EDIT: Alas, I have been unable to retain a continuity of modelling service. Orders are currently not being taken, and several back orders have gone unfilled.

EDIT: (sigh) It had to happen some time...
Exchange rate movements mean the prices are now quite different from what they were.
Prices updated.

Prices will be raised for inflation for requests lodged starting 2008.
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First up, let me apologise profusely for drastically underestimating the cost of a set of six. With materials, and about an hour and a half work per colour, setup time and whatnot the cost is WAAAAAAY more than I originally guessed.

Also. Having other priorities, the modeller refuses to make more than one set per week (and maybe not that often) so I'm only going to ship sets individually.

I won't fluff about with exact cents here... nice round numbers will get you into what will probably be a really exclusive club.

Including (alas) parcel postage:
U.S. USD 220 for six colours, USD 175 for four colours, +5 for airmail
Europe EUR 150 for six colours, EUR 120 for four colours, +5 for airmail
Australia AUD 230 for six colours, AUD 180 for four colours
Malaysia MYR 740 for six colours, MYR 580 for four colours

(I reserve the possibility of shifting the price if exchange rates move noticeably.)

Geekmail me orders or post questions here or in geekmail.

Six-colour sets are:
6 x 7 amoeba (numbered/lettered for sequence)
6 x 56 poo
6 score markers
40 damage marker "granite boulders"

Four-colour sets have 28 damage markers.

Sets of six should be colourblind friendly (as noted below) with some subtle physical differences between sets. Sets of four should be colourblind friendly purely by the colours.



More detailed 1.4MB large copy of the image is here:
http://www.mediview.com.au/joe/bgg/AmoebaH.jpg

If the modeller gives up before demand runs out (likely) then we ruthlessly plan to auction the final set.

Here's more info than you ever wanted...

Slightly higher resolution version of this image here...
http://www.mediview.com.au/joe/bgg/Lilac2.jpg

And this BGG image...



Colour Blind Friendly?
The set ought to be fairly colourblind friendly. There are small physical differences which should allow "tie breaking" on difficult colours.
Type A: Amoeba are numbered, poo swirls, score marker has feet
Type B: Amoeba are lettered, poo twists, score marker has no feet

From top to bottom:
Lilac - type B
Yellow - type A
Green - type B
Orange - type A
Red - type B
Blue - type A

(I know, "red/green"... but the "red" is very dark and the "green" is very light so they should be fine.)

I've been using an online tool to hopefully backcheck against the three categories of colour blindness. Note that if someone has colourblindness and is comparing the image above to the images below, they are not expected to "look the same". Colour information is reduced and blended, but not absent in the images below.

Protanomly/opia (red supression/absence) maybe 2% of men, 0.05% of women:

So of the three that are possibly tricky, the middle one (green, row three from the back) is type "B" while the other two are type "A".

Deuteranomly/opia (green supression/absence) maybe 6% of men / 0.5% of women:


Tritanopia (blue absence) maybe 0.01% of people:

Good luck on your endeavor, Joe, but when my spot on the interested list comes up you can give me a skip. My girlfriend are making some amoebas that are practically identical at a fraction of the cost (albeit, we're using our time to do it ).

GASP!
I so want a set, but its so... expensive...


A quick question about how fragile they are. Do they chip easily? I'm a little worried about the shipping, and storage of the ameobas.

Indeed, materials are only about 15% of the cost.

After I collected my jaw from the floor, and wrote the above post, I anticipated that the labour cost would price practically everyone out of the market.

I imagine there will be a couple of takers for a set of four. But I agreed to offer priority to requests for sets of six, so I'm not advertising sets of four yet.


Personally, if I was getting four I'd get six anyway. But that's me.

I'm curious myself, not really being familiar with this kind of thing.

I did take a couple of amoeba and some poo and drop them from table height onto a tile bathroom floor, and they didn't seem to suffer for it, although that doesn't mean I recommend you try this at home They're quite light weight. Someone else here tried crushing two poo together in his hands and broke one, so they're certainly not invincible.

