Pound shop food test

This is where I test food so you don't have to!

I really can't resist buying the worst food stuff when it's endorsed by a character, what can I say? I haven't grown yet! So my cupboard is full of cool looking junk food that I can't eat cos they're out of date, but I'm gonna take this opportunity to eat the ones that are comestible and tell you how they taste and more importantly if they live up to their packaging!!!

Today's test is for people who want to transform a simple meal into a magical event… kind of…

So Tinker Bell got her spinoff movie and now, lucky her, she has become a pasta shape with her fairy friends! As with all pasta shapes you have to use a LOT of your imagination to recognize Tinker Bell but after a few minutes comparing the packaging photo and the pasta I spot her!!! Fairies are small and cute and now you can… eat them… not sure I would have liked that as a kid… I mean the pastas are actually fairy sized!
The taste: well this doesn't rock the boat, it's just really overcooked pasta with tinned tomato sauce, could do with cheese and seasoning, it tastes a bit of the tin but it's eatable if you're super hungry!

random figure bundle #1

Here is a set of totally random action figures found together ranging from 1979 to 2004 how did they meet?

The beauty of those is that they may be in "played in condition" with a bit of paint peeling and missing accessories but i love it cos can't help imagining a story; what adventures are they having? I think they've been on a quest with the reluctant good guy, the character who provides comic relief, the intense hero, the traitor, and the random one that gets killed off. Who do you think plays who?

As a huge fan of Harry Potter I was really chuffed to find a figure in this lot, it's a rarer one as well, from 2007, the more collectable ones are the magical creatures rather than the more common characters, you can find plenty of harry's on ebay, still they're not as common as one would think as they're not that old.

This harry is from Harry Potter and the order of phoenix from POPCO in his school uniform. The quality is very good I have to say (i'm one of those people that always say that toys used to be better in the 80s), it's really detailed and actually looks like the character in the movie, the jacket is made of softer plastic so you can lift it up which is a really nice touch! For some reason harry potter's leg articulation make him look very awkward, i guess it captures an adolescent super well!

Batman DC comics, 1995

Loved the batman movies especially the Tim Burton ones, I remember going to see Batman returns at the cinema and it blowing my mind away! the fact that it wasn't for kids felt amazing, a super hero taken seriously!!! being a kid  myself I also loved the animated series, I think it was one of the best cartoon of the time, it was really stylized and kept the dark elements!!! I mostly watched Japanese anime at the time but I still made time for batman.

the figurine is in good condition and it brings me back to playing at one of my best friend's who had loads of batman toys, he only  had one girl, Cat Woman from the 1993 Mcdonalds happy meal so I always played with her, I would love to have her!!!!!! arggg mcdonalds toys used to be so good!!!!!

Adventure people, fisher price 1979

This guy looks so 70s, he's got the hair cut and even platform shoes!!! He looks really funny with his chunky feet!! I guess he's an alien since his head is blue and apparently he's also a pilot. the figurine is pretty detailed and you can move his head up and down and side to side which is neat. He's got a bit of wear but looks so cool with his helmet and blue head!

Top 3 VHS of my childhood

In 1995 I got a VHS player, which to me was amazing as the rest of my household didn't really watch tv, it was really special cos they were still quite expansive at the time, and I basically spent the next 2 years meticulously reading the tv guide and setting up the vhs to auto record, I remember it being super complicated ( I was only 11 years old). In tv magazines they gave the sleeve jackets which i loved so that it looked "real".
So here is my top go-to videos, when I was ill and had to stay home or after school, I literally watched those 100s of times!!! I didn't matter that the TV was tiny and the image full of noise, it was the source of wonder and escapism.

 1. Beverly Hills Cop 1, 2, and 3
To me it didn't matter that the film was 10 years old, I found it hilarious (did I even get the jokes?)!! I don't really know why now and I haven't watched any of them in years, I'm not sure it aged well… when I met new kids and they asked who my favorite actor; as you do? I alway answered Eddie Murphy long into my teenage life!?

2. Star Wars trilogy episode IV,V,VI 
This one needs no introduction and is still a favorite of mine, what could match the sense of wonder and pure amazement of watching this as a kid! I especially loved all the different aliens and of course Han Solo, total dream boat!!!

3.Indiana Jones and the temple of doom 
I remember the day I realized it was the same actor playing Han Solo and Indiana Jones (my cousin told me) my brain nearly exploded!!! 2 of my favorite characters the same????? How amazing! In my defense I was really small when I first saw those films and I didn't really get the concept of actors, I actually thought that Indiana jones was a really old movie not a period piece! The temple of doom is my definite favorite, probably cos it got a kid in it, i loved Short Round!!! and gruesome food which to this day I still references as a bench mark.

So that was my top 3 (i know I cheated a bit with trilogies but i always watched them in a row), what about you what was your favorite VHS?

the mystery toy

over the christmas period I did some toy shopping and, as you do, I bought a bunch of random figurines mostly from fast food restaurants. They're not worth much but they always bring me back to that time, I mean how cool is the anthropomorphic chicken nugget? I would love to have been in the persons head when this idea came about! genius! Also Ronald Mcdonalds' friends, who have since then vanished, love them. They're not that easy to find anymore, so I bought them even if not in the best condition! Anyway, in the bunch there was this dog on a bike, which is cool cos I love old anthropomorphic figures, i vaguely remembered him from childhood but really couldn't remember who he was, did a bit of a search on the net to no avail… until Dora was like: "it' pico from chocapic!!!" how could I have forgotten!!! He was part of a collection of promotional figures to put on your pen and be the coolest kid in school called pico's adventures. this one came from a promotional comic book called Pico's adventure in America from 1995, i guess this id why he's on a bike. check out the whole collection here: "http://www.mokarex.fr/nestlechocapic_uk.html"

Pico became the mascot for nestles chocapic entering the long tradition of cereal animal anthropomorphic mascots (which between you and me i wasn't a fan of, much preferred chocopops) in the early 90s replacing a windmill, which was probably a good choice what a better way of selling stuff to kids than using man's best friend with the added bonus of having human features! Being a product of his time Pico wears jeans and trainers cos he's "cool" sort of i don't remember thinking i loved him back in the 90s but some must do cos he's still used to advertise the cereals. The figurine in itself is not bad quality for being a freebe although the whole thing is the same colour with roughly painted black wheels and yellow t-shirt. Are you a fan of Pico or do you much prefer Tony the Tiger?

the hunt for a cheap working playstation

So it's been a bit of a mission but I finally got a working playstation! The first I got was a Ps2 given by a friend, it seemed promising, it switched on, but disaster it wouldn't read discs!!! Since it wasn't mine i didn't want to open it to look at it, so I put it away for a rainy day project and started hassling my little brother to bring his one to the shop, that took a while! Finally he brings it and it wont even switch on! after a bit of research on the web, I learn that it might be full of dust, so this one also goes to the repare pile… fast forward to this morning when I decided that the PS1 was much more sturdy (having a working one at home) and I stumble upon a 2 pounds specimen!!! It's really dirty so I don't hold much hope but since it's cheap I take a chance as I get to the shop and plug it in, It works!!!!! the eject button is a bit brocken but aside from that it's perfect!!!! not bad for 20 years old tech! To celebrate the shop is hosting a Tekken tournament on saturday: https://www.facebook.com/events/735014863272130/ I let you know how it goes!

hello

so here it is my first post, what I want to blog about is basically my experiences in opening a shop and starting my own bizness with best friend and especially write about the weird and wonderful world of 80's and 90's toys!