Author: Mike Flacy

    Editor-in-Chief for The CheckOut. During my free time, I love to write about pop culture, home theater, digital photography, social media, mobile technology and cool gadgets!

    If you are interested in having The CheckOut crew review one of your products, send me an email to reviews at bensbargains dot net. (Of course, replace at for @ and dot for .)


    Connect with me over:



    Check out my most recent posts:

  • LEGO Breaking Bad Jesse Walter cooking meth
    Animator creates incredible LEGO Breaking Bad video game trailer

    Popular movies and comic book heroes transformed into the LEGO universe have been incredibly popular and lucrative for the video game industry. However, the games are clearly geared at capturing a younger gamer demographic. While there are plenty of jokes...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 0
  • gadget-grid
    Gadgets for Grads Through the Decades: An Infographic

    Have you ever wondered how much that sweet, gigantic phone Zack Morris carried around in Saved by the Bell would cost in 2013 dollars adjusted for inflation? What about an old school Compaq computer from 1993 with...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 1
  • Taking on the Dark Knight
    Giant Comic Book Illustrations Entering Into the Real World

    Created by chemical engineering student Gaikuo-Captain, this talented illustrator has designed a variety of massive comic book illustrations on the wall and made it appear as if the characters are jumping into the real world. Creatively inserting himself into...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 0
  • Shut Up and Take My Money: Doctor Who Remote-Control Flying TARDIS

    Perhaps the must-have gadget for the most die-hard of Doctor Who fans, a retailer called Entertainment Earth recently listed a Doctor Who flying TARDIS complete with a remote control. If you have longed to spend your days role playing...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 0
  • mike-mitchell-character-portaits
    15 Amazing Movie Character Portraits

    Designed by artist Mike Mitchell, this fantastic collection of movie character portraits from many popular films will be on display in the Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas starting on May 25, 2013. Specifically, Mitchell has illustrated movie characters from...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 0
  • Tom Selleck of Magnum P.I.
    Famous Alpha Males Transformed into Typography

    Carefully drafted with beautiful simplicity, artist Stuart Jackson has developed a series of minimalist posters depicting a collection of famous alpha males in typographic form. Each poster takes something in particular about the famous alpha male and integrates it...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 0
  • Bug-A-Salt and Sad Keanu
    Bug-A-Salt Review

    I hate houseflies. Seriously. I hate houseflies with the fiery anger of 1,000 burning supernovas. If I were making a Top 10 list of things I hate, houseflies would take a minimum of four spots. If Jeff...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 6
  • LEGO stormtrooper giving out free hugs
    13 Amusing Photos of LEGO Star Wars Characters

    The combination of Star Wars characters and LEGOs is definitely a popular mixture. Just look at the wildly popular LEGO Death Star set, a 3,800 piece behemoth that likely takes hours upon hours to complete. Or perhaps...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 245
  • gifts-for-grads
    12 Tech Gadgets for Grads Less Than $100

    If you have a friend or family member getting ready to either head out to college or start looking for a job after graduation, you should give them the gift of an awesome tech gadget! You don’t...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 0
  • Gandalf riding away on the Great Eagle
    Shut Up and Take My Money: LEGO Lord of the Rings Tower of Orthanc

    Is this the one LEGO set to rule them all? The company that enjoys torturing people who walk around barefoot has announced an epic, 2,300+ piece LEGO set of the Tower of Orthanc seen in the Lord of the...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 3
  • Peggy Olsen Mad Men
    What if Mad Men was set in the 21st-century?

    Detailed in a blog post on Shutterstock, the designers at the stock photo site envisioned what items best represent the main characters within AMC’s Mad Men and compared the 21st-century equivalent of each one. For instance, if Christina Hendricks’ Joan...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 1
  • wolf-helmet
    The Wolf Helmet Will Terrify Everyone on the Road

    What are you going to do when civilization collapses and the inevitable Mad Max / Book of Eli / Borderlands scenario explodes in popularity? You better be wearing a Wolf Helmet to scare off the crazies, otherwise you’re going...

    • Posted 13 years ago
    • 0