Action Figures & Their Beers: Hopped up to the gills

by Beedo Sookcool
on 2012-05-04, 13:28:24

Yeah, again, sorry about the late posting this week. My work schedule's all over the place, and I lose track of time when I go from day shifts to night shifts and back again. Anywho . . . .

HOPPING HARE

From Badger Ales of Dorset comes this thrice-hopped summer ale (Goldings, Cascade, and First Gold hops are used in the brewing process). It’s supposed to be the ideal drink to go with roast lamb or spicy dishes, but after a 10-hour night shift, it’s also pretty darn good on its own, ice-cold!

It’s a middling 4.4% ABV, very slightly less potent than many British beers, but I think the smooth, crisp, hoppy taste offsets the lower alcohol content. It’s just a pleasure to drink. It’s got a tiny bit of bitterness in the aftertaste, but not as much as you’d expect from such a hopped-up beer. It’s just enough to give you a mouth-watering tingle a few seconds after you’ve had a sip. To go along with this particular beer is a first for AF&TB: the first time I’ve ever bought an action figure to go along with a beer, instead of using what I already had in my collection, because I wanted to showcase this beer, and didn’t have any bunny action figures to speak of. And before I get any snarky e-mails, yes, I know the rabbit is a different species from the hare; I am a trained biologist. But as far as I’m concerned, all lagomorphs fall into the same category, namely the category of Animals That Taste Good in Pies and Stews. This guy’s a Japanese-exclusive Beast Wars Sort-Of-TransMetal II Maximal called . . . urgh . . . Stampy. (Or, if you want to be completely accurate, “Sutanpi”)

Now, I like a bit of cheesiness, but this guy crosses the line. In addition to his robot and bunny forms, he also transforms, according to his instructions, into some kind of hand-held pruning shears weapon that can be held by larger Maximals . . . I think. I can’t read much Kanji. But this ain’t even the weirdest, cheesiest Japanese Beast Wars toy, and there’s a lot of competition in that field. Oh, no. That distinction would probably have to go to Heinrad (one of at least four transcription spellings I’ve seen so far), the raccoon / tanuki / thing / robot with an actual working alarm-clock in his abdomen, and who carries around what looks like a container from a takeout restaurant and a drinking gourd which combine and convert into some kind of missile-firing sniper carbine. To quote Dr. Evil: “Rrrrrri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ightt . . . .” Or maybe it’s this thing. Ick point oh two times ten to the twenty-third. Oh, yeah, you read that right. A reference to Avogadro’s Number in a beer / toy review. I have now reached Critical Geek Mass.

Needless to say, I got Stampy for quite cheap. I couldn’t justify the expense to buy a Thor figure at full price in the supermarket to go along with Summer Lightning (I had to get him on clearance many months later from Big Bad Toy Store - more on that next week), but I could justify the expense of getting this little guy tagged onto one of my BBTS shipments and imported. But now that I think about it, there’s some Monty Python and the Holy Grail material which could be mined . . . .

Drink this if you also like: Discovery, Stroh’s, or any other hoppy, refreshing beers.