Check it out!

So, back in October 2009, we were putting the final touches on the Proto City designs and getting ready to announce them available to order.  And the laser cutter at the Portland Techshop was removed.  So the plan was put on hold.  Then at the end of the year, the Techshop received a new laser cutter.  We had gotten behind with our existing products so we put the Proto City on the back-burner.  Now, we were just caught up and were planning to redo the Proto City design to work with the new laser cutter.  Then the Techshop closed its door.  So we will have to wait again.  Hopefully the Techshop will open again or a new venture with access to a laser cutter will start.

In the mean time, we had sent one complete set to Mark C. for all his help and so he could take pictures with all the vintages figures and accessories.  I was holding on to these photos for the launch, but just to keep you interested, here they are!  (Click on them for a larger view.)

If we aren't able to make these in the future, Mark with have a one-of-a-kind collectible!

Here is a complete small set of pieces.  These should be enough to make all of the prototype sets, one at a time.

Although the prototype city was not known to every be produced, it did appear in the Micronaut Marvel comics.  Seems the Micronaut artist Michael Golden had access to either the prototype toys themselves or lots of pictures of them.  The prototype city was turned into the evil Baron Karza's space-ship as shown in the following panels.


Here Karza is standing on a triangle piece with a hexagon in the foreground from issue #10 of the original run.


Here is a similar pose, with the triangle and two hexagons visible, from issue #9.

I had to dremel the 5mm pegs on the girders to get them to fit correctly, but now I can try them out for the first time.  They fit well as I able to support a hex piece with just two girders (all that I have so far).

The girders have a 5mm peg on the bottom and top.  The top of the girder also has a lip to secure it to the inside edge of the hexagon piece. 

After a few weeks off, I'm back working on the Prototype Micro City.  Here is my first attempt at the red girders taken from another great sketch by Mark.

Here are some pictures of the hexagon.  I still need to do a little cleanup, but I thought it turned out pretty good.

Here is the square piece, thanks again to an incredible sketch by Mark Canon.


It looked so good, I made enough to make a cube (with a gun turret, just in case.)


The prototype city is getting close...

Thanks to Bryan Wilkinson we now have hi-res scans of the prototype city sets.  Finally we can see what we're making!  Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Thanks to the wonderful, detailed drawing done by Mark Canon, we now have a prototype triangle piece with some amazing details.


Black acrylic paint was used to highlight the etching.


Still fits in great with the vintage playsets.

Coming up next, the improved square piece!