They look great, but, well, they are indeed very expensive. Would you mind to tell us exactly of what kind of material they are made? Not that I expect to find it easily in my country, anyway...

You probably can get the material... it's called FIMO Soft. It's a colourful clay which dries well in a kitchen oven.

Very cool.

I only speak for me, but I would consider moving the 4-color set to the front. $125 is much closer to a reasonable price. I wonder what percentage of games are >4 player games, anyway.

I'm not so sure about that, but thanks for the info! Anyway, I think I could just use what we call "durepox", which is dark gray only, and paint it.

Packaging and Strength experiment

Using the two "proof of concept" colours (the ones with the translucent eyes) I tried the following...
I sandwiched a row of amoeba between two layers of foam, thickness 1cm (2/5"). I stood on the amoeba, balancing on the heel of one shoe, so that two or three amoeba in the foam were bearing my weight (63kg / 140 lbs). For good measure I wobbled about a bit, and moved along the row. None of the amoeba appears to have suffered any ill effects. (Although some still look miserable.)

I did the same thing with a handful of poo swirls, and again there appear to be no ill effects. Admittedly I don't have any spare poo spirals to try, and non of the test amoeba have long tongues or, say, the score marker feet. Even so, I'm pretty comfortable they'll be fine in the intended packing, and reasonably durable when you get them.

They have more of the consistancy of a resin or hard plastic than what you might expect from "clay".

Egads... way too pricey for me... RM645 is a lot of money..

Apologies, but please remove my place from the queue.

That's funny. My wife and I are embarking on the same mission using polymer clay. Some things just aren't worth paying labor costs for. Good luck to the OP, though.

Ok the first set (above) is spoken for and should be in the post tomorrow. (If I can find a retailer who stocks the right packaging... otherwise I'll have to make my own. )

I'll put up an image of the second set when I get it, and confirm immediately with the next in queue if they still want it. I imagine the thread will go quiet for a week or month after that but feel free to send me requests for sets of six or four and I'll confirm and ship out as they become available.

Wish I had the kind of money to purchase them, they look fantastic. What did you use to make them? Clay? Also are they numbered?

Great Job, they are beutiful.

My suggestion: outsource the labour to China.

On another note: if you can be bothered, just buy some of that clay from a local craft shop and try it yourself. The eyes can be bought from craft shops and hobby shops that specialise in things like scrapbooking.

Just to clarify, the eyes on these ones are not those jiggly bubble stick-on thingies. These the same stuff as the rest of the amoeba (but white) with black paint or ink for pupils.

Those amoebas certainly look great!

The poo is also... realistic...

Sure they look great.
I send you a mail to take one set but I didn't have answer.

Sorry Lilian.

I did receive your email, and I thought I replied. There will be a set for you. Of the confirmed 6p set requests you are currently next in line.

Note that as per my original promise, requests will be filled in sequence of original expression of interest, so it's still possible one of the people who haven't responded yet will, for example, get back from holiday and say they want one. But I'm not expecting that to happen.

Received my parcel of amoeba this morning. I was a bit dubious about the price, but having seen the final product I'm satisfied. These things look great. I shudder to think about the amount of work that went into it - especially the 336 poos. Packaging was excellent too.

I'm not affiliated, just a happy customer

Hey thanks for the announcement.

I hope if (heaven forbid) anything actually did go "wrong" in any of this that whoever it is we can sort it out reasonably.

I'm glad the parcel arrived fine.

The pieces are impressive. Most impressive.

Being the cheap bastard I am, I can't buy a set. However, I can try and get the wife to make me a set.

Are you still taking orders? or is it too late?

As it happens I just took an order a couple of days ago, so I know the option is still open.

A new order now would likely be ready mid May.

HI Joe,

are you taking orders right now? or is the shop closed?


regards

Klaus