#45 Firestorm

Often the most eye catching G-Shocks are Japan only releases, but occasionally there are models released for Europe only.
In September 2004 Casio released the GW-1210CE-4AVER. It received the name "Firestorm". For me, as a "Command and Conquer" fan, I associated this name immediately with the Realtime Strategy Game "Firestorm" that is an add on from 1999 for C&C Tiberian Sun (is it already almost 10 years ago?). This "Firestorm" had nothing to do with green or blue Tiberium. Its name is obviously not taken from the game, but from the color. The main color is fire brigade red!The most eye catching part of the watch is the bracelet. It is a bracelet you would expect on a Metal Twisted G (MTG). Each link has a metal part and a resin part. It gives a very nice pattern. The bracelet closes with a threefold buckle with a firm lock.
At the moment it was released, I thought I should get one. It also had a novum for that time. It was the first European 2 band G-Shock model. Before this, all Waveceptor models received only the atomic clock signal from Mainflingen (near Frankfurt). This model also picked up the signal from the UK transmitter in Rugby (which recently moved to Anthorn).
I was a bit unhappy surprised by it's price. It was hard to find this model under €200.-. It was primarily sold in Germany and was pretty fast sold out too.The mix of metal and resin on this model is pretty unusual. On metal models you find often resin parts, but they are grey or metallic in color. On this model the ratio resin metal is about 50:50.
The case of the GW-1210 looks a bit like the Cockpit models. The dial of the watch consists of 4 solar cells, which provide the watch energy. Even low light levels are enough to power the watch and to charge the battery. If you don't wear the watch for some time, you can activate the Power Save (PS) function of this watch (which I can recommend). The minute hand moves every 20 seconds, which makes the analogue part sec a digital (discontinuous) display with 2º increments (180 steps over 360º). It is accurate enough to call it an ana-digi watch.
If the Power save function is active, the LCD shuts down as the watch is left in the dark for about 60 minutes. In 6 or 7 days the movement stops at the 12 o'clock position to save more energy. It is very cool to see the watch come alive when Power Save function had inactivated the movement.
The LCD displays are packed with functions. It is pretty cool, but it is pretty hard to read what every function means. I have very good eyes (specially for my age), but I have to do my very best to read some of the functions. Also reflections in the dial, that actually look cool though, don't help much in readability. I have blown the small displays a little up in the photo's above and below..
Beside time, the watch has 5 other modes. I t has World Ttime with times of 30 cities in the world. In Alarm (ALM) mode you can activate/deactivate 5 alarms and the hourly signal. In Timer Mode you can set a coundown timer. Unfortunately the maximum time is 60 minutes, but you can also activate an Auto Repeat function (with a maximum of 9 repeats). The Stopwatch mode has a maximum measured time of 99 minutes and 59.99 seconds. The last mode is the Handset Mode. If the watch has synced to the correct time, but the hands do not show the correct time, you can set the hands manually to the correct time. Actually this watch showed the wrong time when I got it. After syncing I set the hands to the correct time. Since that time it always had shown the correct time.
If you activate Auto-DST, the watch changes between normal time and DST automaticly. In world time the times are all shown in normal time. If DST is applied in the time zone you want to look at, you have to set it to DST manually. It is best to check if the place you are looking for has DST . I frequently use this worldclock. To read more about Daylight Saving Time check these pages. I found out parts of Australia also have DST, which is in theour winter.
One of the nicest parts of the watch is actually hidden when worn. The stainless steel back is beautiful edged and has a mat finish, which makes it look more like titanium.
The hands have illuminating parts, but frankly, it is not very bright. On the other hand, this watch has Auto Super Illumination.
So what does Super Illumination mean? Instead of an Electro Luminescence display, the dial is lit by two bright blue LED's at the 9 and 3 o'clock position. You can activate Auto-Light by press and holding down the light button for three seconds. In this mode, the light turns on automaticly then the watch is tilted 40º parallel to the ground. If you have the Auto-Light function activated at night, you probably found out you can almost use this watch as a flash light. If I have the function activated and am wearing it in bed, it won't take long to turn this function off. It's like there is a light house near your bed...In spite the amount of light, the lover LCD display is poorly lighted. The displays are recessed from the the dial and the shadow of the rim falls over that display.And to come back on C&C Firestorm, wouldn't this be a perfect watch for NOD leader Kane and his followers?

#44 How black is Real Black?

