Hotwheels Videoracer part 1

OK, this is the package from the Post Office. And when I picked it up, I was relieved and also disappointed at the same time. Relieved because there was nothing to 'pay' and disappointed because of the condition of the package. Still, now you know why everyone is padding their packages when it comes to shipping.

This is quite a large box and its about 2.5 times of an A3

Edge crush of 23Lbs/in. Right. So for the edge of this box to collapse, it must have been placed under a great weight

Perhaps someone sat on it?

Now, comes the weird part. When I opened it, there was no padding of any kind. No styrofoams, newspapers or even those bubble-wraps. And guess what? The package inside was NOT crushed or even scratched.

And so, this is how the package looks like

Inside the box, you have (from left to right) the car, its protective case, a USB cable, some mounting brackets and a strap. No software CD, which I need to download the 183Mb file from their site and fucks up after 13-18Mb into the download. And I've tried that five times.

Everything is really protected in this box but I really do wish they had included the installation CD.

The Videoracer is almost 3.75 inches long

This is the front of the Videoracer. The big hole is the camera. And the small hole is just a small hole, although I wished it was an Infra-red light source.

This is the rear view of the Videoracer. The plastic part is to protect the USB port but once you opened it, its very hard to close it again.

This is the only side of the Videoracer which is worth mentioning because it has the ON/OFF switch.

Anyway, I am going to stop for now as the toy's internal 3.7lithium battery needs to be charged up for at least 45 minutes before I can get anything out from it. When I first opened it, there was some minute charge in the battery which gave me some precious seconds to have a quick play with it. Not bad.

Aoshima 1/24 Solar Car

Finally, I got this elusive Solar Car. Two years ago, it was on sale in Hobby HQ but I missed the chance. Then, sometime later, there was another being sold in ICW but then, I again, missed the opportunity. It was not so much of the chance to get it but more of, spare cash. And so, yesterday, when Hobby HQ announced that the solar car was still available (from a recent shipment), I jumped at the chance to get it.

And so, the 1/24 Solar car is finally mine. Still, I am not sure why it was called a car when it is clearly a van.

The parts from the box. The reason why it was so expensive was due to the Solar cells which was stuck to a thick fibreglass material but hey, all of a sudden, this model looks very familiar...

Its the same model I got from ICW a month ago, when rayloke came back with some shipment. Its the Subaru Samba K-88

In other words, I got two Subary Sambas now. Oh, heck. But then again, I am sure I can use the extra van for my project. If you look carefully, these two parts are actually very different. The body on the left (Solar Car) turned yellow due to age.

Instruction manuals which tells you what the Solar Car (left) will use and what the Subaru samba (right) will use. This means I now have two TVs and two Radio sets...

Not understanding the language, the dial at the bottom is for the motor and you get two 'free' figures, just as long as you can cut them out carefully.

And the best part is, this. See the Price list? That is obscene and from a shop which is now closing down. I got it for RM50.00, thanks to Mr. Low.

So, while I did have a happy night, but I could not help but wonder about the future of the model kit hobby over here. The shop above is actually closing down, what with news fro a fellow friend that their shutters in Mid-Valley are closed with the staff counting the stocks. This shop, when it first started, did have quite a following but it was the prices which forced my role as a window shopper. In the late 2000, it was doing very badly as most of the toys are really cheap stuff from China. I wanted to help by buying some stuff but although I tried as hard as I can, I still could not buy anything 'worth' my time. Also, no thanks to their staff following me all over the place, as if I was about to steal something.

The parcel

After performing our prayers, it was time to continue with my schedule. The weird thing was that while my Dad was sitting outside to wait for the joss sticks to finish, there was no Postman. And only when I reversed my wife's car, then did the Postman on his bike came and delivered some letters.

Oh well, I thought. No parcel for me, then. This was because I have ordered three items from the Internet and this package would be the last. It was not until after I passed the stack of letters to my Dad did he say that there was a card for me.

A card from the Post Office means, you have to collect the parcel because of some Customs matter. I was right because, on the card, it was ticked as "You need to pay tax" or something of that kind. Now, I am worried because I am broke. And there is a limit of 15 days before it gets sent back/destroyed/eaten. So, the only thing I can do right now is to go there (unfortunately, it say to collect at the Post Office in Dayabumi and not Brickfields or Bangsar), see how much it costs and then maybe borrow some cash from a friend.

The girls decorating the siew yuk from the payers for lunch

Hee hee hee hee hee....

In the end, I managed to get the parcel out without paying anything except for the RM3.00 parking. But walking there was really painful since the gout has not gone from my leg. What more, we had to go around the renovation area but since they saw my limping, I showed me a shortcut.

So, what is the package all about? Watch out for the later post, y'all!