Howdy, lovers and fighters! We’ve got silent auctions ending in about two hours, so here’s an update for those who may not be in the know:

Teddie Uppercut Print

This print of Persona 4’s punny comic relief will fight for a place on your mantle and in your heart. Seriously, it’s adorable—check it out!

Epic Fox Hat

With this stylish cap, you will be the one who decides what the fox says. Knitted by Tania Richter, it’s fashionable and functional and sure to keep you warm all winter.

Desert Bus Dice Dragons

Holy mother of bus, these guys are adorable. These miniature dice dragons are made in the Desert Bus colors and will be the perfect companions during your next D&D campaign. With them, you’ll have the confidence and good luck to pass all your checks and go critical on every hit you make. They’re so cute you’ll be unstoppable!

Signed Matrix Script

This is a big ticket item, folks. The fine folks at MomoCon donated this copy of the Matrix script used at a reading by Dante Basco, Maurice Lamarche, Tress Macneile, Jess Harnell, Rob Paulsen, and Randy Rogel. If you caught their hilarious rendition of everyone’s favourite bullet-time movie, you’ll want this signed script!

We’re all incredibly humbled and overjoyed to be a part of this next giveaway item. Our very own photographer extraordinaire Andrew has worked tirelessly this past year to put together a gorgeous photo book of last year’s Desert Bus moments, and it’s been signed by all the drivers and volunteers who were there along the way! This professionally printed book will be a treasured piece of memorabilia and is one of only three copies on Earth—no more will be printed.

How can you get a chance to obtain this incredible set of memories? Donate $8.22 or any multiple thereof for the next 45 minutes, until 12am, and you will be entered for a chance to win this book! Every multiple of $8.22 is an entry, so donate however much you want!

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! If you don’t win this donation drive, don’t despair; a smaller, softcover version of the Desert Bus 7 book will be available for preorder on the LoadingReadyRun store starting on Monday. The unsigned softcover will only be available for preorder during Desert Bus, and a portion of all proceeds will be donated straight to Child’s Play/Desert Bus. But if you want the hardcover SIGNED edition, donate away!

Any second now we will be auctioning off this frankly intimidating Stuffed Head of Drogon! You won’t want to miss a chance to mount one of the Mother of Dragon’s children on your wall—it’s a prize worthy of any dragon hunter.

Auction begins at 11pm!

So, let’s recap the last 8 hours or so, shall we?

Matt (who else?) was crowned Bus King!

Jer modeled a one-of-a-kind bespoke Roscoe P. Jangles onsie

We had a video game trivia contest, hosted by none other than living trivia legend IQ 2000! Sorry Leelee, a bit too slow!

That old desperado Morgan showed up for an impromptu 64k reunion show!

Have you heard about the incredible Desert Bus 7 retrospective book? Featuring the phenomenal photography of official DB photographer Andrew Ferguson, two limited edition, hardcover copies, featuring lots of exclusive content, signed by the DB7 crew, will be given away or auctioned off before the end of DB8!

And if you don’t happen to be one of the lucky recipients, fret ye not! A softcover edition should be available through the LoadingReadyRun store from Monday through Sunday! Partial proceeds from all sales will go to Desert Bus!

Wizards of the Coast is a company that hardly needs introduction. The force behind titanic fantasy franchises Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, the latter of which launched its much anticipated 5th edition earlier this year!

We are honored to have Wizards of the Coast as a sponsor this year. They have donated a cache of prizes fit for a king this year, including, but not limited to: three Khans of Tarkir t-shirt packs, a SDCC Planeswalkers + Garruk’s Axe package, the “You could probably be playing more Magic” lot, the D&D starter set, and three rare Magic uncut foil sheets!

Thanks WotC!

Ian Horner & Johnny Blakeborough

Driving: Saturday, Nov 15 10pm – Sunday, Nov 16 10am

Johnny Blakeborough

Driving since: 2012

Points: 1

Crashes: 1

When not at Desert Bus, he can be found:
My full time job is supporting faculty, staff and students using technology at Vancouver Island University.

Special Skills:
Video conferencing in special guests. Waxing my moustache.

He’s a total geek for:
Films, technology, comics and board games.

Claim to Fame:
I run the Vancouver Island Short Film Festival, now in its 10th year, it is the longest running and best attended short film festival on Vancouver Island.

Biggest fear about driving for DB8:
That I will crash and not have a great excuse like “William Shatner was talking to me while i was trying to drive” like I had in DB 6.

If he was reincarnated as a fruit or vegetable he would want to be:
Rutabaga, why wouldn’t you want to be a rutabaga?

Favourite Cheese:
Pepper Jack

Doesn’t want you to know he listens to:
Taylor Swift

His “moves like Jagger” are more like:
your annoying cousin trying to break dance at the wedding

To prepare for driving the bus he is:
stress test my headphones

What symbol does your superhero cape have on it?
a dance break button

You find yourself in a bustling Dwarven ale house. The sour aroma of mead fills the air as you sit down across from the old sorcerer. “Are you here for the quest?” he asks. You nod your head and he continues: “the questing adventurer needs many tools to survive. Yes, armour and weapons, of course, but this is the most important.” He lifts a piece of canvas to reveal a stack of glowing magical tomes.

“This,” he explains “is the D&D Lover’s Lot. It contains a Player’s Handbook, a Monster Manual, a Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure, a Rise of Tiamat adventure, a Tiamat Pinny Arcade pin (which was available only to attendees of the PAX Prime 2014 Acquisitions Inc. panel), and three D&D stickers.”

As you leaf through the books, you realize that they have each been signed inside by the Wizards of the Coast D&D team. “The set comes in a dashing and very sturdy Deconstructed D8 tote bag designed by C.M. Galdre” announces the sorcerer.

“If you wish to obtain this enchanted prize pack, you must donate an increment of $5.55 before 10pm Victoria time — only 8 minutes from now!”

We may live to regret this, but we’re asking for your best video game trivia questions! I’m going to select a few of the best and subject the Desert Bus crew to a VIDEO GAME QUIZ!!

Now, to help you along, here are some tips from a professional trivia host (yes, really)!

1. We’re NOT looking for the hardest question you can think of. Aim for something in the “medium” difficulty range. The last thing we want is a battery of impossible questions and no one knowing any of the answers!
2. A great question makes people go “Ohhhhhh, of course!” when they hear the answer. It should be something they will have heard of!
3. Following up on the previous suggestion, the question should explain its own relevance. Players should never be asking themselves “why would I care about this”?
4. Try to build in as many clues as possible in the question. Even if someone doesn’t know the answer outright straight away, they should be able to at least make a decent guess based on what you’ve given them!

Send your entries to [email protected] and use the subject line “Trivia”! Get them in by 8pm Victoria time! 

Oh yeah, and, JUST ONE QUESTION PER PERSON PLEASE! So pick your best one!

Our winner will receive the Scholarly Gamer pack, a set of academic texts on the scholarship and history of video games (ludology, some have called it)!

For my money this certainly ranks among the coolest items we have this year!

SDCC Planeswalkers + Garruk’s Axe package #1

This magnificent polearm is a replica of Planeswalker Garruk’s signature axe! The prize pack also includes teh San Diego Comic Con Planeswalkers!

We’re auctioning this RIGHT NOW!