Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Brittany, France

Tonight’s all new episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations finds Tony in a "landscape of rock and ocean," also known as Brittany, France. This picturesque, Northwestern corner of the country has a history of blood, toil, invasion and struggle, but more importantly has lured Tony with some amazing food!


Tony's trip begins with a stroll through a farmer's market with chef Olivier Roellinger. In Tony's words, "to describe him as a chef is insufficient". His past includes a tragic story of being beaten, left for dead and in a coma for weeks, before then having to teach himself how to walk again. Now, over 30 years later, he has made a name for himself as a chef (including being awarded 3 Michelin stars in 2006). Olivier is currently running his most recent venture, Chateau "Richeux.” This restaurant and hotel has a Celtic kitchen, exotic herb garden, apple orchards, potato farms, a tee pee and...pigs. That's right, pigs. I won't ruin the segment by trying to describe the "best pork porn ever,” but if you want to find out more about these wonderful pigs then you must watch the preview video clip below from tonight’s show.



Chances are if you're an oyster eater, you've heard of Belon oysters. It's also probable that unless you've been to Brittany, France you haven't had a real Belon oyster. Tony heads to the source (the Belon River) to visit Anne Belon, a fifth-generation oyster farmer. Her family was the first to farm oysters in the area. Belon oysters are among the most famous in the world due to the rich nutrients that come from the river itself. Even the dogs eat oysters here.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations airs Monday nights at 10/9c on the Travel Channel.

Super 7 Clear Blue Milton and Fenton Vinyl Figures

A surprise something sweet landed out of the clear blue sky this week, ready to be gobbled up for an early morning dessert this Saturday, January 23rd. Announced just yesterday, Super 7 will be releasing a new colorway of both Milton and Fenton tomorrow. Both confection themed vinyl figures are cast in deliciously sweet clear blue vinyl with white spray.


The clear blue with white spray Milton and Fenton vinyl figures will retail for $15 each and be available this Saturday at the Super7 online store at 11am Pacific.

Super 7 FHP Mongolions by L’Amour Supreme

The Super 7 Snakes of Infinity army continues to grow with the FHP (Factory Hand Painted) Mongolions by the one and only L'Amour Supreme! Two of L'Amour's stunning handpainted Mongolions were reproduced by factory artisans in a small run, which is available this Saturday, January 23rd, at 11am Pacific.


The FHP Mongolion is produced in two colorways, each based on a one-off by L'Amour Supreme, and will retail for $90 each at the Super7 online store. While the figures are blind bagged, any collector ordering two figures will be guaranteed a set.

Gold Coin x Argonaut Resin Special Edition Featured Artist Custom Stick Up! Figures

This week Argonaut Resin and Gold Coin announced a very special project involving their line of Stick Up! resin figures. (link) The Stick Up! resin figure deserves a grand finale, and that’s exactly what it’s going to get. To end the 30 piece series, the last 4 blank figures were given to a select group of artists to customize. These artists include Mr. Shane Jessup, Jon Knox (Hello, Brute), Dez Einswell, and Three (GOLDCOIN), and their four figures constitute the Special Edition Featured Artist Wave.


These extremely talented artists are working on their hand painted custom figures now, and all 4 one off pieces will be available at auction very soon. Stay tuned for more info on the piece details and auction dates soon.

Burn Notice Season 3.5 Premiere and Television Poster

Burn Notice, The Blot’s second favorite television show, returns tonight, January 21, to finish what it started over 8 months ago…its third season. After a 6 month hiatus, Burn Notice Season 3.5 airs the first of 7 all new episodes tonight on the USA Network at 10/9c. If you don’t currently watch Burn Notice, do The Blot a favor and tune in tonight! You won’t be sorry, as the show’s witty banter, excellent mysteries and intense action has proven to win over even the most cynical of television critics/viewers.


Tonight’s Burn Notice mid-season premiere episode “A Dark Road” also features an extra special reunion of sorts as Sharon Gless’ former Cagney & Lacey co-star Tyne Daly (Judging Amy) guest stars! Fans won’t want to miss this amazing Emmy and Tony Award winning actress’ return to television to re-team with her former Cagney & Lacey partner.


If you don’t know the show’s basic premise here’s a quick overview: When spies get fired, they don’t get a letter from human resources…they get BURNED. After coming face to face with the group of people that burned him, Michael Westen, a blacklisted spy, must figure out his next move...all while staying ahead of anyone else that may have him in their crosshairs. In the meantime, he continues to use his unique skills and training to help people in desperate need of assistance.


Burn Notice also features Fiona, a beautiful ex-IRA operative who happens to be Westen’s ex-girlfriend; Sam, Michael’s closest buddy in town; and Madeline, Michael’s hypochondriac mother, who couldn’t be happier to have her boy back in town. Created and written by Matt Nix, Burn Notice combines intense action/thriller elements with surprising humor to create an iconic new breed of spy.


Burn Notice airs Thursday nights on the USA Network at 10/9c and stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, Seth Peterson and Sharon Gless.

Star Wars R2-D2 Mail Box Piggy Bank

Back in 2007, the United States Postal Service transformed mailboxes around the country into replicas of everyone’s favorite astromech droid R2-D2 in honor of Star Wars’ 30th Anniversary. For some strange reason, we are just now seeing the release of the R2-D2 Post Box Bank to commemorate this bizarre collaboration between Star Wars and the USPS. Some might say this promotion has come three years too late, but not The Blot! I don’t care if no one besides the true Star Wars faithful remember those awesome looking R2-D2 mailboxes, this coin bank rocks.


