Tomica die-cast cars

My brother collects small Hot Wheels/Matchbox sized cars called Tomicas. These type of die-cast cars are different from the usual HW/MB cars in the sense that they are more detailed and more realistic. Unfortunately it is also double the price! Still I prefer Tomica compared to HW since HW tend to make weird or ridiculous cars. Toilet bowl car? Yup, HWs did make one.

The different between Tomica and HWs is that they are from different regions. Tomica is of course from Japan and is made my Tomy (which has merged with Takara, tainting Takara with its QC problems, but then Takara gains Tomy's distribution network). Hotwheels is from the US. Tomica has a more realistic approach to thier toys whereby their cars are based on real cars (like Toyota Passo, EVO X etc), their playsets on toll plazas in Japan (with no stopping Smart Tag lane to boot!!) and life in Japan.

HWs on the other hand is more the cars which will highly remain in the realm of fantasy of on the race track. Their playsets are all about... CRASHING. Jezz HW cars have such funny paintwork and to play them you crash them... rigghtt..

Anyway bought these cars yesterday from Sg. Wang. The Hummer and EVO X is very hard to find, so I was lucky they had stock that day.





The doors can even open!!

Binaltech BT-19 Bluestreak and BT-20 Argent Meister

After a few months of waiting, I finally got myself 2 new Transformer Binaltech number 19 and 20. BT-19 is Bluestreak who represents a Blue Subaru Impreza, while BT-20 is Argent Meister (Agent Jazz) who is Silver RX-8 with Mazdaspeed Body kit.



Both come in the usual Takara Tomy Binaltech box but with only the display stand and instruction sheet only. No more instruction booklet and collectible card like last time. The story is printed on the bottom of the box :(



But the instruction sheet is not really as bad as the Hasbro's one with some Nippon words to guide you.


As for the cars themselves.... let's say if you are expecting Takara quality then you'll be disappointed since it is tainted with Tomy quality. For Bluestreak different parts have different shades of dark blue while for Jazz the silver paint is not as perfect as one would expect, but still acceptable.

Bluestreak


Argent Meister


However if you are new to the Binaltech scene, and wish to own atleast 1 binaltech without paying ridiculously for the early Takara version which can go into range of RM 300-500 each, then this is a good buy. Just dun expect the quality of a Takara but not as bad as Hasbro. Atleast they still give you the box to keep you cars safe.

I still have 2 more coming, BT-21 and BT-22. BT-21 is Arcee which comes in a S2000, while BT-22 is Convoy who comes in a Dodge Pickup truck. Both are die-cast, and Bt-22 will surely weigh a ton since the mould is very big (which may explain why BT-22 is currently delayed lol).

After that will get the Nissan GTR transformer. Too bad it is sized to 1:32 instead of 1:24. But still, it is a GTR!

Beijing Trip 3

Moving on to day 3 of my Beijing trip. Have not been posting for a while, so since I'm free today time to continue!!

So we when to this fresh water pearl factory to see just how many pearls are there in a fresh water oyster. The number of pearls in a fresh water oyster numbers around 20-30 instead of a sea oyster which we all know only has a single oyster. My bro bought a pearl necklace (not so biglah) for his gf. A just opened oyster showing the pearls.


The rest of the day was spend shopping though all the "Sg. Wang" type shopping complexes. Mind you, the level of customer service in M'sia is 1000 times better than in China. Out there, you have to bargain to kingdom come, otherwise you will get rip off. Its bad enough the product is a FAKE, but they still wanna charge a high price. Even worse are those sales person who knows english, since they can counter offer you.

Anyway at one of the places where my bro was shopping for a LV wallet (of course not reallah), the shop sales ppl hold his hand for a while when my bro was walking away from the shop. Btw, there are alot of fake goods such as; fake Ipod with similar packaging and casing (but lacking the signature apple ipod dial), fake nokia N95 (I got the real deal), fake Kingston 32 GB thumbdrive (which some of our members bought for fun, only to KONG when wan to use here), fake TF toys such as ultimate bumblebee, leader class movie prime, copy binaltech and the one I have, a fake alternator. Dun get me started on fake nike/reebok/(insert brand here).

