and didn't get full into the internet until early 2002 when I graduated.

I've always like the Gundam concept for its customization to its pilot. I'm hoping to improve my skill with mecha drawing to the point where I can draw the mecha units for Neo Mobius and the personal mechas of my characters.

Cool! I recommend any of the Manga "How to draw Robots" books, and cruising the Gundam fan sites or back copies of Hobby Japan for ideas. You'd be surprised at how some of the designers in RPGs like Battletech borrowed their designs from Japanese Mecha model kits popular at the time.

yeah, I've collect several art books for learning to draw all sorts of robots from little house helpers to big battle carriers . . . and I'm actively collecting animes and scavenging good reference pics to study . . . even using my bandit cam to snapshot scenes from animes with prime prospects.

Neo Mobius is a Sonic based world filled with Science and Sorcery. You'll find mana fueled mechanoids of every description from little house hold clockwords and auto-pets (playing along side real ones) up to Androids and Bots that do heavier than safe labor as well as back up the police and military officers; up to mecha units for construction and Gundam and Battloid types in the military. Having a galaxy spanning population and having been involved in wars involving off-world enemies, Big Mechas became a needed element.

But the most advanced and powerful ones are the privately owned custom units and the divinely powerful Angel and Demon types.

The last two being the ones I really want to work toward because they belong to the heroes and renegades.

Each one a living mechanoid that combines organic, metallic, and magic all into one powerful weapon for the ultimate power battles.

If Sonic thought taking on big robots was tricky before, that's nothing compared to what the 52nd Century has to offer for his reincarnation!

I like it! Have you ever seen a comic from the early 1990s called "Fusion" featuring the art of Ken Macklin, Leila Dowling, and Steve Gallacci? Their world was like that.

I'll bet you'd dig the late 1980s Anime "Outlaw Star" too.