My Most Valued Myachis

by Crazy Ivan

So about an hour after I posted the previous article about my collection, I got 2 e-mails that basically asked the same thing: "What about your uber-rares?"

Now, for those who just dabble in Myachi collecting, that would sound like a pretty crazy question.  Afterall, the pictures that I included showed a box that had all the one of 25s, all the belts, the first run chinas, the Mexico series and a few Blue Dragons.  But the more studious collectors realized right away that I was holding back.

It wasn't intentional (exactly), it's just that I don't keep my Uber-Rare sacks with my other Myachis.  They stay in tubes and are kept in a secret location deep below the subbasement of the House of Skills (right behind the "Beware of the Panther" sign).  I almost never take them out anymore, but while I was photographing my collection last night, I actually did get them all out and line them up for a quick pic.

It wasn't easy.  There are three cunning traps along the corridor that leads to my ubers and even I am still frightened by the two hundred foot chasm that you have to slackline over to get to the final antechamber, but it was all worth it for you, the loyal reader.



This is what it looks like when the minotaur is sleeping.

 But even after I went to all that trouble, I didn't bother including the picture because I felt like the article was getting too long.  It also seemed to move away from the whole theme of "collection boxes", so I figured it would be best to just write a separate article about them.

So, without further ado, the cream of the crop of my collection:

Pictured above: About $5000 on E-Bay

Listing them from left to right you have the Hunter Green (Paper Tag), the Black Velvetine (Paper Tag), the Clear, the Red Swirl (Paper Tag), the Irradescent Rainbow, the Purple Swirl, the Goldfish, the Blue Suede Shoe and the Yellow Wetsuit (Paper Tag).

Now, if you're paying close attention, you'll note that there are a few tubes hiding behind all those delicious paper tags.  There's one hiding behind the Clear, another behind the Irradescent and a third hiding between the Purple Swirl and the Goldfish.  If you were thinking that those were the ones so ridiculously rare that I can't even show them in pictures, well... I'm sorry to disappoint.

See, this article isn't about my most "valuable" Myachis, but rather about my most "valued".  Didn't know there was a difference, did you?

Well, the 9 pictured and listed in the front are definititely my most valuable.  They have the highest trade value, they are the rarest, they are the most sought after in the Myachi community.  The others are included because of the personal value that they have.

All three are pretty darn rare one way or the other, but nowhere near the category of a Goldfish, a Irradescent Rainbow or a Yellow Wetsuit Paper Tag.  One is a 4.3 Blue Beard (which is about as rare as a 3.2 Red Line) so it is really outclassed in both the "valuable" and "valued" category.  The other two are the two Myachis that I personally value above all others.

One is my legendary Calvin.  It has long been retired but after more than 5 years of dedicated jamming I figured it had earned its way into the same shelf as the rarest of my rares.  It is one of the best jammers I've ever had the pleasure of shredding with.  It's also the single Myachi that is most responsible for the Calvin having been the most popular sack in Myachidom for all those years.

But the third is still even more valuable to me.  It is a Sour Apple Green and it is disgustingly filthy.  It's not a particularly good jammer and even if it was, it's so dirty that it would be kind of gross to jam with.  That being said, I would never sell it, I would never trade it and I seriously doubt that I will ever wash it.  It was my first Myachi and every Myachi player knows that you will never love another Myachi as much as you love your first one:

Believe it or not, it used to be green...

I actually bought 3 Myachis the day I met Myachi Man.  I bought that one, a Cherry Red and a Black Bear Shag.  I gave the Cherry Red away a few days later and lost the Black Bear Shag somewhere along the way.  But this one is kept safe.  It will always be the gem of my collection and even though it is almost worthless when compared to some of my Paper Tags, in my mind, it is the most valuable thing I own.

Not many people get to change their lives for $5.  Pictured above is my constant reminder that I was lucky enough to do just that.