For the taxis here, there is ALOT of Hyundai Elantras and Volkwagens being used. In fact due to the close proximity of South Korea, somehow the local gov bought a very large fleet of Hyundai Elantras to be used as taxis. Make out Saga taxis extremely outdated and lousy. Infact, compared with other countries, we have among the smallest and most outdated taxis. In Europe there are E-class taxis, Thailand Vios taxis, China Volks and Hyundai Elantra, Japan Toyota Crown etc.

Day 4 we visited the Summer Palace, where the Emperor pergi lepak during the summer period. It is like a big man-made lake resort with emperor proportions. One empress (yes, empress) even used money meant for the navy to build/renovate the place (using rakyat's money wrongly again).

The view of the lake and temple on the hill at the summer palace. Extremely hazy though.



The longest corridor in the whole. The pictures painted on the beams are all unique to one another.


The famous marble boat. Looks like in a very bad shape.

Another view of the lake front and the hill


The view of the 17 arches bridge when viewed aboard the dragon board. The lake has a dragon boat which shuttles between various gates in the area.


Later in the day all of us took a trishaw ride though the narrow lanes of a "hutong". Hutong is something like a village with narrow lanes and the houses are extremely near to each in the city. The trishaw have no suspension with some parts of the lanes unpaved and uneven makes the ride very bumpy but fun. Fun to ride in a hude convoy though.


So at the end of the last evening in Beijing, we had another glimpse of the Bird's Nest Stadium. The stadium is not very big when viewed from a far, but I think once you been inside a big stadium, then you will appreciate the sheer size of it. Ever wonder why the price of steel is so expensive? Well I think this is one of the reasons....


Nearby is the new media center in the shape of the Olympic flame and the countdown digital display to the opening ceremony. When we were there the number of days to the Olympics is only 60 days.


So the next day we depart from Beijing from the new Terminal 3 airport. It is VERY BIG. VERY VERY BIG. At the main terminal when you enter the entrance you can't see the other end. Equally amazing is that the roof have openings to allow sunlight in, conserving energy and cutting electricity costs.




So how was the trip? I would say I enjoyed quite well although there were some minor hiccups. In fact the start of the trip was a real eventful one and we thought it was a no-go.

The original plan was to meet up at my dad's office in Kelana Jaya at around 8.30pm, head to KLIA aboard a chartered bus and catch the flight at KLIA. But it didn't went smoothly in the sense that the day we supposed to depart is the eve of the petrol hike, so everywhere is jam like hell coz ppl were trying to pump in at the last minute (dun blame the motorist, blame the person who decided to announce it so suddenly). To cut it short, the bus sesat, arrive slighly late, then had problem getting out of Kelana onto the highway until finally we arrive at KLIA in time.. all coz the flight was delayed (hmm, now maybe we ARE supposed to fly off).

If that is not enough, the plane which was supposed to fly out to Beijing had some problem so the flight was cancelled! Stranded in our very own KLIA, the airline (Air China) put us in the Satellite Building hotel (yes, a hotel INSIDE the satellite building) and sort of upgraded us to the next MAS flight in the morning at 8am. I say upgraded coz the original plane was a smaller plane than the one used by MAS. Not to mention MAS serve better food. So in the end we did depart for Beijing and landed in Terminal 2, not the new T3 that our earlier flight was supposed to go. But hey, in the end we did depart from T3 after all :P

Here's a mural in Terminal 2 showing the sights of China.

Alternator Prowl China Police edition

One of the souvenirs I brought back from Beijing is a KO (Knock-off) Alternator Prowl in Chinese Police car design. Simply put, it is a copy of an alternator toy with chinese police car decos; and a very good one for a superbly low price of 50 Remembi = Rm 25.

