Haul from Taobao finally came... and I learnt an important lesson : Never buy through ezBuy agent after October... they thought they can handle with all the promotions they throw out since the 10.10, but they are proven very wrong, either too short in manpower than anticipated, or their current SOP is not designed to handle such big flow, and the good old quality standard never came back even till now... sigh... Anyway, count myself lucky that I got most of the items ordered... Here goes (for Transformers and such items, visit my other blog My KO Transformers and Such ):
First up is the DX Zyuoh Buster... A bit of surprise to find it so small... of course the biggest nitpick will be the small butter-knife-like blade, hahahaha... May do some modifications if got time... Cost about SGD32.05, round up to the nearest 5 cents, hahahaha...
Next is a loose Goton Yo Shuriken... Costs SGD12.65... This is the version that has mainly only sound effects and only 1 line when button at bottom is pressed longer...
Next, the DX Giri Giri ChamBara Gashat for my little nephew... Cost about SGD31.55 ...
And could not resist these 2 (types of) gashats: DX Drago Knight Hunter Z (Cost about SGD64.75) and Let's Go Ichigou (Cost about SGD28) gashat(s)!!!... yeap, 1 of the DX Drago Knight Hunter Z is for my little nephew...
So today make up my mind to spray paint the DX Drago Knight Hunter Z to gold.. actually it looks more like copper... hmmm... conned by the spray paint label...
Anyway, looks so much better than the original plastic colour!!! hahahaha...
Shift Cars modification Part 2!!! Modify the remaining ones into their "enhanced" form... actually is just to differentiate between my little nephew's and mine... hahahahaha....
And here's a short clip to show the displays made by the driver...
I have a gashapon T2 Joker Gaia Memory. I have a candy toy Maximum Drive Slot that shouts "Joker Maximum Drive". Ugghh. Gashapon T2 Joker Gaia Memory : Joker Maximum Drive sounds.
When I got this Deluxe Gosei Morpher, I was searching high and low for a power on-off switch, which many minutes later then I realised there isn't one... which is quite unacceptable for me, as this means, like many of the Japanese Gaia Memories, gashapon (capsule toy) and shokugan (candy toy) lock seeds etc, battery life for the toy can be draining and accidental activation will be common and "unavoidable" (1 ex-minister in my country popularized this word)... and some-more this is supposed to be a deluxe (DX) toy...
... so I added a small slide switch to act as the power on-off switch (battery's +ve terminal to switch before going to the circuit)...
It is a bit ugly when look from close up, but really it is not that bad... and more importantly, it works... hahahahaha....
Finally completed my KO DX Daidaimaru and KO DX Musou Saber blade mods and sound restorations... long long overdue...
Added 4 LEDs for Daidaimaru to light up the translucent display piece. Sound chip is retained from the original KO toy. Also added a power on-off switch to save battery life. Here's the core of the new bigger blade for the Daidaimaru, hot-glued to 1 side of the Daidaimaru... though I did not make it as big as I initially wanted because the handle was too small to begin with...
2 thinner pieces of ABS was then cut to cover the 2 sides of the core blade...
... and hot-glued to seal the edge...
As mentioned earlier, the sound circuit is the one that comes with this KO toy, and surprisingly, it is able to power up 4 red LEDs quite nicely... I muffled the speakers to be of the similar volume as the Musou Saber's (self-recorded) sounds...
And after adding a power on-off switch, the KO Daidaimaru is restored...
Next is the Musou Saber, which has a super short blade even for the authentic version... Made a longer blade (core) and also a top cover... looks much better...
... especially when compared to the original blade length... 2 thinner pieces are also added tot he core for the blade surface pattern...
A new 4.5V button cell battery compartment is added to replace the 3V one that was on the original KO toy, as my sound recording circuits use 4.5V...
... and added sounds for the normal gun shooting, sword slashing (sounds recorded from the authentic DX Musou Saber toy), "lock on and count up till Infinite Number" and final attack sound (sounds recorded from DX DJ Gun). But these circuits do not have light when playback, and also I was lazy to make a transistor-amp circuit for the light, there is basically no light for this toy, except for the "lock-on and count up to Infinite Number" sound, which uses an earlier sound recording circuit that has light when playback... Doesn't matter to me as the Daidaimaru already has 4 LEDs... hahahaha...
Final comparison picture....
A quick demo clip for the restoration of my DX KOs of the Kamen Rider Gaim toys. All are bootleg / KO versions. Forget to mention I restored the "lock on" sound feature for Sengoku Driver; partial failure because the activating switch is unstable, the "lock on" sound may sometimes be accidentally activated when the blade cuts the lock seed cover, especially if the lock seed is not properly tight fixed into the lock seed hole... and due to the type of sound recording circuit used, the "lock on" sound will also be activated when the activating switch is released (authentic driver has a "lock off" sound), but this I don't mind...
Restored the KO AbaLaser that was bought 2 years ago.. wow, long time ago... Started by replacing the short handle with the handle from a candy toy Delta Driver gun handle part... Looks good!!!
Since the handle is hollow and has a cap that can be opened, I used it to contain the battery holder...
I used the sound-light circuit board ripped from an 2nd-hand AbaLaser bought last time to fit into this KO. The power on-off switch has to be re-locatedto a new place (barrel area) with a new switch rerouted for the trigger...
