The Le: Whoa. A super-duper rare! Ummm, can I get some pictures?

Seth: I don't see why not. In fact, here are pictures of three cool pieces from my collection:

1) The Spider (note that I purposefully obscured the point value and dial in the photo as a means of protection against potential counterfeits.)

2) The paintmaster Jason Mical (BrotherMagneto) and I had done for an "Superman Red Son" April Fool's prank that never came together.

3) A preproduction sample of the Spectre.

As an added bonus that I just stumbled across over the weekend while cleaning up some papers, a scan of the sketch I did for the sculptors working on the Spectre. If nothing else, that should give players insight into why I'm a writer and game designer rather than an artist!

The Le: Do you have any advice for people who want to get into the games business?

Seth: Speaking specifically to game design, but with some things that might apply if you're interested in getting into the business from an art, programming, or business angle:

First, if your heart is really in it, games will be a part of your life for a long time before someone pays you to do anything with them.

Playing lots and lots of games is a good start, as is tinkering with home rules and mods for your favorite games. Then try and look at your favorite games in new ways, especially the ways you don't (or don't like!) to play. Then do the same thing for as many other games as possible.

Make your own games--but try to keep them as simple as possible. You learn as much from designing a new twist on Checkers as you do trying to recreate Grand Theft Auto on your own. Completed, solid projects of your own are also nice portfolio pieces when it comes time to try and actually get a job.

Read about games and game design. The 100 BEST books I was talking about earlier are nice, easy reads that have some fantastic tidbits hidden in them (like the secret history of how games came to use hex-shaped maps.) Another trio of books I'd recommend are Raph Koster's A THEORY OF FUN, the terrific ART OF GAME DESIGN by Jesse Schell, and the hefty but incredibly smart RULES OF PLAY by Eric Zimmerman and Katie Salen.

Most importantly, don't forget to stock your toolbox with something other than games. It's those outside influences that will make your work interesting and innovative, and help you give your work its own flavor even when you're working inside the (often) pretty tight dictates of a project.

The Le: Any Final Words for the HeroClix folk out there reading this?

Seth: Working on HeroClix was an incredible job, in no small part because the game has such great and dedicated players. I'm thrilled to see that even when there aren't new expansions coming out there are still games and tournaments being played every week, just because players love to play. As long as a game still has players, it's never dead--so I expect HeroClix is going to live a long, long time.

Thanks to each and every one of you. My paychecks came from WizKids, but it was an honor to work for you.