G-Shock #9: Backstreet's Back

Today I have probably one of the most unwanted G-Shocks, though it’s based on a quite popular model of it’s time. Wasn’t it in the ‘90s, that punk and grunge bands liked to wear Madonna shirts. I would not have been surprised to see Johnny Rotten performing in such kind of shirt. It’s that I am not musically active anymore, but maybe I would perform playing intelligent techno in a Britney Spears shirt. Anyway, my fellow band members could not appreciate me wearing this watch, about 10 years ago. I think it’s pretty usual to wear fan shirts of totally different music styles by artists. I often wore Queens of the Stone Age shirts, because I like their music very much. But, hey, that’s quality music. But the Back Street Boys?

Frankly, I am not such a fan of “arranged bands”, but them young kids, specially girls, seem to love it. It’s that I have a little niece in that age, that I know “One Direction”. While writing this, I hear the voices in the back of my head quote Dan Bejar’s voice on Loscil’s “The Making of Grief Point”.

“There is a certain kind of person whom things come with great facility. They say this is the noise that gets made while my life is lived. So be it, but don’t feel the need to record it. For a second I thought this myth, that they were not interested in history, but that’s wrong. Wrong, wrong. A bad reading of the situation. The right reading is that I don’t understand, at all.”

I am not sure what’s the source of this watch, but I guess, it was made in small numbers and it was probably not for sale. There could have been maybe 10, maybe 100 made of these. My guess is that it was some kind of price in a contest in a German music magazine or music program. Another possibility is that these were given away when the Backstreet Boys won an European MTV Award in 1996 or 1997. Probably these ended up is some teenage girl’s drawer, before it was found years later and sold on eBay Germany.

Above: DW-6900X-9T X-treme. Bottom: The, in those days very popular, overseas DW-6900 derived from the DW-6900X-8AT model, which is the base for the BSB G-Shock. 

As far as I know two of these have been on sale on eBay Germany, which I bought both. In both situations, I was the only bidder. The fun thing was, that only the strap is different from it’s original model. That original DW-6900 model has a patch with Illuminator G-Shock Shock Resist on it. It was a very common model, derived from the DW-6900X-8AT of the X-treme series. This Backstreet Boys version has the name of the “band” embroided on the strap (not sure if I can call the Backstreet Boys a real band, as they don’t play instruments and don’t write their own music”) . The basic form of this watch is probably was released in 1996 or 1997 in Germany and was highly popular. The Island where I live is a popular place for German tourists. At the end of the 90’s and begin ’00 I saw many tourist wearing this basic model. Of course, I have never seen any tourist wearing a Backstreet Boys model, which must have been also from around 1996/1997.

The "FOXFIRE" text on the X-Treme model

Should I waste some space on the Backstreet Boys? Well, maybe they weren’t so bad. Five young guys were arranged together in 1993 by Lou Pearlman, who was inspired by the New Kids On The Block. Nick Carter is probably the best known member, since he had also a solo carrier. I have worked as a DJ in a big discotheque throughout the 90’s and can frankly only remember one song we used to play. It was the extended remix of “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”, where the people on the dance floor always shouted “Everybody” at a moment they expected it, but was much to early on that version. Always a reason for a good laugh in the DJ booth.

People who are new into G-Shock collecting probably look up surprised by this 6900 model. It does not feature the usual “Triple Eyed Devil” face, nor does it feature the module found on the G-Lide GLX-6900. This model features the 1449 module. When you consult the manual, you see it share’s functions with the 1446 module. You’ll notice that the 1446 is a similar module as the 1289 (regular DW-6900 module). Maybe not strange, as the 1449 module looks pretty similar to the 1569 module (as found on the basic DW-004). The functions are also similar on all 4 modules. Besides Time Keeping, you find a Alarm function, where you can also input the date, a 24 hour Countdown Timer with Auto Repeat and a 24 hour Stopwatch. The main difference between the 1569 and this module is the position of the eye. It is positioned on the right.

Patch of the normal version.

I pretty much like the lay out of these kind of modules. It was probably the reason I bought my first G-Shock (DW-004 with a 1569 module). The eye shows the 10 seconds, while the horizontal “beam” displays the seconds. Nice extra is that the current time is shown also in Countdown Timer and Stopwatch mode.

I couldn’t find the model number of the basic version of this Backstreet Boys model. Frankly I haven’t searched too deep, but I think it is now not that easy to find out. I do not think this BSB model has ever had a model number. No idea what it’s worth. At the time I bought these, nobody wanted it. I have bought both of mine for around €5 to €10. At that time you could get a replacement strap for around $10.- at a seller in NYC (stopped laready many years ago). This meant you could have the basic model for less than €20.-, but no one seemed to realize that. The basic grey DW-6900 version went for around €40 - €60 on eBay at the same time (2002 - 2004). As G-Shock collecting is mainly a man’s thing, I do not think this model will ever become a wanted model. But, hé, from time to time, this is a fun watch to wear.