Christmas has come and gone, and my whole family was sick! But we still managed to make the most of it, and right now I”m feeling well enough to share my Christmas haul:
While I do sometimes get Star Wars kits as gifts, I don’t normally get Gunpla, because nobody in my family knows which ones I do or don’t have. That’s perfectly fine with me, because it usually means that instead I’ll get all sorts of accessories and tools that I wouldn’t have considered getting for myself. It’s more fun to experiment and try new things when the cost is free.
Anyway, let’s go through it.
Lego Game Boy
I was skeptical of this thing, but after having built it, I’m now a believer. It’s an extremely loving recreation of the device. Inside it recreates the circuit board, and it uses rubber bands an other weird parts to make all the buttons feel squishy and responsive like they do in real life.
As for the games, the two included cartridges (Super Mario Land and Link’s Awakening) also have interior circuit boards, with Link’s Awakening even having its backup battery modeled. The carts lock into the Game Boy with the same satisfying click that they do in real life, as does the power switch.
Finally we have the screen. The set comes with three lenticular cards that you can slot in the screen area, and being lenticular, they “animate” as you move it around in the light. Two of the cards recreate scenes from the included games, while the third one recreates the scrolling “Nintendo” logo that appears when you boot a game up.
For whatever reason, I wasn’t expecting the set to have so many lovingly recreated details. They really elevate the whole thing to make it worthwhile, (as does the fact that a) it’s not that expensive relative to other adult oriented Lego sets, and b) it’s not that big, so it’s easy to fit on the shelf somewhere).
Multi Builders Case
This is just a big plastic box that you can use to store tools, parts, or even finished models. The person who gave it to me said it was intended for carrying my stuff when I go to the local Gunpla build club sessions, but I think I might also use it to store unfinished builds, particularly the ones that I stop working on when my brain ADD’s out and I switch to working on something newer and shinier. Like this one, my latest victim:
Usually I just stick the parts back in the box like this, leaving it open and exposed for weeks or even months on end, like I’m some sort of caveman. Then they collect dust, and I have to carefully clean it all off … yeah, there’s a better way. I can act more civilized, like this:
Now they’re in a different box, open and exposed for weeks or months on end!
(Just kidding. I totally put the lid back on after taking this photo, I swear)
Super Corgi Butts
This is really cute. People tend to test out different paints by applying them to the back of a plastic spoon, but the folks at Dspiae came up with something a little more fun. They made some plastic shaped like Corgi doggie butts, and a big album to put them in. You can do them up with your favorite paints, write down their names, and refer to them whenever you need to figure out the best color, texture, etc to use on your next build.
Obviously I haven’t had enough time to paint any, but I’ll probably start doing so as I work on one build or another.
Waterslides
These are two things that I specifically put on my Christmas List:
I’ve been unhappy with how both the GM Night Seeker II, and the Real Grade Crossbone turned out, on account of how bad their stickers look. Now I can finally do something about it.
Paint Brush Washer
This is a simple little gizmo. It’s got a water resevoir and a little pool where you clean out your brush. When it gets dirty you push the button to drain it into the container below, and fresh water comes down from the reservoir.
I’ve never really had a problem with dirty water, so I don’t really feel like I need this, but I’ll give it a shot and see how it goes. My biggest concern is just how big it is.
Gunprimer Joint Guard
I had no idea this existed. As far as I can tell $t’s a special tape that you can apply on the inside of a joint to tighten it up, rather than using more homespun solutions like super glue or nail polish. I’ll have to try it out sometime and see how it fares.
Pin Vise Paper
I had no idea this existed either. I always thought of a pin vise as being something you use to fix things, or to create custom joints or whatever, but this paper is meant as an aid for doing visual customizations, like so:
I’ve never thought of putting speed holes into my models, but maybe I’ll give it a go.
Wireless LEDs
This is another thing that I specifically put on my wish list. I’m going to write a separate post about them, as I need some more time to experiment.