International G.I. Joe figures on card

I have never really bothered to have unopened toys. As you saw a few days ago, I'm actually quite the opposite. I make an effort getting old toys - and I open them.
Still, the effect of collecting toys is that you usually end up having many several unopened examples, but I never made it a goal to be a so called MOC/MISB collector (Mint on Card, Min in Sealed Box).

There was, how ever, one thing I wanted to have in my collection. Carded Joe figures from several different countries. And I made the conscious decision og chasing down a few selected pieces. No really rare ones, and certainly not "mint". In fact, many of them are really banged up, with poor cards. I don't care, I just like to have examples from different nations - like the Norwegian carded Action Force figures.

The pictures are not the best, as my camera was acting up. And in the future I hope to take the pictures these deserve. But I'll do the run down on my small, but planned carded collection. So hop on in.

How to make Bouillabaisse

This is my mother's recipe of a dish she calls Bouillabaisse. She's a skilled cook, and more willing than most others to try out new recipes, and new ways of making old  recipes. With that in mind, I have no idea if this actually is Bouillabaisse or not, but it was a really tasty dish using various seafood.
Relatively quick to make, this was a dish that could be a welcome change on a boring Monday.

Read on!

Figure Friday: Avengers will be Assembled

The first two sets arrived today by mail. It's the smallest of the Marvel Superheroes sets, featuring Captain America on a bike, and Iron Man chasing Loki and Hawkeye. And I'm very excited. In fact, I'm saving these for a special occasion: my summer holiday which starts in two weeks.

If you saw the latest Avengers movie, you obviously see that these sets are based (if somewhat loosely) on the movie. I'm ok with this. When I first heard about Lego doing Marvel, I was a bit annoyed that they would be based on the movie - because what if the movie sucked? It would have been a minor problem, because it's still Lego after all. But there's a reason I prefer Original Trilogy Lego over Prequel Lego.

You know how it is though, the movie was amazing, definitely better than most Avengers comics ever made (which I talk a bit about here), and almost to the point where I consider the movie to be canon for anything Avengers. And the result today, this last Friday in May, is that I have to restrain myself from opening these boxes. And it's really no point in doing so. I can probably build Lego and do my real work at the same time. But I like to save them for that moment when I have no other distractions.

And distractions I have, which is why this Figure Friday article will be slightly shorter than what you are used to. I will leave you with a few impressions based on the unopened boxes of these Lego Superheroes sets:

• Iron Man wasn't chasing Loki, it was Maria Hill and Nick Fury. Would you be excited for minifigures of the SHIELD directors? I would.

• Loki is featured in three of the five Avengers sets. I don't mind, he looks to be a fantastic figure. Cape, helmet, staff, great detailed print.

• There are two versions of Iron Man, this is the Mk.6 he had in the first half of the movie.

• The Cosmic Cube is a standard, translucent 1x1. I like that. Iron man's repulsors are round, flat 1x1 in translucent blue.

• TLG (The Lego Group) have gone with stickers for the vehicles. AFOLs (Adult fans of Lego) seems to be torn on this matter. I'm in the camp that would prefer printed bricks instead of stickers, but I can see how it's convenient if you plan on using the bricks for something else.

• "Comic Adventure Included". Interesting. Makes me wonder if we'll also see a Marvel Lego videogame.

• The two aliens chasing Captain America have different faces, and are actually kinda creepy for minifigures. Well creepy in a cute way of course. They are still minifigures after all.

• Captain America has maroon colors, just like in the movie. But here, with his maroon bike, maroon shield, maroon gloves. It's all very obvious how red it should have been, and how very maroon it actually is.

• And regarding the motorcycle... Doesn't it vaguely look like a scooter? Something that teenagers or old men would drive? Technically, Capt. Steve Rogers could fall into both those categories, so I guess it makes sense. But I'd liked to have seen him on something like this instead:

Enjoy your weekend people.

Lego Hawkeye

I had initially planned for an exciting recipe today, but since we're actually celebrating the 80th anniversary of Lego (the 22nd), I felt it was more appropriate to do an article on Lego.

Most of my readers know I really like the superheroes. Even if I don't collect that many superhero action figures, they're my main interest. It also goes without saying that I like the bricks. So when Lego decided to start the Superheroes theme, you can imagine how excited I was.
I have a few of the bigger sets on their way from Lego's online shop, so I can't show those yet. But I managed to get hold of a promotional sample of Hawkeye. I felt this was very adequate, as Hawkeye has been featured a few times before here in this blog, and he's probably my favorite Avengers character.

Read on for a few more pictures.

Transformers Box Art part 1

I showed an example of box art last time I wrote about bootleg robots.

Read on for a lot more!

Figure friday: assembling the tomahawk

Every summer for the last ten years, I've treated myself with a big toy of some sort. It has been everything from the box sets from Marvel Legends, to the big Lego buildings. Today, as last year, it will probably be a robot of some sort, or maybe the always relevant unassembled G.I. Joe vehicle.

There's something about assembling a Joe vehicle. It's relaxing, soothing, almost meditative - In addition to it being incredibly fun. Taking the time to study how it was produced, and how it's assembled. Noticing details in paint and sculpt. The idea of the toy being completely unused, the thought of playing with a pristine example of a toy. The thought of the screaming elitist collectors who think that a toy like this is best left inside the box.
Open your toys people!

