Coming Up For Air
I said it might be a while before I posted here again, and sure enough, that has been the case. Have been swamped with work lately, but finally have a weekend free to sort the site out.

Today's update was a big one, with several long-neglected pages being updated, including Current Kinder Surprise Situation in Other Countries and the Links section (plus associated Kinder Surprise Site of the Month and SOTM Archives). Lots of toys have been added too. Back on 14 August, I found 10 Kinder eggs with older dates and bought the lot. Managed to fill in a couple of gaps in my recast and K01 collections that way, and also got some useful duplicates, including another spare of the elusive K01 No. 122 puzzle, which is now on eBay.

But I have also been buying more Kinder eggs with K03 toys in them, and have added a couple more K03 toys to the site as well.

Meanwhile, I'm slowly working out big trades with collectors in Canada and the UK, so will soon be deleting a fair few duplicates and later adding a bunch of new toys as the trades are made.

That's my lot for now. Hopefully I'll get a couple more days off from work, which will allow me to finalise these trades! Until next time, may your next surprise be a Kinder Surprise.

Puzzles Galore!
Since my last update, I have received several jigsaw puzzles in the mail. From a Dutch friend I got a set of Mega-Mause jigsaws and a puzzle with Yogi Bear and Ranger Smith from the K96 series. The latter puzzle completed my set of K96 jigsaws. There were 16 different jigsaws issued with the K96 series, and some of them - especially ones featuring the K93 toys - are very rare. So I'm very happy indeed to have finally completed my set of K96 jigsaws. To get these, I had traded my sole spare of K01 No. 122 (which I had sold on eBay; the jigsaws were the "payment" on this occasion).

From another friend in Australia, I got the puzzle K03 No. 107. So I now have 5 out of 8 jigsaws in the K03 series. I traded a KFC Yowie Grey Nurse Shark for that.

When I first started collecting Kinder Surprises, I didn't really like the jigsaws, but they've kind of grown on me. Indeed, I'm quite keen to try and get the white-backed jigsaws from the K02 series! I have all the brown-backed ones, along with both brown-backed and white-backed ones from the K01 series. And am absolutely delighted to have been able to get the elusive K01 No. 122 before NZ switched to the K03 series. I think this puzzle could become quite valuable in the future.

Also added to the site is a duplicate of K03 No. 31 - pink and green dodgems. These are pretty much an exact replica of the same toy issued in the K96 series.

On the job front, I completed a really tough French job, and now have a big German job to do. However, the German job may be easier than the French job, and so despite its larger size could take less time! That would be good. But it might be a little while before you hear from me again. Until the next update, hope you get Kinder Surprised some time!

Ribbit!
I've got plenty of work on, so this is going to be a pretty short entry. Have added one toy to the site, a frog clip (K03 No. 4) that's based on a German toy. I only need one more toy now (K03 No. 2) to complete my set of clips.

Right, back to the grindstone now. Cheerio until next time!

Beep! Beep!
That's Road Runner's trademark sound, and it just so happened I got an extra of him a couple of days ago. He's been added to the site, along with an original I got today - orange octopus and purple jellyfish, K03 No. 22. I now have three out of four toys in the "creature couples" set, although only with one couple (the ladybug and beetle) do I have both variations.

One thing about the K03 series is that it seems to have a lot of variations. All KS series have variations, but the K03 one seems to have more than most. It sure adds a lot of interest to the collecting process!

I may not be updating the site or the blog as often this month, because the translation work has returned with a vengeance after I had a whole month without any (the first time that had happened since April 2000!). But it's certainly nice to be earning some money again! However, I'll try not to let it slip too far behind, and I am expecting to make at least one large trade with a lady in Canada.

In the meantime though, it's back to work!

A Good Clip
Today I had a Kinder egg dated 15/1/04. Previously, K01 toys with Argentine papers had been turning up in this date. The Kinder eggs with the K03 toys had 14/1/04 use-by dates. However, today's egg with the 15/1/04 UBD also had a K03 toy, to wit, the bird paper clip K03 No. 5, which is based on a German toy from 2000/01. That has duly been added to the site.

May be doing a trade with someone in Canada, and if that happens, a few things will be deleted and added in the near future. In the meantime, may you be Kinder Surprised today.

