MIC Dangun Racer

I did make a post sometime ago, about the Dangun Racers. These are more or less, spin-offs from the (then) famous 4x4 racers. Maybe its marketing or pricing or maybe its just the shape but I have never seen it being ever so popular here in Malaysia. Maybe its just that no one was interested in a high-speed land torpedo. Still, it does not stop the ever industrious Chinese from copying it. But sometimes, you can see some companies evolved and produced their own versions.

Still, the good (or bad) thing that comes out from all this is that you can have them for a very reasonable price. Ten years ago, they would have been sold for about RM35 or so and the last time I checked (in 2006) it was about RM55 in an original Tamiya shop buried under 1-Utama. But the MIC (Made in China) ones costs very much less than that as for the same amount, you can get about, say, a lot. More bang for you buck, you say.

But there is an actual downside. MIC goods are well known for their low prices and also its quality. You get what you pay for. As long as you're not concerend about its blunt features on the toy (compared to the crisp details of the original), the doubful motor and the funny smelling (and sometimes warped) rubber/vinyl tyres and corny paper stickers, then it is a good buy.

The one I got some time ago, shows how two different manufacturers interpreted the original design and came up with their own ideas.

[From Left to right]
The copycat Tamiya version I got last year, recent one which
is copied from the First Generation of Tamiya's Dangun Racers
and the same model but in model kit form. Same model, different
companies

See how the chrome glisten in the sun?

The kit is just white plastic, so no chroming

You like the chrome version? Here you go!

Taking the Day Off (Day Two)

Surprisingly, once I get into the routine, the second day was much nicer. I just dumped both Wife and Kristine off to school, while giving a good three seconds horning to a Volvo S80 who made a U-turn without signalling in the dark. So for today, I did the laundry (OK, so I hung the laundry which my wife pre-washed the night before), bathed Kaelynn, picked up the Wife (we had to wait until after 1530 as she had an emergency meeting)

Then, we had to rush back to get the clothes inside as it was about to rain before we could go to MacDonalds for Kristine and Kaelynn to have their lunch.

This is the only lunch I had as I was cooking lunch halfway,
the gas died. And we were not able to have anything until 4
in the afternnon. No wonder both Kristine and Kaelynn were
cranky. And I just remmeebered, this is a 10-day old bread...

Irritating CNY Toy

My wife was shopping at TMC (the origin of Giant Hypermarket) in Bangsar today and at the checkout line, Kristine was given a gift by some man at the counter. And all the time, I was double/triple/quadruple parking outside, fending off jaga kereta boys and incessant honking from expensive cars which were too big to squeeze through. (Ha ha) Also, Kaelynn grew impatient in the car as well and cause a lot of ruckus.

Anyway, the gift was a gold plated plastic representation of gold ingots on top of gold ingots. I thought nothing much about it until my Wife showed me that underneath, there is a trapdoor for 3xAA batteries. So, I presumed since it has lights and chances are, it might have speakers too. Maybe the sound coming out would be the "Choy San Tou" chorus followed with fireworks sound effects. Boy, was I wrong.

The sound that came out sounded more like a young girl high on nitrous oxide or a female chipmunk singing the other part of the Choy San Tou song. Take your pick. Playing one was fine but the recording kept looping. Its OK too but once you switch it on and off and on again, the recording would start from the beginning again, giving you a remixed version of whatever the song was. So, this was what happened when Kristine played with it and within minutes we both had to switch it off. It was worse than scratching your nails on the blackboard.

Still, I am not surprised that it is made in China. And I am not surprised that it has a cheap sound chip inside. But what I am surprised was, the fact that they can make the whole thing as hollow as possible while still produces a deafening sound. Still, MIC toys are now expected to be cheaper than cheap, has lights and sound (maybe even the laser) and are copies of the hard to get expensive originals. Well, that is my expectation after seing so much of them on the streets.

Just press the upside down "Fook" symbol and your
mood turns otherwise

Looks nice, right? Everything is quite hollow inside.
Maybe when everyone else ignores it, I can hide
some of my stuff inside it......... hee hee hee hee

All that crap

We've moved back since almost 10 days and yet there were no rubbish collection (or any that I recalled). Still, I hope they do not do the dirty trick of waiting for CNY, and then come to collect at every house and expect us to give them Ang Pow money. For years, they do come, in an all Indian team. And after that, when normal service people come, they are not the same.

I have to learn how to make a delay fuse incendiary device and put it in their truck when it comes. Ha ha ha

See the rubbish piling up already?

Hours later, lukily they came. I do not want to know
what the guy on the right was sitting down for