Glyph Art Contest Winners (Take Two)

by Crazy Ivan


On the Myachi Blog we like to keep the contests rolling right along.  Most of the time I've got 2 or 3 contests going concurrently so I suppose it was only a matter of time before my brain overloaded and I screwed something up on one of them.

I announced the Glyph-Art contest a couple of weeks ago and announced the ending as midnight on the 11th.  Since the contest started on a Tuesday I wanted to give everyone a full 2 weeks to work something out.

But then a weird thing happened.  My brain completely lost that information and I thought that I'd announced it ending on Sunday at midnight.  This is usually when I like to end contests so that I can announce the winners on Monday and I guess I was just going on autopilot.

I managed to forget that entirely until somebody pointed it out to me on Facebook.  I went back and looked at the original post and... Bam, there it is staring me right in the face.  Unfortunately this was after I'd already declared the winners.

So I announced on FB that we would extend the contest for another day so that people who had started a project and didn't get a chance to finish it would still have a chance to get a prize.

Clearly it would not be fair to go back now and "unaward" any prizes, so if I announced you as a winner yesterday you'll still get your prize.  After taking a solid look at a few of the entries I received after the fact, I realized that I can actually just do an all new 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.  I even have a second SYD to give away.  There were, after all, 3 entries that would have definitely been considered right up there with our winners yesterday.

So I now present to you the second set of prize winning pictures from our Glyph art contest:

 3rd Place: 

Now, this doesn't technically count because the person who sent this in didn't actually do the art himself. He had a professional tattoo artist do it.  But the fact that he actually has the Myachi glyph tattooed on his body certainly earns Downtown an honorable mention (and a 5.0 sack) in a contest all about the Myachi Glyph.

So from the "Don't try this at home, kids" department, I give you our 3rd place winner:

As Crazy as Animal:

The kind of dedication you just can't fake.

I should probably spend another sentence or two reminding all of our under 18 readers that Myachi does not officially endorse the permanent branding of oneself with the Myachi logo.  We think it's really cool that Downtown did it (and that Animal did it for that matter), but we don't want anyone to mistake this for encouraging anyone to get glyph-tattoos.

 2nd Place: 

This is actually one of the coolest things I've ever seen and this image alone makes me glad that we extended the competition.  It could easily have taken first place with it's unabashed awesomeness and the incredible attention to detail.

So from the "Man I wish it was real and that I had it" department, I give you our 2nd place winner:

"Myachi Rocks..."

In a pinch, you could also use it to fight off robotic ninjas.

And I should also spend a sentence or two here talking about how sure I was that this one was going to be first place.  I saw it on Facebook this morning before I'd checked my e-mail and I though to myself, "Man, it's hard to imagine anyone has anything cooler than that."

Well, as it turns out, I was right.  That was definitely the coolest submission that we received yesterday and possibly the coolest we got through the whole contest.  But there was still another entry that managed to slightly edge it out:

 1st Place: 

The contest wasn't very well defined.  All I asked you to do was come up with an image based on the Myachi Glyph and the reason I was so vague is because I wanted everyone to be able to use their imaginations fully.  I'm really glad that I didn't say exactly what we were looking for, because if we did I might not have gotten the following image.

Now, I know that from a distance it may not seem like the best picture in the competition, but no picture in Myachi history has more fully encompassed what the Myachi movement is all about:

It's okay to be jealous of that collection, by the way.

And I'm definitely going to need a few sentences to explain this one.  Unfortunately the artist's camera couldn't get a high enough resolution picture to get the whole image in and still get all the detail.  If you look closely, you'll see that the Glyph in the center is covered in definitions but you probably can't read them.

