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Man of Many’s Staff Favourites is back to brighten up your weekend, as we celebrate the products, services, entertainment, and experiences that have caught our eye over the week.
We get to try so much of the cool, novel, and curious on a daily basis, but these encounters don’t always result in full write-ups or reviews. So we collect them here in the hope you’ll find something new and exciting to give your week a lift.
My Man of Many Staff Favourite this week is focused on the love-hate relationship I have with NBA 2K27. The NBA 2K franchise is the only game that I’ve ever dedicated hundreds, if not thousands of hours to over the last decade. Now that we’re three or four weeks into the new game, I have to be brutally honest and say that I had much more fun on 2K26 (which I racked up hundreds of hours on), even though it was rife with cheaters.
While the developers talked about a reworked physical defence and a new ball collision system in the new game, the reality so far is that the current meta heavily rewards risky, spammy defence. That’s not even the worst of it. No, my main complaint is with shooting, which is incredibly frustrating mechanically. Speed-ups, moving green windows, the list goes on, and I’m genuinely hoping a patch can come in and restore some of the fun in the game. I still shoot well above average, but it’s clunky and random, and it doesn’t reward you for getting a wide-open shot. It’s not satisfying to play, and it’s the main reason I haven’t picked up the controller much since release.
It needs to be said that I’m talking about online play here, as it’s not all doom and gloom. If you step away from the parks, the offline gameplay is actually enjoyable enough, and the story mode is undeniably good. Just don’t expect a fresh backdrop, as despite all the new offensive tools and ProPLAY tech, we are running around the exact same City as last year.
We took the whole team out for lunch a couple of weeks back at The Flynn on Bligh Street, and about halfway through the second round it dawned on me that we had accidentally stumbled onto the perfect bucks or hens venue for anyone stuck organising one in the city. We had been there once before as a team, so we already knew the food was good, but this time the crew from The Flynn let us in on what they were launching next.
As of this long weekend (it kicked off on Saturday 3 October), they are running a bottomless Saturday menu: 90 minutes of free-flowing spirits, beer, wine, Aperol spritzes and margaritas, plus a seven-course share menu, for $69 a head. I have forked out more than that for a couple of cocktails and a bowl of chips in the CBD, so the maths checks out.
A bit of context for those who have not been. The Flynn has been a Bligh Street pub since 2012, sits right next to the Sofitel Wentworth a few minutes from Circular Quay, and had a $2 million revamp last year with the menu now in the hands of chef Justin North (of Becasse fame, for those who remember Sydney’s fine dining scene in the late 2000s). So it is pub food, but not pub food, if you get what I mean. Modern pub classics with a few Asian and Mediterranean touches thrown in. The pasta was banging on the day, with a proper crunchy texture on top that I was not expecting from a pub, and it disappeared off the table in about a minute.
The reason I reckon it works so well for a bucks or hens is the layout. There is a proper dining room where you can sit down and do the seven courses without yelling over each other, and a lively sports bar next door with the footy on, so the group can drift between the two as the afternoon unravels. Being in the middle of the city, it also sets you up nicely for wherever the night is headed, or works just as well as the recovery session the morning after (if you can stomach a marg by midday, which I usually can).
If you have got a Saturday to fill this spring, feel free to use it. Bookings are through their website and I would get in early.
Disclosure: The Man of Many team was hosted for lunch at The Flynn, courtesy of The Flynn and Stanley House Studios.
3. Technics EAH-A1000
Technics is one of those names that still carries real weight in a headphone market where it feels like a new model drops every other week. This is the company behind the SL-1200 turntable, after all, so when it puts the word “flagship” on a pair of over-ears, I pay attention. The EAH-A1000 launched globally this week and hits Australian hi-fi specialists and electronics retailers this month, in Black or a new Platinum finish (a soft grey-beige that makes a nice change from the usual black or silver).
The headline tech is a newly developed 40mm Magnetic Fluid Driver, which Technics has scaled up from its AZ100 and TZ700 earbuds and paired with a carbon fibre diaphragm and speaker tech borrowed from its hi-fi range. The idea is to get the big soundstage of proper over-ears without the distortion that usually comes with a big driver. Add adaptive noise cancelling (four microphones on each side), LDAC and USB audio for high-res playback, up to 45 hours of battery and multipoint connection to three devices, and it is a serious shot at the premium noise-cancelling crowd. At $699 RRP it is not an impulse buy, but this is Technics’ best, and it is priced like it.
