Sophie Pilbeam 🏳️⚧️
@sophiepilbeam.bsky.social
Dr. Sophie from YouTube & Ballarat,💍@allisonbyproxy.bsky.social
Views expressed here are my own.
Found online at:
youtube.com/@SinclairLore
youtube.com/@lance-tv (RIP)
instagram.com/sophie.m.pilbeam/
Views expressed here are my own.
Found online at:
youtube.com/@SinclairLore
youtube.com/@lance-tv (RIP)
instagram.com/sophie.m.pilbeam/
That canceled TV show you'll never stop thinking about.
December 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
That canceled TV show you'll never stop thinking about.
Where are the books, though??? There's only three "Barr" authors in Penguin's catalogue, and none of these are YA fiction.
December 9, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Where are the books, though??? There's only three "Barr" authors in Penguin's catalogue, and none of these are YA fiction.
So.
The guy who wrote "Sound of Freedom" is also called Rod Barr, and I thought, you know, this makes research annoying, because there are two Rod Barrs, and...
...oh God, it's the same guy.
SOUND OF FREEDOM AND POWER PIGGS WERE WRITTEN BY THE SAME GUY
This also confirms the books were real!
The guy who wrote "Sound of Freedom" is also called Rod Barr, and I thought, you know, this makes research annoying, because there are two Rod Barrs, and...
...oh God, it's the same guy.
SOUND OF FREEDOM AND POWER PIGGS WERE WRITTEN BY THE SAME GUY
This also confirms the books were real!
December 9, 2025 at 1:03 PM
So.
The guy who wrote "Sound of Freedom" is also called Rod Barr, and I thought, you know, this makes research annoying, because there are two Rod Barrs, and...
...oh God, it's the same guy.
SOUND OF FREEDOM AND POWER PIGGS WERE WRITTEN BY THE SAME GUY
This also confirms the books were real!
The guy who wrote "Sound of Freedom" is also called Rod Barr, and I thought, you know, this makes research annoying, because there are two Rod Barrs, and...
...oh God, it's the same guy.
SOUND OF FREEDOM AND POWER PIGGS WERE WRITTEN BY THE SAME GUY
This also confirms the books were real!
Okay so one of the Power Piggs' creative minds apparently wrote nine - NINE - children's books prior to 1992.
Granted, it doesn't say they were ever *published*, but I'm curious.
Granted, it doesn't say they were ever *published*, but I'm curious.
!["Rod [...] returned home to write nine children's books"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:n66zb42s7xq6brjdqyvsuk3t/bafkreignexreb5h2arurieb74aue77jmxlcoqj3su4xnepglimfz7edc5y@jpeg)
December 9, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Okay so one of the Power Piggs' creative minds apparently wrote nine - NINE - children's books prior to 1992.
Granted, it doesn't say they were ever *published*, but I'm curious.
Granted, it doesn't say they were ever *published*, but I'm curious.
Another example of the magazines having higher quality art than the manual - that looks so much nicer!
I thought maybe the manual scan I had was bad, but I found a photograph that shows the same dark, high-contrast look. So the manual just looks bad, I guess?
I thought maybe the manual scan I had was bad, but I found a photograph that shows the same dark, high-contrast look. So the manual just looks bad, I guess?
December 9, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Another example of the magazines having higher quality art than the manual - that looks so much nicer!
I thought maybe the manual scan I had was bad, but I found a photograph that shows the same dark, high-contrast look. So the manual just looks bad, I guess?
I thought maybe the manual scan I had was bad, but I found a photograph that shows the same dark, high-contrast look. So the manual just looks bad, I guess?
LORE ALERT! Nintendo Magazine System (UK) has what look like official character bios!
December 9, 2025 at 10:14 AM
LORE ALERT! Nintendo Magazine System (UK) has what look like official character bios!
Apropos of nothing, this robot was the mascot of an Australian games store called Hitech World, and I think it looks cool.
December 9, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Apropos of nothing, this robot was the mascot of an Australian games store called Hitech World, and I think it looks cool.
Don't know if this is a mistake or not. There were a *lot* of companies involved in animating TMNT, so it's feasible NOA was going to work with one of them, but this is the first I've heard of it.
December 9, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Don't know if this is a mistake or not. There were a *lot* of companies involved in animating TMNT, so it's feasible NOA was going to work with one of them, but this is the first I've heard of it.
sizzle reel officially confirmed!
December 8, 2025 at 11:53 PM
sizzle reel officially confirmed!
Okay, one more Barr Entertainment oddity. This wacky filler quiz is from a 2004 issue of EGM, and the trademark registered by Barr Entertainment is from 1996.
EGM lists this as "real".
So, was this the actual pitch for the game, or did they just extrapolate based on the name being real?
EGM lists this as "real".
So, was this the actual pitch for the game, or did they just extrapolate based on the name being real?
December 8, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Okay, one more Barr Entertainment oddity. This wacky filler quiz is from a 2004 issue of EGM, and the trademark registered by Barr Entertainment is from 1996.
