Because I guess at some point, the folks making up the exhibits just start saying, “well, why the hell not?”
This was my very first experience with ironing of any kind.
Well, it *kinda* looked like a Decepticon. #transformers #deepcutreference #cliffjumper (at Buffalo Wild Wings)
Autobot-Decepticon Thumb War!
Transformers Classics Bumblebee
This is such a great figure, even more so because it’s more-or-less the last Bumblebee-who-looks-like-Bumblebee that we’re gotten.
A tidal wave of Transformers!
I miss the good old days sometimes.
John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in The Quiet Man.
I have a lot of love for The Searchers. But The Quiet Man is the best John Ford/John Wayne film, bar none. While this is not entirely due to the presence of Ms. O’Hara, she’s got a lot to do with it. Her chemistry with John Wayne is riveting, but that chemistry appears in most of their films together. The Quiet Man, however, has the elegance of a simple story, told well.
WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?
Rome. I’ve been there before, once, for a week. It was the week Pope John Paul II died. We were there for the funeral. Incidentally.
I could spend months being a tourist in Rome. The world’s greatest archeological treasures are butted right up against highways and Lamborghini dealerships. You can buy knockoff designer products steps away from Agrippa’s pantheon. The contrast is fascinating and I can’t get enough of it.
Today’s Big Picture post is on two of my favorites: sugar and salt.
Although modern techniques often bring sugar and salt to our tables, these two simple treats for the palate are still harvested and processed in traditional, if not ancient methods the world over. Over 160 million tons of sugar is produced annually in well over 100 countries, most of it processed from cane in tropical countries. The world uses 240 million tons of salt every year in everything from food to industrial applications. Gathered here are images of the toils that result in two of our favorite flavors. — Lane Turner (32 photos total)A cut stem of sugar cane stands in a field in Saraburi province, Thailand on May 9, 2012. Thailand is the world’s second-biggest exporter. (Dario Pignatelli/Bloomberg)
Along these lines, if you’ve never read Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky, it’s a treat.
By way of the Allspark’s Facebook page, we can bring you the first images confirming that a toy of a Generations Deluxe Class Dreadwing is in the…
What I love about modern Transformers collecting is that now, when we’re getting new toys that are based on a character’s appearance in the ongoing IDW comic series, it’s a fanservice treat. Whereas in the 80s, it was completely the opposite, in that characters were introduced in the Marvel Transformers comic at breakneck speed to support the toy releases (and old favorites whose toys were no longer on sale were mercilessly eliminated).
Uncle Scrooge is eyeballing my gold!
Well that’s just Prime… Really… He’s just sitting there.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TRANSFORMING ROBOT TOYS
PART 1 SUNSTREAKER
When when looking at the history of Transformers and in fact transforming robot toys themselves, the yellow Autobot car Sunstreaker is the place to start.
The roots of this particular toy stretch back to the 1977 toy line ” Microman Command “, specifically the 1978 ” Cosmo Car Series 3 - Cosmo Countach “.
Avalable in yellow and red the modified Countach could assume a pseudo robot mode, a concept that was soon to be revisited by Takara designer Kohjin Ohno.
1982 saw the release of ” Diaclone Car Robots No. 1 Countach LP500S “, Mr. Ohno had created Takara’s first car to robot transforming toy.
The toy was available worldwide under various guises, notably ” Diakron ” in the US throughout 1983/84 but it was about to gain enormous popularity when Hasbro re-branded the figure in 1984 as the ” Autobot Warrior Sunstreaker. “
Just one other Transformer from the original 1984 toy line shares this pre-Diaclone lineage, look out for part two of this feature to find out who.
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker