Oddity Central |
- Chinese Man Builds Transformer That Actually Transforms, Sort of
- How Much Is That Guy in the Window? French Shop Lets Women Go Window-Shopping for Dates
- World’s Biggest Barbie Fan Collects 15,000 Dolls in 19 Years
| Chinese Man Builds Transformer That Actually Transforms, Sort of Posted: 14 Sep 2012 05:54 AM PDT
A man from Jinan, China’s Shandong Province, has spent six months building a Transformer-like robot that morphs into a functional car, at the push of a button. If you’re expecting a real-life Bumblebee, you’re going to be disappointed… But finally, right!?! A real transformer and it’s not some guy in a suit either. Frankly, I was getting a bit tired of seeing people build all these awesome looking Transformer replicas that didn’t do anything but look pretty, and I was really hoping someone would one day take it to the next level. Enter unknown Chinese Transformers fan with a passion for DIY stuff. According to RocketNews24, the man has wanted to build his very own Transformer ever since watching the first film in Michael Mann’s trilogy, four years ago. He didn’t have any kind of mechanical or electronics knowledge but that didn’t stop him from finally accomplishing his dream. It took the Jinan-native six months and 70,000 yuan (US$11,000) to finally complete his life-size Transformer, but just look at it… Yeah, it’s really not the kind of bad-ass Autobot you were expecting, is it? But, considering it was built by some random guy who worked alone, in his off hours, it’s really not that bad. Not mention he had to learn everything from the mechanical stuff to electrical wiring and sculpting. The robot stands 4.8m (15'8") tall and is 2m (6'6") wide. It has this weird LED display on its chest with some Chinese symbols I can’t decipher, doors that double as arms and a really surprised face like it can’t believe all these people are actually comparing him with the likes of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. In the defense of this ambitious Chinese inventor, the bot can apparently walk and when in auto mode it can actually be driven at a top speed of 15km per hour. It might not be the most impressive Transformer ever made, but the guy who made it says he will continue to make improvements to it, and hopes to one day open a Transformers theme park. Now that’s an awesome idea! Oh wait, we already have one of those… But hey, there’s enough room in China for another one. He says the reason he is promoting his unique creation is to convince other enthusiasts to join him in fulfilling his dream. He should really get in contact with this guy.
Chinese Man Builds Transformer That Actually Transforms, Sort of was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| How Much Is That Guy in the Window? French Shop Lets Women Go Window-Shopping for Dates Posted: 14 Sep 2012 04:32 AM PDT
French dating site Adopte Un Mec (Adopt a Guy) has recently opened a pop-up boutique in the heart of the Paris fashion district, where women can actually-window-shop for a date. Real men are displayed in glass containers that look like Ken doll boxes and have names like ”Mr. Muscle” and “The Rocker.” Can you imagine going shopping for fashionable clothes and instead coming home with a hot date? It can happen if you happen to pass by the Adopt-a-Guy shop on Rue de La Bonheur (Street of Happiness), in Paris. This unique pop-up boutique has eligible bachelors displayed in the windows for women “clients” to admire. They are actually there only for promotional purposes, and are not really available for purchase, but the website that came up with this quirky idea really was built on the idea of putting women in the driver’s seat. Both men and women can register, but only the ladies are allowed to send messages. It was created this way so female users could avoid the "the constant bombardment of unwanted advances from men" and "hold the power of communication so they can focus on the men they desire." Guys can only post their photos online and wait to be contacted. The site actually wants women to feel like they’re shopping for men, and the home page actually says “"There are 0 men in your cart." Business is booming and Adopte Un Mec has over 300 million page views per month. Photo: Out And About in Paris Now this Adopt-a-Guy shop really has guys looking like merchandise, but feminists are saying the same thing has been happening to women in popular venues like Amsterdam’s Red Light District. But according to one of the guys in the Ken doll boxes, this publicity stunt shouldn’t really be taken too seriously. “They’re very open-minded and approachable. They take it all as a joke and I think that’s how you have to see it — as a bit of fun,” he said about window-shoppers.
The Paris Adopt-a-Guy will only stay open for 10 days before moving to other major French cities and eventually to Switzerland. via Yahoo Shine How Much Is That Guy in the Window? French Shop Lets Women Go Window-Shopping for Dates was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| World’s Biggest Barbie Fan Collects 15,000 Dolls in 19 Years Posted: 14 Sep 2012 03:13 AM PDT
Bettina Dorfmann, from Dusseldorf, Germany, will be featured in the 2013 Guinness Book of Records for her amazing Barbie Doll collection which numbers 15,000 items. She started collecting Barbies in 1993 and doesn’t plan on ever ending her quest for new additions. Ever since Barbie was created, in 1959, it’s estimated about 1 billion dolls have been produced, and there are over 100,000 passionate doll collectors all around the world, hunting for the rarest items. But none is more dedicated than Bettina Dorfman, from Germany. In the last 19 years she has amassed an impressive collection of over 15,000 Barbie dolls, from vintage items of the 1960s, to the latest models launched by Mattel. The 52-year-old Dusseldorf-based collector says she has loved Barbie ever since she was just a little girl. ”They are great for children. You can wash their hair, change their clothes, buy new outfits”, she told the BBC, back in 2009, when she had “only” 6,000 dolls. But even after she grew up, Barbie still appealed to her, and since her daughter Melissa always seemed more interested in the new Barbies that came out than in the old ones Bettina had saved for her, she decided to keep them for herself. Photo: REUTERS/Ina Fassbender The more Barbies she added to the collection, the more passionate she got about her hobby, and soon Bettina found herself asking people if they had any dolls to sell or give away, pretty much everywhere she went. As you can imagine, finding room for 15,000 of Barbie dolls can’t be easy, and the avid collector admits she had to convert an upstairs office in her home into a Barbie gallery filled with over 1,500 items. Some others are kept in other rooms around the house and in the cellar, but the bulk of her collection is spread all around the world, appearing in various doll exhibitions. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender “They are happy dolls, carefree, that’s why I love them so much,” Bettina says about her favorite Barbies, from the Mod era (1967 -1972). “They have fantastic clothes, very colourful outfits, different haircuts and different hair colors.” Although to the untrained eye, all Barbie dolls look pretty much the same, Ms. Dorfmann says some are more special than others. For example, the most expensive item in her collection, a Barbie Pony Tail Number 1 in mint condition with all her accessories, is priced at over $10,000, but doesn’t really look all that impressive. She paid €8,000 for just that one doll, so this isn’t the cheapest of hobbies, but Bettina has found a niche in the market to help her pay for the dolls – she has setup a mail order doll repair service, and has dolls coming in from all over the world.
Asked when she was going to put an end to this constant hunt for Barbie dolls, Bettina Dorfmann immediately and instinctively answered “Never!” World’s Biggest Barbie Fan Collects 15,000 Dolls in 19 Years was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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