Category: Niko’s Soap Box

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Necron

“Come. Enter the Zero World you so desire.”

I wouldn’t call Necron the Main Antagonist of Final Fantasy IX but, he is the final boss. He isn’t behind Garland or Kuja either as a puppet-master. Necron sort of just appears out of nowhere at the end of the game, and tells us he will destroy all life as Necron has watched over Kuja and all of his actions throughout the story. And, based his opinion around Kuja.

Not anybody else, what would happen if he based his opinion around Hippaul? Would he assume that the whole world needs to get in shape? That’s probably what would happen if he based his opinion around me, too!

But, enough about me.

Necron has no alliances, no back story, no nothing. Necron doesn’t even have an entry in the Ultimania!

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New Hires For Inefficiency

We got some new hires.

They’re not the greatest, but what would you expect from a Kindergartener, and a Pre-Schooler. I got my two little ones “helping” out. And, they enjoy it. But, at the same time it took our time of 30 seconds to preparing an order to 5 minutes, or so, maybe more.

But, they love it.

They sit next to me, as I get things ready for them.

We start off with putting the card in the sleeve, then in the top loader. Put tape on the top loader, then tape the top loader to the paper, where I write the thank you note. After that we put the card in the envelope, where they lick the envelope to seal it. This part is their favorite for some reason. I’ve had to replace a couple of envelope after they were done. After that they get to put a stamp on the envelope and off it goes to where ever it’s destination is.

So, if you ever receive a card with 2 names on the note, just know that the 2 little ones helped put your order together.
Child Labor at it’s finest. Best part is that they get paid in Bulk Pokemon cards.

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Wave 1 : Ifrit EX (1-004C)

It’s time to turn the heat up with Ifrit, because Ifrit EX, has no sure signs of pointing out which Wave Ifrit is. So, we’ll have to look at the two guides below to help us out. Let me go ahead and give you the links from the guides from the introduction post that will help you guide your way.

“Distinguishing Final Fantasy TCG Opus 1 Wave 1 from Future Waves”

“Differences in Opus I Wave 1 Printing vs Later Waves”

They both look the same, don’t they?


But, there is tiny differences that we can point out. The Crystal being the first one. The one on the Wave 1 is closer to the top edge than the Wave 2 Ifrit. Also, the colors on the card are a little different as well. Ifrit’s body has a lighter shade for Wave 1 and darker for Wave 2.

And, lastly the Category box. If you look closely you can see the shading of the blue color, Wave 1 has a white tint, while Wave 2 looks like it has a purple tint.

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Still Catching

Well, I started playing Pokemon again as well.

It’s a fun game, not as good as FFTCG, but it is fun. Plus it has an online mode, where I can play a game after I put the kids to bed. And, since they like Pokemon, we usually get packs every now and then, and I have so many Code Cards lying around. Figured I might as well go and use them. I just got to track them down.

I’m just using the Arcanine deck available at the moment with a couple of changes to it. Added a couple more Charizards. And, I don’t really use them to attack. Just for their abilities. The one Charizard doubles your Fire Energy on your active Pokemon, and the other Charizard, when it evolves you can add up to 3 Fire Energies to your other Pokemon.

It’s a simple deck to pilot, and it’ll keep me entertained until I finally build that Mimikyu deck. I just got to use up those codes and get all the cards I need.

Now, if only FFTCG had an official online way to play.

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Banon

“Couldn’t hold out!? I have a bad feeling about this… ”

The leader of an anti-Imperialist group, the Returners. Banon grows curious about Terra after Locke brings her to the Returner headquarters. Believing that Terra can get them enough power to take on the Empire directly, he asks if she will negotiate with the Espers on his behalf.

That pretty much sums it up.
Banon joins your party for a little bit. And during that whole time, you need to make sure he doesn’t get KO’d. If he does it’s game over for you. You’d think the leader of the Returners would be at least a decent warrior, but no, all Banon does is talk, and cast Pray. That’s pretty much what I had him do, didn’t matter if he was at full health, Banon is casting Pray non-stop.

Later on Banon disappears. And we do not hear from him again. It does happen after Gestahl forms an “alliance” with the Returners. My guess is that Gestahl had Banon secretly executed after the rest of the Returners left Vector. Or he might have retired, and left to a secluded island where all he does is fish and drink all day.

What do you think happened to Banon?