Luckily, the artist also included a bunch of close up pics for me.  Rather than share all of them, I'll simply share some of the definitions and I think you'll understand exactly why this one earns a Grand Prize:

• STWAKOJ - (adj.) A bunch of random letters that stand for "Never Give Up and Do What You Love".
• Pakisack - (noun) (see reward; patience & godly)
• SUMPOY - (adj.) An acronym synonymous with dedication and hard work.
• Master - (noun) More than a title, a person who shows undying passion and love towards the game and all who play it.
• Jam - (noun) A parallel universe filled with nothing but the feelings of joy & happiness.
• Lotus Position - (1) noun (2) verb: see (1) 'adventure' and (2) 'beginning'
• Maniac - (noun) The majority of the Myachi universe have undying loyalty toward one another.
• JRED - (noun) The Central hub of all things Myachi.
• Myachi - (noun) Contrary to popular belief, Myachi is a lifestyle filled with friends, fun, opportunities, achievements and all things that are good in the world & universe.

-----

So thanks again to everyone who participated.  Like yesterday's winners, just contact me at crazyivan@myachi.com to claim your prizes.  I have a feeling that at least two of these are going in the mail, but don't worry guys, Pinky knows where you are (she's like a cuter version of Santa Claus).

Also, sorry again for the mistake.  I'll be more vigilant on the next art contest, which I will be announcing tomorrow.  So if you entered this one and didn't win, don't worry, there's always another chance.

Lastly, let me reiterate that everyone who won a prize yesterday STILL GETS THE SAME PRIZE.  These winners are being announced in addition to those I mentioned yesterday.

Glyph-Art Contest Winners

by Crazy Ivan

I'm starting to detect a bit of a pattern on these art contests.  So far we've done three of them and on all of them I've been thinking 24 hours before the deadline that we weren't going to have very many entries to choose from.  Then everybody swamps my inbox with awesome stuff at the last minute and I'm left with more entries than I can handle.

So let me start by thanking everyone who participated.  We saw some really cool and very creative entries done in pencil, pen, marker, paint, Photoshop, Myachis, clay (or maybe it was play-dough) and even one done in loose change.  Really seemed to bring out every one's artistic side and, of course, that was the point.

And once again I'm left with this very difficult decision as to which ones take the top 3 places.  It's always been my opinion that when you're faced with a tough decision, the best thing to do is pawn it off on somebody else so I made a slide show and let everyone at the office take a vote.

Turned out the winner was a unanimous decision, but picking out 2nd and 3rd was a little tougher.  I hate that so many deserving contributors won't win, but I want everyone to know that we were really floored by the quality of the pics we received.

So before we reveal the winners, let me show you some of the entries that didn't quite make that final cut.  This will give you an idea of how tough our job was at HQ this morning:

Keep in mind that this isn't all the ones that didn't make it, just the ones that conveniently fit into my collage...

Thanks to all the intrepid artists that made that collage possible but of course, there can only be 3 winners and I'm sorry to all the deserving folks whose art is pictured above.  Clearly you put a ton of effort into your pictures (or glitter, or whatever) and we appreciate your effort.  We've got another art contest coming so don't be discouraged.  There will always be more chances to win.
And speaking of winning, let's go ahead and take a look at the top 3 prize winners.  Remember, these pics were selected by 4 judges who had no idea who drew (or assembled) any of them.  We always do our best to keep things as fair as possible when selecting winners, but of course, an art contest is going to be pretty subjective.

So first, let me present our 3rd place winner.  The artist who fashioned this pic will receive a free 5.0 Myachi of their choice (email me at crazyivan@myachi.com with your selection and we'll set about getting it out to you):

Mount Myachi:

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I really hope one day we make that 2nd Myachi from the left...

And now to our 2nd place winner.  This dude submitted 3 pics (2 of which can be seen in the collage above) and showed some really impressive skill in all of them.  We all agreed, however, that this was his best idea:

The Best Idea:

Get it?  Idea?  Because it's a light bulb?

And last, but not least is our first place winner.  This pic was one of the first entries we received and as soon as I saw it I had a sneaking suspicion that it would wind up being our top finisher.  So without further ado, allow me to present our grand prize winner:

Myachi Rocks:

And yes, the glyph in this picture is a guitar.

