Sunday, November 25, 2012

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of TFs & Such (148) - Kabaya Kits (Gobots)

Gotten this today at CSC... because the robots vaguely resemble the Gobots toys... a bit modernized... but not very sure... Cost $18! Think is cheaper than buy from Taobao, hahaha...
 

Update 1: #4 "Throttle"/"Reverse Cy-kill"
Not sure if this little gobot is supposed to be based on Cy-kill (with similar transformation except the legs are folded in opposite direction; hence "Reverse Cy-kill") or Throttle (their
robot heads style are similar...) The bike can stay up on the 2 broad wheels, and rolls very well!


And the bot mode is quite good too! However, the arms are a little difficult to pull out and they might just pop off when pulling as the arms have only a simple round peg to plug into the holes for swiveling... Joints are relatively tight, just nice and not loose at all...


Update 2: #1 "Hans-Cuff"
Built the Hans-cuff lookalike yesterday night, and have spent triple the time to paste the stickers onto it, lousy stickers.... but the end result looks good!!!


Update 3: #2 "Pumper"
Very heavily rely on stickers for the redness of the body... but in the end looks ok... The legs have a unique transformation path when sliding... Don't really like the exposed fingers though...


Update 4: #3 "RestQ"
Looks and transform gobot-ish, good... very stocky, but the arms look thin from the side... overall fun to transform... 



Edit: More pics of RestQ...



p.s. Have ordered the candy toy kits of Yuusha series: King Exkizer, J-Decker and Gaogaigar.... From the youtube reviews, they seem to be nicely designed with "perfect transformation" except for Gaogaigar's lion head-chest... Hope they arrive asap...

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of KOs (147) - (Bootleg) Gobots : Spay-C

Finally it arrived!!!!! Bootleg Gobots: Spay-C !!!!!! Yesss!!!!! Hahaha... This little thing is an important milestone in my childhood memories... When I was in primary 3~4, I was diagnosed with double-vision, and was supposed to go for operation... So I was quite sad and scared... and a couple of days before my operation, I got this (upon request, actually) as a gift from my mother, to encourage me... Though in the end I did not require an operation upon detail check-up by the specialist, I still treat this little toy as my lucky charm... until 1 day it was lost... or did I throw it away??.... hmm... anyway, very happy to see this being sold in eBay one day, and without hesitation, I bought it immediately... Nostalgic.... Cost around $25.35

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of Such (146) - DX KR Decade Ride Booker, Candy(less) Toy KR Decade Figurine, Candy Toy KR Birth Driver / Birth Buster / OOO Taja Spinner, Candy Toy KR Double (W) Prism Sword / Bicker Shield / Accel Trial Memory

Today's haul at OG PP and CSC... Went crazy and impulse buys... But nevermind lah, at least still worth...


DX KR Decade Ride Booker
Bought this at OG PP, because suddenly felt like completing my little nephew's KR Decade gears...  And also he has been "showing" me review clips from Youtube on this (and K Touch too)... Anyway, it is way way cheaper than getting from TaoBao.com and even eBay... and it is the Japanese version... hahahaha... To add to the impulse, I also ordered a K-Touch (the Korean version) from eBay... hahahaha... From the Youtube reviews, this Ride Booker can only store 5 cards on 1 of the side, has a simplest transformation into gun mode, and a little teeny weeny blade in sword mode.... hahaha... Cost approx. $56 after 20% discount.



Candy(less) Toy KR Decade Figurine
Also bought this in OG PP, cost $5.90... There is a sticker that says no candy is inside... wow, "special" edition... Picture below shows the front, side and back of the box...



Candy Toy KR Birth Driver / Birth Buster / OOO Taja Spinner
Went back to CSC after purchasing the above 2 items, and bought more Candy Toys... must be crazy... Saw this set selling at about $10 more in the shop where I got the next Candy Toy set (Candy Toy KR Double (W) Prism Sword / Bicker Shield / Accel Trial Memory), and probably that's why  bought this set... Not open up yet, but think will keeo the KR Birth Belt and Buster first, unless little nephew wants... but will be giving him the Taja Spinner (hmmm.. can put his mini medals?)... Cost is $25.



Candy Toy KR Double (W) Prism Sword / Bicker Shield / Accel Trial Memory
Coincidentally, the shop, which I bought the previous Candy Toy set (Candy Toy KR Birth Driver / Birth Buster / OOO Taja Spinner), is also selling this set but for about $10 more... Yeap, although I have the mini KR Double(W) belt, this Prism Bicker candy toy is for my little nephew... Though I think I will take the Accel Trial Memory to keep first... Cost is $25.



