Hello, and welcome to this Week of the Geek! My apologies for this one being a bit late, some unforeseen circumstances got in the way of my usual Saturday posting, so instead you get a Mother’s Day WOTG. Speaking of — Happy Mother’s Day to all whom that applies to in any capacity at all. Hope you had a fun day celebrating all you do!

Lots of news to get through today, and down at the bottom, an extra cool treat you won’t want to miss. Our Geek Maker interview this week is Ed Maranville with Wyrmwood Gaming, who told us a little about how he and his friends turned their hobby into a full-time business (making gorgeous gaming products!).

Movies

As of this year, the sci-fi classic The Fifth Element has been thrilling fans for twenty years. To celebrate the anniversary, Mondo is releasing the soundtrack on vinyl for the first time. There will be two versions, one white with and orange stripe and one “Super Green” (only 500 copies available), but the artwork included and tracklist are all the same. Yes, it will definitely include the iconic “The Diva Dance” opera number, but sadly vinyl doesn’t include a ‘repeat’ function so we can be in awe of her voice for hours on end.

Jareth, Sarah, Ludo, Hoggle, and more are back in a Labyrinth coloring book, set to be released in October of this year. The coloring book joins the ranks of a recent spate of Labyrinth releases, including a highly detailed Jareth figure and an LP.

Remember last week when Ryan Gosling whet our appetites for Blade Runner 2049? Warner Bros. certainly delivered this week with the full trailer, featuring a lot more Jared Leto, and a rather determined Gosling. The visuals look amazing, and fans have responded well to the look of the movie so far.

“You’re the Spiderman!” Here’s your first look at a brand new @SpiderManMovie clip, exclusively from the #MTVAwards airing right now! pic.twitter.com/KAUYYlXz6E

— MTV (@MTV) May 8, 2017

A new Spiderman: Homecoming gave a closer look at Peter Parker’s interactions with his friends outside of the spider suit, showing fans some of the humor they might expect from the movie. Fans seem to be pleased that the tone of the movie so far looks like it will fit in well with the rest of the MCU.

A post shared by Paul McCartney (@paulmccartney) on May 13, 2017 at 11:18am PDT

Paul McCartney filmed a cameo for the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and while we still don’t really know what his character will be, we got a look at him in full costume when he posted it on social media this weekend. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is out May 26.

Television

The latest comic book television adaptation to be announced is a fan favorite: Judge Dredd. At least, probably. We think. Basically, the show is in the early development stage, but no network is attached yet and we’ve heard nothing of actors who might be involved. Right now we just have a title — Judge Dredd: Mega-City One.

Fans of Torchwood can rejoice… but don’t get your hopes up too much. Sadly, the series isn’t returning in television format, but we will be hearing more from Jack and Gwen in a new audio play series from Big Finish. The first part of the series will be released in August. One particular line from the press release has fans’ attention: “…including an appearance by someone who has to be, has to be dead…”. Could this be the return of Ianto, whose death prompted a fan protest that included mass amounts of coffee being sent to BBC offices? I, for one, certainly hope so.

Other Stuff

Fans of Harry Potter were aghast to learn this week that a rare prequel, hand-written on a notecard by J.K. Rowling, was stolen in a burglary. The police and Rowling are both appealing to the public, asking fans to not buy the story if offered and to turn in anyone who approaches them about it. The postcard was originally offered for auction to benefit a charity.

Geek Makers: Wyrmwood Gaming

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Ed Maranville, co-founder of Wyrmwood Gaming, a company that creates high-quality gaming products including dice trays, dice towers, deck boxes, and more, for when a Crown Royal bag just isn’t cutting it anymore.

What is your history in the geek community? How long have you been into tabletop gaming?

Personally, I am a lifelong gamer, though I got more serious about tabletop in recent years. I started as most kids of the 80s did, by playing lots of video games. In middle school and high school I got introduced to Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, among other games, but often had trouble finding people to play with. In the past 10 years or so, though, I’ve gotten heavily into board games & RPGs – and now I get to call it market research!

Most of the people in our company are gamers of some stripe or another – whether that’s RPGs, board games, video games (both console and PC), and there’s a weekly game night (at least) right in the shop. We’re really fortunate to have a great staff that love what they’re doing, and we work to keep it that way.

Can you tell me a little about how Wyrmwood got its start?

