harlancore

Above is a picture I found in a random forum of a storefront somewhere in Akihibara, Japan, advertising one of my favorite video games, Persona 3. I have been feverishly playing the PSP version for the past couple weeks, and of course I have been enjoying it. I have discussed my love of this series elsewhere on this blog, so I won’t go into it all over again. All I can say is if you played the PS2 version, and liked it, you will like the PSP remake. It is just different enough for fans of the original to find something new to love. Plus if you didn’t play it on HARD difficulty the first time around, now is your chance. At least that is what I am doing.

Since I don’t have any new models to show off (not yet, at least! but I am working on some!) I will show off a couple of Persona models by other people. First, here’s Izanagi Okami from Persona 4, by Franz Maxirus Feliciano:

Awesome work Franz! Great attention to detail! Next, here are a couple models by Geofrey Shank. Rasputin the MAD MONK and Tatsuya Sudou.

Geofrey has made a few other awesome boxpunx, like Spider Jerusalem from TRANSMETROPOLITAN, and also from Persona 2: Innocent Sin he made Joker and Hitler! (yes, that nazi bastard; if you ever wondered why P2:IS never came out in America, you have Adolf to blame!) If you want those guys, you need to check out his Deviant Art site: GEOFREYSHANK.DEVIANTART

Now, last but BY NO MEANS least, I want to show off these super sweet IMPS customs by my friend ABZ from OH-SHEET toys. She calls them “THE GLOOM CREW”. I love it! Click the image below for a slightly larger view of her excellent promo image!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALL THREE MODELS IN ONE .ZIP FILE!

I totally love how these little guys turned out! Plus it’s always really amazing to see someone else’s art on your toy, and I am honored that all three of these people chose to color some boxpunx, thanks so much everyone!

I leave you with a video from the PERSONA MUSIC LIVE show, a performance of songs from P3, P4, and the animation “Trinity Soul”. There are videos of all the songs performed available on YouTube. For fans like me who can’t make it to Japan, this is a real treat. For the non-Persona fans out there, uh, well, I err….

When will I be back? I don’t know. Soon, Hopefully. ^^

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Here it is, BOXPUNX SERIES NINE: IMPS! Imaginary Monster Papercraft! Download and Enjoy!

Click me or the pic above to go straight there!

Models by Jason Harlan, Photos by Vin Breau.

Check out the rest of my gallery while you are there if you haven’t before. There are a few new items! Just click the word “harlancore” in the upper right hand corner, before the “/IMPS”.

(More Crystal Castles, I can’t get enough!)

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Well, I thought I would post something yesterday, but alas I did not make it. No big deal, I hope! Maybe I will make this post extra long to make up for it. Let’s see how it goes…

FIRST, and most very importantly, I have decided to CLOSE ALL COMMENTS. No more, the comments I get are very very very few, unless of course you count SEX and DRUG comments. I just don’t understand it! I have set up a variety of safeguards and filters, but every day, I get a handful of these ridiculous comments from people trying to sell for the most part TERRIBLE things. While I was away, I have amassed over TWO THOUSAND of these unwanted comments, and I am TIRED of clearing them all out. Even though I have now turned off commenting, I still don’t actually expect it to work. WordPress may be free and easy to use, but like most things in our modern world, it does NOT work well.

I have chosen the option for NO TRACKBACKS….yet I get trackbacks ALL THE TIME.

I have filters saying mark posts with specific words as SPAM…yet still they find their way into the “waiting for approval” list.

I don’t blame WordPress for this (I never expect too much from ANYTHING anymore), I blame the evil people sending these comments.

SOOOOOO….if you want to say something about a post or to me, send me an email or find me on Facebook. Most of you already do that anyway. And I think thats all I want to say about that.

Now for the FUN stuff: First, I want to show off an image I found of the winner of the Boxpunx contest held way back in Computer Arts Projects #126. The winning model was designed by the super talented DOLLY OBLONG. I have no idea how long ago this was announced, no one ever contacted me to let me know who won, I just kind of stumbled across it while trying to catch up on “what’s new” out there after being away from my computer for so long. If Computer Arts sent me an email, I still have not found it. And if it was announced in an issue, well, I don’t have constant access to their magazines, the book stores near may house only sometimes carry them. I had to drive ALL OVER TOWN to get my copy of #126. So attention kids, just because you are in a magazine doesn’t mean you will ever actually SEE it. Some publications have been gracious enough to send me a copy, others I never heard from again after the work was done. At first I thought it was unusual, but after a while I got used to it. And my experience matches other designers that I know, so whatever. Not a big deal, ultimately.

Either way, Dolly did a great job and congratulations to her, and every one she sent a copy to!

Next up, I want to show off a series of models by my buddy GAVIN STONE, curator of the awesome website CLAN OF THE FANBOYS, and contributing writer to a few others. I also asked him to help with HEAVY PAPER, so if we get back to that ever, he will be a part of it. These models were made just before and during my time spent away (Did I mention I was in the hospital?) and I am happy to finally be posting these! Anyone fond of STAR WARS or SPACE CHANNEL 5?

