JP's Leap Day Omelet

Happy Leap Day! Use the chance to do something you've never done before! A day like this only comes around every four years. So why not take some risks? It doesn't have to be something dangerous. It could very well just be a new recipe, using a few different ingredients, or maybe even removing an ingredient.

Today, my friend JP shows us how to work a "low-risk change" into his lunch, as he shares his recipe for egg white omelet.
It looks like a really tasty one, specially with the inclusion of vegetables and cheese filling. I'm a bit weirded out by the lack of egg yolks. I always  use the entire egg for my omelets, but I would be a hypocrite if I didn't like the idea of altering recipes. Specially on a day like this!


Read on!

The Secret Origin of Transformers

Today, I'll simply share one of the most interesting series of articles I've read. For many of my fellow toy nerds, this is probably not shocking news, but I suspect not nearly enough people have read this.

This is comic writer Jim Shooter remembering the initial stages of Transformers as an idea turning into comics and cartoons.

Intensely interesting, and told by a true legend who was smack in the middle of the madness. Yes, that's right - creating the Transformers seems to have been a truly mad experience.

http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/06/secret-origin-of-transformers-part-1.html

http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/06/secret-origin-of-transformers-part-2.html

Figure Friday: Bootleg toys part 3

Hey, I know this is a delicate matter. And I believe I covered some of my thoughts on reproductions and knock-off robots the first time I wrote about Bootleg toys.
There, I used the KO Lord Zarak - the head of Scorponok as an example. The original came with Scorponok of course, but the KO version came in a set with nine other small Headmaster heads.
And even though they are somewhat controversial, I'd like to show some pictures of them.

Read on for toys I could never afford if they were authentic.

How to make Guacamole

A friend shares his recipe of guacamole.

Read on!

Discoloration part 2: The Angry Sun Gods Attack

You see that teal plane in the upper right corner? That's the RVF-25 from Macross Frontier.
It's been sitting on my shelf for a long time, and all though I'm usually fully aware of the toys I have on display, something has gone horribly wrong behind my back. I must have failed to notice the disaster that has been sneaking up on me - and more specifically - the RVF-25.

It was badly discolored. It's a tragedy!

I had to hurry to get it back in its package, and as I was in a panicked state of mind, I forgot to take pictures of it. But believe me, it's bad.
The white/light gray VF-25F (pictured) went back in its box as well, just in case.

I know, I'm exaggerating, and using words truly unfit to describe sun-damaged toys. I can of course just buy a new RVF-25, and I think in the near future I will do just that. Maybe even hope Bandai release the RVF with the updated construction.
But I'm really annoyed by discoloration. And it worries me a bit, how I will be able to display some of my toys.
You see, I truly believe toys are meant to be seen, and played with. Not be stored in a case, inside a closet, never to be seen.

With Lego, and to a certain extent smaller action figures, I know what the cure to discoloration is. It's the heroic warrior Hydrogen Peroxide, H2O2. I just submerge the pieces in a solution of Hydrogen Peroxide, and the discoloration will go away. But the RVF-25 is too big to fit in a jar with H2O2, and it's too complex for me to disassemble - I think.

I had planned on saving the RVF-25 and the rest of the Frontier Valkyries for my 100th blog entry, but now I'm not so sure anymore.

So... Throw me suggestions to what the 100th entry should be about, if it's not transformable jets from Macross Frontier!

Figure Friday: The Ten Best MOTUCs

Masters of the Universe Classics is the only contemporary toy line I'm collecting. There are good reasons for this. I still pick up the occasional Lego set, and random modern Star Wars figures. I'm likely to get some of the new G.I. Joes, and the new line of TMNT coming this fall is very interesting.
But with MOTUC I try to get every figure they make. I find myself liking every figure to a certain extent. Some I like better than others, naturally. But all in all, these are just toys that give me so much. They look great on the shelf, they are fun to play with, display and take pictures of, and it's the very apparent nostalgia thing, as I had many of these characters as a kid.
Sure, the toy line has its issues, with quality control and customer service, but I still think the toys are worth it.

Last week, during the New York Toy Fair, we got an idea of how the rest of the year will be, and besides a few weird characters and unfinished designs, 2012 looks to be incredibly strong for this toy line. Fisto and Sorceress are arriving soon - two figures that look to be excellent, Stinkor looks amazing, Slush Head too. Thunder Punch He-Man is quite possibly my favorite variant of the main hero, and the announce two-pack featured two incredible unnamed snake men. I wasn't sold right away by Frosta and Spikor, but these were both prototypes, and may still see changes.
All in all, I suspect 2012 may be a great year for Masters of the Universe Classics, if we just focus on the figures that are being made.

So with that, I felt the time was ready to take a retrospective look at the figures. And what better way to do that than with a top 10 list?

Read on for the ten best figures in the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line!

Toys and Pickles

I'll not pretend I'm doing magic here. I'm realistic. My blog is amusing, and on occasion informative. But it's nothing out of the ordinary*.
But it works as a sandbox, it is a playground. I can say what I want, and I can show pictures of what I want. If that happens to be pictures of toys and food, then who's to stop me? No one!

Read more for more pictures of toys and pickles. Because why not?

More Burgers

This was initially meant to be just a remake, with better pictures of the same burger I made last week. But when I was missing an ingredient, this turned slightly different.

Read on for more burgers!

Figure Friday: Bootleg Toys part 2

I have admitted my love for bootleg toys in the past. I mean, it's not like I prefer bootleg toys over the real deal, not at all. But I love the idea of silly, cheap, low quality substitutes filling that role as disposable alternatives to what can be extremely expensive toys. Sometimes, the lines are blurry, almost scary. Like with the Transformers Lord Zarak I showed a few months ago. This toy is not meant to fool those in search for a real, genuine G1 Lord Zarak, but it very well could fool someone. It had that kind of accuracy and quality, but it's still just a counterfeit.
Today, I'll show you the absolute polar opposite of the bootleg Lord Zarak. Quite possibly the lowest quality toy I own, a completely meaningless bootleg, copying a toy that no one bothers giving a single thought.

Read on for the bootleg of a random, red Gobot!

How to make Skyrim Sweet Rolls

Did you play Skyrim? Good! Read on. If you didn't play Skyrim, then you have two good things waiting for you: An amazing game and a pretty good recipe for Sweet Rolls.

I gave the indication a few weeks ago that I had tried my luck on the Sweet Rolls. I know many other both amateur and semi-professional bakers have tried to replicate the delicious cake from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and as a huge fan of the game (currently lvl 55 Breton destruction mage/DW fighter), I wanted to have a go as well.

I tried two different methods for making the Sweet Rolls. One that seems to be the preferred way of doing it, by making cup cakes and shaping them into what looks like the in-game cake. And one that is a slightly modified cinnamon roll. The last one is obviously staying more true to the fantasy game idea of a cake that's rolled.
Read on if you are a true Dragonborn and want to make Sweet Rolls!

Composing a burger

In any other situation, I would be embarrassed to show pictures of such low quality, but the importance of the topic is far too important for me to not write about it. This is just one of those cases where no one can be silent, not a single person will show ambivalence, it affects literally everyone!

How do you compose the perfect hamburger?

Read on for low quality pictures, high quality burgers and choices that will echo through eternity and decisions that will affect this world as well as other realities.

Figure Friday: NERF Maverick

Click read more to see two extremely silly pictures.

I have no idea what I'm doing (cappuccino)

I have ranted about coffee before, or rather the lack of critical sense with many coffee drinkers. But there is a reason people have gotten used to drinking mediocre coffee.
It's extremely difficult to make it good.

Read on to see me trying to make cappuccino!