Alternity-this, Universe-that--how about something just plain
weird for a change of pace; Engledogg sends us a photo of
Dinosaurer, a toy that was available only in Japan. But that's not what makes it weird. It was sold in convenience stores and came with gum, but that's not what makes it weird, either. What's unusual about it is that you had to put it together yourself, which now that I think about it probably makes
you weird more than anything else. Yes, this is one of the "model kits" you sometimes hear about, manufactured in 1986 by Kabaya. I don't know if people spent a lot of time fussing with glue and sanding and airbrushing and whatnot--I think the idea was pretty much that you snapped it together with one hand while standing outside the 7-11, chomping on the gum, and idly wondering if 20 years later some bigger nerd than you would be writing a news blurb about it in another country. Me, I like it because even though it could be bought with change at the same place you buy your Melon Soda, it also had enough parts and pieces even
after assembly to do full justice to its full-size cousin,
Trypticon, which came with
no gum at all, even though proportionately, by all rights, should have come with a complete Salisbury steak dinner.