Robot Claw – Page 187 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

Let’s Trade Cards (Part 3)!

June 13, 2021

It’s been a while, but it’s time for some more random packs of trading cards!

These Pocohontas cards (1995), obviously based on the Disney film, are somewhat bland, mostly due to the somewhat ugly style of the animation. The set contains a selection of impressive chase cards such as etched foils and lenticulars, but the only unusual card in my pack was a standee. This set was overproduced and whole boxes of them can be found for only a few dollars.

Occasionally you open an pack from decades ago and find that all the cards have stuck together, like in this pack of Power Rangers cards (1994). This is due to the inks becoming slightly adhesive over time, and essentially ruins the cards (you can see the damage on the creature card at the lower left). This is a by-the-numbers series with unremarkable but flashy ‘rainbow’ chase cards in every pack.

Desert Storm (1991) is a somewhat infamous series all about the first Gulf War. Several companies made card sets based on this topic, but Pro Set packs were most common. The cards are packed with info but it’s a massive set (300+ cards) that would have benefited from judicious editing. Entire boxes of this set are common as dirt and can be bought for as little as $2 (for dozens of packs) so the cards are basically worthless.

Now these are nice! Released in 1993, these San Diego Zoo cards feature lovely photos of animals with information on the back. They’re well made and would have been a nice set for younger collectors. The set had a few extremely rare (1 in 40 packs or fewer) hologram chase cards and a single (even rarer) ‘tekchrome’ card.

This is a weirdly ugly Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy set from 1994 is based on the book (not the TV show) and features bland original art that misses much more than it hits. I struggle to imagine the market for this series, which was released during the heyday of speculation and market saturation. As usual the hologram chase cards were too rare (one per box or so) and based on images I saw online weren’t much prettier than the basic cards.

Webkinz are stuffed animals that come with codes usable on an online site to ‘play’ with the toys online. In the mid 2000s four trading card sets were released, and as you can see they’re execrable. The are technically playable as a TCG though, so maybe I should buy a box and bring it to Oz so Adam and I can have a Webkinz tournament next time I visit?

After this bounty of dazzling packs you may think things couldn’t get any better… stay tuned 🙂

Lake George 2

June 12, 2021

As we seem to do once-a-year, we drove up to Lake George today. Our goal: play some mini golf!

The course is called Goony Golf and is as tacky as they get. But it’s fun (as mini golf always is) and the day was lovely.

We’re not that good at this, and rarely were able to make par! But somehow we each got at least one hole-in-one and Kristin even got two!

Of course we both also managed to get three and four over par on a few holes, and when all was said and done I ended up with an impressive eight over par and kls a bit more than that 🙂

We then drove into the village and walked around a bit. It was a bit unusual to see almost no-one wearing masks and to be honest felt like the pandemic had ended (it hasn’t)!

It was lovely to enjoy the sun and the lake and gyros for lunch. And I even found time to spend some money and win some tickets in an arcade 🙂

It was a good day!

Ramen 7: Reboot!

June 7, 2021

The long-awaited day has arrived: I found more chicken ramen! A lot more in fact, so the series will now resume. Let’s go…

Tradition Noodles Soup Chicken Flavor (290 Calories, 6 g fat, 960 mg sodium)

This is a kosher product which has artificial taste. My hopes were high since the king of all chicken ramen (Gefen) is similar, but when I opened the cup I was surprised to see no flavor packet. It was just noodles, with perhaps the slightest trace of flavoring dried onto them.

I followed the instructions and it cooked well, but there was just no taste. It was just hot water with flavorless noodles in it. The definition of empty calories. Was mine a defect? Who knows, but I didn’t eat it and based on what I did try this is an easy 0/10.

Tradition Ramen Noodle Soup Chicken Flavor (360 Calories, 16 g fat, 1540 mg sodium)

Let’s try the brick version of the same product. Compared to other bricks this seemed to have a lot of calories/fat/sodium so the taste potential was high. Given the seeming absence of flavor in the cup I was surprised by the size of the flavor pack in this, which was about twice as big as in other bricks.

They noodles cooked well and everything seemed good until I opened and added the flavor. It smelled absolutely awful. Our entire kitchen was filled with a vile smell like rotting vegetables and it took quite a bit of fortitude for me to actually try the finished product.

Surprise surprise, it was dire. It tasted as bad as it smelled: more like dirt than chicken. It’s hard to understand how this is even marketed as a chicken product, or who would enjoy this. One bite was more than enough for me! Since it was worse than the cup I have to give -5/10

Gefen Noodle Soup Hearty Chicken Flavor (300 Calories, 13 g fat, 1200 mg sodium)

I have more products by Tradition, but after the two above they will have to wait. It was time to try the alternate flavor of Gefen that recently appeared in stores.

‘Hearty chicken’ it says, but the nutritional info is identical to their plain chicken flavor, and aside from the nifty purple packaging everything about it looks the same, including the contents.

I eagerly cooked it, waiting to see how hearty it was compared to the other. I even used the included fork for the full experience! One taste was all I needed: this is exactly the same as the ‘normal’ chicken Gefen cup!

But that’s hardly a critique, since a Gefen chicken cup is the King of Ramen. This therefore is the king in another gown, just as regal, and just as delicious. Without a doubt, this is another 10/10!

Next installment you can look forward to some more unusual (but still plain chicken) products, as this taster ventures into culinary areas he may have never visited before. Stay tuned…