Intermezzo #71: The end of 2013. My personal top 10 and the future of 50 Gs.

It's all over. All 50 articles have been written and made up. Tomorrow the last article will be automatically posted. Again a special model from my personal collection. Frankly, it was quite a tough year writing and organizing, so I am happy I made it this year for the 6th time in a row. At the end of the year it's always ice to look back what it has brought. So I thought, why not do a personal Top 10 of my favorite G-Shock releases this year. My only rue, only one model of a series, so I get a good variety. Of most models I took a new wristshot, but under poor light conditions, so they might look a bit pale or cyan. Don't let that take away the pleasure, so: LET'S GO!

Number 10:

1st Bearbrick Collaboration model in white. At first I didn't know what to find of this model, with all the colored details on it. I bought it at Gorilli directly after the release party.

Number 9:

The nice Black and Yellow color scheme is one I like very much. So the Wu-Tang Clan Collaboration model, released at the beginning of 2013 should definitely be in my Top 10.

Number 8:

One of the models I had been waiting for. Every Anniversary series should have a Project "Team Tough"DW-5000 model. I informed long before the real 30th Anniversary about a special commemoration model, but nothing was official. An important insider close to the G-Shock designer team secretly told me I should save up money for around the real 30th Anniversary in April 2013.  The DW-5030C Project "Team Tough"came out with two other G-Shocks, but this was the one I wanted most.

Number 7:

The Undefeated x G-Shock is a very nicely done collaboration. It isn't just a fancy color scheme and a logo. It comes with a great ZULU style strap (or was it NATO, I keep confusing myself about these straps).

Number 6:

Crazy Colors DW-6900SC-7. In my opinion the best G-Shock model with 3D design in the nicest color scheme.Just a great watch.

Number 5:

Pictures don't do justice to this model. Poor light doesn't work right too. A perfect concept design by New Era in the color scheme of their well known stickers of their fitted caps. A big plus for the little cap which is actually a pouch for the watch. Looks great in day light, specially with sunshine.

Number 4:

Air Sea Land, The "Ill Collaboration". Bape x Stüssy x G-Shock Frogman. Another great 30th Anniversary collaboration. Both Stüssy and Bathing Ape (Bape) are known for their great and wanted collaboration models. One of the greatest things that could happen in G-Shock history is that two brands of this calibre collaborate. If you were in time at the Stüssy Store, it was even not a very expensive Frogman. I was lucky to get this with the help of two friends.

Number 3:

The Lightning Yellow Rangeman. The best looking model of this new Master Of G range. Let's hope Casio has some more special Rangemans for us in the near future. I think I do not have to explain why it's in my personal top 10. Very well readable display, packed with cool features, atomic time. 

Number 2:

The Gorilli Collaboration. It took a long time from concept to this real model. A sceptic would say "It's only a DW-6900NB-7 with a print on it". Well, basically that's right, but… First of all, it is a very limited run, so Casio would not let you do other things than a special print. So, you need a print that stands out. What's better for a in Netherlands based store than to use the Deft Blue print. You find it everywhere in our country. 

This afternoon I went for a Frozen Yoghurt with my sister in my favorite Coffee Shop and saw this Delft Blue plateau, hidden behind a stove and ornaments. The Gorilli came with a special designed Delft Blue tile and a DW-5600 shaped 4Gb USB stick. What a great concept. 

Number 1:

No doubt. Give me the 9 models above randomly and I will probably put them in a slightly other order, but this model is my absolute favorite of 2013. A true winner on my personal Top 10! The Kaneda version of the Akira Collaboration set. You might think, "Is this a 2013 model?" The pre-ordering started in December 2012, while the release was on April 30th. You can't forget that date. It was our last "Queen's Day", as we now have a King. This watch is packed with great details of the Akira comic and anime. A photo of this watch even made me win a G-Shock Contest. My description of the watch was that it was impossible to catch all great features of this watch in one photo. 

Today I got two G-Shock Mooks. The 30th Anniversary Collection Book came with a tote bag. I haven't read them yet (they arrived just less than an hour ago), but the Book is not really thick for a Mook. No real wonder as it only shows the 30th Anniversary models.The 30th Anniversary Bible is just what you would expect from it. Some eye candy about the latest 30th Anniversary releases, some scoops and a huge back catalog as you can also find on G-Shock GPS. 