And here's a few pictures from me assembling the mighty Tomahawk a few years back.

It had to happen: Zombie Lego.

I have several friends who are really into the whole "living dead" thing. And, I have seen that the zombies have been increasingly popular the last decade, with comics like The Walking Dead, movies like Shaun of the Dead, games like Left 4 Dead. I'm clueless about zombie media though, I just stumble upon it from time to time. In fact, I actively try to avoid zombies because I think it's a bit too silly. It has never fascinated me. Until now.

These pictures should all be well known to most zombie fans by now, but I'm sharing them anyway, as it's the first time I've been interesting in anything zombie related. Click in for more.

Misc.

As I leave this world (for a few days), remember to eat healthy and open your toys. I will have an update on Wednesday and Friday, but they will be extremely simple.

Honey roasted nuts. Perfect in cakes and chocolate

Inside today is a really varied selection of pictures. Some just doesn't warrant an individual article, some can be considered teasers for future articles and some were leftovers from other articles that I still wanted to share. Enjoy.

Figure Friday: Bootleg Metrotitan / Metroplex

The term "bootleg" is a bit silly, when you use it on toys. Most of you know where it comes from: Illegal items hidden in the boot, like knives and bottles. When I grew up, I knew the term through illegal tapes of concerts. Today, I associate the term with toy replicas.
I've talked about bootleg toys many times, and I suggest you use the "bootleg tag" to read other articles. It should be apparent that I actually like bootleg toys - as long as they are sold as just that: not the real deal, but a copy. The big problem occurs when people are being fooled to believe it's the real deal. My fellow blogger, Heroic Decepticon has stated that even he - a legitimate expert in everything Transformers - fears the counterfeit, bootlegs, copies. It's a minor problem when the bootlegged toys are low profile Gobots valued at $2. But when you're talking about toys worth hundreds, even thousands of Dollars, the problem is a bit more apparent.

Me, I still appreciate the bootlegs. They are fun toys you don't have to be scared of playing with. And as I tend to open my toys, pose them, play with them - and as I take absolutely no pride in my Transformers collection (like I do with my G.I. Joe collection), I really don't mind if my robot is "real" or not... To a certain degree.

Today, I will show one of the coolest items in my robot collection, the Bootleg Transformers G1 Metroplex. Now, consider this part one (of at least three) about Metroplex, because things have changed ever so slightly since I took these pictures.

Read on for more about Bootleg Metrotitan / Metroplex

Figure Friday: Bootleg Toys part 1

Reposting the first of a trio of bootleg toy articles. It got lost, and yeah. Here it is again. Part 2 can be found here, and part 3 is here.
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This will simply be an introduction to bootleg toys - something that in many ways split the community of toy collectors. Some like them, many hate them. But are bootlegs really destroying the big manufacturers, and most importantly - how big is the impact on the secondary market?

Expect none of these questions to be answered completely today, but read on for a couple more words.

Fried eggs in sweet pepper

And there I was, ready to take pictures of a nifty trick for your fried eggs, when the batteries in my camera went out. I apologize for lousy phone pictures, but I have made it up to you by including a completely irrelevant, yet cool picture inside. So hop in for breakfast and b...

Tips for dinner: Pork Tenderloin with Salad

This was something a friend made this weekend, and it was worth sharing. Pork tenderloin is a lot cheaper than beef, but is in my opinion one of the tastier parts of the pig. Along with bacon, obviously.

Give the tenderloin a quick round in the frying pan, just to add a crust. This will contain the juices, and it's definitely worth doing, as pork will easily become too dry. Rub lemon, garlic, salt and pepper on the tenderloin, and put it inside the pre-heated oven at 125° C, and use a thermometer to time it. When the thermometer is between 70-76  °C, the tenderloin is done, depending on how pink you want the meat. Let it rest for a few minutes after you take it out.

Salad of cucumber, tomato, sweet pepper, feta cheese, olive oil, basil.
Enjoy.

Figure Friday: Toys on display

It's May the Forth, and ideally, I should have had a long Star Wars article, because - for some weird reason - it's become the unofficial Star Wars day. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Star Wars geek as big as any. I own scripts of the original movies, I camped outside the cinema to get tickets for TPM, and I silently celebrated by wearing SW clothes.
And, as readers of this blog has seen, various Star Wars toys show up from time to time.

But that will have to wait for another day.

Today, though, I'll show a picture I found on an old hard drive. It's not mine. I don't know who took it, who owns the toy, or where I found it. But it's a cool looking collection. Varied, colorful, neatly displayed.

Recognize some of these toys?

How to make Poached Egg

I promised on Monday to show how a poached egg is made. And the entire process is inside, in a series of pictures. It's definitely not complicated. If anything, I'd say it's the easiest way of preparing an egg. What you do is to heat up water until it boils, then turn down the temperature a bit. Crack the egg into the water. Let it boil for 5-6 minutes.
It looks more messy than it is, very little of the egg white actually drifts away. I like the poached egg. It reminds me of a fried egg in its shape, and I use it as such right below. But it's really a boiled egg.

Click in to see the pictures.