Finally, something tasteful with out being a rocket scientis
345596
Some vegetarians can live on grilled cheese and French-fries. Others I swear must bottle their own wine. Some of us have to work of a living and need something quick and simple yet at the same time divers. This book fits that criterion.

It contains step-by-step instructions - over 70 recipes - each recipe photographed
I tried a few of these recipes and they actually end up looking like the photographs.
27198
The obscure title hardly does justice to the lucid story of man's
exploration of the heavens that should charm both a novice and a rocket
scientist. The comprehensive coverage of topics spans manned missions going around the earth and spacewalks, to the unbelievable and yet true landing on moon and back, and further on to the more esoteric deep space interplanetary missions and fairy tale like trips to collect atoms from solar winds and dust from a comet's tail. The author has buffered his fascinating story of Science and Technology with  a healthy dose of human drama like the mission chief promising the Neil Armstrong's team dibs on the next mission should their mission fail; helplessness of the rescue team as the Apollo 1 crew is consumed by a fire right on land; desperate attempts by the soviet rescue team to resuscitate a cosmonaut after his spaceship's parachute lines got entangled; and the urgency faced by the Soviet-American team as they were putting down a smoky fire aboard a spaceship with nowhere to escape.

The book describes experiments in space that would be readily understood by a common man, like hitting a golf ball on lunar surface, and by every Science student since the time of Galileo but found it hard to believe - a rock and a feather would take the same time to strike the ground. Other wondrous topics included are the close examination of planets, asteroids and their moons that could only be seen through telescopes until a couple of decades ago. The author also recalls numerous failures and tragedies that beset the soviet space program, and their undeclared race to beat the Americans in bringing samples from moon, but were unknown to the west until the secretive Soviet Union unraveled.

A few pictures of spaceship mechanisms like Gyros and Vernier rockets, inclusion of spaceflight terminologies like Attitude, Spin, Soft and Hard Lock in the Glossary, and a richer index to locate interesting events would have helped. Otherwise, the book is an excellent work and I would recommend it to anyone who has some curiosity about the birds, airplanes, skies, and the heavens beyond.
2899817
I just got this toy yesterday in the afternoon, and boy, was I excited!
I immediately started trying to transform it to alt mode (truck) while in my car, but couldn't until I got home and closely examined the pictures of the instrucion leaflet.
So, yes, this one is hard to transform the first time, especially from robot to truck mode, but then transforming it back to robot is much, much easier. I did it even without looking at the instructions. Transformation now is completely different from the old toy!

First impression is that in truck mode, it seems a bit smaller than the old TF movie Optimus Prime (2007). This has got to do with the new proportions, which are now more accurate. Fact is, the truck about 1/16" longer than the old toy.
When in robot mode, it also seems smaller than the old Prime, but again it has to do with proportions -the older toy was really bulky- and the new toy is 1" taller. The robot itself is very poseable, and you can even use the piece that holds the head to swivel it up and down a bit.

I then spent the next two hours examining all the reference pictures I have from the truck and the CGI robot... and I can say that this is a very nice piece of engineering (or re-engineering).

The truck has all the details from the real truck, and most hinges remain well hidden. All the tiny lights and reflectors are molded in quite accurately, and even the door handles have 3 bolts and a keyhole molded in the correct place (they are just dots, but they're there).
The new toy is molded in brighter colors than the old one, but paint is used wery well too.
Also of note are the clear plastic tail-lights, headlights, windshield and side windows

In robot mode, again the attention to detail is amazing, and it is a very good representation of the CGI model.
Granted that the back of the toy robot still isn't the same as the movie model, but this is as close as we can get, and it still is much better than the old toy.
The only gripe I have is that in robot mode almost all the movie toys lack a lot of paint applications and resort to molded colored plastic instead: Leader Optimus's chest and feet, Deluxe Sideways's torso and Breakaway's everything.

Articulation and poseability are good, and several hinges used for the transformation can be furter used to aid certain action poses. Sadly, Hasbro cut some costs by removing some articulation, which can still be seen in the prototype photos on the back of box; the most obvious being that Optimus's hands are now just one molded piece with no articulation.
Then again, years ahead of the old Prime toy.

I definitely recommend this toy to any TF fan or anyone that liked the movie. It is complicated at first, so 10 years or older is a safe age.

The other version being marketed right now is the Takara-Tomy version, which may be a better quality toy than Hasbro's because Takara uses better materials (die cast metal at times, or stiffer plastic with better colors or better metallic finish).
I don't have the Takara toy, but I don't see much difference in the pictures, so I don't think I'll get it. I would get a second toy only if they ever release a chromed Premium Leader version like they did with old Prime.

Meanwhile, get this one. You won't regret it.
3600542
I really wanted to find a cool science kit for my six year old, but choosing was slightly difficult as one seemed relatively indistinguishable from the next. Then I discovered one kit that really stood out from the crowd! Thanks to a clever overall approach and unique packaging, The Potato Chip Science Book  is unlike any other kit out there. In lieu of a box, all the goodies come enclosed in a very realistic looking potato chip bag. It's the right size and shape and even made from the same crinkly material, so it feels exactly like a regular chip bag when you're holding it. Printed at the top is "High in Saturated FACTS!"