This was my 90th G-Shock, which arrived on December 16th, 2002. It was from an eBay UK auction. The seller had bought this Mudman in Hong Kong, before he moved back to the UK.
Somehow it was a good period for Mudman in that time. Also my Men In Navy Khaki and my first regular Mudman (European ILLUMINATOR version) were bought within 3 weeks time for unbelievable prices.
I do not know he prices exactly, but I believe I paid for this watch about £35.-. It was around Christmas time and a lot of G-Shocks were put on auction. I had no idea what I was bidding on, but this G looked pretty cool.
Funny side note, I paid about the same price for the MINK Mudman two weeks earlier too. That seller (from Cornwall, UK) also bought his watch in Hong Kong, before he moved to the UK.
I occasionally wore this Mudman. The straps are extreme flexible and fit very comfortable around your wrist. It is the same kind of rubber that is used on the early DW-5X00C models I think.
Since there was no G-Shock forum and almost no English documentation I had no clue what kind of Mudman this was.
In December 2003 I bought a new camera, a Canon Powershot G5. My friend Bleephead came by for a good beer and we talked a bit about music over a good beer. Meanwhile he shot some photo's with my new camera, while I happened to wear this Mudman.
While browsing the menus in my new camera, he found the Sepia set-up and took a photo of me, drinking from a glass of beer. My Mudman was clearly visible in that shot. I thought is was fun to share that photo on the, then pretty new" G-Shock Forum, before I went to bed.
I had no clue that this was a very sought after Mudman model. Maybe it is after some classics (DW-5000C, DW-5500C, etc) the most sought after model that is not a Frogman. Not only I got a lot of reactions on the forum, also several e-mails rolled out of my mailbox, all asking what price I ask for this watch. For the good order, I love my G-Shocks very much. No G-Shock I show on any forum, weblog or my website is for sale. Luckily we have G-Shock Perfect Search (GPS) and good on-line translators nowadays. The Real Black Mudman (DW-8400BK-1JMF) was released in February, 2001.
As you would expect from the name, the watch bezel and straps is all black, exept for the small texts "MUDRESIST" and "SLAPIGHT". I have no idea what the term "Slaplight" means. It was probably an Engrish term that was going to be replace "FOX FIRE". Somehow I think only the term "ILLUMINATOR", used on most overseas models, pretty much tells what it does, illuminate.When looked closer to the strap and bezel, you'll notice this watch is really black. A basic black G-Shock can better be described as dark grey. This watch looks like it absorbs every photon in the neighborhood.
To give the watch even a tough and sturdy design, this watch has a negative display. Not just a negative display, but one with red digits. This makes the display not always very clear, though when looking straight on it, you can read the time very well.
What makes the Mudman Mudresist. Like most of the first Master of G models, the Mudman is pretty big. On the Mudman this has a reason. The case itself has the same size of the DW-6900. I even tried to swap cases, but small notches on the Mudman case, to keep the bezel in it's place, makes the cases unswappable.

The reason why the Mudman is big in size, is that the bezel is also a cover of the case. While with the DW-6900 (same module) the buttons stick out holes in the bezel, with the Mudman these buttons are covered by the bezel.
Casio used a revolutionary procedure to make these bezels. It is mold of two types of resin. The first one is the regular type, that is used for other bezels too. The second resin is a kind of flexible rubber and is only present around the buttons. You'll find this kind of bezels also on the Raysman and Gaussman.
On the back of the watch is a drilling mole engraved. The mole is the Mudman mascot. While the normal Mudman have a stainless steel back, this model has a titanuim back.
I have no clue what the prices of this Mudman are on the market today, but for a mint one you need to have some patience and bring along a bag of money. The prices asked for this watch can be compared for prices of rare Frogman and the rare DW-5X00C and WW-5X00C models.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my photo's. It wasn't easy actually. There was enough sunlight, but again I was surprised by a 7 Beaufort stormy wind on top of the dunes. 50 Gs is a good excuse for a nice walk outside. Anyway, I enjoyed this bock beer on a terrace after taking pics, while Bram enjoyed a hot chocolate. " Well, that's the whole story. You can blow out the candle now"

