sandy's notes

Places in Perth where you can find nerd games, nerd toys & nerd books – stuff like Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40k, sci-fi & fantasy stuff, board games, jigsaw puzzles, etc.

• Games Workshop – Warhammer 40k & LOTR (store finder on website)
• Empire Toys – figurines, comics & books (heaps of anime & manga stuff)
• Tactics – D&D, M:tG, role-playing stuff, miniatures, wargames, boardgames
• Al’s Card Shop – trading cards of all sorts
• Games World – board & puzzle games, not uber super nerdy
• Gamesity Harbour Town – same stuff as Games World

More to come as I visit and buy from them. :)

Learned while touring a jade factory in China. Hope it is useful for you. :)

There are 2 types of jade – hard jade and soft jade. Jadeite (hard jade) is worth more and is usually used for jewellery, while cheaper soft jade and agate (a type of jade) are used for sculptures because they are easier to carve.

To spot a fake is simple – jade has 4 properties to look out for: temperature, sound, texture and hardness.

Temperature
Real jade is cool to the touch. Plastic and glass, popular counterfeit materials, would not be as cool. This may mean you need a basis for comparison, but say if the ‘jade’ you’re touching feels warm under the display case lights, you can probably assume it’s not real.

Sound
Real jade makes a lovely TINK sound when you strike it. The higher the pitch of the TINK, the harder and better quality the jade.

Texture
Hold a piece of real jade up to a light. In the translucent parts, you should find a snowflaky texture. These are known as jade flowers. Over time, green jade worn next to skin gets greener – this is told in Chinese storytelling as “the flowers blossoming”, and happens quickly if the wearer is in good health. Holding marble (another popular fakey) and plastic up to a light, you would not see jade flowers. Meanwhile, holding glass up would likely present bubbles from when the fake jade was made.

Hardness
Finally, real jade is hard – yes, even soft jade. A diamond blade is required to cut it. So if you’re suspicious of a fake, scratch your jade against a piece of glass. Real jade would scratch up the glass and emerge unscathed.