We started the company as a bit of an experiment, after Douglas and I reconnected (we were childhood friends). He and his brother Ian, in the intervening years, had apprenticed as fine furniture makers, and we found the idea of taking that level of craftsmanship and applying it to our tabletop hobbies compelling. It made a lot of sense to us, as lifelong gamers, and we thought it might strike a chord with others, as well. We started an Etsy shop, and began offering Dice Trays and Deck Boxes. Our big breakthrough came with the Dice Vault, which was our first totally original product, as well as our first Kickstarter campaign. The demand greatly exceeded our expectations, but we still delivered on time – a point of personal pride for us today. The campaign marked the turning point where Wyrmwood went from a project we started to our actual jobs – it also allowed us to get into the con scene. That winter we attended our first show as exhibitors – PAX East. It was a nice moment, as I’d been an attendee of PAX East from the show’s beginnings, and when we started the company, wondered if maybe someday we’d exhibit there. Little did I know how soon that would happen!

After that, we enlisted Eric Dupuis to help with the business side of things and round out our skill set, and the core of the company was complete. The next big turning point for us came in 2015, with our Dice Tower Kickstarter – that campaign allowed us to bring on employees, and move to a new space. We’re still there today, and our company has grown from three people to thirty.

So that’s a quick overview of the history. But as far as what we believe and why we did it? The bottom line is that we take the hobby seriously, and we respect and share our clients love of games. Gaming has grown up, and so have gamers. The evidence is everywhere – D&D campaigns that have been running for decades, the explosive growth of serious board gaming, more conventions with a bigger focus on tabletop. But I doubt I have to prove it to any of your readers – no doubt when they look across a game board they find some of their most enduring friendships. We use our craft to honor that commitment. As gamers we spend countless hours investing in the hobby in one way or another – building, testing and playing Magic decks, painting an army of miniatures, running campaigns in D&D, or learning, playing and teaching the latest board games – or old favorites. When someone invests in a piece of our work, it’s a way of commemorating that dedication.​

Ethical wood sourcing seems to be a huge focus at Wyrmwood. Why is this important to you, personally or as a company?

​It is indeed a priority for us, as it is for many people – the environment is increasingly a concern for people, and we respect and share that concern. Wyrmwood is intimately tied to the natural materials we utilize; since we don’t dye or stain our woods, the beauty of our products comes directly from the materials themselves. As such, we feel we have a responsibility to consider the ethics of how these materials come to us. To that end, we avoid critically endangered woods. In addition, we donate 5% of all sales of the most rare exotic woods we offer back to an organization called Rainforest Trust, which works to conserve these and other species. It is our hope that these trees survive and flourish for generations to come.

I initially discovered Wyrmwood through Critical Role. Has sponsoring such a popular show in the gaming community had an impact on your business?

Absolutely! Critical Role has been huge for us, and we’re very grateful to them for the exposure. We’re excited for their continued success, as well. It’s great to see the hobby have such traction that not only are more people than ever playing role playing games, but so many are tuning in to watch a group play. Granted, that certainly has a lot to do with the unique talents of the Critical Role cast, but it’s still amazing to see.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about Wyrmwood?

There are a couple things we do like to highlight. First, that we’re very interested in feedback and suggestions. A lot of our products have happened as a direct result of suggestions from clients. In our first Kickstarter survey, we asked what we should do next. People overwhelmingly said they wanted us to make a dice tower… so that’s what we focused on. A GM Screen was also high on the list, and finally, this year, we launched that campaign as well.

If there’s something you’d like to see us create, let us know! If enough people are on board, we’ll be happy to do it. And, if it’s a little too niche, that’s okay – we can always take it on as a custom commission.

Our Craftsman’s Promise is also important to mention. We stand behind our work, and if it ever lets you down – whether by breaking, wearing out, or just not being up to your standards somehow – we want the opportunity to make it right. All you have to do is send us an email, and we’ll take care of you (and cover shipping). It doesn’t matter what happened – if it broke under normal use, or from being dropped. Whether the post office did it, you did it, or your dog did it – whether it happened the day you got it, a couple week later, or a couple years – just get in touch. We want everyone that owns our work to be thrilled. Our reputation is built on an uncompromising stance on customer satisfaction, and we take that extremely seriously.

As a last note, we’re always working on something, so if you’re interested in hearing about us, please sign up for our mailing list. We announce things there, from new product launches or Kickstarter campaigns to upcoming convention appearances and more. And don’t worry, we don’t spam your inbox daily.​ You can also keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter.

That’s it for this Week of the Geek! To get this weekly newsletter in your email to help you stay on top of geek happenings, look for the subscribe box in the top right corner of this page (or down below this paragraph, if you’re on mobile), and be sure to share with your friends. See you next week!