Oh, btw, forget to take a pic of the DX Kiva Belt bought off eBay earlier... Do so now... This will be the Christmas present for my little nephew...



Have been taking a long break from restoring my KO TFs... Hopefully once this Kamen Rider frenzy (wah, Frenzy appears!!! Pile driver arms wacks floor...) is over, I can focus on restoring my KO TFs...

Monday, July 2, 2012

Minor Mod - Legend Rider Series Kamen Rider Garren Buckle (Belt)

Modified the LRS Blade Blay Buckle into the Garren Buckle (Belt)... because my little nephew likes KR Garren more than KR Blade... Hahahaha.... And since I am NOT prepared to  spend USD50 on a DX Garren Belt, I asked him if it is OK I "destroy" the LRS Blade Belt to become the Garren one, he agreed in 2 seconds...

So I opened up the buckle and replaced the red LED with a green one (last one I have, luckily still have). Was supposed to be an simple and easy task (for me) to remove and solder the LED, but seems my not-so-good luck still persists, always manage to screw up somehow.... anyway, manage to get the green LED soldered after some time...

Then I used a silver paint-pen and painted over the red colour on the buckle before using a green marker to paint over. Very tough as there are a lot of small little voids and hard-to-reach places, even for the fine tip of the marker. Also, the green marker ink somehow could not stay on the protruding details, so decided to paint these silver (see pictures below).

Finally, manage to cut a piece of thin polystyrene to the diamond shape and used a big piece of reflective-gold "sticker" sheet to cover the styrene. The whole thing is then glued (with super-glue) into place. Done!!!! Rare piece of Legend Rider Series KR Garren Buckle (Belt) is borned!!!! Hahahaha...


Picture below is used to show the green LED light when lit...

Sigh... my DX KR Faiz belt strap cracked and tore... due to my carelessness when trying to keep it inside the gearbox/briefcase... And after many attempts, manage to glue it back, though it looks very ugly now... Don't know why but it just seem to hate going back to its original place when gluing, so now the crack lines are VERY visible... sigh... anyway, have ordered some silver belts and such in TaoBao.com, so will mod the belts again when they arrive... Yeap, also gotten some for my nephew's mini KR OOO belt and micro KR Fourze belt...

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Minor Mod - LRS Kamen Rider Blade Belt, DX Kamen Rider Faiz (555) Belt

Did some modifications to the belts of LRS KR Blade and the recently arrived DX KR Faiz...

For LRS Blade belt, I removed the belt piece with male-connector as my nephew is too skinny, and 1 piece of the belt will suffice... Picture (view as if you are looking down the belt worn on waist) below shows the belt after modifications, with a snap-in buckle fitting for easier putting on and off.


The male connector of the snap-in buckle is secured to the belt with small cable ties. Quite secure, but a bit worried that the cable ties may damage the belt holes' edges. For the female-connector, a piece of adhesive velcro (woolly side) was used to wrap around the buckle holder and poked a hole in the velcro to allow the velcro to be attached into a small peg found inside the belt driver (originally used to secure the original Blade's red plastic belt). Sorry, forgotten to take the pictures. For this I have to unscrew the belt driver side to remove the original red belt piece. Now my little nephew can wear this belt easily.



Next is the DX Faiz belt. I added straps with snap-in buckle fitting (recycle from an old waist-pouch) to fit the belt to my fat belly.  Took some time to sew the straps securely, ensuring the plastic belts are not damaged. In the end, achieved the quick snap-in function, as well as adjustable length feature (in case I get slimmer/fatter in future, hahahahaha...)...


Picture below shows the female-connector of the snap-in buckle. The grey strap is looped over the small "belt-tidier" piece and strap sewn closed.


Picture below shows the male-connector of the snap-in buckle. The grey strap is looped through the 3rd hole of the belt and strap sewn closed. I even sewn the straps together at the 1st hole position to prevent belt from moving off position too much.



So both belts are now modified without any damage to the original belt pieces, so that anytime i can still restore them to the "default factory settings"... hahahaha.... Btw, has given the KR Double (W) belt to my little nephew, and we had fun playing the characters of the KR Double (W)... Of course I am only allowed to put on the mini belt, he MUST wear the DX version, hahahaha.....

