As I cautiously approached Mr.AP my heart was full or regret and hesitation.

“Honey, I think I did something awful!”

“What is it?” asked Mr.AP with sudden worry in his eyes. As I slowly opened my palm he exclaimed “Oh my God! IT’S SOOO CUTE! What is this?”

“It’s, it’s … Hitler.” I whispered, almost inaudibly.

“It’s so cute!”

Let me clarify two things before I get into my mea culpa.

First of all, I am the kinda gal who once bought a Sally Hansen nail polish whose catchy name I neglected to check before the purchase. It turned out to be called Aria Red-y? I got so incredibly upset over the name (which in fact is the Hungarian equivalent of Aryan), that I took it right back to the shop. I am still shaken by the experience!

The other thing is that Mr.AP and I love board games. It’s a joint passion of ours. We play games with or without theme, ones where we work together or where we butt heads in an epic battle for those oh so juicy victory points! But hey, if you’ve read this blog for some time, or even if you’ve just stumbled upon it (well hello there, welcome! Nice of you to stop by!) this will not be much of a surprise to you. You’d have seen that I’ve written a couple of posts on the subject.

One of the games that we’ve recently started playing is Black Orchestra. It is a cooperative game historically set in Nazi Germany. The aim of the game is to cooperatively conspire to successfully create and carry out an assassination attempt against Hitler.

Black Orchestra is a phenomenal game. The theme, the mechanism and the esthetics of the game are superb. However, it is not really compatible with my eye sight. Especially, that little cardboard chit that has the name of our arch nemesis on it. The font size, style and the colors chosen for it are really hard for me to see. So I thought I’d create a little figurine, a standee that would replace it, one that I’d be able to spot from a mile away. Which, let’s face it, if you are a sniper lying in wait, would come in really handy.

And here is my regret, my disappointment in myself. The figurine, I have to agree with Mr.AP, looks kinda cute. For Pete’s sake, he looks like a cute grandpa! I created a cute Hitler!??

I think it has to do with the fact that I used wooden beads. It’s roundness gives it this chubby, cherubby appearance. And that isn’t even affected by the tell-tale mustache! I really don’t get it. Mr.AP suggested I’d make him a military hat, but that just made it even worst. It looked like the baby was out on a field trip to Wrigley Stadium! And the thing is, if the figurine is too cute, if it looks like a baby, will I be able to assassinate Baby Hitler?

Well, as it turns out, I am not the only one out there with this dilemma. I was shocked to find a poll conducted by the New York Times Magazine and this satiric blog post, were writers and readers were debating the very same subject.

I think my saving grace will be my life’s mantra: don’t judge the book by its cover! When playing I’ll have to remember, the baby might look kinda cute, and might be cooing its head off, but it’s rotten evil on the inside.

Note to self: When you put the game away remember to put the figurine into its own resealable plastic baggy – away from its deputies – and close it real tight! Just to make sure…

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