Hillbilly Robot Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Remember the arrival of Mark Crowe on Alphadrome in 1999? It began with Brian’s posting of two beautiful paper and wood creations by Mark: “Astronaut” and Mr. Magneto. Each “one of a kind” was created for robot guru Ray Rohr. Intrigued by the growing number of paper robots on the market, I drooled over these master creations. I asked Mark, then living in Eugene, Oregon, if I could purchase one of each, for me! Well, he was good enough to make a second Mr. Magneto that is displayed proudly in my home. During construction of that bot, Mark wrote: . . .”It will look identical to Ray's but with a few refinements to how the piece is constructed. It will be a sturdier robot.” Unfortunately, Mark could not build a second Astronaut, due to the complicated construction techniques. Soon after his Alphadrome debut, Mark launched his “Artbots” line of paper and wood robots which sold quickly. I rabidly purchased two of his RetroRockets and Number 1 of his Mr. Clanky pieces. Over the years I wondered what Mark was doing and ran into him at his current adventure game web site: http://guysfromandromeda.com He agreed to answer my questions and share them with you all at Alphadrome. I found most intriguing the news that the Astronaut and Mr. Magneto were sent to Ray Rohr in exchange for something special . . . . Read on: Hillbilly Robot: You gained a following on Brian Hayes' Alphadrome web site in 1999 with your series of 2 Artbot robots: Retro Rocket (limited to 10) and Clanky (limited to 20). As you explained then, your creation of these beautifully bright paper and wood Artbots was "born out of a desire to someday produce a line of tin wind-up robots. These (Artbots) are considered the prototypes." Do you still have a desire to create tin robots? MC: Yes I do. Especially now since desktop laser cutting and other CNC and 3D printing methods are available to produce the parts. Unfortunately, I've not had the time to pursue it. Someday when I'm retired maybe. OR I'd love to hookup with someone else who could produce them. Hillbilly Robot: I consider the Space Explorer robot which you created for the late Ray Rohr as the Holy Grail of your robots, because there is only one. You said at the time it was a challenging piece and chose not to create another. Can you explain how the design of that robot came about, including your conversations with Mr. Rohr? MC: Back then, when my tin robot passion had hit a fever pitch, I stumbled onto a magazine featuring ads for OTTI's repros. I saw those Rosco Astronauts and just went nuts. I couldn't really afford one at the time but it inspired me to create an original astronaut design in cardstock ;recreating some of the litho elements from the Rosco. I can't seem to recall exactly how I first got in contact with Mr. Rohr initially (phone or email). But I ended up sending him some photos of my astronaut and he really dug it. He mentioned a "secret project" he was working on with OTTI which he later revealed was the Tin Age Robby. Long story short, Mr. Rohr and I worked out a trade- my Astronaut and Mr. Magneto prototypes for a Tin Age Robby. It's been my most prized tin robot. Hillbilly Robot: You have had quite a career in the entertainment software industry, co-authoring the popular Space Quest series. Tell us about your latest venture (at least what I could find): Guys From Andromeda. MC: First a little history... Back in the 80s/90s me and Scott Murphy co-authored an adventure game series called Space Quest for Sierra Online. It was a spoofy sci-fi adventure featuring a bumbling sanitation engineer 'Roger Wilco' as the protagonist. As part of the satire, we created alien alter egos dubbing ourselves 'The Two Guys from Andromeda' and eventually even became characters in our own game world. Flash forward about 25+ years: I was studio design director for Pipeworks Studio from 2000 to 2012. In 2012, a growing resurgence of interest in 'classic adventure games' prompted Scott and I to team-up once again and try to resurrect Space Quest. But since Activision held the rights to Sierra's catalog, we instead decided to create a new series called SPACEVENTURE, as a spiritual successor to our old series. We ran a successful crowd-funding campaign and, after what has been a ridiculously long and arduous development for our small team, we're finally nearing completion. SpaceVenture tells the tale of intergalactic plumber, Ace Hardway accompanied by his little robot dog 'Rooter' . Rooter is Ace's 'walking toolbox' inspired by my interest in tin robots. As part of our crowd-funding rewards to backers (in addition to the finished game, of course), we're offering a printed card stock Rooter fold up. And who knows, If the game is successful... there may be some little tin Rooter's in our future. Man, would I love that. ————————— Thanks, Mark, for sharing! Check out Mark’s pictures of Mr. Magneto and Astronaut as well as screen shots I took of his 1999 web site, courtesy of the Wayback Machine. Then enjoy graphics shared by Mark from his new SpaceVenture. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasa Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Great stuff HR......thanks for sharing......would love to own one of his creations.....anyone,....PM message me if any available.....thanks Mark/nasa link from long ago..... file:///Users/markgreaux/Desktop/Paper%20Robot%20Link%20...from%20Long%20Ago%20-%20PAPER%20CRAFT%20ROBOTS%20-%20ALPHADROME%20ROBOTS%20AND%20SPACE%20TOYS.webarchive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinplate6 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Oh man, what a shame you can no longer get these, they are truly beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 What I would give for Mr. Magneto.................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roboz Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I've been scouring to find one of his artbots for years at the time they were offered didn't pull the trigger Also Reigers creations as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 What a great article and fantastic photos!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Robot Posted March 2, 2017 Author Share Posted March 2, 2017 Thanks, Roboto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 A fine fine article Hillbilly Robot - nice to read you again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinplate6 Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Ha! It always amazes me how much talent there is within the ranks, we have some truly gifted members in Alphadrome. Hillbilly, I hope you decide you continue producing these fantastic quality pieces in the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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