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of Such (145) - Kamen Rider Faiz (555) Basic Gear Set: Driver, Phone, Shot, Pointer, Gearbox

1 item from eBay arrived! And it has to be my most expensive order from eBay to date... Presenting the Kamen Rider Faiz (555) Basic Gear Set! "As you can see", this basic set consists of (from top-left, clockwise): Faiz Phone and Driver, Faiz Pointer, Faiz Shot, and Faiz Gearbox. Cost me USD 220 (approximately SGD 288.75)... Super expensive, in fact, I have consider many many many times to delete this item off my Watch List, but in the end... Anyway, quite fun...



The Faiz Gearbox comes with ... nothing, as in none of the gears, it is just an empty briefcase. I immediately tear off the sticker pasted at the back of the Belt compartment, and the printed cardboard in the Gearbox that shows the details of the various Faiz gears... Don't like these, felt too "kidish"... The gears can all fit into the Gearbox... well, almost all... because of show accuracy (eg. Faiz has his Pointer holster at his leg naturally after transformed, so he need not dig into his briefcase to hunt for the holder to hold the Faiz Pointer...)... you get what I mean... Anyway, the big words "SMART BRAIN" is printed on a silver foil sticker, quite nice...



Opening the Faiz Gearbox will show you the (spaces to store) Faiz gears. "As you can see", there is an empty space for the Faiz Axel Watch, which is super expensive in eBay... Don't think I will be getting 1 in the near future, unless struck lottery... The empty space is also too small to store the Pointer holder, sad... anyway...



In the middle of the Faiz Gearbox is a divider plastic piece that can be unlatched to fold down and reveal the space for putting the Henshin belt (Faiz Driver). It is indeed a bit worrying to need to bend the belt straps so much in order to store in the Henshin belt (Faiz Driver), after connecting the belt straps to the Driver unit... But lazy to every time remove the belt straps from the Driver unit, so ...



Picture below shows the miscellaneous parts that cannot be stored in the Faiz Gearbox.



Hope my other eBay item and my TaoBao haul will come soon...

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of Such (144) - Kamen Rider Double/W DX Superbest Henshin Belt, Candy Toy Kamen Rider Double/W Henshin Belt And Maximum Slot

Gotten these 2 gems from CSC today... Very happy as I had been hunting for the KR Double/W belt for long time (yes, 1 of the many "favorite" belt of my little nephew, hahaha...), and couldn't find a suitable price in TaoBao.com, and though found 1 in eBay to be quite ok in price, I still got to consider in the additional travel fee... Anyway, seems that a Hong Kong re-issue of the normal DX version will happen in July (seen in TaoBao sellers pre-order), and Japan will release the 2nd wave of the Superbest version in August (read from HLJ, if I remember correctly)... Anyway, bought this at (my) reasonable price...


Kamen Rider Double/W DX Superbest Henshin Belt
Bought this brand new piece from a stall with a nice lady and a gentleman called Vincent (Thanks for the discount! =)  ) My little nephew used to make me say "Cyclone!" and he will say "Jok~a~r", and "force" me to faint off like the Philip character... Hahaha... Have not open up yet, intend to give my little nephew next time, not so soon... Cost me $115...



Candy Toy Kamen Rider Double/W Henshin Belt And Maximum Slot
Bought this set simply because I need a belt to transform together with my little nephew (in future) !!!!! Hahahahaha... Have open up the boxes, and as expected, the belt strap is too short for my humongous tummy, ahahahahahaha..... Anyway, a total 6 Gaia Memories are included in these 2 boxes, ie. similar to that in the Superbest DX version! Sweet... However, they are only pure hollow plastic pieces with no electronics (whihc I don't really care, since the sounds can be provided by the DX one while playing).  The belt has lights that can switch on though, quite a nice touch... The Maximum Slot can only play the "Joker" 's words and sound effects, so does not matter which Gaia Memory is inserted... Cost $30 for the 2 boxes...



Waiting for my TaoBao & eBay hauls to come!!!!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of KOs and Such (143) - KO "蒙巴迪" Alternators Hound, KO Rockbuster, KO Oversize Cyberverse OP/Meg Weapon Trailer/Bases, KO Iron Man Gatling Dart Blaster, MGA Spider-Man 3 Dart Slinger

My latest haul from TaoBao arrived, yesterday night... So managed to get some newer and better (while still cheap) KOs to replace some of my older ones; found some really interesting KOs from the Cyberverse line; and some interesting Spider-Man (legit and KO) dart shooters... Hahaha....