ULALA:

PURGE:

HAN SOLO:

I think they all turned out awesome! Gavin says he plans to make some other ones as time goes by (including Chewbacca!) and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with! Enjoy the models! Then go check out his site!

Boxpunx series 9: Imaginary monster papercraft (IMPS!) is all cut out and assembled. Now just to take pictures. I do not own a camera so I will continue to get my friend Vin to do me the honors. I don’t expect him to get around to it for a couple more days, but I will continue to bug him every day. I bet we will have something to show by tuesday, maybe wednesday. I am not the only one who has been in less than perfect health, I had face and tooth issues, he has had some back and shoulder issues. He says he is feeling better, after taking even longer off of work than I did, and going to physical therapy. So yeah, lots and lots of fun has been had over the past couple of months.

I think that’s enough posting for now. WordPress is sooooo slooooowwwww when it comes to uploading things so even though this post doesn’t seem very long, it took well over an hour to create.

I will end with a video from THE RUNAWAYS movie by Floria Sigismondi, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. If you like rock n roll movies, you will definitely like this one. I do, and did. The band was very popular with the “big kids” when I was growing up in the seventies, and was where Joan Jett and Lita Ford got their start. The song is called “Cherry Bomb.” Hot stuff. This type of thing simply does not exist anymore.

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At last, I am slowly trying to re-enter society. After a few health issues, money issues, and just sheer exhaustion issues, I again feel healthy, well rested, and all-gamed-out. I still haven’t finished either of the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games I mentioned last post, but I did play through the entirety of RED DEAD REDEMPTION. And yeah, I totally dug it. Two kudos! Highly recommended.

Also while I was away, I finally had the revelation I was so desperately searching for. What is Boxpunx series NINE going to look like? Well, I have seen it, and yes, it’s pretty cool! I call them IMPS, which to me means “Imaginary Monster Papercraft”. Expect twelve cute little creatures very soon. I am really proud of both the new model and the designs, but mostly I am proud of the possibilities the new model presents. I don’t want to say too much right now, I am only posting this to build hype!

So, anyway, I did say I wouldn’t post anything till I had made a new model, and since the last post I have made at least 50 models, trying to work the kinks out of the next series. Since they are still not ready to post (I wanna get some photos taken before posting any templates) I will instead post a new “classic” boxpunx model, the next entry into my “endless” series.

I have said before that I don’t typically do requests, but am totally not against being sent them, since there may be a good idea in there somewhere. A gentleman by the name of Tom Demeulemeester sent me one I thought was pretty great. He is a new father and asked if I would make a baby boxpunx! (Again, congratulations Tom!) So here is the baby boxpunx I made, not just for him, but for everyone.

I think it turned out nice and cute, I hope you do too!

There are many other things I could post, but I want to save some of it . Over the next few days I plan to post some of the models that have been sent to me, as well as some other cool things I have seen while I was away. I really want to get back to posting regularly, and I think I have enough material now to do so, so expect a surge in productivity from me as I try to get back into the swing of things.

Oh, and if you didn’t know, the book PAPERTOYS! has been released by MONSA, coutesy of Louis Bou (Thanks Lou!) and it looks absolutely awesome. Tons of photos and models are included within, and even if you can’t read it, it’s still worth picking up if you are a fan of papercraft. Here is the cover. If you click on it, it will take you to Amazon where you can buy it.

Ok, more tomorrow (if all goes as planned!) but for now I leave you with my latest musical obsession CRYSTAL CASTLES. Here is “Xxzcuzx Me”.

And here is “Baptism”. Toatally insane and brilliant.

Wait! One more thing…many people have written me asking about the HEAVY PAPER magazine. It’s true, I think I may have bitten off more than I could chew, since once I started creating the pages, I realized my presentation would take a looooong time to complete. But since work has been done, I think I should try to complete at least the first issue, let everyone see what I did, and see where we go from there. So I plan to return to it, but I really need to dial it back a bit. Too ambitious, perhaps. Maybe the first issue will inspire some people to offer their assistance…..hmmmm….

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Wow, that’s the longest break yet, I think. My apologies to anyone coming here to see something new and finding nothing but Go-Go’s videos. But sometimes that’s how I roll.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a pretty random and occasionally unreliable person. I am easily distracted. Like many of you, I like to observe art, not just make it. I spend a lot of time saving different universes in video games as well. Typically I become really distracted when I am into a game. I am almost always into a game. Be it old or new, something pixelated or polygonal has my attention. It’s amazing how I make any papercraft at all considering how many games I have played or am currently playing.

You could separate the games I like into two categories: The good and the EPIC. The good are the games I am playing over long periods of time, stopping occasionally to play something else, but always coming back to, devoting a bunch of time to, then switching again.

The epic are the ones that skip good status and go straight from tryout to epic. Tryout status is of course any game I play and either don’t know if I like it yet, or didn’t like but tried it out. Epic status is a game that once I start, I play it all the way to the end with very few if any breaks before playing another game. There are always breaks, but few if a game REALLY impresses me for any reason. So both good and epic games are games that I think are a lot of fun.

BUT…there are epic games that are good games, meaning, ones that are just so long that I will inevitably TRYOUT a game that becomes EPIC keeping me away from the other epic game I was playing. Are you still with me?