#43 Yachtrays

After the purchase of the Cetus (see #42) the world was open to me. I started looking worldwide for G-Shocks on eBay. There were some very good suppliers for G-Shock's around that time in the US.
There were a lot of auctions starting from a $1.- bid on very nice models. My eyes fell direct on a yellow Raysman. I already had a black/grey DW-9300 Raysman. This one looked even much cooler.
The bidding was pretty addictive, but I lost some auctions before I got my first hit. I'm not perfectly clear for what price, but I think for around $125.- I had my first yellow Raysman. It didn't only look great in the pictures, it was stunning in real. The deep yellow color was a heavy contrast on my arm and I got a pretty much remarks. The only problem was that rechargeable the battery was dead, but a few hours sunlight was enough to fill the battery charge with three bars. In stead of a battery icon, the DW-9350 uses the eye to show how far the battery is charged.
The light color had one lesser consequence. Unfortunately new bright dyed cloth material stains the yellow resin. Of course from a distance it was hard to see, but there were some edges that were becoming red when my girlfriend Eva threw new red sheets on our bed. Actually the red stripes disappeared like snow by sunshine, but I hunted down a second yellow Raysman immediately. It was around the same price. Now I had one to keep mint and one to wear.
In fact, this Raysman became my favorite watch. I wore it day in day out. In fact it is still one of my favorite watches. In the mean time I have about 4 of them! It is a watch I usually pack for vacation too. (I forgot it this year to take with me to France, else it had been one of the holiday stories last May or June).THis model is equipped with a Yachttimer. With yacht timer, Casio means you can use a countdown timer that gives alarms at specific times before the ending. time is reached. A handy feature is that the countdown timer can be set on automatic repeat.
The Raysman features a Mud Resist case, like the Gausssman and Mudman. Therefore the bezel is pulled totally over the case, so Mud can't come in. Even the buttons are covered. For the Mud Resist models Casio developed a new procedure. In the stiff bezel there were parts mold that were much more flexible for coverung the butttons.
The mascot for the Raysman is a bat. For the DW-9350 model this ba is hanging above the sea. A pretty well know collector in Japan is called Yachtrays, sometimes also referred to as Sailboat Bat. His alias must have been inspired by the engravement of this model.
The yellow Raysman is released May, 1998, two months after the first DW-9300 Raysman model. It is the most common model of a series of three. The other models are an off white and a grey version. Both also very good looking.
The bans is made out of two parts. Both are polyurethane, but the inner part looks like it has a cloth structure. Although molded in each other, the parts can come loose after wearing the watch for a long time. One of the yellow G's I got, had this problem. Luckily I was able to get a fresh strap from Tiktox. As far as I know, it is almost impossible to get a new strap for this model now. You can imagine I do not wear this watch very often anymore., although I would like to wear it more often.

#42 Cetus

As probably most collectors, I started close at home. I bought my first G-Shocks at my local jewelry, later other shops too. Then the first on-line adds and auctions. When the Dutch auction website fused with eBay, I discovered Germany. That time every European country had it's own currency. Bank transfers were relative expensive. The best way to close the deal was to sent the money in a shielded envelope. A post card and aluminum foil worked as shield to hide the bank notes.
Luckily I had a friend who sold a lot of furniture and ornaments in Germany, so I could change German Marks (DM) pretty easily.
The last step was to hunt G-Shocks outside Europe. In the summer of 2001 there was a seller from Florida, selling G-Cools for unbelievable prices. They looked pretty different. White color was missing in my collection and the white leather straps made these models look very fashionable.
If I remember right, the prices were around $25.- each. Unbelievable. I had already a pretty much used stainless steel version that cost me around $65.-, which needed a new module, which also cost me around $50. So $25.- for these watches was unbelievable. The international shipping costs were also very friendly.
I contacted the seller, who was very friendly and cooperative. In those days there were two payment methods, Paypal and Bidpay. Both could be linked to your credit card. Unlike in the US it's not usual to pay with your credit card in Europe.
Although Paypal was the preferred method, Bidpay was for me a better option, because after setting up an acount, I could immediately use it. You can set-up an Paypal account also easily, but it takes sometimes a month to activate.
It was a plunge in the deep for me. Unbelievable. You could pay someone in a few button clicks. Still now transactions between Dutch banks can take one or two days.
Four days later the postman delivered the package. There it was, new in it's box. Smiling to it's new owner.
The watch is a GT-000. I noticed yesterday that it is not a watch that let itself being photographed easily. Reason therefore is that it's crystal is biconcave, so it reflects light from wide angles.
This GT-000BJ-7 was one of the first G-Cool models that were released in November 1996.
In Europe it was advertised as a fashion watch, that was designed for fashion catwalks in Milan. This model was called Cetus in Germany.
Cetus was a Greek mythological sea monster. Although it's almost comic appearance doesn't look like anything, Cephus is sometimes called a whale. Maybe Casio Germany had a whale in mind and gave the watch this name, instead of the most famous white whale. Who would ever buy a Moby Dick...
I don't think it was very popular. In the US and lately in Europe these G_Cools were sold in large quantities for dump prices.
I do not know exactly why. It might be the silver ring around the crystal. Casio did obviously not even try to let it look like metal. The plastic looks a bit cheap.
In Japan it was advertised as a stream lined G-Shock. The case is pretty slim and with all the rounded shapes, yo u have to admit that's true.
For the first time Casio used the two tone display. It looks very cool. Under poor light conditions the upper part is hard to read, but the most important information is displayed in the bottom display.
The GT-000 has a bit unique floating memory of 100 storage places. There is a telephone book and a schedule alarm function. You can use this memory for both functions. Every phone number or schedule alarm uses one storage place. Note that in 1996 mobile phones were not as common as they are now today. In fact, although I had a mobile phone since 1996, I still used the telephone book function of some telememo g's for some years.
The schedule alarm includes a text (maximal 11 characters) and a date and time. I think this amount of storage in a watch was a lot for a time when gigabytes were still unimaginable. and 100Mb hard drives had the size of a thick pocket book.
In my opinion, this is maybe not the most beautiful G-Shock, though it isn't ugly too. Actually I think it looks nice on my wrist. It's comfortable as well. Probably the white color might not be everyone's choice, but I was very happy with my first G-Shock I bought in an intercontinental transaction.
I just checked. The seller is still very active on eBay and has still a lot of Casio's for nice prices.