The good news is you might not have to pay for them at all. We have a pair to give away to one lucky reader, so keep an eye on the site for the giveaway in the coming weeks.
Disclosure: Technics has supplied a pair of EAH-A1000 headphones for a Man of Many reader giveaway.
4. Bialletti Moka Express Stovetop Coffee Maker
Frank Arthur – co-Founder
As a dedicated latte drinker, I originally picked up the Bialetti Moka Express to run over a butane burner for an upcoming family camping trip, with no intention of replacing my daily Breville Bambino. But after test-driving it at home, it earned a permanent spot in my morning rotation.
There’s something deeply satisfying about the deliberate ritual of stovetop coffee. Once you dial in the technique, it brews a fantastic cup. It isn’t trying to compete with espresso; it delivers a completely different style of coffee that’s rich, distinct, and rewarding on its own terms.
Beyond the brew, the appeal is all in the design. Its timeless octagonal shape brings great vintage charm, and the compact build is practically indestructible. Aside from swapping the gasket or filter plate every few years, the pot itself will easily last for decades. Campfire or kitchen stove, it’s a classic for a reason.
The good folks at Hello Fresh sent me their new Country Cookout Box for review last week, and it delivers all the smoky, crowd-pleasing flavour of a proper cookout directly to your kitchen without any of the endless prep work.
I put a few of the recipes to the test at home and was seriously impressed. Highlights included the smoky buffalo-glazed chicken and pulled pork fries, but the real star had to be the cookout burgers. Everything comes pre-portioned with easy-to-follow recipe cards, making it an absolute breeze to whip up a healthy, hearty feast after a long day. The box easily big enough to make a good sized dinner for a family of three, with enough left over to make burgers for two on the weekend. Pair it with a cold drink, put on a country playlist, and you’ve got an instant weekend crowd-pleaser on your hands.
There’s a good reason Oakridge’s 864 lineup holds such a revered spot among Australian cool-climate wines. Named after the block on which the winery sits, the 864 range is only produced in exceptional vintages from the absolute best micro-sites across the Yarra Valley. The newly released 2024 Chardonnays (the Henk Aqueduct Block and Funder & Diamond Drive Block) and the 2025 Henk Pinot Noir are absolute masterclasses in precision and regional expression.
The 2024 vintage brought healthy vineyard canopies that translated into stunning vibrancy and focus in the glass. The Funder & Diamond Chardonnay delivers remarkable drive, power, and texture, while the Henk Aqueduct Block Pinot Noir showcases beautiful perfumed elegance with a silky finish. Whether you’re looking to cellaring a few bottles or looking for an elevated drop for a special occasion, these single-block releases prove why Oakridge remains at the top of its game.
I picked this up at the markets a little while ago and it has somehow become part of my morning routine. Every day, you use the eight wooden pieces to cover the calendar board, leaving just that day’s date and month showing. It sounds pretty simple, but I can confirm it is not always as easy as it looks.
I’ve been starting my mornings by having a go at the puzzle for the day, usually with a coffee next to me. The problem is that I get very determined to solve it, so there have been more than a few mornings where my coffee has gone completely cold because I’m still sitting there moving the pieces around. What I find crazy is that there can be different ways to arrange the pieces to solve the same day, so just because you’ve found one solution doesn’t mean there isn’t another way to do it.
Some days I get it pretty quickly and feel very proud of myself, and other days I have spent far too long trying to make the pieces fit and have genuinely let it ruin my morning when I just cannot figure it out. It’s also become surprisingly competitive in my family, because once someone solves the day’s puzzle, everyone else suddenly wants to see if they can do it faster.
I think it makes a really great gift because it’s something you can come back to every day rather than doing once and putting away. It keeps you entertained for a while, definitely gets the brain working, and, if you’re anything like me, can also test your patience a little more than you’d expect from something that looks so innocent sitting on the coffee table.
Rob Stott is the Editor in Chief at Man of Many, leading the editorial direction and content strategy for Australia’s largest independent men’s lifestyle publication. With over 16 years of experience in digital publishing, Rob has spent his career at ...
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