Is the Original Tandy Color Computer Worth your Gaming Time?

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Tandy Corporation's first home computer was the TRS-80, released in 1977. The TRS-80 was fairly affordably priced for its time but limited to monochrome text and extremely blocky semigraphics. 1979 saw the release of the TRS-80 Model II, a business machine with an 8" floppy disk drive incompatible with the previous computer or the budget of a middle-class family. With color computer systems like the Atari 400 and TI-99/4 being released in the late 1970s, Tandy realized that if it wanted to have any chance of capturing the growing home market for personal computers, it would need to offer a low-cost model with colorful graphics and a family-friendly appeal. Fortunately it had an ace up its sleeve in the form of the thousands of Radio Shack company and franchise stores dispersed across the United States and Canada that could sell a lower cost computer. That computer turned out to be the TRS-80 Color Computer, released in 1980. Having recently acquired one, let me go over some of its features and quirks.

Comparison of Comic Book Reproduction Editions - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 vs. Cerebus #1

As regular readers of this blog should no doubt be aware of by now, I have had a resurgent interest in comic books. There is nothing quite like holding and reading stapled pieces of folded paper together that tell a story with pictures and word balloons. Recently I have discussed both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Cerebus the Aardvark. Now let's compare a pair of recent authorized reproduction editions of the first issue of each series.

Cerebus the Aardvark Early Issues and Reprints

Since I have gone through the early years of TMNT I thought I would touch upon some highlights of one of the comics which inspired TMNT, Cerebus the Aardvark. Cerebus was created by one David Victor Sim with issue #1 premiering in December, 1977. The book ended with issue #300 in March, 2004. The comic was self-published and Dave Sim set up his own company, Aardvark-Vanaheim, to publish the comic. This blog entry will devote itself to distinguishing features made through the end of the main series. Another blog entry may look into similar features after that period.

TMNT Early Issues and Reprintings in Depth Part III of III

Having posted the first and second part of my in depth review of the early issues and reprints of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we come to the final chapter, covering the years 1988 & 1989. These are years of great success and the beginnings of the first "turtle mania" phenomenon which will last the next five years. But at what price came fame and fortune? Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Mirage Studios would, as we will see, struggle with the demands that popular culture will place on an independent "alternative" comic:

TMNT Early Issues and Reprintings in Depth Part II of III

In Part II of my series on the early TMNT issues and reprints, we enter into Mirage Studios' years of expansion. While Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were responsible for all of Mirage's 1984 and much of its 1985 output, in 1986 not only do they publish new, non-TMNT books but also take on new, young and talented artists to contribute to TMNT.  These years will lay the groundwork for the huge success of the TMNT as a licensed property, and it is documented in the pages of the TMNT comic book. Let's see how:

TMNT Early Issues & Reprintings in Depth Part I of III

The Mirage Studios Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic's reputation and sales grew over time. The early issues were not always accessible, even for the dedicated comic-shop goer. Reprints and collections often only print the main story, not the other parts which constitute the book, namely creator columns and advertisements. Backup stories may or may not be found in other collections. Wrap-around covers may lose their rear illustrations. In this blog article I am going to issue-by-issue, printing-by-printing, in chronological order to discuss some interesting features of each comic's single issue reprints. While I cannot reproduce the books, I can quote and summarize. 

Revision after Revision - Evolution of Classic Dungeons and Dragons

The Classic or non-Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game had a remarkably long life. Arguably first introduced with the Basic Set in July, 1977, products were made for the Classic game line until 1996. Unlike other editions of the game, the Classic game did not remain almost immutable and unchanged throughout its lifetime. In this blog article we will consider how the game evolved over time.

The Failed Kickstarter - Legal Ramifications

Crowdfunding is a very useful tool to help a creative, whether that creative is a single artist, a pair of complementary inventors or a small group of designers, obtain access to the money needed to produce something and bring it to people willing to buy it. Some campaigns become very successful, some just barely meet their funding goals and some fail to get funded. Today we are looking what can happen in the legal sense when a project meets its funding goal but fails to deliver on promised backer rewards.