CES 2008
We finally made it back to Orem today from our CES trip. The roads were pretty good until we got to Fillmore. Anyway CES was as always fun. We didn’t really come with too much freebies this year. We got the usual T-Shirts, headphones, and a supply of the current tech magazines. I did get a bluetooth headset upgrade. It was from a company called Jawbone. Basically you gave them your old headset and they gave you a new one. I looked it up and the headset is worth around $80. So far I really like it. The audio quality is much better than my old one.
One product that I really enjoyed was the Creative Aurvana X-Fi noise canceling headphones. We were given a music and movie demo. The headphone really do sound like a 5.1 surround sound home theatre strapped to your ears. The only thing stopping me from getting a pair is the $300 price tag. They definitely compete with Bose though in quality.
We had a great time and it was nice to go back to the warmer weather for a few days. One final highlight was at the Dolby Digital booth they had a life size Bumblebee statue. I obviously loved it.
Goodbye Tilt
We are in St. George right now just before heading to Vegas for CES. Today we decided to go to the Red Cliffs Mall and hit a few stores. I had a quarter with me and thought I would relive my old days and go to the arcade. Unfortunately when we saw the entrance to tilt, the overhead lights were on and there was no magic glow from the arcade machines emanating. Instead a new store was getting ready to take its place. I should have known this was going to happen sooner or later since the arcade scene is pretty much dead. I will always have fond memories of playing the various versions of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat at my trips to the mall in the early 90′s. At least we have a nickelcade just up the street from us in Orem. We haven’t ever gone, but I think it would be fun. Hopefully they have some of my old favorite games there. Goodbye Tilt and thanks for the great memories. At least one of the neon signs was still lit up, so I took a pic.
Street Fighter IV Gameplay Footage
I just recently found out that a new Street Fighter game is in the works. I believe this is the first time a Street Fighter game has been given more of a 3D look. It is already being criticized for looking to cartoony or still 2D. I think it fits in just right. It still looks like a Street Fighter game and is going a different direction than the norm. Zelda the Windwaker for Gamecube received much criticism for looking too cartoony, but once it was released people loved it.
Star Wars Collecting: Reflection '07 and Goals '08
Reflection ’07 This year was a very good year for my Star Wars collection. My 1st goal was to work on my display. I had originally wanted to buy a display cabinet, but the price always made it seem out of reach. Then I decided why not try and build my own. I’m still amazed at how well it turned out.Second goal was to finally make it to a Star Wars Celebration and add something to my collection to remember it by. This was when I picked up my Blue Snaggletooth figure finally and had a blast at the celebration.Another goal was to finally finish my figure set. This happened in August with the last figure Yakface. I remember when I first started collecting thinking that I would never own this figure. Luckily since then ebay has come about which has brought down some of the prices on figures once thought really rare. It was still an expense for me, but not as bad had I purchased him in the 90′s.Finally the last goal I had was to make a display frame for the coins. I always loved seeing the frames that other collectors had made and always wondered how they did them. Finally, a collector in the UK posted on the rebelscum.com forums a guide on how he made his. I followed his guide with a few of my own modifications and the a lot of help from my dad. Again I am so happy with the results.
Goals ’08 My main focus this year will be trying to add more coins to my set. I still have 20 to go and am hoping to add about 4 more. Once I have those then the price really goes up and will probably only be able to add 1 or 2 a year. Unless I bite the bullet by coming across a complete set selling off the extras to offset the costs.I also would like to add a few more figure variations. I originally wasn’t even going to go here, but recently I have been able to find some ebay auctions where the sellers didn’t know what they had. Just recently I got a $50 for $6.50. Always great to get a deal.Finally one figure that I have always wanted and never purchased is a Darth Vader figure from Return of the Jedi still packaged. I already have the Luke and obviously a Vader would go great with him. I have been watching these figures on evilbay, but haven’t been ready to bid on one yet. Well that is pretty much it. I am still amazed at how much the collection has grown. I also pruned out some of the newer stuff last year that I can live without. I don’t want it to get too big. Finally I’ll leave you with a picture of my figure collection circa 1994 and then now.
