Back off: I’m Doing Science! returns to the Retropolis Transit Authority

Filed under Works in Progress

What does it take to get those hysterical lab assistants to give you a little elbow room? With all their flustered objections when you’re just about to inject the Essence Of Life into your new Invisible Squidlike Sentient Lifeform?

So what if it regenerates and (if Igor’s correct) may have telepathy and a lethal proboscis? Those babies.

You’d think that a polite cough, or the occasional kick, would make them back away and let you get down to it. But nooooo.

Now, you’ll still need their assistance tomorrow – that is, if Igor’s not correct – so my advice is, keep this in view at all times.

Point at it. Back Off: I’m Doing Science!

As you’ve surely guessed by now, this is the latest of my new, improved and modern! revisions to older T-Shirt designs at the Retropolis Transit Authority. I’ve got just 1.5 new designs to go – plus four troublesome bits of editing on some others – and then I guess I’ll have redone what most needed to be redone, at which point I’ll lean back and say “My job here is redone!” because, by then, my brain will be tired and it won’t be paying any attention to grammar any more.

Go Hero’s Wilma Deering figure celebrates the swellest dame of the Future That Never Was

Filed under Found on the Web

I’ve said before that one of the seminal influences on my Retropolis art is the earliest of the Buck Rogers comics, from 1929 on. This makes Wilma Deering the mitochondrial ancestor of all the swell dames in my retro future. (Also of everyone else; but do we have to get technical here?)

Wilma knew all the ropes of the twenty-fifth century by the time Buck woke up there: her inertron jumping belt helped her leap in great, dreamlike bounds because its antigravity made her nearly weightless; she had her own personal rocket ship; and, of course, she had her stylish (but lethal) atomic pistol.

Wilma Deering swung, only because at that time no one would have said “Wilma Deering rocks”.

Go Hero has been turning out some terrific high end action figures based on familiar characters like The Shadow, Dan Dare, and Buck Rogers. I’ve mentioned those here before.

The Go Hero limited edition Wilma Deering is now available for pre-order. She’s a highly detailed figure with a visored cap, bubble helmet, four pairs of hands, and accessories like the jumping belt and ray gun. She’s scheduled to ship in the third quarter of this year and she’s certain to look fantastic while she defends your desk from the unspeakable perils of outer space.

Two new faces of Rocket Science for the Retropolis Transit Authority

Filed under Works in Progress

Yep, it’s still all about the T-shirts here in the Secret Laboratory – except when it’s about the coffee mugs, mousepads, and posters – and what does that mean? It means that I’ve just finished up two more new, improved shirt designs for the Retropolis Transit Authority.

There are about seven more “critical” designs to go before I’m done. Today’s offerings are Yes! In Fact, This IS Rocket Science and No! This is NOT Rocket Science. I haven’t ruled out a Maybe! shirt. But for the moment, anyway, this is where we stand.

So if your current problem falls on one side or the other of the Rocket Science Question take a gander at these as t-shirts, coffee mugs, mousepads, posters, or archival prints over at Retropolis.
 

Ask Me About My Death Ray!

Filed under Works in Progress

With dual ultra-thanatopic oscillators, an impressive range, and their patented Now You See ‘Em, Now You Don’t self-guiding disintegration actualizers, these handy household Death Rays have just about everything the average householder could want – while for those special extras, they’re easily customized!

And because you care about the effect they’ll have on your neighborhood (boy, do you care!) they’re available in seven stylish colors.

Trust me: you do not want to be the last one on your block to have one of these.

It’s a fun and easy way to get rid of those annoying pet stains… even at their source!

Safety note: Death Rays are not guaranteed to be safe when used as directed. That’s sort of the whole point.

Yes, it’s another new version of one of my older T-Shirt designs for The Retropolis Transit Authority: now available on shirts, mugs, posters and archival prints. And if they do ask? I’d say “I got the red one!”

