History research for the win! I definitely respect the fact that the writers for the show put in the time and effort to do this kind of research.

As an aside, yay for Herodotus!~ I loved reading Herodotus for his discussions of fantastic animals. His work was a boon for my senior thesis on the separation of legendary creatures and fantastic animals in classical consciousness.

Some fun-facts for you all from the griffin lore presented in the episode!

A quick rundown first: in Earth antiquity, Griffins were perceived as real animals and likely originated somewhere in what is now Kazakhstan and the Altai Mountains. It's generally accepted that travelers along the Silk Road through this region observed the exposed fossils of Protoceratops (whose skeletal structure and size does resemble a bird-faced lion-like creature. Read Adrienne Moore's 'First Fossil Hunters'. Very interesting book that discusses other creatures often seen as real, as opposed to 'legendary' in antiquity, such as giants and the cyclops).

What's the point of all that?

Well, the Altai region was rich in gold, and these fossil exposures often contained deposits of gold dust and fragments, giving rise to the idea that griffins hoarded the gold and used it to line their nests.

The other callback to classical mythology in the griffin lore of the episode is the creature that stole the treasure: as the classical stories go, griffins in antiquity battled one-eyed warriors called 'arimaspeans' over the gold that they guarded. It was supposed that these warriors were the source of the skeletal remains of 'griffins' seen along the Silk Road.

All in all, major kudos to the writing staff for their knowledge!

Coincidence; it's a subtle reference to the way griffins were discussed in antiquity (as in, Earth antiquity). It was believed they were real animals that lined their nests with gold dust, which was in itself a misconception as the supposed 'nests' contained gold sand and fragments blown into them from the gold-rich Altai Mountains.

But is that -really- living?

I swear to god some of you people have no concept of the meaning of the phrase 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'.

On top of seconding everything Keyfeathers said, I was one of the vendors who paid for table space at Sydneigh. If we're talking -just- admission prices, regular attendees are looking to lose about $12 of a one-day ticket after they get their '70c-in-the-dollar' refund from Sydneigh. Vendors are losing not only a minimum of $30 depending on how many additional assistant passes they were made to buy, or table space they ordered, but also all the money they've laid down on their stock and supplies. In my case, and I'm not exactly an anomaly here, that was significant enough to be more than just an inconvenience or something to just shrug off. I know some vendors have laid down a lot more than me. Distance attendees are out the costs of their flights and hotels. Distance -vendors- are out those costs AND their stock/material costs, and any extra they paid for additional freight.

These guys from Salvagecon have asked us for -nothing-. Nothing but our presence. They're doing this for the community out of their own pockets in a gesture that exemplifies what the community they're supporting prides itself on being about. I'm frankly disgusted that some entitled, narrow folks would have the gall to laugh at their gesture just because they have a preconceived notion of what a convention is supposed to be. For the record, -many- regular conventions here had stints of only being one-day affairs. They became weekend-long events through demand, not because of some rule that says it's not a con if it doesn't last longer than a day. Even the first PonyconAU was originally going to be only one day.

These guys are champs and I'm glad I have something to look forward to again this month.

For the record, I can also confirm that she is available in physical stores here in Australia, along with the Equestria Girls Zecora and 'lingere' Chrysalis XD

Yaaaaaay a new favourites collection.OH YES.

DERPY IT IS.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulnomad/8460531992...
Photo cred to Idle Hands.

Yaaaaaay a new favourites collection.

Now how about TRU releases the first one in Australia already :|

Yeah! Ponies are guest-starring on the Snow Show today!

Geeze, some people ;D

Which was actually part of the problem Animaniacs faced while it was current too. Apparently it was so much more popular with the older demographic than the one it was marketed to that advertisers whose commercials played during the show's block got upset. Rather than re-market the show for its actual audience, the network just outright axed it.

Because, y'know, cartoons are just for kids, apparently. *cough*