EGM lists this as "real".
So, was this the actual pitch for the game, or did they just extrapolate based on the name being real?
EGM lists this as "real".
So, was this the actual pitch for the game, or did they just extrapolate based on the name being real?
Here's the ancient Pigg ruins, btw.
Fountains shaped like cavorting humanoid pigs goes pretty hard; I can imagine less cartoonish versions fitting neatly into Castlevania / Demon's Crest as a disturbing background detail.
Fountains shaped like cavorting humanoid pigs goes pretty hard; I can imagine less cartoonish versions fitting neatly into Castlevania / Demon's Crest as a disturbing background detail.
December 8, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Here's the ancient Pigg ruins, btw.
Fountains shaped like cavorting humanoid pigs goes pretty hard; I can imagine less cartoonish versions fitting neatly into Castlevania / Demon's Crest as a disturbing background detail.
Fountains shaped like cavorting humanoid pigs goes pretty hard; I can imagine less cartoonish versions fitting neatly into Castlevania / Demon's Crest as a disturbing background detail.
So we now have POWER PIGGS LORE about ancient temples and ancestor spirits.
Also, our sources can't settle on what colour the wizard's robe is - he's blue in Nintendo Power, black in the manual, and purple in the game.
Also, our sources can't settle on what colour the wizard's robe is - he's blue in Nintendo Power, black in the manual, and purple in the game.
December 8, 2025 at 12:23 PM
So we now have POWER PIGGS LORE about ancient temples and ancestor spirits.
Also, our sources can't settle on what colour the wizard's robe is - he's blue in Nintendo Power, black in the manual, and purple in the game.
Also, our sources can't settle on what colour the wizard's robe is - he's blue in Nintendo Power, black in the manual, and purple in the game.
Okay, Nintendo Power must have been given promotional artwork - they're clean and don't have the text boxes and page numbers that the manual does. There's also stills that don't show up in the manual at all, like Bruno doing his butt slam.
December 8, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Okay, Nintendo Power must have been given promotional artwork - they're clean and don't have the text boxes and page numbers that the manual does. There's also stills that don't show up in the manual at all, like Bruno doing his butt slam.
OKAY GOT IT, Sega Power #84. Clearer screenshots, and we can see that the Wolff (canon spelling, like Pigg) uses a totally different palette.
December 8, 2025 at 11:44 AM
OKAY GOT IT, Sega Power #84. Clearer screenshots, and we can see that the Wolff (canon spelling, like Pigg) uses a totally different palette.
UNRELEASED MEGADRIVE PORT? It could just be mislabeled, but the palette in the (admittedly very poor quality) screenshots looks very different.
(Mean Machines Sega #46)
(Mean Machines Sega #46)
December 8, 2025 at 10:42 AM
UNRELEASED MEGADRIVE PORT? It could just be mislabeled, but the palette in the (admittedly very poor quality) screenshots looks very different.
(Mean Machines Sega #46)
(Mean Machines Sega #46)
WE HAVE STRUCK OIL. Barr Entertainment origins and plans revealed!
Cincinnati Enquirer, 19 November 1992
Cincinnati Enquirer, 19 November 1992
December 8, 2025 at 10:06 AM
WE HAVE STRUCK OIL. Barr Entertainment origins and plans revealed!
Cincinnati Enquirer, 19 November 1992
Cincinnati Enquirer, 19 November 1992
Power Piggs reference in The Tribune, March 31, 1994.
December 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Power Piggs reference in The Tribune, March 31, 1994.
Does anyone have any idea what this design is supposed to be? It's drawn too consistently to be a random squiggle, but what *is* it?
December 8, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Does anyone have any idea what this design is supposed to be? It's drawn too consistently to be a random squiggle, but what *is* it?
Couple of bites! Let's go.
December 7, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Couple of bites! Let's go.
For example,
December 5, 2025 at 12:38 PM
For example,
Learning about science, with Mr. Science
December 3, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Learning about science, with Mr. Science
Another one, "Dave's Dilemma" (Alien Encounters #11, 1987). Two men land on an all-women planet and discover the fruit is HRT. Ends abruptly on "ha ha kissing a dude" straight boy grossness, but you can imagine a sequel where they get over it I guess?
December 3, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Another one, "Dave's Dilemma" (Alien Encounters #11, 1987). Two men land on an all-women planet and discover the fruit is HRT. Ends abruptly on "ha ha kissing a dude" straight boy grossness, but you can imagine a sequel where they get over it I guess?
New Old Trans Comic, "There'll Be Some Changes Made" (Weird Science #14, July 1952 - about half a year before Christine Jorgensen first makes headlines, if you're playing along).
December 3, 2025 at 7:48 AM
New Old Trans Comic, "There'll Be Some Changes Made" (Weird Science #14, July 1952 - about half a year before Christine Jorgensen first makes headlines, if you're playing along).