Flying Car T-Shirts and invisible (but clever) updates

Filed under Works in Progress

I continue to work on the new versions of The Retropolis Transit Authority and Saga Shirts. A lot of that work is behind the scenes, nuts and bolts stuff that you don’t want to know about but which, occasionally, is pretty clever; or so I tell myself.

As time permits I’m also working up new versions of some of the T-Shirt designs. The newest of these is “I Still Want My Flying Car”.

And no, sorry, I don’t want you to have a flying car; I’ve seen how you drive. I want the only flying car, as you should, too.

So the shirts are done; also the mugs, archival prints, posters, and mousepads.

Some of those pretty clever, invisible things I’ve done are so far only happening at Saga Shirts. I don’t want to implement those changes at the Retropolis Transit Authority until I’ve finished about ten of the new shirt designs, which may take me awhile. But I have to wait on the last stage of my URL redirection until there are new pages to redirect to, for reasons that matter to me and the search engines… but probably not to you.

World’s Greatest Megalomaniac T-Shirts at the new Retropolis Transit Authority

Filed under Works in Progress

If you’re going to be the Worlds Greatest Anything… my advice? Shoot for the stars. Go for WORLDS GREATEST MEGALOMANIAC.

I told you this week about my all-new incarnation of the Retropolis Transit Authority. But I didn’t tell you everything. When I remade the Transit Authority shirts for their new vendor, I left fourteen of them out. They were old designs, or designs I thought should be better, and the plan is that over time I’ll either do them over or retire them permanently.

This is the first of those new versions.

Now, The WORLDS GREATEST MEGALOMANIAC is unique in the store. While I was writing The Lair of the Clockwork Book I invented a coffee mug with that slogan on it. And once I’d invented it, I could see that it needed to exist: so I made one, and I made shirts to match. Today we have a new, improved Megalomaniac – and, come to think of it, NEW, IMPROVED MEGALOMANIAC! has potential, too. Let me get back to you on that one.

All new version of The Retropolis Transit Authority features a custom storefront & lower prices

Filed under Web Development, Works in Progress

We’re all about experimentation, here in the Secret Laboratory, and as always you’re invited into the Vivisectorium for a personal tour.

This week’s experiment is an all new incarnation of The Retropolis Transit Authority with T-Shirts now printed by Spreadshirt. I gave this a go once I’d rebuilt the Pulp-O-Mizer’s T-Shirt system; building a new storefront was actually less work even though (for the first time) I wrote the complete store management system myself. Don’t get me started on pagination!

We should consider this a shakedown cruise. But, happily, the shirts are now less expensive. And that’s always nice, even during a shakedown.

Streamliner PC case exceeds all standards of amazicality

Filed under Found on the Web

This stunning custom computer case is the work of a builder who calls him/her/itself aio. I happened on it through the 2014 “Mod of the Year” contest at Bit-tech.

Now, I don’t necessarily need a computer case with chromed exhaust pipes and a working cam shaft (!) but I do admire the analog gauges, the fit and finish, and the wow factor, not to mention the sheer virtuosity that emanates from this thing. Click through to the project videos to see, part by part, what goes into it. It’s truly wonderful.

I have no idea what purpose is served by the cam shaft. You can see in one of the videos that its speed is controlled by the knobs, low on the front panel, and I guess it’s possible that the shaft is somehow connected to the speed of the case fans. Or, equally likely, it’s a bit of sophisticated whimsy. Either way, well done!

“Winged Victory” raygun now for sale at Resinator Lab

Filed under Found on the Web, Hodgepodge

Hey, remember that gorgeous Winged Victory raygun I posted about late last year? Well, it’s for sale at Resinator Lab.

I know you’re all excited and everything, but when you sit down and think for a moment you’ll realize that there’s really just one person who ought to have it. So do the right thing. Some kind of holiday is probably coming up; my mailing address is available. Just saying.

But in case you’re not that selfless, you can always pick it up for yourself. I’ll forgive you. Eventually. Added to which, you’ll now have a disintegrator gun… and I’m not completely stupid.

Seriously, though, how can this thing not have sold immediately? It’s fantastic.