May | 2024 | Huxter's Words

As a lover of the Commodore 64 (where would I be without it? It gave me a career and a life) I have always wanted to do this:

If you know, you know.

If you don’t, this is the input prompt for the Commodore 64. The C64 prints “READY.” and on the next line a flashing square (rectangular in NTSC versions) cursor awaiting your command.

To make this, I grabbed a screenshot much like the above, then imported it into a vector graphics program and drew the letters and cursor in vector lines. This is then fed into my Cricut software as cut lines, and I used a nice sky blue Permanent Vinyl material.

I cut the shape, then culled out the plastic I didn’t need (this is known as weeding) and then pressed a sticky transfer sheet onto the design and took it to my car where I peeled off the plastic’s backing paper, applied the design with the transfer sheet, then carefully peeled up the transfer sheet leaving the design behind.

And lest anyone worry, this is a fairly permanent material. Several years ago I applied a similar material to a side window in the shape of the Perseverance Rover logo, and it’s still on the car.

It has a few heat cracks now, but they appeared long after I applied it.

I also placed a Huxter Labs logo on the opposite side window from the Rover logo.

For anyone who wants the vector file of the READY. C64 prompt, for some reason WordPress does not allow .svg vector files.

However, if you right-click on this link and SAVE AS, it will download the .SVG file:

http://huxter.org/files/Ready_For_Cricut_Import.svg

Clicking on it will view the vector line drawing, but right-click-SAVE AS will download the file for your use.

For some years now I have been creating toys under the Huxter Labs and Huxter Industries names. The back story is that Huxter Labs (or Huxter Laboratory Industries) now outfits the Adventure Team in an unofficial capacity. And for years I have been using this logo:

So where did this come from?

It is a simple evolution of the Adventure Team Logo.

The Adventure Team Logo is an A and a T in black on a red field. It has been in use since 1970. It has been revived in more recent years by Hasbro as a Classic Collection series of figures and accessories, and even used on a few Sigma Six figures.

Every GI Joe Adventure Team enthusiast knows and loves this logo. So I decided to make a logo that would evoke the original while being wholly my own.

First, I removed the upright that forms the vertical part of the letter T: