Retro Spins: Asia - Alpha

Much like any good band, you can't have a good thing last. Such was the case with Asia.

The cracks began to show with the released of their second album, Alpha, and though it did reach platinum status, failed to perform critically. It was led by the rock anthem, Don't Cry, which in conjunction with radio play, also made a steady rotation through MTV.

Record Label, Geffen, insisted that members, Geoff Downes, and John Welton handle writing responsibilities for the songs, as they were credited with penning the hits from their prior album. This in turn isolated Carl Palmer and Steve Howe from the majority of the process, leaving them feeling like glorified studio musicians.

Upon completion of recording, internal fighting had made it impossible for the group to mix the album themselves. As such, this was taken on by producer, Mike Stone. However, the end result wasn't well received by the band, who equated the final mix to a wall of sound. After demanding it be remixed, which it was, the group still were displeased with its overall commercial sound. Unfortunately, time had run out, and the record had to be released.

Mmm...Messy.

With exception of Don't Cry, Alpha really doesn't offer anything worth writing home about. I do immediately notice the concerns the band had with its mixing. The album simply sounds loud. Like every instrument is coming at you at once, right in the face. It's not enjoyable. You want to push it away, and shout, "Get off me!"

Alpha simply isn't good. Now, I know that's typical for a follow-up album to a strong debut, you're also talking about seasoned musicians who already cut their teeth in other iconic bands. Frankly, when it's not all up in your face, it's simply boring. I really don't know what to say beyond that because I honestly don't have any positive or constructive criticism for it. It's just not good.

As for the band themselves, heavy drinking on Welton's behalf eventually ended up taking a toll on their touring, leading to him quitting or being fired (depending on who you ask) in 1983. While he would return in 1984, it was with the ultimatum that if he did come back that Howe be fired, which the members acquiesced with. Krokus guitarist Mandy Meter would step in to replace him for their 1985 album, Astra. However, the drama was far from over. We'll jump into that tomorrow.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
August 5, 1989

Ghost in the Shell (Toycom/Alpha)

Ghost in the Shell
Toycom/Alpha
2000

Want a challenge? See if you can collect all the Ghost in the Shell figures from Toycom/Alpha. You'll be pulling the hair out of your head in no time.

Despite being only two versions of the character, Major Motoko Kusanagi, Toycom and Alpha made sure to bombard the market with variant upon variant upon variant.

The first figure, Hard Disk has five different versions - Mind you, that's just in the USA. The second version, White Out, has a whopping seven! Again, that's just in the USA. To track down all of them, you'd have to first collect the versions from Japan. These are designated with the Alpha logo at the top left of the package. Then you'd have to hunt down the USA versions. These are denoted with the Alpha and Toycom logos at the top left.

For the sake of not going bald, we've only compile the USA version. There's no difference between the two versions with the exception of the company logo on the package, so unless you absolutely need every package variation out there, though it's still a ton of figures, you can probably suffice with just the ones listed below.

Hard Disk*Hard Disk (Clear)*Hard Disk (Repainted Previews Exclusive)

If Akira was the first Japanese animated film to take US shores by storm, then Ghost in the Shell (released in 1995) certainly fights a close battle to come in second. We saw the film way back in the day, and quite frankly we were as confused by it then as we are now - Then again we were never really big fans of reading our movies (AKA subtitles), so we admittedly didn't pay attention a lot of times when any form of Japanese film was on. For a full summary of the plot, we suggest you take a look at the film's Wiki page, "Here".

White Out*White Out (Black and Gold)*White Out (Black)

The figures aren't necessarily expensive, they're just difficult to track down. On average, they'll set you back anywhere from $6.00 to $10.00. We've even seen the figures sell for as little as a buck a piece. However, some of the more rare variants have sold for as much as $30.00 each. These more pricey variants include White Out (Red), White Out (Black and Gold) and White Out (Black).

White Out (Red)*White Out (Previews Exclusive)

For those interested in the basics of this line, yet are frugal with their money, you can also find two different two packs which were released. The first contains the standard Hard Disk and White Out figures. The second contains both of the Previews exclusive versions of the two figures. Of course both of these sets were Previews exclusives.

The two packs sell for roughly $10.00 a set. Unfortunately they're even hard to track down than the single packs.

White Out and Hard Disk Two Pack*White Out and Hard Disk Two Pack (Repainted Previews Exclusive)

We remember these figures selling for upwards of $100.00 each in their prime - With the exception of the basic Hard Disk and White Out versions. It's shocking to see how far they've plummeted in price. We wager that this was mainly due to Americans getting swept up in the Japanese animation craze to the point that they were willing to pay just about anything to get a crumb of anything that the Japanese would sprinkle on the ground around us.

Of course, back then getting your hands on any form of imported Manga was quite hard and expensive - Even on VHS. Now that it's far more common, we can understand the massive decline in value.

Join us next time when we take a look at Nintendo Power!

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Magic the Gathering - Alpha (Wizards of the Coast)

Magic the Gathering - Alpha
Wizards of the Coast
1993

Magic: The Gathering, or Mana Clash as it could have become to be known, is a card game created by Richard Garfield and released by Wizards of the Coast.  The idea for the card game came to Garfield as he was sitting in his bed complaining about Mondays...No, wait...Different Garfield.

This particular Garfield just a college kid when he first approached Wizards of the Coast with the concept of the board game RoboRally.  Peter Adkison, CEO of Wizards liked the idea of the game, but felt the company didn't have the resources to produce such a concept.  He instead mentioned that the company would be more interested in developing a "portable" game that could be played at conventions during down time.  Garfield later returned to the company presenting them with the concept for Magic, a portable card game, later changed to Magic: The Gathering when the company was seeking a patent upon release.

The game became an overnight success during it's first print run of 2.3 million cards.  It was so popular that the company even feared advertising it as they already couldn't keep up supply with demand.  Though it was widely received in the gaming community, many fans quickly started to complain about some of the more powerful cards which made sessions to one sided.  Thus began what would become a staple in the Magic community, the banning of cards.

The first series of cards came to be known as Alpha, or Limited Edition.  This set contained 302 cards, and set the premise for the game with its core functionality that it is still know for today - I.E. Tap mana to cast spells, creatures, artifacts and more.  As later sets became available, Wizards often times tried to add various gimmicks to improve the game, but in a lot of ways actually did more harm then good.  Gamers loved the core premise, and beyond that, much more wasn't necessarily needed.

The cards are broken up into various color sets - Green, white, red, blue and black.  In addition to that it features land cards, which are used to obtain mana, and artifacts.  From there, the cards are once again broken down by three levels of rarity - Rare, uncommon and common.  All of these various colors and rarities can have a combination of spells and creatures.  Below is every card from the now very hard to obtain, very expensive Magic: The Gathering - Alpha series.

It's safe to say that Magic: The Gathering is more popular today than it was when it was initially released.  Fans of all ages enjoy collecting the cards, building decks, and spending hours upon hours just playing and trading cards.  It's a game that has brought thousands, if not millions together, and most importantly, it's just good old fashioned honest fun.  Sure there are players out there who take the game a little too seriously, but for the most part, players are very grounded, well adjusted friendly, and enjoy the common bond they have with each other.

Join us next time when we take a look at New Gods!

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