It's a shame that I can't blow the pic up a bit more so that you can really see the detail in it, but for those of you squinting, let me sum up what you're seeing there.  The Tainted Love Pink is nearing the end of a solo on his/her Glyph-shaped axe.  The cord that trails to the amp is conveniently kinked and looped in just such a way as to say Myachi and in case that wasn't enough, there are actually Myachi glyphs in the musical notation that is emanating from the guitar.

Clearly, an award-worthy work of art, and we've got just the award.  Top place will win an awesome (and extremely jammable) limited edition "SYD" Myachi and 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive their choice of 5.0s.

Winners:

You can pick your prize up at Myachi HQ, you can pick it up at FAO Shwarz or we can mail it to you.  I have a feeling that we're going to be doing one of each, but e-mail me and let me know (a) where you'd like to pick up your prize, (b) your address if that place is "my mailbox" (make sure you have parental permission if you're under 18 before sending any personal info!) and (c) which 5.0 you'd like if you came in 2nd or 3rd.

Runners Up & People Who Didn't Get Their Entry in on Time:

Don't worry, I'll be announcing another art contest in the next couple of days so there is another chance to win just around the corner.  Good luck next time!

Update From Down Under

by Crazy Ivan (with pics by Kid Myach)

Always an exciting time when Myachi makes it to another continent.  Australia makes the number 6 and I can't imagine that we're ever going to open a store in Antarctica so I feel safe in saying this will be the last continent we break into as well.

I've been hoping for pictures the entire time... so much so that I even made my own:

I know, I know... this is bad even for MS Paint.

Anyway, I finally got a few pics this morning and I figured I'd share:

Because it's not really Australia until you see the Opera House...

Can't send Kid to take pictures and not get a few sailboat pics.





This is our booth at the Trade Show.  It's Australia, so everything was upside down.

Kid says he had nothing to do with this, but I think he was trying to Cold Fusion that boulder...

I'm not sure if you noticed the Myachi in the foreground.  It is camouflaged, after all.

And here's an awesome Myachi that you can't get on our continent.

Hopefully Kid Myach will have more pics when he gets back.  I hear a rumor he wrestled a crocodile and boxed with a kangaroo while he was down there.  Hopefully he got pictures.  If not, heck, that's why they made photoshop.

Too Cool Not to Share

by Crazy Ivan

One of the coolest things about Myachi is the way that it inspires creativity.  When people get into the game, it seems like they always end up using their other talents along with their blossoming Myachi skill.  Whether that's Maverick revolutionizing Myachi foot tricks, Monk adding Myachi to his flair routines, somebody using their editing skills to put together awesome YouTube videos or someone using their love of writing to start a Myachi Blog, it seems like Myachi has room for every skill.

I just got a reminder of that and it put a smile on my face that should at least last the rest of the day.  One of our local fanatics mentioned to me the other day that he was entering a pinewood derby and using his favorite Myachi for the car's design.  When I heard it, I kind of half-begged him to bring it in when it was done.

Anyway, he just left and it was every bit as cool as he said it would be.  It was so cool, in fact, that I had to grab a couple of quick photos before I could let him get out of here.  So without further ado, I present to you the world's first Myachi-based pinewood derby car, the "Bubble-Wrapped Racer":

A good side view.  Don't know about you, but I'm totally getting the same paint job on my car.

So in case you're curious, no he didn't win the race.  There was, however, a prize for best design.  I'd tell you that he won that prize, but I'm pretty sure you already guessed it.

As cool as it is from the "passenger's" side, it's even cooler when you see the groovy addition he put on the "driver's" side:

Yeah... that's Myachi tag.  No powerloop, but hey, we can't complain.

I'm sure the addition of the Myachi tag didn't exactly help the aerodynamics or anything, but man does it add some style points.  Not sure if you can read it with the slight blur (and the poor resolution I had to use for blogspot to take these pics), but below the word Myachi it reads, "Made by Luca".  Afterall, it's not a work of art until you sign it.