(New) KO Alternators Hound
This is from the more recent series made by a company called "蒙巴迪". Have gotten its Alternators Skidz before, and it is of quite good quality... Hope this will not disappoint me... Price ~ $14.30



(New) KO Rockbuster
A freebie which comes along with the purchase of the below 2 oversize KOs... and because of this, I had to pay a lot extra shipping fees due to the way the seller packs the items... anyway, will use it to replace the slightly lousier quality KO Rockbuster I gotten earlier .. Price ~ $0



KO Oversize Cyberverse Optimus Prime Armored Weapons Platform
Wow!!!!!!! OVERSIZE 2 classes! From Commander class to Voyager class!!! Awesome.... Looks good, but not de-tombed yet, so pray hard... It looks familiar to the Battle Tanker though, especially this size... Wonder if I can fit the trailer to my bootlegged DOTM Voyager OP... Price ~ $35.10


Edit: Comparison of this oversize OP with the KO Battle Tanker... Hmm... The ball joints for the side panels are now too loose after forceful turns... Need to trim down many pegs so that the panels will not be obstructed when swiveling in transformation... Missile is way too sensitive and often not stay clicked in... 


Edit 2: Size comparison with my KO DOTM Optimus Prime... Still slightly shorter than the KO DOTM OP...


And this is how KO DOTM OP will look like using the Cyberverse OP's Trailer... No good places to lock tight, will need to make some connectors somehow if really need to connect them...


Trailer can be used! But again, no good connector, only force fit slightly some parts but still, quite ok...



KO Oversize Cyberverse Megatron Blastwave Weapons Base
Wow!!!!!!! OVERSIZE 2 classes! From Commander class to Voyager class!!! Awesome.... Opps, sorry, repeating... Anyway, both KOs come in exactly same box, which is understandable, as KO-makers also need to cut costs... wow, trailer becomes a jet-pack... Now who's afraid of the Jetwing Optimus... Price ~ $35.10


Edit: Comparison of this oversize Meg with the KO Battle Tanker...Plastic quality is not too bad! In fact the wings material are quite near to the (legit) voyager Megatron material... Joints are reasonably tight, though I might still want to tighten some...



KO Iron Man Gatling Dart Blaster
Hmmmm... Doesn't this look familiar???.... Wait, isn't it a KO of the Spider-Man Gatling Dart Blaster??? So now Iron Man steals this technology and re-deco it for his own use??!!! Or is this originally design by Stark? Hmmm.... Hahahaha.... Who cares, as long as it is fun! ... Box contains only 1 dart-blaster (with darts), and not all the toys (disc-shooter, claw, gun) shown in the back of packaging.  It also contains a small mask of Iron Man, hence the size of the box... Intend to mod the blasters (I bought 2 boxes) to shoot out the darts using thumb to trigger while the hand poses like shooting a Repulsor beam... Even bought 2 circular LED mini lamps already, hahahahaha..... I must be crazy... Price ~ $39.00 (for 2 sets)



MGA Spider-Man 3 Dart Slinger
Awesome! Finally some sense to pack 2 web/dart shooters in a box! Hey come on, Hasbro, Spidey shoots web from both hands, ok?!!! Get it?!!... Hahaha... OK, venting dome frustration, as I feel like getting the new Amazing Spider-Man dart shooter but there is only 1 shooter in 1 box, and 1 box already cost $34.90.. too costly... This set comes with 2 dart slingers, 11 (yeap, I got 1 extra dart packed in, lucky...) darts, and 6 targets to shoot at... had fun playing "monster-shooting" with my little nephew with each of us using 1 slinger each.... Price ~ $23.50



Broken yet another KO Constructicon Maximus member... shall not form them up but will use each member (total 3) as unique individuals... sigh... nothing good at Takahimaya's toy fair/universe...

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of Such (142) - Legend Rider Series Kamen Rider Ryuki Henshin Belt

Bought this LRS Kamen Rider Ryuki Henshin Belt today at BHG Bugis... Read on the web that BHG is selling LRS belts but did not say which outlet, so after some research, end with 2 outlets that have children toy section. Went over to BHG Junction 8 first, and it is a complete waste of time... Going over to BHG Bugis, and luckily, manage to find then belts!  Was so tempted to get another LRS Blade belt for making the belt extensions, but decided not to due to the too high price despite having a 20% discount offer... And Agito's one is too un-interesting... so in the end, got this for my little nephew... and saw in the review, the main buckle is essentially the same as the DX version, which means the DX card-cartridge (or whatever the name is) can be used here, or vice versa... (of course I can't really confirm this; I don't own a DX version)... Anyway, will be giving him as his birthday presento instead of the denkamen sword instead...  Oh, price is $42.36 (after discount)...
  