So, What about the future of 50 Gs. Frankly I have been thinking the past months of slowing my posts drastically down. Writing even a simple article costs a lot of time. Sometimes articles are thought out already in my head, but often I have to retrieve information from loads of sources. My idea now for 2014 is to do a sabbatical year, which will not mean I will stop writing, but now (for the first time in 6 years) without a strict deadline or the goal of making 50 articles. This will give me time to get my finances a bit back on track, as 2013 was very expensive for a simple Technical Educating Assistant. I have been playing with the idea of 50 Gs Classics, a kind of favorite articles. Almost 400 have been written, including the intermezzo's that is (4 hours have already past on this intermezzo already since I started!). It might an idea to bring that up for 2015. If everything goes well, I plan to visit Japan in 2016 again with my son. This means less G-Shock and more saving for the trip. 2016 might be a good time to set a goal of 50 articles again, but that is a long, long way to go. One thing at a time, my father would say. For now, I hope you enjoy tomorrow's last article for 2013. Let's see what 2014 will bring!

A big THANK YOU! to Debrah for helping me translate the G-SHOCK 30th Anniversary Collection title. 

Intermezzo #57: Recent acquired G-Shock Promoting stuff

I've been busy a lot in the studio where I store my G-Shocks and other stuff, so it turned into a little mess lately. It was time to create a little order into this chaos and do some things I wanted to do for ages. 

First of all I did some battery changes. I haven't done this for a while, so within a few minutes I found over 20 G-Shocks. There were some stubborn models between them, so it took me about 5 hours to replace them all (24 G-Shocks, 2 were not on this photo).

That was a lot of work!

A friend of me sent me a pic of a G-Shock shop window in Spain about a year ago. I can't find the pic anywhere, but between the usual G-Shocks (there was no real remarkable model for me) I noticed a small G-Shock finger skateboard. I liked that, but somewhat forgot about it later, until a few months ago. I found a bag filled with G-Shock and Casio goodies in Germany. It also contained the cute skateboards. I also manage to get hold of some other G-Shock stuff through another channel in Germany. As they arrived at my house around the same time, they were dropped in the same box and placed in my G-Shock room. It seems I almost had forgotten about it, but I didn't.

So, what did I find in this box. First two catalogues, showing the current G-Shock collection of Europe.  Nothing new now, but might become interesting to own in about 10 years.

A cool good quality Messenger Bag. That might become handy maybe in the future.

Some shop window props.

We have seen more of these. Several foldable frisbees, some Casio pens, a Shock The World CD, a nice wallet (I want to have a second, but still can't find one). The Keychain is very nice and heavy. I learned a few days ago that there were some lighter G-Shock key chains, which could be worn as a necklace too. Very cool is the G-Shock Patch. Now I need a cool jacket to apply it on. Also I found a pair of foot bags. These small leather balls can be used "to keep high" with your feet. I'm not sure I am handy enough for that. 

Look at this! It's the new European G-Shock cap (left). The last model was nice too, but I like this logo. It looks much better. Also the fabric seems a from a higher quality.

How do I look? People here must already have spotted me with this cap as it is pretty comfy and I wear it quite often outside the house. 

Actually there were two shirts in the box, but the other one is the usual G-Shock shirt with the same logo as the older G-Shock cap shown a few photo's above. This one is more interesting. The bag was probably a goody bag and came with a Shock The World T-Shirt. Pretty cool design. 

This is what I really wanted in the first place. The little cute G-Shock skateboards. They might not be very high quality, but they look very cute. They even have grip tape on the deck!

Last weeks I also acquired some G-Shock mooks. The word mook is a subtraction of the words book and magazine. In the late 90's, specially in 1997 and 1998, a lot of mooks were released. Since 2006 there are also annual G-Shock mooks. 

Probably the best of the old mooks. Not really hard to find (I have given a few away to good friends in the past) and a lot of fun to read in. As I had only one, this is my spare one.

I swear I had this mook, but it had gone. Luckily I found another.

Although I thought I had them about all, I missed this one in my collection. 

I got this mook earlier. It was given to me by a good friend. 

And as I was cleaning out and reorganizing my studio/G-Shock room, I made some room for my G-Shock Mook Collection. It now looks pretty complete. Note, one mook is actually Kiks TYO's "Sneaker Lover" photo book. Not really a G-Shock mook, but they are huge G-Shock lovers at Kiks TYO. 

I hope you like my G-Shock goodies article. Please do not sent me comments where you can get all of these. Sometimes you just need a little luck to run into something. For most articles I was not actually searching for. I just found them. Please also do not ask if I sell these. I simply don't. I would like to thank the people who made it possible for me to get these. Many, many thanks. Without you my collection would not have these kind of gems like these.