Playstation History Collection Gashapon プレイステーションヒストリーコレクションガシャポン

 

Just the other day, by way of HLJ (no rhyming intended) I got these awesome little gashapon 1/6 replicas of the "Playstation History". There are 6 in the set (I got 8 capsules in 1 box and only got 5 of the 6, but the small paper inserts assert that 2 models are secrets, so I'm guessing each box only contains 1 secret model) and each comes with a different set of peripherals as well as a game and its case. For being so small, they're ridiculously detailed, with accurately painted buttons as well as miniscule memory cards and Pocketstations. Each peripheral can be plugged into the PS itself and each PS has a tiny disc and case with included labels that can be applied. The Playstations' lids open as well and the games can actually be inserted! The only thing missing is the ability to actually play them on a TV.

The PS consoles themselves are represented through 6 different models in this set (though there aren't any physical differences between the gray models, the paper that they come with lists them as different models), and like I said, there are 6 sets overall:

• SCPH-1000 with the original gray controller, gray memory card and Arc the Lad
• SCPH-7000 with Emerald Dual Shock and memory card and Parappa The Rapper
• SCPH-9000 with gray Dual Shock, Clear Pocketstation and IQ ~ Intelligent Qube
• PSOne with white Dual Shock, white Pocketstation, portable screen and Doko Demo Issho
• Black Playstation - Net Yarouze with software disc
• Blue Playstation - this is the dev kit/debug model

I got all but the blue model, which seems to be the rarest of all, but fret not! I managed to find it for sale by itself on eBay for $14, which is slightly less than I paid for the entire box of 8, so, yeah... But I'm a completionist. What a curse.

Super Mario Bros Tapestry スーパーマリオ手ぬぐい

This is supposed to be a towel, but it is most definitely a tapestry. Has the opening screen + some extra sprites from the first Super Mario Bros game on it, so it was most definitely an instant buy for me. The others had Mario amongst a bunch of coins and illustrations of the characters. Can be had here.

Tokyoflash Japan Kisai Seven

I got the brand new Kisai Seven watch from Tokyoflash Japan just the other day. The Seven has a really awesome, futuristic looking design with a blue LED that glows softly and brightens as it comes on, dims gradually as it shuts off. It was also available in white, but I thought that, that would be too showy/gaudy, and besides I just liked the blue more than the white, it has more character.



You tell the time by looking at the dark spots on the LED rings. The inner ring represents the hour, the outer, 5 minute intervals. The two "sevens" (hence the name) on the outside light up one LED for each individual minute. So, let's say that the minute ring is at 35, and the seven-shape has 2 LEDs lit, it's 37 after the hour. It takes a little getting used to, but if you've bought a watch from Tokyoflash or other crazy-designer watch companies before, you know their methodology can be creative to work around not being able to cram 60 individual LEDs into the face of the watch.
 
It of course has a rechargeable battery much like a lot of LED Tokyoflash watches do, like my Satellite did. This rechargeablity enables it to have a constant animation mode, animation every 30 seconds, or animation every 5 minutes. The constant mode was kind of disappointing, as if you turn it on, it fades and comes back instead of staying on constantly, as I thought it would. This turning on constantly or even every 30 seconds would be impossible with most other watches, unless you felt like buying a new battery every week or so. Because it is rechargeable, you can use the function as much as you want, without worry, and even if you do manage to run it down, the replacement batteries are cheap, too. Plus, it can be recharged in the neighborhood of like 300~400 times before needing replaced, so unless you wear it everyday, you're not gonna need a new one for quite some time.



The strap was kind of a double-edged sword for me. See, in the vein of being future-y, the Seven has a butterfly clasp under the band, thus concealing itself and making you appear more like Tron or Timecop or whatever. The downside to not just tucking in the band and being on your merry way is that you then need to trim it to your wrist's size. They advise doing this with scissors, which I will admit is an easy process, however as careful as I was about it, I wound up trimming down the one side too far, and then the pin would stick through the side, and the rubber covering it was very thin on the end. So I trimmed it one more "link" down and then it was too short and the clasp kept coming open on its own because the band was then too tight against my wrist. So I superglued the one with the almost open end back on and it has actually held pretty well through the first 4 days of normal wear to my job, outside, etc. But Tokyoflash actually said they'd send me a replacement strap after I contacted them (they're sending it with another watch I purchased, so how could they say no? lol), so that's a real bright spot.



Again, the watch itself is amazingly well-designed, it's positively Tron-ish and I'm super glad I bought the Seven. It also seems to be popular, because my Youtube video of it has gotten a couple hundred views in the few weeks since I've gotten it. I started posting videos of my watches not only because I think that they're neat/cool and should be shared with the world at large, but because a lot of people don't seem to put videos or even pictures up about their watches, and it's really difficult to find info on a lot of these obscure watches made in limited numbers by smaller - but by all means better - companies like Seahope or Tokyoflash. I always went looking for something that wasn't the stock photos/videos that the company took, of these watches to make sure of what it'd really look like in the color I chose, and now I'm trying to provide that for others so they know what it'll really look like once they get it. Anyway, it's a great watch, perfect conversation starter, and one I wholeheartedly recommend buying if you're a fan of this type of design/style. Another win from Tokyoflash Japan!

As of this writing, the Seven was still available. You can get it here.

WWR World War Robot Large Martin Big Red Colorway & WWR Book

Another Large Martin colorway, this time a broad contrast to the drab brown and rust and green of the last one I got. Also snagged the book all of these toys are based on, off of Amazon. I gotta say, it was really cheap - $23.95 - especially considering it's an art book and it's the collected works (the original spanned 2 volumes, and this condensed version contains an extra few pages of art + story) of both volumes, hardbound. Some of Ashley Wood's stuff is just great, but there are a few in here that I could barely make out what was supposed to be in the painting, like an amorphous blob sometimes. Stories were entertaining, too.

Seahope Scope Watch シーホープのSCOPE腕時計

I am overjoyed by this watch. I'll just throw it out there from the start. The craftsmanship is ridiculous, the design is ridiculous. What the Kisai Satellite I previously posted about is to looking sci-fi-y, this watch is to looking like an action hero or secret agent. Much like most of the watches I buy, this one has a unique look to it, but Eleeno/Seahope takes uniqueness to a new level.

The way you view the time is on a grid, where horizontal is 5 minute intervals, vertical is the hour and then the "scope" at the top lights up with 4 individual LEDs showing one for every 1 minute. Another awesome thing simply built-in to the watch face is, the 'O' in 'SCOPE' sets the time/date. Again, yes, it's "complicated" and you have to do some addition, and yes, it isn't "always on", because then the battery would be depleted very quickly and you'd miss out on the cool animation when you beseech your wrist oracle for the time, but I think it's well worth it. Actually, my only real beef with it was that the button on the front was odd/hard to press and when you're setting the time you only have about 4 seconds before it resets back to non-setting regular watch mode. I had to wrestle with it for a good 20 mins when I got it out of the box. It was actually easier to remove the links I needed to remove to make it fit my wrist, which is no mean feat. All in all though, this has become my favorite watch thus far, and I can wear it casually, and it looks good when you're dressed up, too, so bonus points for that.