Tankstelle Frölich :: Ein Panorama-Buch

I don't speak German, but my closest guess is that translates to "Gas-Station fun - a pop-up book."

Because that's exactly what it is!


My Grandpa was born in Germany, and this book came from him after one of his last trips there. I remember him promising to take me to Germany one day. He died shortly after that.


Anyways, back to the book. It is copyrighted 1977 and was written by Carlsen Verlag. There is a story, which I can't read, and multiple bays which I can have fun with!

Join me as I frölich with my pop-up tankstelle.


There's tons of detail and even little paper figures, for hours and hours of Fahrvergnugen fun!


These guys work on everything from compact cars to trucks to Ferarris! Even the crane slides back and forth across the beam. It also used to have a little paper cutout of some stuff to hang from it, but I lost that piece or it tore or something years and years ago.


"Hey Mr. Goodwrench, can someone look at my car? It idles as if the carber-whoozit isn't flowing to the manifoldoohickey...or something."


"Maybe if I hide my lunch in here no one will steal my twinkie."


"Hey baby, wanna go for a spin? I got twinkies."


"Well now here's your problem...the engine is in the trunk! Whew, that was a tough one! Now for lunch - where's Jenkins' twinkie?"


*PWING!* *PWING!* *GURGLEGURGLE*
"He hates these CANS!"


You can even set a toy car on the stands. Now that's German engineering - pop-up book style!

Each panel is separated by a "wall" with doors or windows - so you can watch in case the mechanic tries to screw you. Or eat your twinkie.

"Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon? No? What about a twinkie?"


Auf Wiedersehen!

20: Electronic Batman LCD Game

Oh how far we've come!

Bigger than an iPhone and displaying as much processing power as your average toaster, this is the state-of-the-art (by 1989 standards) Batman handheld game by Tiger Electronics.

You start out battling goons on a rooftop and continue to...battle goons on a rooftop.

They come on strong, and barrel in stronger as the levels progress! You must shoot them with your batarangs and in later levels you get ninja stars and a spear gun...but the goons get stronger too, so beware!

At the end of each of four levels the Joker appears and you must defeat him while dodging grenades and poison gas. After four levels, you win - game over! Wheee!

Now, for your viewing pleasure, I present to you: Level One!

40: Tail Wagon

Station wagons are awesomeness. Muscle cars are awesomeness. If my math is correct, that means muscle car station wagons are awesomeness squared!

Continuing with our Hot Wheels 40th anniversary celebration (1969-2009) today's vehicle is the brand new for 2009 '70 Chevelle SS Wagon!

This Hot Wheel is simply gorgeous.

It has the perfect California rake and nice 5 spoke wheels. This one is sure to be popular, and hopefully it's released in many different colors. I will amass a whole fleet of them!


The details are really nice, with door handles, hood pins, and even auto parts molded to the interior in the back!

Great start Mattel - now if Hot Wheels will just heed my pleas and make a '71 Torino Country Squire like my old high school ride, I'll be in heaven!

His & Hearse

A couple years ago Matchbox released one of the coolest 1:64 die-cast ever.


That's Die-Cast - with emphasis on DIE!


This 1963 Cadillac Hearse was first released in black (naturally) and has been released a couple times since. The second release is this pearl white number, and I believe you may be able to find a grey version on the pegs now - if you're lucky.


They tend to be very popular and sell quickly.


The detail is beautiful, and it's quite a surprising selection for a toy car.


Then again, what kid isn't a fan of the macabre in some form or another?


This is what I call going out in style!


There's also a fun little bonus, if you have really good eyes that is - on the inside is a coffin with a hand reaching out of the lid!


As if the Hearse wasn't cool enough!