She said it was good 🙂
The Mysterious Soup Fish
September 5th, 2023Stardisc Trek
August 27th, 2023A few weeks ago I purchased this in an antique store:
A sealed box of Star Trek: TNG ‘Stardisc coins’! Released in 1994, this was a product I don’t remember but likely would have ignored at the time since ‘stardisc coin’ is just another synonym for ‘Pog’. Yes, this is a box of Star Trek Pogs!
The box contained 36 packs, each of which has six Pogs. I paid $21.75 for the box, or $0.10 per Pog. Would you have bought it?
The packs promise much: “A must for the true Trekker”! Note also the spelling of ‘colour’ and the tease of rare gold versions. I tore open the first pack with some dread…
Each pack contains three cards, each of which has two Pogs. Immediately this seems to be a second-rate product, since you need to punch the Pogs out yourself. This is tedious, and even after opening only two packs I hardly wanted to start.
Each pack also includes a checklist and instructions on how to play a ‘game’ with the discs. These are of course laughable, and I very much doubt the writer ever believed anyone would play it.
The checklist is important since the Pogs themselves don’t have any name on the back, which is unusual since they are uniquely printed (with a number) so they could have easily added the name. Also it’s worth mentioning that the quality control wasn’t great, and more than a few of the ones in my packs were damaged:
The back of the wrapper includes this laughable statement:
At a 1/72 rate, I had a 50% chance of opening the gold Pogs, so I was surprised that I got them in only my third pack! Here they are:
At this point you’re noticing that each card contains two Pogs, which means that for the set of 60 there’s only actually 30 unique cards (since the same two are always on the same card). So in the box of 36 packs, there are 108 cards which could – in theory – net more than three full sets. These statistics seem to hold up, since I was able to complete the set in half the packs, and I completed a good quality (no damaged Pogs) set in about 2/3rds of the packs:
This is a terrible product. The print quality is high, but who wanted these? No one ever played the game with them, and ‘collectors’ would have just put them in a box and forgotten about them immediately. They’re just a ‘thing’ that has no use or even purpose, manufactured and sold simply to profit from that bizarre Pog craze of 30 years ago.
I’ve got a few unopened packs left. If you want one let me know. Even if you don’t, maybe I’ll send you one anyway 🙂
Ramen Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy
August 26th, 2023Some weeks ago, when I was sorting through boxes to prepare for the sale of my Star Wars figures, I found these two ramen cups:
The packaging features characters from the Final Fantasy Dissidia game and buying them allowed the unlocking of in-game content. I bought these many years ago, and had intended to send the chicken one (featuring Cloud from FF7) to Florence as a gag gift one time. Obviously, I never did. Sorry Florence!
They’re attractive aren’t they? In preparing this post I learned there were two others as well: a shrimp flavour featuring Lightning (from FF13) and a multi-pack featuring Sephiroth (also from FF7). Given I only have two, I imagine I never saw the others.
The mechanism for getting the game content was a bit archaic: couldn’t they have just printed codes on the packaging? I never actually bought the game itself (I had played it on the PSP) so wouldn’t have even claimed the content even had I opened these over 4 years ago.
Yes, four years ago! Look closely at the above pic and you’ll note they expired on Dec 2018 and Jan 2019! I’m a real straighty-one-eighty when it comes to ‘expiration dates’ (yes I know they are technically best by these days) so it would require a bit of bravery to try these…
Removing the outer packaging removed shows these are just normal cup noodles, but when I removed the plastic wrap from each I discovered the seal on the lid had weakened to the extent the beef one just lifted right off by itself!
This was what they looked like before adding water. Doesn’t the flavoring in each look darker than normal? A quick google search revealed that if the seal had been good, they (in theory) may have been edible although chemical changes in the flavour may have rendered them both unpleasantly salty. However since the seal was compromised there was a risk of mold, which I was not prepared to take. Apparently Nissin themselves advises throwing away noodles more than three months after the ‘best by’ date.
So, alas, I didn’t try them. Rest assured they gave me joy for the nearly five years they were forgotten in a box in the attic, and I’ll certainly keep the outer packaging so I can reblog it in a decade or so 🙂
First Day
August 21st, 2023It was the first day of classes today. This is now my 21st year of teaching. The cycle continues as it always has.
Dramatic weather this morning, although it warmed in the afternoon. I hated wearing jeans, but I’ve never taught in shorts. For years now I always wear the same ‘outfit’: black jeans, t-shirt and shoes.