 

I think I may have reach the stage of stop collecting TF/KOs anymore... Allocated display space is saturated... and still my shelves project are not even started yet... sigh.. I may just stop buying... so maybe no more Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of KO/TF liao... but will still carry on restoring/modding the current KOs/TFs I have... Anyway, too early to say, I am a fickled-minded person, right? hahahaha.....

Will Bandai reissue the DX Kiva Belt, pleeeeeeeeeeease????! Hahahaha..... sigh....

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of Such (141) - Candy Toy Kamen Rider OOO Belt And Weapon Set, LRS Kamen Rider Blade Belt

Went to CSC today and gotten these stuff (and a small Baltan Seijin that is blue and translucent, but did not picture here)... Actually went to OG PP but did not find anything interesting...

Candy Toy Kamen Rider OOO Belt And Weapon Set
This is an awesome set of Candy Toy!!!!!!! Whole set contains of 3 boxes:
 (1) OOO Driver buckle with 3 Core Medals - Buckle can tilt. Also has a slide switch that can switch on LEDs to illuminate the inserted medals! Sweet...
(2) O Scanner with Holder and Belt-strap - O Scanner has the "swingshii" sound and best of all, the "Ta~to~ba x3" song!!! Amazing, hahaha....
(3) Medajalibur - Coins are molded in, but hey, it has motion-sensored blade clashing sounds, and a button at the side allows mimicking the sliding of the O Scanner for a power-up strike (or something like that, not familiar with KR OOO), cool...
Cost $36... Amazing candy toys, though a little small... My little nephew is now the proud owner of this belt-weapon set, hahaha... yes, he also likes the "Ta~to~ba x3" song...


Legend Rider Series Kamen Rider Blade Belt
Yeah, finally gotten the LRS Belt... Yes, I actually want to get a LRS Belt because... I just wanted a LRS belt strap(s), so that I can combine with my LRS Ichigo belt and wear it on my fat waist, hahahahahahaha...... I tried using a normal pants belt and 2 clips to clip the buckle in place, and it works well... but I tried in vain to get a good and cheap red-coloured belt... so in the end, I told myself: just go and get a decent strap extender... But it is too expensive... So next alternative - get a LRS belt and in addition, I can also get another buckle to play with! So, after some searching, I finally realised that LRS KR Blade belt is the most suitable, as it has the henshin function basic motion (yes, only basic motion, no complicated linkages for the motion) and good, identical henshin sound... and the straps are red... a bit more dark red though, but doesn't really matter... My little nephew finds it fun to play with, saying it was "cool belt", think he likes it even more than his new OOO belt, hahaha.... Thanks to bro bomber_chan for this belt!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Minor Aesthetic Touch Up - LRS Kamen Rider Shin Ichigo Henshin Belt

Wanted to touch up my LRS Ichigo Belt long time ago, but was put off every time due to unexpected happenings... Today finally decided to touch up, although still tired and sick... Sigh... nevermind, shall not complain here...

Initially tried with silver pint pen.. Was ugly as paint did not really came out properly out of the pen... finally completed, then suddenly lightly scratch the surface, and the paint appears to peeled off from a silky surface... yes, that easy... Only then I remember, yes, there is this type of plastic that does not allow paint to stick to it well, like the KO Kabaya kits... sigh... In my flu drowsiness, I have forgotten... anyway, finally used some silver sticker sheet and plastered all over the 2 side "boxes". Luckily the silver paint on the jewels holders are not so often in contact by hand... The black paint on the knob and slide switch are badly done though... tried to put white detailings to the knob but did not work out well, so cover everything in black... anyway, still quite like it... not too bad if look from far... hahaha...

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of Such (140) - General Grevious Spinning Electronics Lightsaber

Gotten this at OG, hidden at the side of a rack of clearance of Star Wars toys... Cost $29.90 only...

Also bought a Kamen Rider DX Dengasher, at $10 only, but couldn't find where the picture is...

Edit: Retook the Dengasher, in its axe form... Gave to my little nephew today before he visit doctor today.. Then afternoon he vomited on it, so my mum spray water over the toy to clean it... Electronics was disrupted and sound became weird... and I spend some time trying to fix it.. Finally ok now... phew...