What's inside the faux chip bag: the Potato Chip Science book, biodegradable base, optical stickers, spud-powered sound chip, spud-powered clock, biodegradable packing chips, wire connectors, eco-friendly starch knife, potato propulsion pipe, electrodes, 6 chip lids, and some googly eyes. The smaller, more delicate items are enclosed in a sealed plastic bag, while the yellow biodegradable packing chip float around.  The effect is that when you open the bag and peer inside, it resembles a bag of chips. Continuing with the theme, every one of the experiments is centered around potatoes and potato chips.

Even without all the extras, I was very impressed with the actual book inside the kit. Twenty-nine different experiments are pretty evenly split between five chapters: Bags, Chips, Lids, Spuds, and Tubes. Jump right in and get your hands salty by building an air rocket out of potato chip bags, make a clock out of a tater, grow a potato pal, or construct a chip tube bird feeder. I am not terribly scientific and really liked that the instructions for the experiments were very clear cut and super easy to follow.  We also liked that there were lots of illustrations (mostly in chip colored yellows and browns) and tiny facts sprinkled in that made it fun to read. The result was that it didn't feel like we were reading an instruction manual, but rather enjoying learning all about spuds.

Overall,we found The Potato Chip Science Book to be a super fun and extremely well put together science kit that we can't wait to delve into further.
62040
Well made, very clever design and somehow, they have elevated the potato masher to a thing of art and science.
4081237
Because of the coloring book craze during the holidays, I decided to give everyone in my family one to suit their particular tastes. I searched high and low for this one for a 12-year-old boy who's nuts for everything space related. I was so happy to find it! As each person opened their coloring book (wolves for my father, owls for my sister, classic cars for my uncle, etc.), I could see him wondering what his would be. I loved the look of delight on his face when he finally opened it!

Creative Haven coloring books are excellent in general and this one is no exception. If you're not into space, I'm not sure how interesting it would be, but if you enjoy the planets, you'll like this coloring book.
871305
Yoda, a Droideka, a 50th Legion Trooper, a Commando Droid Captain and a huge AT-RT mech, this is awesome.

The AT-RT is excellent, it's really big, I love the design and the many details. It stands on it's own very well and it feels very solid, the cannon rotates with ease.

Also the Droideka is very interesting, I like the shape a lot and the way the pieces are assembled.

There are a lot of interesting pieces in this set, I'm sure I will be able to build a lot of new mocs with this new pieces.
1134722
In 1982 my Jr. High science class held a "Rocket week"... a couple kids bought this one and they both failed miserably.  Failure was due to them rushing through the build and not using enough glue.  One caught fire on launch when the engine assembly came loose inside the tube and shot 1/2 up the tube, the other the kid didn't glue the shock cord down well enough and when the nose cone popped off... the rocket fell to the ground and the cone and chute flew off to who knows where.  I built this in a day or so and after a couple layers of paint.. it flew straight and came down perfectly.... very nice looking rocket, very nice flight.  This rocket is about 6'5'' when completed, Estes improved the design by putting a plastic coupler right in the middle of it. so it breaks down into 2 separate 3 foot sections for transport.  Easy build, great flying rocket.
2733157
From the posh packaging, to the stunning yet delightfully odd face, to the clever clasp that opens without losing its sizing adjustment, everything about this watch feels special. As a tech geek, I get a certain joy out of having a gadget that doesn't have a single electronic component in it. The numberless display has a sort of impractical charm in an age where most people read satellite-synced, digital time off of their cell phones. And with auto-winding self-sufficiency, it really feels like an anachronistic artifact from some alternate technological history. This watch is analog, in all the right ways. An exceptional work of craftsmanship.
1251861
The following is from my Xanga site AeroGo, which gives helpful info to students and others interested in going into the aerospace field:

I don't try too hard to turn my kids into space cadets, but when this film came out I took all but the youngest to go see it, way down at Moody Gardens in Galveston.

For those familiar with Gerard O'Neill's concepts for space colonies, much of it will be familiar, but the film is well-scripted and the graphics are great, especially in 3D if you can find it.  Apparently a lot of the graphics were from veteran space artist Pat Rawlings, and quite good, but my favorite is a scene of Saturn and rings, from its moon Enceladus, created by Fujitsu.  I wonder if there's a poster of that somewhere.

There's a dramatic part of the film where the hero lands on a comet, which in 3-D looks pretty harrowing, with chunks of ice and snow floating all over and hitting everything.  Of course, with the results from the recent Deep Impact mission, scientists now think comets may be more like puffballs or "dirty dustballs" or even "brittle sponges" than "dirty snowballs" with large ice chunks, though water and organic molecules were found on Tempel I.  Nevertheless, the film was a huge step forward for promoting space awareness;  I'm just sad to say there's still nothing else like it.
4761285
I'm not going to go over the plot, we all know it: Space exploration. What I want to focus this review on is the quality and extras.