Here’s the room in which I teach my morning class, which has about 70 students. They looked young, and were very quiet (as the current generation often is). Many sat half way or further back until I chided them, at which point half moved to the front. I expect next lecture many will have moved closer to the front.
Some things never change, such as people selling posters at the start of semester. I remember this being an occurrence even 33 years ago when I first started University. I flipped through the selection and saw many eternal topics (Bob Marley, Star Wars, Superheroes) as well as some much more recent ones (Harry Styles, Fortnite, Stranger Things). There were also many people I didn’t recognize. Streamers maybe?
Coincidentally enough, one of the posters was Australian and over 30 years old! Do kids these days buy posters of bands their parents were into?
My afternoon lecture is taught in a bigger lecture center, and has 175+ students. They were much rowdier than the morning class, probably because it wasn’t so early in the morning 🙂
Here’s my office. I spend many hours in here each week, mostly accompanied by students looking for help. It’s fun, but tiring, and makes the time – and days – speed by.
21 years! How much longer will I be doing this?
89 More Hours Of Ultraman!
August 16th, 2023My previous four posts covered 270 hours of ultra-series but only a fool would think that was enough. And I’m no fool. So let’s continue with dozens more hours over six series and a film…
Ultraman Gaia (1998, 51 episodes 20.5 hours)
This series had a somewhat tedious opening arc, despite the inclusion of a second antiheroic Ultraman (Agul) to introduce some tension. It got better mid-series, but the ‘big bad’ (some sort of ‘dark being’) was ill-defined, I was never a fan of the main character and the supporting cast lacked charm. Overall one of the weaker series.
Ultraman Neos (2000, 12 episodes, 5.2 hours)
This was a short direct-to-video series with a more adult tone. It had very impressive special effects for its era (mid 90s) and with no need for filler episodes it never outstayed its welcome. As a bonus the girls were cute and the fanservice addition of ‘Ultraseven 21’ was wonderful.
Ultraman Cosmos (2001, 65 episodes, 26 hours)
This was great! I loved the characters and the fx/monster suits were leagues beyond Gaia. The ‘pacifist Ultraman’ premise worked well enough, and the series included story arcs and returning guest characters that worked well. Some episodes were very poignant, and the ending a tear-jerker. My only negative: the prequel film isn’t great. One of the better ultra series.
Ultraman (Season 3) (2023, 12 episodes, 4.6 hours)
The third and final series of the Netflix animated series (based on the comic) was phenomenal. It has a wonderful story with nice twists, and the final villian reveal, although not unexpected, was magnificent. It introduced a new Ultra and – even better – a new suit for the hero, and the last episode is one of the best anime episodes I have ever seen. Fantastic!
Ultraman Nexus (2004, 37 episodes, 18.5 hours)
This is a strange show. Tsuburaya wanted an ultra series for an older viewer, and Nexus was the result. It departs from the usual setup in many ways, such as having multiple hosts for Nexus throughout the series, and monsters that stick around for several weeks. In some episodes Nexus barely appears! Unfortunately it mostly fails due to flat characters and a too-slow story. The last third redeems it somewhat, but I see why this was canceled early.
Ultraman Taiga (2019, 36 episodes, 13 hours)
The first of the Reiwa era Ultras! Taiga is a fast paced show full of colour and energy. There’s a lot to love here: a very likeable ultra, a mysterious and charismatic villian, fantastic and flashy special effects, cute girls and some wonderful self-referential writing. This is a series for fans of all ages and I loved every moment of it!
Shin Ultraman (2022, 2 hours)
Hideaki Anno drew obvious inspiration from Ultraman in his famous Evangelion series, and I knew when it was announced he was writing this film (and especially after his superb Shin Godzilla) that it would be something special. I was not disappointed! Everything here is crafted with style and care and love, from the first appearance of the redesigned Ultraman, through the episodic sequences that reimagine familiar (to a fan) foes in interesting ways, and finally to the confrontation with the ultimate antagonist. Absolutely sublime, and immediately one of my favourite ever films.
If you’re keeping track, I’m at about 360 hours of Ultraman series watched so far, but I’m not done yet. In the next installment there’ll be at least six additional full series, and maybe a film or two. And depending how long that takes me, maybe even the US-made animated film may be out as well?!
But before then I think it’s time for a review of some Ultraman-adjacent material. I’ll probably get to that soon…