We'll start with the box. The box is using an almost similar box of the Binaltech Prowl, with manual booklet, display cardboard and plastic holder. Upon seeing the box you would not know that is a copy unless you noticed the different logo and the absence of the "TAKARA" and HONDA copyright. Even though it is using the Takara Binaltech box, the car is unfortunately is of Alternator quality.




Underneath the box shows what other alternator prowls are available.


The contents of the box.


The close-up of the car mode. The entire car is white in color with the "great wall" chinese police force logo and decals similar to the police cars in Beijing. The plastic quality is ok and the door, hood and boot fits tightly, unlike some KO alternator where the doors and hood will swing open if you turn the car upside down. Even with the engine inside the hood, the hood remains shut. It's like this company used to make Hasbro's alternators!!! There are no Honda or Type-R logos visible on the car.




The parts which can be opened.


The transformation to the bot mode, for a Knock-off, is similar to that of an alternator. Some of the KO alternator/binaltechs I have can't complete the transformation or their bot mode looks weird because some of the parts are larger than the other etc. This kind of toys have strict tolerances, and any defect can ruin either the bot mode or alt mode. For this particular KO, the transformation was smooth.

The bot mode meanwhile is on par with the alternators. Joints are tight and not too loose, although one of the foot joints was a little too tight. The hood easily locks into the torso. Overall good bot mode.

Heads up!


Front


Side


Back


Comparison with Barricade.


Note: Click on the image to enlarge

Beijing Trip 2

This is part 2 of my photo post from my Trip to Beijing. Part 1 showing day 1 is below.

So off to the great wall of China! Quite hazy compared to yesterday. Dunno if it is haze or mist or fog, but if you are a pilot it is really hard to see anything.

This photo shows part of the great wall across the valley.


The gate to Beijing from a small city to the left of the photo.


Part of the wall is steep.. very steep with no breaks in between. Uneven steps and the steps has sunk from constant used. So I climbed up to the tower at the top...


Only to see that you can climb even higher to the next tower. Needless to say, we turn around after that and head back down.



Next we head to a cloisonne factory where they make all this fragile pottery china. Can see how these items were made. They create the pots using copper and copper fillings. If in M'sia leaving all the copper stuff outside will result all of them gone overnight.



Then we head to this wax museum showing the periods of the Ming dynasty. The quality of the figures to say the least... China QC. There are limbs in not natural positions and some of the displays are really gathering a thick layer of dust. Then some of the exhibits are either gory and funny. Like one showing the emperor in bed with a common lady while a minister tries to speak to him outside but prevented to do so by his jaga. Then one jaga in a "HURRY UP LAH!!" stance at the door.

This one shows a "spy" in action


One the way back to the city center pass by the water cube and the bird's nest. Cannot really go near as it is still under construction.




Spotted by the "Bukit Bintang" area of Beijing for a while. There we stopped by a Macdonald's to see what they have on offer. There is grilled chicken (something like char siew chicken) burger & egg with ham pie, something different from here in M'sia. Darn, why our mac so lousy wan???


This ends my post showing photos taken on the 2nd day.. more to come !!

Here are some of the photos taken during my trip to Beijing.

The place shown below is the OCT theater where we saw a theater performance called "Golden Mask Dynasty". This is a relatively new building, with very very advanced stage. There is one scene where water was pouring from the stage to simulate a massive flood.



This is the 1st hotel we stayed in Beijing. The hotel is rated 4-star but the inside like 3-star. The next day the tour leader decided to change to a more "better" hotel. Gald we did as the other hotel was waayy better.


So off to the forbidden city the next day. This is the entrance to the forbidden city that we have just passed called the Meridian Gate.


Next up is the Hall of Supreme Harmony. This place is where the Emperor's speeches are made for everyone to hear. AS you can see it is under renovation for the games.


Before entering the Inner palace where the Emperor's throne is, will passed by these 2 gold lions
The male


and the female


Once inside can see the emperor's throne. As you can see the stuff is very dusty.