Better Pics for the Art Contest Finalists

by Crazy Ivan

So I've received a couple of requests for better pictures of the finalists for the art contest.  After I saw how small the pics were rendered on the poll I could see why.

So here are some more detailed versions of our five finalists.  Voting is open until Monday at 3 so if you haven't voted already, be sure to check things out on Facebook and help out your favorite.

Finalist #1:

(Blogspot still hasn't gotten their act together so again, sorry about the weird sizes on some of these)



Finalist #2:



Finalist #3:



Finalist #4:



Finalist #5:



If you haven't voted, there's still plenty of time. It's best to vote through Facebook to ensure that your vote will be counted right away, but if you're not on Facebook, you can also visit the poll by clicking here.

Once again, thanks to everyone who participated!

Myachi Art Contest Finalists

by Crazy Ivan

First, let me start by thanking everyone who participated.  I was overwhlemed by the quality of the submissions that I received and it was really hard to whittle it down to a top 5.  Because of the volume of contributions, I had to be very selective on the finalists.  Some of the people who submitted photos didn't quite make the cut and it was really hard trying to decide which ones to exclude.

To everyone who wasn't selected as a finalist, thanks for your effort and hopefully you'll have better luck with the next contest.

Now it's time for the tough part.  It's up to you to decide who the overall winner is.  You can vote here or on Myachi's Facebook page.  I'm sure at least a few of our finalists will be convincing their extended family to vote for them so I might as well just embrace it.

So go ahead and scare up as many votes as you want.  Hopefully that will equal out and the best picture will come out on top.

But before we get to the finalists, let me share some of the runner-up photos with you.  I put together this collage to give everyone an idea of how many great pics didn't make the cut.

Pictured Above: Time, effort and dedication.

And now for the finalists...

Please submit your vote before Monday at 3 pm.  Winners will be announced no later than 4:00 Monday and the prize sack will go out by Wednesday.  Good luck to all our finalists!

Myachi Art Contest Update

by Crazy Ivan

Just a quick reminder all.  You have until midnight tomorrow night e.s.t. to get your Myachi art pics in for a chance to win a Drei.  We've only had a few entrants so far so there's still plenty of chances to win.  I included a few pictures that I've already received in hopes that they will spur your creativity.

Remember, you don't have to have a ton of Myachis to enter this contest.  Even one of two sacks taken in a creative and interesting way might be enough to earn you the win.

I will be announcing the finalists on Friday and we will choose the winner Monday afternoon based on your votes.  Good luck to all and thanks for the submissions!

Keep those pics coming!

Myachi Art

by Crazy Ivan

As you know if you're a regular reader of this blog or a member of the Myachi Forum, I've been in the midst of filming for a huge video project that will (hopefully) wind up as part of the bonus material in the soon-to-be-upgraded Myachi Instructional DVD.  Most of the filming process has involved following the guys around Manhattan and getting cool street surfing shots or getting everyone together for big shreds at the House of Skills or at the HQ.

But today and yesterday I've been capturing a different kind of footage.  Between shots of people throwing down and playing toss and catch, I wanted some cool shots of Myachis set up in crazy patterns.  These mini clips will fit in between major portions of the video to give it a fun kind of continuity.

What that means in the short term is that my back is killing me right now.  For the last couple of days I've spent an inordinate amount of my time hunched over and rearranging Myachis.  Figured I shouldn't let all this effort go to waste so I thought I'd share some stills from a few of the various backdrops I've created.  Take careful notes, by the way, because this ties in to another Myachi contest that I'll be unveiling tomorrow...

This is what things look like when they get run over by the Myachi Mobile...

You are getting very sleepy...

I think you're starting to see why my spine aches...

So whaddaya think this would net on E-Bay?

Look for more awesome pics to come.  Also be on the lookout for an awesome teaser video for the video project some time in the next few weeks.  I'll keep you posted!

(by the way, if you'd like higher quality version of any of these pics to use as wallpaper shoot me an e-mail)