First, it looks fantastic. The conversion is super sharp and crystal clear. Honestly, it looks like it was filmed today. It looks that good. The colors are very sharp, and it's awesome to see the planets spin. It's like I'm seeing it for the first time. It's so clear, that when the screen menu pops up, it looks like the Enterprise is coming right at you.

Second, the sound is amazing. It's so clear, it really is amazing, words can't do it justice.

Third, the extras.  The extras are awesome! The best part of the extras is that you can watch any of the episodes in it's original form, or with the enhanced version. Just for fun, I watched some of one episode in it's original version, and the differences are night and day. That's such a nice touch. Some of the episodes have commentary, and it's nice heard tidbits on some of the episodes. They also have other features that any Trekkie would love.

If you have a Star Trek fan in your life, or are one yourself, this is a must have for you or them. If you get it, I can promise that you won't be sorry, I know I wasn't. Get it now, and thank me later.
817581
I'm not a fan of the Star Wars prequels but this vehicle stood out because it had more in common with the original Trilogy spacecraft. This particular kit is easy to build, I only had to glue 2 sections together and I have the option to disassemble it again for customising which I'm considering. The reason I chose this kit over other versions is that it's in scale with the Action Fleet which has sadly been discontinued a few years ago. It's pre painted and reasonably child friendly.
569333
5 year old loved it!  He wanted a rocket with "pop off thrusters" or detachable boosters.  This rocket does not have them, but he hasn't complained once.  It has three different sound effects: 1) liftoff countdown / ignition / thrusters,  2) just thrusters, 3) orbiting sounds (beeps, dings, etc.).  The nose cone comes off and a very detailed satellite fits inside.  The rocket has two stages, 1) the main body and boosters and 2) the top section which has a thruster and realistic looking flame once detached.  The flames on the bottom of the main body light up and flash.  The flame lights are also visible through openings in the launch platform which is pretty cool.  The build quality is good.  Great Toy, especially for kids who love rockets.
2594077
This is another great Green Toy!  The boys love everything about it, especially the little spacemen.  This rocket has two stages (the big booster and a landing capsule); the capsule twists on and off in a simple, sturdy manner.  Two doors (one on each stage) open to let the spacemen (or play-doh, etc) in.

Anyone who hasn't tried Green Toys really should.  They are durable, environmentally friendly, well-designed... and more importantly, they have a sweetness and personality that most toys these days lack.  I'm so fled they're expanding their repertoire!
3432753
Very pleased with this purchase. This toy is providing many hours of fascinated play for our toddler.

This spaceship has enough little details hidden in the molding to make it interesting, but is generic in style enough to allow for lots of creativity and pretend play. Both the top and bottom levels have doors that double as ramps. The ramps have little ladder-steps for the astronauts to 'walk' up.

Both the top capsule and the booster section stand well on their own. Assembled, the rocket is balanced and does not tip easily.

The upper unit separates easily, but fastens securely. Our toddler figured out the place-and-turn of locking it into place with very little assistance.

Easy to wash. Needs a little shaking to help get it dry quickly, but dries completely without hidden pockets of water.

Sturdy. This ship has "flown" across the room with some crash landings at speed, as well as being chewed on and beat on the walls. No visible damage at all after several months of play.

The astronauts are hollow on the bottom, but very sturdy. Can be used as finger puppets.

Things this toy does that it may not be designed for:
1. The bear-pilot from the Green Toys helicopters/seacopters, the bear-engineer from the Green Toys train, or the smaller "Little People" figures (dog, cat) will fit inside the lower part of the rocket. Also, the smallest Duplo blocks (2x2) will fit inside both upper and lower sections (for when you need 'rock aliens'). Can also hold six or seven 'animal cracker' cookies.

2. The rocket's engines double as whistles when blown through. They are a clear note, about mid-loud for a child's whistle. (It's a rocket and a musical instrument, all in one!)  Our toddler discovered this feature by accident, and it is excellent for pretend play. Blow the whistle to warn the astronauts it's time for blast off.

3. The top section can be carried in the cargo car of the Green Toys train, for more elaborate pretend play stories.

4. When the top section is removed, the indent in the top of the bottom section can hold approximately six ounces of water for about thirty five seconds before the water finishes trickling down through the body of the ship to hit the surface beneath. (Enough to time to rush over a towel and prevent a mess.)

All in all, this a great little toy.
4412014
This is another sumptuously produced book from the National Geographic Society. The text is a little "mickey-mouse" by my standards, but the photos, many from NASA planetary missions are Hubble, are beautifully reproduced and well worth the price of admission.
The book is divided into sections: inner planets, outer planets, and deep space, with text and photos (in that order) for each.
Nicely done and well worth browsing.
1466726
The wheels are NASCAR worthy. The nylon shell is what NASA should make space suits out of. It is so spacious I am thinking about stopping searching for a house and moving in to these bags.