Throwback Tuesdays

Good afternoon everyone! Kya here once again for another (and long due) installment of Bringing Magic to Life! It's been a long time since we did some 3D prints, and I must say, I think I owe everyone quite a bit! I was thinking about making something fun and new for the new set, but then I realized I had so much I always failed to share with the community. So instead we're going to do a Throwback Tuesday! Yes, I know, it's normally 'Throwback Thursday,' or whatever the cool kids say now. However, my editor insists that my articles must air on Tuesdays. I'm willing at this point to accept being the black sheep of EDHREC writers. If you're new to reading our articles, you'll soon find out why.

So let's look back at some good old memories shall we?

"Like, OMG! Now way!" #phyrexianmemories #realmoxjewelryislessmoneythancardboardmoxjewelry

Okay, I admit it. I'm not good at the hip Instagram stuff. But creating 3D Moxen was definitely fun.

But let's look at what we really want to see!

Remember the Bolas statue? Remember this wonky plastic little Dragon of goodness? The true cause of the Ravnica shenanigans that we're conveniently ignoring at the moment? Yes, today's article will be about getting your own Bolas life count holder! You heard me correct! He is an overgrown life count holder! For when you want the entire table to notice your d20, this foot tall model will gladly represent!

In the Beginning, There Were OP Elder Dragons

So let's go into how our little dragon was born. Staying true to Bolas, the main focus starts at this overgrown lizard's noodle. For really detailed work, everyone in this creative household was working day and night to get him right. His snout was the real pain. Do you make him more like the art depictions and keep it short? Or do you go Dragon and make it long? These were the questions that kept us up at night.

After the head was eventually done. It was up for the rest of the body. Isn't he goofy looking? Well that's what happens when you're halfway done! It's all about getting the general shape before slowly morphing in the muscle tones and small details. As for his pose, I'm sure this confuses non-animators. Typically when it comes to animating a body, you have to "rig" up the mesh (his body) with a type of animation skeleton. From there you "skin" him (not making this up) so the body moves with the skeleton. This is how you can move his body around without having to remake everything. Just a fun fact for all those aspiring 3D modelers.

Now dance, Bolas, dance! How do you like being the puppet for once? Wahahaha! Okay, got a little carried away, but his arrogance can irritate anyone. But now that we have him done we can move his body around to a decent shape. His arm is stretched out to hold our d20 and his wings are about to be coiled around him somewhat.

For the final bit of work, we give him a nice base to stand on and his tail will wrap around it. And there we go! Now after some 3D printing we can get him to be a real boy! He's a bit of a mess at the moment, as I had to print him in pieces. However after some painting and some sanding, you can hardly tell!

Ah, memories... I'll always remember you, Bolas 1. You were an evil, but loyal servant. Forever you'll be remembered as the sharp horns that someone accidentally sat on and cut themselves in the tush. You may have broken, but you made your attacker bleed (quite a bit, actually). Sure, I may have printed an army of you since then, but you were the original.

Begrudging Download for Bolas: Bolas

You Spin Me Right Round

You think our ride through memory lane was going to end with just one statue? Well it's not all about the good memories. Sometimes you have to look at your past mistakes as well. Ideally it's to learn from those mistakes, but sometimes it's just worth the laugh. This was someone else's idea, but the memory still makes me cringe. Sometimes it's not worth being the only 3D modeler in town. Behold! The Wheel of Bolas!

And this is how we justify all this as an EDH article! I know what you're thinking. What's so bad about this? This actually looks cool! The problem wasn't the wheel itself, just the specific implementation of its usefulness. This was originally designed to help players randomly pick decks before playing, assigning a different deck to each section. Most of us did indeed have some kind of janky colorless deck, so that even got its own slice of the pie.

The most important symbols were the planeswalker symbol and the Phyrexian symbol. Planeswalker meant it was the player's free choice, but poison meant it was someone else's choice. This eventually led to some imbalanced games and folks accidentally throwing shade at other people's decks by choosing what they assumed to be the weakest option, which ended up hurting that player's feelings... overall, not a great feeling. True to Bolas's schemes, the wheel looked like a gift but ultimately sowed discord among the group.