This part gives me the most headache, and is still not fully working well now... I used magnets to in an attempt to hold the blade in place, but due to the heavy weight of the ABS blade, it does not work well... Sadly, the magnets I used to lock the handle are not strong enough to keep it secured in place... But will do as long as I don't swing it too hard...
Next, painting is done, mainly borrowing the colour scheme from the Thundermax Saber - Crimson Edition... The blade is spray painted while the main body parts are hand-painted with paint pens... paint bleedings are scraped off using a penknife... Ready to assemble...
Done! Gun mode...
And the saber mode...
Saber mode looking from the speaker side, which is painted purple to match the LED cover on the other side...
Finally restored the 3 Ultraman Brothers' transformation devices...
KO Spark Lens ( Ultraman Tiga )
This KO is modeled heavily after the Bandai-Auldey version, which is the China version for the DX Spark Lens. Some minor differences include the design below the transparent LED window (is similar to the Japanese DX version) and speaker holes are now located opposite to the activation button, and of course, the battery (type). It has the most work to be done too. The original red flame paint is removed using melamine sponge and painted with gold paint pen... The latching mechanism has to be fixed too. The battery is also modded to hold 3 button cells instead of 2 (though it is still not enough to power up yellowish-green LEDs as brightly as I hoped to have). And of course a new sound-recording circuit (with a LED light up when playback) is added with the China version (Bandai-Auldey) of the Spark Lens...
Bootleg DX Reflasher ( Ultraman Dyna )
This bootleg comes with the catch mechanism not working, and has to be fixed in order to latch the flipped-out light part. Not sure which this version is based off, but probably the Poppy version. Differences from the normal DX version are the catch mechanism is at the side instead of the tip of the flipped-out light part, and screws on the flipped-out light part are located on the LED side instead of on the brown side. Also have to make a power on-off switch in order not to waste battery life. The sound and light circuit is actually from my China version of the DX Esplender, which I also restore its sound to original one...
( China Version ) DX Esplender ( Ultraman Gaia )
This DX Esplender is the China version, which has the sound of DX Reflasher with extra "Swaaatch" sound at the end. Bought this many years ago for my little nephew. Later, he inherited a Japanese version DX Esplender from his cousin, and after restoring that worn out Esplender, my little nephew kept it and return this to me. Quite an easy restoration with new (correct) sounds replaced using a sound-recording PCB. I thought 3 LEDs will look good but maybe 5 LEDs may look best... maybe next time then fix another 2 more LEDs... too lazy now.....
Collected my haul from Taobao today... 2 of the items are below... First is this KO DX Ginga Spark set that includes an oversized KO Ginga Spark Doll... and has since threw away the doll, as the size is too big to fit into my display... and most importantly, the neck is too long... hahahahaha.... Costs approximately SGD 11.90...
De-tombed... Yeap, will be replacing the existing sound circuit board (which has a typical but slower-playback-speed sword-swinging sounds) with more appropriate transformation (into Ginga only) sound...
Also picked up a KO Ginga Spark Doll as the one that came with the previous set is too big... Turn out to be a Ginga Strium version... doesn't matter... Will be doing some touch up painting... Costs approximately SGD 3.65...
Haul from Taobao came today... First is this KO DX Reflasher set that sells the Ultraman Phone as the main toy and the KO DX Reflasher as an add-on toy, but I bought it mainly for the Reflasher... hahahahaha... Have since thrown away the figurine... Costs approximately SGD 17.95 ...
And this is the reason why I bought it - to complete the trio.... Now left to restore Reflasher lock mechanism and the sounds of the Reflasher and Esplender (the sound in the Esplender sounds more similar to the original Reflasher's sound... )...
And also gotten this DX Shakariki Sports Gashat for my little nephew.... costs approximately SGD 24.60 ...
Replaced the sound circuits previously used to add sounds for the Super TaToBa and TaMaShii combos, this time used a more costlier and better version... In the end, sound is a bit too clear compared to the DX OOO Scanner sound, making the 2 sounds not quite match perfectly... also, the real trimmer used to cut the sounds from the movies are not able to cut to what I will like to have, so.. but already so much better than the previous one... Happy....
Headed down to Fuiya today to get these stuff for my little nephew's Christmas present... Nope, I still keep my view that this new Kamen Rider Ex-Aid's design is ridiculous, though I will still catch the series (since not much Tokusatsu shows to watch here... ), and get the toys for my little nephew if he is into this show... I might make a home-made Gamer Driver though, if I can figure out how to make the mechanism part... hahaha... The Driver and Slot set cost $110, and the weapon cost $40...
Back of the box used to be the front of older boxes... makes sense, as there is more unbroken up space for the graphics...
The contents... I felt Bandai is getting more unscrupulous with this new belt... You see, the main driver/belt is just 1 big chunk of plastic box with a mirror, with the sounds and light coming from the Gashat, so, referring to the DX Gamer Driver only set: (1) why still sell so expensive? (2) Only 1 Gashat included ??? (3) Have to purchase the Maximum Drive Sl.. I mean the Kimewaza Slot separately, which shouldn't it be supposed to be together with the Driver? All these made me feel Bandai is getting money-hungry... unless maybe next time the DX Gashats will sell cheap which I don't believe so... anyway....
DX Gashacon Breaker!!!! Is a bit larger than what I had expected... so not too bad..