The Star Wars R2-D2 Mailbox bank is an exact replica of the actual mail boxes distributed by the US Postal Service in ’07. While there is no coin slot on the top or back of this Artoo Post Box, all collectors have to do to make a deposit is pull down the mailbox door and slide their change in. It really is a working mailbox, pretty cool huh? The Star Wars R2-D2 Mailbox bank is 6.3” tall and will look awesome next the 7” Krink Mailbox Kidrobot released back in 2008 (it was limited to 500 pcs and sold for $39.95).


The R2-D2 Mailbox bank will retail for around $30 and is estimated to arrive in stores sometime in February or March of 2010. You can currently pre-order this awesome Star Wars figure made of PVC from BigBadToyStore.com here.

OBEY Giant Eye Alert Print Set by Shepard Fairey

At some point today, January 21st, OBEY Giant will be releasing “Eye Alert,” a two print set by Shepard Fairey. This is actually the first OBEY print The Blot has liked in sometime, both because of its design and message. While I never like to tell people how to interpret a piece of art, I assume Shep is making some sort of statement concerning the current healthcare crisis here in the United States.



The “Eye Alert” screen print measures 18”x24” and comes in cream and red. Both limited edition prints have a runs size of 350. This two print set goes on sale at a random time today at the OBEY Giant online store. Each signed and numbered print retails for $45 and are limited to 1 of each colorway per household.

MINDstyle x Disney Lilo Cosplay Stitch ATC Vinyl Figure by Jenny Chung

The MINDstyle x Disney Lilo Cosplay Stitch ATC vinyl figure by Jenny Chung was billed as a D23 Expo exclusive, but no real information was ever released about it by MINDstyle. From the little information The Blot has been able to gather, the Lilo Cosplay Stitch was specially produced to celebrate the first year of the D23 Expo. While the figure was available for pre-order at the 1st annual D23 Expo, it has not actually been released yet and there is a slight chance collectors will still be able to order one in the near future.


The MINDstyle x Disney Lilo Cosplay Stitch by Jenny Chung is 5” tall and will be released in early 2010. The run size for this awesome looking Stitch ATC has not been unveiled, but we do know the price should be around $30 each.

Kidrobot.com Exclusive 3 Inch Blue Variant Free Hugs Dunny by Jeremyville

The long rumored blue and purple variant Free Hugs Dunny by Jeremyville is about to see the light of day! For months now collectors have speculated whether or not this second colorway of Jeremyville’s Dunny Series 2009 figure was actually produced. Well as of yesterday we now know it has, and in an hour it will be on sale exclusively at Kidrobot.com!


Only 100 of these super rare 3 inch Dunnys, created especially for Kidrobot’s KRonikle by Australian artist Jeremyville, will go on sale to the general public. The Blue Variant Free Hugs Dunny is identical to Jeremyville’s Dunny Series 2009 contribution, but with a different color scheme. Retailing for only $9.95 and with only 100 available, this Dunny is sure to sell out quickly! The Blue Variant Free Hugs Dunny goes on sale exclusively at kidrobot.com on January 20, 2010 at 10am CST.


For those of you nervous about getting one of these awesome Blue Variant Free Hugs Dunnys through KR’s general sale, The Blot has a little inside information to help you out! Jeremyville currently has 8 of these exclusive figures on sale at his online store for $40, which includes shipping worldwide. And best of all, each figure comes signed by Jeremyville when you purchase it directly from him!

White Collar Season 1.5 Premier and Television Poster

White Collar, one of The Blot’s favorite new shows from the 2009-2010 television season, returns to the USA Network tonight (January 19th) after a two month hiatus. Fans of the freshman dramedy have been eagerly awaiting the start of White Collar Season 1.5 because of the unbelievable cliffhanger the show ended on. While I don’t know any details, from the reviews I’ve read it sounds like tonight’s episode will definitely be delivering the goods. Plus, watching tonight’s all new episode of White Collar should help satisfy that Tiffani Thiessen withdrawal I know many of you have been suffering through!


White Collar is about the unlikely partnership of a con artist and an FBI agent who have been playing cat and mouse for years. Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer), a charming criminal mastermind, is finally caught by his nemesis, FBI Agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay.) When Neal escapes from a maximum-security prison to find his long-lost love, Peter nabs him once again. Rather than returning to jail, Neal suggests an alternate plan: He'll provide his criminal expertise to assist the Feds in catching other elusive criminals in exchange for his eventual freedom. Initially wary, Peter quickly finds that Neal provides insight and intuition that can't be found on the right side of the law.


Three of The Blot’s favorite TV shows currently air on the USA Network, and all three return with brand new episodes over the next week and a half. With the return of White Collar, Burn Notice and Psych, January is shaping up to be a great time for new and exciting television!


White Collar airs Tuesday nights at 10/9c on the USA Network, and stars Matt Bomer as Neal Caffrey, Tim DeKay as Special Agent Peter Burke, Tiffani Thiessen as Elizabeth Burke, Willie Garson as Mozzie, and Natalie Morales as Lauren Cruz.