emjay • fish
Week 2: Electric Toy-aloo
Wow, we made it back for week 2! Much like the first week, and much like every week will be in this weekly blog, I raised a Tamagotchi, fiddled with a Transformer, gazed at a Hot Wheels and a bread tag, and contemplated a trucksim mod all week. That last one is a bit, uh, nevermind. Now that I actually know what I'm doing (somewhat), this week was really enjoyable. I hope you enjoy my ramblings about all of my silly collections once again :)
Tamagotchi of the Week:
Original Tamagotchi (2nd Gen, Replica) — Galaxy
Released June 2022
Name: Alpheratz
The first of many original Tamagotchis, replica or otherwise. The replicas work exactly the same as the 1996 tamas... exactly the same. That means they're super simple, super beepy and super nostalgic if you grew up with them, which I admittedly didn't. This shell is a beautiful starry night, which I took advantage of with a nice nighttime walk around Sydney Harbour for the photo of the week. As for the name, Alpheratz is one of the most prominent stars of the Andromeda galaxy, so I figured it would make a fitting moniker.
Transformer of the Week:
Netflix War for Cybertron Wheeljack
Released 2020
Designed by Shogo Hasui & Michael DiTullo
Wheeljack is probably my favourite G1 character, hands down. I dunno, I love his personality and his gadgets, he stands out from the rest of the Autobots without sticking out too much. This iteration of him, while looking a little battle damaged to match the show, is really nice in my opinion. I love how he transforms, especially the legs (I'm a double hinge fiend), and having him staring at me from my desk all week has been a pleasure. Shouldn't have been a surprise, of course, since he was designed by the legendary Shogo Hasui, my partner's favourite designer and someone who seems to nail it every time.
Hot Wheels of the Week:
1966 Buick Riviera — Turquoise Mist
Released 2025
Designed by Bryan Benedict
Toy number HYW16
The Buick Riviera is a beautiful piece of automotive history (apart from the blobby 90s model, we don't talk about that), and I think this Hot Wheels captures the second generation of it immaculately. The colour is also really nice. Blue-greens always have a bit of an allure to them, and this particular shade of turquoise is really striking, especially represented with a lovely metallic finish. A uni friend of mine actually wanted to steal it based on the colour alone, but no, it's mine >:)
Bread Tag of the Week:
Admordorsum aotearoa — orange
Manufactured by Schutte
Manufacturer code G 44
This species holds an interesting position in my collection, being one of the first new ones I found when I started volunteering at a local recycling centre. Wait, species? Yes! Bread tags are referred to using "species" names as a tongue in cheek nod to them being synthetic parasitic organisms, preying on innocent bags of bread throughout your local supermarket. This particular species name might ring a bell if you're familiar with Oceania, Aotearoa being the Māori name for New Zealand, where this bread tag was first discovered. I also chose this specimen because I think the bright orange looks nice. Why have a boring white bread tag when you can have a fancy pretty colour instead?
Trucksim Mod of the Week:
ETS2 Willen Paint Job Pack
Released February 2019
This mod was originally a request, a company I'd never heard of before, but I really like how it turned out. Spedition Willen is a German company, and their livery is just... I don't know,
classic, but just about contemporary enough to work in 2025. The trailer looks straight out of the 80s, but the stripes on the cab of the truck are really tasteful in my opinion,
especially with the tiny subtle logos on the door. It doesn't hurt that most of their fleet are newer MAN TGXes, which are very nice looking trucks.
You can grab it on Steam Workshop or
TruckyMods!
And that's where we end week two. I'm actually quite enjoying the process of going through all of my collections and picking one part of each to showcase each week. It's a nice way to engage with things I'd forgotten about, especially the older Tamagotchis and trucksim mods. This is nice :) See you next week!