Plus older games are just longer than newer games. I am still playing many old games, specifically playstation one games. Right now I am playing Dragon Warrior 7. I bought it way back in the day, and when I flipped the manual around I saw an advertisement for Dragon Warrior IV coming 2002. So I thought cool, they are going to remake the old games, some of which we never got here. Instead of playing number 7 I shelved it, waiting for the remakes. They never happened, until more recently of course, and on the nintendo DS instead of the playstation 1, and I have played both the Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest V remakes and loved both. I am still running around both worlds finding new things, these are two very long, very robust, old-school classic role playing games, I highly recommend them!

So, uh, anyway…I had to go and grab that dusty but now wonderfully attractive Dragon Warrior Seven for Sony playstation one! off of the shelf and find out what it was all about. Boy was I in for a shock.

This game was pretty much set up in the same style as the DS remakes, but this was the precursor, or whatever, regardless, its just more and more of the same but more. Does that make sense? When I started it I couldn’t put it down, it had become epic rather quickly, and I was loving it. Definitely a game where the beauty just unfolds before your eyes, and this game does that masterfully. To put it simply, in the beginning your world is very small, and it opens before you in a way that I can only compare to one of the most classic of old school rpgs, Chrono Trigger. For me to compare a game to that game, that is serious stuff, and I am serious, Dragon Quest VII is an awesome game, if you love old school rpgs of course. If not, err…I….uh….

So you can imagine me being pretty confused when I was in the xbox 360 aisle of the local Fryes department store holding a copy of Final Fantasy XIII on release day. In the back of my mind I was afraid to stop playing DQVII for as long as I suspected the game in my hand would cause. But unfortunately there was enough cash in my pocket to afford it so I was powerless to prevent myself from buying it (I tried to fight these urges in the past, I always fail) so I went home with it because you know, it was FINAL FANTASY XIII.

What do I think about it?

I think it is good, and if you like old school or new school rpgs you already have it, or have at least tried it out.

I will definitely be playing FFXIII to the end. Taking breaks occasionally to play DQVII.

Red Dead Redemption is on the horizon.

And I am trying to finish repainting the couple hundred WARHAMMER 40,000 miniatures I have collected over the past, wow, has it been twenty years? That’s incredible. But the last game I played was about 10 years ago!

The armies I built were space marines, chaos space marines, and Eldar. Vin and I have been painting and modding old stuff like fiends. Not just minis, but terrain as well. It has been, just as it was in the past, before the internet, a perfect way of clearing my mind and giving me some peace and some focus. If I am ever going to make a new boxpunx series I need time to THINK!

Looking back at all the series, I feel like I have covered so much of the landscape of my mind. At least the less than horrible parts I am willing to share, hehe.

Boxpunx basically tells a story about me. Every model gives a little insight into what I like, or what I think.

Which games do I like? It’s all in there.

Toys, shows, movies, genres, all kinds of things that entertained me through out my life. Not just anything, but things I really liked. I don’t want to just make a model about anything, I want it to have a special meaning to me. I imagine any one who designs a toy thinks and feels this way.

My political and religious views are in there. Some morality. Some tongue in cheek. I like comedy. I do not wish to know someone who doesn’t.

Hell, the last batch were a bunch of band T-shirts, because I couldn’t think of anything else I really really liked that I hadn’t done yet, except perhaps music.

Which bring us to now, I am trying to come up with something original. The problem is I haven’t come up with the ONE yet. That model that goes from TRYOUT straight to EPIC status, skipping GOOD entirely.

When I do get there, I will let you know. In the meantime, I hope you don’t mind the WH40K pics that are going to come soon.

I played first and second edition 40K heavily and now here we have returned to it in it’s fifth edition. Vin and I are still learning the new rules, but we have a few battles under our belts (right now we are just pitting space marines against orks, and I have more losses than wins! Those orks are tough! And there is too many of them COMING!)

Oh well. Life is random. Did I mention I had to go to the hospital? That was crazy, my face puffed up like a balloon! Once drained of whatever puffed me up I had to have an infected tooth removed. Very brutal. It’s gone now. The worst part is I have no insurance of any kind.

God bless America & Skulls for the Skull Throne.

I am still working on my little fiction story. I have 12 chapters of a rough draft going so far. I still have no intentions of pursuing writing over drawing and painting, but it has been fun doing it, and once it is finished, if it is something I am proud of, I will share it. If not, I will write something new. At least that’s what I Imagine I will do.

And I killed HEAVY PAPER for now. Maybe I will resurrect it with some black magic voodoo at a later date. The art I was making for it, I will just show here as I complete it over a longer period of time. The content still exists, but the format has changed, really.

I will try make a new Boxpunx about something I like next post, I want to make something 40K related, but I just haven’t nailed an attractive concept yet.

Forgive me if I don’t consider suggestions very well, but I still appreciate them, so if you want, send them! I just can’t guarantee I will ever make them! Sorry! Download the template and ask your artist friend to make you one. Don’t ask him or her to make you a whole series though, as they may have a lot on their plate already.

If you don’t have an artist friend, I suggest you get one.

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