New Series in NZ!
I was Kinder Surprised today, but not by an unexpected parcel this time. Went shopping for Kinder Surprises at my local supermarket and was blown away to discover K03 toys in a couple of them! So far this year, we have been getting K01 toys with mostly Argentine papers, and I was under the impression our next series would be K02 toys with Argentine papers. Canada has started getting these K02 toys, and in recent years, New Zealand has been following Canada's lead. But now it looks like we're going to follow on the heels of Queensland, which has been getting K03 toys with Magicodes for months. I wonder if the rest of Australia is going to start getting K03 toys in their eggs as well?

In light of this major development, I have updated the Current Kinder Surprise Situation in NZ page. Have also added two new K03 toys to the K03 page in the Personal Kinder Surprise Collection section.

I have a lot of gaps in my K03 collection, so am thrilled that this series has come to NZ, although a little disappointed that we look set to miss out on the K02 series as we did the K98 series. Still, I think that overall the arrival of the K03 series and Magicodes is great news for NZ collectors, continuing a wonderful year that is more than making up for the previous two or three years, which were extremely forgettable!

That's all for now. But it certainly has been an exciting day - I still can't quite believe it! Until next time, may your next surprise be a Kinder Surprise.

The Birds and the Bugs
Hi and welcome to another blog update. A little history was made with the previous entry in that a reader finally submitted a comment! Good to know I'm not talking entirely to myself! :-)

Anyway, I've added a couple of duplicates to the site, one being the recast of the cormorant puzzle that was originally issued with the K96 series. I have a full set of the K96 ones, and almost all the recast ones - just need the toucan to complete the recast set.

The other duplicate is K01 No. 81, a sort of bug with orange body and blue spikes. It came with an Argentine paper, and I thought it was an original until I realised I already had an Argentine paper for this toy courtesy of my Dunedin friend Kay. The toy itself is no different to the Italian/European version, this despite the fact that the Argentine paper implies it has eye stickers. It doesn't, although a couple of the other toys in the Argentine version of this set do.

But thinking it was an original, I put it together, so it's no longer a "mint in capsule" duplicate. But at least it has its paper and is in perfect condition otherwise.

I'm fresh out of Kinder eggs now, so a trip to the supermarket is in order! Hopefully the weather will be fine tomorrow. But if it deteriorates, then it might be a few more days before my next entry. Anyway, until next time (whenever that may be), bye-bye!

Kinders - For The Birds?
Well, actually, no, but the latest spare that's gone up on my site is a pink flamingo with dark blue perch and Argentine paper.

I had an interesting message from a "Surprise Elf", which I might put on the "Your E-Mail" page at some point. This "Elf" sent me a picture or two of Kinder Joy eggs and their contents. The "Elf" pointed out that the hand-painted figurines that are in Kinder Joy eggs are a little different to the original releases, which was quite interesting to learn.

Not too much else happening in the Kinder world (at least, not in my Kinder world), although with August just around the corner, the K04 series will soon be out and the new series will be starting in Germany too. But for now, goodbye.

Love is Like a Butterfly
So sang Dolly Parton once. It was also the theme song of the British comedy "Butterflies", which ran about 25 years ago. It doesn't have much to do with Kinder Surprises, other than that I got a K01 butterfly (No. 23; need No. 26 to complete a spare set) today, which I have duly added to the site. Also on the site is a spare of the multi-legged lobster with Argentine paper, which I got a couple of days ago.

That's all for now. Until next time, goodbye.

I've Been Kinder Surprised!
I was Kinder Surprised yesterday in that I received a Kinder Surprise parcel I wasn't expecting. This was from my friend Kay in Dunedin, who often sends me unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome, Kinder parcels from time to time. It had three German toys and a number of German papers (mostly duplicates, but some originals, including a couple of papers that I needed for toys that didn't have one.

Kay also wrote me an interesting letter in which she said (among other things) that Anja Engeln, a very nice German lady with whom I did a couple of great trades a couple of years back, had given birth to twins on 21 June! My warmest congratulations to Anja and her husband.

Today I have added the contents of Kay's parcel to the site, along with the Kinder I got today - a duplicate of K01 No. 40. I now have a complete spare set of K01 speedboats, albeit without a couple of variations.

So, you never know just when you might be Kinder Surprised! That's all for now. Hooray! (That's a New Zealand way of saying Goodbye!)