#41 Orange Alert

Traditionally news of the release of a new Master of G leaks out pretty early. Casio announced this model already march 5th, 2008, with a release date of of June 28th. This time the release of the new Riseman was received with much different response in Japan and outside Japan. Actually I still don't know a Japanese collector who has this "most precise watch Casio has ever released" (quote according the Dutch science magazine "Kijk").
How much difference was the reaction of the members of the Watchuseek G-Shock forum. It seemed everyone was getting this watch and also the response was almost unanimously positive.
In may I contacted my friend Yamazaru-San in Japan. I learned to know Yamazaru-San 5 years ago under his legendary nickname "Risefreak". He was then already a highly respected Japanese collector. For collectors outside Japan he is probably best known for the photo of his complete DW-9100 Riseman collection.

Photo: Yamazaru-san a.k.a. Risefreak

Yamazaru-San is often the first one to report new G-Shock models. When a new retail catalog is released, he publishes photo's of them on his website. This time he was completely surprised. "A new Riseman, I haven't heard about that yet. I must go to my clock shop on Monday (I believe I sent him that e-mail on a Friday evening).
Monday I got a mail back. He showed me some snapshots of the new "Spring - Summer 2008 Collection".
Since we communicate via translation websites (Excite), you sometimes get strange results. I thought something went lost in translation in the last line. His message ended with "I like it, specially the orange one.
Orange? Something must have been wrong. There were red accents on the new Riseman, a big red button and a big red eye....
I posted a question on WUS. I was pretty busy that time and maybe I missed something. Funny enough I did a search on Google and found out pretty fast Casio was about to release an Orange series. And not just a new series. Casio did not only revive the "Master of G" series, they were about to revive one of their best returning theme series, the "Men in..." series.
Between 1998 and 2000 Casio released several "Men in...." series, starting with the "Men in Black" series (mostly referred as MIB). The new 2008 series were called "Men in Rescue Orange" (MIRO). Cool!
Somehow I always had a lot of contacts with the local lifeguard organizations, so I liked this name. Also is orange the national color of my country, The Netherlands.
Soon I found out this series were released at the end of September.
The whole summer I tried to put some money aside, which wasn't easy, but at the end of the summer holidays I filled in an order form at Higuchi inc. In the hope I was not too late. Luckily I could still order the set (beside the Riseman, the first series also contained a new GW-9010R Mudman Rally and a GW-9100R Gulfman.
Lately Michael of MSG-Distributors showed two additional models, a G-9000R Mudman and G-9100R Gulfman. I'm not sure when these two non-Atomic models will be released, but I like lo have this series complete. I hope the release of these will take a few months until the new non-Atomic models will be released. My computer system software crashed. If you read this, I probably have a new computer system, that cost me roughly three Atomic MIRO sets, so I have to save up some money again.
My experience is that if you order a complete set, the price is significant cheaper. The official price of this model is about 28000 yen. Mostly shops in Japan offer a discount of around 10%. If you buy this watch at Seiya-san or Higuchi-san, you might expect a price around retail price including international shipping. What would you do without these two great men from Japan.
The MIRO Riseman has the 3145 module. It is the Japanese module. This means it only displays ISO units. So if you read air pressure in in. Hg, temperature in °F and measure height in feet, this model is mot for you (if you are planning using it for outdoor activities), you would probably like the 3147 module more. This difference in Japanese and overseas models of sensor watches can also be found on it's predecessors, the DW-6700 and DW-9100.
Frankly I do not exactly understand why Casio makes two modules for basically the same model. It would be probably much cheaper to developed just one module for the home market and export. I won't Be surprised if the real difference between those models is a small piece of software.
You can recognize a Japanese market model on the back. The overseas model shows a dragon (see Vintage's article), while the home market model shows a flying squirrel.
I'm sure this model is not for everybody. The basic black model looks awesome too and black goes with everything.
I like this model very much. It was worth the long wait. I and am looking forward in having my GW-9010R and G-9100R too. With a little luck I'll be having those two at the end of the week.