Download at your own risk: Bolas Wheel

Showing Off the Bling

Now you might have noticed the Phyrexian earrings in my first picture of the article. There was a reason for this, aside of course from taunting the Infect-in-EDH haters out there. The real reason was: earrings for my fellow lady Planeswalkers! Not interested in the Phyrexian lifestyle? I normally don't agree with those who refuse to assimilate, but I got you covered:

For the three total people who follow me on Facebook, this might look familiar. One of my first works! Planeswalker earrings! Best part about these babies? In case of an emergency, they can also be used as eye gougers! Seriously though, 3D printed jewelry is one of the best ideas I've ever had. Extremely light to wear and they look great once painted. Also, if they break, oh well! I can always print more!

*Please note that we here at EDHREC do not endorse the use of excessive violence, though this stance may be reconsidered for the recent troll harassing my colleagues every day in the comments. Let's see if he actually reads these. That's right, it's Kya's week! Calling you out today, buddy!

Download for Both Sets of Earrings: Earring

Notice Me Again, Sensei

Ugh, now I'm reusing titles from past articles. I'm sorry, but if I'm ever going to mention 3D printed Sensei's Divining Tops, "Notice Me Sensei" simply has to be the continual phrase to introduce it. It's funny, and I'm normally not very clever, so let me have this. Anyways, despite my original statement of never wanting to give these away, here they are!

At the end of the day, EDH is about connecting with others and having fun. Hoarding anything that could assist others to have a great time is something I can't continue to do. They're very easy to put together and fairly quick to print. This should go without saying, but please do not sell these (or any of my work). Print them for your friends and yourself for the table, but my hard labor is not your quick dollar. I actually like that phrase, I'm going to shout it at strangers now...

The two tops above were painted by community members in Orlando. One thing I won't do is paint my creations, as it gives the person getting the gift something to have fun with. If you want to make friends in your area or welcome strangers into your group, these are excellent conversation starters! Start up a quick painting session before the game and get some life counters done!

Sensei Tops Life Counters: Sensei

What Podcast?

Hey! Hey very specific guys in Orlando I'm tempted to name shame! Remember that Podcast we were going to do? That whole Black Lotus Productions thing ringing a bell? We were going to play a game or two and record it? Remember how we got the sound equipment and cameras and everything? Yeah, Kya remembers! Enjoy the awkwardness for the next week after you read this and see me at the store!

I promise, I'm bringing this up for a good reason. Below is a quick 3D print that some might find useful. One of our biggest issues when planning videos was the requirement of a camera to always record our hands while also having one or two people recording us around the table. This print was developed to go on the end of the table and hold our phones, allowing us to record without taking up any space. Hopefully someone can get some good use out of it!

Edgy Table Edge Phone Holder: Phone

The Ultimate Card

Because we're going down memory lane, there is one specific memory that deserves a special mention. My engagement! I was proposed to on the top of a haunted lighthouse last year. Of course, being terrified of heights, I was preoccupied with overwhelming terror and was tricked into saying yes. My fiancée knows me well, so he got me a black diamond ring. I would have just as well taped a real Black Lotus card to my ring finger, but... #seriouslywhyisrealjewelrylessexpensivethancardboard?

For all those wanting to propose to their nerdy fiancee to be, enjoy! Black Lotus Box

Word of warning, I did not make this downloadable 3D model. My fiancée did. That means it was done wrong. Make sure you stretch the bottom half so a ring can fit in there. Also, he (somehow) hammered in a latch in there, so you'll have to get that on your own too. But he made it himself, so how can I tamper with it?

Memory Roadmap

Since we are talking about 3D print downloads and memories, it would make sense to provide quick links to all my 3D-related articles for quick reference. Below you can find my articles to download any of the designs you find interesting:

• Bolas Trophy
• Atraxa and Poison Counters
• Kozilek and Treasure Tokens
• Moxen and Cookie Cutters
• Omnath Tokens

Closing Thoughts

I hope everyone enjoyed today's article. I didn't really have much room to add in a deck, despite my original intent. I thought it would be fun to do a Ravnica-inspired Bolas deck, but I've done Bolas decks before. Luckily, this just meant I had more time to spend coming up with more prints!

Today's article was a strange journey for me, looking over my old material and creations. As I mentioned before, though, I think it was a mistake to hold back from sharing some of these downloads. It was a little selfish, or at the very least prideful, to try and keep them valuable by keeping them rare. But EDH is nothing without its community, and keeping useful resources away from players just means less fun can be had. Things aren't valuable because they're rare, they're valuable because of their usefulness and the emotions we attach to them. This was a good journey to go on, and hopefully this will inspire just a few more people out there to do the same.

If there are other 3D models you want to see, comment below! I'm always looking for new ideas.

- Kya