We then exit the forbidden city by the Gate of Divine Might. We walked from Tianemen Square>Outer City> Inner City> exit by gate of divine might. There are 9999 and a half rooms so to speak, but of course we din go into every roomlah.


Then afterwards we went to this "tea house" to get to know more of the tea available in China (but can be bought in m'sia, m'sia sell everything). I mention this place coz our tour group consisted of several Malays since it is my father's company trip. So we went with the English speaking group, while the chinese tour mates went with the Mandarin speaking group. The english speaking group majority malays and to be frank, they dun drink much chinese tea. My mom drinks tea, but can buy from Gojo tea shop in Gardens MV, top floor near Borders. So the presenter was quite upset that she could not make any sales from our group. She even said something like ".. do you have a problem with this so and so tea...". Needless to say, we quickly cabut from the room after that.

The mandarin speaking group took longer that our group so we did buy something after that, but not the stuff the presenter was trying to push us. Managed to bargain to get a "pee-pee boy". Basically it is a small sculptor where the boy will "pee" if the water is hot enough for the tea is poured onto him.



So that ends my post for the first day in Beijing.

Here is a photo showing the floor layout of the hotel we were staying. Read the sentences:P

Take a look at all my souvenirs I brought back from Beijing, China :)

Went to Beijing for holiday from the 4th to the 10th of June 2008. Didn't post anything immediately after the holiday coz too tired after the trip.



The list of souvenirs are:=
1) KO alternator Prowl in China police decals (amazingly accurate and well built)
2) 3 big hand-painted fridge magnets (2 of them has QC problems, haih China makes the worlds magnets and can't even get its own magnets right!!!)
3) Great Wall "hero card"; you buy it when you climb a short (but extremely steep) portion of the great wall at the top
4) OCT theater ticket (some theater performance)
5) Beijing 2008 soft toys
6) Beijing 2008 2-D fridge magnets (this ones work well)
7) Thermo-sensitive Beijing 2008 mug (decal change color when hot water is poured)
8) Forbiddden Palace museum fridge magnets (the one with the red and yellow baju)

and many more souvenirs which my parents bought for themselves. As you can see, i'm more of a fridge magnet/soft toy collector type of tourist.

Anyway the trip to Beijing was great, although it can be a little better. Few things about this Beijing trips:-
1) Tour agency will bring you to some tourist sales place like those selling pearls, tea, herbal medicine etc, bring you into a room (not locked I can assure you) and give some lecture/demo and after that expect you to buy. Can't blame the tourist companies, its their tourist dept. directive. And the prices are not cheap either since you are paying tourist price. One of the places sell burn cream and the demonstrator actually BURN himself with a glowing hot heated chain to show how effective it is. Some can even get upset if they know they will not get the sales.
2) Shopping in their "pasar malam" type of shopping center can make even the BEST bargain hunters KALAH TERUK. Some of the sales ladies/men are well verse in English and know how to bargain to their advantage. Also they will quote a substantially higher price and you need to bargain it down to appropriate levels, though the price of TF there seem like those in toy shops in KL.
3) Beijing has been cleaned up for the 2008 games. No kidding, all the buses are new (including our tour bus), the streets are repaved and alot of places are still under construction (will they make it). But some roads can see 1 storey high walls along the streets to block the view from the main road of the houses/shops behind it. Like DBKL build a huge mural to block the view of some setinggan houses around KL from the road.
4) The new Beijing Terminal 3 airport is BIG. BIIGGGGG.
5) Our flight from KLIA to Beijing was delayed, so had to stay in the KLIA air-port hotel (no not Pan Pacific, the hotel inside the satellite building) for 1 night, depart in the morning.
6) Beijing is hazy.
7) Great wall is STEEP.
8) The birds nest is cool :)
9) There is ALOT of Knock off stuff. Fake Ipod, fake cell phone, fake Ultimate Bumblebee, Fake Leader OP, fake Louise Vutton wallet, Fake ... anything!! Even saw fake X5 and CRV.